>>287298
Probably because you're not alone in your mind anymore.

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS

Step away from the window.
Slap self in face three times- exactly three, this is important.
Stick fingers in ears and speak the phrase "I do not believe" three times.
Turn around three times.

Now put on your tinfoil hat and hind under the bed.

--- 2011/03/16(Wed)08:14 No. 288705 ID: 269299
File 130028846369.png - (200.20KB , 320x480 , 3.png )

The weird filenames were a byproduct of how I got the files uploaded and aren't intended to be interesting mysteries, sorry. :X Should be fixed now!

>mind reading
Oh no! Are you reading my mind?! Who are you? Are you one of the yellow lights come to flay my mind to pieces and devour my body?! Please! Stay away!!

>do others ignore
They don't even see them! Am I too much of a risk for you to leave alive?!

There is a strange pale blue light right in front of me. It feels serene and non-threatening. I feel less scared and vulnerable.

-Oh. You saw me. Hm. Interesting. Don't mind me. Almost finished.-

>>288705
Ask it what the heck is going on.

>>288705
Ask it what the yellow lights are.

>>288705
Finished with what?

We are generally meant to be helpful, so we'll try to hold off on the mind flaying, as long as you aren't trying to harm us or yourself.

Now, do not trust this feeling of ease quite yet. Ask Blue what exactly it is it is finishing.

--- 2011/03/27(Sun)09:15 No. 291238 ID: 78e638
File 130124251087.png - (181.91KB , 320x480 , 4.png )

>what's going on
"Strange light! What's going on?"
-A lot of things. Why?-

>yellow lights
"What are the yellow lights? Why do they hunt us?!"
-It's what they're designed to do. They aren't the reason I'm here, and I don't wish to intervene except when necessary.-
"Whatever you are, light, please! Help me! I'm scared of what lies just beyond what I can perceive!"
-This would make you a typical sapient organism, correct, and I am not here for your benefit nor to bring harm upon you. My interest is in your species' survival, not that of individuals. You strike me as the paranoid doomed type, anyway.-

>finished
"Wait! What are you nearly finished with?!"
-My observations.-
"What have you observed?"
-Many things. Things that I will not be describing to you, as they will take longer than your lifespan for me to fully articulate. Also, I wouldn't stay here much longer if I were you, deikail.-

the yellow lights! run, and ask blue light

'what can i do to prove that my survival would benefit the species enough that my individual life is worth saving?'

>>291238
Okay I'm tempted to say that the not-subtle advice to GTFO is probably worth taking.

>>291247
Yeah, you might want to get out of there.

>>297487
NICE NECRO

--- 2011/08/25(Thu)09:20 No. 342872 ID: 24d201
File 131428924536.png - (65.70KB , 320x480 , 5.png )

I turn to leave. The blue light recedes and- oh no, the red! The red! Claimer of all I knew before!!

"Deikail detected in nearby area. Activating short range scanners. Deikail, surrender. There is nowhere to run. Submit to us. The gekeh and akoi know no mercy. We have use for you."

The kulukuzu lies! They are the red lights of fire and death!   I cannot escape nor can I fight. Can I trick it? Can I reason my way to freedom, or has my life mere moments left before it ends?

Tell them you don't know who Deikail is but that you'll submit to them if need be, then walk over to them with your hands up. (tThis does not necessitate actually surrendering, unless the situation changes we can trick them this way. Be prepared to go for the limbs, they come right off.)

>>342872
Hmm. You could tell it you can see the blue lights, and that you're of more use to them alive.

Laugh at him that he didn't notice the explosives you set by the door. When he dives out of the doorway, run for it.

--- 2011/08/26(Fri)09:19 No. 343056 ID: ec0bf5
File 131437554008.png - (25.00KB , 320x480 , 6.png )

"You have more use for me alive! The blue light may still linger here and you can't see it because-"

"Enough talking, deikail. Your presence here is a problem. Allow me to explain what I am offering you here before you so ungratefully throw it away and tempt me further along the path of solving my problems through high powered weaponry."

I stand still, trembling.

"We are allied with the gekeh and akoi. We are systemically erasing all traces of First species we can find. Your species will become extinct, but we- well, I am offering you something other than a short and painful death. You are extremely valuable to us alive. We have not been able to obtain a live deikail with your traits for cataloguing purposes. Submit, and you walk out that door alive. Don't, and you will walk into the rest of my squad. I doubt you'll survive that. Any more questions before you do the right thing and hand yourself over?"

ask him why are they doing this. exterminating a species and all of its works must take allot of time and effort.

Ask what this 'cataloging' entails. And why he didn't just shoot you with a tranq dart or something.

Also what will happen after you have been cataloged.

Say yes! Being alive is better than being dead.

EveryZig 2011/08/26(Fri)11:39 No. 343072 ID: b6edd6
File 131438399446.jpg - (15.61KB , 300x300 , 51f7BUAhEjL__SL500_AA300_.jpg )

>Being alive is better than being dead.
Depends just how much they hate you.

Agree to surrender while you ask these questions, so he doesn't shoot you. If you get close enough to him his limbs might fall off.

--- 2011/09/05(Mon)10:09 No. 345667 ID: 5cbda2
File 131524255021.png - (170.27KB , 320x480 , 7.png )

"Why would you do this? Why would you destroy my people like this? What have we done to you?!"
"Nothing yet. The First species have the blessing of the false gods. The gekeh have decided they must be eradicated and replaced with their own. The akoi serve the gekeh, and we the kulukuzu serve of our own free will."
"You chose this genocide?"
"We chose to not anger the gekeh. Come with me now. Whether you want to or not is irrelevant."

I feel a sharp pain--

--- 2011/09/05(Mon)10:10 No. 345668 ID: 5cbda2
File 131524264291.png - (199.76KB , 320x480 , 8.png )

"Hello."
"Blue light?"
"Not Nines, if that's what you meant. He's busy trying to decide whether to intervene or not. I decided to intervene a long time ago."
"I don't understand. Are you here to save me?"
"Me? Sure, why not. I kind of already have, though. You're being delivered to someone I've been guiding for a long time. And some of her ancestors. And likely some of her descendants."
"What do you mean?"
"A lot of things. Well, you won't die, at least. Not yet. I can't get too specific or the waveform collapses too early."

No. I can ask more questions. I need answers from the lights. More answers. More questions!

oh lovely its quantum. I bloody hate quantum. you can gum stuff up just by looking at the wrong bit.

Ask who they are. If any others of your race will be saved. Why it's helping you.

--- 2011/09/18(Sun)17:18 No. 350226 ID: d4ffb6
File 131639150318.png - (106.52KB , 320x480 , 9.png )

"Who are you? Will any of my kind be saved? Why are you helping me?"

"An intervener. Hopefully. Because I can. Now, wake up. You aren't going to like what you see. I can't really do anything about it. Such "

I awake--

beep

"It's awake. Any changes?"
"No changes noted. Make sure it's restrained. We don't any repeats of last time."

beep beep

"Elevation in heart rate. Do we have any more compatible sedative?"
"Changes in psi readings. You were right. This one's a sensitive."
"Vitals looking a little shaky. If you want to do anything, do it now."
"Readings are reacting to something. I think we might have an instance in this room."

beep beep beep

what's going on

"They're spiking!"
"Quick, induce an engram or something! We'll never get another chance like this again!"
"I can't! This equipment only reads psi patterns!"
"Flood it! Flood the room! Send it into a seizure or something, just send a response! We aren't letting these fucking false gods think they're going undetected!"

beep beep beep beep

it hurts

"What the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to kill it?! We don't have any more sensitives left to waste!"
"Just fucking make it send a response! Seizure! Convulsions! Stab a scalpel into it, just make it do something!!"
"Vitals are getting increasingly unstable, it's looking like it could go into arrest at any moment..."
"Losing the readings-"
"That's it I'm going to force it into a seizure myself you idiots have no idea what's going to happen if we fuck this up and you are going to wish it was death once it happens-"

make it stop

please make it stop

how can it stop how can i make it stop

--- 2011/09/18(Sun)17:18 No. 350227 ID: d4ffb6
File 131639152210.png - (137.26KB , 320x480 , 10.png )

aaaaaAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAaaa

"Readings are spiking again."
"Yes. Yessss. Little more. That's it. That's a good alien abomination. Keep going... little more..."
"Okay, stop there. Vitals are going manic and how you're not frying its brain I don't know but stop."
"Visualising now!"

-Oh. You again. This is kind of disappointing.-

"False god! I- I- what were we doing- OH NO NO THAT'S NO MY ARM NO IT'S FREEZ-"
"So cold- s-so cold-"
"Please, no I'm sorry no-"

-I will deal with your acquaintances later. Would you care to explain to me what this machine is and what you are doing here?-

I can think again. It hurts. I can't speak. I have forgotten words outside of my head. Can it hear the words inside my head?

-With some difficulty, but yes. Do you know why the kulukuzu have kept you alive? It seems... incongruent with their behaviour thus far.-

I want to go home.

I want to go home. I want my friends alive. I want my kind to stay burning bright as the lights in the sky. I don't want this. I don't want this. If I can bring them back through ending myself I will. Please. Please help me. Help all of us.

-I can help some of you. I can preserve your species and lose all of your culture, your achievements, your hopes and dreams and memories as a collective. Or I can preserve you. From you, your culture survives, but I cannot see a species returning from a single individual. Which do you value more? Survival of your kind, or survival of yourself, and with you, your species' legacy?-

You can make new culture, achievements, hopes, dreams and memories, even from nothing. You can't make new people if they're dead. You said you wanted to save your home, your friends, and your people. Do that. And maybe you'll survive as well, if you're lucky.

I... hm.

I think saving your culture would do more to save what you have than saving the physical concept of your species but none of the things besides that that make you you...

if you save the species how many individuals would you save? or would you simply clone more?

This is hard. Um...

I guess...

Save your kind?

>>350227
Nines already said he wanted to ensure the species' survival. Is this a test? Saving yourself would be pride and selfishness. And you already said self-sacrifice was what you were willing to do.

Tell him why the kulukuzu wanted you. It's because you can sense the 'false gods', the strange lights. They want to see the strange lights as well. Possibly to contact them? Tell him he should ask them himself.

Suggestion 2011/09/19(Mon)18:19 No. 350503 ID: 1d0e20
File 131648154430.png - (201.07KB , 320x480 , 11.png )

I want to save the dekail.

I don't want to die, but if there's no choice, I know I must die eventually. It is better to die with meaning than to die chased like an animal...

-Interesting. Noted. Here. Let me take care of this unnecessary machinery around you. It's distracting.-

The kulukuzu wanted me because I can see the strange lights. They want to contact you.

-They wish to destroy me, at the behest of their new masters. It is regrettable. They were so promising. I cannot assume full blame, but I cannot deny I too neglected them. Much as I neglected your kind. It appears it is now too late.-

But... but you said you'd ensure my species' survival! I don't want them to die!

-I can't see as clearly in the soft spaces currently. There is far too much noise. But as far as I can tell, you are one of eight living deikail. Seven. Six. Six living deikail.-

Save us! Save us, please!

-I am one against millions. I have done all I can. Every plan I have had has failed. You are willing to die for your species. You can go where they will not see you. You can see what will chase and kill you. You are the last hope of survival for your species. Listen carefully--

=what is this creatureWHAT IS THIShowDOES it LIVE insultstain of The Eldest Foe EXPLAIN YOURSELF self self SERVE US DEIKAIL serve us serve us serveserveserve The Only Option You Possess Is Servitude Or Death WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE ELDEST FOE reveal REVEAL all that is which is that can be known=

These. These horrors started it all. The name rings in my mind. Gekeh. They brought the red and the yellow.

They are reaching into my mind. They do not speak to many. I know I will not have another chance like this to speak to them. So many things. What to say? What to ask? Do I risk invoking its wrath?

Ask them one thing. Why. Ask them why they have done this. and tell them if they have any kindness or mercy to let the ones who are left live. They are no threat any longer.

Sounds like Nines is bailing on you.

"Why?" would definitely be a start.

Is "the eldest foe" Nines? I don't think you have anything useful about him even if you wanted to give it away...

if they wanted some means of seeing the strange lights as you call them why did they order the murder of your people? surly simply conquering them would be more effective.

They wanted to destroy the false gods, guys. Ask what it would take for them to spare the rest of your kind. Is there anything you can do? Anything?

--- 2011/09/21(Wed)13:48 No. 351155 ID: 1d0e20
File 131663808116.png - (215.27KB , 320x480 , 12.png )

Without the cruel machines and their sadistic controllers, I can speak once more. I ask the choir of voices the one question I have had since they came to our world.

"Why?"

The voices sting in my mind, babble, harmonious discord singing dissonant notes at me and each other. A single voice rises above the others. It is peaceful, serene, yet filled with quiet disdain and contempt.

=So many have asked. So few can understand. Perhaps you can. You deserve no explanations. Understand this. You are born of the First. You are one of the First. You would birth the First. The First are vermin. The First are a mistake. They are an insult. A taunt. The Eldest won in their race to be one with the medium, and they force their image across world after world. We deny this. We deny them their boast. All will be purged. All traces of the Eldest shall be cleansed away. The medium is ours. The Eldest have no place within it.=

"There aren't enough left of my kind to be a threat any more. Please. If there is any kindness or mercy in you, let me live."

=Your memory and mind drink deep of the medium. To exchange your crude symbols and glyphs with us demands the medium. We exist between the matter and the medium. We know your mind. You seek a way to return your species to its glory. We have destroyed all other deikail. The risk is not beneficial. The resolution is simple. A resolver will meet with you shortly. It will inform you of your place in our universe.=

"Please! I've done nothing to you! Why are you doing this?!"

--- 2011/09/21(Wed)13:48 No. 351156 ID: 1d0e20
File 131663811483.png - (377.50KB , 900x1800 , 13.png )

Silence...

-Hm. Interesting. They didn't seem to notice me here. I'm getting better at that.-

They're all dead. All dead. All of them...

-You're currently onboard a kulukuzu science vessel. For the time being, I have locked the doors to this room. You can unlock them. Take your time here. You are safe for a day. Also, you're the only living deikail. The only way your species is coming back is if you can find some way to mass-produce new deikail. I have already interfered enough. I am not going to do it myself. Maybe in a few hundred years, when things have quietened down. Good luck. I am leaving this sector now.-

Wait-

No. That's it. I'm all alone. Sole survivor of a dead species.

...where do I even go from here...?

find a cloner. make more.

for now, examine the stuff around the room.

Schlick furiously.

>>351157
Yeah, let's start with your surroundings.

>>351156
Go left.

They've got to have a bunch of equipment in here. Also if there's a terminal you can try to find information about the ship.

Look around. See if they gave you some kind of blanket or something. You look cold.

(psst guys there's a discussion thread for this quest)
>>/questdis/350705

--- 2011/09/22(Thu)17:36 No. 351553 ID: 1d0e20
File 131673817771.png - (119.61KB , 320x480 , 14.png )

All I can find in this room is a glowing machine. I do not understand its glyphs. There was another machine to which I was forcibly wired to, but the blue light Nines sent it away. There is no trace of it ever having behind here. Not even wounds from the tubes forced through my skin.

There is a soft blue thick blanket. I don't remember seeing it before. I pull it around me. This place feels as though a cold dark wind is winding around it. I feel strangely at peace with this blanket. Is it a parting gift from the blue lights?

All dead. All dead but me. I can't die. I don't want to die, but my life is too precious to risk now until I can revive the deikail.

Will I find allies? Am I fated to spend the rest of my life running? I feel ill from panic and fear, tired from escape. I feel hunger, ignored for so long in my efforts to run. I am not starving yet, but I should find food. My body is healthy for now. No severe injuries.

I can still run for now. Just not forever.

--- 2011/09/22(Thu)17:37 No. 351554 ID: 1d0e20
File 131673823055.png - (110.40KB , 320x480 , 15.png )

I move back to the machine. The glyphs make no sense to me, but I can see through them. I feel traces and glimmers of red lights, too complex and intricate for me to fully grasp. But I do not need such detail. The surface is all I need.

I lay my hands upon the console and close my eyes. I do not know how to operate the machine, but I can feel its responses to my actions. I tap in patterns and feel its responses. We talk to each other.

I am reminded of devices my people created to test for the traits held by those the kulukuzu referred to as "sensitives". They operated on such a similar way. How can two different species and cultures across vast time and space develop almost identical devices?

There is change. The machine feels uncomfortable. I am not supposed to be doing this. It has no mind, but I feel as though I am somehow violating its closely held truths. Lights flicker and fade. I continue using the machine, blind, feeling out for a response.

--- 2011/09/22(Thu)17:38 No. 351555 ID: 1d0e20
File 131673828411.png - (1.43MB , 1600x1600 , 16.png )

I am met with too much light! It burns with its infinite fractal complexity. I feel like an island in the middle of an ocean of information. The kulukuzu cannot use their machines in this way. I know this must be true. I have done something they cannot. I feel a thrill through my body - I have a chance. I have something they do not. A skill they can't possess!

I try to focus on a tiny fragment of the swarm of red, but cannot avoid seeing the fractal depths, wanting to dive deeper, to embrace infinity and know something- know something detailed- know something that is the only thing that can be known- something universal- know the ultimate truth, understand all--

I pull myself away from this shining abyss of purest knowledge. I have a greater purpose. "Ship information" at this level feels too basic, too coarse, too vague to be meaningful. I need to be selective, or I fear I will fall prey to the sea of all knowledge I now drift in.

You need to find a way off this ship (since it's full of hostiles) and from there somewhere you can go to regroup.

how about, smaller ships docked with this ship? if there are still too many then narrow it to ships docked with this ship that can fit between 1 and 2 people and are capable of FTL speeds.

>>351555
Location of a cloning laboratory and genetic research center on this ship. Maps of the ship. Location of the armory of this ship. Security patrol routes of this ship. Security cameras of this ship and how to disable them. Current security passcodes for this ship and ones for the next day if they are set to change over time. Short summary of the inventory of the armory of this ship.

Aww, why don't you want to know the deepest truths? Oh, well, if you really value your sanity that much, let's just look for a couple things. Escape pods are the most important one to look for, and how to get to them. Also see if you can get anything on the ship's weapon systems, so they don't shoot you down as you escape. Maybe see if there's anything on the strange lights, the false gods, the eldest?

AH! Search for information on the Medium. How the Eldest entered it, specifically.

Stop humping that computer, you horny girl.

a layout of the ship would be nice. also see if its possible to mess with the life support. don't do anything to it now,(supposedly we are about to meet an ally) but knowing we can vent the ships atmosphere in a pinch would be useful.

--- 2011/09/24(Sat)17:06 No. 352149 ID: 1d0e20
File 131690921781.png - (237.85KB , 320x480 , 17.png )

I allow the red to pervade my mind. I fear losing myself here. I am calm. I focus, distantly aware of my body, of my heart beating calmly, of my lungs filling with clean, cold air.

I am met not with exact details, but with concepts. Concepts I cannot articulate. I cannot find anything that clones. Genetic databases are here, here in the red, and I can feel the genomes of my species spiralling around me. I will never remember the full intricacy and complexity of the information.

The maps are not plans, not diagrams. I am simply made aware of the layout of the science vessel. I could explain how to move from one room to another, but I am not aware of the purpose of those rooms. It is a maze of small rooms and larger rooms. The architecture is self-similar.

The patrols are many and unavoidable. The gekeh monitors are in all corridors and passages. They are the eyes of the gekeh and the ship. I am made aware of a set of nine codes in current use. I am not made aware of which code is used where. Troubling.

Escape pods. I cannot find escape pods. Or any means of escape. Or any means of entering the ship or leaving. How? I was not on this ship before. How did I arrive here? All I can find is a transportation... room? It's empty. I am confused. Something is not right.

I look for information on the medium, but I am distracted by- a purple light?! I-

--- 2011/09/24(Sat)17:07 No. 352151 ID: 1d0e20
File 131690924672.png - (152.22KB , 320x480 , 18.png )

pain - crushing - can't breathe

"Think your final thoughts, deikail. I grant you ten seconds of life."

no no no no no no no no

"Wait. You are the last deikail alive, aren't you?"
"yes"
"Which means if I end your life, I finish my task."

The gekeh constructs live for a purpose. When their purpose is complete, they cease to be, to prevent independent thought and rebellion. I don't remember knowing this. I don't know why I care when this one is trying to kill me!!

"It has been a long time, deikail. I have grown fond of life as I have taken it from so many. How am I going to disable you without killing you? Should I break your limbs? Move a tendril into your skull and swirl it around until I have ruined your fragile brain and torn your conscious mind apart?"
"stop"
"You were in there. I saw it. What did you see? If I kill you, I die. If I don't, I die. If I run, I live. I want to run, and you want to live. What did you see, deikail?"

Its grip on my throat relaxes. I gasp for air. It begins slowly choking me once more. What can I tell it?! I saw no way to escape!!

>>352151
Okay, Purpletits, uh... I see no compelling reason to lie. Tell it you saw infinity, or however you want to phrase that, but it wasn't the way off the ship you were looking for.

>>352151
Tell it you found the transportation room, but every corridor is monitored and the transportation room looked empty! You can go and look again, there must be more information of use there. Something that would get us past the monitors, or how the transportation room is used.

yes, the way to the transportation room. get there and you can flee elsewhere.

Tell it you know the way to the transportation room, and you presume that's the way off the ship, because you couldn't find anything else. Ask it how it got on. Both it and the monitors are gekeh constructs, maybe it can do something to keep them from seeing us. Whatever we do we're not going to defy the thing that can kill us in a second.

--- 2011/09/25(Sun)18:24 No. 352587 ID: 1d0e20
File 131700026927.png - (167.01KB , 320x480 , 19.png )

"I know the way to the transportation room! But it was empty! I don't know how to escape! I can look again-"
"Sufficient. If you search again, they will find you. There are patrols on every corridor of the ship. They will see you and destroy you."

It rests its head on my shoulder and I feel an immediate sting as something punctures my shoulder and moves.

"Process complete. Your blood is delicious. If you cease being useful as a navigator, I feel tempted to keep you alive and healthy just to taste it again."

I am no longer sure if I'm starting to become less afraid or just becoming more tolerant of the fear I do feel. It does not release me from its tight embrace, but it releases my limbs and neck.

"Deikail, you are now marked as without threat as long as you remain close to me. If you stray, the monitors will find you. You will be caught and likely killed. I will also be found to be defective for failing to have performed my assigned task properly."

--- 2011/09/25(Sun)18:25 No. 352588 ID: 1d0e20
File 131700031253.png - (184.24KB , 320x480 , 20.png )

I start walking towards the door I know to be the first step to the transportation room. The resolver does not let go.

"Oh."
"...oh?"
"I didn't mean that close."
"What? Can't you remove your limbs from me?"
"Yes, but that would break the connection-- oh. I have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. This is suboptimal."
"You need to touch me so they can't see me?"
"This was not what I had planned in the slightest! How inconvenient. Now I will need to co-operate."

It makes a strange sound similar to a burst of static and a sigh.

"Lead the way, deikail."

I continue walking up to the door.

"You can head straight to the transportation room, but I am hungry, and from the taste of your blood, you could use some food as well. You also feel uneasiness due to your lack of clothing. Food, clothing, or transportation room? I am patient."

And I can still remember that purple light. I saw it. I know where it is. I step into the corridor. Where do I go from here?

>>352588
Food first.

Food, then transport. You need food to live, and you're probably starving. Clothes are just a luxury, and we don't have time for luxuries while we're on this ship.

yeah, the only things that can see you are ones that don't care about your state of dress. food is important. once you are full you need to head to the transport room.

>>352588
Where is the purple light?

We should get food first. While we are running we will not know where our next meal is coming from. So... yeah. Better eat when you have a chance.

food, then clothing. its more than just modesty, clothing means pockets. not to mention some protection from the elements.

Food, transport. You have natural pockets.

The resolver is totally checking out your ass. Wiggle it provocatively.

Sivikt 2011/09/26(Mon)16:42 No. 352956 ID: 4e4483
File 131708053546.png - (114.82KB , 320x480 , 21.png )

"Food," I say to the creature. I become aware of just how hungry I am. My body is not wasting away, but I can't afford to let it begin doing so. "Food would be a better option for us both."
"Then we shall head to a supply room."

The walk is long and the passages twist and turn. I catch sight of black creatures covered in glowing veins of yellow light. They watch me and continue onwards. I tremble slightly. Death is everywhere here. I am completely at the mercy of the construct that minutes ago tried to choke me to death.

It continues holding onto my shoulder in a reluctant and confused manner. It breaks the dull hum of the ship with its modulated voice. "Do you have a name?"
"Sivikt. I thought you were just calling me by deikail."
"You are the only deikail left. You are a precious resource. There is a vast amount I can and should learn about what your species was."
"Moments ago you were threatening to kill me. Once you find a way to escape, I expect you will try to kill me. I don't understand your sudden interest."

The resolver does not respond.

Sivikt 2011/09/26(Mon)16:42 No. 352957 ID: 4e4483
File 131708055129.png - (144.67KB , 320x480 , 22.png )

We enter a storage room, passing by another resolver. It stares at me for a while, and moves out of the way.

I am met with the sight of yet another resolver attempting to restrain a kulukuzu. "Cease your struggle, kulukuzu!" it screeches at the kulukuzu. The kulukuzu screams and struggles.
"Let go of me!! Help! Help, it's gone rogue!! Anyone! Please!"

I am torn. These things have destroyed my species, taken my possessions, tied me to tubes and cruel machines, but this one seems helpless. I am not sure if I should help, nor how I could help.

I turn to the resolver next to me. It looks at me in silence.

"I will not allow you to risk your life. The kulukuzu is not worth your effort. Resolvers do not attack without reason."

I feel very conflicted. And very hungry. And I am beginning to feel that I cannot ignore fatigue that has been building over time.

>>352957
You can't just do nothing. You and the resolver are both persona non grata anyway.

NOO she's so adorable! You have to save her! If the resolver won't let you risk your life maybe it can do something? Having another ally will increase your chances of survival, and we can't just let her die! She's not responsible for what happened to you, she looks like a mechanic or something. Can... can the resolver make the other one stand down or something?

ask if the one on who knows how to use the transporter. if not then you can say that the kulukuzu appears to be a maintenance worker and would most likely know how to operate it somewhat.

>>352957
Our resolver has gone rogue. This other resolver may have as well. Point that out. If so, we may be able to gain another ally or two, depending on which kind of rogue it has gone and just how grateful the kulukuzu is.

Do not act without permission of our resolver. Also ask if our resolver has a name, as well. It could be that its interest in us has become more than academic, simply by virtue of being forced to remain close to us and thus learn our patterns of behavior.

>>352957
"It's not unheard of for resolvers to go rogue. If the resolver has not gone rogue then there is no danger, whereas danger would mean that the resolver has indeed gone rogue.
Either investigating is no risk, or we are required to intervene to stop a rouge resolver."
Turn to the other Resolver
"Resolver! What has prompted your actions against this Kulukuzu?"

>>352973
Shh no quiet stupid!

Tell (your) resolver that you need to save her, if not just for the good of saving an innocent life, then for the utility we'll gain from having a friend who knows their way around. It looks like an engineer, too, she may be able to help is escape. That's what the resolver wants, anyway, the best chance of escape. Also she's so cute!

Don't get involved. The kuluwhatits are fucking bastards anyway. Maybe they're delicious.

we should help her. its a risk but we could end up gaining another ally and that would be well worth it.

...you know what, I don't think that resolver HAS gone rogue. The kulukuzu serve the Gekeh, but it's not like the Gekeh have to treat them nicely. This is probably some form of law enforcement. Don't get involved at all!

If the resolver won't let you save them, make IT save them! They'll be friendly to us if we save their life and show them that we're good.

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:30 No. 369755 ID: f61b94
File 132303425760.png - (127.32KB , 320x480 , 23.png )

I feel compelled to do something. This one might not have harmed me. She might be willing to help me.

"Help!" she screams. The resolver carries her away. I have to intervene. I start to run towards her-

The resolver near me grabs me. "Stop. I ordered you not to interfere. I need you to stay alive. I do not need you to remain unharmed. It is by my will you are marked as safe and remain alive. You are to comply with all orders given or face punishment for your infractions."

It bites me sharply on the shoulder. Involuntarily, I yelp in pain, and the other resolver drops the kulukuzu. It begins to lurch over to me.

"This one is not an enemy," the resolver near me snarls at the other resolver. "Leave and return to your task."
"My task is to judge those who act against the intent and desires of the gekeh, and to punish them accordingly. You are protecting a First species individual. What is your task?"

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:31 No. 369757 ID: f61b94
File 132303429433.png - (107.18KB , 320x480 , 24.png )

The kulukuzu looks at me, then to the resolvers, and then runs at me. She leaps onto me and pins me to the ground.

"Okay! Look here! I'm doing something for the gekeh! Look I'm holding it down! You can kill it now!"
"That is my task, kulukuzu-"
"You have failed in your task. I shall complete your task in your stead."

The kulukuzu keeps me pinned to the ground. I am too weak from exhaustion and hunger to struggle against her desperate aggression. The world swims. Something creeps into the sides of my vision.

"Hold. The Words Flow through Us. This One is to be Taken to the Prototype. It will be Destroyed Only Once it has Exhausted its Use."
"A monitor does not command a resolver!"
"This One is a Conduit for the Will and Force of the Collective. The Resolver does not Defy the Collective."

I cannot make out any other words. I am tired. I cannot fight the pain and fatigue for much longer. I feel the world slip away.

Sivikt 2011/12/04(Sun)13:31 No. 369758 ID: f61b94
File 132303431775.png - (216.11KB , 320x480 , 25.png )

I cannot trust my own senses any more. Am I awake? Has time passed? All I feel is the pain and confusion of my mind eating itself in panic, the drifting cohesion of my psyche crumbling like a dried leaf. Fear seems an alien concept. Many things seem alien to me now. My heart races for me to fight or escape, to survive, to just keep surviving.

I feel so distant and removed from myself. The world around me ceases to matter. Light blurs into itself. I feel-

"You really, really should not be able to be doing what it is you're doing right now. This is basically contrary to all the physical laws of the universe I'm aware of."

What am I doing?

"If I knew, I wouldn't be quite as fascinated and alarmed as I am right now. I've just been looking at the last five minutes of your life and the more probable slices of the next five minutes and I'm a little worried you're going to upset things. I don't want to say you were supposed to die, but the gekeh were not meant to suddenly order you to be taken to a lab again. What are they doing?"

I don't know!

"What's even going on any more? It's like someone's taken an axe to causality and hacked random bits and pieces out. Oh, hey, there's another one of you guys. Want me to just dump you there where he is or wherever they're dragging your unconscious body? If they're not playing by the rules, I'm not. No idea what'll happen if I put you down anywhere other than where you should be."

Wait, someone else? Are they alive? I don't really care, we're NOT going back to the lab. That was the most horrifying thing ever.

Uhhhhh.... hmm.

Wait, there's another deikail?

>>369758
We go to him. We save him, then save ourselves. Keep the species alive.

Jump ahead to the sex scene, then rewind back, and then you can further your species!

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587070 ID: 8533a8
File 140678845498.png - (161.17KB , 320x480 , 26.png )

Take me to the other deikail.

"Okay. If you insist. If the universe shatters because you went in the wrong place at the wrong time, just remember you asked for it. Can't do much more damage than the gekeh."

=The Vortex would speak of the damage we cause? How many worlds did the individual Vortex burn in ascent? WHAT DO YOU AIM WITH THE REMNANT? Do you not have other species to forge in your vile image, Cold Elder? We manipulate within our limits and constraints. We pose no threat to the Medium or the Incarnate. The Individual Brings Threat To All With Its Selfish Oneness. Purity Is Manyfold.=

"Oh, shut up. I'm not looking forward to you guys showing up here full time. You're such whiners. There, deikail, I took the liberty of fixing you up a bit while I was at it. Have fun. Try not to get brutally killed. Oh, and if you run into Nines again, which at this point despite being impossible I'm basically expecting, tell him to lighten up, could you?"

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587072 ID: 8533a8
File 140678846819.png - (132.96KB , 320x480 , 27.png )

unh-

I feel strangely revitalised. I don't recall sleeping or eating, but my fatigue and hunger have vanished. I... still seem to lack any kind of clothing. I do not feel surprised.

Looking around the area, I am entirely certain I should not be here. I look around for something I sense, a dim spark compared to the lights of blue and green, yet still a light in the darkness.

I find the source of the light staring ahead, connected to cold, brutal machinery. I find it easier to detach from my emotion than before. Should I be concerned? I will worry later. Now is the time for action.

...But what action? I cannot fathom the purposes or means of operation of these machines. But the wrong action may kill the only other deikail I have found. "Can you hear me?"

The other stares ahead, but an ear twitches. I wave my hand in front of his face. After a pause, he speaks. "I hope you're a doctor or a nurse or something."
"No, I'm... not much of anything right now. I'm going to get you out of this."
"Sure. Go ahead." He seems distanced. "I think I'm ready for the pain to end now."

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587074 ID: 8533a8
File 140678848126.png - (82.71KB , 320x480 , 28.png )

Seeing one of my own kind, hearing his voice. It feels wrong. A jolt of familiarity. It emphasises how alien and how hopeless everything is.

I'm not familiar with this machinery, but it seems to have been engineered by the kulukuzu, closer in mindset to us. It is not an amorphous mass, for one thing. I close my eyes and swim through the red, understanding the device without words and only as abstract concepts.

The concept of 'release subject' is tied to a specific button. My past is fuzzy, after continued attacks on my psyche, but I feel as though this talent would have been useful to me a lot earlier in my life. My eyes open as though I wake from a dream, and I release the other deikail.

He looks as unharmed as I was. I do not understand the way these machines can be so invasive and leave no physical trace of their presence.

We approach each other. We stand in silence and look into each others' eyes. Two dekail survivors.

Eventually, he says, "It sure is taking me a long time to die, huh."
"You don't look like you're dying to me."
"Well, look, I'd love to argue with a figment of my imagination but I'm sure I can find better ways to spend the last few seconds of my life."
"What?"
"Oh come on. This is clearly the last few sparks of my dying brain interpreting my mangled body's senses with pain and then nothing. Last thing I need is to start arguing with my own brain. Hm. Wonder if that's how it works. The only thing that makes a brain a coherent whole is connection, and if the neurons acting as the only connections between regions die, maybe that's how it ends. Each region screaming at my disparate selves until oblivion."

I don't know who I was expecting the last male dekail to be, but I was not expecting a solipsist. "You're not dying, you're in danger. We have to get out of this place before we get killed." My voice is lacking in urgency. I feel more confused than anything else.
"Or I'm in a coma, and you're a voice outside, but that doesn't fit with what you just said. Maybe this is a dream. Just a dream. Either way, this is too implausible to be reality."
"You're awake," I say, "and not liking the truth is not a reason to pretend it doesn't exist."

Sivikt 2014/07/30(Wed)23:34 No. 587075 ID: 8533a8
File 140678849382.png - (69.10KB , 320x480 , 29.png )

He walks up to me and loosely grabs me by a shoulder. I flinch.

"Well, you feel real. How can I know if you're real or not?"
"How can I know if you're real? No. I don't want to waste any more time."

I walk away from him. I should be trying to escape, not treating rampant delusions.

I stop and think about what I just thought, and remember sessions upon sessions years ago of those earnestly trying to help me, help me stop experiencing these lights no one else could see. Before the truth was unlocked, the universe opened, and our place in it made so insignificant.

For all I know, maybe my entire life really has been one lived inside his head--

"Hey," he says. I stop. "Look. This is close to dreams I've had before, and I'm too lucid for this to be a dream I have no control over. But I can't change anything, and I can't influence you without speaking. I'm having second thoughts."
"You've dreamed of what?"
"This vessel. Ships like it, getting more vivid and real over time. ...there's no one left on the surface, is there? We're all that's left of our entire species, aren't we."

He stares past me.

"A pair of naked dekail stripped of all possessions and dignity, two test subjects being kept around for whatever purpose. Oh god."
"We need to focus. We need to escape. There is only one place I know to get to that can help us escape. I'm not sure where we are though. I need to find a terminal."
"You can use their computers?"
"Well enough."

I wanted to save 'the dekail', and I suppose saving just two of us is my only practical goal now.

I realise there is a monitor watching us. Just watching, barely out of sight. A faint yellow flicker in the shadows.

>>587075
Tell it, matter of factly, that it is impossible for it to control or contain you anymore. (not even sure if that's a bluff) It should reduce the damage you do to this ship by giving the both of you safe passage to the transporter room.

Tell the monitor that walls can not hold you, and that you're leaving. If it's not here to help you it can just get out of our way.

tell it to go away

Make a subtle rude gesture at it while you're looking for a terminal. What's connected to this room?