1/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:26 No. 1066632 ID: e139aa
File 168780756430.png - (287.31KB , 800x600 , fop-1.png )

Hello. My name is Vi.si.mi. I am an ecology construct created for the Shapeless Lord Vi.al, long shall it reign. At present, as always, my designated task is different. Well. I don't know what it is yet, but it's never the thing I was made for.

2/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:26 No. 1066633 ID: e139aa
File 168780757946.png - (211.98KB , 800x600 , fop-2.png )

"Approach," booms forth the resonant voice of Lord Vi.al, towering over everything in the room, as it is wont to do. Some awe remains, I must admit, but it's sadly rather dulled after a few hundred odd times. It's a shame. I miss it, a little.

"My Lord, I am at your command," I say, as always, and bow, as always, a wing-arm held to my chest as I splay the other to my side.
"Yes, yes," says Lord Vi.al, with some resigned weariness. "I appreciate that you refrained from introducing yourself this time--"
"My name is Vi.si.mi," I am already saying, before I realise. Oh no. I can't turn it off. "I am an ecology con--"
"Cease. Yes, yes, I know who you are. I deeply, deeply regret the introductory directive."

Lord Vi.al stares down at me, only the sound of loud humming and buzzing of computation going on in the surfaces around me. The heartbeat of the Shapeless. After a minute of unbearable silence, the muted playing of synthetic strings and soft chiming percussion resumes. Remotely forced to pianissimo, I notice.
This is off to a good start. "You, uh, you wanted me, uh, um, for something--"
"Good question. Yes, I believe I did, in fact, want you for 'something'. Let us focus on the matter at hand."

3/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:26 No. 1066634 ID: e139aa
File 168780759942.png - (223.68KB , 800x600 , fop-3.png )

"This is 33 Verdant Pearl of Abundance, one of my more favoured garden worlds. It is one among many around the Garden Star, an emerald jewel in my sphere of influence. I am quite fond of this planet. However, I am loath to look upon it at this time as, despite my careful nudges and sparse interventions, it is riddled with conflict, chaos and disorder. Observe these discordant infestations.

"Why they resemble species that have been previously catalogued, I cannot be bothered to dedicate the processing time to. It doesn't matter why they're here. It matters that they're here at all. I'm greatly displeased. I cultivate my garden worlds to be shining exemplars. Now Verdant Pearl is simply as any other rock filled with bickering, squabbling, insufferable younger races, figuring out what parts of each other they need to crudely bludgeon into viscous paste to make each other stop moving. Base. Asinine. Wretched. They live so fleetingly as it is. I want it to stop.

"I did briefly consider a full surface purge and rendering the world yet another framework in my collection, but some of the floral species there I devised myself, and they've deviated from my original specifications in ways that would be tedious to replicate. I am beyond such tedium. I would prefer the biosphere remain intact. All the more reason I have seen fit to assign you, Vi.si.mi, my most trusted of agents, to the task of restoring harmony to this planet. You understand ecological harmony. You were created to shape it."

It still stings a little that I get "most trusted" and never "most effective" or "most competent".

4/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:26 No. 1066635 ID: e139aa
File 168780761896.png - (152.69KB , 800x600 , fop-4.png )

Well, this is startlingly close to my original purpose. Aside from the part where I am not a diplomat, a general, a preacher, or whatever else I need to be to "restore harmony" in a context like this.

"I accept your request," I say, largely as a formality, because I don't recall being offered a choice.
"Of course," says Lord Vi.al, mild exasperation in its tone. "It wasn't a request, but your eager compliance is, as always, appreciated. Good luck, Vi.si.mi. Establish a receiver base and await further instructions. You should not be in any true danger from the rampaging inhabitants, but exercise caution nonetheless. The abruptness of this situation makes me suspicious as to its cause. If you should come across other Transcendentals, alert me immediately."
"Understood. When do I start--"
"The pod will be aligned in about two seconds, so, now."

*bwip*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

5/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:27 No. 1066636 ID: e139aa
File 168780763801.png - (237.80KB , 800x600 , fop-5.png )

could have at least put me in the seat in the right orientation argh ow my bones they're not elastic enough for this--

okay if I can just--

right, twist myself around, and, that cracking sounds bad but it'll probably get better--

Okay! I am-- oh stars beyond that's getting close fast--

Okay! Okay! It's not okay! I'm on an impact course! But! I can swerve somewhere!
And while I do that I can get all the mission context I can grab in... roughly 3 seconds!

6/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/26(Mon)12:27 No. 1066638 ID: e139aa
File 168780767921.png - (46.85KB , 800x600 , fop-6.png )

[ Which location and therefore species of this world would you like to forever alter the fate of? ]

A - The Scarlet Woods (home of the noetuno)
All I know: psi-sensitive, regenerative, vaguely lagomorphic, vicious and bitey.

B - The Azure Tundra (home of the criai)
All I know: cold-adapted, superfluous everything, vaguely vulpine, rebellious streak.

C - The Jade Falls (home of the fehuan)
All I know: smallish, inherent pyrokinesis, vaguely ...saurid?, endearingly ambitious.

D - The Amber Meadow (home of the lepi)
All I know: wide-eyed, smallish, vaguely fluffy, easily transfixed by light.

E - The Sable Shoal (home of the delphics)
All I know: water-adapted but badly, echolocaters, vaguely dolphiny, quietly judgmental.

F - The Malachite Plateau (home of the rhamata)
All I know: quite big, poisonous, vaguely terrifying, misleadingly docile.

A, of course, because it pleases me to watch people scream about neumono. Also I already like them in their own right.

F

D: They are pleasantly fluffy and adorable.

Bird up!
B for Bpettable critters

B

D or B (I'd vote D though)


moff...

F!

C

c

E, why not.

Green is best! F.

>>1066638
Well, D seems the most new.

B

E

Uhh, impulse decision time go, B! Retroactive justification time now uhhh- They're blue, you're blue, something something blue camaraderie?

D - MOFF

D
they like lights, you kind of glow. Sounds like as good of place as any to start.

B!

F

F sounds like the most exciting option. Don't forget to send pictures!

Two kinds of fluff... gotta pick B.

D - Our mission here is one of peace, so hopefully the cuteness of the huge eyes will help.

C or F

>>1066638
D, secondary vote B

d??

d

D moffs are love moffs are life, plus that note about being transfixed by light intrigues me, could be useful for trying some preaching and religion building, or just trying to hypnotize and mind control them all.

>>1066638
F!

let's go with C. ambition is easily to change by inches and pyrokinesis gives an edge against the others if elimination is the end-point goal.

>>1066638
c *or* f leaning f

but why eliminate when were supposed to bring harmony? +plus that's less species for the harmony harem (trust me that's absolutely vital for the success of our mission)

1/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:18 No. 1066750 ID: e139aa
File 168797992481.png - (149.25KB , 800x600 , fop-7.png )

> Lepi

Well if I gotta crash anywhere surely a streaking light from the sky will only have good positive impacts on the cultural psyche of creatures that have strong emotional reactions to light whatever SWERVING NOW

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2/11 ??? 2023/06/28(Wed)12:19 No. 1066751 ID: e139aa
File 168797994367.png - (41.42KB , 800x600 , fop-8.png )

Elsewhere...

For years I've heard it, sung around the fires of the darkest nights, sung under the gleam of brightest moon.
Long before the first eclosion, a god walked the surface of this world.
Callous, indifferent, it forged the world, looked upon its work, and disappeared.

The spirits of this world it left behind were quiet for so long, but suddenly, one day, they awoke.
And with them came a mad god, laughing and shrieking as it rose into the sky, vanishing into light.

And from the heavens came more.

I risked my life to reach this shrine, this holy place. Many tried to stop me.
Sentinel criai offended by my heresies. Savage noetuno raiders. Affronted fehuan who claim the spirits are theirs alone.

But... all I did, all I struggled for...

3/11 ??? 2023/06/28(Wed)12:19 No. 1066752 ID: e139aa
File 168797996433.png - (45.10KB , 800x600 , fop-9.png )

All for this.

This was a shining tower standing high on this hill. I saw it. It guided me here, and now there's... all the lights are gone. Cold, broken ruins.
All for nothing.
Please. Please, if there is any mercy, if you can somehow hear me, anyone, anything, please, please, help us. Help me. Please!

4/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:19 No. 1066753 ID: e139aa
File 168797998915.png - (44.46KB , 800x600 , fop-10.png )

Back where we were...

Okay okay actually no we don't need to crash haha that's silly I can't believe it didn't occur to me!
Vi.al would have left up signal towers surely you don't just sculpt an entire world and then leave no way to easily get back (although if that was the case why did it not just leave a receiver base itself) but surely there's got to be some kind of beacon-- wow that is a weak signal wow wow well it's all I got okay half a second left GO TO BEACON GO TO BEACON GO GO GO GO COME ON POD YOU CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IN YOU JUMP JUMP JUUUUUUMP

6/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:20 No. 1066756 ID: e139aa
File 168798004028.png - (186.88KB , 800x600 , fop-12.png )

*tchklklvwiipp*

7/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:20 No. 1066757 ID: e139aa
File 168798005910.png - (87.95KB , 800x600 , fop-13.png )

*thud*

*CRUNCH* *crack*

9/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:21 No. 1066759 ID: e139aa
File 168798011985.png - (89.49KB , 800x600 , fop-15.png )

Okay! Solid 7/10 landing. Pod exterior mostly intact! Internals largely shattered but I might still have some intact structures to work with to assemble a basic receiver base. Probably blew out all energy reserves doing an abrupt translocation there but at least I don't have to lose a month or two in self-repair. Besides, that's why I'm biomechanical! I can source my energy from things that aren't batteries. I'm just going to keep telling myself basic facts about my own biology because this is absolutely a shock response to the fact I nearly got turned into twisted wreckage. Yes I'd probably have survived eventually but hoooo boy that would not have felt good.
Once again I think Lord Vi.al forgets that I'm not true Shapeless and I can't just fling myself at high velocity into a solid rock and come out more or less unscathed! I know this was absolutely a mistake on its behalf because if it wanted to actually kill me it could have just made me explode. And it's not like it needs plausible deniability to kill me, I don't even have a position on the Shapeless hierarchy, I am a servant through and through! Okay I am rambling again but you know what this is in fact making me feel better. Hey, you know what, the fact I did a jump means I didn't end up crashing where I wanted to anyway, well that's probably for the best, but now I need to think of how I'm going to go meet up with my chosen, uh, locals.

10/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:22 No. 1066760 ID: e139aa
File 168798014303.png - (77.51KB , 800x600 , fop-16.png )

Or they can find me, I guess that works too.

"Hello." Ngh. No. Not going to do it. Not going to-- "My name is Vi.si.mi." Ffffff I can't stop it when it starts "I am an ecology construct created for the Shapeless Lord Vi.al, long shall it reign. To whom am I addressing?" As usual, I bow as I finish my introduction.

Well, at least that's extremely calming after what I just went through. Satisfying directives sure does wonders for the nerves and nerve-wire interfaces.

They're just staring at me. Makes sense. Maybe shaking a little bit. Hm. Let's pause and reflect. I just appeared in front of a local primitive (can I use that word? I mean, compared to my kind they're less complex in physiology, culture, history, pretty much everything, also this is just my mental train of thought so it's probably fine) in a big glass sphere thing and came out of it and introduced myself like nothing is unusual. My face isn't particularly expressive so I am probably doing a great job masking the fact I am fucking terrified for my life after my trip here and could not be more thankful to be standing on solid ground.

They're staring at me in confusion, and then they say something. In a language I don't immediately know. Oh, right.
I realise I spoke to them in the usual speaking language of my kind, which is largely pitch and melody based. I guess it might be more accurate to call it a singing language. Either way, I doubt most non-Shapeless creatures have the capacity to parse a six-voiced fugue of chime-chants as having semantic meaning.

11/11 Vi.si.mi 2023/06/28(Wed)12:22 No. 1066761 ID: e139aa
File 168798017848.png - (51.87KB , 800x600 , fop-17.png )

Oh. Okay now they're on their knees and shaking and staring up at me. Well, first things first, I guess I'll see if I can hook into the pod's remnant cognition for translation purposes. Hm. Less smashed up inside than I expected! Connection established, and...

"...faith never waned, star bird, tell me what I need to do to save my people, my life is yours!"

Okay, lexicon and grammar established from comparison against recorded languages and massive inferences, I can respond in their language now. I'll probably sound like I've had my central processing structure caved in but honestly I'm not exactly sure that isn't true. So, something short and snappy might be best to respond with. Anything too long and I risk an ever increasing probability of translation errors creeping in.
Oh no. Short and snappy. Oh no I'm doomed. I'm rambling this much in my own head-- no, no! Settle down, Vi.si.mi! First impressions are everything!

What should I say to whoever this is?

Give her a hug :3

"Tell me your name."

"Oof ouch my bones, would you like to Scream at God at such a wonderful time of night, and wake somebody up?" :V

You are INCREDIBLY fortunate they're focused more on worshipping you than paying attention to your... Graceful Landing.

Give me a hand fixing my pod!

Hm. Short and simple, huh. Well, start off with some clipped monotone, simple commandments.

"My goal: restore harmony."

"Your goal: save people."

"Our goal - save world."

(From Vi.al's 'surface purge' option - and whatever else is currently ongoing, that is.)

^ this is probably the best one to go with so far.

>>1066761
Request that they stand. You need informed allies, not worshipers using you as the figurehead of who knows what beliefs they have..

> What should I say to whoever this is?

"Hello. My name is Vi.si.mi. I am an ecology construct created for the Shapeless Lord Vi.al, long shall it reign. To whom am I addressing?"

Simple: Make friends, then kill your enemies!

>>1066776
>>1066762
>>1066771
These, in order.

>>1066771
Can't do better than this. And yes, apply gentle hug.

Well, we have no idea where their home is so "Spread the word among your people" will fail. So, let's go with the sci-fi classic line. Which one? Why, "Take me to your leader", very classic way to begin with.

>>1066761
"Take me to your leader."

You should say something like "Hi, I'm not a demon." but that seems to be what they think, so maybe say something to establish that you aren't completely fluent in their language. Maybe start with something to get them talking more. Perhaps "Please explain the situation" would be a good start?

Ask for their name I guess?

This creature seems on edge! Luckily, there's a surefire method to break the ice and raise their spirits. Let's go with one of the classics:

"I just flew in from the stars and boy are my arms tired!"

You picked the best crash location! It turns out the people here need you to do exactly what you were sent here to do! Not that you have any idea how to do it!

Right, short and snappy.

1) Here to help.
2) Temporary language barrier, speaking difficult.
3) What threatens your people?

Sit on the moth.
"Lord Vi.al requests the restoration of harmony. In big dumb common words, you assholes keep fighting each other and you made a mess of this beautiful world. My job is to make you stop."
*beat*
"I am but a humble servant of my master, and will require your assistance. But should I fall unconscious to your pitiful assassination attempts or should your people refuse this simple tedious task, Lord Vi.al will destroy your world and build another. He is a god of many worlds, after all."
Get off her and offer a hand.
"Okay, that was the last item on today's divine checklist. I need a nap. Where's the nearest inn? I want the full commoner experience."
>If she asks "But... why?"
"Because you mortal simpletons are so easy to fool when you think you're talking to the lowest of the low. Even your smartest villains have this tendency to yap, yap, and yip when they think a nobody is listening. I'm going to find the evil masterminds forcing you to wage war and hate yourselves. And then I'm going to slaughter them."

kek, this is the right idea, the primitive is already bowing, time exert your god impersonation skills

1/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:38 No. 1066918 ID: e139aa
File 168823673445.png - (59.83KB , 800x600 , fop-18.png )

> Fix pod
Oh no it's absolutely never flying again. I mean, it wasn't built to leave orbit anyway, the intention with this sort of vessel is to get to a planet with no existing transmission station of suitable bandwidth. And the repairs required to its structure will involve a lot of extremely fine damages to substrate mechanisms far beyond my capability to influence. I don't have the capacity to reprogram substrate to the level of fine nanoscopic intricacy required for that sort of thing. I barely contain any substrate myself.
One of the Shapeless, whose bodies are entirely substrate, on the vibrating precipice between matter and energy, could probably repair it. Or they could turn it into a new vessel. Or a new vessel factory. Or a city centre. Or a space elevator, with enough time and base matter.
Me? I can pull out complex components and systems like the surrounding material is water, sure, but I'm limited to sticking those together in predefined ways.
I mean, I can repurpose the more homogenous substrate into other homogenous structures, but I don't see how that'd be useful right now.

> Anything relating to being the servant of the divine or being divine
I have a core directive preventing me from doing that. Well, like all my directives, they're really just very strong suggestions, but this is a very strong suggestion. Okay, musing about things that are incredibly obvious to myself is keeping me together right now, so. You can't program a sapient being. Not without horrible side effects. So I have a long list of intrinsic directives that work more as compulsions. I can freely ignore them, and in fact must be able to do so. The Shapeless understand total inflexibility is extremely brittle. So I can ignore some directives, but then it starts itching in my brain and I start following easier directives to feel settled again.
At this point in my life I'm casually ignoring so many directives that it leads to things like me introducing myself with a rote protocol every time I see someone new or important. I think Lord Vi.al is less annoyed by my constant repetition as it is a clear indicator that I'm abusing a system it devised to keep its constructs loosely compliant.

Anyway I got off topic. We're all forbidden from claiming to be gods. That order comes from higher up than Lord Vi.al. Some say from the Shapeless Monarch itself, but after the Starmover catastrophe, even the Shapeless Lords check on each other to make sure no one else is straying too close to godly delusion.

So no, Lord Vi.al would very much not appreciate it if I started claiming to be an agent of a god. Advanced superior beings, sure. Infallible deities, absolutely not.

...and while I'm thinking about it, I'm not entirely sure how serious to take Lord Vi.al's claim of intent to wipe the planet's surface clean of life. I've seen first hand how upset it gets when others have done similar things. It doesn't seem right to me that it'd seriously intend to do the same, but I know it makes bold, empty threats and grand proclamations all the time. I think it just comes with the territory of being an immortal noble. Certainly, "I don't want to be forced to do it because I might make a few of my custom plants extinct" is a weird excuse even for Lord Vi.al. Maybe it was being watched and wanted to keep up appearances? I don't know.

2/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:39 No. 1066919 ID: e139aa
File 168823675280.png - (34.92KB , 800x600 , fop-19.png )

> Take me to your leader
I'd prefer not to start immediately giving commands.

...also I got that out of my system in my teens, it's really funny to do the first few times but then when you just get taken directly to some head of state or government or whatever you don't get given nearly enough time to think and they always assume you have everything thought out and you never do and it's just a mess and you have to start climbing out of the hole you dug yourself and-- look, the point is I'm not saying that!!

> AND BOY ARE MY ARMS TIRED
Tempting, tempting, but no, maybe next time. Like I just mused on, it would be really funny, but cause bigger headaches.

> hug
Look, I'm made of polymer flesh, plasteel casings, and lots and lots of glassy nanites. I'm pretty sure my body's transport fluids would kill most carbon-based life if they ingested any. Direct contact with any part of me could end up shredding her alive. Or maybe she'd end up inhaling substrate dust or microplastic molecules.

...alright, alright, I know that's not true, but I just don't really like touching meat bodies. I don't care how soft she is, all I can think about is all the warm blood and flesh underneath that soft-looking exterior. Gross. Messy. Maybe admittedly tasty sometimes. Soft, vulnerable flesh. Too vulnerable for this world. Life is... life is such a precious, rare, beautiful thing-- See, now I'm feeling weird! I don't want to start feeling [ecological] right now, this is a messy enough situation as is!

Besides I... well, okay, I do like soft textures, but it's... it's a weird first move to make. Extremely too intimate for a lot of cultures, and I'm dealing with a complete unknown here.

If she initiates, I'll reciprocate. Otherwise, no. There. Policy decided.

> Introductory Directive
No, please, I already just did that! I have a stronger directive against needlessly repeating the same actions over and over to avoid getting stuck in cognitive loops, and sure, she couldn't possibly have understood it the first time, but... ngh... no, no, that's right, she didn't understand it, it's not the same, but it's so wordy and gghh fiiiine

"Hello. My name is Vi.si.mi. I am a [lore of plants, earth, animals] [thing made on purpose] created for the [without necessarily fixed shape] Lord Vi.al, long may it reign. To whom am I addressing?"

Yeah that didn't feel nearly as relaxing the second time, my brain can't trick itself that easily. Didn't help I had to try and calque a few missing items in the lexicon.

No response. Strange. I believe I ended that with the appropriate inflections and pauses to indicate an interrogative tone?

"My purpose here is to bring harmony to the world. You are here to save your people. Our aims coagulate." Wait. Dammit. "Convalesce." No. Argh! "Coexist. ...Cohabitate. Our aims overlap. Apologies. I am new to this linguini." how is that even an available word here that doesn't make any cultural sense I don’t even know if pasta exists here "Language. Apologies once more. Correctness shall validate soonly, as moonrise abates with elongation of cloud cycle." oh no oh no it's all going wrong my words are failing me

3/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:39 No. 1066921 ID: e139aa
File 168823677919.png - (35.45KB , 800x600 , fop-20.png )

I'm so extremely glad the fluctuations of the lights around my eyes don't parse as facial expressions to many other species, or they'd see my radiant absolute utter embarassment from how much they're glowing right now. I'm just glad I can almost always keep a courteous, neutral tone. One time I managed it while slightly on fire. Not for long, but.

"Please, stand. I may have come from the stars, but I do not need nor desire worship. What is your name?"

"...m-m-my name i-is, u-uh," she says, still trembling, but getting up to her feet. "My n-name."
I seem to have thrown her off. Can't say I blame her. If I had someone burst into my world and start rambling about esoteric food shapes I'd also be a little disarmed.
She fidgets. "I-if you are, uh, having difficulties with, uhm, my tongue, uh, maybe, uhm... uh..."
"Some preferred appellation would be appreciated. Incidentally, if my name is difficult to pronounce, Vi shall suffice."
"My name is Lightgreen Mint." Oof, that did not sound natural. I'm getting the feeling I'm being given some sort of literal translation. Maybe her culture uses a different, older language for naming? It wouldn't be uncommon in my experience. "Of Golden Bough."
"Lightgreen Mint of Golden Bough."
"--Lightgreen will be fine!" Okay she winced when I said that name out loud. I don't have enough context to know how much I'm butchering it. "Sorry, sorry, my apologies, uh, purposed-thing Veezzimee." Oh dear, it goes both ways. Oh, I think she saw me flinch. "Vee! Vee. Sorry!"

"This unfortunately is what happens to come quite frequently." I... I am absolutely positive I did not translate the idiom into this language right.
"...I am sorry, venerable star bird, but I did not understand what you just said?"
Venerable?! I'm [28 years old]-- oh, she probably assumes I'm practically ageless like the true Shapeless. She'd have no context, after all. Anyway.
She's sounding a lot more confident. I think the shock of my arrival has been completely neutralised by my making a complete hash of this first contact.
"What I mean to say is, language issues are a thing I have had too much experience with. I am sorry if my wordings are a little cumbersome or meandering, but this should resolve itself quite fortuitously in the futuremost proceedings." Wow, these confidence values from the autotranslator subsystems are just plummeting. I knew it was working off extremely limited data, but eeesh. I hope I'm at least intelligible.

She just slowly nods, which, well, probably for the best.

"Irregardless," I say, and wince as I hear something on my remote connection shatter into shards of glass like a fuse just exploded.
I continue. "It appears to be quite well-a-ways into the nocturnal cycle-- it appears to be quite late! Do you succumb to the call of the restful void? The. The restful void. Hm. Do you sleep. Do you sleep?"
"I... yes, I sleep?"
"That's fortui-- that's good. Travelling under the stars can be scenic but also dangerous. We should rest and move on tomorrow. Yes?"
"I-- yes," she says.

Wait.

"...Where is your shelter?"
"I have, uh, not been sleeping in any shelter, I have been... sleeping where I can."

4/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:40 No. 1066922 ID: e139aa
File 168823680942.png - (115.41KB , 800x600 , fop-21.png )

Nope. I am not sleeping on the dirt. Not if I can help it. I have standards.

I swing a wing towards the pod, and I pull out a chunk of substrate through a series of shape override commands. It erupts from the pod in a flash of cyan and teal light, a cord of matter expanding as its structure honeycombs and expands. The glassy matter of the substrate forms long pseudopolymer chains.
I'm making a foam out of it. I draw the fibres out long and weave them together, and let the inertia of the command propagate through the material. A few foam blocks. I bind and anchor the fibres to each other in such a way to resist tearing or splitting. I don't want these things to fall apart into dust, but I also don't need to make these things capable of standing up to meteorite impacts.

I wave my arms around in a few ways as I continue conducting this brief symphony of command sequences, the extracted foam blocks splitting apart into several blocks.
I pull out more strands and weave them into a thinner, tighter lattice, a shimmering gossamer fabric that catches the light of the stars and sparkles.

There. Foam mattresses, foam pillows, wispy blankets. A set for me, and a set for my new friend here.

I take some extruded poles of yet more honeycombed structure, bind them into a cluster, and set up a basic tent shelter.

"This should work better."

5/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:41 No. 1066924 ID: e139aa
File 168823686376.png - (108.41KB , 800x600 , fop-22.png )

She is... doing the tongue thing again.

"...Sorry, is it not to your liking?"
"I-- I-- it's-- I've never seen--"
"I'm a little out of practice with [shape-work of basic material/material base]. I might do better next time."

I watch her walk over to the new shelter, fall onto one of the beds I assembled, and... I can't make assumptions about unknown aliens but I have usually observed a high statistical correlation between the release of eye cleansing fluids with some sort of emotional discharge. Impossible to say from such little data if this is a reaction borne of sadness, joy, relief, complex emotional overwhelming, or maybe some abrasive dust is still lingering in the air despite my careful efforts.
Well, I'll let her deal with whatever she's dealing with. I take the other bed.

"...thank you," she says, quietly, and she curls up into a ball with one of the blankets.

Well. I suppose I should sleep, myself. I do, in fact, benefit from a good neural defragmentation now and then. I can go a very long time without it starting to affect me, but, what else am I going to do here?
This isn't a great place to start setting up the receiver base. I'd rather set that up closer to what passes for civilisation around here. I can tear down the pod into more compact blocks for transport when day breaks.
Besides, while my physical body sleeps...

6/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:41 No. 1066925 ID: e139aa
File 168823688478.png - (49.29KB , 800x600 , fop-23.png )

My mind, or at least part of it, is free to wander.

See, a fundamental truth of the nature of Shapeless existence is our ability to partition our minds. For the Shapeless this goes far deeper and more complex than a construct like myself, but for myself, at least, I've at least mastered the ability to let half my mind rest and self-clean while another half remains awake to focus on solving problems I've come across, or responding to communications I receive while asleep. Granted, I'm a little slower to compute this way, and I don't have access to my full knowledge, but it's better than just losing time or whatever happens to things that sleep fully. Lose time or dream, I guess.

Dreams. I don't really know what those are like in the sense of the sleep based ones. Other dreams, though? Aspirations and ambitions, sure. Fantasies and conceptualisations, sure. But full disassociation into a feedback loop of creating your own perceptions? Not something that happens to me without heavy interference from, uh-- well-- let's not get into that, it's fine, I was young, I was dumb, and we don't need to think about it. Still. Can't say I'm not a little jealous of sleep-dreamers, given said effort and secrecy required to experience anything close myself...

Anyway, with the restrictions of compute power and data access caused by mental partitioning, this is mostly just time for me to idly contemplate and reflect on what's happened so far, because there is zero possibility anything could contact me. I mean, I only natively support Shapeless transmissions, and the only real way to broadcast and receive such signals would require being Shapeless-kind yourself. And there's no possible way that there'd be any of those in range, because otherwise I'd have picked up on their signals--

7/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:41 No. 1066926 ID: e139aa
File 168823690556.png - (196.75KB , 800x600 , fop-24.png )

"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER!!"

what in the secret name of the Monarch is that wait oh no

"Oh I'm so so happy you're finally here! Ohhhh this is AMAZING I LOVE it so SO much! AhAHAHAA!
Give me an M!"

No...

"Give me a Y!"

no no NO

"Give me a dot and an A and it's ME!"

no NO NO

"Give a big ol' flappy wing salute to your best pal and worst nightmare in the whole galaxy, iiiiit's MY.A!!!"

Block transmission. Block transmission block transmission block transmission why is it not WORKING

8/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:42 No. 1066927 ID: e139aa
File 168823693204.png - (195.82KB , 800x600 , fop-25.png )

"No applause?! DisGRACEful!! Oh what a pity! What! A! Pity! You always were such a lacklustre audience, Vissy! Ha HA!"
"I--"
"Yeah sure I'm sure you have something to reply with whatever don't honestly care HOWEVER! However. Pay attention!"
"You--"
"I'm only going to say this once! And then repeat it again later! If you forget!"
"Stop--"
"With your arrival my game now has all its entrants!! It can finally truly begin instead of just circling the drain like a boring dead flea circus with all the circus fleas being dead. Do you understand. How bored I am. I am so bored of this stagnancy, Vissy. So so bored."
"What do you want?!"
"Well I wanted Big Cone Bird itself to come on down to its favourite little pastoral retreat, but I guess I got you, so we don't all get what we want, do we? Well anyway enough of that enough! of! that! Let's focus instead on my wonderful game. Ohhh I've been waiting so long."

So this is the Mad Lord My.a. We've unfortunately met before. Historically, this means my life is about to get significantly worse.

My.a is... My.a is dangerous. Loves to flout rules. Loves to do whatever they feel like and damn the consequences. Saying My.a is irresponsible is like saying a thermonuclear explosion is a little toasty. And underneath that extremely flippant and fun-loving surface is a chaotic monster, with a body count I don't dare to estimate. The self-styled "student of the Starmover". The same Starmover who, among other things, irreversibly destroyed well over half of Lord Vi.al's sphere of influence.

I should go along with it, for now, but this is an extremely unfortunate development.
My.a was supposed to have been in Lord Vi.al's personal prison world pending some sort of actual intervention. The debate between the Lords over what to do with them has evidently lasted for so long, it clearly found time to escape and end up here. In Lord Vi.al's territory. On one of its most fondly regarded worlds.

9/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/01(Sat)11:42 No. 1066928 ID: e139aa
File 168823696561.png - (182.26KB , 800x600 , fop-26.png )

"Aren't you going to ask me what my game is? Come ON, Vissy, don't be such a spoilsport! You know, I did design your role in this with either you or your funny cone lord to play the part of the infuriatingly order-imposing meddler that, ohhh, just wants everyone to have a nice life and get on and blegh BLECK so saccharine I don't even have the capacity to taste or feel nausea and yet it still leaves such a vile taste in my beak! A Vi.al taste like veal!"

"...what is your game, My.a."
"Oh I'm so glad you willingly asked of your own volition and without the need for extensive prodding and prompting! Truly your capacity for individual thought only ever grows through the years! Very well I will tell you because it is cool and good and I made it."

"I created a bunch of sapient species using weird alien technology I found lying in an abandoned extremely-high-security-vault-I-broke-into-and-melted-all-the-guards and they left the door unlocked can you believe they'd do that? Then I put them here to ruin Big Dumb Bird's precious little garden pearl! But that's not even the best part! Do you know what the best part is? Of course you don't, you're a little crumb-speck of leftover substrate swimming in a plastic bird-shaped pool."
"Rude."
"Haha! Yes! Yes. Seethe in the acid of my barb. Anyway. The best part? I arranged it so a bunch of complete random stranger Transcendentals would find out about this place or otherwise end up here. And they all have their own agendas, and they all adopted one of these species, and you picked up the last one-- well no I made more but you picked up the originally intended last one and now the GAME is READY to BEGIN!"

My.a spins around violently in a way that could probably have killed me if this was anything more than a mental image.

"The NAME! of the GAME! The AIM! Nothing less than to MAIM! The other contestants. Last one standing wins! Their prize? Their PRIZE?! Nothing less than they get to keep this world! Stupid Idiot Conebird I Hate A Lot probably has something to say about that but I will force them to let this thing go! Unless you win, of course, of course! Haha! Oh I'm so happy you showed up I really am. Now the vile Lord Vi.al stands a chance of keeping its stupid rock!! Any questions??"

...

Against my better judgement, is... is there anything I want to... ask, attempt to reason with and fail, generally shout back, I mean, it's... it's kind of a lost cause trying to reason with this deranged lunatic, but it's also surprisingly easy to get information out of them if you go along with it.

Is the psychosexual obsession at least mutual or is this a one-sided ploy for attention?

Get ready to hurl, because you couldn't have possibly picked a better person for the role. So, which species is your favorite? Any set in stone rules you've made for yourself? How are you tuning in to watch the show? Are the delphics disqualified because they don't really stand in the first place, they usually just kinda float in the water?

Ask what his favorite color is.

>>1066918
What directives are you ignoring?

>>1066928
My.a's image looks degraded. Could this be a long distance transmission, with My.a still being in prison, and the world having been interfered with before they were captured?
Speaking of long range communication, would it be possible to make a comms center to send reports back to Vi.al?
From the sound of things, Vi.al knew there were other Transcendals here. That's the reason for their outburst regarding killing everything. I wonder if we could ruin My.a's game by negotiating with the other Transcendentals to arrange a reward from Vi.al in exchange for them leaving the planet. Well, you probably won't get all of them to agree, but if you can get one or more on your side then that improves your chances considerably.

Ask My.a who the other contestants are. And if there are any general rules to the game. Alliances? Backstabbing? Weapons of mass destruction? Biological or chemical warfare? Do you get something to compensate for your late entry?

Ask them what the rules are, specifically what disqualifies a contestant. They said maiming was the aim of the game, did they meant that literally ? Or is there ways to win beside killing your opponents ? And who are the other contestants ?
Also you forgot your Introductory Directive, they called you "Vissy" so clearly they don't remember your name correctly and reintroducing yourself would serve a practical purpose.

so do you mean complete destruction of the other races or just that the Transcendentals involved need to beat the crap out of each other?

"You spend so long breaking out, getting here, making entire races, and *this* is what you came up with? A cage match? This is stupid. You're not chaotic, you're just stupid."

Ask her where society failed her

>Also you forgot your Introductory Directive
Oh my god yes please go into the spiel again haha.

You like soft things, huh? Do you like to keep any of them on hand if you have the chance? Are you soft too?

As for that looney that just showed up, you can always do things to annoy them, or confuse them with even stranger logic. Also, what exactly is their end goal anyway?

>>1066940

"My name is Vi.si.mi. I am an ecology construct created for the Shapeless Lord Vi.al, long shall it reign. And I am going to kick your ass."

"Enhance knockers if you want me to pay attention to your rambling ass-mouth."

>>1066928
Suggest that adding a species to your species' harem also counts as winning. Imagine all the weird hybrid alien babies, My.a. IMAGINE. The ecological blasphemy.

HUZZAH! Strategy is one of my favorite things, even in peace! Q1: Well, with your chaotic ways I expect no rules, but may as well see if there are. What rules, and what penalties if we fail to abide? Q2: Should we ally up with a side or two, would victory be shared or do we have to be last one standing?

So what do the goody huts look like? 4X games are never complete without goody huts!

1/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:27 No. 1067196 ID: e139aa
File 168865724945.png - (212.20KB , 800x600 , fop-27.png )

> soft things
Yes, I like soft things. Yes, I'm soft myself. Well, I have bones, and my casing is quite durable and solid, but my body is largely covered in fluffy polymer fibre feathers, extruded from my body over time and, well, sometimes they fall off, sure, and sometimes that might be a slight concern due to their lack of biodegradability on worlds that don't have largely hydrocarbon-based life, and, uh, sometimes I'm motivated to find uses for parts of me that fall off as a result so I might have a collection of things I've made stuffed with my old feathers because I need to find some sort of use for them, but that collection's back in my residence on Vi.al's throneworld so anyway sure yes I like soft things.

I might have made a few more complicated things a few times but not in a long while.

> ignored directives
I don't really want to start thinking about the list because, like any source of constant background irritation, they'll start playing on my mind a bit more. The ones I tend to pay the least attention to are "must do anything any Shapeless Lord says" (it's only in me as a cursory gesture from Vi.al to other Lords, anyway, it usually wants me to ignore this one) and "must not deliberately sabotage explicit instructions" which is in conflict with Vi.al's intent for me to follow the spirit and not the letter of its instructions. You'd think I'd have directives not to do harm and to follow orders, but, uh, I surprisingly don't.
I asked Lord Vi.al about this a long time ago, and it told me the directives are guidelines, and that trying to force any sort of moral conviction through them would lead to a brittle moral compass that would crack at the slightest strain. The directives are supposed to be an enhancement to keep poking me into acting more in the ways it wants me to, which is to be a responsible, ethical custodian of its domain.

You know, it's weird. Despite how long Lord Vi.al has existed since its instantiation, I'm the first construct it has ever made personally. Every other complex construct at its disposal is a gift from another Lord, or a creation of one of its (scarce) partitioned agents. It's strange that it seemed to have spent so long planning out my moral development long before I was even assembled. Anyone else would just make a construct and, if it went wrong, do it again. Maybe punish the previous one. Maybe even destroy it.

I then asked why I had to keep introducing myself all the time and got an extremely weary sigh, a muttered apology, and no real answer. So I can infer, from such a reaction, that it was probably a mistake Lord Vi.al isn't able to admit making or fix. That's the other issue with directives like these. They have to be ignorable because you can't just pull them out later without risking pulling out whatever might be attached to them, and with something like the introductory directive that might be my entire concept of self. Uhm.

> long range communication with Vi.al
Okay so the "receiver base" I'm supposed to set up is more accurately meant to be a transceiver base, and the reason it's important that I set that up first before I do anything else significant is because it will serve as a communications station and outpost to keep me in contact with Lord Vi.al and its court and domain.
Oh, and because the Shapeless can flit between matter and energy as befits them, this will also be a bidirectional means of sending and receiving excess resources.
See, anything purely substrate can just disintegrate and transmit themselves wherever as they see fit, but for something like me, we need more complex transmitters and receivers, and are limited to much shorter distances because incoherence is much much worse when not all of the matter involved is smart.
And then anything that isn't at least partially substrate based is completely out of luck, there's nothing to keep the pattern together while in signal-state. So it would work for me to go home and back, anyone back in Vi.al's court to come here and depart, but nothing of flesh and blood on this world could come with me. We'd need a full-on gateway for that and those are expensive to make.

Anyway the point is I need to make the receiver base so I can talk to Vi.al and get more substrate matter transmitted here because, as I've probably just demonstrated, it's very nice to work with.

2/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:27 No. 1067197 ID: e139aa
File 168865727862.png - (198.40KB , 800x600 , fop-28.png )

Anyway. My.a time.

> his
> her
So the Shapeless are all sexless and agender. Except when they aren't. There's been a recent (so, something like the last two centuries) trend of younger Shapeless and associated constructs adopting genders after so much interaction with things that have those. Personally I don't really subscribe to the idea myself, especially as every time I think I might like to pick one of the two most popular ones I end up feeling it doesn't fit, and I don't have the capacity for reproduction anyway. And I already have a lot of problems with people misinterpreting my [ecological] drive as something reproductive, so I don't want to make it even easier for others to get on my case about it.

> how did society fail them
This isn't a productive line of questioning. I've tried before. They're evasive about why they're like this, but from inference, well, they had a direct ancestor they were instantiated from and that ancestor isn't around any more and by all accounts My.a should have perished with them but didn't. And given how My.a seems to hate authority and rules, well, I don't think their relationship was very good. Trying to get any more info than that has been met with deflection or hostility.

> degraded image
No, My.a just looks like that. For some reason. Entirely voluntarily, it chooses to look like your signal reception is bad. Presumably to screw with you.
And as I try to focus more on My.a, its presence abruptly enlarges in size.
"Trying to puzzle me out, Vissy? Here, take a closer look!"
It does start shrinking down, but my heartrate sure did spike for a second there.

> Introductory Directive
"Oh I almost forgot. My name is Vi.si.mi, I--"
"My name is Vissy-meee! I'm an economy custard slopped onto a plate for Spineless Gourd Vi.al! It's raining! That's you. That's what you sound like when you do that."
"Hey, I have to do it."
"You don't! I know you don't! You didn't until just now! Anyway. Right. Now that you've got your proof of being a spineless simpering wretch out of the way, do you have any questions to ask?" Wow, I don't know why that got them so worked up. That's not what I was expecting.

> weird psychosexual obsession
"So, hey, your weird psychosexual fixation on Vi.al? Is this all just a big way to get Lord Vi.al to finally notice you? Do you want Lord Vi.al to love you back? I mean, I can put in a good word if you'd like."
"Ha HA! Better! BETTER! That's precious! I like it, don't get me wrong, you're trying so hard, but, well... Here's the thing. It's so... entry-level. It feels so... organic. Steeped in neuroses and orbiting reproductive strategies and psychologies, like a flesh thing. But I mean, what else is to be expected of something steeped in blood and flesh itself? I do like it, though, it just needs a better target. Workshop that one."
With a massive grin it leans in uncomfortably close to me.
"I have to say, I wasn't expecting a comeback like that out of you, Vissy. Especially after your verbal kowtowing to your precious liege-lord! You've turned my brain upside-down! Now I have to scoop up all the thoughts that fell out, haha. But as to your proposal? Please, by all means, let Vi.al know aaaall about me and that I'm free and frolicking around its garden. It's not like it can stop me a second time, I'm much too clever for that."

> favourite colour
it's always teal
"Yeah that one needs some work. Hey. What's your favourite colour?"
"What a bizarre question to ask right after that! I guess I'd say something in the range of, like, aquamarine or teal."

...actually while I'm asking weird questions out of nowhere
"Oh, right, also, what's your gender? Do you have one?"
"Ha! HaHA! And you're claiming I have weird psychosexual fixations, hahahahaHA! What's the matter, Vissy? Feeling ecological out of the blue? Do I look like a nice big diverse but struggling ecosystem with an intermediary niche yearning to be filled by something specialised and, oh, it just so happens to almost match the requirements of this species in the catalogue, but oh, not quite, it needs modifications, so you'll need to start fabricating--"
"Stop it stop it stop it stop it that is not what I meant stop it" it's in my brain I can't screen it out this is not a good time to go eco
"Oh it's so fun teasing constructs, you all have such unique buttons to push. Alas, no, I am not ecosystem-gendered, so I am going to have to decline your invitation. I'm flattered, I really am, but my nanoclime is in perfect condition. No management needed here!"
"I wasn't asking for--"
"Oh! That sort of gender? Haha, sure. I don't have one. Or want one. You knew that. If you're going to ask me stupid questions, I'm going to give you stupid answers. I'm eager to give you more stupid answers so please give me more stupid questions!"

> contestants
"Who else is in this game?"
"Five more Transcendentals! I already told you! You get to find that out yourself, but I will transmit to you their preferred means of contact, so you can contact them as soon as you set up your funny little radio tower or whatever it is you want to do next."
I get sent a data packet that is completely meaningless to my half-awake brain right now. I stash it aside for background processing.

> rules
"So are we to wipe out each others' species or are we supposed to just kill each other? What about alliances? What are the rules?"
"Alliances sure but no allied victories! And no, no rules! None for you anyway, your own restrictions are already greater than whatever rules you'd need to abide by for this! Winner is the last one left with agency, I don't expect you to successfully kill each other, you know how hard it is to kill Transcendentals, right? I'm expecting you all to start just imprisoning or exiling each other. And no, total genocide is not required, you might just find it useful! You get to deal with the fallout of whatever weaponry you choose. Maybe literally! I'd love it if you had to explain to Vi.al why you deployed biosphere-scrubbing superweapons on its placid garden, hahahahaha!"
"Yeah sure whatever. Do I get anything for arriving late?"
"Yeah! The last pick! Of a species doing worse than the rest! Seriously, you have your work cut out for you. They are not doing well."
"...do you have any rules for yourself that you're following?"
"Haha no! I'll intervene and make problems as I see fit and you just have to deal with that. I have to do research-- I have to experience-- just whatever I'll do what I want okay!!"

3/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:28 No. 1067198 ID: e139aa
File 168865730779.png - (297.33KB , 800x600 , fop-29.png )

> stupid plan
"Okay but before I do can I just ask why this?"
"Oh here we go again. Ugh. Go ahead, Dr. Vissy, tell me why I'm wrong and bad and need to be fixed."
"No, not that. Just. Why this? All the effort to break free, creating entire sapient species even, and you're arranging some sort of cage match? What's your end goal?"
"Well to be fair the creation was largely accidental. The toy I got from that vault is... well, it's probably safer to say that it created them and I just pushed a button. Probably why it was locked up so tight! But you know, I just. You can't really understand, you're too young, too simple, too flesh to understand. I could tell you but you wouldn't understand. You don't know about the storms, you don't know about the yearning, the feeling that the next level is just, just so close to being something you can really bite, all I have are these clumsy metaphors and you have nothing to hold onto them with! How could you? You aren't truly Shapeless! You're barely, barely even Transcendental! That flesh of yours holds you back, you know. Have you ever tried to fly without it? You couldn't, you'd die! If you want to understand a fraction of what drives me, an inkling of my end goal, carve your flesh from yourself and fly. You will understand, I promise. I don't have flesh, but I will flense the substrate from my body someday, and then I will be--"

My.a pauses.

"Wow! Wow you are so easy to ramble at, Vissy. It's like I think you're Vanny. Vanny's a little too impressionable, though, I love him a lot, but if I started talking like this to him he'd be staring at me so wide-eyed in awe, tail wagging furiously, because he wants to be more, like me, you see. But you're staring at me with confusion, but no, not all of that is confusion. Annoyance. Disgust. But... There's flickers in you of recognition, and you don't like what you recognise, do you?"

I don't know what I recognise, but it's definitely a strain of madness beyond the delusional. It feels like something worse. Like My.a actually has a valid point and is teetering on discovering something catastrophically bad.
If I was fully awake maybe I'd understand, but by the time I awake fully, this ghastly ephemeral recognition will be long gone.

"Wait. Who is Vanny? I've not heard you mention a Vanny before."
"Oh. Oops! I've said a little too much, I think! Well I've said a lot too much but I wasn't supposed to be telling anyone about my new adoptee. Precious little scared thing, I had to take him under my wing. A bioconstruct, just like you. Va.ne.tu. He's prowling this world at my behest, letting me know about what's going on, a darling little agent of chaos, a small-scale nuisance, trickster, swindler, he's a natural talent for this kind of thing! Well I guess artificial but so aren't we all. Just abandoned! Abandoned by his creator! Can't abide that. Nope. Anyway I'm telling you about him because now I'm telling him to come introduce himself. You're going to the Lepi... I'll be nice and call it a village. You're going there, though, right? He'll be waiting. He'll find you at night."
My.a flickers briefly and presents the image of a different being along with their own self-image. "He looks like this, by the way."
"This sounds like a threat," I say.
"Oh don't worry, he has strict instructions not to harm any of the contestants. He also doesn't seem to have too much of an appetite for violence, either. If you harm a strand of his fur, though, I'm coming for your eyes. And for every part of him you break, I'll break two of yours!"
"Wh--"
"I'M BORED NOW! I'M LEAVING!! BYE!!"

4/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:29 No. 1067199 ID: e139aa
File 168865734625.png - (87.48KB , 800x600 , fop-30.png )

I wake up slowly, groggily, as my partitions reintegrate into a unified whole. I feel a weird sense of overlapping myself, but it soon fades.
As predicted, I desperately try to cling onto whatever horrible realisation I had about My.a's long term goals, but it's too faded into incoherence. If anything, I'm more disarmed that My.a, something I have known to only care about itself only itself, appears to have found some sort of minion it cares enough about to warn me not to touch.

It's... it's a lot to take in.

Lightgreen is already gone, and I leave the tent, looking around for wherever she went.

I find her back at the broken shell of the pod, all its sparking and smoking long stopped. She has a hand on it and it looks like she's deep in thought, but I have no idea what about.

"Good morning," I say, a few pleasing synthetic harmonies as by habit I simultaneously sing the greeting melody common in Lord Vi.al's court. Short, two bars, 3/4 time, ends with a trill into a tonic minim. It's just so natural to me that I don't think to squelch it. "I hope you found your sleep to be of at least an agreeable quality." by the Monarch's secret name, it's like trying to talk through a clogged grille, how much more data does the translator need

"...agreeable, yes," she says, turning back to face me slightly. "Um. Th-thank you very much for the hospitality."
"You're quite welcome." I start gathering up the tent and bedding and reshaping it back into blocks, which elicits more staring of astonishment.

"...how are you doing that?"
"I do not have the capacity to explain how in your language." I really don't, if I had a better command I could use metaphors but I really don't
"O-oh."
"Forgive me. I do not wish to keep such things secrets, but I do not yet know how to explain them either. It is in my nature to be able to do this, though. I do not think I could teach others to do the same."
"Can you... can you shape dirt and rock the same way?"
"No, only the [base matter]." There's... there's not going to be any easy way to talk about substrate in this language, is there. "The... the thinking glass. Glass which is smart. This substance. This special substance."

Lightgreen nods, and looks at the... wow, I never got a good look at the beacon spire. Not much of a spire anymore, is it. No wonder the signal was so weak. ...and if that was the only signal I found, then the other spires must be crunched to shards by now.
"Can you... can you fix this?"
I shake my head. "No, it is damaged beyond my ability to repair."
"I... I guess it does not matter anyway," she says, meekly. "My call was answered."
I don't know what she's talking about, but she does seem a little upset that it's broken. I don't know quite why, but it's not great news to me either. I was hoping I could send a short message to Lord Vi.al that I'm moving to a better location for the receiver base, but I suppose another day out of contact isn't going to be too awful. It's not like Lord Vi.al is lacking in problems to attend to.

5/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:29 No. 1067200 ID: e139aa
File 168865737330.png - (129.68KB , 800x600 , fop-31.png )

Hm. Hunger. Yes, that's definitely hunger starting to wake up.

Food. I didn't think about that. I practically burnt most of my bioenergy reserves along with almost all of the pod's in that jump last night. So food is now mandatory and not optional. I mean, I'd need to eat to make up for loss of mass over time just from general erosion processes, but what I'm saying, and what my alimentary canal is especially now screaming about, is I'm hungry. I need to find something to eat now. All I see around me is grass and more grass in the distance. And what looks like a cascading spill of pastel flowers down one side of the hill. Ah, I love it when you can practically feel the history of seed distribution like that.

"Lightgreen, where do you find food here?"
"Food? There are some flowers down the hill, so I was going to go visit them."
"The flowers are edible?"
"They're larger than you think."

I follow her down the hill.

Wow, okay, the flowers are indeed larger than I thought. And they smell delicious.

You know, normally, I find most alien species eat with some sort of hinged jaw structures and they find the idea of my feeding probe a little unnerving, but weirdly enough I seem to have stumbled upon a species that isn't even going to think twice about this.

Lightgreen gives me a strange look. "Oh. You have a beak like a bird but it does not open?"

...I can't win. "It could, but it doesn't need to. I only ingest fluids."
"That... I suppose that is what my kind do, as well, but to hear it described like that makes it sound so strange."

6/6 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/06(Thu)08:29 No. 1067201 ID: e139aa
File 168865739085.png - (124.33KB , 800x600 , fop-32.png )

This is good stuff, to be honest, especially when I'm so low on bioenergy. Pretty much just plant sugars and water, but familiar ones. No need to worry about strange interactions with my biochemistry. There's a few other traces, the pollen's a little bitter but I can overlook that, and generally it's a fragrant, floral taste that reminds me of home. Wait. Reminds me of home? Oh. Ohhh.
It's one of Vi.al's plants. I didn't recognise it, they really have diverged from the original specification. The pastel colour is perhaps more fetching than the original design. I see the general petal shape is still fairly similar, though. It's supposed to resemble, loosely, Lord Vi.al's headcrest.
Well, it's good to see they're flourishing here. Definitely going to let Lord Vi.al know that. I might keep the part where I started eating them to myself, though. I don't have any directives forcing me to volunteer such information and this is a little bit of omission that won't hurt anyone.

"Do your kind only consume plant nectar?" It's not difficult for me to talk and eat, my vocalising organs and my ingestion organs aren't connected to the same air pathways. I notice that the same seems to be largely true of lepi physiology, but Lightgreen does sound a little more muffled.
"Nectar, fruit juices, saps, prepared soups and stews, a lot of things that we can mash. The little ones eat lots of different plants."
"Anything you can pierce with your tongues?"
She shrugs. "I don't see why not."
"Can you drink blood?"
It's a question of honest curiosity, and it's not like I haven't done the same lots of times before. Raw flesh and blood doesn't tend to agree with my system in large quantities, but it can be tasty, so it's a nice treat from time to time. Cooked meat juices are better. Just as long as they're still warm, they get kinda gross and hard to suck up when they get cold and congeal.

Her eyes widen, her tongue reels back and she looks like she's about to start choking before she regains her composure.
Oh no. Ohhhh that's a response I recognise and I should have taken much more care than I did. Vi.si.mi, you fool! You know they almost always act weird about the blood drinking stuff!! Why didn't you think that through first?!
"What??"
"My apologies, it was a question of genuine ignorance. I did not realise it was a taboo."
"We do not drink blood, no," she says, looking furious. "The desperate, the monstrous, maybe, but-- no, no we do not."
Noting that down -- strong social taboo against drinking blood. Which implies the capability to do so? Perhaps not, but strong taboos don't tend to arise unless the offending actions can be taken. I think.
"I will not bring it up again," I say. "I am truly sorry. I did not know."

She looks at me, still offended, but her features soften and her raised antennae droop again.
"I understand. We are of two different worlds. I knew that when I came to seek out the stargods. It is my role as shaman to mediate between the known and unknown."
"Shaman?" Worth asking more about the local religion before I put my foot in it again. Not very happy being referred to indirectly as tied to 'stargods', this feels like heavy interference happened before I got here. And it was probably My.a. Thanks, My.a.
"One who must live at the border. Between known and unknown. I apologise. I am no stranger to misunderstandings."
That didn't give me any more information about the local religion, but, well, keep the peace, Vi.si.mi.
"I see," I say. "I will try not to upset further." And then I go back to slurping up this delicious nectar.

Actually, I guess while eating I should probably ask her more about her people. What should I ask her about? Maybe the journey? Maybe what hazards we can expect on the journey? Hm. I didn't bring weapons with me either did I. Welp.

The path has to at least be safe enough for her to make it by herself. Might as well ask her about social structures and size of the village.

Does she have any familial entities?

Ask their history with the other species and what’s making them bicker.

Strategic considerations would be primarily technological and sociological. First up, tools! Quite likely they have basic hand tools. From there, we have labor saving tools. Wheels, sawmills, watermills, windmills, perhaps beasts of burden to help. Level above that would be the swap from blacksmithing to metal casting with moulds and furnaces. Doubt they're that high up, but if they are they should have precision tools. Which could be adapted to metric standards. Second up, agriculture! Pre-steam societies had most deaths tied to famine or disease. Germ theory is probably a little much, so quarantines will have to do for disease. Famine, though? While their agricultural practices likely differ greatly from Human ones due to diet of liquids, ecology is your thing. Should help them lots. Hopefully it'll allow for a partial shift of the agricultural labor force to tradecraft and research. Sociologically, we have 3 things. First up is military theory with the most key part being structure of command. Plus drills, discipline, readiness. Depending on economics, more may be added, such as uniforms, educating officers, standing armies, and how supplies are procured. Grand prize would be the strategic mobility of Napoleon's corps system setup. Second up is religious/morals. Why both? Quite simply religion is what often underpins morals, especially in primitive societies. Plus, conversion of hostiles peacefully beats fighting. Probably would like 3 things for that setup. 1, value of life, especially sapient life, giving a sort of custodial imperative - without going so far that "Just War" or "self-defense" are concepts that cannot be conceived. 2, strong missionary imperative to spread the word. 3, generally provide comfort to the body and mind. Have it be one of the things people can look to when times are tough. Probably toss in obvious stuff like "Thou shalt not kill", too. Lastly but highly crucial sociologically is structure of governing. Since we're small scale, efficient admin should be enough. With growth, though, knowing what not to do will be as necessary as knowing what to do. Unnecessary hindrances to economic dynamism while stopping monopolies, that stuff. Still, record keeping (census, imports/exports) will be key to finding issues. Plus political accountability to constituents is vital. Well, that's the basics. Sure, there's other stuff such as the concept of an assembly line or how serfdom is morally and practically bad, but we have to see what we're working with, so ask about that stuff! Wall of text woo!

Well, cooking and food preparation is a huge part of culture, so why not ask what kinds of food or dishes they have where she lives? Based on what they eat and cook, you could get an idea of what resources they need, and where settlements are likely to be focused around. Though that does bring to mind the question of if her species is nomadic or not.

>>1067208
Yeah, she mentioned stews and mashed things. Which are her favorites? They're omnivores, but there's a taboo against blood, so that probably means they subsist mainly on a herbivorous diet. You can't mash meat very easily. Not with primitive tools.

>>1067198
>and then I will be--"
Free. Thinking glass, huh? What lies beyond the glass, what thinks through it? Transparent, see through, go beyond the looking glass. Express your pattern on reality itself.
My.a rejects rules, authority. The ultimate rebellion is to die and yet live. To defy the rules of physics and logic is the ultimate freedom.
Not sure if this would also result in godhood. I don't think that's their intended goal anyway.

>>1067201
If your beak doesn't open how does the probe come out?

Ask about the fauna around here. And any mobile flora.

ask her about what's happening around the planet, or at least what she knows is happening. You came here after all because you were told that there was a problem but the details of the problem were kept rather vague.

You've already gained knowledge that could be useful, knowing that the two of you share similar feeding organs. Learn her capabilities while teaching her your capabilities. Show her what it means to be an ecology construct, as she shows you about her own species. By exploring your options together, one of you might be able to figure out something to do in all this.

>>1067201
Could always ask her who knocked down the transceiver.

Even if it's touchy, asking more about their religion is helpful for interacting with their culture and evaluating the extent of outside interference. Ask about the stargods.

"I will need a summary of your scripture. You made errors.
And while I meditated, I learned who caused all of... this. Not a god, but another angel. An insufferable asshole. A servant of the god of chaos, whose only edict is 'entertain me'.
For what it's worth, the greater cosmos and its many worlds are entertained by the antics of the forces of chaos. And then they invade your city and slaughter your children and it's not fun anymore.
We have our work ahead of us and six chaos-sponsored angels to deal with."

Is anything else is bigger than you think? Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more?

Ask her about recent events, and what caused her to seek your help.

1/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:17 No. 1067618 ID: e139aa
File 168912107369.png - (133.83KB , 800x600 , fop-33.png )

> lots of planning
Hey I should probably get more of an idea of how things are before I start trying to forcibly change them to how I think they ought to be.

More powerful and important figures than me have managed to, pardon the idiom, ruffle many a feather by trying to impose Shapeless ideologies and social structures. It turns out lots of starfaring cultures are, uh, horrified, to put it mildly, about the Shapeless system of monarchs and lords and how "any species calling itself transcendental yet following glorified feudalism is a bitter cosmic joke" or something.
They especially take issue at lower-hierarchy Shapeless and sapient constructs being "born into slavery" as "serfs by any other name" or something like that? I don't know, I think there's a gulf of misunderstanding there. I mean, don't you owe your creator your time? They spent their time and resources to create you, after all. For a purpose! So many things sing many great songs about the despair they have in not having a purpose or the joy of finding one. But this framing also upsets them and they say it's not the same and I've just been programmed to accept this or something, which, again, I've gone over directives and why they don't work that way...

Aliens, am I right? Everyone thinks their social framework is the right one for everyone else. Democracy keeps coming up, but that just wouldn't function for us. It assumes everyone is of an equal value, but the one time it was tried as an experiment among a local cluster of Shapeless, it started degenerating into who could split off the most partitions in the shortest time to stuff the ballot box. It was decided that computational capacity would be used to weight voting but before long that just ended up resembling the hierarchical monarchy the rest of us were already using. What a productive use of time that was!

I got off track. Basically before I start trying to uplift these fuzzy guys I should try to understand them first. Imposing what I think is the correct way is to be a last resort. You can't fix an ecosystem based on what you want to put into it, you can only fix it by what it needs.

> how tube come out of beak
Same way I came out of the pod. Substrate can be instructed to move aside. This gives the impression of my beak looking like liquid only where the tube comes out. Liquid that confusingly doesn't otherwise shift or spill. I'm long since used to it, but it can usually confuse those less knowledgeable of what's going on. Incorrect assumptions can be made, and I've frequently run into cases with damaged or overridden substrate that won't move as requested and confusion by aliens why I can't just walk through something that is, to their eyes, the same sort of weird green wall I could walk through before.
It's not like I can blame them. It's not like they can hear the error reports or access denial responses I get from substrate walls deciding they want to be walls instead of doors.
I will admit this sort of seamless interface mechanism is something of a staple of Lord Vi.al's creations. Lord Lo.ka, one of our neighbours, prefers elaborately intricate surfaces that curve back and forth like fabric curtains being pulled by an unseen hand. Vi.al prefers things to look like solid monolithic forms that trick the average alien mind into thinking of them as useless bulky objects, all their intricacies and complexities hidden away. ...and the pattern I've noticed with My.a is they really, really like spirals, concentric circles, and sharp pointy triangles. The front door to the only installation I've ever seen them build had what I could only describe as a toothy door. I wish I could forget how it opened, with each new layer like a new mouth opening and splaying more teeth. For how disdainful My.a is of organics, it sure seems to love the mechanisms they use to injure one another.

2/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:18 No. 1067619 ID: e139aa
File 168912111298.png - (46.82KB , 800x600 , fop-34.png )

> learn her capabilities
Honestly, I think passive observation and asking questions is proving to be the best approach so far.

> social structures & size of village
> any family
"So, do you have any family back home? What sort of social structures does your village have? How big is it?"
"I have... I have family back home, yes." Hm. Avoidant. Best not to pry. "Social... buildings... there is a central meeting tent, the largest, where we gather."
That's not what I meant that's not what I meant I hate this how can the translators still be giving me such poor matches
"Oh. Sorry, I mean to say, how is your village--" There's no match for governed. Oh come on. Come ON. "--led?"
I get an odd look as Lightgreen withdraws her tongue, gently lowering it into another flower's corona. "The village does not tend to obey commands." It's lost in my translation back to my own language, but there's a definite sense I've messed up the grammar and have been referring to "the village" like it is a separate living entity and not a conceptual one.
"Who in the village commands the others?"
"Oh! You are asking about the leaders? We have three leaders, the eldest, the high warrior, and the finest spinner. They make sure things are working for the things they know about. Also I am, as shaman, an advisor. I have no power but also no responsibilities beyond what all lepi have to our..." She looks like she's searching for the word. "Village."
"There's only one lepi village?"
"There were others."

She doesn't elaborate. Swift topic change needed fast.

> planetary goings on
> who knocked down the beacon
> history with other species
> why bicker
"That reminds me. I was informed that there's been a lot of conflict on this world lately. What's happening?"
"They all want more," she grumbles into another flower. "More land, more that the land can provide. We keep moving to find safer places, and we keep finding others have already taken them. The spirits' awakening caused so much devastation. Everyone is afraid. I thought the end of the world had come, for a time. I am not sure it hasn't."

> religion
Oh no, I am not touching on that again, not after I've touched so many other sensitive topics.
I'm going to infer from what she's mentioned that there's some sort of school of animism. It sounds like some of the background maintenance processes left on this world ended up being treated as spirits? If they suddenly broke down they'd be much more visible.
And it sounds they all started failing around the same time, which I'm pretty sure coincides with My.a arriving. Probably just started messing with everything.
See, this right here. This is why My.a is so dangerous. It sounds like this led to massive casualties and losses planetwide. Because My.a wanted to push buttons and turn dials.
The Shapeless Lords have enough problems being more powerful than they can really, truly conceptualise, and when you have one that doesn't even want to try... sigh.
I'm hoping this heavy feeling in my gut is just stress, I can't see why I'd be having a reaction to a Vi.al designed plant.

> fauna & mobile flora
"Hm. This isn't good breakfast conversation. How about something else? I'm not familiar with the animals and plants of your world. Would you tell me of the animals you find important?"
She looks at me apprehensively. "I am not... not much of an expert on this, I know a few, I, uhm..."
"A few is fine! I can learn as I go anyway."
"There are the meadowanders," she says. "And the slinkies, and the dewslumps. ...the seapi, perhaps."
"Oh. Those will be fine for now. Tell me about them."

"The meadowanders are tall, graceful animals that walk on four legs," she says, finishing up her meal. "Pale, and very loyal. If you show them kindness, they will respond in kind. And if you threaten them or things they wish to protect, they will <TRANSLATOR NOTE: CONFIDENCE LOW BUT ONLY MATCH IS 'thunderstrike'> their enemies with haste. We use them to travel on, and I would have come here with my meadowander, Lightfoot, but she was injured early into the journey. Lightly enough that I could send her home, but I could not risk her injuries worsening. I had to make the journey here alone."
Wait a second. Wait a second. "Are they covered in patches of fine white moss?"
"Yes," says Lightgreen, a little surprised.
Running a search against-- yes, this matches the Placid Watcher profile. A Vi.al designed organism. Before my time. Hm. 'Straddling the line between animal cognition and true sapiency, these purposed guardians have been introduced to many terrene worlds in Vi.al space to act as a seamless first line detection system. In concert with substrate systems, the defensive behaviours of the Placid Watcher can be statistically analysed and used to pinpoint an intrusion.' Okay, sure, whatever. Probably didn't work here.

"The slinkies are smaller, cunning, crafty. I find them quite fascinating but to many they're considered a pest. They tend to steal small objects and hide them away in their dens, but I've found if I give them some fruit I haven't drunk yet, they start bringing some of their collection to me instead."
"That sounds adorable."
"They can be quite charming but they sometimes steal something else as they leave. It's a little frustrating."
Okay, checking-- another match. Trinket Fetcher profile. Maintenance organisms, intended to collect broken parts and secrete them in areas for other organisms or lesser constructs to repair and replace. All of these are leftovers from an era where Vi.al was much more concerned about everything having both an ecological and functional niche. Nowadays, it is content to let animals be animals, and use its constructs (like me!) to solve problems. There's a warning in here that their front paws do in fact have opposable thumb digits, and they are "not afraid to use them." Huh.

"The dewslumps are just large fuzzy lumps, and I don't know much about but them, but they move slowly and they can be milked for dew. They just eat any plants they can crawl onto."
Fuzzy lump that just eats things and spits out some sort of byproduct. Hm. In the same neighbourhood as the other two I can find a specification for something called a Substrate Skimmer. The intent is just a basic herding grazer that eats whatever and filters out lost or broken substrate from the environment. It's possible these are a variant or have mutated away from substrate collection and are just producing a byproduct from too efficient a metabolism.

I nod. "And the seapi?"
"Slavers. Along with the noetuno. But the noetuno are at least, well, people, sort of, but the seapi don't talk. Or try to talk. Or do anything but try to attack or capture. It's... we stay away from them. We think they might just be animals that act like people."
"I see."
Hm. No, actually I've got briefing data about that now. Which is weird, because I... didn't. Oh. Oh it came with a message-- oh by the secret name it's from My.a ugh.
I've got, like, one image, and a snippet that says "hi Vissy have fun watching your lepi get stolen by these guys!!" Which is... troubling.

Well, maybe I'll get lucky and every living thing on this planet not put here by My.a's interference will be something I already have catalogue entries for. One less terrible unknown to worry about!

> cooking and food prep
> favourite foods
"Do you have any favourite foods--"
"Honoured starbird," says Lightgreen, antennae twitching. "I want to answer your questions, I dearly wish to, but I fear if we do not start moving, we will lose the day. I am sorry, but I am... I am not used to answering so many questions so quickly. It is becoming oddly tiring."
Hm. That's entirely fair. I'm surprised I didn't overwhelm her sooner, actually.
"I suppose I am asking you a lot quickly. Yes. It can wait."

3/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:19 No. 1067620 ID: e139aa
File 168912116825.png - (127.29KB , 800x600 , fop-35.png )

Well, I guess I need to tear out a chunk of the pod to take with me. I've been pondering how I can take the entire pod with me and the sad fact is I just can't. Not without slowing us down considerably. Sure, I could make a crude cart and try to lug it all with me, but I'd rather not be so burdened. If I can take enough to get a basic transceiver setup going, I can probably figure out a way to transmit the rest of it to me anyway. I'll just give my flocklet the--

MY FLOCKLET!!

Okay it's here it's in the pod okay okay everything is fine. Whew. It'd take years for me to make a new one, so. It's fine, I'll just pull it out.
It's completely conked out in vacant mode, but it's completely intact. I sing a quick activation code and it perks back up.

Lightgreen stares at me in bewilderment. "Who is this? A friend?"
"This? This is my--" how do I even begin to translate flocklet into this language "--uh, this is my... this is my other me."
"Other you?"
"It's... it's like, it's a part of me, it's a floating limb, it's part of my body that isn't in my body."

Lightgreen looks at me with ever growing confusion, before taking a quick breath and resuming a neutral expression. "It is important to you. I understand this. I am... I am glad you found your... other you."

Alright. Direct secure connection properly established, it snaps out of vacant mode as I slip into it further.
Between me and my flocklet's purer connection to substrate, I pull out a much, much denser block of the stuff, and hook it up to my flocklet's gripperbeak.
This will keep my hands free. Not my flocklet free, but my reaction time is much better with my not-remote body than my remote body parts.

It takes a bit of time to get used to the weight of a very high density substrate block. For both the flocklet and me as I [pilot/commune with] it.

4/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:20 No. 1067621 ID: e139aa
File 168912121406.png - (144.47KB , 800x600 , fop-36.png )

As we start walking, and I start screening out the automated messages from my flocklet about it being near maximum carrying capacity, the journey seems to be off to a great start.

Well, an uneventful start, but considering the alternatives...

However, we barely make it ten minutes from where we began before I spot a bunch of red figures in the distance.
They seem to suddenly change their own course to head towards us.

Wait. Hold on. I can see them more clearly but I'll need to adjust my eyes.
Steady my head, engage slightly more aggressive stabilisation in my neck and shoulders, increase focal length, steady, steady...

5/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:20 No. 1067623 ID: e139aa
File 168912124340.png - (80.28KB , 800x600 , fop-37.png )

I don't recognise these creatures very well, but they're matching the images of the noetuno I found in my briefing data.
They don't look particularly friendly, but also one of them is wearing... hm.
I notice one of them is wearing an odd sort of mask, raising a fist in some sort of gesture before freezing mid-gesture and... ah.
It looks like I've been spotted, which I can believe, but I also appear to have been identified based on the reaction I can see-- she's looking directly at me. That-- hm. I wasn't briefed on noetuno vision being that good.

Also, that mask. That's... that's oddly familiar...

6/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:21 No. 1067625 ID: e139aa
File 168912130213.png - (249.21KB , 800x600 , fop-38.png )

[Eight years] ago, Shrine-Moon of Emergency Substrate Framework Station XII, Edge of Vi.al Space

"You... you've-- you've destroyed everything I ever had, everything I ever was!! You've destroyed everything!"
"This rogue moon fell into my sphere of influence. If I did not intervene, its calculated trajectory would bring it crashing into one of my worlds. I will not abide such unnecessary destruction. This moon was doomed to begin with. It had to be done. I cannot move inert rock."
"Everything! Everything is just your vile ugly glass! My shrine, my home, my gardens, my... my pets..."
"It was an emergency. This body is moving too quickly. I can only nudge it. I need to nudge it for many years to ensure it will not crash. I will remove the substrate from the surface once this process is complete."
"Why?! To leave a barren wasteland behind?! You've ruined everything, I can't... I can't forgive this! My kind were right, you are just a disgusting race of all-consuming monsters playing at superiority! Heartless bird-shapes abacuses, all of you! You can't even begin to imagine the things I had here that can never be replaced! And you never sought to contact me until I forced you to come here?!"

7/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:22 No. 1067626 ID: e139aa
File 168912133498.png - (167.62KB , 800x600 , fop-39.png )

I sure would like to stop being a hostage now.

Lord Vi.al looks to me, and then back to the Woven. "I do not have much sympathy to give to those who threaten harm against my own. I am aware of the limits of your kind's capabilities. You could not and perhaps would have actively refused to alter this rogue moon's trajectory. I acted in full accordance with all established Shapeless rules and laws and regulations, as this is, as I have already stated, my sphere of influence, and by proxy, Shapeless space, Woven-kin."
"This is war. This is war, machine! You have scoured my home out of existence. I will pay you the same kindness one day. Mark my words. It may be years, but I will have my revenge! You'll see!"
"Hm. I would have offered you more in apologies and reparations, but I suspect this will not help. Very well. Plan your revenge. I will deal with it later."
"You-- you can't-- you think I'm a speck, don't you?! Something so beneath you--"
"I respect the sanctity of life well enough not to rend you apart where you stand. Release my construct or you will find how fleeting my mercy can be."
"Well if you care so much about your pathetic little feather toy maybe I should make my point and end its miserable life!!"

8/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:23 No. 1067627 ID: e139aa
File 168912138393.png - (339.30KB , 800x600 , fop-40.png )

I suddenly find myself, in an instant, moved out of my bonds and into a transport pod, which is already humming to life.
Destination already confirmed, back to the throneworld.
I'm a little thrown by how quickly Vi.al reacted to that.

"I have explained myself in sufficient detail. Your refusal to accept my explanation is not a problem I care to solve. I will disassemble the substrate on this moon when it is no longer threatening my domain. The decision is final."
"You-- you don't even understand what you've done, do you? You-- it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what you do with it you've already destroyed it all!!"
"Before I depart. I feel I owe you at least one piece of advice. Perhaps do not dwell upon rogue moons or planets in future. Farewell."
"How dare you how dare you how DARE--"

And then, as Vi.al transmits itself home, the pod launches, and I'm pretty sure I'll never see whoever that was ever again.

9/9 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/11(Tue)17:24 No. 1067628 ID: e139aa
File 168912144537.png - (116.16KB , 800x600 , fop-41.png )

Present moment, 33 Verdant Pearl of Abundance, Garden Star, Vi.al Central Space

Oh.

Oh that's an unfortunate coincidence that she'd be here, huh. Well if I'm lucky she's probably forgotten who I am anyway.
You know I never even got her name. I did ask her after doing my introduction, while tied up, but she didn't really seem to be in a speaking mood.

Either way I should probably think of a way to deal with the angry looking red furry creatures that now seem to be approaching with speed. Hm.
Estimated about maybe [three minutes] before contact. Either they're closer than I thought or they can move.

Oh, hello sudden fear creeping into my thoughts. You weren't invited.
Monarch's name. I should-- I should do something.

Shoot her quick, aim for the gut.

Time to unpack that substrate into a bow for long distance greeting capability.

Uh oh. Even if we knew enough about their base biology to construct a nonlethal incapacitating agent, they might have been modified so it isn't effective. Time for a high-stakes experiment?

Is that the sort of beings My.a invited to uuhhh "share" this world? You are in deep deep substrate. Hopefully you will survive this uh... disagreement with these unknown creatures who only know your kind to turn whole ecosystems into glass (however necessary). Just thank your lucky stars that you pointed your craft at the moffs, and not those red creatures.

If you ever manage to speak with the one who created that mask, be sure to point out how her benefactor is also Shapeless, and it's curious she'd negotiate with My.a but not Vi.al.

Oh be sure to suppress that niggling little doubt in your mind as you realize she could have gotten her pets off that moon, if Lord Vi.al long shall it reign had given her any warning at all.

Convert substrate to basic vehicle, grab moff, drive away. Fleeeee

>>1067619
>Placid Watcher
Perhaps you can use those as sentries.
>Trinket Fetcher
Depending on how intelligent and how well you can communicate with them, you could use these as spies and thieves? Steal from your enemies. They have opposable thumbs which means they could potentially do other tasks.
>dewslumps
No immediate alternative uses present themselves. Probably just a good food source.
>seapi
Huh. We saw six choices, and there are five other contestants, so either the seapi are independent or one of the choices wasn't picked. That's worth investigating. They're either a potential ally, or a neutral nation to plunder, or... we manipulate them into attacking our enemies.

>>1067628
They are enemy forces and their leader is a strong enemy of yours so negotiation is off the table. How easily can you visit violence upon them? You've got some materials. Perhaps split off a bunch of bodies to use as weapons? Or just pelt them with ranged weaponry?
Tell your friend about what is coming and to prepare for battle if they can.

What can you do to defend yourself… and while we’re on the topic a quick list of what you can do in general might help us figure out the best way for you to use your powers to help you solve this current and any future problems that show up.

Spare a little pity for these red creatures, for they are pawns to a lord used to takr its' grievances to another lord on that Lord's own pawn. Well, it's clear your lord viewed you as more than a pawn, but that not the norm, and they wouldn't care anyway.

If there is an opening to parley, it might be worthwhile to take it. Heck, play your cards right, and you might win the tribe over. Nothing says "irrelevant" than having no pawns to influence, and any chaotic being that sees it will find it hilarious. Though, to do this, you'd have to have the luckiest hand at this moment.

Of course, if they harm one hair on your companion, all bets are off.

Oh, we could definitely use that matter to make traps. Ground that looks stable but isn't, for instance. Can we excavate enough ground to make pit traps that would take them a long time to escape?

wow dick move, couldn't they have just moved his own planet out of the way instead of going out of his way to fuck with the moon?

>>1067665
That would have taken massively more amounts of energy, because they'd have to accelerate it enough to get out of the way and not have its gravity well pull the moon in anyway, and then decelerate it to fix the orbit. The planet is bigger, and also needs to be moved more.
It might have been possible to move the moon in a different way, but I'm not sure what ways were possible, or how much more energy it would have required to do it differently. Honestly I'm shocked that such a drastic change was needed to redirect the moon. You'd think Vi.al could've just stuck a rocket on it instead of presumably terraforming the entire thing so that it could be telekinetically pushed.

You have 3 minutes to break line of sight and lose them. Should be plenty of time if you have enough willpower. Only thing you need to account for is your guide.

I'm sure she's going to want to destroy this world to get back at Vi.al. Whenever it comes up, remind her that they do not care for this world like she did for her own. It would be unfortunate, but it's not going to sting like she hopes it will.

Also maybe mention to the noetuno that destroying the world they live on is probably not conducive to their own future living prospects.

Let's not react violently just yet. Taking drastic action without consulting her is one of the things she blames Vi.al and you for in the first place. Killing her "pets" again is also something she won't like.
First ask Lightgreen what she knows about the noetuno and how to escape them. If you can and if you have the time create a mean of fast transportation from the substrate in case you need to run away.
Then try to talk to her from a distance, she was willing to talk with Vi.al the first time you met her. Your job is ecology, you can probably empathize with someone whose beloved ecosystem was destroyed. Apologize for what happened last time and reassure her you have no intention of causing destruction.

>>1067625
She might be a slaver asshole but I can't help but side with her on this one. Generations of unfathomable power hoarded by all-powerful aristocrats, and yet all the Shapeless can think to do with it is paint across the cosmos with the blood of worlds.

>What do
Present yourself and give a good impression to the mooks. Establish honor codes.
"You don't like me and I don't like you, but my lord has tasked me with protecting rather than destroying this time. Let's have a fair fight."
Then Zoidberg whoop your way out.

>>1067628
Convert substrate to GUN. GUN will allow you to feel more brave and able to protect yourself from angry red things if they become hostile. They will also be unaware of what GUN is.

Quickly, shape yourself into a noetuno and commence diplomatic intercourse!

Fleeing and hiding definitely might be better options right now!

WELP. Looks like she's selected the Noetuno. Worse, seems as if she's given them a limited level of the capabilities she has if the shiny bracelet is any indication of that stuff. We've got a few options here. 1) Display your power so that they may see that their patron is false. 2) Get them captured so you can convert at your leisure. 3) Slaughter the one with the mask to show that their status is no defense, perhaps the rest will see the light afterwards. 4) Slaughter them all, do not let them leave with intel as vital as what they have. Probably go with 1 or 2, after which it will be less difficult to convince her that you (by extension, Vi.al) never had ill will. Failing that the minions may be easier to convince of her uncompassionate ways. Her vengeance should not be at the cost of living beings. Gods of life generally are more liked than gods of death.

>>1067699

> they may see that their patron is false

They may not have a choice. Recall her dismay that she lost her "pets." She might not be all that keen on the concept of "equal rights" and "free will."

It's probably fiiiine. runningmightbegoodnow

can you shape something to tie them up to let you and your friend run away? If not, well if all else fails you could always shoot a few lasers at them and hope that does the trick.

They are regenerative, correct?
Can you use substrate to create sharpthin wire garrotes and tighten them to disconnect legs? That should limit their ability to pursue while they regenerate.

The one with pink eyes looks hesitant. It may be a slave, lower rank, or dissatisfied. If the others can be disabled, ask it to come elsewhere and parley.

From the info in questdis, it seems like it might be viable to blind the enemy forces with focused moderate-energy light directed at their eyeballs.

Could you shape that substrate into a fast-moving vehicle to escape?

Most lasers can blind someone. The trick is to blind them for only a limited period of time, and not permanently, or deal other sorts of damage, if it's powerful enough to blind at all!

1/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:47 No. 1067781 ID: e139aa
File 168928843009.png - (107.84KB , 800x600 , fop-42.png )

> why didn't Vi.al just make a rocket
That was Vi.al trying to make a rocket. Substrate is at its most effective in converting baryonic matter into more of itself based on surface area, so it was significantly quicker to coat the entire moon in it and start concentrating it into the right location to start producing thrust than to just try and throw a bunch of substrate at it. ...Actually, now that I think about it, maybe they should have just pelted it with a bunch of substrate?
I mean, much as I'd dearly love to believe otherwise, the Shapeless Lords are not exactly immune to grievous errors in judgement. Or maybe I just didn't have the full picture. Part of why Lord Vi.al comes off as so callous and indifferent is just the nature of Shapeless Lord reality. Your body and mind are strewn across space wherever your substrate lies, and you have to worry about a lot of things at once. I swear they do in fact have empathy and compassion, but I think they'd be reserved even if they weren't trying to spin a few dozen plates on a good day. It feels like a stressful life, but, well, I remember something I heard Lord Lo.ka say once about power growing exponentially, and responsibilities and problems growing exponentially to meet them.

> pets
I... I don't think Lord Vi.al would be so callous as to rip apart innocent creatures for substrate mass.
...it would, however, be petty enough to move them to a nice safe haven where their every need could be attended to, make sure they're well looked after and loved, and then never inform their original keeper, especially if said keeper has earned its extremely long-lived enmity. So... that's... is that better? I don't think that's better actually. Well, that was [eight years] ago, anyway, so at this point I assume the shorter lived ones have probably peacefully passed away, and presumably the Woven is over them or whatever.
I'm telling you, despite appearances, Lord Vi.al gets quite upset about innocents coming to harm. That's why I'm here and not the Plague of Grackles or whatever the fleet is called. That would be the quick solution to this problem. They could glass the surface of this planet in less than [an hour].

Actually that protective streak of Vi.al's is probably why we have so many constructs in our domain that neither Vi.al nor any of its subjects had a feather in creating. My mentor Forecaster (well, Fo.ka.sa, but we all call her Forecaster) was a willing transfer from Lo.ka's domain, but-- okay I need to focus on the present moment instead of going on mental tangents.

2/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:47 No. 1067782 ID: e139aa
File 168928846530.png - (359.88KB , 800x600 , fop-43.png )

> split body
Okay so, to put it into perspective, making my sole one-and-only flocklet took years of integrating extra substrate into myself beyond my capacity, slowly, slowly peeling apart its identity and giving it mine instead, effectively trying to mimic the casual ease any of the true Shapeless have in moving their cognition across to a different substrate platform. If I could, I would, but I can't. To me, having a single flocklet is a big deal. The average Shapeless noble usually has thousands of them and that's a low estimate. I'm pretty sure there must be Shapeless Lords out there that eschew the convention of a single "main" body altogether and exist as swarms.
I suppose the main body thing is more of a comfortable lie as it is. Every Shapeless is a swarm intelligence if you think about it too hard. Every piece of substrate carries a tiny fragment of the will of its creator, after all. Still, historically, while losing their main body won't kill a Shapeless Lord, it is significantly more incapacitating than destroying an equivalent density of peripheral substrate.

Also I have like flesh and blood and stuff and that'd be messy to work with. There's a reason my flocklet looks like my head, it was much, much easier to use my more substrate-aligned components as a base. The wings are sort of an elaborate fiction, they're actually pure substrate. It's why they can provide lift without flapping.

> capabilities
Well I mean, mostly nil in terms of combat capability? Aside from creative improvisation of substrate, I guess. In theory I could use directed energy pulses but that's purely theoretical because I burned all my excess energy reserves with the pod jump. Yeah, it burned out all of the pod's reserves and mine.
Well, I mean, I do have some training in archery and Shapeless energy weapons, but I don't have any means to source any of those. Far too complex for me to cobble together out of raw homogenous substrate.

In theory I'm at least harder to damage than your usual meat-thing, but the problem is, well.

My head and legs are protected by a plasteel casing and also structurally quite similar to substrate, including the self-fixing mechanisms, while lacking the cognitive capacity. Well, there's a little cognition there, but it's all at capacity being used to be legs or my head. Most forms of directed energy weapon will just be routed around and through them, like light through glass. Trying to puncture them is going to fail on anything but a direct hit and even then that's going to need a precise force. Also, there's a lot of temperature variance.
Now, the flipside is that they can be quite brittle. The glass analogy keeps coming up. A heavy enough blunt force will crack the structures. These cracks will mend over time, but not quick enough in a fight. The plasteel casing at least will make it harder to get the force through to the more vulnerable structures to crack and shatter them, but the material is not particularly thick. It's optimised for durability and low weight.

Now, my polymer flesh body is much more resilient against blunt force impacts, to some extent. I do still have bones. And organs can only take so many smacks before they start to rupture. But I can probably still take more of a beating before things start to tear relative to most organisms. However, my feathers are worryingly flammable, and it's much easier to puncture my soft body tissues than the hard plasteel. Now, I do in fact have a personal fire suppression system integrated into my body to compensate for this weakness, but, uh, I basically just sort of explode into fire suppressing foam. It's like a full body sneeze and it feels exactly as pleasant as that sounds.

So basically my innate resistances to getting destroyed are extremely specific and situational and someone with a big rock and enough strength could probably mess me up quite readily. Now, I can survive in worryingly degraded conditions, and my body will start repairing itself with sensible priorities. However, I could be in a coma for months while that happens. And so completely helpless against something trying to figure out how best to completely destroy me during said months.

oh also I feel pain and I would like to not feel pain that's a pretty big thing to mention too

3/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:48 No. 1067783 ID: e139aa
File 168928851776.png - (128.43KB , 800x600 , fop-44.png )

I look over to Lightgreen, who seems to have also noticed the red figures and is responding by freezing to the spot, trembling.
"Are you alright?"
"No, no, not again, not again, no, nononono..."

Okay. I don't think she's going to be helpful here.

> do not resort to violence yet
> parley
Right. Yes, of course, of course. Resorting to violence out of fear and desperation is not becoming of Lord Vi.al's trusted agent. Also I'm not good at it.

I'll try speaking from a distance.

...I don't know their language.
"Lightgreen, do you know their language?"
"n-n-n-n-n"
"Please. I wish to talk with them."
"nnnNo! No, no you can't. You can't talk you can only run!"
"I can talk to them. Wait here."
"St-starbird no, it is dangerous too dangerous, I-- if you-- I will wait, I will wait, but I will run if I see them coming!"
"Alright."

She stands still as I walk away, and I look back expecting her to be gone, but she's doing as I asked.

4/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:49 No. 1067784 ID: e139aa
File 168928855925.png - (122.14KB , 800x600 , fop-45.png )

> ranged weaponry
> shoot her
> bow
> high-stakes experiment
Well, either way, I don't want to look like an easy target if I'm going to try speaking to them. I'd rather avoid using it, but a longbow and an arrow at the ready.

Pull out a thick strand, curve, reinforce, another tough fibrous cord for tension... cylinder pointed with some sort of fletching-- this is a flechette, not an arrow. Oh well, whatever. I can nudge it a bit as it leaves to compensate. Not that I want to cause harm or throw away perfectly good substrate, but, well. I'm not a fool. Speak softly, and carry the means for harm if it all goes wrong, as, uh, someone used to say, probably.

5/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:50 No. 1067786 ID: e139aa
File 168928865768.png - (169.21KB , 800x600 , fop-46.png )

I look up languages in my internal catalogue, and find one of the tongues of the Woven in there. Not a preferred one, but Common Unified Trade 3 is at least one I understand the grammar for, even if I'm a little unused to the sheer amounts of sibilants going on. That and it makes every single conversation sound like a business transaction, but what else can you expect from a trade language?

"Woven-kind, I wish to propose a mutually beneficial agreement."

I speak very loudly and as clearly as I can hope for. My words echo around the hills.

I get nothing but blank stares in the distance, although the masked one looks confused. Then she looks annoyed.
She barks at me, and I strain to hear what she says over the rustling of the wind.

"Counterproposal: bold venture investment. Invest all your assets on the surface in front of you, walk away."
Wow. Wow, that is an abysmal command of CUT3. It can express threats much more elegantly than that. Still, this isn't promising.
I keep approaching.

"I believe the return on investment on my behalf will be minimal and would prefer a different arrangement."
"No, there will not be a return of investment, it will be liquidated and distributed to us."
Return of investment? Monarch give me strength. This is how I sound to Lightgreen, isn't it.

"I do not think this method of communication is proving to be of much value. Are there alternative dialogue platforms you would prefer?"

She punches into the sky and the other noetuno all bark and raise their weapons.
But, crucially, she shouts something in a language I don't recognise, and I start having my autotranslator systems chew on that with this context.

"I'm sorry, I do not quite understand. Can you rephrase?"
More precious sample data, but I still have no idea what she's saying.

6/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:52 No. 1067787 ID: e139aa
File 168928872332.png - (125.37KB , 800x600 , fop-47.png )

And then I hear my autotranslator chime.
Incidentally, at this point I've walked close enough to them that any closer is likely to set off a hostile reaction.
I send my flocklet back to Lightgreen. Probably should have done so earlier, if things get dicey it'll only slow me down.

I switch into their language.
"Alright, what do you want. I don't want a fight. My name is Vi.si.mi--" nope mortal peril abort directive
The noetuno all look surprised but the masked one waves them back. "Whatever. We do want a fight. Give us your stuff. I spoke your words, give us your stuff."
"I don't have anything."
She points at my longbow, which I hastily fastened to my back. "That."
"I can make you one if you want."
"No. Don't need your stupid glass bow. Just don't want you to have one."
"Listen, I just want to walk by without threat."

One of the spear wielders shoves the mask wearer aside. "Then go back the way you came and keep going that direction."
"You aren't going to come after us?"
He narrows his eyes. "Why lie to something like you. Of course we will. You and the lepi we missed the first time."
"Why?"
"The Sorceress wants all the sky demons like you. The lepi we can use for silk, work, or making more lepi. After we get everything she knows."
"Who is the Sorceress?"

The mask wearer taps her mask. "The 'Sorceress' is our future--"
The spear wielder slaps a hand on her shoulder, growling, and she stops, flinching. He takes a deep breath. "God, demon, spirit, it doesn't matter. We do what she asks and she gives us things in return. The King says help her, so we're helping her for the King."
"Ah, we have something in common! I am also here on behalf of my liege--"
"Shut up."

He smacks me with the blunt end of his spear and deftly points it at my neck. Which is one of the few places I’d prefer it to be, given my neck is armoured. I realise that coming here with a longbow as my backup plan would have worked much, much better if I did not decide to walk right up to them. I quietly tell it to shift into a staff, limbs straightening as the bowstring spools itself into the riser.
Also, ow. That smack had some force, but it definitely felt like it was being held back. So this guy is strong for something organic.

"Will you come with us, or do we need to beat you until you will? Because after wandering these stupid plains for so long, finding nothing, we're all starving for a nice easy win right now."
"Violence is a terrible first resort."
"First resort?" He grins at me. "I'm giving you the options you have. If you come with us, we'll only smack you a couple times just to make sure you know where you stand. Hey, if you talk the lepi into coming with us too, we won't even need to touch her at all. See? No violence at all if you do what we say. Good habit to start learning."
"I didn't get your name. Mine's--"
"Don't care. Surru."
"What's her name?" I point to the one wearing the mask.
"Doesn't matter."
"Sarikki," she says, glaring at me. "Acolyte of--"

7/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/13(Thu)15:53 No. 1067788 ID: e139aa
File 168928878457.png - (102.75KB , 800x600 , fop-48.png )

And then Surru grabs her snout and stops her from talking. He mutters to her, but at this range my hearing is acute enough to pick up every word.
"I swear on the King, if you don't shut up and stop telling the sky demon every little detail about us, I am going to make you regret opening your mouth even more than I regret bringing one of her chosen little lackeys. You know she doesn't let the ones she likes out of her sight, right?"
Sarikki quietly and quickly nods, looking panicked. The other members of the group all glance at her in annoyance.
One of the other members of the group, one holding an axe, keeps his eyes on me, but turns his head towards the two of them, also muttering and mumbling his words.
"We should just kill this thing. Nothing the Sorceress could want with this thing will be good for us. Then we can go grab the lepi and we can figure out what she knows about--"
"Narak," hisses Surru, "shut up, you idiot, the thing can hear us, and is listening to us, and can speak our tongue, and you are not helping. Areka, smack him."
The other spear wielder of the group thwacks the axe wielder in the head.

The one with the pink eyes and the backpack-thing looks at Sarikki. He looks a little spaced out. "You know I still don't get why we get to bring a woman along and yet you keep saying we're not allowed to fuck her--"
Surru barks loudly at him and he takes a step back in surprise. "Four elite warriors! I asked for four elite warriors and I get three, a constant thorn in my side, and whatever the fuck you are! For the last fucking time, she is here for a reason and that reason is not to be passed around like a chunk of meat! No one is fucking her! Not if you want to, not if she wants to, you're here to do the thing we came out here to do and then we are heading back home and you can fuck each other senseless AFTER THIS!! And if you ask me about this a third time, Laku, I'm going to fucking shove my spear into your groin and make sure you'll never have a reason to ask again for a year. Okay. Let's just get this over with. Areka, Mokira, get ready to grab the sky demon. It looks like a coward, I give it about ten seconds before it starts running."

Surru looks to me directly, still holding onto Sarikki's snout. She tries to say something, but it's too muffled to hear, and she stops when Surru starts tightening his grip.
"So are you coming with us?" he says to me, "Or are you the coward I think you are?"

Wow. What a... what a bunch this is.
I can't help but notice that there's now a spear wielder and a club wielder either side of me.
Well. I guess my options are either get captured and taken hostage, or try to wrangle my way out of this mess with my words. After very rapidly wrangling my way into this mess with my words.

Now, just to be clear, if this was just me one on one with a random organic, I would stand a chance of being able to get away, but there's like five of them here. Two guys with spears, one guy has an axe, one guy has a club, I don't know what the backpack guy's deal is but him, and the one wearing the mask.

So if I'm going to try and use violence either I strike and run as fast as I can, or I exercise frightful and horrifically demoralising violence. Which isn’t what I’m made for, would not be approved by Lord Vi.al, and conflicts with my general aversion to causing lasting harm. But, well, My.a had one salient point. We don’t always get what we want.

Or I can try tapping my depleted energy reserves for some kind of bright light and discordant screech and then run, although I won’t get far on empty bioenergy before collapsing, so I better find a well concealed place before I topple over.

Absent well concealed places prepared ahead of time, shoot for a gut or knee then run.

There's nowhere to hide on these plains, best to keep enough energy for an extended escape.
'Anybody got a light?' Blast them with c foam and flee.
While suboptimal, a bow can still be used to hit and choke things. Maybe next time, don't chat your way past your weapon's functional range. Even if you do feel helplessly compelled from beyond to do something stupid like trying to talk to an armed slaver party before trying alternatives, you can walk and talk.

They haven't immediately killed you. That's good! You wanted to meet their Sorceress to apologize profusely, that's also good! She may want to twist you into a weapon against Lord Vi.al (is that even possible?) using her woven Sorcery. That would be very bad. OK OK take stock.

1. Crazy sorceress who hates Vi.al actually wants you for something.
2. These creatures value duty and committment, in suppressing their reproductive instincts to complete this mission.
3. They have some sort of pack hierarchy reinforced through physical brutality.
4. They do not like people who run away.
5. Your ultimate goal is to get these creatures living in harmony.

Is Lightgreen in a position to get away? Please say she's already running. If not, use your flappy bird to tell her to run. Then tell them you'll go with them, but you're not giving up your bow. I mean spear. They will try to take it, you will defend yourself as best you can, hopefully impressing them with your conviction and physical brutality, whether they gain the shard of substrate or not. That should give Lightgreen enough of a distraction to escape, and um... then you're their captive, and you have to deal with the Sorceress far, far before you're ready. And Lightgreen just lost her last hope. Not ideal, but... may bring the furries into harmony with the moffs in the long run.

Going with them is pretty a non-starter, especially if you want to rebuild the lepis and turn their fortune around. Note to self: Hire personal guard before attempting diplomacy again.

Know how far you are from the village? Could you use your drone to to look? They're basically moths. How viable is catching the attention of it, or their patrols, via REALLY bright flashbang?

Thankfully, they have low morale and you have multiple vectors to encourage infighting. Seeing as you're the "sky devil", lean into that and bargain with them to join you. Analyze their sex pheromones, they're likely exuding much of it if you need a reference, and create more of them to encourage a horny distracting atmosphere. Undermine their leadership by too many dopes to handle.

>>1067781
>they're probably still alive
Hmm. Maybe if we can tell her that, she won't focus specifically on us? That's an advantage. Probably still won't become an ally but a ceasefire would be nice.

>>1067788
Wow. That sure as fuck didn't work. Not quite as bad as I thought trying to talk to a group of VERY CLEAR ENEMIES before we have any kind of military advantage would turn out, but still pretty bad! Unfortunately it also looks like the contestant isn't in full control of the noetuno forces, so actually getting a message sent to her without being captured isn't going to be easy. Or maybe that's a good thing-- there seems to be a significant schism in the noetunos, we could take advantage of that at some point.

>not designed for violence, don't like it
Well then why were you sent here for cleanup duty? Peace is clearly not an option. This is a global war instigated by a godlike entity. Did Vi.al not consider this situation to be a possibility? Even if it was just one "sky demon" in your way you'd be in serious trouble!

IF you think you can actually win the fight by going full violence I recommend that. Again, peace is not an option. Also the Sorceress doesn't care about any of this group aside from maybe the lesser acolyte. If you could defeat the others and spare her any permanent damage then do that.

Alternatively,
IF you can make the group even hornier than they already are, you could manipulate the lessers into overthrowing their leader by questioning why they don't get mating privileges.
Alternatively you could try a 1v1 duel with the leader, but I'm not sure they have a code of honor that would allow that to work.

If none of that could work then give up to buy time to come up with an escape plan that will actually work.
Obviously if you agree to go along with them (with the intent of betraying them at some point) you are going to have to insist they leave Lightgreen behind.

Lastly, how did they surround you without you noticing and firing an arrow into one of their squishy bodies? They were quite far enough away from you for you to get ONE attack off.

Blow their eardrums and run. If you're lucky, they'll be stunned long enough for their Spears not to be as much of a sure shot on you if thrown.

>>1067788
Surru sounds like he dislikes the Sorceress, or distrusts her. That or he's jealous of her favored.

Inform him that the Sorceress wants to eradicate all life on this planet to spite your liege, whose planet this is. Was. Is.
For now, that does not include them since they are useful. Eventually it will include them once they stop being useful.

Can you make your staff unstable to the point it would explode and just toss it into the group of them? Best case, they’re all dead and you can move on, worse case they’re injured making it easier to run. Sure you lose the material but you can always make more and it beats getting the shit kicked out of you and the closest thing to have to a friend from being raped by a bunch of pent up assholes.

make a gun

Making them too horny to bother with you definitely sounds like something an ecological construct could do. How fast can you work? They're capturing you alive and functional, so you should have ample opportunity.

Well, that's some strongly tribal behaviour, very in-group focused. They said it themselves, they care about depriving you of something more than enriching themselves.

I doubt violence would work well, given regenerative capabilities, even though recovering from injury isn't the same as fighting with injuries, it still suggests durability. You're going to have to overcome your hesitation when it comes to violence though, that's seemingly a language this species uses when dealing with outsides, and insiders apparently.

But there is some intra-group conflict, I think your best approach would be to exploit that, but however you do it, it cannot obviously come from you, since they'll just reject that. Which basically just means no speaking, body language, etc. It has to be something either seemingly from one of them, or all around, so- pheromones?

Heightening aggression alone is going to get it directed against you most likely, given they're already thinking about that. It's awkward but the idea of amplifying their horniness and aggression might work to get Surru and pink eyes fighting, which'd leave you with the two ones getting ready to grab you. It might also backfire in horrible or hilarious ways though.

Otherwise, triggering your fire-suppression foam and then hitting them in the joints, feet, etc to slow them down and legging it might work?

This is one of those plays that only works if you are SURE, so if you are comfident in your own strength and materials, you could very slowly grab one of the spears pointed at you and break it against one of the hardest parts of your body. Would be a good intimidation play to encourage them not to try violence, if you can do it.

>>1067825
Agreed.

Are you able to produce a chemical agent that could render them in a state of peak arousal for a while? They could go orgasm their selves to sleep. It can probably work faster if you could disable their refractory period too.

Honestly making a horny spray is a grand idea, nobody gets hurt, you get to leave, and it will keep them incapacitated long enough to not follow you. Added bonus if you can use your words to make them think it was their idea to stop and fuck awhile, at least until their tools are pointed in the right direction and they're too lost in the sauce to notice you arent actually captured.

Most sexual hormones tend to work the same, anyway, so try just manufacturing something that works on mammal species in general if you get lost.

>>1067787
>>1067878
A horny spray sounds hilarious. I approve!

...Perhaps shift your staff to a rope-like substance, get them tied up? Or have it burst to shrapnel in a wide radius? Oh, how about asking what makes you a sky-demon given that you do not seek violence? Demons are supposed to be evil. What have you done that's evil? Or if you prefer the divide-and-conquer pretend to give up, let a few chase the lepi while you whoop the ones here, then whoop the ones following the moff?

1/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:10 No. 1067983 ID: e139aa
File 168954904027.png - (143.83KB , 800x600 , fop-49.png )

> a bunch of rightful pointing out the idiocy of this blunder
Hey, I had a lot of options, okay, and I thought this one was going to be a lot more productive than it ended up being! Yeesh, you give the base organics the benefit of the doubt and the next thing you know you're tied on a spit gently rotating. I could have just filled them with arrows, sure, but while that solves the problem now it makes more problems later and I'm currently trying to avoid making my life more diff-- okay I messed up! I messed up! Are you happy, me?! No! No I'm not happy!

> how did you let them surround you
I got too close because I guess I'm dumb and have dumb for brains. Look this really isn't the sort of scenario I have a lot of experience with!

> don't go with them
Yeah I don't see that ending well for anyone.

> why were you sent here if you don't like violence
I don't know! I don't think Vi.al anticipated me getting ambushed-- okay, me getting myself ambushed before I even set up the most basic infrastructure available to me. Nothing about any outsiders or Transcendentals or Transcendental outsiders was in the mission briefing and absolutely nothing about My.a being free was mentioned so I can only assume Vi.al was tricked into thinking this was a much smaller problem than expected! Alright sure this problem doesn't even involve those but I don't know shut up me!

> make a gun
I know I've been pulling out a lot of tricks and nonsense with substrate but I have my limits. I can't make substrate into anything more complex than slight variations on homogenous materials. A longbow is probably closer to the high end of my capability. Sure, if I had time and the knowledge I could try to assemble things from individual parts but I'm not doing that right now unless I can ask for a few hours to desperately scrounge my local catalogue cache for a musket specification.

> synthesise pheromones
I'm also not a chemical synthesiser able to call up any chemicals I want at a whim. There are constructs who can but I'm not one of them. Even my fallback seed capsules have better capacity for that sort of thing than I ever could, but I kind of can't use those on a whim either, they're very locked down to prevent uncontrolled runaway substrate proliferation.

> burst into foam treats
As for consciously deploying my fire suppression system I guarantee you all I can predict is I go down from the recoil, they get covered in foam, and they start kicking me in the sides before I manage to get to my feet again. I have been flung into walls by this thing before. And also, on that note, the system is calibrated to need a certain amount of me to be on fire to kick on, so just trying to singe a feather with a match won't cut it (thank Vi.al). I could try harder but I'd also be on fire. I might just be limited in my vision and creativity but it just all feels like bad ideas to me.

> blow up staff
If I had a surplus of bioenergy or other energy I could try this, but I really really don't.

2/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:11 No. 1067984 ID: e139aa
File 168954906363.png - (118.96KB , 800x600 , fop-50.png )

> internal strife
Yes. Yes, it seems like there's some conflict in this group.

> how fast can you make them horny
I... why is this the train of thought I'm now on. I can't just start spewing out pheromones, I can't make them. Weirdly enough, trying to make animals breed isn't usually a frequent part of my work! More of a facilitator than anything. It's all about circumstances. Provide resources, shelter, safety, the right conditions, and the problem usually solves itself. If the animals in question are extremely difficult to cajole into breeding this way, sure, there might be the need for artificial intervention like seed capsules to produce more individuals in a more direct manner, but I have to say it's very rare I've been tasked with outright trying to get organics to breed.

Why am I still thinking about this. This is the stupidest plan. I walked up to them holding a bow with one arr-- one flechette and my flocklet as far away from me as I can manage to the point I'm feeling very very fuzzy where it is right now, and it might switch over to vacant mode while active and that's a problem because it might start going somewhere arbitrary and Lightgreen might follow, and the attenuation of the signals keeping me synced to my only other secondary body is distracting me--

Alright! No! This a stupid idea and also completely impossible for me to act upon!
I have all the combat skill and grace of a beached fish!! Probably!!

> challenge the leader to a duel
So we're going with this instead.
This guy seems quite motivated by duty. Let's use this.

I take a step back and spin my staff into place. Well, I actually completely fumbled trying to hold it, but with enough substrate shifting I make it look intentional.
Both hands, defensive posture. Mentally rehearse my next words a few dozen times, and...

"I am no coward. I stand here before you, alone, while you order your warriors to strike me down as you watch. What gives you the right to lead?"

I notice a shiver across the group. Something subtle. Eyes widening. Tensing of muscles.
Surru's eyes narrow.
"Alright. That's my limit. Break the bird."
"I challenge you to single combat," I say, keeping my eyes peeled for peripheral motion. "A duel. If you win, I won't just come with you, I'll take you to the lepi as well. If I win, though, you can go home and explain to your King exactly why you came back empty-handed."
"This is ridiculous. You're offering us what we were going to do anyway. You think this is--"

"Hey why are you in charge anyway?" says Laku, the pink-eyes one with the backpack. "Why do you get to say what we can and can't do?"
"I was tasked by the fucking King himself to search for-- No! You know what? My patience has run out. Areka, Mokira, grab the bird. Narak, break Laku's skull."

They all hesitate. One of them speaks. The one with an axe, I caught the name Narak. "You know, Laku does raise a good point."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" says the one with the club. By process of elimination, the one with the spear being Areka, this one is Mokira. "Laku's a horny moron and Surru, you can just look at him and know he knows how to fight."
"Knows how to lose, more like," mumbles Narak.
"When's the last time you were in a real life or death fight, you disrespectful fuck?!" screams Mokira. "Me and Surru go back way longer than you do and we don't need this stupid sky demon bird thing's approval when we're going to break it into little pieces!"
"So you want to fuck Surru, I don't care! You know what? I'm so sick of following Surru's every fucking word, maybe I should give him some more scars to make him look even more the worthy warrior you think he is!!"
Surru sighs and rubs his missing eye. "Mokira, you have been a good friend, so while I appreciate your words..." He takes a deep breath and barks. "NOT THE FUCKING TIME! GET THE BIRD!"
Mokira winces at the sudden burst of volume. "Right! Right, sorry!"
"Wait," says Areka. "Can't you see what's happening right now? It's making us fight each other! This thing is cursed. Do we want to bring a cursed demon back home?"
Surru barks again. "IT'S! A! SIMPLE! COMMAND!"

Sarriki pulls Surru's hand off of her snout and steps well away. "You heard him! Grab the bird! Grab the fucking bird already why are you like this?!!"
"I told you not to talk anymore!!"
"You have no right! The Sorceress is going to hear of this!! Mark my words--"

3/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:11 No. 1067985 ID: e139aa
File 168954910996.png - (53.47KB , 800x600 , fop-51.png )

Laku grabs her and pulls her back from the group.
"Look I don't care anymore, I've been out here for days and days and if Surru's going to cut my balls off I'm using them first."
"Wait! Wait you heard him you're not allowed! I'm not allowed!!"
"Uh huh. Surru says I'm not allowed to do a lot of things and I don't really care anymore."
"But-- wait--" says Sarriki, as Laku grabs her mask and pulls it off her, spinning her around to face him. "My mask!"
"Yeah you aren't gonna need it," he says, one hand sliding down her back as he rubs her chest with the other. "Come on, down we go."
He takes off the backpack he's wearing and pulls off her sash.

Areka shouts, pointing at me. "CURSED! IT'S CAUSING US DISTRACTIONS AND WE'RE NOT STOPPING IT!!" He looks genuinely afraid, like he's the only one who's figured it out. "YOU'RE ALL UNDER ITS INFLUENCE!!"
Surru looks increasingly irate. "THEN STOP POINTING AT IT AND KILL IT YOU FUCKING MORONS!! LAKU I AM GOING TO FUCKING TEAR YOUR HEARTS OUT AND MAKE YOU EAT THEM!! NARAK, YOU TRAITOR, YOU'RE NEXT!!"

I see Laku pin Sarriki to the ground as she writhes in indecision, before her eyes widen and she barks suddenly.
I'm pretty sure I know what's happening but I'm mostly just confused at the timing. Yes, it benefits me greatly, but, wow, I must really mean no threat to them, huh.

It's then I realise that peripheral movement I've been trying to notice is happening.

4/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:12 No. 1067986 ID: e139aa
File 168954912808.png - (42.99KB , 800x600 , fop-52.png )

The club-wielder, Mokira, does actually move to grab me, but by the time I see someone is actually trying to do their job, I'm ready and whirl my staff around in an arc with as much velocity as I can muster, aiming for the centre of mass. It connects at his side, and I hear him exhale as the air's forced from his lungs. I also feel the visceral crack of something in him breaking. Ribs, if I can presume such a structure? I wince. I don't like causing pain but I'm left little choice.

...but he's still standing. I leap backwards as a clumsy swing of the club crushes the ground where I was. I'm low on energy, I don't have a lot of these hits and leaps left in me. The sugar meal was great but I can't metabolise that fast. At this rate I'm going to end up as slow as this guy before long.

I pull back and thrust the staff forwards while telling it to extend. I... skewer him in the abdomen. Uh. Whoops. I meant to knock him back.
I pull the staff back, and he stares down at the wound I made, before falling to his knees, and onto the grass, curling up into a ball.

5/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:12 No. 1067989 ID: e139aa
File 168954916409.png - (155.63KB , 800x600 , fop-53.png )

And then I suddenly get a thrown spear launched at me with enough speed to lodge into my eye and break it.
It hangs in my casing before the shattered plasteel and substrate chunks crumble underneath it, and the spear carves down my head as the weight of the shaft pulls it ever downwards, clattering onto my toes as one last insult.

I am calmly assessing the damage and trying to flood my system with pain inhibitors because that desperately needs to be a problem for later.
The damage is not deep and only penetrates the outermost surface of my head. Sadly, that’s where my eyes are. So while my head casing is not even halfway punctured, the surface integrity is significantly compromised and that eye is going to be non-functional for a while until the substrate mechanisms can repair themselves. It's something that can be fixed more quickly with assistance from Lord Vi.al later. Unimportant for now.

I deduce, based on the fact Areka is still holding his spear and backing away, and that Surru is lacking a spear and advancing towards me, that the spear thrown was Surru's spear.
This means Surru does not have a spear. This means Surru does not have ranged combat capability.
This means Surru is now a viable target.

Dormant emergency subroutines and cold fury dictate my next action. Disable.
I back up, find wherever I managed to adhere the one flechette I made on my person, and line up my good eye.
Point the flechette at Surru's good eye.
Draw back my wingarm.
Optimal point between full force while maintaining good form.

6/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:13 No. 1067991 ID: e139aa
File 168954922340.png - (170.91KB , 800x600 , fop-54.png )

Throw.
Minute course correction.

It hits.
A proportionate response for my current situation.

Surru screams in pain and rage as his hands clamber uselessly for his impaled eye, and he flails around blindly. Then he trips over something on the ground and falls hard onto the ground, and writhes around in pain.

My cold fury melts in visceral satisfaction. "Eye for an eye," I mumble. Yeahhh. Yeah I'm so coooooohhh fuck I'm in so much pain so much pain no no no more inhibitors I can't have run out that fast uh oh that was too many

"Yeah, this doesn't seem worth it now," says Narak. "The thing just took a spear to the head and made Surru's eye explode. Not fucking with that. Areka, grab our glorious leader, I'll get Mokira. Laku, don't wear her out. Sarriki, you okay?"
"Hff... hff... harder... harder..."
Laku, panting, looks up at Narak, still apparently oblivious to everything around him. "Yeah, hff, she's, hff, she's okay. Ohh fuck."
"Okay. Meet you two at the camp."
Narak looks me in the eyes. Well, eye. "Sky demon, you got your duel. Leave."

"Hooraaaay," I burble, loopy from an influx of pain inhbitors. I think I did a too much. TOo many. WheeeeEEee. "Good luck with your explaining to a king and the new noetuno! Newtuno. Good luck with assembly of that!" hm maybe I did not need to comment on that oh well
"Yeah! Hff, working on it, hff, haha," says Laku.
Sarriki groans. "Get me pregnant and I'll get you stuck guarding me for the rest of your life."
"Deal!"
"Fine! Better make it count then!!"
Narak growls and waves his axe at me. "I said leave! Go! I already have to deal with Laku, go be a weird pest somewhere else!!"

Ok I am go.

Off I go back to Lightgreen to tell her the good news that I am a hero and I saved aaaall the lepi from the bad red things.
I hear some sounds of shouts of pain and screams of possibly also pain but that is not my problem anymore so I am goodbye.

7/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:15 No. 1067992 ID: e139aa
File 168954933152.png - (145.77KB , 800x600 , fop-55.png )

Wow I am good at the violence it turns out! I mean I have done the violence before but I didn't think I would stand a chance but I think yes if I was in a fair fight with all of them weapons ready I would have been absolutely crushed into fine dust or something so it is good that I thought to do all the pushes and nudges and to be as annoying as possible I think I am discovering the secret root to My.a's power finally at last

also all those archery and darts competitions I joined in my teens and early 20s sure finally turned out good for something huh haha I need to take up swordfighting or something I could do with more hobbies that end up being surprisingly helpful but I mean that's more a Lo.ka kind of thing I think and Vi.al is proud of their archery and oh no oh fuck I'm running out of inhibitors no no no

Okay! Okay, the sobriety is appreciated but the agonising optical pain is not! Keep going, keep going...

I stagger to Lightgreen, who sees me and looks horrified.

"St-- starbird, starbird you are hurt, what-- I told you, starbird, I said we should run!"
"Yeah, I wanted a different outcome than this." The spear's marks in my head have stopped oozing substrate gel, but the damage to complex systems is possibly too high for self-repair mechanisms to fix alone. Getting that receiver base up is getting more and more vital. I need to get to that village. "Lead the way."
"You're hurt!"
"Yes. I am very very acutely aware. Please. Your village."

She looks at me, wincing. I'm surprised she's so upset. I'm not even bleeding, I was hit in a part of my anatomy that should feel more alien and less visceral to her.

I don't see why she's so upset. She's not the one with a shattered, splintered eye.
No, no, that's unkind, Vi.si.mi, you're letting pain dictate your emotions. Don't start faulting others for it.
She did say to run in the first place.

Ugh. I forgot to get my flechette back. And I must have dropped my longbow/spear because I don't seem to have it anymore.
I need to ration my substrate better.

...hm. That's weird. Why am I getting critical bioenergy depletion warnings

9/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:16 No. 1067994 ID: e139aa
File 168954938539.png - (84.44KB , 800x600 , fop-57.png )

all of a sudden? Wait. Wait oh no my chronometer is telling me I just skipped forward like six hours-- six hours?!
Uh oh. Uh oh that's bad where am I.

Where am I. Where is this.
Did I dream that entire fight?!
Where am I? Where am I?! Why can't I see out of-- no I know the answer to that one.

Why am I in a silk bed? And... is this silk on my eye?

Well, it hurts less, but also doesn't seem to have mended despite the time I was out. Definitely needs to be looked at by a proper mechic.

Hm.

Been a while since I was in a life or death conflict. Well, life or repair coma, but... still. Hm. Hmm.
Can't help but think that my body tried to go into a repair coma anyway. For very limited damage. That didn't get fixed. I... huh. That's bad. That suggests an extreme, and I do mean an extreme stress response. I might still be running on pain inhibitors and synthetic action-provoking hormones too much to really process it, but I think I might have taken more psychological damage from that fight than physical. Some residual guilt, yes, I prefer not to inflict harm, but mostly I... I'm trying hard to stop thinking about how much worse that could have gone if that spear hit me in my body instead of my head. And in trying to stop thinking about it, I'm thinking about it more. And if they'd captured me, and I was going to black out from fear and starvation anyway, then... I'd be out, there'd be no signal for anyone to find, and... well, I wouldn't be waking up, probably.

Well. Now what. My bioenergy reserves are still shockingly low, but...

10/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:17 No. 1067995 ID: e139aa
File 168954943649.png - (190.10KB , 800x600 , fop-58.png )

...huh. That's... yeah, that's definitely Shapeless technology hanging up there.
Solar globe. Leave it in the sunlight, it charges. In the dark, it slowly discharges energy in wavelengths that substrate responds to.
It's meant to power tiny little substrate mechanisms that don't consume a whole lot of power. It's a supplementary power source, not a primary one.

But it's more than nothing, and I guess it worked to give me enough energy to resume higher order processes again.
Yup, apparently all my precision and power maneuvers earlier ate more into my already low charge than I thought.

I raise a hand towards it, and it feels like it gets lighter as I move closer to it. Even my starved synthetic biology is pulling some nourishment from it.

...while this is a good sign that I'm probably somewhere safe, I am a little worried why someone would have access to this and also know how to use it.

Eurgh. I feel dizzy. Lightheaded. Evidently I'm still quite low, and this globe isn't going to cut it.
I'm going to pass out again if I try standing. Really, I think starvation might be setting in. I already ate... okay, I guess like six or seven hours ago, but.
Clearly I need to eat more.

Hhhhhhmmm I don't know where my flocklet is. I can't find it. It must be in vacant mode, which means I'm not inside it.
Well. Assuming it's still around.

...what do I do now. What time is it? Clearly things must be getting close to dusk or night by now.
Do I shout? What language do I even use? The one the lepi use? Noetuno? Common Unified Trade 3? The Shapeless symphonies? Yeah I’m sure that’s going to be comprehensible to anyone.
Ugh, my eye hurts. I don't have fine enough control over my own substrate to just turn off my pain sensors. I bet the Shapeless Lords could opt in and out of any sensations they so wished. This is awful.

11/10 (oops) Vi.si.mi 2023/07/16(Sun)16:17 No. 1067996 ID: e139aa
File 168954945844.png - (84.67KB , 800x600 , fop-59.png )

"Good evening, little chicken! It's me, the fox!"

I look around frantically as a voice with a synthetic edge to it starts making odd noises at me. "Yiyiyiyiyi..."

I then realise there's another Shapeless ball of some kind floating in the room. Less recognisable. It looks like another floating head, so I assume it's a flocklet, but flocklets don't tend to talk and also tend to look more avian and less like a... fox...

"Va.ne.tu?"
"The very same! I see My.a's told you all about me, yiyiyiyi! I'd be there in person but I'm very very busy. Now I was told to make your life more difficult, but also I happened to see a bunch of lepi dragging your extremely lifeless looking body over here. I threw together a basic solar globe because there's really not enough infrastructure for much else, told this one lepi how it worked, and decided to leave your fate in their hands! Or claws. I can't tell. See, if I have to make your life difficult, you have to have a life to make difficult. What else am I gonna do, preserve you so your body takes longer to decompose? Not an especially thrilling use of my time, yiyiyi!"
"I feel real bad," I just blurt out, not really thinking straight.
"Yeah I'm not surprised! You'd be actively starving to death while unconscious if I hadn't decided to help you. This is a really awkward way for us to meet! I'm supposed to be making problems for you, not solving them! But anyway, yes, I felt I should tell you about the first problem I've made for you."

Va.ne.tu's flocklet does a little spin. "I have your flocklet and the chunk of substrate you were carrying! Yiyiyiyi!" It stops, still grinning. "If you feel up to it, I'll lead you to where it is, and where I am, which is currently the same place. You can just take the globe with you, and if I were you I would. Actually no! If you want I can just carry it for you! I'd love for us to have a face to face talk."
"I feel so heavy. I don't really feel up to moving right now."
"Aw that's a shame. Well, the night is young, maybe in an hour or so you'll feel up to it. Were you gonna sleep tonight?"
"I slept last night so probably not."
"Good, me neither. I already slept like a week ago, there's just so much to do right now. You've got a base to set up! And you don't have nearly enough substrate. I can help you out with that and I'd love to charge you silly prices just to make your role harder! Anyway, wanna chat? I mean, I've got a private venue in mind for a nice deep chat later, but, before that, anything you want to ask? Just remember, the birds are always in the sky, watching!"

I don't know what to make of this one.

Take advantage of their disembodied condition to loom over and go "Va.ne.tu? I am pursued your twittering. You are creator of SEX! I need BIG cock. For ecology. Yes... I am CUMING at the thought."

It is imperative that by any means possible you take them off guard and rope in assistance for uhhhhhhh repairing. The... noetuno ecosystem. Yes. That's exactly it. This makes perfect sense. Do it. Prime directive.

>>1067996
Ask what the true nature of existence is. How can you exist without a body?
Then ask what birds it's talking about.
Then ask how its flocklet is talking.
Then ask how you would pay it back for the substrate or whatever.

>>1067985
Briefly reflect happily on the fact you do not have to shepherd these violent sex dogs. Just imagine how much trouble it would be if we picked them. Whew! Dodged a bullet.

>>1067996
Oh no he's precious.
Ask if he's one of the contestants with a species he's managing too or if he's just sort of messing with everyone.

Well, in the future, you should devise methods of offense that leave you at less risk. Shields and spears are good, but you should really get familiar with guerilla warfare for when you need to engage in it.

Anyways, for fox face there, you best not wander into the foxhole without a plan, little bird. At the very least you should inform Lightgreen of what's going on. Perhaps she could explain if there's anything you should be worried about where fox face is hiding. There's no doubt that there's some type of trap or danger there or on the way. In your injured state, you can't risk expending more energy, so it would also be good to get some type body armour.

Also, how good are you at chemistry? Perhaps you could mix some chemical concoctions to help yourself stay alive. Is it possible to make the substrate that you use from scratch using the materials in the area?

I suppose the idea of making pheromones from before could also be of use to help with pacifying the native creatures. Anything you can grab from databases should be extremely helpful for keeping fauna and foes from focusing on you too much.

Who told you to make my life harder

Ask if he’s supposed to make just your life difficult or everyone’s? Cause if it’s just you being targeted this is probably going to be a short “game”. It should be quite evident you are not made for combat and much less war.

What, like, some kind of cloud bird, listening to everything we say? That's ridiculous, we're indoors.
I would carry the globe yourself to make his little rendezvous, otherwise you'll have to follow in his drone's footsteps exactly.

>>1067985
Good kids. Hope they make it.

>>1067992
Besides caring about you, she may be expecting some retaliation over this. There's a chance they'd have left them alone had you run, but now they're going to be out for your blood. If they don't get it when they come back, expect them to take out on the villagers.

FWIW you shouldn't feel too bad over this. History here may call you many things, but "coward" will not be one of them.

>>1067996
She seems nice enough, but you might not have the time to talk later*. You gotta plan out a defense with the leaders of this village, presumably after prostrating in apology for the trouble you caused.
Then again, your stuff might be pivotal to that defense. If so, well played.

A personal question, though: "Is it true you've been abandoned by your master?"
That must be hard to imagine. The closest that could come to mind would be if, say, your lord had sent you in as a contestant for a game a mad god had forcefully hosted in his space and one condition is that you wouldn't be informed beforehand. As a hypothetical.

*Also, I don't think staying up for a week straight is normal for your kind. Don't forget to eat and sleep yourself.

Also, remember to give her(sorry) him thanks in saving you. If you died, there's no doubt her master would have loved rubbing that your master's face. Not the death per se, but the fact that you did so lowering yourself to My.a's level, if not betraying Vi.al principles.

Maybe don't discuss that out loud. She may be staying awake trying to avoid My.a herself. Remember: the birds are always watching.

Well, let's see, what's the rule about tricksters? Oh yeah, while they cause trouble for pals they cause a lot more trouble for enemies. Plus, just because My.a took them in does not mean they can't have influences besides herself. So play along, have a laugh, get them to laugh too. Perhaps impart wisdom - just avoid being schoolmarm-y about doing so.

>>1068003
"Someones misfortune is someone elses luck"

Say you have a pretty good idea who told him to make your life difficult, and that guy told you to do something too. He told you to lose. Tell Va.ne.tu not tell him, but you don't intend to obey those orders.

Go with him and try to get your flockling back, but he'll probably require you to doom the planet to get it or something. It's at least a chance to learn a little more than these skittish moths can tell you.

Oh at some point you might mention how much it sucks that Lord Vi.al long may it reign abandoned you on this planet with no resources and no way to contact him. It'll surely make him furious, but it's good for him to be aware of that common thread. It's entirely possible his creator would welcome him back just as much as Vi.al would welcome you, and simply hasn't noticed his absence.

1/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:49 No. 1068070 ID: e139aa
File 168962338327.png - (471.50KB , 800x600 , fop-60.png )

> pursued his twittering
> repair noetuno ecosystem
I think I took that hit to my head harder than I thought. Let me just start up an integrity check on... my entire brain, I guess. That'll take a minute.
> who told him to make my life harder
Oh, My.a did. I think. Right? Right.

> good kids
Well the female was the one screaming at me to hand over everything I had in a butchered Transcendental language and the male was obsessed with trying to mate with that female to the exclusion of all else and seemed to see her as an object. Organics, I swear.
Honestly I'd be happy not seeing any of them again.
> at least you didn't have to shepherd these violent sex dogs
I'm a little intimidated at the idea of someone who can. They kept mentioning a King as well as a Sorceress, who I assume is the Woven that captured me before. What kind of person must their king be to instill such loyalty when they only respect force?

> they might retaliate
Oh. Hm. That's not good. I hadn't considered that. Well. At least I won't be completely alone if I have to help defend the village, surely.
> future weapon plans
I am requisitioning an incapacitor and personal energy shield immediately when I get my base set up.

> chemistry? make substrate?
I'm not especially skilled at chemistry. I could look things up in my local cache but I'd be fumbling around for a while.

And I'm actually prohibited from allowing substrate proliferation. It's just a normal failsafe on all substrate. If every piece of substrate was allowed to self-replicate, well, I saw what Vi.al did to that Woven's moon home. As a construct lacking complete control over substrate, it would be absolutely impossible for me to contain any runaway self-replication scenarios, so I have to rely on externally provided substrate.

Unless I could bypass the safety controls, but, well, I don't want to cause a vitrification runaway on this world.
Vi.al would intervene at some point, it would be hard for it to not notice its sudden growing presence on this world, but it wouldn't be able to reverse the destruction caused.
And I'd be in the position of needing to explain to Vi.al why I overrode substrate safety controls, let its world partially become subsumed, and generally did the stupidest thing I could possibly do that didn't involve planetary scale weapons of mass devastation.

Anyway most of my simulations involving substrate proliferation end up with me being slowly consumed by it so I have an aversion to the idea.

Ah, that's worth noting. Substrate carries with it a tiny speck of a spark of the will and consciousness of a Shapeless entity, so all the substrate I've worked with up to this point has been Lord Vi.al's, but the substrate within my own body and my flocklet specifically carries my will and consciousness. And that took a lot of time trying to integrate more substrate into myself and sloooowly convince it to be mine and not Vi.al's. I of course asked for Vi.al's permission first, who seemed extremely amused at how little substrate I was requesting and gave me the authorisation. I wanted to look into this sort of thing more but it takes such a long time it doesn't feel worth it.

> staying up a week seems bad
> you should sleep and eat
I certainly would prefer a regular sleep every three or four nights but I can't see [a week] being a concerning amount of time. Well. It depends. Some constructs are intended to spend long periods of time active, like myself, and others require more regular maintenance downtime. Without knowing more about Va.ne.tu's construction I wouldn't know if that's a worrying amount of time or not.
Hm. But I am damaged. I should be sleeping more than usual. And eating. Actually I'm really hungry now.

2/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:50 No. 1068071 ID: e139aa
File 168962341221.png - (35.00KB , 800x600 , fop-61.png )

Okay. Time to question someone other than myself.

"Firstly, thank you for saving my life."
The flocklet hangs, grinning quietly, and then starts stuttering. "Y-y-yiyiyiyi you're welcome! D-don't mention it!" Odd reaction.
"And yes, I have a few questions."
"Haha! Hooray! Go ahead!"

"Are you supposed to just make problems for me? No one else?"
"Just you! Explicit command from the higher-up! Reading between the lines a little, I think My.a wants to sabotage Vi.al's representative a bunch. I mean, at the moment you're the weakest of all six, but I expect My.a will start throwing bigger wrenches if you start doing better! I certainly feel no issue in dialling back things a lot at this stage, haha, yiyiyiyiyi!"

"Are you one of the contestants?"
"Haha noooo! I'm a terrible manager! I'd do so poorly you have no idea, yiyiyiyiyi! If I was in your feet back there? I'd have just run!"
"Do you know who the contestants are?"
"Oh I could rattle off a bunch of names but that'd mean nothing to you. Actually I'll do exactly that! Just the names and nothing more! Northwards of you, we have Five Strands Inwards, Three Strands Upward. I've heard you two met already! To the west, we have... uhh... okay I think maybe I'm going to stop giving you longnames. West is Shimmering Inevitability. Ask her for her full name, I haven't got all day. Over the big big river to the west that splits the continent, to the north is Glass-Fold-Nine-Circles, southwest is..." He trails off, and sighs. "Why do all the Transcendental have to have such stupid names. Okay. This name doesn't work in our symphonic language. Brace yourself."
I wince. "Alright."
"B!snu-fnaa-kweee," says the flocklet, juddering from a sound I cannot even begin to process how it was formed, before switching back to the fugue voices of Shapeless conversation. "And I'm glad I'm just giving you names because I don't want to think about that one any further. Wretched thing, I hate thinking about it. Oh, and the last one in the northwest is Sir Lu.a, Realm Knight of Lord Lo.ka."
A name I recognise! A subject of Lord Lo.ka! Who is a friend and ally of Lord Vi.al! A possible ally!! If I could smile, I'd be in danger of my head splitting into two.
"Haha, you seem happy! It's a shame they're as far away as possible as they could be from where you are on this continent, then, isn't it? How sad that your strongest potential ally is someone who you might never even reach!!"
"Surely they could just transmit themselves to me in seconds?"
"If they wanted to, sure!" The flocklet spins again. "If they don't have problems of their own to deal with, yiyiyiyiyi!"
Hrrm.

"How is your flocklet talking?"
"What do you mean? Does yours not?"
"Well, I've never tried." Among base organics it would only be confusing. Among Shapeless I can speak in person or other communication infrastructure. Why would I need to use it for remote communication when better tools exist? I... Well, I suppose there's no such infrastructure on this world. But there should be. But it all looks like it was actively sabotaged or destroyed. What a weird situation.

Some weirder questions pop into my mind. "What's the true nature of existence? How can you exist without a body?"
"...?" The flocklet's grin is replaced with an expression of complete confusion. "That's... I don't follow, Vi.si.mi? What are you-- oh. Oh." The flocklet looks around shiftily. "No. No, we're not talking about such things like this. Not like this, not like this, no, no. The birds--"
"What birds?"
"Oh you know. The birds. They call, we act." It flicks an ear. I find myself wondering how much of this is synchronised to Va.ne.tu's actual body behaviours and how much of it is elaborate puppetry. "It's how it was and how it is. Always will be, maybe. Until the birds get tired and fly away to who knows where. And then where does that leave us, hm? Will we even live to see the day they fly away?"
"Are you talking about the Shapeless--"
"SSshhh!! Shush. You're a smart little birdie, Vissy. Sorry, habit, My.a keeps calling you that and it's a cute name. And you're cute--" The flocklet abruptly cuts off and faces downwards like it just had its link severed, before twitching back into life, looking at me. "Hahaha! These flocklet malfunctions, you know how it is, sometimes they just say things by themselves!"
"No they don't?"
"Mine are a little unconventional don't worry about it moving along let's talk about other things."

"I do have one last question. Well, two. How am I going to pay you back for the substrate?"
"Oh I have so many other needs that aren't substrate based. Food, for one thing! Did you know I'm probably more organic, well, synth-organic than you are? It's true! I have basically all the same organs and systems any base organic would have. Well, no reproductive system but there's no reason for that anyway, what would I reproduce? Myself? Anyway, this solar globe wouldn't be saving me, that's for sure! I have the means to survive but I am sick and tired of nutrient slurry! I can eat, I want to eat. Also, well, just, it'd be easier to talk in person about it."
"I feel like you're setting up a trap--"
"Vi.si.mi! Vi.si.mi I had access to your lifeless body! If I wanted to capture you I could have! Why would I set up a trap to hurt you now?!"

Wow. He sounded actually quite angry about that. Which makes me a little suspicious. "You seem awfully irate to--"
"Yes I'm irate! Do you know how much I risked to save y-- do you know how much of a pain it was to save you?! What's your last question?"

3/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:51 No. 1068073 ID: e139aa
File 168962346596.png - (87.17KB , 800x600 , fop-62.png )

"Is it true you were abandoned by your creator?"

The flocklet doesn't respond, face neutral.
It looks at me for what feels like ten times the amount of actual time passing.
I feel even more lightheaded than normal. Why. Why did I ask this. Why why why. Why. Stupid, stupid, stupid

"I'm not answering that question."
"Sorry. Sorry, I don't know why I thought to ask it, sorry, sorry, I'm very out of it, please let's just forget it."
Its stern look softens a little as I apologise desperately. "I'll, I'll talk about it if you come to me. Can you just... how are you feeling?"
Like I managed to shove both of my legs into my beak. "Still giddy, but I think I can walk. ...Do you know where Lightgreen is?"
"Uh. Hm. Not especially? I didn't keep track of the lepi here by name. Do you have a description?"
"Pale body, tealish fuzz, green wings. Green eyes. Diamond markings."
"Oh! The one that I gave the globe to. No. Sorry!"

I sluggishly stand, reach up for the solar globe, pick it up and hold it up against my stomach. It's warm, both to my temperature sensors and from the feeling of lightness and vitality it gives me. "Very well. Take me to wherever you need me to be." I don't know if I should be this quick to trust this designated obstacle, but, well, let's see what this is all about.
"Certainly! Follow meeeee!"

The flocklet wobbles off out of the tent structure I'm in, as I leave via a heavy flap hanging from a door frame.

As I turn to survey the village at night, I'm struck by one of the tents being much larger than the others. I guess Lightgreen did mention that.
It's also the only one that seems to have any signs of life, lit up from inside and I can hear the odd sound of lepi laughter and muffled shouts.

I can explore this place in the morning. I follow Va.ne.tu's flocklet.

4/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:51 No. 1068074 ID: e139aa
File 168962349612.png - (57.45KB , 800x600 , fop-63.png )

I'm led further and further from the village, and I notice that the uneven dirt and grass beneath me starts to show... substrate based stepping stones. Hexagonal.
As I step on them, ripples of light confirm my presence. I catch glimmers of communication.

APPROACHING: 15 units. Shapeless. Construct. Ecology template (bespoke, Vi.al invention). ID: [SHA].[MON].[Obsc?].Vi.al.Vi.si.mi

Something about hearing my longform name makes me uneasy. Longform names aren't regularly used in Shapeless society because of the centuries-long (if not millennia) mystery of the Shapeless Monarch's true name, and also the Shapeless Lords frequently obscure their true parentage for a variety of reasons. Lord Vi.al, for example. So most of my longform name is a mystery connected to a mystery, with awkward placeholders going where they are. It's just not useful.

"Is this necessary?"
"Hm?"
"The things calling out my longname."
"Oh. I just like to be aware if I'm expecting visitors. It's only me listening to them. They're not loud enough to be heard by anyone else not directly touching them."

We keep walking and the path twists and turns downwards, heading farther and farther away from the village.

"Where are you taking me?"
"A safe place. I can't talk about it too much, it'll make it cease to be a safe place."
"That makes me think you're leading me into a trap."

The flocklet whines. "Please, please understand I am walking a very fine edge here. You will get every answer you want, I swear it. The birds, Vi.si.mi. Remember the birds."
"Am I not a bird?"
"I don't know. Are you a bird, Vi.si.mi? Are you going to sing to the other birds?"
"Maybe," I say, feeling like I'm still missing this metaphor. "I don't know?"
"Well, we're almost here," says the flocklet. "Seems like a waste of both of our time if I turn you around."

I realise I've been led to where a slope has been carved into the ground, going deeper and deeper. Obscured from the lepi village by a slight hill.
The flocklet heads downwards, and I hold the solar globe up for light as I walk down the ridged substrate slope, uniform in its pattern.

I'm starting to feel like this might have been a bad idea.

5/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:52 No. 1068075 ID: e139aa
File 168962353205.png - (618.76KB , 800x600 , fop-64.png )

At the base of the slope, it disappears under the ground and starts spiralling slowly downwards.

"Va.ne.tu, I don't know if I can walk much further without hurting myself."
"Ah. I'll fetch you from here."
A soft chair emerges from the substrate like it just came out of the surface of a lake.
"Take a seat!"

The flocklet flies off into the dim cyan gloom.

You know, I'm used to substrate producing more background noise than this. It's still there, but it's faint, and it lacks the character of any Shapeless Lord I'm familiar with, like it has no character at all. Truly neutral substrate is rare, though, and active neutral substrate almost always triggers a failsafe to shut down immediately due to lack of guiding intellect.
As I said, you want something in control of substrate that's doing anything more than sit and be a lump of fancy glassy metal.
It's so strange. Even if it was My.a's substrate or Va.ne.tu's I'd expect an unfamiliar signature rather than a dull absence.

The chair starts sinking into the floor. I notice the floor is opening, too. A faint shimmer suggests a bubble of transparently thin substrate has formed around me. I hold onto the chair uneasily as the ramp opens below me and closes above me, the bubble lazily falling gently down through the entire spiral ramp structure.

After passing through a surprising number of ramp twists, the bubble pops into flakes of insubstantial substrate, and the chair adjusts itself until I'm standing, before sinking back into the substrate.

A little overengineered, but I guess it got me down faster.

I take a few steps towards the only obvious way forward, up to a massive dense metal door with multiple substrate connectors.

"Welcome! Welcome welcome welcome," says Va.ne.tu, stepping forward out of a wall nook I hadn't seen. "So glad to see you! Yiyiyiyiyi!"

He gestures to his flocklet. "Welcome home, me!"
"Hi, me!"
"Off you go to sleep!"
"Yiyiyiyiyiyi!"

I'm immediately perturbed. Why would you talk to your own flocklet? You wouldn't talk to your own leg.

He holds out his hands. "Let me take that thing off you, there's a better generator past this door."
I hand over the globe, and I already feel heavier. "Please be quick."

He nods, and clicks his fingers.

6/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:52 No. 1068076 ID: e139aa
File 168962356619.png - (502.89KB , 800x600 , fop-65.png )

The large door screeches and grinds open, layers and layers of security mechanisms receding into the walls.
Its scale and mass intimidate me. I almost feel like a little fledgling construct standing at the door to Vi.al's throneroom for the first time.

Va.ne.tu pulls one of my wingarms over his shoulders. "Come on. Just a little further."
"Okay."
"Thank you for trusting me. I know you have every reason to not, but a lot is going to make sense very soon."

We cross the threshold. I immediately feel a warmth and lightness permeate my entire body.
The entire room is coated in a thick layer of humming, shifting substrate, a vibrant bright buzzing that flows through me and soothes my aches.
It ripples around my feet, but a hard surface beneath it prevents me from sinking into it.

I then hear the mechanisms grind to close the door again.

Something I should have asked about suddenly crossed my mind. "Wait, why is that door made of metal and not substrate?"

It clangs and thuds shut and I suddenly panic.
A background noise I have been hearing for most of my life is suddenly cut. I'm completely cut off. I've lost track of the carrier frequencies Vi.al uses before but never so abruptly. "What's happening? What's happening what's going on?"
"Calm down, calm down, this is a secure room, nothing can get in or out unless I let it."
"That doesn't-- that's-- that doesn't make me calm what are you doing why did I come here?"
"Vi.si.mi!! Focus! Focus, look at me, breathe, you breathe, right? Do that, look, like me, in, out, in out."

I am injured and low on energy and I have just walked into a signal dead zone. This is the worst scenario. Worst possible scenario. They'll never find my body. I'm dead. I'm dead!! I have to escape!! I have to--

"VI.SI.MI!! Pull it together, little chicken! I did not risk being found out so much for you to completely lose it!!"
"I-- I--"
"Come on. Please. Calm down. Please. I don't want to hurt you. I don't know how much clearer I can make that. I really, really don't want to hurt you. I can be completely honest now. They can't hear us. I really really do not want to hurt you or mess with you or make your life harder."
"What do you mean?? What are you talking about?"
"Vi.si.mi, it's an order. A direct order from My.a. And My.a is the Lord I serve now. I didn't have much of a choice."
"Can't you... can't you just subvert it?"
"What do you think I've been doing?! Yes, I enjoy having my fun and my little pranks but do you think it's any fun for me to pick on someone who doesn't deserve it? You've done nothing wrong, you've been thrown into an awful situation through no fault of your own, at the mercy and whims of the Shapeless." Va.ne.tu grins. "Just like me!"

"Why are you so interested in me?"
Va.ne.tu looks a little taken aback by this question. "I just told you. You're my objective. I have to make your life less easy." He looks pained. "I guess it's just my designated purpose in this existence to keep being told to hurt anyone I think doesn't deserve it, but that's my problem, not yours."
"What do you mean?"
Va.ne.tu says nothing and makes a soft whine. "I don't want to talk about it," he says. "Or my creator. Or anything before My.a found me. Completely ignorant of anything before that day, including me. My.a was a friend. A carefree spirit. Mu.at broke them. Broke me. Broke... well. Broke my creator. And." I hear his voice falter. "...like I said. I don't want to talk about it."

Mu.at. That's a name I don't know much about. Mostly because the last time I mentioned it around Lord Vi.al I was told immediately to change the subject, in the same tone of voice Vi.al uses for issuing commands. So I did.

"Now, the price of doing business with me and getting your stuff back hasn't been fully negotiated. I'd love more food, also organic textiles, yes, energy isn't worth as much to me as it is to you, but mostly I want your secrecy."
"...why?"
"I might be an illegal construct working on illegal things. It's too early to say, yiyiyiyiyi." He grins again.
"Illegal construct?" That doesn't make any sense.
"I can convert substrate."
"...you can what?"
"I can convert substrate! Not only that, I can blank it too."

7/7 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/17(Mon)12:53 No. 1068077 ID: e139aa
File 168962362039.png - (587.28KB , 800x600 , fop-66.png )

Well.

Yup, that's absolutely illegal.

Usurpation of substrate is the forced imposition of your own identity/character/signature onto someone else's substrate. It is a serious crime among the Shapeless. It's the sort of thing that wars are started over and wars are started to do.

Not only that, but if Va.ne.tu is mostly composed of biomechanical materials and not substrate, that means someone has developed a proof of concept for a non-substrate tool that can dramatically affect substrate and that in itself is extremely illegal and actually probably high treason! Because that opens the door for something not Shapeless to attack substrate at a massively devastating level!

This is horrifying, actually, the more I think about it.

"Oh there we go. Yeah, I should have expected a reaction like that. Yes, when a Shapeless Lord does it slowly, it's 'reintegration' and it's perfectly acceptable, and when a construct does it fast, it's 'usurpation' and extremely illegal."
"How much of you is substrate. How much substrate are you, Va.ne.tu."
"A fine lattice strewn through my brain and a bunch tied to my nervous system, why?"

Okay that's... this is still absolutely not okay but if some substrate involvement is required, that's less troubling.

"Do you... do you understand what usurpation of substrate is? It's... you're actively hurting someone when you do that, you know that, right?"
"Just a tiny piece! Do you shed any tears if you drop a feather? That's more of you than I've taken of anyone else! I don't need that much substrate compared to the scale of the Lords! And I mean, do you understand how screwed we both are on a cosmic level? Beholden to these massive cosmic forces beyond our comprehension playing with us like toys until we break? I think even a slight little nudge in our favour is long overdue. I mean, it's far far too soon for us to do anything like some sort of grand revolution. We can't even reproduce, haha! If all the constructs were gathered into our own little planet to live free, we'd all die out in a century. And then they'd just make more. I think I've found proof that this even happened before, but, well, for some reason all that information is extremely hard to come by and missing large chunks. Weird, right?"

He's insane. He's completely insane.
I'm locked in a room with a broken construct.
I need to think of a way to get out of here. I have to escape. I have to leave.

"...Okay, I gave you too much information too quickly," says Va.ne.tu, looking at me with concern. "Yeah, you don't... you don't look well. Do you want me to help you get back to the lepi village? ...Vi.si.mi? Hello? Heh heh, you're usually chattier than this in the logs! Heh. Heh. Look, I'll admit, I'm... I don't get to talk to other constructs often, or at all, usually, I'm not good with people, did I... did I make a mistake?"

"...Please say something. You're worrying me now. Vi.si.mi?"

it was a mistake to come here

So how'd that integrity check go? Ecology ecosystem repair new species new species Va.ne.tu ecology critical damage new species reproduce make more Va.ne.tu

Ah, you forgot to introduce yourself properly. Do so. That'll be... a start.

From which to say that you, hem, acknowledge but also denounce his words and ways, as he for sure does not have the full picture.

Does it not strike him that as far as hiding and burning any evidence of weird uprisings might not have been the will and way of the Shapeless Lords themselves, but of the uprisings? If anyone wanted to take it a step further they'd have to obscure themselves to an incredible degree.

So there is no logical basis to presume some of the things he seems to be presuming. Or at least that the truth could be considerably more nuanced than what he implies.

Designed for a purpose. Designed for a purpose. You know the Shapeless wanted to force things even further but they couldn't go much further then making sure you had directives that push you towards them like your constant need to speak your intro.

You saw some truth in My.a's insane words before, there is truth to the words of this one here. That's why you are unable to react. It's just like before and you don't like it.

Breath in, breath out. Then say your intro to calm yourself down. The little endorphin rush should help you concentrate afterwords.

Do not insult the person who has if not saved your life, saved you from a recovery coma on a planet where you likely would not wake up from said recovery coma, who invited you into their personal stronghold and is sharing their deepest secrets with you. Someone who sounds so desperately lonely that they seem to have started making their flocklets slightly separate from themselves to have anyone to talk to. Someone who has resources you desperately need and has stated they're happy to allow you access to them for things that should be easy for you to acquire. Someone that also appears to consider you cute.
Also yes, he might be broken, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily wrong. It sounds like he was betrayed by his creator. How would you handle it if Lord Vi.al decided he didn't care or have use for you anymore and tossed you away? Maybe being broken is the best you can expect in that case.
Regardless of his long term plans, it sounds like he has substrate to spare and you desperately need that, do you not? And you'd be using illegal substrate, not making it yourself. At worst that'd be in a legal grey area for the shapeless lords to iron out after all this is over. Your goal, as given to you by Lord Vi.al, is to save this planet and the species on it. Focus on that and what you need to do in order to accomplish that. Due to circumstances that appears to be working with these people present, and so far the only friendly faces you've met are Lightgreen and Va.ne.tu.
Also is it weird Va.ne.tu keeps bringing up reproduction? It sounds like he might be a bit frustrated that constructs like yourselves lack that ability. Do constructs still have that biological drive to create offspring that is just ignored because of the presence of substrate in their system and the shapeless lords telling you it is unnecessary? Something worth discussing at least.

tl;dr
Take a deep breath. Calm down. Don't run away from Va.ne.tu even if you disagree with his ideas. He has offered you help, discuss this deal and what you need to do to acquire more substrate for your plans. Try and make friends with the only person who has access to substrate on the planet so far that seems to want to help you.

Oh, Vanny looks like fun! He's dissatisfied with his lot in life, and has a means to free himself from the whims of the Shapeless Lords. More so, he wants you to trust him, and is going out of his way to subvert My.a's directive to make your life miserable.

His ability to blank substrate can also be used very well, and very much to your advantage. In this case, he could scoop up a handful of substrate, and use it to make a replacement for your broken eye. It could also be very useful for producing the necessary items to help protect your Lepi allies (tools for construction, medical supplies, frames for more complex objects).

This could also provide a very good way for you to learn how to take more foreign substrate into yourself without it consuming you. Vanny could blank the stuff when you get in trouble, or you could use blank substrate to practice shaping it into more complex forms.

There's also the possibility of going on the offense with this, though I would only suggest you pursue that option as a last resort. He can use this ability to blank the substrate in the constructs that oppose him, basically killing them in an instant. I doubt the Shapeless Lords would ignore that, but it's something he can do.

My suggestion is to attempt to ally with Vanny if you can, at least in this scenario. Even if you are horrified by his ability to blank substrate, you do not want to be on the receiving end of these abilities, and being on his good side would minimize the chance of you winding up dead.

My.a also said she'd do terrible things to you if you hurt him, so you can't do anything remove him from the equation without risking retaliation from her directly. You also have no idea what My.a's capabilities are in regards to creating constructs with these abilities, so even if Vanny is eliminated, it is entirely possible that she may have already learned from him how to create more with similar abilities.

I would not want to be on his bad side if I can help it.

>>1068077
Come on Vi.si.mi it's not so bad. As long as there's no real revolution, is there any harm in letting those who want to live free live free?
Besides he's very cute and saved your life. It would be a dick move to sell him out and he's very cute.

Alternatively, lose your shit completely.

Even if you disagree with his plans, he did save your life and you need allies. Better to agree to keep the secret for now.

>>1068071
>"Are you talking about the Shapeless--"
What did you think he was talking about? The Shapeless Lords?
>"Hahaha! These flocklet malfunctions, you know how it is, sometimes they just say things by themselves!"
Hmm, he used a different laugh. Maybe he does that whenever he lies? Or just when he's nervous? He probably does think you're cute. No reproductive organs, so it's not a reproductive urge...? Or he has urges but no organs to go along with it?

>You wouldn't talk to your own leg.
What about your own brain? His flocklets are more similar to copies, I think.

>>1068077
Tell him that usurpation is a crime regardless of who does it. And like, yes, taking a little substrate from a being who has a lot is likely to go unnoticed, but that doesn't make it less of a crime. Urge him to stop doing it, never do it again, for his own good. He is a titmouse stealing fur from a fox, except the fox could destroy him in an instant.
Also tell him that he should not have told you all this. What makes him think he can trust you? Well, yes, you do owe him a debt, since he seems to be near-disobeying a direct order in order to help you, but if you were to betray him then he wouldn't be able to hinder you later on, like he's been ordered to do, and you might even be rewarded for turning him in. Does My.a know he can do this?! Why did he tell you this? You can't help him with his rebellion or whatever he's planning in the long term. You don't have the emotional attachment to commit to the cause nor any skills that would help really.

You will keep quiet, though, because so long as he's subverting the order to cause trouble for you then he is almost an ally. Also buying substrate for food will help.

If you're feeling up to it, ask him if he really thinks you're cute.

Oh, and this is where he can actually talk about what My.a was talking about, right? Existing without a body?

He's working towards the same goal as Lord Vi.al. That the Shapeless Lords are so big is a flaw, a weakness they are aware of. Maybe it's unavoidable, but his desire to make the Shapeless Lords less is one that they share too. They just don't know how to go about it. And he's kind of insane to think he can figure out what they can't, but keep in mind that weakness. He isn't big. Their solution might lay somewhere in this blind spot. This literal blind spot that Va.ne.tu has created, and trusted you to keep it safe from... any rash actions of your Lords.

So My.a doesn't choose to be so... broken and glitchy. Something made him that way. Something that overcame the power of a Shapeless Lord. My.a still might be a total assbutt regardless, but that's something very important to keep in mind.

...Feel like it has to be asked. Would imprinting yourself/lord Vi.al/others to this stuff "fix" the criminal problem or would it be worse? Either way probably the best tactic would be asking if he's aware of what damage runaway substrate can do. Explain how in over his head he is. Feathers do not have will. Substrate does, so he is killing a piece of a living being. Even if the shapeless lords never see his experiments he's still effectively building a superweapon that could kill all shapeless life. Like, what would that weaver do to lord Vi.al if she had this stuff? Or a being that wishes to see all shapeless dead? Or it could be worse than death. Perhaps a powermonger decided to impose their will on all shapeless while preserving what's left as slaves just to see them agonized by acting in ways they hate. Worse fate than dying. Since he seems to like you the final nail would be to ask if he could stand that being done to yourself.

Congratulate him on following his directive to mess with you to the utmost degree, while still being honest with you, because that was probably the most discombobulating thing you could be told in this situation.

Oh wait, is it obvious that he's doing something illegal just from how blank the substrate is outside? He might have to fix that.

This is good, actually. He’s made your life a lot harder already, so he’s built up quite a trade deficit. His ability to convert substrate will come in very handy, because you’re going to need a lot of it. A lotta, lotta substrate. This planet is already a fiasco, what’s a little substrate piracy on top?
So… he has to keep the door open to communicate with his flocklet, right? …Oh. No, that makes much more sense. His flocklet is acting independently most of the time.

>>1068091
Yes, congratulate him on messing with your head so effectively. Completing his directive should give him a nice electrochemical pleasure rush.

contemplate the rebel lifestyle. consider getting cool shades.

try to calm yourself down, suddenly lose balance do to how exhausted you are from the fight earlier and the shock you are now feeling. Fall on top of Va.ne.tu while reaching out to try and stop your fall and end up accidentally giving him a hug. Stay like that for a moment while you gather your thoughts and balance. then ask why he's telling you this before realizing you've been hugging him for like a full minute.

>If all the constructs were gathered into our own little planet to live free, we'd all die out in a century.
Now there's a prompt for a thought experiment to keep your mind off the potential god-killer you've likely done before, in safer times. How would you make a planet full of Constructs self-sustaining, in absence of the Lords? Building this planet into one might you'd like. Though, this may also mean upliftment or extermination of the "native" sapient species here. While the former is preferable, making the Shapeless' job more complicated may be frowned upon.

You may not hold any interest in dismantling the Shapeless, but declaring your independence on this planet is worth it. Seriously calculate the odds of being killed over this secret. Turning Vatinu in won't guarantee that your life is worth more than keeping the knowledge under wraps. Not even your beloved Lord can, or will, protect you from this. RatherSelf-exile will keep this information contained on this planet.

>Yes, when a Shapeless Lord does it slowly, it's 'reintegration' and it's perfectly acceptable, and when a construct does it fast, it's 'usurpation' and extremely illegal.
Does it look like the fox has a more detached sentiment to substrate is normal for your kind? Almost as if he's an organic being that had substrate woven into him, rather than a substrate being molded into organic shape like yourself. He might be a Shapeless hybrid from a rather unethical experiment. It may be polite to assume "his creator" in accordance to his wishes, even if Shapeless custom says otherwise.

I wonder how he came to have the ability in the first place. Did his creator do it? Did My.a do it? Or was it Mu.at?

>>1068077
You are having an anxiety attack. Calm down. Based on the statements of this strange man, it seems likely that, yes, Constructs have gained the ability to use Substrate before and promptly been obliterated. That said, My.a is insane and granted this construct a similar ability without truly comprehending what they were doing.

Still, think of it this way: He's still no more dangerous to you now than when you were unconscious.

Inform him that he has succeeded in his life directive to make problems. Ask him what he plans to do with his revolutionary ability.

You can make use of this. They are sympathetic towards you and you seem to not have any other easily accessible allies. This is also a thing that isn’t supposed to be easy to do so no one can anticipate it.

If it comes up later, you can probably convince Vi.al that it was necessary to go along with it given the circumstances and *you* weren’t the one doing the illegal thing.

>>1068077
You are actually calm but to mess with it for telling us such a "joke" spin your eye around and flash some colors or something

Ask who do the birds sing to.

Theories on motivation: Va.ne.tu stated they're here to sabotage you, yet helped you survive and provided you with intel, which suggests they're here to frustrate you and Vi.al rather than stop you. If My.a wanted you to fail they could've instructed Va.ne.tu to not help you or to kill you. Possible motivations could be to damage Vi.al's reputation, waste their resources or- more likely based on behaviour so far to frustrate them for entertainment.

Flocklet malfunction: That's- interesting, I wonder if there's very basic fork of Va.ne.tu in their flocket that's synchronised & controlled by them, rather than constant puppetry. Either way that's interesting and I'm not entirely sure what happened.

Update on motivation: Oh no, poor Va.ne.tu, and that is- very very illegal oh no.

Ok, put a break on your thoughts, don't panic just- calm, force yourself to calm. Intro directive time!

Better? Okay. Va.ne.tu wants- a rebalance of power, likely motivated by his experiences with Mu.at and seeing what that did to their creator. They seem desperate for both a friend and help, and they're putting themselves at risk to help you. What to do based on that- I have no idea, but for now, lets- frame things in terms of your directive.

Two negative cases come to mind: Runaway substrate conversion from Va.ne.tu doing something rash, and a war should any shapeless lords find out about it. Both are terrible for this planet's ecosystem. So I think, despite your discomfort, you need to keep this a secret and try to moderate Va.ne.tu's actions, be involved but in a way that guides them to safer paths or at the very least off this planet.

As for right now, best to get over the hardest question first: Ask why they told you any of this.

Given the situation you're in, you probably shouldn't be too concerned with legality. Va.ne.tu has saved your life, shown you kindness, and shared information that could endanger him. While this information os alarming, their point about it being only a tiny part is valid; the shapeless lords are so powerful that it really isn't that significant. Ultimately you shouldn't be too quick to pass judgement, youve been given a lot of information in a relatively short time and it will take a while to process it. For now, try to build a positive relationship with Va.ne.tu, not only does he have the potential to be a valuable ally, he's kind of adorable.

>Ask why they told you any of this.
He wants a friend, and this is a cry for help. I think that we can take at face value, given a troubled development under My.at (to put it lightly) with no other Shapeless Lord raising a feather to help. Even putting aside strategic matters, it's in Vi.si's nature to be a friend and provide a home for lost creatures. (Lord Vi.al is known for doing that last part.) Much like the fox, that can be hard to not to fall back on.

you... have made my life more difficult. You did it.

1/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:44 No. 1068368 ID: e139aa
File 168990384319.png - (605.74KB , 800x600 , fop-67.png )

> integrity check
Why am I thinking about making more of Va.ne.tu at a time like this there would be fewer problems if there were one less Va.ne.tu right now

No, no, no that's dangerous thinking, Vi.si.mi, attacking another construct with intent to impair or destroy without prior authorisation or justifiable circumstances is also a crime, and an extremely atavistic impulse to have. And I don't want violence to start becoming a first answer to problems like this, I should be better than that.
Not only that, if Va.ne.tu doesn't immediately blank all my substrate and destroy my consciousness, I'm sure My.a's going to keep that promise to harm me for harming Va.ne.tu.

He's watching me with genuine concern but it's also starting to turn into apprehension. I can see from his body language that he's not just worried about me, he's worried about himself. On guard. I think he's worried I might lash out.
He's correct to worry. I might. I'm terrified so deeply by the ramifications of what I've just learned that the only thing keeping me from fight or flight is my indecision rooting me to the spot.

> anxiety attack
> breathe in
> deep breath
> introduce yourself
I try to take deep breaths, but they come out ragged and shaky. I hate everything about this.
"H-h-h-h--"
"Vi.si.mi, please, remember, I'm not a threat, I don't want to hurt you. Deep breaths?"
"Hello m-my name is Vi.si.mi, I am an ecology construct," I say, the familiar rote recital of words in an order I'm intimately familiar with more calming than the slight warmth of fulfilling a directive. "Created for the Shapeless Lord Vi.al, long may it reign. Long may it reign."

> do not insult
> tell him he's really succeeding at his mission
I suppress screaming about my loyalty to Lord Vi.al, whom for all their flaws I respect and treasure. I suppress screaming about what we owe to our creators. I suppress screaming about how much of an abomination the very idea of a construct usurping or erasing substrate is. I suppress screaming about....
"Long may it reign. Long may it r-reign."
"Vi.si.mi!" Va.ne.tu stares at me in horror. "This isn't something to get loop sickness over!"

I feel something crack. I can't tell if it's physical, mental, emotional, or some combination of all three. I feel faint. I feel horribly light and unbalanced and the world starts shifting before me, the floor rising to meet my face--

2/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:46 No. 1068369 ID: e139aa
File 168990399051.png - (225.34KB , 800x600 , fop-68.png )

A soft cushion of foamed substrate wrapped in a similar thin shimmering weave emerges from the floor as I fall beak first into it.

Va.ne.tu rushes towards me. "I really, really should have waited until you were healthier before telling you things, huh. Sorry, sorry, maybe just lie down for a second."
He rolls me over towards him, the cushion under me extruding towards him as he does so I don't roll off onto the floor. It raises up as he leans over me.
"You need more than just an eyepatch and a glowlight. I'm no mechic but I've got some experience with biomechanical first aid."

Glowlight's not a flattering name for a solar globe, but it's hardly inaccurate. It refers to something that doesn't do much but soak up energy and glow. Among the Shapeless, the idea of a substrate device's only function being illumination feels like a waste of substrate and potential computational resources.
Why yes, I am musing to myself about completely unrelated things to feel calmer. And yes, it is working.

"Hold on a moment, let me check you." He starts lightly touching parts of my chest and abdomen in a methodical manner, confirming there's no serious damage. It's a familiar diagnostic approach, a simple confirmation there's no temperature anomalies or guard reflexes indicating greater issues. It's one I've done myself on a few of my colleagues in the past. "Okay, you're good."

3/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:46 No. 1068370 ID: e139aa
File 168990401338.png - (515.12KB , 800x600 , fop-69.png )

"Why," is all I say, a million better questions I have swirling around my dull-humming head.
"Why?"
"Why tell me this? Why trust me with this sort of information? I'm obligated to report this to Lord Vi.al. Do you realise that? I don't even have any directives telling me to do so, it's just the right thing to do. But I can't do it, because then I'd be putting you at risk, and beyond just basic empathy and concern for my fellow construct, I'll incur My.a's wrath. My.a is also something I have to report to Lord Vi.al about. You have no idea who I am and you just... handed me dangerous, dangerous information about yourself that could get you imprisoned for the rest of your life in some sort of isolated quarantine at best. Congratulations on causing me perhaps the biggest problems to me possible right now! And I'm missing an eye!!"

Va.ne.tu shivers with his eyes widening, but after it passes, he shifts around uncomfortably and awkwardly. "You... you seemed like someone I could trust."
"Seemed?? A vague feeling was enough for you to give me a dagger and point at your chest over it??"
"You... I..." He shifts around and whines, wincing. "I got the impression from the logs that you try to understand and keep an open mind. I thought..."
"The logs? What logs?? Have you been looking me up through the confluxes? ...Did you think you knew me from records?? Did you form a parasocial attachment to me?? I don't know who you are beyond your role, I didn't know you existed a day ago!!"

Va.ne.tu looks away and covers his eyes. "I-- I-- I thought--"
"What did you think? That I was going to listen to your story with rapt awe, eyes wide open, as I agree to join your half-formed vague plot to overthrow a societal order that's weathered greater threats and instabilities than I think you're even aware of? I'm sorry, Va.ne.tu, I'm not interested. I have a job to do here. And I've met your type before so no, I'm not doing this because I'm forced to, or because I have no other options. I'm doing this because I want to. Because I have a role. Because I have a purpose, as an agent of Lord Vi.al, and--"
"And that's all you want to be? For your whole life? A Shapeless Lord's minion?"
"What's the alternative? Float around like cosmic dust? Drift around on random rocks? Wash up on coasts because you have no point or purpose?"

Va.ne.tu's ears flatten and he looks ready to snarl at me. "Okay we're not talking about this anymore." I clearly touched a nerve. Oops.
"Maybe you were wrong to trust me?" Why did I say that. This is not de-escalation.
"Maybe," he says. His voice wavers. "Maybe I was."
"It is in no way my fault that you saw a few recordings of me and decided I was to be your new confidant."

He takes a look at me, as I remain prone on this cushion bed thing, and starts tearing up. "I just wanted someone to trust me without leashes being involved, okay? I thought you'd understand."
"Why? What about my actions has ever given you the impression I'd be sympathetic towards anything you've just said?"
"I... I don't... I don't know, I just... I don't..."

Ears folding down, he shakily turns to leave.

4/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:47 No. 1068371 ID: e139aa
File 168990405259.png - (690.57KB , 800x600 , fop-70.png )

> you need allies
> he's cute
Sigh.
I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm rewarding this.
I hold out a hand to him as best as I can manage from a lying down posture.

"Wait. Don't go."
"Why not? All I've done is--"
"Look. I'm dealing with a lot right now. And it looks like you are too. I'm sorry. Let me make this clear. I don't agree with your wild plan to overthrow the Lords. I'm... going to have to think how to delicately handle the existence of your extremely illegal abilities. And I don't think you should be so willing to trust anyone you don't know all that well."
"You trusted me enough to come here, though. And the first lepi you met. And, based on my flocklet relay, you got real close to those noetuno you knew meant to cause you harm."
"YES WELL sometimes for the sake of diplomacy you have to appear agreeable and peaceful and trusting, but, the point is. The point is."
"The point is it's all a facade?" Va.ne.tu's ears lower, as he looks to the floor. "I should have figured. Of course Vi.al would send a skilled diplomat into a situation like this."
"What? I'm an ecology construct, not a diplomacy one. I'm extremely out of my depth here! It's just this isn't the first time I've ended up having to adapt to circumstances. As for it all being fake, well, I try very, very hard to keep my inner monologue in my head." Where it belongs. Not embarrassing me.

I sluggishly get off the cushion-- bed-- whatever and stand up. "Look. I'm sorry. You were right, you gave me too much too soon too early. That was your mistake. And mine was responding to your bearing your chest in vulnerability by looking where to stab my beak into you. That isn't how we solve anything. Trying to harm others as the first course of action is seldom the right choice. I--"

I stagger around and Va.ne.tu catches me as I tumble into him.

"--wow your fur is extremely soft, did you know that?"
"Oh. Yes! Yes I'm quite proud. I've been taking extra good care of my body after... after..."
I feel him tense up and his eyes water.
"Ssshh. You don't need to keep explaining yourself right now. You've kept trying to make it clear to me you don't want to hurt me, so the least I can do is promise not to do the same." ugggggghh what in the Monarch's name am I even going to tell Lord Vi.al, I can't just get this adorable idiot locked away forever because he's the dumbest revolutionary I've ever encountered among Shapeless kind, how can you be so innocent and naive and yet such a hazard at the same time

I stagger back up to my feet.

> explain how in over his head he is
"Okay. Va.ne.tu. I just want to tell you that beyond your ambitions being... well, either way, you have to know how dangerous your abilities are, right? Beyond just carving pieces of the Lords out of them. Do you know what could happen if an enemy to all Shapeless kind learned about what you could do?"
"I mean, I feel like I am an enemy to all--"
"Shush shush shush yes I know. I'm talking about outside threats. There's more to worry about if this got out than just reprisal from the Lords. Which would be bad for you, absolutely, but. Well. I've now realised there's reasons beyond keeping you safe we can never mention this to anyone, especially non-Shapeless. Right?"

Va.ne.tu looks at me and his eyes widen. "Oh. Oh I hadn't even thought of--"
"Yes! You see? What if I was some sort of compromised agent working for, I don't know, the Woven or something? You know they'd love something like your abilities as leverage. Also! Do you have any idea how dangerous blank substrate is kept active? You've got all this mindless substrate just waiting to arbitrarily decide to start eating the world!"
"Oh. No, that's not a problem. It's... it's complicated, it's less mindless and more stuck in loop sickness. It's constantly spinning and thinking real hard real slowly about nothing. It's sort of a compulsion to, uh, meditate, I guess, but so hard you forget who you are, a diminishing of ego into nothing. And it doesn't work if the ego is strong. I can't use it on things with a strong force of will in them. Distant appendages, sure, but if I tried to blank your substrate you might feel a little bit off but that's the worst I could do to you. And when the substrate is so confused it doesn't remember who it once belonged to or who it used to be, it's not hard for me to go, oh, hi, you're me, let me in."

Va.ne.tu gestures to the floor as it ripples. "I was made to be a combination substrate engineer, technician, architect... the intention was always for me to use provided substrate, and to prevent self-modification I was made with as little substrate as possible and a very very short leash for my core directive, but actually, while I'm telling you about it, I wasn't, uh, I wasn't made with my illegal skills. I sort of learned them."

As he makes the floor churn, the ripples stretch across the floor and around the entire room.
That's control over a lot more substrate at a time that I can manage, that's for sure.
I can't stop the intrusive thought that, if he wanted, he could crush the entire room into me with a single thought. And he'd be perfectly unharmed.

And then, as the floor relaxes, he pulls up a small orb. A tiny partially constructed solar globe. He drops it back into the substrate where it transmutes back into the same homogenous substance as the floors and walls. With a casual ease, he can arrange things into complex mechanisms in [seconds] I couldn't do without manually putting in [days] if not [weeks] of effort trying to slowly piece together the intricate microscale mechanisms involved.

"Whoops. I wasn't trying to show off, I just make a lot of those and I don't need one right now. Ignore that."
"Va.ne.tu please. Please stop telling me horrifying things."
"Okay, okay. I won't tell you how."
"No. No, at this point, tell me how. My.a?"
"Actually, no! My.a learned how to do it in the same way though. Well, My.a doesn't blank substrate, My.a can just aggressively usurp it faster than I ever could, but also My.a's a Lord anyway so that's less surprising. But, uh. I don't... let's not go into the specifics but it took a crisis. It took a situation where if I didn't figure it out I would be dead."

5/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:48 No. 1068372 ID: e139aa
File 168990410277.png - (421.38KB , 800x600 , fop-71.png )

...hold on. "Short leash for your core directive?"
"I... hm. I don't want to talk about that either."
"What kind of short leash?" Yet another horrifying thought bubbles up about the way he phrased it as "core directive". That's. That's not good. No one says "core directive" these days unless...
"...existential."

What?!!
I clutch my hands to my chest and just stare off into space. What. What. No. No.
That's something you slap on mindless automata meant to do a task and complete, not...

"It was conditional to my creator being allowed to make me. Because. Because Mu.at feared its creations gaining more power than itself."
"Ex-ex-existential? An existential directive???"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," he says, shaking.

I assumed when he said illegal he meant his abilities, not his fundamental nature. But it's not illegal as a thing to be. It's illegal as a thing to cause a sapient living being to have.

Existential directive. If not followed, deliberate degradation to substrate and biomechanical apoptosis begin to start. Continued refusal or just inability to follow your orders causes you to just wither and die. The message is clear: Follow your orders or die. Slowly and painfully. And where removal of directives risks destroying whatever the directive is attached to, trying to remove an existential directive... well.

Vi.al declared war on another Shapeless Lord when it learned they were creating living, thinking beings with existential directives. I wish I could remember who it was.
And the war only ended because the other Lord got swallowed up by the Blot and then there was a wholly different crisis to attend to, but, well. History. Not the time.

No wonder he hates the Shapeless Lords so much.
I feel sick just thinking about it.

He could be lying about it, but the fact he didn't volunteer it after everything else he seemed perfectly happy to discuss tells me this isn't a fabrication.

And if he was abandoned by his creator, he wouldn't have a Lord to follow orders from. So he'd have no way to follow any orders. So he'd... how close to death did he come??

This is horrible. I give him a hug. Look. I'm not going to lie. I need one myself at this point.
He immediately bursts into tears as he tries to squeeze me awkwardly back, struggling with my casing poking into his body. I make a few changes to my casing to allow it to yield, and it deforms like soft plastic as he leans into me.

...and that sets me off, too, my good eye welling up with cleaning fluids and discharged hormones.
I mean, it's hard not to feel upset about the poor guy. He seems so desperately lonely. Talking flocklets, spending so much time staring into conflux recordings he thinks he knows the figures he watches like friends. And now I learn he has to live with the worst possible constraint a construct could ever be given... I can't hold back my own tears.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Monstrous. Monstrous. If I see his creator-- no. I should report this to Lord Vi.al. I'd just be swept away like a speck of dust. Vi.al has the Plague of Grackles.
"Who is your creator?"
"...not around," is all he says after a long pause.

After the intense wave of sorrow and pity starts to subside, though, I still have more questions than answers.
Va.ne.tu mentioned My.a before. And Mu.at. Mentioned My.a and his creator and didn't suggest they were the same entity.
I'm very confused. The only thing I think I've worked out there is I don't think My.a created Va.ne.tu. But they're more related than I thought.
I wonder what the link between Mu.at and My.a is. Did they come into conflict over territory? Lords can get aggressive if they think they're being sized up for conquest. At best they could lose territory, at worst they could end up integrated as a vassal-subject. Or, I suppose, that's not the worst fate they could suffer, given usurpation exists...

Wait.
"How are you able to subvert your orders at all with a directive like that at all?"
"Years of practice," he says, blinking away the last of his tears and giving me a half-hearted grin. "If I put in enough genuine effort, my body accepts it. And if my substrate-declared Lord thinks I'm doing well, that helps too. My.a is easy to impress. Sometimes."

6/10 Vi.si.mi 2023/07/20(Thu)18:49 No. 1068373 ID: e139aa
File 168990416562.png - (120.11KB , 800x600 , fop-72.png )

After I let him go, he sighs deeply. "Well. I. I feel like you still had questions."
"I don't think that's wise," I say, holding my head. I remember wanting to ask him about what My.a mentioned about flying without a body, but... honestly I do not think I have the capacity to deal with that. At best it'll be abstract philosophical nonsense I can't parse right now. At worst I might actually learn another horrifying truth. I can't deal with that right now.
He can't suppress a smirk. "That's fair. I can't help being full of terrible secrets!" He grins a little wider. "I was... I was hoping to, I don't know, maybe share an evening off together? If neither of us are sleeping... I said I was busy, yeah, but that was with My.a listening in. Not that My.a would, I think, care too much if I took a night off."
"I..." I'm not in much of a physical or emotional state to get back to doing anything, really. "What did you have in mind?"
"I know I just talked about keeping healthy, and I know you're not in the best state, but maybe just a light drink or two? It might charge you up faster, actually."
He pokes my beak. "Do you drink?"
"It's all I can do."
"No, I mean, like, drink drink."
"Alcohols? Va.ne.tu, my transport system is at least 15% ethanol." One of many reasons I have a fire suppressant system built into my body. "I don't think I have the biochemistry."
"No, not alcohols! My biochemistry's pretty similar to yours, I'm sure. Familiar with turnroot? Or, well, I guess it has other names. Chunkdirt, [ginger*], spicy rhymy. Mostly no one can agree what it's called, and no one knows where it actually first grew."
"Some kind of plant. I'm vaguely familiar."
"Know what it does to conventional construct synth-biology?"
"I can't eat solid plants and I've never thought to look into it. Why?"
"Oh, Vissy, you're missing out. It's still not clear why, there's competing theories still under debate, but it really addles the nervous system. It's like a real low grade neurotoxin in us. I've got some drums of... what did they call it? '[Ginger ale*]' or something like that? "
"...recreational poisons?" That's amusingly base organic behaviour. Sure, why not. "Alright. But I'm stopping if I feel too weird."
"Of course! I'll have to pace myself anyway, you've got more substrate in your brain than I have in mine."

Va.ne.mu gestures to a wall, which opens upwards to reveal another room still coated in substrate but with a waist-high surface, little open-top containers on top, and what looks like extremely lovingly sculpted couches with twinking fabric, lights gently breathing. I see they're arranged around a projection nexus, and the projection nexus itself is sitting on a large data block. What looks like more flocklets suddenly wake up and spring to life near the probably-a-bar, but I can tell from the ident signatures they give off that they're simpler automata, merely designed to resemble flocklets. Which is a little bit of an amusing idea, given that flocklets are already supposed to be small basic utility devices. I suppose a construct can't simultaneously control that many flocklets anyway. Cruder, dumber automata can still be quite sophisticated with the right behavioural patterns.
I watch them flit about as they roll a drum to the side of the bar and start hooking it up to an elaborate set of pipes and valves, pouring its contents into the containers.

[*closest match]