He's an intel gatherer. He knows things. Enough to have saved your spaceship before it was shot down. He clearly favored it happening. So why is he even giving you the illusion of a choice?

Simple: plausible-deniability forced legitimacy. Right now, he has no legal rights to do what he wants to the Neumono species. You're vulnerable, angry, and most importantly, alone. You'd sign your species' rights away because you're a rouge who resents the laws that made your forced exile a virtue, and because you don't believe that you have the authority to enslave anyone or anything to any clause whatsoever.

But he knows you're a prodigy, and he knows your loyalty is on sale. He has enough power to promote you into his genocidal checkmate Queen. You know this will end badly if your species is tricked into being indebted to a chaotic corporate enterprise. Screw this guy and screw the sandwich he rode on.

There is only one reasonable option:
SEDUCE MERCHANT

Who are you and how do you know so much?

And why do you want me creating a colony here?

Who are you exactly and what do you get out of all this?

>>943914
Choose to build an outpost....

THEN point out that the Memory Reset Pills didn't work at all and request Store Credit in repayment for defective product.

Ok ok... Realignment... He'd need to fuck with your brain. Like hardcore.
Fuck that.
Going rogue sucks but unfortunately it's just a natural part of being a Neumono. The only requirement: Being unlucky.

There is only one fix and you know what it is. Find other, disparate Neumono. Find enough and eventually your empathy will merge into a new hive.

Option 1 is the obvious choice.

Also, tell him to shove his patronizing attitude up his tenticaled ass. He's literally waving food in your face like your a dog.

And do ask about Sib before you let him go. What role does he play in all this?

Don't confront him about this yet, but between the crash landing, the tracking monitor, the rigged "Options" he's giving you, your particular skill set, and the fact that he knew of you before hand, all this suggests that your current situation is his, or his employers, doing.
You've been set up. Sadly the time to act has not yet come.

>>943922
The reset pills were not bought from this merchant.
I mean, Rakkani should recognize this merchant if so? She got them from a "creepy weirdo".

>>943914
Just choose Litoko already! You know you want to, so stop wasting time and save him already, you doofus!

You've missed the reasonable option of not slamming your dick on the table and telling us to choke on it. Somebody who's been watching us this long, knows this much about us and throws not one, but two impossible things at us as bait for doing what they want, sets off every danger sense there is, including the check engine light. Getting as far away from you as we can and having nothing further to do with you sounds like the best option now. Take some sensitivity training courses, man!
Let sleeping neumono lie. Let the hive bleed. Go ahead and tank our credit rating, we don't need ATMs on a desert island.

>>943932
Hell yeah!
Okay maybe not to this extreme, but I think that we need to "explain" to this little turd that annoying and insulting someone that you not only want to do business with but is also standing right in front of you and is not completely mentally stable and can easily kill you is both quite stupid and also very rude.
We are not some pet that can be tempted with treats into doing tricks. We don't even know if any of this shit it's offering is real.

Take the sandwich, tell it that it's a "not getting horribly mauled by the pissed off neumono you just insulted" tax.
And as for his offers, when you went rogue your hive took everything, didn't give you any help and then acted like you never existed so they can eat shit and as for Litoko if it can give you proof , like actually speaking with Litoko face to face, then we will have a deal. Hell it might end up with a male and female neumono subject.

>>943914
Go for one. Ask if there's a translation device to talk to Sib. Save your credits.

"it's either both options or neither, and since I apparently still have something valuable to you, then you have no option but to concede to MY demands.

And if you don't like that, then you shouldn't have been a pushy & sleazy scammer, bet you set up this whole accident too, huh?"

>I've dealt with voklit less stubborn than this, for market's sakes.
CLEARLY YOU'VE NEVER HAD FOOD WAVED AT YOU WHILE STARVING!
Seriously, though. Testing your reactions so as to figure out the best way to haggle with you? Clever. Irritating, but clever.
>This sandwich might be slightly too heavy for my poor, weak little tendrils. I might drop it any moment. That would be a shame, wouldn't it?
Appeal to urgency? This guy really is psychologically testing you.

Waitwaitwait. Voklit. If memory serves, they live on reservations on the neumono homeworld. Yet he previously claimed,
>There is so little information we have on neumono
So, he's been to the neumono homeworld to negotiate with Voklit, yet despite this, has little data on neumono. Plus, he has Litoko for data if data is what he desires.
He's lying in some way about this. WHAT ELSE IS HE LYING ABOUT? AND WHAT IS THE DECEPTION NEEDED TO HIDE?

Embrace your new life. Let all that was crumble to dust.

Go for option C if this chucklefuck will let you take Sib with you. Option 2 is just obviously a bad idea in so many ways, not the least of which being that you'd need to let this dude/his compatriots inside your head. Option 1 is definitely more complex, and while I think there are better ways to go about this there are also many worse. My primary issue with freeing Litoko is a question: Would he rather be stranded on an island or be unconscious in a pod, where he may have a chance to be released into more favorable circumstances. If you definitively know he'd rather be here Rakkani I'll change my vote to A, but if you have even the slightest doubt, you should leave him.

Thus, to restate, I think option C is the best if you can bring Sib. Going this route is obviously the easiest, and again you'll almost certainly be able to purchase Litoko's freedom, even if for a likely exorbitant sum. The reasons to bring Sib are manifold, some of the biggest ones that come to mind are: It'd be a real dick move to leave your new buddy stranded alone on an island after having him like you enough to take you to his crib, even before your first date. Next, and a bit more pragmatically, he would be the scientific discovery of a lifetime, as a new sentient race with a (likely) unknown language, and if he's willing to give you some of the cash he's probable to get from all the people vying to be the first to research him, there's a good chance you'll have enough to buy Litoko's release. Last and most importantly, Sib will feel indebted, and thus affectionate, towards you, so there will be a qt alien bf as your reason to live on the other side.

If you can't take Sib with you and you're uncertain that Litoko will appreciate being forcibly put on an island, request a translator so you're able to speak and understand all languages, or at least the one Sib speaks.

WAIT A MINUTE. Is he gonna raise the price of whatever option you pick?

1/2 Rakkani 2019/08/31(Sat)18:08 No. 944042 ID: 12323b
File 156730013043.png - (43.01KB , 800x600 , ai44.png )

>seduce merchant
Absolutely never.

>reset pills
I got them from some shady miklik dude. Not this... whatever it is.

>attitude problem
"Now listen here, you condescending squid," I spit out at the trader. "If you're going to keep being so condescending and insulting towards me I'm going to show you why pissing off your customer has some unfortunate consequences--"
"Calm yourself, Rakkani. If you were to do anything untoward in a civil discussion, surely I would be forced to defend myself. And you are entirely unaware of the potential of my defenses. Is that a risk you want to take?"
"You're half my size."
"As we all know, if something is smaller than you, it can pose no threat, and this is why illness doesn't exist, why poison doesn't work, and why the vacuum of space poses no threat. Now. Let me restate what I just said. If you wish to threaten me further, you will rapidly find out how polite I am currently being. Is this the direction you wish to continue?"

I squeeze my hands into fists and snarl a little. Then I close my eyes, breathe deeply, and relax. "I'm not happy about you treating me like an animal."
"Demonstrate otherwise, with words and reason, and I will stop."

>litoko
>litoko
>litoko
"Fine. Litoko," I say. "I want you to free Litoko."
"Of course you recognise him," says the merchant. "Of course, of course. Of course you do."
"What did you do to him?!"
"I rescued him. Is that not sufficient for your understanding?"
"No."

The merchant sighs, returns the image projectors to its pack and holds the sandwich out towards me, no longer dangling it around like a leg for a beast. I grab it a little more forcefully than I'd have liked, and start eating it like I'll never see a sandwich in my life ever again. I almost weep with the explosion and combination of flavours familiar to me, the spice of the firegourd, the savoury juiciness of the flathopper, the sweet crispness of falgio tuber, the spongier mild flavour of the ogolboko. My first bite is barely chewed before swallowing. My second bite, I take more time.

"Extracted his broken, bleeding body from the wreckage of his escape pod. Reassembled him into working order. It was difficult. He wanted to let himself die. I believe he also thought he had lost everything. He was not conscious enough for a reasonable discussion, as with you, so I had to find ways to work around it." The merchant pauses. "I'm taking too much credit. We. We had to find ways to work around it."
I pause mid chew. "What did you do to him?"
"The exact specifics are nothing I would expect you to understand, unless you happen to be an expert in distributed cellular neuroscience. I'll summarise it as thus. We convinced him to continue living at a more fundamental level. Flooded out the self-destructive impulses and chemicals with stabilisers. At that level, reason is too abstract a concept."
"So... what did you do to him??"

The merchant sighs deeply again.

"We pumped him with happy fluid until he didn't want to die anymore. Is that reduction enough for you? Honestly, you ask for the answer to a question, and it is not my fault you ask questions beyond your ability to understand."
"A poor teacher blames the student for not understanding," I say, flashes of my life excelling in school coming back to me. I'm not very happy with the answer, but I can already tell trying to get more information out is just going to lead to more focus on the minituae and details than the actual reasons and intent. I'm not stupid. I recognise someone retreating into overly detailed specifics to lead away from the true reasons and bigger picture. I've... definitely done it before, myself, when I screwed up seed storage and had to explain to a customer why their latest batch failed. I'm not proud that I did it, but I absolutely recognise someone else doing it.
"I'm a merchant, Rakkani, not a teacher."
"When do I see Litoko?"
"Oh, this isn't confirmation of purchasing the male neumono. This is just confirmation of interest. I'll be back tomorrow with more information regarding that purchase."
"I don't want to own him! I just want him freed!"
"What you choose to do after purchasing him is none of our concern, but the fact of the matter is we have sunk a lot of resources into repairing him. Someone needs to pay the debt for that before we'll let him go."
"So you're... keeping him hostage?"
"Until either someone pays off his debt or we get enough data from him to justify the cost, yes."

I finish another bite of the sandwich, trying to let the enjoyment of the flavour block out the horrible dread I feel about dealing with a company that's willing to treat people as commodities.
I know my hive had slaves once, but that was... that was different, right? Right? It... was it different? Maybe it wasn't.
But we stopped doing that. We stopped doing that because it was wrong, and it was something modern society frowned upon, but this alien finds no problem with it, and... I don't know how to feel.

2/2 Rakkani 2019/08/31(Sat)18:09 No. 944043 ID: 12323b
File 156730014286.png - (45.57KB , 800x600 , ai45.png )

"Who actually are you? How do you know so much about me?"
"I already told you. My name is Fair Exchange. I'm a trader for 3M. As to how I know so much about you, well, I'm not at liberty to discuss trade secrets with someone who has barely begun to register as a client."
"Why do you want me to make a colony here? What does that do for you?"
"You don't have the trust level required to be given this information."
"That's funny," I say. "You don't have the trust level required to know as much about me as you do either."

The trader pauses and wiggles a tentacle. "You are certainly a sharper one than Sib, that's for sure. More appropriately cautious and suspicious. Or perhaps you are simply less diplomatic."
"Sib... Sib-- What role does Sib play here? Is he supposed to make this outpost with me?"
"Our full terms of agreement with other clients are strictly confidential. His contract does not involve your outpost, however."

>translation device
"I guess our 'transaction' regarding my decision is done here."
"Yes. Unless you have any further transactions you wish to discuss, I will be leaving now."
"Wait. There is one. I want a translator for Sib's language, and also..." I fish out the note I can't read from my backpack. "I want a translator for whatever this is."
"That is... an invoice, yes. For the first transaction. There's also a partial catalogue on the other side."
"What was that first transaction?"
"It's on the invoice," says the merchant, shifting around. "I'll give you a reader for the invoice, I must have forgotten to give you one. 3M records their invoices in a proprietary encoding and provides translation devices to read out what the invoice data is in the client's own preferred language."
"And the translator?"
"A Kaurban-English translator or an English-Kaurban translator?"
"Both."
"Your current balance is 200 credits. Each of those translators costs 150 credits for the lowest spec models. Either you'll have to find something worth 100 credits to me, which I can already tell you none of your material possessions would be worth, or you'll have to buy one now and the other at a later date. These are also the lowest spec models. The translations will be... there'll have to be some interpretation."

The merchant pulls out a small chip thing from their pack, and speaks "Shoi rodo."
"greetings every of you."
"Ee zoi zoi Fair Exchange zoi shmene mi."
"'Fair Exchange' is being name me."
"Ee lu sib nanip lihu shu shmene tu. Ee ri sha shmima le zhutsi poi selshme zoi zoi kriai zoi. Ee suh minde lo spisihe."
"'Sib Nanip' is being names that yonder. the latter is being member the species which being named 'crii'. 'S' is commanding any/some portionish snow."

Oh wow that's bad. "Can I make up the 100 credits now?"
"No, but, if you were willing to accept the bioinformatic recorder device, you could make up that 100 credits within a day."

Okay.
So I have yet another couple choices, it seems.
I can either purchase one of the translators, or I can hold off and save up for better translators.
And I can either sell my... data, or I can not do that and remain free of whatever undoubtedly intrusive things that'd lead to.

...I've just realised that the shower's still going but no one is moving in there. Sib is very definitely listening to this conversation and trying to make it look like he's not.

We've sort of been getting by without a translator,so i say wait and by one that would actually help with nuance.

I also vote we chip. As i said before, we're not giving away any info that would put us in danger, as they already now how to find us and what our favourite food is.

>>944043
Currently the language barrier is worse on Sib's side, because you haven't spoken as much to him. Also you might be aware of concepts that he isn't.
Get the English to Kaurban one.
This will also allow you to more quickly learn his language, via the translation the device gives-- you could ask him what certain words mean, or what certain objects are called, etc.

Make note of the distinctive symbol on the translation device. It's that eye in the sky.

Get the bio-reader device but make sure to negotiate a clause to have it removed at a later date. You will not submit to a lifetime of "data collection"; only as much as is needed until you can start making credits another way. Optimally you'd be able to remove it whenever you want, like for instance if you decide you need some private time with Litoko. On the other hand, that kind of data would probably get you a lot of credits.

>>944043
>reader for the invoice
I’m assuming that’s supposed to be free, since he said he was supposed to give it to us and forgot. At least now we’ll be able to read what we bought/sold on that invoice.

>Terrible translation device
Oh no, no, no. You should definitely wait for a better translation device.

>get the chip or not?
As much as you hate it, you’re going to need to get that in order to start building up credits so that you’ll be able to afford the price of purchasing Litoko‘s freedom.

>>944046
>Get the bio-reader device but make sure to negotiate a clause to have it removed at a later date.
Definitely do this.

>>944046
This guy knows what's up.
Do this.

Yep, these guys are definitely a monopoly. Let's just hope WE are not a resource to be monopolized. Either way...
We've at least learned something for free. Sib's language is 'Kaurban', and he may have a last name of 'Nanip'. We'll have to confirm the last name with Sib. Ask more questions. The full terms of Sib's agreement may be secret, but that implies that some of it or a summary may be public. Is this island 3M property? Are there any threats on the island to know about, since a dead customer stops buying?
Keep the credits, see what's in the catalog first. Might be something more useful.
As per selling bio data, I have one question. Are we free to remove the device at any time on our own for any reason?

>I know my hive had slaves once, but that was... that was different, right? Right? It... was it different? Maybe it wasn't.
Your hive used to be dumb as bricks. Now they're not as dumb as bricks, per se.

These merchants are hyper-intelligent yet are resorting to semi-overt slavery. I think they believe they're still dumb as bricks compared to what they're planning to become.

So be careful. There's so much you can do and actually do when you're planning to become someone new.

>Bio-Reader
Take out a well-contracted loan to work on your new bio-farm. Make sure they're the default party if anything goes FUBAR, because they clearly own this island.

>>944043
Get "English to Kaurban", don't accept that so-called 'recording device'. It could be literally anything. Even Fair Exchange might not actually know what it does.

Meanwhile.... time to relax. Request the translator so you may thank Sib for the Plush Toy's aid.

>>944042
>I almost weep
According to the tears going down your face, you're already weeping.

>"Oh, this isn't confirmation of purchasing the male neumono. This is just confirmation of interest. I'll be back tomorrow with more information regarding that purchase."
Does that mean that you're not going to learn the price you need to buy Litoko until tomorrow?

>>944043
That translator is going to do more harm than good. Wait until you can get a better one.

>Chip or no chip?
The sooner you start earning credits, the sooner you can buy Litoko's freedom.

Speaking of Litoko, is it possible to pass a message to him to let him know that you're alive?

Don't accept anything for now. Sib rightfully doesn't trust the sky and we don't want to be seen working with them right off the bat. Can get a better translator at a later time.

1/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:46 No. 944177 ID: 12323b
File 156746800458.png - (14.76KB , 800x600 , ai46.png )

>biochip
"Fine, I'll take the recorder. Just as long as I can opt out again."
"Sure, whatever. Alright."

Before I can ask any clarifying questions or express my concern at the flippant tone of that reply I feel a sudden burning pain at the tip of my good ear.

I raise my hand up to it. The same tag Sib has, but on my ear.

"Does it... does it have to look like a livestock tag?"
"Cosmetic upgrades begin at 300 credits--"
"No, stop, never mind, whatever." I'm not happy. I'm very much not happy.

>no translator
"Also if that's my option for translators, I'll save up," I say, fidgeting uncomfortably at my new piercing.

"The next available translator, capable of parsing nuance, is 450 credits, from one direction to the other. The bidirectional translator, hardwired two language support and also capable of parsing nuance, is 800 credits. The expandable model, which can take up to 5 language chips, parse nuance, and translate freely between all language chips installed, comes at 750 with one free chip, and 100 per chip afterwards. But, well, such things are listed on the catalogue. And the deluxe model, which comes with two free chips, and can fit up to 20 language chips, is 1000 credits. That's a mere ten days of simply living a suitably interesting life, if you opt into the data harvest. If you truly never want to be misunderstood again, you can opt for the mega deluxe variation, 2000 credits, which comes with state-of-the-art advanced autotranslation capability, and is also capable of detecting cultural nuance and advising on possible translations based on desired impact of statement. There are, of course, even more advanced models of translation that can function on paracommunicative means alone, translating expression and gesture into complete statements, and the very latest model can perform limited neural scans to find the words you can't and make a demagogue of a shrinking violet. Not so necessary for myself, of course, as a naturally gifted polyglot, but they're there."
The merchant flashes a bunch of holographic images of products at me so quickly I barely register them.

Urgh, those are some nasty prices. Upselling like no tomorrow. And what sounds like highly artificial limitations just to price gouge. Awful.

"How much will it cost to free Likoto?"
"50,000 credits."
"..."
"With discounts available based on customer trust level, which is based on purchase frequency and total volume--"

Sib steps out of the shower, glaring at the merchant. "Ohonai! Ee ko shu shliva le mi se zdani. Ee zo sarlu morna."
A bunch of white motes suddenly flicker into being near Sib, forming a strange spinning vortex.
"Ee mi sha tavla le tervehu lo shanzha--" says the merchant.
"Ee ko nalrahu mi. Ee mi ba plezhi le shteki do. Ee panono rupnu."

The merchant groans. "Your host is paying the dismissal fee for me to leave, and I'm bound by contract to do that as soon as I can." The merchant throws a device on the ring of seats. "There's your reader. It also can be tapped six times to request my presence. Like a phone with one number. Goodbye. Shoho rodo."

The merchant abruptly leaves as quickly as they arrived, and within moments it's like they were never here.

Except I have this weird rounded block thing now. I guess I can investigate that invoice now...

2/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:47 No. 944178 ID: 12323b
File 156746802033.png - (51.59KB , 800x600 , ai47.png )

"Ee ko nakrilashri lu shi muh lihu," says Sib, slowly and deliberately. The white motes disperse into nothing. "Ee tu shu gasnu le nu miho zvati vi." He taps the tag on his ear with a look of disgust.
I nod blankly. Sib sighs, flicks his head and ears down, and waves me toward one of the wall panels.

I walk up to it and open it to find a double bed in it. "Uhh... are we sharing beds--"

I hear a click and thud as Sib disappears into a different panel.

Guess not.

Why do I have the horrible feeling I just offended him somehow?

I lay on the bed, stomach slightly in pain. I groan in mild agony as I take a moment to just pause, just sit. I can hear a constant background hum of air ventilation and conditioning, plus some sort of deep thrum that reminds me of the ship, my old home now gone forever. As opposed to my old old home gone forever.

I left my backpack and the reader in the main room. I don't know if I ought to go fetch them or not.

I do feel pretty tired after all of what happened today. Is it night outside? Is it day? No idea. I feel like I can hear rain outside. It's comforting and soothing, I've always loved the sound of rain.

It takes me a few seconds to even notice I'm crying again. Not visceral sobs, just sniffing. I'm not even sure what the reason is this time. Just everything, I guess.

Nothing about this situation makes sense unless someone deliberately orchestrated it. But why me? Why did this all happen to me?

Last night I passed out from physical exhaustion. Tonight, mental exhaustion drags me down into sleep.

3/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:47 No. 944179 ID: 12323b
File 156746803154.png - (8.68KB , 800x600 , ai48.png )

I find myself in a blank white nothing. Most nights I'd probably saunter through this empty void completely oblivious until I woke up, but apparently I'm cursed with self awareness this night.

I see a small fuzzy brown shape. I cross endless miles upon miles in a few steps to reach it.

"Arf! Arf! I'm the toya of happiness!!"
I stare bemused at this toya.

"What are you doing here?"
"Your friend wants to get out, but I have to make sure he doesn't want to get out!"
"What?"
"I don't know! I'm a good boy!" The toya wags his tail proudly.
I look past the toya and see a vague blue shape drowning in white and desaturation. I walk towards it.

4/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:47 No. 944180 ID: 12323b
File 156746805056.png - (12.92KB , 800x600 , ai49.png )

"Hi! I don't think you should do this please!" barks the toya.
I ignore it.
"Something bad might happen if you get too close!" pleads the toya.
I see him. It's Likoto, but in pieces. Not broken like a dropped plate but more like a stuffed animal torn open. Effervescent thoughts and memories drift through and away from him. His empathy fades in and out like a broken music player. I'm horrified. I'm watching him die and I can't do anything.

"I tried my best!" wails the toya. "I tried my best I really did!!"

"Rakkani," says what sounds half like Likoto and half like members of my hive, whose names screech through me like jaws tearing through flesh.
"Likoto," I say, staggering to my knees.

"Rakkani," says the full voice of Likoto, panicked. In the distance, unseen stars explode with deafening loudness.
"I'm here," I say, the force of the explosions forcing me onto my stomach.

"Rakkani," says the crystal clear voice of Likoto, staring directly at me. "Rakkani?!" The shape loses its fuzziness, starts to become distinctly Likoto, but... Missing pieces. Missing lots of pieces. Holes where bone, flesh and organ should be. He looks at himself in terror.

The toya starts barking at me. "No! Look what you did! You made it worse!!"

"Rakkani, where am I?! Where is this?! What's going on?!"
"I don't know, it's just a dream!" I shout into the void to convince myself more than anything else.

"Rakkani, don't go! I can't move! I can't breathe! There's something in my throat! Don't go!"
"Go away! Go away!" barks the toya. "You're making everything worse! He's supposed to be happy! This isn't happy! I'm not happy!"
"What's going on?!" Everything is wrong, everything is wrong...

5/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:47 No. 944181 ID: 12323b
File 156746806326.png - (13.87KB , 800x600 , ai50.png )

I look behind me, only to see Likoto behind me, holding a gun, hand shaking.

"I'm sorry," he says, as behind me the partial Likoto looks ahead at himself holding a gun and screams.

"RAKKANI NO GET AWAY FROM HERE GET OUT YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!!"
"There's no other way," says the gun-wielding Likoto, tears silently streaming down his face. "You're already gone. I love you, Kikaro."
A voice echoes around me. Neumono, female, older than me. Traces of empathy, strong, directed. A hive queen. Put the gun down, Likoto. Let's talk about this. Let's talk about us. We all still love you. Calm down and don't do anything you'll regret. Alright? Just put the gun down--

The gun-wielding Likoto shunts me out of the way and fires at--

6/6 Rakkani 2019/09/02(Mon)16:48 No. 944182 ID: 12323b
File 156746808292.png - (15.01KB , 800x600 , ai51.png )

--the same masked miklik I've seen before who sold me the reset pills. Yet the scream is that of a neumono. More screams, of other neumono, before quickly falling into nothingness.

A gunshot straight through the mask. Green blood seeps through it. The merchant falls to the ground onto his knees. His masked head turns towards Likoto.
You weren't the first, says the miklik, and you definitely won't be the last. Your queen dies at your hand. Are you proud of your rebellion?
"I stopped you," says Likoto, the true Likoto. The incomplete Likoto.
You stopped nothing. You delayed something you can never understand. NOMON continues.
They fall through the floor into infinity.

The white void is silent. The only sound I hear is the clatter of the gun falling onto a non-existent ground, with Likoto dissolving into white nothingness.
One of the Likotos, anyway. I turn back, not sure what to make of any of this.

Likoto is writhing in midair, gurgling, choking on sobs. "You shouldn't have seen this, no one should have seen this, no one had to see this, no one had to know this, I hope this is a dream, I hope this is a dream, fucking hell I hope this is a dream and you aren't really there. You aren't really there. I'm asleep, none of this happened, nothing is out there. I'm dying in an escape pod. I'm dying in an escape pod and my guilt is here to plunge the knife in and twist."

The toya barks. "Happy thoughts!! Happy thoughts!! Forget about it! Forget about the memories, forget about the nightmares! I'm here to help you! Forget everything! Live and be happy!!"
"Shut up!" Likoto screams at the toya. "Shut up, shut up, you can't force me to be happy! I'm supposed to be dead! I'm owed death after everything I've done! I took my second chance and it ended in an entire colony ship burning! More deaths than even my hive! All I cause is destruction! Let me end!!"
"Happy thoughts!! I'm not leaving you until you're happy again! I can't fix you, I can't advise you, all I'm here to do is make you happy! Happy!!"
"Is this-- is this my punishment?!" Likoto coughs and gurgles. "Is this not a dream? Am I dead? Is this-- is this my afterlife?!"

I... I'm dreaming, yes, but I suddenly have a rare impulse to maybe act in a dream instead of reacting. Should I? Should... should I ask something? Do something?

I don't think Sib is offended but more of frustrated that you ended up in the same trap as him.

Seems like you're dream sharing with Likoto. I'm not sure an actual hug would be wise, given his physical state, but words of encouragement is definitely needed. Something like: "You've picked yourself up once before. You can do it again, but you don't need to do it alone."

"Toya, will you die if you're hugged?"
>Well-
"Likoto, hug the stress Toya. Really really hard."

Hug Litoko.
Tell him your here for him, and soon he'll have a second chance.

First, tell him the second chance pills are faulty, they might be screwing with his head. He didn't blow up the damn colony ship. He was not responsible for that.
Then ask Likoto what NOMON is, why it was important enough to do what he did. If it's that bad then you will support him in continuing to fight it. There is still life in him, and there is life in you. Your escape pod worked fine; you're both on this island but he's in a stasis pod. He just needs to stop killing himself with his own empathy, and heal enough to get out and work with you to clear his debt. Even if that debt is to the bastards responsible for his suffering(which we don't know for sure yet, the miklik might have been a rogue merchant), we need to play along until we can get away from them and call the ultrahive or something.

It REALLY SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE for you to dream share at this distance, so I'm guessing the Monopoly of Masked Merchants are responsible. That tag does more than they claim.

>Urgh, those are some nasty prices. Upselling like no tomorrow. And what sounds like highly artificial limitations just to price gouge. Awful.
That's a monopoly for ya.
>"With discounts available based on customer trust level, which is based on purchase frequency and total volume--"
Oh, that can be cheesed. Find the cheapest item, ideally 1 credit, and buy a lot of that. It gets better in the unlikely circumstance that there's a refund policy that does not damage the trust level.
>Should I? Should... should I ask something? Do something?
Litoko. The memories will hurt you IF you let them. You're dreaming because you have to heal. If you truly wish to die, you first have to live. I have to leave later, but please. Live.
A hug will say the rest.

>>944182
You're dream-sharing with Likoto. He's hallucinating bad memories. Someone out there is manipulating Neumono and presumably killed your ship to kill Likoto. Get close and let him know you're here.

Oh, and for the love of god don't sell any more biological data or buy anything sketchy to jam in your body.

>>944233
>don't sell any more biological data
What is the alternative, exactly?

>>944233
>don't sell any more biological data
I'm pretty sure once Rakkani got that chip, any biological data is automatically sold and she's given credits. She pretty much doesn't have a choice in whether or not she sells biological data.

>>944237
Dangit. This is unfortunate.

>>944237
I mean, she can always just rip it out. It's in her ear. Hell if she changes her mind she can probably jam it back in.

A little self mutilation never stopped a neumono before.

1/4 Rakkani 2019/10/02(Wed)16:46 No. 946286 ID: 08a7bd
File 157006001375.png - (10.16KB , 800x600 , ai52.png )

>that's a monopoly for ya
Tell me about it.

>dream sharing
Given the distance involved--
>is absolutely impossible given the distance
--yeah, that.

But it's happening. This isn't all mine. These memories aren't mine, these responses are mine, Likoto is too... too present to be a figment of my imagination.

>tag
I swear to any supernatural force out there, and I'll take ancestor spirits at this point, if I just willingly signed up for some kind of mind control device I am going to tear that little shit's mask off and beat them with it.

No. Don't get angry now, Rakkani. Help Likoto.

>hug
I gently approach him, as the toya whines at me. "I don't know what to do anymore! Telling him to be happy isn't working!!"
"What are you, toya?"
"I'm the toya of happiness!!"
"What are you really?"

The toya whines some more. "I don't know! I think I might be Likoto's subconscious interpretation of some kind of external factor, but I'm just a toya, and I'm not even really a toya, it's too complicated to think about!" It whines more.

I'm not sure what giving a dream projection an existential and/or identity crisis means in dream symbolism, but there we are.

"I mean, you could just be some part of Likoto that wants him to be happy."
"I... yeah! Yeah that's it! Likoto you need to be happy so I can be happy so we can be happy!!"

While Likoto stares in confusion at the toya, I get closer and try to gently hug him, but I'm scared to touch him. Even as I get closer his flesh seems to warp and bend away slightly where mine approaches.

I just hold my hand up and look him in the eyes. "I'm here for you, Likoto."
"Rakkani... I'm a monster, Rakkani. I killed her. I killed my hive."
He didn't kill his hive. This close to him I can feel the slight friction of a lie from someone who almost believes it.
He's not a hivemate, but I know his empathy well enough.

"What is NOMON?"
"I don't even know," whimpers Likoto. "But... They were addicts, Rakkani, it was killing them, they all but tried to force it into me and Kikaro, she kept changing, she kept changing who she was and not even realising, the others followed, I don't know what the end goal was but I knew it was bad. They kept buying more and selling more and more of themselves. I tried to convince them, I tried so hard, but I couldn't argue with the drug. The only way to stop it was to kill my hive. The only way to do that was to kill my queen." Another wrenching sob. "And it didn't even work. They were too far gone. And the ones that weren't wanted me dead. Blood for blood. I don't even know why I thought it was a good idea, but the empathy of my hivemates just... so self-destructive..."

Flickers of a desire for annhilation bloom around us, and recede into the background.

"I thought I survived, I thought I was somehow immune, but I was just poisoned differently," he says, sobs less of sorrow and more of impotent fury. "That's what it was. Our hive was poisoned, and the poison took years to act. And I never even found out why."

I slowly reach out at the globes around him, and slot them into the places they should go. Likoto stares at me in confusion, growing into more sobbing. "I don't deserve your attention, Rakkani! I'm broken garbage from a dead hive!!"
"Yeah, well, I'm flotsam cast off from a hive for no reason. We can be broken garbage together. Remember when you told me that?"
"I had hope, I had a future then."
"You still have hope. You've survived worse than this."

This is making me feel better about myself too, but I don't want to say anything about that. This isn't about me.

"I'm coming for you, Likoto," I say, tearing up. "I don't know where you are, I barely know where I am, but I'm alive, and you just need to hold on until I can find you."
"Please don't leave me," says Likoto.
"I can't help it. I can't be asleep forever."

Likoto swallows another sob and sighs, trying to put some of his pieces together. The bubbles of his body drift a little out of reach whenever he comes close to them.

"Please come back again," mumbles Likoto, desperate, loathing his present state.

But he keeps trying, and he grabs one, and, as though fighting a repelling magnetic force, pushes it into himself. More blobs join him. He feels more and more like he used to.

"I will. I promise. And I will find you," I say, resolute.

This time, he looks solid enough to hug--

2/4 Rakkani 2019/10/02(Wed)16:47 No. 946287 ID: 08a7bd
File 157006003348.png - (116.16KB , 800x600 , ai53.png )

Everything abruptly changes.

I'm in a different place. A strange sunset black void, with white patterns tracing themselves all around me. I'm clearly still dreaming, but I suddenly feel, despite my lucidity, a profound loss of control.

Rakkani rozu Rootcrusher. Neumono. 26. Female. Direct ancestors unknown. Descendants unconfirmed. Rogue. Redgrass phenotype. No severe medical conditions. Mild malnutrition. Temporary loss of right ear. Regeneration of trauma to left eye in progress. Interface located in left ear. Profile constructed.

I turn around and stare into a floating icosahedron. Each gleaming facet carries with it an eye like the one in the sky.

[I am Oneiromancer, administrator partition for the Dream Nexus. You have not been authorised use of the Dream Nexus. This is a paid service. Please speak to a 3M representative in the waking world to discuss subscription.]

"Wait! Wait that doesn't make any sense! Neumono can dream share--"

[Neumono can dream share with members of their hive at close proximity. The individual Likoto is neither a hive member nor within close proximity. As this is your first transgression, you are being warned. Further dream transgressions will be punished more directly.]

"...What are you going to do, make my dreams bad? Give me spooky nightmares for not stepping in line?"

[That is a potential consequence for further infraction, yes.]

"Well, okay, can I just wake up now?"

[For safety and security reasons, the neurochip does not allow such drastic alteration to physiological state. Instead, would you like to experience a sponsored 3M dream or remain here until waking?]

The tag was a mistake. Oh wow was it ever a mistake.

"I didn't agree to this! I didn't sell my dreams!!"
[Your dreams are neurological data.]
"I agreed to recording, not interference!!"

The icosahedron pauses its lazy rotation.

[This is correct. There has been an error. 3M recognises fault. 1000 credits have been debited into your account.]
"You can't just pay me off for invading my fucking dreams!"
[Also, we are giving you a free 5-night trial of the Dream Nexus and connecting you to the dreams of another registered user. Registration with the service will allow non-random selection in future.]
"I DIDN'T SIGN UP TO THIS! GET OUT OF MY HEAD--"

3/4 Rakkani 2019/10/02(Wed)16:47 No. 946288 ID: 08a7bd
File 157006007817.png - (239.89KB , 800x600 , ai54.png )

Everything warps and I'm suddenly... wow, it's cold. So very cold. The kind of cold that if I was awake I'd probably be feeling pain from. Sure wish I had literally anything on right now. I try to imagine myself up some clothes but it doesn't seem to work. I have no idea what the rules are in this shared hallucination, but apparently I don't get to make things appear. Not really like proper dream sharing, then.

Wow. The view is breathtaking.

A huge, frozen valley, a blue-white cliff rising above me streaked with red curving downwards. The dim outline of two moons in the sky. The sky is a pale white, clouds filled with captive sunlight.

And just in front of me is Sib, also naked in this freezing cold, staring off into the valley, ears flicking now and then, his gaze passing from the sky, the walls, to the depths below.

One of his top ears flicks towards me, and he turns his head slightly. He looks to me with a hard-to-read expression, either one of casual interest or casual dismissal, and then turns back and looks at the valley instead.

"<My people called this place the Red Scar,>" says Sib, in his native tongue, yet now and only now I understand it as if he'd been speaking English the entire time. I can't quite grasp the actual words he's using. They slip away like... well, like a dream on waking. "<They saw it like that. A wound on the world. Not blue like our blood, but red like the blood of the earth. The light catches some of the formations belowm and shines back so brightly it's as if they glow. None dared to venture to the bed of the valley.>"

4/4 Rakkani 2019/10/02(Wed)16:48 No. 946289 ID: 08a7bd
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He flicks his ears a few more times and tilts his head down. "<It was, and still is, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.>"
"I can understand you," I say, more out of shock than anything else.
"<Are you a dream, or are you real?>"
"I'm real, I think," I say, overwhelmed by the vivid imagery of the frozen valley. "I think I'm in your dream."
"<I didn't know your kind could visit the dreams of others,>" says Sib, distant, as if he's still trying to assess whether or not I'm a figment of his imagination.

"I'm sorry!" I blurt out. "I didn't mean to! It's those 3M fuckers, the tag does stuff they didn't tell me about, I didn't want to invade your dreams!"
Ever since I stopped dream sharing with neumono I've at least held tightly to dreams as one final sanctuary of peace and solitude, and the idea of forcibly dream sharing is frankly horrible to me right now.
I feel slightly ill.

"<Calm down,>" says Sib, wincing. "<Well, I don't think that panic came from me. You are actually Rakani, then?>"
He's not quite pronouncing my name right. I can't quite put my finger on it, though.
"Yes. You can understand me too? For real?!"
"<I don't understand it either, but it's like your words don't matter as much as what you're intending to say. It's... a little too good to be true, almost.>" He looks at me a little confused, but still seems a little skeptical. I almost feel like I'm picking up his empathy, but I guess it's more likely that's just how my brain's interpreting whatever weird dream science is linking us together.

"I have so many questions for you," I say, excitement building.
"<So do I, for you. Let's take turns. You're the guest here, so you can go first,>" says Sib, with a gentle earnest smile that makes me feel even worse for intruding on his privacy. Maybe he still thinks I'm part of his dream.

Okay, what was that thing that was chasing earlier? The Merchant called them haruspices?

>>946287
Well. 3M is only semi-competent then.
Also they were spying on your dreams which means they heard everything Likol said, and you said. Considering your thought processes are neurological data you have a mind-reading device on you now. It will be literally impossible to conspire against them while the tag is on you, so you may as well not bother thinking up any plans to do so. I suppose it's still possible the Nomon drug was from a rogue member of 3M, or there's no central authority so the various merchants can do whatever they want and you can't really blame the other members aside from the obvious "why aren't you policing your members" complaint. We'd need more information before deciding they are the enemy. Right now they are simply profoundly irritating.

>>946289
First ask how he got that image of you in his device. Secondly ask why he seemed angry that you made a deal with the merchant- was there another choice for making credits? You want to save your friend who is now indebted to 3M, and you need a lot of credits to do that. Heck, he should probably tell you everything he knows about 3M. Thirdly, ask what type of translator he'd prefer-- you decided not to buy any of the most basic ones and due to 3M admitting fault you have some credits to spend. Also explain that you planted a seed in the fish which can grow into a vine, but only if you can eat the fish safely. It's a way to test a potential source of food in a survival situation. Yeah, you ate your ear instead, but it'll grow back. They're like emergency rations.

Explain how you're not trained to survive in situations like this. You're a plant biologist, kind of like an advanced farming expert. Corporations like 3M rule the galaxy, so you're inclined to work with them instead of fighting them with no technological advantage and no obscurity from their obsession.

Also they have your mate. So you were @#$%ed anyway.

>>946289
Ask him why he helped you when you threatened him with a spear. Also tell him that 3M are incompetent jerks.

So... What's your story? Why you here on this island?

>>946340
Those mistakes were to make Rakkani aware of services they didn't have a chance to advertise, yet. Their 1000 credit apology is nothing but more encouragement to use their services, to make Rakkani want to sell more of herself.

>>946289
Discuss teaching one another your languages. It will probably take time but immersion and need will speed that up.

Apologize for your sudden involvement in his life. Then ask how you can make things right.

Ask him how he got on this shitty island. How long has he been here?
How big is his dick?

Ask him how he got on this shitty island. How long has he been here?
How big is his dick?

>>946293
>You want to save your friend who is now indebted to 3M, and you need a lot of credits to do that.
It might help to tell Sib the amount we need so that he understands how much we're going to need.

>>946351
>Teach each other's language
Gonna be kinda hard to do when everything is being autotranslated and the translation is the only thing we can hear.

>>946381
Can we turn the translator off and on? That would make language learning easier.

>>946352
>>946341
do these!

also try not to think about his impressively proportioned testicles.

>For safety and security reasons, the neurochip does not allow such drastic alteration to physiological state.
At least they have SOME limits...

>experience a sponsored 3M dream
Truly, ad agencies know no bounds. Though if you get paid to watch ad dreams, you might get Litoko back faster...

>The tag was a mistake.
If you really hate the tag, summon "Fair Exchange". If they're uncooperative, you can still get rid of the tag. Just rip the ear off. It'll grow back. You might even keep getting credits, there's still some brain in the ear.

>free 5-night trial of the Dream Nexus
Four more nights of free translation. Incompetence? Clever ploy to get you using more 3M services? Whatever the cause, it's at least somewhat in your favor.

>He's not quite pronouncing my name right
Yeah, it's Rakkani, not Rakani.

>questions
Beyond what everyone else asked,
What are his goals?
What skills does he have, especially survival skills?
From what "Fair Exchange" said, your full name is Sib Nanip, and your language is Kaurban. Is that correct?
What is your species called?
Can your kind visit the dreams of others, and if so, is it similar to neumono dream sharing?

>>946488
IIRC, neumono ears do not have any brain matter in them, since they are meant to be expendable.

>>946503
If I remember my asteroid quest correctly, they should actually have a tiny amount of brain matter in them.

Still impressive that the thing can network dream sharing with such a tenuous connection none the less.

Huh, did his sack get bigger? It might just be how it's framed, and the fact that we've avoided looking there, but it really does seem a bit different. Try not to stare, I guess.

Aside from that, and what everyone else has covered, ask Sib what we can do to help. We have some temporary clear communication, so we need to establish his plans for survival and long term, and what role we might play in them. We also have a lot on our plate, so having some work ready for us will help take our mind off the crushing despair of everything.

Well the obvious one is "Wanna fuck?", but we're not gonna actually say that so ask him what he knows about the merchant assholes.

1/6 Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:29 No. 958467 ID: 9998d3
File 158364178107.png - (74.54KB , 800x600 , ai56.png )

>sib's genitals
Yeah I don't get what the dangling pouch thing is about, it's not really doing anything for me. It'd be like, I dunno, seeing a dude with a fuzzy dick, it's just odd. A little offputting, even. Besides, I'm not so starved for attention I want to pounce on him or anything. If anything I just feel tired.
...And I'm asleep.
Well. That's an issue. Maybe I'll feel less tired when I wake up? I hope.

>turn translator on or off
I'm not certain either of us can do that, given I'm not sure whatever's making us intelligible is working at the level of language like that.

>a million questions
"So how did you end up here? How long?"
"<Here?>"
"This island."
"<Ah. Yes.>" His ears droop and he looks troubled. "<This island. About a [month]. I did not have a lot of choice. A bad situation. A very bad situation.>" He pauses, and stares into the sky. "<And now I'm here.>"
"What situation?"

Sib's ears droop. "<I'd rather not talk about it. I'm sorry.>"

"Let me tell you how I got here, then. I was on a ship." He doesn't need to know everything before that. "Something went wrong, and I ended up on an escape shuttle that flew unguided into this island. I lost a lot of my memories, and only recently regained them."
"<We came here the same way, then.>" He tilts his head a little as he looks into the sky. "<Were you being pursued?>"
"I... hm. Someone was actively trying to attack the ship. It came out of nowhere."

Sib nods quietly. "<Are you the last of your kind?>"
"...uh... no, no I'm not. No, not really. I'm just, well, it's hard to explain. Family problems, I guess."

2/6 Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:30 No. 958468 ID: 9998d3
File 158364180141.png - (89.99KB , 800x600 , ai57.png )

I hear the gentle crunch of snow underfoot, and turn behind me to see what looks like another member of Sib's species.
Probably a female based on that image I saw Sib looking at before. A little pudgy I think. Maybe? I don't know what fat patterning is supposed to look like on aliens unless she's-- oh.

We make brief eye contact and her ears rise, as she freezes into place.

A cold wind blows in the tense silence that follows as she looks at and around me.

She looks between me and Sib, and walks towards Sib, keeping an eye and at least two ears on me at all times.
"<Who is this?>"

3/6 Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:30 No. 958469 ID: 9998d3
File 158364182375.png - (129.32KB , 800x600 , ai58.png )

"<Kui! Kui, I am sorry, I was distracted. I met a new friend today.>" He waves a hand at me. "<This is Rakani. I don't know what her species is, but she seems very similar to us. Impressive healing capabilities, though. So impressive they seem to eat their own body parts like it means nothing.>"
"It's... it's a survival tactic, we store emergency resources in our ears, and they do grow back, yes."

The new arrival, Kui, hugs Sib in a long passionate embrace that has me awkwardly shifting around on my feet until they stop.

"<Rakani, this is my bonded-mate Kui.>"
Kui reluctantly leaves the hug and looks at me again, and I can't read alien expressions very well with their lack of empathy but some undercurrent of this dreamspace tells me she views me with suspicion. At first I wonder if it's jealousy (maybe a little egocentric, I'll admit, but I know aliens can be touchy about this sort of thing), but before I can figure it out she walks a little closer to me, hesitant, all ears raised. I get the impression this is something of a gesture of willing to hear me out but not immediately accepting me, like, uh... like... I don't know, empathy kind of clears that ambiguity up for neumono.

"<Rakani,>" she says. My name's not-- well, close enough, whatever, the long vowel might not be something in their language. "<I am Kui as has been said.>"

She pauses, and I don't know if it's because she has nothing further to say or if she can't think of anything to say.

Sib hugs her again and rubs his hands over her ears. "<We have been through a lot. This is the only place we can speak and touch.>"
"Did something happen to her?"
Sib pauses and sighs, and Kui looks taken aback, before staring angrily up at the sky. Sib tries to calm her with more massaging of her ears and shoulders.

"<She-->" starts Sib, before Kui starts talking at me forcefully.
"<I'm fine! I'm healthy!>" she shouts in frustration. "<I just can't wake up. I'm trapped here. Supposedly I can go wherever my heart desires in this electronic dream world, but I don't want cold mechanical dreamlands, I want to wake up!>"

4/6 Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:30 No. 958470 ID: 9998d3
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Sib looks like he might start crying. "<There is nothing fair about this,>" he says. "<She's right next to me, I sleep next to her, I wake up and feel her fur on mine, but she's stuck here, sealed away.>"

An icy monolith emerges from the ground, one of its sides a mirror sheen. Through the surface of the monolith, I see a room inside the strange pod I'm sleeping in. A room like the bedroom I'm in, with Sib sleeping restlessly on a bed, and Kui there with... a lot of tubes extending from her. There are the sounds of mechanical ventilation and what sounds like a subdued song I can't place, a central refrain that doesn't really alter itself by a lot.

Dream Kui is shaking as she buries herself into Dream Sib. "<Sometimes, sometimes I can feel you, Sib, and that's all that keeps me going. You're all I have.>"
"<We're all we have,>" says Sib, turning around and hugging Kui some more. "<I'm doing all I can. 3M said they can fix you. This, I believe. They can. They just aren't. Maybe they won't. But I have a plan, Kui. I have a plan.>"
"<I know you do, but you can't, Sib, you can't risk yourself, please. Please.>" She rubs her stomach. "<Someone needs to be awake.>"

I reach up to my face and brush a tear away I didn't even notice shedding. I don't know how much of it is the sudden ambient emotion of this dreamscape and my sensitivity to it, and how much of it is resonating with my own feelings of frustrated loss and of those I treasure being kept away from me.

The monolith sinks back into the ice.

5/6 Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:31 No. 958472 ID: 9998d3
File 158364190775.png - (140.67KB , 800x600 , ai60.png )

The two finally are able to let go of each other, put each others' arms behind their backs, and look back to me.

Kui is the first to say something as she opens her eyes and raises her ears. "<Sib, I love you with all my heart, but you can be far too trusting too soon,>" she says, looking at me with some distrust again.
"<I did not have any choice,>" says Sib. "<Either I left her to be torn apart by the blood machines or I saved her life by bringing her here.>"
Kui nods, her ears falling a slight amount. "<I am sorry. I am maybe a little paranoid.>" She looks at me. "<You would understand if you were in my situation.>"
"I think I might already." The idea of being conscious while unable to move is starting to really get under my skin the more I think about it. But no, the worse thing would be not being able to reach out empathetically.

>tell Sib about Litoko
"We might have more in common than you think," I say. "3M is holding a dear friend of mine hostage, and I'm supposed to be the one to pay to let him go free."
Sib and Kui's ears raise and their eyes widen. Sib angrily kicks the ice. "<Those [redacted]! Well, now you know why I am not on friendly terms with them, yet must remain at least somewhat cordial. If they wanted they could-->" Sib pauses, looks at Kui, and stops. "<It is very important to me that I find a way to keep Kui alive that does not involve 3M's loaned machines. All the credit I earn goes to keeping Kui going. I am living off of the land to save spending anything unnecessarily. I'm just so afraid! 3M holds my bond-mate, best friend, other half, the most important life in the entire universe to me on a string they can pull back whenever they want!>"
Kui tilts her head, and grins at Sib. "<I would not worry about that too much, Sib. I have had a lot of time here. A lot of time to look at how they conduct their operations. A lot of time to plan a counter attack. And they know this, and I know they know this. And they know I know. The battle has already been fought, and I won. They can't try to shut me down without risking severe damage themselves.>"

Sib looks a little rattled but nods. "<If you ever need help-->"
"<You're still wearing the tag, yes?>"
"<Always.>"
"<Don't worry about me. I'm not the one at greatest risk. I'm still tracking the movements of the blood machines.>"
Sib looks like he wants to object, but doesn't.

>ask about goals, skills, species, dreamsharing
"Now that we've opened up to each other a little more, I still have some questions about who you two are and what your skills are. It's time for an exchange of information, while we can speak."
"<She doesn't speak Kaurban,>" says Sib to Kui.
"<She's speaking it fine?>"
"<That's something 3M are providing, apparently.>"
"<Ah. Those mental translators they hold in such high esteem, then.>"

>goals
"What are your goals?"
"<See Kui healed and awake. After that, design and construct a ship to leave this island. After that, find a safe place to raise a family.>"
Kui flicks her ears up. "<Sib said what I was going to say. Also, all of that, without losing Sib. What about you, Rakani?>"
"Get my--" I hesitate a little longer than I should. "Friend out of 3M's weird medical jail. His name is Litoko. After that, I... don't really know. 3M said something about building an outpost and maybe I'll do that. For my own reasons." I don't know what the hell I want. Off this island? I don't even know where I'd go anymore.

>skills
"I'm a very skilled botanist with a lot of knowledge of the plants of my homeworld, lots of alien flora, and some solid principles helping me in figure out how to make use of the local plantlife here. What sort of skills do you have?"
Kui looks around at the glaciers confusedly before realising what I mean.
"<Well when I was a kit I was fascinated by survival in the wilderness, which has now turned out to be the most useful fleeting phase of my young life so far, but my actual trade is [untranslated]. Hm. Making and designing and orchestrating swarms. Particles. Small tiny things. For different purposes, and it's turning out to be incredibly helpful as long as the [untranslated] keeps working. The power source is [untranslated] so it should last a while. I'm worried about what happens when I run out of materials, because there's not exactly a [untranslated] on this world, and it would take a lot of time to just try to invent one from first principles. I don't even think I could, it's very very complicated>"

I blink and stare.

"<That... your species has [untranslated], right?>"
"That's not even translating."
Kui interjects. "<The mind translators 3M make don't handle concepts that the receiving party doesn't understand due to lack of context. They have automatic tutors that they charge extra for for that.>"
"Ugh."
Kui tilts her head up in agreement, looking a little disgusted.
"Probably a good thing I'm not talking about neumono empathy then," I say.
Sib looks at me confused. "<Talking about what?>"
"Empathy?"
"<I didn't catch that, I just heard some machine voice tell me something didn't translate. I didn't think [untranslated] was that alien a concept. Huh.>"
"Empathy," I say, thinking about the concept of just understanding and feeling someone else's emotions. It's... I can't think about it like aliens can without thinking about it in neumono terms as hard as I try. It's the same concept again. Sib just flicks his ears in confusion.

"<I designed and trained machine intelligences,>" says Kui.
"I have no idea how that translated because I know absolutely nothing about AI."
"<I guess you know what it is! I also used to... uh...>" She shifts around and laughs nervously. "<I used to be something of a hacker in my adolescent years. I never really gave up poking at systems I wasn't supposed to look into, and to start with, the idea of all my life functions being taken care of for me and letting me focus on nothing but pure virtual existence was thrilling, but now it's [untranslatable], nightmarish [untranslatable], but at least I can help Sib in a few ways.>"
"I'm not very good with computers."
"<I'm plugged into one now, so I guess I am a computer now. Just a computer.>"
"<A very lovely computer,>" says Sib, hugging her again. "<A warm fluffy computer that I love very much. And only for now.>"
Kui smiles. "<...thanks.>"

>species
"What's your species name anyway? I'm a neumono."
"<Criai. Crii. There's a few variations of pronunciation-->"
"<Extinct. Don't worry about the name,>" says Kui. "<I just hope our kit finds a nice alien that loves them because they're never going to find another crii to love.>"
"<Kui we don't know that. We don't know how many other survivors there were.>"
"Survivors?" Holy fuck that's a hell of a thing to just drop in conversation. I thought we got past the heavy stuff. "What happened--"

[ TRIAL PERIOD FOR NIGHT ELAPSED ]

Wait what no no

Rakkani 2020/03/07(Sat)20:32 No. 958473 ID: 9998d3
File 158364194259.png - (10.28KB , 800x600 , ai61.png )

I awake with a gasp.

No. No no argh argh I had SO MANY MORE QUESTIONS! FUCK!

Well.

I learned a great deal and also feel no more rested than I did when going to sleep. I have no idea what the time outside is.

I get up, head out of the room, and realise everything is still dark.

I head back into the bedroom, fall back onto the bed, and stare up at the ceiling.

Probably a good idea I didn't try to ask if Sib was down to fuck in the dream. I get the impression aliens can be pretty easily upset by that if they're already in a relationship. Probably would have just been unpleasant and uncomfortable anyway, probably one of those aliens whose males don't just lay back and take it. Eurgh why am I even thinking about this, there's a thousand other things to think about. I think I got brain poisoned from all that sickening lovey-dovey bullshit they kept projecting at each other.

I consider trying to take the tag out of my ear before trying to sleep again just so I don't get weird intrusions in my dreams again. Not that I'm sure I'd know how to put it back on. It might just explode or something. Fuck. Why the hell did I sign up to this. ...and why am I asking myself questions I know the answer to.

I guess either I try to sleep again or I just get up and... I don't know. There's not much else in this room, just the bed, and in the central room there's just that machine in the middle of the room I don't know how to operate. And the shower. But I already had a shower. Hrm.

>>958473
Try to get back to sleep. You probably won't connect to the dreamshare thing again?

>>958473
Try rubbing one out

well it sounds like you'll at least be able to sleep normally now for the rest of the night so might as well rest.

>>958473
Tired? Sleep. Otherwise,
Get Fair Exchange? Ask what's what? Fix up the deal? Rip off ear if you dislike what they say?

Get sleep. You’ll consume less calories and you need actual rest.

Go check on that blood-vine thing so maybe you can finally eat something. If it sprouts you can eat ze fish.

>>958473
Go get some actual sleep, dream a real dream.

You are getting veeeeerrrryyyy sleeeepyyyy...

Go to bed

1/5 Rakkani 2020/04/28(Tue)10:52 No. 964100 ID: 21ac91
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>rub one out
Yeeeaaah no. I'm feeling pretty empty in more than one way, but there's nothing I can do about that. It'll just make me feel the nothing there even more.

>sleeeeep
Yeah. I'm just... gonna close my eyes for a bit. I'm hungry and tired and grumpily miserable, or miserably grumpy. Back to sleep.

Tired, hungry, horny, no clue what's going on, at least I'm relatively safe here. That's one need down, everything else to go.

...

2/5 Rakkani 2020/04/28(Tue)10:52 No. 964101 ID: 21ac91
File 158809637125.png - (24.10KB , 800x600 , ai63.png )

Well, I'm awake again now, and the hunger's numb for the moment. Better go check on that bloodvine. I'm sure Sib won't mind if I see myself out quick. I can't find anything to leave a note and he can't read anything I could write so I'll just have to be quick.

I leave the pod and head to where I saw the bloodvine, and it has sprouted magnificently. So magnificently that I can't even find where the remnants of the fish are. I wouldn't want to risk getting snared up in it and becoming its next meal. I'm surprised it grew this much in a day. Chest height. Impressive. Better let it go before it starts trying to aggressively grow into my hand.

So, I guess that means I can eat other fish here. Woo. An empty consolation at present to my very empty stomach. Let's get another one right away.

I look around the river for Sib's dropped trident, and find it. Well, I'm no trident expert, but it's got to be more or less like using a spear, so I reach to pick it up--

3/5 Rakkani 2020/04/28(Tue)10:53 No. 964102 ID: 21ac91
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"[[Stand.]]"

An imperious voice commands me to stand and before I even fully process what's being asked of me, I stand with my arms by my sides and chest puffed out, surprised by my sudden movements, hands empty. Dropped the trident.

Wait, what?

4/5 Rakkani 2020/04/28(Tue)10:54 No. 964104 ID: 21ac91
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An unnaturally blue neumono with a disturbing complete lack of any empathy I can feel approaches me dressed in some torn up finery that looks like it came out of an alien history book.

Also he has head thingies. Why does he have head thingies. What the fuck is going on.

"Halt, savage tribal woman." He looks a little disgusted at me. "I see whatever backward feral infestation you come from has yet to discover shame. Look at you, wandering around with nothing like the disgraceful beast you are. Well. As of four hours ago this land falls within my fiefdom, so as a foreign invader your fate is mine to decide. You are now my property. And I've been looking for some good hands to build me a suitable fortress in this savage land. Kneel before your new liege, savage!"

Is this actually really happening. What the fuck. I'm speechless. But he looks like he has something strapped to his back. A weapon? And a floating ball with a nauseatingly familiar colour scheme.

"Excuse me?" I manage to spit out, after being completely dumbstruck.
"Did I confuse your primitive brain? [[Kneel,]] slave!"

I fall to one knee.

5/5 Rakkani 2020/04/28(Tue)10:55 No. 964105 ID: 21ac91
File 158809651281.png - (24.03KB , 800x600 , ai66.png )

I should have tripped on my way to the escape pods. Perished in a fiery explosion. It would have been a little bit more dignified than this.

I try to shout at him but whatever the hell is compelling me to listen to his stupid commands is making it hard to do anything but stare furiously at him. It's like my body wants to be a specific position, like muscle cramps, and moving away from it is... uncomfortable. Painful if I strain too hard.

I just try to shout at him instead and--

"BAK!"

Okay, that was not words, that was an angry inarticulate shout. He definitely flinched, though. I feel a little looser.

"You will obey, animal, or I will make you obey," he says, regaining his composure, now furious. For a fleeting moment I catch it, like a speck of dust in a sunbeam -- empathy, a projection of fierce anger and shame at his momentary... cowardice? Lapse in concentration? Too vague and blurry to parse, and now it's gone.
"If you refuse to submit to your rightful betters, I will be forced to take your good ear, and whatever crude decoration you have attached to it! Be warned, if you have not felt the agony of a psionic resonance whip, you soon will if you do not submit to your better!"

Great, a psionic and also an idiot. How are you suppose to build a fortress all by yourself? You'll have to play along for now, can't afford to give away your chip. Maybe try to get across that you're trying to grow food? Food that he'll definitely need

Tackle his blue imperial ass and start biting and scratching.

>>964105
"Fucker"
He wants you to submit but not actually giving you the chance to do anything other than kneel. He's an idiot.

Rip and Tear!

>>964105
If you can make him flinch again, then grab the trident and impale him with it.

Or if you don't want to do that, then grab his head thingies and rip them out of his head! If that doesn't kill him, then ripping those things out of his head will prevent him from controlling you.

Subdue them with the power of BAK!

aka keep barking, put your entire will behind it, and hope that them flinching gives you enough of a window to attack them.

>>964105
Hold on, don't underestimate him. You *could* fight back, but if he actually has a weapon things might not go in your favor.
Continue kneeling, and do your best to tell him you're not a primitive or an invader, your escape pod crashed here yesterday. Judging from the tear in his clothes, he's in a similar situation. Tell him the civilized thing to do would be to talk, and stop waving around his psionic dick like a Predator.
As for your clothes, you sold them to the actual owners of the island. You have come to regret that.

Keep yelling at him, warn him about the corporate presence on this island and how they bled you dry.

if the trident is nearby do you think you can haul the thing at him quick... or anything really. If you can brake his concentration it might give you enough time to attack him or to run away. If running away jump into the river so even if he tells you to stop the current will still carry you away from him.

>>964104
Guy seems biomodded. Odd bot behind him.

>>964105
Also a fool. He has to sleep sometime. It's why the first bit of >>942549 was facetious.

I see 3 ways to deal with this.

1) Defy. Seems to reduce his power over you.
2) Fake obey. "Apologize" with bloodvine.
3) Fake obey. Kill him while he sleeps.

Oof. Okay. Strange as all of this is, they’re clearly not your regular type of Neumono but similar enough for the purposes of empathy. Different culture and different biology, though. Probably also kidnapped and out of their depth. Maybe from an experiment? Speaks your language, too, so indicates common ancestry and origin.

>Slave
This will not end well. Two things to do. Submit - kinda - and figure out what his fucking deal is over time and escape when he goes to fucking sleep or whatnot.

Or keep him off his balance so you can negotiate his dropping of what is effectively body control through empathy. You can probably flip him further off balance by convincing him he’s made a goof by acting less like a tribal and more like a civilian.

“Of course I’m mad! I’m an educated botanist and a refugee, not a tribal nudist to dominate, you pervert! If you take issue, get me clothes! Do you even know what this place is? You’re just as lost as I am, are you not?! Or do you mean to tell me you actually live in this ridiculous place?!”

>>964198
Drop the “live” part, didn’t parse how blatantly obvious it was he’s new and not just to the area.

If you’re incapable of speaking, submission may be best. Getting mentally tortured and losing your reserve ration - I mean ear - and your main means of getting paid isn’t going to make your day any better.

Thinking about it, if this guy does keep you prisoner and slave, you can probably just buy a way to negate his mind control from the corp. Something with a jammer effect should be enough.

Hold your violent impulses back before you fuck yourself sideways, dammit! You're up against a person of unknown capability who you can be pretty sure will use 'em all to subdue you if you make a hostile move on him. For all you know, he could make your head explode or pull some even more predator shit and blast your mind away. That could be a gun on his back and he's a quick-draw expert who could get a snap shot off on you before you get within reach. And that 'bot hovering over his shoulder might attack you if you try to attack him. So cool your damn jets for a minute and use your wits! 'Cause that's your strength, not your physical strength.

Oh, and while his empathy is hidden from you, you don't know if he can sense yours. It's unlikely, but you have to consider it a possibility, and if so then any action you'd try to take against him would be telegraphed right to him. Better pay attention to whether he behaves like he can read your empathy or not while his is blocked so you can say one way or another.

Submit to him, for now. If you get a chance to speak, ask him how you two are speaking the same language when you're some "feral." The answer is you're not. You're a botanist. You crash landed and washed up on shore, destroying your clothes in the process. Also point out that this island is already claimed by the 3M Corporation and you got in debt to 'em after you crashed. So if he tries to take you as a slave they're gonna have some sharp words for him.

Oh, and warn him to not make any deals with 3M 'cause he'll end up deeply indebted and at their will. He's undoubtedly a arrogant, raging asshole noble, but if he's not under 3M's thumb then he might be able to fight back against 'em.

>>964105
Screw this, better not give in. He has shown weakness in his confidence. Exploit it.

Try pain. Claw your palms or something like that. That might clear his control. And then focus your empathy on that pain and direct it at him. Then rush him and break his toys. Those antennae or his floating device.

After your in control you can tell him that he is just another pet in this freaky zoo.

Absolutely do not break his stuff. It has value. Value which you could use for yourself, if it comes to it.

>>964345
Pretty sure we can't use those antenna.

>>964365
We could SELL them. Because they have VALUE.

>>964369
He’s not going to willingly give them to us, so in order to sell them, we’d have to rip them out of his head, which might end up damaging them and giving them less value. And I’m ok with that if it means it’ll prevent him from controlling us.

>>964105
Launch an empathic assault of hostility, contempt and outrage at this foreigner.

Use it to disguise the fact that you're going to pick up a rock and brain him with it.