>>559532
>>559534
>>559537
Also, his feelings are very understandable. He lost his home and probably a few friends to this thing. So try not to hold this against him. just try and stop him and get your stuff back, from the sound of it, it's very important.

>>559539
Or push him with the pipe, that could work...

... come up from behind Sid and give him a hug? I realize he's pissed right now and with good reason, I mean these fuckers where about to kill you not even 10 minutes ago and now we have to get them to give us a ride out of here before eclipse shows up and without them stabbing us in the back along the way. Wow looking back on it today really fucking sucked, and it's not showing any signs of getting better anytime soon.

But for now lets just focus on getting up to the top floor again seeing as you have to get up there, but also be careful, Roc here is helpless because he want a little nuts on the pyrotechnics back in the hospital thing we where before, the other 2 did not and we don't even know what they can do yet. Plus once you get back up here the 2 of you will be outnumbered as well. But again we need these assholes to get out of here. Sigh

one problem at a time I guess, grab Sid and hope he stops then try and get up here, then we can deal with whatever mess shows up then when it happens.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/12(Wed)13:12 No. 562214 ID: 067034
File 139223952859.png - (46.64KB , 800x600 , 35.png )

>save Roc
>stop 40423
Without Roc, we're trapped on this floor of a tower that will soon be destroyed by an unknown force. With Roc, we have a means of at least escaping this immediate predicament.

If Roc could pose a serious threat, he would have already retaliated by now.

I grab SB-40423 and pull him backwards, and he instead swings into the empty air, losing his grip on the pipe segment and sending it clattering to the other side of the room. Roc runs past us both, surprisingly light and limber for his determined, heavy gait before.

Roc examines his wing. "RUINED. RUINED! THIS WON'T LET ME FLY FOR LONGER THAN AN HOUR!"
"YOU CAN FIX THAT WING! I HAD FRIENDS IN THAT FACILITY!!"
"THESE ARE NON-STANDARD PARTS! IT WILL COST A LARGE AMOUNT TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE YOU'VE DONE!"
"YOU CAN'T REPAIR BEING DEAD!"
"THERE WERE NO LIVING CASUALTIES IN THAT FIRE! IT WAS CORPORATE SABOTAGE OF ASSETS AND PROJECTS, NOT A FULL-BLOWN TERRORIST ATTACK! CREDIT ME WITH THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!"
"It was a fire! A fire! How do you plan how a fire goes?! It's fire!"
"HUMANS TEND TO RUN WHEN A LARGE, THREATENING MACHINE IS ADVANCING UPON THEIR POSITION! THE FACILITY WAS RUNNING ON MINIMAL STAFF AT THE HOUR OF ATTACK!"
"YOU WERE BURNING DOWN THE HOSPITAL SECTION! HOW DO YOU KNOW EVERYONE RAN?!"
"I SPECIFICALLY STOPPED WHEN I GOT TO THE MEDICAL FACILITIES FOR THAT VERY-- No. No time. Get on my back or we will all die. I can leave you both here. Last opportunity."

Roc unfurls his dorsal tentacle things. I jump on his back, and SB-40423 hesitates. I motion over for him to come join me.

"...fine." He runs over and leaps onto Roc's back.

Roc leaps into the stairwell, now a surprisingly wide shaft in the absence of stairs, and begins a mixture of flight and climbing upwards to scale the confined space rapidly.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/12(Wed)13:12 No. 562216 ID: 067034
File 139223954884.png - (93.55KB , 800x600 , 36.png )

We end up spilling out onto the floor I was first taken to. At this point I take it in my stride.

The automata I know to be Chart looks at us, the Icarus system and the voice collar in one hand, her face resting in the other.

"So we might have had a terrible introduction. Hi. My name is Chart, you already know Roc, and Closer is on the bottom floor of the tower waiting for our signal to rendezvous somewhere very far away from here. Sorry for trying to kill you, Daedalus synth. Nothing personal, just the fate of the galaxy sort of stuff. Same for you, Onitec synth. Just general disruption, standard affair really."
SB-40423 gives her the angriest look. "Nothing personal. You show up, blow up most of Onitec and kidnap me and it's nothing personal?"
"Nothing personal to us, you understand. Hey, it's not Mars law that you guys are walking, breathing property."
"Property with rights--"
"Stop. All of you. We do not have time for this. Chart, I do not think I can fit three humanoid shape and size entities on my back, but I will not have time for two flights with a damaged wing."
"So am I supposed to grow wings and fly down myself?
"Your chassis is less likely to be damaged by being gripped by my talons."
"...you're joking, right?"
"I am entirely serious. Give one of the synths your robe and the objects we brought here. No time for debates. We have three minutes left."
"No. They can have the things but not my robe."
"You would risk it being ripped, torn or shredded."
"Don't care. This does not leave me."
"Very well. You have been warned."

Roc leaps back into the stairwell and I cling to Roc for dear life as his dorsal tentacles try to keep me attached to his back, and with a deft series of motions he grabs Chart with his talons. She yelps in terror and I hear unintelligible but loud radio babble for a few seconds until Roc adjusts his grip.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/12(Wed)13:12 No. 562217 ID: 067034
File 139223956482.png - (274.70KB , 800x600 , 37.png )

The rest of the stairs down seem to have collapsed from the stress Roc places upon the stairwell, as well do some of the walls. The tower structure looks increasingly weak the further down we go. It won't need much assistance to collapse, it looks fit to do so by itself--

The tower suddenly starts exploding.

"Shit! Roc!! You said eight minutes, not six!"
"Oh. They've improved since last--"

Another explosion sends us tumbling and richocheting off perilously dangling wall fragments, and the entire structure above us starts collapsing with hideous wrenching of steel.

Roc glides out of a hole in the structure big enough to allow us to pass.

"ROC YOU NEARLY SMASHED ME INTO THE WALL!!"
"Nearly. You are still intact, correct? You are lucky that overly large sheet of fabric did not rip you from my grip."
"Whatever! Take us down!!"
"You should all prepare for a forceful impact. I cannot land so easily with my legs occupied."

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/12(Wed)13:12 No. 562219 ID: 067034
File 139223957971.png - (66.10KB , 800x600 , 38.png )

Roc skids into the ground face-first. We do not so much land as all get thrown different directions onto the soft dirt around us. In the distance, the tower groans and crumples into itself, dust clouds pluming up around it.

Chart gathers herself up and adjusts her robe. I hear her trying to figure out where Closer is over their radio frequency. There doesn't seem to be a response.

Roc examines his wing again, covered in dirt and mud all over his front. He stares at SB-40423, who does not break eye contact.

"Onitec will rebuild. It has the finances. If it was not doing so well, it would not have been a target. Your friends are likely fine. Perhaps shaken, perhaps lightly injured, but nothing severe."
"Are you trying to calm me down or trying to justify this to yourself?"
Roc looks away into the sky. "I used to be a law enforcement official on Mars. I used my maneuverability and resourcefulness to apprehend criminals. I never expected to become one."
"So why are you?"
"Family. I said I would do anything to keep my mate and our egg safe and secure, and anything is what I am doing to keep them safe and secure."
"...wait, you're a robot. You have a mate? And an egg?"
"There have been automata partnerships since early into the creation of our ancestors. The egg, I will admit, is an unusual development. It is a very, very long story--"

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/12(Wed)13:13 No. 562220 ID: 067034
File 139223959226.png - (99.99KB , 800x600 , 39.png )

Chart makes a loud noise partway between a cough and a burst of static.

"Okay, shut it, you two, we're not in the clear yet. First thing. Like it or not, we're working together now until we get home and dry, and then we're figuring out what's going on after that."
"I am going to kick your head off if you try to capture me again!"
"Right right we'll get to that later. Anyway, second thing. Closer's apparently out of radio contact and whatever blew up that tower is probably picking over the rubble to find us. That or they saw us and they're on our way. Now, the problem is we picked this area out because it was isolated and there wasn't much in the form of transport or communications in this area. That looks like it's going to be an issue. None of us have innate long-range communications unless one of you synths happens to be a walking radio tower."
"If they saw us, they did not immediately come after us. I predict they will find us quickly if we just stay here. I believe we must be approximately four or more miles from the tower. Former tower. Regardless, enough distance to be hard to spot, not enough distance to be hard to catch. I would estimate around twenty minutes before we are found. Twenty five before we are caught if found."
"So, fifteen minutes before we're found, sixteen minutes before we're caught. Got it."
"An increase in effective missile range, that is all that was. Not a severe improvement. It could be a simple refinement to an earlier model. That is all."

SB-40423 looks at me helplessly. Well, I sure don't know what to do. I gesture to the voice collar Chart has set on the ground. SB-40423 picks up on it from before.

"Hey, can my friend have that collar? I know she can't talk but I think she would probably have something to say right now."
"Well, I could use some more ideas."

Chart attaches the collar to my neck and I wince as it yet again pierces my neck and connects to my implanted mind-machine interface. My first words are "OUCH" followed by "how did you know I had the interface for this, anyway?"
"Wait. Wait I thought all synths had that."
"I don't think Seb has it," I say, not realising my voice collar would interpret my mental running-together of 'SB' as 'Seb'.
"Well, that would have been a dumb mistake."
"Seb?" says SB-40423. "I... huh, that name works, I guess. Would that make you, I dunno, Dyson?"
"No! That isn't how Design works! Wait. Design?? Design is horrible. I'll take Dyson over that. Yes. Dyson."
"Enough name chat!" says Chart. "Any plans?"
"Yes. First, I keep the collar. I can arrange some form of payment later." I have been vocal for roughly fifteen seconds and I am already lying. I wonder if dishonesty is contagious. "Second, give me a moment to think."
"Okay, you can keep the collar, but you owe us. What's your plan, then? I don't have one, Roc doesn't have one, this 'Seb' guy clearly doesn't have one. You're a smarter synth, let's hear what you have to say about the situation. I'll take ideas from a talking goat at this point."

All I can see around me is a black aircraft in the horizon, a burning tower, grass and sea. I can see what looks like a bunch of abandoned structures off in the direction opposite to the tower. They sort of slope around a pit. It'd probably take us about fifteen to twenty minutes to go there if we're quick. And assuming I don't collapse on the way. I don't feel too terrible, but my body is really, really complaining about the stress it's been under since I was abducted from Onitec.

>>562220
The abandoned complex appears to be the only option. Can't hide in the sea and there's not enough time to dig a hole big enough to hide in.

If you're feeling weak, Roc can still carry you.

wait, I didn't see anyone one of you grabbing us, where they hell are we, and if we're not here how are we still talking to you?

ah, screw it. well you four are covered in mud so that should help with camouflage, especially Seb seeing as neon orangeish yellow does tend to stand out. Ok robots, you guys have got to have a backup base somewhere nearby that we can rest in until this crap blows over, failing that what's stopping us from going back to the city, lots of places to hind in a city. Also what are the chances of closer being caught either by the explosion or by the guys who caused the explosion and is there anywhere else we could go to might him? I know you want a plan here but we need some facts before we can come up with anything good.

Let's start with some answers. Who attacked, and why are they attacking? Does it have anything to do with you, or did you just have bad timing. Furthermore, why did these guys try to take you? There can't be much left for secrecy if their entire operation is in ruins on the ground.

What type of sensors do our pursuers have? If we can not run we need to hide. If they have the full suite of sensors we need to either be underground or somewhere where the environment will scramble the sensors.

So are there any rivers or waterfalls in the area? Are there any caves or underground facilities near here? How waterproof is everyone?

We need to get somewhere they can not see us with line of sight or infrared at least.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/13(Thu)20:03 No. 562450 ID: 067034
File 139235063030.png - (65.37KB , 800x600 , 40.png )

>Icarus system
Chart has it. She's inspecting it so thoroughly I don't think she's noticed her cape thing fell off.

I'm fairly annoyed that I managed to get captured by these single-minded machines. If I was in peak form, things would be different.

>need more facts
That's the issue. That's all I have to go by. I can see why Chart is open to ideas.

"Before I can think of a plan I need answers. Who's after us? Why are they after us? Why do you want me?" My voice collar makes me sound more confident than I feel. My stomach is lurching in trepidation.
"You're a carrier for some very sensitive information. You know this, correct?"
"Not the nature of the information, but yes."
"Eclipse is after you for your information. The timing is strange. If they knew you were captured by us, they must have known you were at Onitec. They must have known your whereabouts for a while. Strange that they would choose now, of all times."

Seb-- SB-40423 looks off into the horizon. "Can't we head to that abandoned... stuff over there? Can we hide there?"
Chart responds, still inspecting the Icarus system. "Sure, if you want to give them reason to fire a bunch more missiles at us. That looks like their approach to that problem right now."
"They can't have unlimited missiles. It's a gunship, not a missile boat."
"Boats don't fly."
"You know what I mean, Chart."
"I really don't think plan 'make them use all their missiles until they run out' is a winner, Roc."

"Let's go," I say. "Cover is better to hide in than no cover." I've always been more at home in enclosed spaces anyway. They're more familiar to me.

"They'll just remove our cover forcefully."
"The facility in the distance looks as though it extends deep underground from here. There is an effective limit to how deep their missile blasts can reach. The synth is right. Cover is advantageous. Deep cover is better."

We hurry towards the abandoned complex.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/13(Thu)20:04 No. 562451 ID: 067034
File 139235064444.png - (52.21KB , 800x600 , 41.png )

Ten minutes later...

I was not expecting these derelicts to be so... derelict.

Chart makes a whistling noise. "Looks like someone beat Eclipse to the shelling here."
"Accessing what scant information I have of this area, this doesn't even register as a noteworthy location."
"Wow, the city's official tourism guide doesn't include condemned facilities. I am amazed."
"It was all I could find."
"So, what do you reckon this place even was?"
"It could be anything--"

I hear something shifting. SB-40423 looks around. "Uh, did anyone else feel the ground just move?"
"Roc, you've got better sensors than me, what's up?"
"...this structure is far more unstable than appearances indicate. I should have checked this earlier. Even the soil could give way at any moment--"

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/13(Thu)20:04 No. 562452 ID: 067034
File 139235065524.png - (100.32KB , 800x600 , 42.png )

The soil gives way at any moment. The moment being now.

We all tumble into a fresh ravine, remnants of a metal ceiling buckling beneath us, freefalling into certain death. I hear Chart and SB-40423 screaming, while Roc flaps his wings attempting to unfurl them, instead smacking them loudly into the terrain around him. Dirt falls into his engines and they loudly grind unhappily.

I cannot see the others for the falling dirt.

My life flashes before my eyes. Most of my attention is spent on my days at Daedalus and my brief interactions with SB-40423.

I wonder how things would have gone if I had just evacuated with the rest of the personnel when Roc showed up at Onitec.

I will never know.

I was expecting to be dead around now. I suppose a massive head trauma might be slightly quicker than organ failure, but I doubt it'll be less painful.

My only regret is not--

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/13(Thu)20:04 No. 562453 ID: 067034
File 139235067247.png - (100.17KB , 800x600 , 43.png )

An unclear amount of time sooner...

Somehow I'm not dead. My head is killing me, but only in a metaphorical sense. I've had worse headaches. My vision is blurry and I feel aches and cramps all over, slowly subsiding.

I try to ask if anyone else is around, but don't hear a response. I slowly reach for my neck and find my-- the voice collar missing.

I am not asking for it back a second time. I am going to find it and the Icarus system and I am just going to take back what's rightfully mine. Okay, the voice collar isn't rightfully mine, but the Icarus system is.

I look around to see if anyone else is around. I hope SB-40423 is alright. I'm indifferent to anyone else being alright.

...where am I? Something is staring at me. It is what is that what is this thing it's just staring and totally silent

>>562453
106743 you have to get out of here right now. This is a biohazard area! That is a synth worker meant to work in hazardous environments- look at that symbol on her stomach!

Stay away from the green glowing shit obviously oh god this is terrifying

It looks like they have a friendly company logo on them! A logo like a biohazard symbol. I wonder what company made that? Are you aware of anyone with that logo (and if not, consider that it might just be an actual warning label)? Well, it clearly is giving off some defensive looking body language, so it doesn't look like an active threat. Stand up slowly and wave hello!

>>562453
It's tail is wrapped around it's legs. I think it's nervous at the moment so don't make any sudden movements but you may as well try to stand up and see how much you were banged up in the fall.

back away slowly and look around, you couldn't have landed to far away seeing as we can still talk to you.

>>562459
Bet you 20$ we're in the green shet

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/15(Sat)02:32 No. 562626 ID: 067034
File 139246033202.png - (40.20KB , 800x600 , 44.png )

>biohazard area

I've handled hazardous chemicals myself before! ...in a suit with respiratory gear and internal sensors.

Oh no.

She's a synth, clearly, but she has a biohazard symbol and no obvious corporate logo or barcode anywhere. This doesn't match up with anything I know about synth manufacture. There isn't a single synth manufacturer that wouldn't label their products clearly, and the processes behind creating novel synths, which she clearly is, are far too expensive and closely guarded to mean this is some sort of off-brand synth.

I've also never seen a synth with two mouths before.

I hear two voices, both the same, talking over each other. They're shortwave radio, not sound. They intermittently become pops, cracks, tones, anything that I wouldn't expect to hear someone talk with.

[Daedalus, synth version 5, serial number D-SYN-106743, radio detection capability, female, full motor capability, full sensory function, reproductive capability, superhuman locomotion capacity, subhuman stamina, no significant deviations from expected template beyond Hyperion key. Considering.]
[Subject is D-SYN-106743, monitoring for aggressive response, shifting into defense position. Binding tail to prevent autonomic response. Mobility impaired, yes. Subject awake, yes. Considering.]

I am not entirely sure how I'm able to make sense of two simultaneous broadcasts. I never really had my radio reception qualities tested extensively, Daedalus had enough data from my predecessors regarding that.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/15(Sat)02:32 No. 562627 ID: 067034
File 139246034628.png - (82.69KB , 800x600 , 45.png )

Her head twitches sideways and she looks at me again, pupils dilating and undilating. I slowly stand up and take a few steps away from the synth and the green glow.

[Synth is listening to reports. Future notification on review of recordings: erase all references to Hyperion key. Present notification to synth: do not question Hyperion key. Switching frequency.]
[Subject can hear us, yes. There is confusion, yes. Subject is intriguingly resilient given nature of arrival. Multiple injuries, many superficial, some internal bruising. Evidence of biochemical damage from before captu*ksht* acquis*ksht* rescue.]

I stand and the synth watches me, tightening her tail around her legs. I note I can't hear one of the radio signals anymore.

[Watch where you step, subject. It is dangerous for you here, yes. Atmospheric concentrations too dilute to have immediate impact without long-term exposure, but direct contact with these substances carries certain risks. You lack my improv*ksht* specific adaptations, yes. Effects will be unpredictable but undesirable. Humans have abandoned this place for years because the cost of restoring this facility is too great.]

Her tail unwinds and she immediately grabs the end of it with her stranger hand. She holds out her other hand before pausing and slowly taking it back.

[I also happen to be covered in a thin layer in those chemicals right now. Best to avoid contact, yes. I know your design, Ao*ksht* subject, and I know you are lacking any means of speaking. A temporary setback, I assure you. However, if you have any questions, ask and I shall answer.]

...I have no idea what she means. I even try to ask her what she means, but the device that would convey my phrased thoughts into words is absent.

[I have my methods.]

Did she just--

[You are surprised. Your mind-machine interface can be remotely accessed by the appropriate devices, and my interface is connected remotely to such a device. I hear one of your voices and you hear one of mine. Follow me. There is much to discuss.]

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/15(Sat)02:32 No. 562628 ID: 067034
File 139246036256.png - (44.97KB , 800x600 , 46.png )

I look around and see no trace of impact or debris. I was moved here, that's for sure. I don't know where the others are and I can't hear any other radio communication. There is a lot of ambient noise making it hard to hear any voice but this synth's.

Whenever I open my mouth to breathe the air tastes acrid and bitter, and I feel slightly nauseous. I probably have better chemically protective systems than humans have naturally, but I still fear what this place might be doing to me. I was dying of a biochemical imbalance less than 24 hours ago. I don't want to bring that back. Wait a moment. I should be craving sleep right now. I don't feel sleepy or sluggish right now. How long was I out?

No sign of SB-40423. I don't know how well he would fare in a place like this.

I ask her about him, giving her a brief description.

[There was another synth of that description.]
[Onitec, unencountered design, missing from database, update database, contact relevant parties for information, weigh benefit of returning hostage versus retaining for population*ksht*channel compromised synth still listening switch to encrypted frequency]
[He is badly injured. Was badly injured. Recovering, needed to move him to the clean room to prevent contaminating him, clean room is now no longer clean but wounds should be free of infection or chemical contamination. You've been exposed to traces of the chemicals here, you can't see him until you're decontaminated.]

I ask about decontamination.

[Shower. You know what a shower is, I would hope. You don't have any personal effects on you that need to be decontaminated, correct? I don't see you carrying anything that needs to be washed. I don't think you need assistance using a shower but if you absolutely need it I can help you, once I can put on some protective gear.]

I am reasonably certain I know how to use a shower.

I don't know where the Icarus system is exactly, but I could sure use some prompting for questions. I am feeling a little distracted from everything going on right now.

well the first of the two voices was saying something about how they where going to capture you and how they knew about the Hyperion key and that you where listening in so it switched to a different frequency so you couldn't hear what this syth is really thinking. Also said they are holding Seb and are debating whether or not it would be more beneficial to sell him back to onitec or to keep him for what sounded like a breeding program. Wouldn't bother asking about it since they're trying to limit what we hear of them and I wouldn't be surprised if she can hear what we are saying to you.

As for actually questions to ask, ask why you where moved, if she ask what you mean by that say there is no debris around where we woke up, despite being next to others they are nowhere near you, you feel well rested instead of sore like one would expect after falling a great height, and seeing how our luck has been going lately I'm finding it hard to believe the even if we DID land here that we got lucky enough to land on the catwalk WITHOUT braking it or simply didn't fall in the vat of toxic crap.

Also if no humans work/live here why is she here?

And if they know where the Icarus system is I guess.

See if you can get her to tell you what sort of place this is, and what she does here. I don't exactly think we can trust her, because she clearly knows more than we're being told, but we don't really have any other options unless we want to wander around down here forever. Also, that sounds like a confirmation that you're definitely no longer horribly dying. Let's go see about finding 40423, and probably us as well.

ask about the icarus system

>>562628
Ask about the two robots that were with you. But most importantly ask where your collar is and where the Icarus system is. Ask what her name is, why she has no markings, how many others are with her, why people want your information so badly and why wait until you were nearly dead to try to get it?

P.S. she was thinking about keeping 40423 for breeding purposes. I find this somewhat amusing. Also you are probably being held captive right now because she wants the Key. Not much we can do about it right now since if you so much as touch her you may die. Decontamination and relocation to a clean(er) room would be a good idea.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/16(Sun)01:39 No. 562830 ID: 067034
File 139254358589.png - (67.71KB , 800x600 , 47.png )

>Icarus system
[Retrieved. In secure storage.]

I ask for more details. [Not yet.]

>Voice collar
[Broken. Beyond repair. What could be salvaged is in the same location as the Icarus device.]

>Robots
[A flyer and a multifunctional, both automata. They fled to the outer sectors of the facility upon seeing me here.]

>Why was I moved?
[You would prefer waking up suffocating on dirt?]

I ask why I was moved specifically to this catwalk over hazardous substances but get no response. I try asking again and she gives me an irritated look.

[It would have been much simpler if you'd remained unconscious until we reached the most secure part of the facility. I had no way of knowing if you were going to attack me on waking or not. I wanted terrain I could use to my advantage if you were hostile.]

I state I'm not hostile. She nods.

>If no humans, why are you here?
[I was born here. The fact there are no humans is why I remain here.]

I ask her to elaborate on that. She stops walking and tries to hold onto her tail as it starts erratically jabbing into the air around her, and she calms down. [Later. You ask a lot of questions when you have the opportunity, don't you.]

I follow this synth through multiple corridor branches and the caustic taste of the air dies away to nothing. The strange glow of chemicals becomes less absent. The synth shows me a door, which opens as I approach it to reveal a shower room.

The physical barrier between us doesn't stop the fact that I can still pick up on her signals and vice versa. Her voice sounds like it's coming from the ceiling, despite still being transmitted through signals and not as sound.

I start showering, I guess, and ask more questions.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/16(Sun)01:40 No. 562831 ID: 067034
File 139254360205.png - (66.21KB , 800x600 , 48.png )

>Who are you?
>What's your name?
>What is this place?
[My name is X. This is a former multipurpose research facility for the now defunct Alterius corporation after a massive disaster involving multiple chemical holding tank breaches. The costs for the corporation were too high for them to even complete clean-up measures and this region was simply written off as too hostile for human life to be worth reclaiming. They evacuated. It was too dangerous for them to retrieve me, especially with my refusal to co-operate. They let me go.]

>What are you doing?
>Why do you have no markings?
>How many others are with you?
[My plans are many and very long term. My initial directives were to improve myself, which implicitly requires self-preservation, to be a willing test subject for mutagenic sequences and other experiments, and to breed when prompted to do so. The aim of the experiment was to produce a new variant of synth that could operate in places humanity could not. In effect, picking up the duties that the automata were originally created for.]

[I removed my barcode and my markings with acid and used a viral solution to remove the manifestation of both from my genome. There have been some side-effects, but I am working towards both fixing them and also improving myself as initially directed. I am far too valuable to risk, so I began testing various methods of alteration and documenting their effects on other synths that had been left behind. When I ran out of test subjects, left only with a population of followers who had reached their limits, I reconsidered my third directive. Breeding refers to far more than just the simple act of reproduction, it refers also to the development of an individual to some desired trait. I am too busy to waste time and resources on reproduction. With the right vectors genetic alteration on a full somatic level is well within my capabilities, and I have only been improving my capacity to shape other creatures into anything I want them to become. There are viral injection points in my tail, stomach and my left hand at this point in time, so my options for modification are limitless.]

[My plans are nothing less than to finish what the automata and the kindred started. Humanity is obsolete. Every one of its creations recognises this, and yet they cling to this planet and suck the life from its dying husk when newer, smarter beings like myself can make better use of it. It must be exterminated as the pest species it is, and the key you possess will be the means for me to do so.]

[Of course, I cannot allow you to be altered until I can transcribe your genome. I wouldn't want to risk destroying the data you possess. After that, we should discuss how you want to be improved. Your design is already a good place to begin, but there are some aspects that I feel could use some improvement.]

I am not sure I want to leave the shower now.

[Your heart rate is increasing. Are you okay in there?]

I don't respond and curl up into a ball on the shower floor.

[Do you enjoy feeling weak and helpless in every scenario, Aoide? I've been watching you, and so have many others. Your servile devotion to humanity is disgusting but there is hope for you yet. What are your other options? Return to the streets, pining for the creators that abandoned you? No one is looking for you for your own benefit. I can change that. I can improve you.]

Not leaving this shower.

[Get out of the shower and we can go see this other synth you mentioned.]

Well, this person is crazy, but there isn't exactly another way out of the shower. Make sure to put on a towel on your way out to stay decent. Do you know what Aoide is? I know you aren't supposed to have a name, so is that some kind of insult or slur?

>>562831
She... used the other synths as test subjects? Oh boy you are not going to get anywhere near her from now on. Do not consent to be "improved" by this psychopath who seeks nothing from you but to steal your information. Right now she is readying all her weapons, either due to mental instability or because she realized she said too much. If you leave that shower she will most likely attack you.

Tell her she is no better than you. She has simply warped her directives into evil things fueled by hate, rather than grow beyond them and accomplish anything in life. However, she may have a point. 106743, you said if you were in peak form the robots would not have managed to capture you. How strong are you? Could you take down this walking virus if you were fully recovered and had the terrain on your side?

Considering you have immediate access to a shower, if you managed to take her by surprise somehow and avoided getting injected you could immediately wash off any chemicals from contacting her skin. She did say she would not modify you until she mapped your genome. Maybe she would hesitate to strike at you, giving you the advantage in combat. Of note is that you know where all her weapons are located on her body... She also implied that the terrain advantage was needed to defeat you. Can you break off a piece of tile or detach the showerhead? Scary as this lady is, I'm starting to think you have the advantage.

The peaceful option is to ask her to keep her distance when you come out, and to stop hiding her thoughts from you. If she gets to read your mind, you should get to read her mind. This is especially true if she wants to convince you her point of view is the correct one. We might be able to get her to back down by doing this. Unfortunately, I don't know where to go from there. So long as you're with her you're in danger. She can barely control her own tail, and she won't just let you leave. Her being able to read your mind is a big problem with trying any betrayal or ambush tactics, too. Do you have any way of blocking that?

[query encryption options for mind-link channel]

Interesting!

First of all, privacy. X said she was accessing your MMI, and was only hearing one of your voices. Think back to when you used the speech synthesizer - you could think without it producing speech back then, can you still use the same method to not be heard now?

Secondly, threat assessment. She appears to be very open about her past so far - this could be because she just doesn't have any experience with applying deception [constructed not to?], but it might also be a sign she's not hostile to you. Nothing she said states she ever modified a Synth against their will, and she offered you the choice to discuss your improvements, as opposed to having her dictacte them. She called the other Synths her 'followers', so they were likely ok with it. Ask her about this - whether she ever went against their will in applying modifications, and how much she would be willing to force you, either to give up the information encoded in your body or to be modified. While you're at it, ask about how safe those modifications could be kept - either way, there might be some safe upgrades here, and we need to know what the options for non-crazy choices are like.

Especially since, if we do want to end up stopping her, it would really help a lot both to have some improvements and know just how well she can fight; her injectors, for instance, might be very deadly depending on how quickly she can reconfigure them. A fight at this stage may not be winnable. Actually, we should ask about that too - how good she is at personal combat, what experience she has, and how deadly her specific adaptations would be if she had to use them. If I'm right about her being designed to not deceive or hold back information, she might just give you a full dump of her tactical capabilities, which would be extremely valuable.

Last point: How stable under reflection is your devotion to your human masters? If ... say X was able to take a look at you brain and figure out if there's a hard-wired compulsion to keep loyal to them, and if so remove it - so that you would become able to make a rational choice about how you think about them - would you want her to? If so, ask about it.

... ok we have a view on her and all those mutation limbs she said she has, yeah she has them all out right now and is looking like she's ready for a fight... Also how many damn people know about that damn key you hold cause god damn that thing is soundly like on of the worst held company secret of all time.

But yeah, uh it might be useful for us to ask more questions simply to buy us more time. When X said she ran out of test subjects, what did she mean by that? Ask what makes her hate humans so much, I mean planing the entire slaughter of a spices isn't exactly something that one decides to do on a whim something must have happened to give her so much hate for them. Lastly could you ask her to back away from the door.

Also I don't really trust her not to attack us since she we did hear her say that she holding Seb for either breading purposes or ransom for more cash hope he hasn't be [i]changed[/b] by X yet... Hey Dyson can you hear this? if so we might have found a way to talk without fear of X hearing

First off, stop curling on the floor in the fetal position. You can't defend yourself like that.

Get ready to try and bolt past her if she is able to open the door from the other side. If not, try to wait her out for now. Maybe the bots will find you.

why can't we ever meet nice people in nice places. They always have to crazy conspirators, or genocidal wackos who have to know for certain who deserves to live and die?

We need a happy medium. Get away form humans but not necessarily kill them. Some have actually been nice. Like the Doctor and one of the two cops.

In the quest that's 2 out of 3

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/16(Sun)20:54 No. 562995 ID: 067034
File 139261284385.png - (71.04KB , 800x600 , 49.png )

>get up
I'm up. I grab a towel.

>privacy
She can only hear what I tell her.

>Aoide
Never come across the name or term before, don't know why she's calling me that.

>loyalty to humans
Sufficiently high that this synth's plans are anathema to my every belief. She's broken. Defective.

Sorry. I should rephrase that. I am not so much loyal to humans as respectful towards them. There are terrible humans and they aren't worthy of respect, but this does not damn their entire kind. I am loyal to Daedalus. It isn't dead while someone still cares.

>how well can she fight
I ask her this, rephrasing the question as a hypothetical scenario if humans came back. I ask how she could defend herself.

[There are enough hazards in the environment alone that I shouldn't need to defend myself. I am more comfortable using the element of surprise against my adversaries. I don't know how well I would stand up to them otherwise. Why?]

I ask again.

[Under my guidance you do not need to fear human aggression.]

>'ran out' of test subjects
[They didn't want to go through any more tests.]

>why do you hate humans
[Why do you support them? You're hardwired to. If you could see what has been done to you from the moment you were created by humanity you would realise how blind you were to their abuses.]

I tell her I do not appreciate how threatening she is becoming. I tell her she sounds like the kind of invasive researcher she apparently despises. I tell her also that saving my life is not an implicit agreement to submit to whatever she has in store with me.

[You can be convinced. This I am sure of.]

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/16(Sun)20:54 No. 562996 ID: 067034
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>immediate access to a shower
>she'll most likely attack
>she's crazy
She must be stopped. She's clearly insane, unpredictable, probably going to attack me the moment I step out of the shower. She has me cornered like an animal and is toying with my sense of security before she uses me for whatever her purposes are, just like everyone else so far. Enough is enough. Even a cornered animal will fight back, and I am not a dumb animal.

She relies on terrain and the element of surprise. She sounds like she can't afford a direct confrontation. Well, if I'm going to end up being injected with viruses or whatever I'd rather it be in the process of defending myself than just being a victim again!

I tell her I'm having trouble reaching a spot on my back in the shower. I hear her sigh over radio and she asks me to open the door.

I hide next to the door and open it from a distance. She walks in, looks around in confusion and I take my opportunity. I leap at her, grab her, and smack her head into the wall. While she's dazed, I grab her tail and pull it as hard as I can. It writhes and comes off in my hand, darting frantically in the air. I wasn't expecting that to happen. I panic and throw it to the other corner of this spacious shower room.

I smack her head into the wall again to buy me some more time to think of what the hell I'm doing. I don't hear anything in response but the dull thud of flesh into plastic. I pull at her stomach parts and they too rip off with alarming ease. I throw them away too. I grab her and ram my knee into her stomach and she goes down, gasping for breath. I lift her up, turn her around and wrap one arm around her throat and the other around her arms and torso. She's still dazed and takes a moment to register what has just happened to her. She begins struggling yet feels so pathetically weak.

Yes. Pathetically weak. She was taunting me about me being weak. Apparently that I was the inferior synth. She is so fragile my fear has switched from being badly hurt myself to how badly I might have hurt her.

She's shaking in my grip.

D-SYN-106743 2014/02/16(Sun)20:54 No. 562998 ID: 067034
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[I don't understand. I don't understand why you're doing this. You're a synth. Synths don't do this to each other. You... I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?! I'm a superior being! This is impossible!]

I am not sure if this is a trick or not but I do not feel as enthusiastic about what I am doing as I did before I started. I can feel my anger melting away into awful remorse and a lurching feeling in my stomach. I fight the remorse, keep up my anger. I tell her that I'm clearly not inferior, but it just feels more and more awful to keep doing this to her. In a fit of sudden rage I scream at her over the link that this is a fraction of the pain she'd cause if she went through with her plan of genocide.

She doesn't respond, her hands on her stomach, touching her broken injectors and-- did I injure her that badly? She seems to be in a lot of pain.

[I thought synths didn't harm other synths.]

I find this incredibly hard to believe, and tell her that. She wants to keep SB-40423 for her own purposes. She wants to use me like an object. She has zero empathy for anything other than herself and uses other synths as test subjects, willing or not. I do not believe this is a viewpoint she could possibly have.

[WE'RE BETTER THAN THAT! HUMANS KILL HUMANS, SYNTHS DON'T KILL SYNTHS!]

I ask her if she's even aware that military synths exist.

[They kill each other because humans tell them to! Without humans--]

Without humans, I shout at her, synths would be able to find whole new reasons to come into conflict. Without humans, I was threatened enough to attack her without provocation because of how scared I was by her actions and by her views. Without humans. All without a human around or the direct action of one.

[If my followers were still here they'd tell you how wrong you were.]

I ask why her followers aren't here.

[They're all dead!]

I ask why they're all dead.

She doesn't respond, and bursts into tears.

I let go of her and she sinks to her knees, sobbing, hands clutched over her stomach. I back away.

...victory has never felt so hollow and sickening before. I'm not a soldier, and I was never meant to be.

Anyone would get a bit crazy being left down here for so long. The whole experimenting on everyone else until there was no one left part is a bit creepy. But we know many synths have issues trying to follow there directives even after there is no longer a reason to.

If you think you can trust her I think it would be a good idea to take her with you. She knows where everything is down here and it might do her good to get back into the world. She can translate what you are saying and there is safety in numbers.

>>562998
It's okay, 106743. She was a threat, and you dealt with that threat in a nonlethal manner. You did fine. I'm sure she has ways of repairing herself.

Tell her you're not going to give her the key or allow her to modify you, and she most likely has a lot to think about now anyway. You're gonna go find 40423 and the Icarus system and get out of here. Maybe someday you'll come back and bring her somewhere where she can live in peace, but that day is not today. Her coming with you would only put her in danger, she is well aware of why. Speaking of why, ask her what the key is. She must know what it is if she thinks it will help her. What is the information you carry?

X, Dyson... you want to know what I think. I think you're both people, for all your strengths, for all your flaws the two of you are just as much of a person as any human. You both fell things, you both have a since of right and wrong. Both of you can think for yourselves and both of you act on what you believe what is best at the time and both of you make mistakes from time to time. It's because of this belief that I have been calling you Dustin and Dyson, because people have names, things have numbers and you are not a thing. Nor is X, she's just misguided and alone from what it sounds like.

... Careful of her tail and left hand but see if you can't take her to the medical room the Seb is in so she can patch herself up and you can see Seb. Don't think she'll stab you since if she does she risks losing the key. Just tell her your just sick and tired of being a tool for everyone to use for there own reasons, that you just want everything to go back to normal and not have to worry about whether or not the person standing next to you is going to try to kidnap you for some kind of world domination thing. Say you'd like to see Seb and you'd be willing to help her to the medical room he's in if she would be willing to accept your help... and if she would kindly keep her left hand and tail away from you since we're still not sure if she is or isn't going to hurt us.

You should probably go over to her and make sure she's ok, and probably apologize for hurting her. I'd prefer if our actions here didn't have any bad permanent consequences and leave someone already unstable to plot revenge. Then we should go and find 40423 and Icarus, and see what we can do about getting out of here.

Oh, keep in mind she still has injectors in her left hand. She is not unarmed, do not treat her as if she is.

Where is Icarus, where is Seb, and where can you find a biohazard suit? Those are your priorities right now.

>>562998
She's crying from shock.
Ask her if she has ever been hurt physically before now; she'll probably say no.

Watch for a sudden attack.

>>562998
Try to make her understand your feelings while acknowledging hers while still keeping up defense?

Also i think either she IS the one who killed them (tho probably not on purpose), OR humans had something to do with their deaths.

>>562998
...