Hey, if anything, it will take your mind off of the recent troubles. Accept the offer, albeit in a private link to Sal, and enjoy the rest of the party with Mika, Sal, and Szen. No reason to just up and leave just yet.

>>206503
Y'know what? Sure. Why not.

Point out that you consider yourself one of the guys, even though you're not male either.

Agree, and ask if he'd be up for trying to get Mika involved.

>>206503
Casual fling is a go. We're not tied down in a relationship right now, and Sal is a cool enough person to deserve our 'first time'. As for the something more... well, it would be nice to spend more time with Sal, but it's a bit early to commit.

Mika seems nice too, but... like it's been said, she's kinda young. Granted the age difference is a bit strange to really quantify when you can't remember most of your life... Hmm. This is a strange situation. I'd say you should wait until you get to know either of them better before making up your mind on if you want to commit to anyone.

>>206503
Say something like this:
"I... hardly know myself anymore, if I'd end up clingy or feeling awkward or what. I'm not even used to my own body. But I'm not going to figure myself out by avoiding things. If you're okay with holding my hand a bit through this and that, I'm yours."

>>206503
Somehow this just screams complications. But turning it down right now will probably lead to more immediate complications, and Sal is still needed. So what the fuck, go with it.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (3F ceiling) Lyan 2010/07/13(Tue)23:46 No. 207581 ID: f202ec
File 127908997882.jpg - (66.68KB , 500x500 , 18856149.jpg )

"...all right." I think if Sal could smile, it would be.

Later, poolside, watching the revelry on the layers above. It's calmer here, farther from the pounding rhythms and the frenzied motion of the dancers above. At the center, within the circumference of the neon ramps spiraling between the levels, the fountain splashes noisily a few tens of meters back into the pool. I find myself watching Mika sway as we descend the ramp; she's far too young to be so graceful. Sal nudges me lightly in the ribs with a surprisingly sharp elbow.

At the bottom Mika dives in and quickly propels herself to the bottom with a strange undulating stroke. Szen is content to sit poolside and splash his toes around a bit. I learn that I'm apparently denser than water. We pass the time with idle chatter; Szen talks about wandering the different subcultures, Mika talks about her recent freedom and her family. Sal remains uncharacteristically quiet, adding an occasional joke but mostly staring at the fountain. It's my turn to nudge them.

[Sorry, just navel-gazing.] It turns to look at me. [Shall we?]

Under my breath - "I don't suppose we could ask Mika...?"

Privately: [Not a chance, buster. This one is ours and ours alone.]

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) Lyan 2010/07/13(Tue)23:47 No. 207582 ID: f202ec
File 127909004040.png - (806B , 500x500 , 18861354.png )

"So, um, how is this going to work?"

[You'll see...]

"Wait, why isn't this chamber pressurized? Sal, what are you doing with my suiiiaugh."

[Oh my... we'd better get that back under pressure immediately~]

------

[I think I'm spoiled for other men. Maybe next time you'd like to spoil me for other women~?]

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) [animated!] Lyan 2010/07/13(Tue)23:48 No. 207583 ID: f202ec
File 127909012768.gif - (40.84KB , 500x500 , 18862105.gif )

At some point, we're in atmosphere again. "Sal! That patch you applied is barely 20KPa! And it's see-through!"

[Actually, it has glow in the dark candy-stripes. Though I'm a bit worried that in the dark someone might mistake you for one of the support pillars.]

"What? Sal!"

[What, afraid you're going to make all the boys jealous?]

"I'm afraid I'm going to rupture as soon as I step outside again."

[Oh, fine. Come here. You're just lucky I'm compatible.] It reaches down to grope me for a moment and leaves behind a slick-looking red patch. After a moment it fades to match the color of my suit. [Shall we head back to the pool?]

I nod and start to dress, but... "Sal." My pants have changed. The algorithm is the same but the display is of marching red and pink hearts on a white background. They look to be a lot snugger around the... tail, too. I subtly pull up my interface, but I can't access them.

[Sorry, loverboy, but you're locked out. I ownz0r your trouz0rs. You should know better than to run unsigned code on your outerwear... but you could just leave them off~]

Looks like you'll have to tickle them until they change it back. Heavyhanded, but effective!

If they're not ticklish, bearhugs will suffice as well. And if THAT doesn't work... puppydog look.

>>207583
Well, it wouldn't do to have everyone staring at us. Wear the pants, regardless of whether or not Sal changes them back to the previous pattern.

Hey, lighten up a bit. It's just a slightly silly design. You could change the rest of your suit to provide a sort of matching contrast. Make it look GOOD.

Go pantless. Otherwise the terrorists win.

>>207583
Pants to hat, go!

>>207583
Go pantsless. Show Sal that it can't make you wear strange trousers and that you're not afraid to strut your stuff. Nothing much should be visible anyway, the body you picked should be rather neutral even when naked, as long as you don't get aroused there shouldn't be anything special to see.

>>207691
>as long as you don't get aroused
>Sal mercilessly teasing us

I wouldn't really bet on that. Take your tough love like a man, Lyan, and learn to stop clicking "accept" on everything. At least this time it was only your pants and not your brain.

Wear the shorts. You have to leave at least a little bit to the imagination at least some of the time, or it'll be harder to talk people into this variety of hedonism.

Also, this really does offer some insight as to how you got hacked before, if it's this easy. When you do try reintegrating your brain meats from the Lethe center, also see if you can upgrade your virus protection. On the other hand, maybe you don't want a second voice that lives in your head and tells you to do things...

>>207583
"Could you not lock me out of my own stuff? It's kinda disconcerting..."

>>207774
Don't say this

Say, Lyan, the present festivities have been fun and all, but keep in mind you might, like, want to back up your head again in case you end up spontaneously combusting or something.

Just throwing that out there.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) Lyan 2010/07/18(Sun)13:54 No. 209768 ID: f202ec
File 127948646153.png - (61.86KB , 500x500 , 18864226.png )

"Ha." I turn around and pull them up slowly, wiggling a bit more than necessary to get into them. They're certainly tight in the back. "You know, Sal, these aren't going to be much good if I have to get to my weapons quickly." It - she - gives me a look. Without a face, that's an impressive feat. I change tactics. "Ok, but surely you want to attend the rest of the party with the best-dressed guy here?"

[You've got a point. When I run into him you're on your own.] Obviously this calls for drastic measures. I grab Sal, push her backward into the rest area, and begin to tickle. After a moment my fingers begin to sink into the surface and I before I can pull them back both my hands are ensnared. [Lyan, what are you doing?]

"Um... Tickling?"

She broadcasts her equivalent of a sigh. [I'm not ticklish.] As a last resort, I give her my best pleading look and after a moment she caves. [All right, all right! I'll change them back!]

"They're ok, really." I'm not sure if I sound convincing. "Just let me know what you did. It could be the same kind of thing that got me hacked in the first place, right?"

Sal sighs again. [So much for taking your mind off things for a while. Lyan, if hacking a person was that easy, three quarters of the human race would be zombie nodes at least. It was just a simple ownership transfer hidden in some innocent-looking handshake code - never would have worked if you were properly sandboxing things, but I knew you couldn't at the moment. So right now, your pants are mine!] She tugs at the waistband to pull me back onto the cushions.

"i want to get my mind off of things but no matter how hard i try i have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that something is wrong.

Ñ 2010/07/18(Sun)14:05 No. 209773 ID: f202ec
File 127948714114.png - (65.58KB , 500x500 , 18864226pause.png )

Not quite dead yet...
Resuming later this evening.

>>209768
Give Sal a kiss, then ask if she wants to be the man now.

Alternatively, tell her that you'd love to spend the night(?) at her place after the party, but it's not over yet.

Sit back down. Thank Sal for trying distract you, but... you just need some time to try and figure things out. Not really sure how or what to do.

>>209774
...whoa, that's uh... a little much, really. Plus I'm not sure kissing works, what with Sal's body and Lyan's face being so nonstandard. AND we just did it like 2 minutes ago, there is such a thing as a refractory period.

Just go "Don't worry Sal, it's at the back of my mind." and join her on the cushions for some cuddling or whatever she has planned.

Ask Sal more about how her body works, exactly. How does she eat and drink?

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) Lyan 2010/07/18(Sun)23:51 No. 210079 ID: f202ec
File 127952226471.png - (35.93KB , 500x500 , 18865962.png )

(time passes)

-----

[I think this was worth waiting for.]

"Wait. You mean you really were...?"

[Lyan, I'm declared NEUTER and that surprises you? It's not like I'm really equipped.] I start to grin. [Quiet, you.]

I keep grinning, but... "Wish I could back up. Still worried. Still need some time to sort things out. And I'd hate to lose this."

Sal tilts her head. [Hmm. Wonder how many "first times" I could get out of you~]

"Sal! Anyway, I still want to do something about the suit. It hardly matches."

[Need a hand?]

"No tricks this time?"

[You wound me! I'll even loan you my personal oracle to test!]

"...I notice you didn't actually answer the question."

...and that means it's dress-up time.
>>/questdis/330208

(my apologies for not handling any suggestions. I was forced to stop more or less mid-cutscene)

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) Lyan 2010/07/24(Sat)11:05 No. 211813 ID: f202ec
File 127999475539.gif - (37.84KB , 500x500 , 18866134.gif )

I'm wearing my pants again but ownership privileges are currently tied up in escrow for the next few kiloseconds; Sal's method of giving them back without actually giving them back right now. Of course, that means they're still locked into the current pattern while I wait. A lesson in caution, I guess. We're working on a new design together for my suit when my inquisitiveness finally outweighs my caution. "Sal, I'm still curious. What are you, anyway?"

[A person.]

"Ok, but what are you MADE of, person?" I poke her playfully where the ribcage would be. The surface grabs back at my finger for a moment before letting go.

[Do we really need to get into this?] For the first time since I've known it, Sal has been nearly motionless while we worked. I've grown accustomed to the sweeping gestures and the poses she strikes when standing still. It's kind of strange.

"Not really? Just been wondering how you eat and drink." I do my best to look sad and innocent.

[Hah. Well, I mostly don't. I'm self contained; got a few megawatts of induction loop for motive power and recycling systems. I'm primarily utility gel on a humanoid armature. Still like the taste of coffee, though, even if it is just homebrewed chemoreceptors signaling emulated neurons. But reality's what you make of it, right?]

I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. Design is finished; with a flourish, I attach the interface to my medical monitoring software and the pattern begins to animate. "Ta-da."

[Not too bad, loverboy.]

...

Sal has been strange and at times unpredictable, but generally nice... maybe too nice? There's a tiny paranoid part of me that wonders whether this is all an act, and what it has to gain by helping me. Another part of me wants to dismiss that as a delusion brought on by defective neurochemistry.

Is it all just a coincidence - our meeting, this strange fling? Should I ask Sal, and if so, what am I going to say? Or let it go and rejoin the others? I'm not sure that... whatever we have here will stand up to questioning its motives.

>>211813
Don't bring it up but keep it in mind.

It might not be quite as coincidental as Sal lets on. There seems to be something working under the surface here.

Lets rejoin the others for now. Make some more friends than just Sal and get some connections. And write them down physically in case you die before you get another chance get a back-up. That way it's easier to retrace your steps.

>>211813
Forget about it for now.

Go rejoin Lizard Tits and What's-His-Face.

>> emulated neurons

Incidentally, Sal's an A.I.

>>211813
If I may make a suggestion: http://www.piratejesus.com/nerdcore/122.html
Seems appropriate, I think.

Also, how much of that armature is fixed? Could you, say, wear Sal like a suit?

by that logic everyone so far has been AI.

>>211813
No, don't question it. But, I'm curious about one thing.

Ask Sal why they chose you as her first time. It seemed like you were... making a lot of mistakes in your interactions with her.

>>211837
>emulated neurons
Only as far as tastebuds are concerned I think.

>>211949

>>/questdis/330525

>>211972

...fuck

>>/questdis/330526

>>211813
Question if you like.
I get the feeling Sal was in love with the former Lyan to some extent, and shifted these feelings on to you.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (private bower) Lyan 2010/07/26(Mon)01:52 No. 212455 ID: f202ec
File 128013432556.jpg - (61.93KB , 500x500 , 18866329.jpg )

"Ready to go show me off again?" I offer an arm to Sal. Unexpectedly, she starts laughing. I tilt my head and look at her. She tilts her head to look back.

[Such a gentleman. But you're also vain as any peacock... maybe it WAS an accident, but I think you ended up the right gender after all.]

"Er, Sal... peacocks are male. Hence the name. Peahens are pretty bland-looking."

There's a long moment of silence, then Sal laughs again. [Ok, ok! You win this round. But watch it.]

Might as well take advantage of the good mood. There's a question that has been bothering me since not long after I arrived. "Sal - why the intense interest in me? I can't possibly have made a good impression."

There's another pause, and Sal's arm feels suddenly warm in mine. Sal studies me again with her disturbing lack of expression. [You seem like a nice guy, Lyan. Maybe the only one I know.] I think Sal wants to say more when she stops again; what she says next isn't at all what I was expecting. [I think I can probably get you access to your brain back, if you want to take a chance.]

"Wait, what? How? And it's dangerous?"

[For me? No. For you? Maybe. Just thought you might want a say in how your life is run.]

Ask her again how, and say please, this is seriously important.

>>212455
I think we might want to wait at least until the Lethe Center tells us WHY our brain is cooking, so it can be fixed. It's been quiet recently; ask them what their progress is.

>>212455
Ask Sal for some clarification on what the process would involve and how dead you risk end up being.

>>212455
>Such a gentleman.
>I think you ended up the right gender after all.
>Er, Sal... peacocks are male.

imconfus.jpg

>>212495
This is probably wise, although it probably also comes across as a bit of a snub to Sal.

>>212455
>You seem like a nice guy.
Nobody likes a nice guy.

Otherwise, >>212499.

The Lethe center said it was going to do an analysis on your exocortex (oh god they killed it they killed him you're dead you're all dead) and it should be done by now, so even if you can't use it right away, you should be able to find some more information about the problem.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (3F ceiling) Lyan 2010/07/27(Tue)23:16 No. 213108 ID: f202ec
File 128029778438.jpg - (63.72KB , 500x500 , 18868246.jpg )

"...by the way, have I mentioned you really need to work on your ornithology metaphors? Maybe you were thinking of waders. Their females have brighter plumage." Ow. Sal's elbows are very sharp. "Ok, ok. Again. How?"

[I have a few ideas.]

"That's not an answer."

[No, it's not. Listen, Lyan, it's probably NOT safe. I can't guarantee you won't melt down again as soon as I remove the locks. Forget about it. I'm just... concerned. You've blanked out on me for a few seconds, a couple of times now. Whatever these safeguards were meant to prevent, I'm not sure they're working.]

"What? This is important, Sal. Really important."

[I shouldn't have mentioned it. The Center should be finished soon anyway, right?]

So much for enjoying the rest of the party. "Maybe. Why not? It's not like you can make it worse at this point, right?"

[I can't guarantee it'll do anything at all. Or that you won't crash immediately if it works.]

"Murphy." Sal looks away. "Is there anywhere I can back up around here? Or at least try to? I'll catch back up with you." Sal gives me directions to the fabricators set up for the party - Networked, but off the public feed - and I head off. As we we leave, Sal pauses, then looks at the ceiling. I follow her gaze and see a butterfly slowly fanning its holographic wings.

[Ha. Cheeky little thing, isn't she?]

-----

That was unsatisfying. Now I have two state vectors marked as "pending." Only good news that came out of the thing was Lethe confirming that the analysis was nearly done. Likely before this party is over. I head back down the spiral to the pool where the others are waiting for me.

Mika looks up from the pool and smiles. "Wow, must have been really something. He backed up as soon as you finished with him? Or did you kill him?" She blushes a bit, but continues. "Maybe next time..."

"There's more to being an adult than just sex, Mika," Szen comments from poolside.

[There is?]

"Hey, weren't you neuter just a few Ks ago?"

Ask him what his point is. Is Sal sitting away from you on purpose? Maybe you should take a swim.

This is too much sexual confusion. Maybe you should pick a gender besides herm.

>>213115
No, this seems to be working out quite well I think.

Lyan can't modify his body right now anyway. We're locked out of everything.

Remember your temperature spiked before you died the first time? Let's soak a bit in the pool. That will keep you cool.

Explain to the others that you just had to check up on something at the Lethe.

Chat with Mika a bit. Offer to help her knock out some of the problems in the butterflies she's got, since she mentioned they were a little buggy and we are apparently talented at coding.

>>213108
Well you might not be able to back up your brain right now but there is something you could do. Start a video recording feed to a seperate disk.

Get your new friends on record there with their names and where they meet you. Preferably they should say they liked you as well. Then record yourself there, tell possibly dead future self of what's happened and stuff.

Then copy it and give Sal and maybe the blue guy a copy as well as keep one for yourself. In case of another death you won't be completly without clues and memories.

Oh, and put in some moves at Mika. She seems a bit eager to experiance new things.

>>213218

We still don't have a good handle on cultural norms, I don't think we should be hitting on Mika just yet.

>>213219
Aye, but +1 to just helping her debug butterflies.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (3F ceiling) Lyan 2010/08/01(Sun)01:34 No. 214494 ID: f202ec
File 128065166139.jpg - (49.47KB , 500x500 , 18869452.jpg )

I slip into the water and enjoy the coolness against my skin. I pull up my interface and begin filing away some of the day's events; I haven't been in anonymous mode much since I awoke, but adding some tags will make it much easier to recover later. Still, it's slow doing it manually and after a few hundred seconds Mika glides up beside me. "What're you working on?" Now she's floating on her back, orbiting around me, motionless except for a slow undulation of her tail.

"Just recording some memories. Don't want to forget anything. I've had some... issues lately." That's certainly as close as I want to get to explaining my problems right now.

"Oh? Anything in particular you're trying to remember?" She looks at me lazily out of one eye, but there's a definite something behind her question.

"Well, I certainly don't want to forget your or Sal." There's a slight cough from behind me. "Or Szen, of course. You're the first friends I've met so far this... well, this life. Mind if I capture an image?" She blushes and ducks her head slightly but nods. I turn around to grab the others and see Sal has sprouted strange wing-like protrusions from her back. "Sal? What's that?"

[Just thinking hard about something.] The tips of her 'wings' are glowing faintly red. [Going to need to dump some waste heat here soon. Think anyone will mind if I boil a bit of the pool?]

I turn back around. "So, Mika... perhaps I could help with your butterfly swarm. You said there were some bugs in the system?"

Mika smiles and steps out of the pool. "I need to visit the assembler. They're all yours." A bridge forms atop the surface of the water for her, leading to the central island. She blows me a kiss as she departs, and the swarm of projectors hovering around her flutter through the air to settle on me. Sal snickers as Mika turns and begins to ascend one of the spiraling ramps to the lower floors; the architecture in this place is still a bit confusing.

Szen takes another sip of his drink, then asks, "She's a bit young for you, isn't she?"

[Her? Lyan here is barely a day old. Oh, to be young again...]

There's a sudden buzzing in my head. *Incoming message from the Lethe Center. Accept?* "I appreciate your talking about me like I wasn't here, but I need this info. Excuse me." I swim out toward the center of the pool, paddling furiously to stay afloat. "Accept."

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface Pavilion (3F ceiling) Lyan 2010/08/01(Sun)01:36 No. 214497 ID: f202ec
File 128065181768.jpg - (34.57KB , 500x500 , 18869540.jpg )

Good evening, Lyan-406.705.840.197root. Analysis of your archived post-treatment state vector has been completed.

"Well?"

A full simulation of your state vector and exocortial interface has been performed. It appears that significant manual alterations have been made. Part of the modifications appear to be a parasitic self-modifying memetic agent of a high degree of sophistication. No such structure was noted in your pre-treatment state.

"My brain is infected? If it's been identified, remove it!"

We believe that may be an accurate description. Complete removal of the agent may not be entirely possible; it appears to be deeply involved in the motiviational and reward structures of your cognitive processes. Excising it will result in alteration or eradication of your personality.

It appears that malicious alterations appear to have been made to your exocortical processes as well. This appears to be the source of the destructive feedback loops that resulted in your earlier cessation. What purpose they serve, if any, is unclear. If untreated, simulations display a profound disassociation of the exocortex with 8 to 12 Mseconds. The preceding period will be marked by paranoia, false recall, and fugue states of increasing length.

"What about my previous versions, then?"

We propose to restore you to a previous state and attempt to merge a delta of-

The lights die.
There's an indescribable sound, too loud to truly be a noise, and the world comes apart.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +100m Lyan 2010/08/01(Sun)01:38 No. 214498 ID: f202ec
File 128065189388.jpg - (41.01KB , 500x500 , 18869541.jpg )

I'm in freefall.

The air rushes out of my lungs like I've been punched in the solar plexus. My eardrums burst. I immediately clench my eyes shut to avoid being blinded by ice. The helmet slams closed over my head. Too late. Far too late.

Time slows to a crawl. I hope the adrenaline will last.
I have:
A vacuum suit
My blade
3 "goo" grenades
1 flashbang
2 throwing knives
Interface rings with holographic display.
Tazer with 15m cable
20,000 cubic meters of water, rapidly boiling away into the vacuum

No air.
10 seconds of consciousness.

I wonder if Mika is ok.

I don't want to die.

Well, shit. There's probably no good way to convert water into oxygen with those supplies, is there? You could use the lines of the tazer as rope, if you had more than 10 seconds to get somewhere. Where the hell is the nearest exit and/or atmosphere?

Use your interface rings to put up a call for help. There's a ton of people around who are vacuum sealed, and at least one should have an oxygen supply they can lend you. Or can you contact them via radio as well? Use all options.

Lacking that, you could suck in some water to re-pressurize the inside of your suit so you can open your eyes (although you'll be drowning at that point) and then use the tazer's line as a grappling hook to reach SOMETHING.

Another thing we might be able to do is modify your suit so it can extract oxygen from the water, somehow.

Assuming you get some oxygen, you could suck in a bunch of water into a separate compartment of your suit, pressurize it, then use it as kindof a jetpack like thing to counteract your momentum.

Also, why did the Lethe Center get cut off like that? Weren't they communicating directly? Someone must be jamming the connection somehow!

>>214498
Orient yourself so you are visible from the surface, set your suit to flash bright colors, and set-off the flashbang.
Sal's body is not only capable of surviving this kind of event, but is also capable of rescuing you and providing you with oxygen. As you were the least prepared of anybody here there is a good chance rescue will arrive in time.

I am opposed to using the flashbang.

>>214525
I'm not entirely sure about the flashbang, since that's going to kick us somewhere in a very imprecise fashion, and that somwehere might be "spiralling off into nothingness". But lighting up the suit is very much plan A.

Attempt to absorb the oxygen from the water, if you can open your eyes look around for somewhere to latch your cable onto, or, well, ANYONE really. Set suit lights to flash and hope someone comes after you. Can YOU think of anything you can do?

>>214524

If there still is a Lethe Center...

>>214498
Well fuck, that's not good. Look around and see if you can see Sal. If you find it then it might be able to help you get some air to survive.

Other than that you might be able to siphon air out of somebody elses suit. That should give you some extra time, hopefully enough to stay alive until rescue can arrive.

Put the rest of your vacuum suit on.

Definitely need assistance. Set up some sort of distress beacon, and don't randomly chuck a flashbang.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +200m Lyan 2010/08/01(Sun)22:38 No. 214730 ID: f202ec
File 12807275301.gif - (140.44KB , 500x500 , 18869552.gif )

I thrash and resubmerge myself. This is going to get cold, quickly. I think my suit has a built-in heating element. Where's the backup air? 8 seconds. Interface with suit. It's scavenging O2 from the water around me, slowly. 5 seconds. Chromatophores in the suit to cycles colors, max intensity. Distress signal is already going. How much momentum do I have? Do I have enough mass to get back?

Something is screaming in my ear but I can't make it out. 2 seconds? Fading... Try to stimulate breath reflex with rhythmic contractions of suit. Automatic resuscitation in 30s.

I hope

this



works

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +???m (animated) Lyan 2010/08/01(Sun)23:12 No. 214737 ID: f202ec
File 128072957953.gif - (214.59KB , 500x500 , 18869587.gif )

All my muscles contract at once and I draw a deep, shuddering breath. My eyes open painfully through a thin layer of ice.

...I'm glad that worked.

The air in my helmet is thin, but breathable. That's good, because the readouts indicate I'm breathing nearly pure oxygen. My ears are ringing and there's a slow trickle of blood from my nostrils that I can't reach up to wipe away. I absentmindedly wipe my hand across my helmet and snort in frustration before I remember where I am.

There's something else, something vitally important, but I can't remember what it was.

Help Mika. Propel your way her way.... somehow. Your suit hopefully has something built in. If not, grab chunks of ice and throw them. If your suit really does flow like liquid, you can wrap it around her and share. Hopefully Sal will be okay for a few minutes, even though he needed to vent heat and is now in insulating vacuum.

>>214737
You are currently drifting away from the habitat. You need to propel yourself back somehow! You've got some stuff you can toss... but do you have enough? Can you reconfigure the flashbang to use the limited accelerant in it as a kind of propellant?

Toss the throwing knives away, and your gel grenades. You need to redirect your momentum so you can contact the smart surface of the habitat again... or anywhere else nearby that you can get a grip on.

Maybe you can intake some of the surrounding water and use that as propellant too. Also, send out some radio/email/whatever to contact Sal or whoever's nearby; find out if they're sending a shuttle.

>>214741
>throw
>grenades
You know, if you can do so safely instead of just throwing the grenades why don't we set them off and use the force to direct ourselves back? At least the gel ones, they should be fairly safe, and will help us stick to the ship if we hit it. Or to Sal or Miika if we can find them.

But first things first, look around as well as you can and figure out where things are relative to you.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +1km(?) Lyan 2010/08/02(Mon)01:44 No. 214764 ID: f202ec
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My head is starting to clear. Where is Mika? Sal and Szen should be all right, at least for now. Long enough for a rescue. I twist awkwardly in place, with nothing to push off of but the tip of my tail dipping into the sphere of water that's quickly boiling away into ice crystals behind me.

The math is easy; call me 115kg moving 10m/s in the wrong direction. Maybe 2kg of mass I can shed. Can't change my momentum enough with that to get back on my own. I have a chance if I can get back to the water. I throw both my knives as hard as I can and hope that's enough to get me back into the pool. While I wait I pull up my interface and start trying to create a water-jet out of my suit.

[LYAN!] I have no idea where that's coming from, or how far. I twist around again and spot someone drifting slowly closer through the fog. It makes a last-second course correction by throwing some sort of weight and collides gently with me. We begin to drift backward another cm/s or two toward the pool of water.

"Sal, what happened to you?" The facade it was wearing at the party has dwindled away to a stick-figure. Its legs end in two short stumps.

[I had to jettison some mass. Seemed the easiest way to get to you. Good job with the lightshow - I knew it was you right away. Are you ok?]

"If I've had worse days, I can't remember them. I'm deaf. What's going on? What in Murphy's name happened?" It's strange not hearing my own voice in my ears.

[Something bad. Catastrophic. I guess you can't tell, can you? Habitat 58 is... dead. Everyone out here is screaming for help and nothing is answering.] I don't know how to respond to that. It's just too unbelievable. Sal continues after a moment.

[Listen, we don't have much time at all. I need your sword.] I hesitate for just a moment, but I'm not sure why.

Sal tilts its head in its familiar way. [Do you trust me?]

Might as well trust him/her/it. Give Sal your sword.

>>214764
He's either going to kill us, or we're dead anyway. Sure, give him the sword.

Tell him he'd better not cut anything of yours off. You're two feet from kilotons of ice. That's plenty of mass for whatever.

>>214764
We're only paranoid because of the brainhack. Give Sal your sword.

yeah, kinda low on options. not giving the sword would result in us kinda not being ble to do anything.

Level taser on Sal. Give Sal your blade.

"Given the circumstances? Yes, but not enough to not tase you if you start hacking off bits or something."

Seriously though, there's not much else you can do, so hope it has a plan.

>>214764
Sal is better than you with funky programming of stuff. It can probably use the sword to get you all back to the station. Because the option of staying outside isn't really a good one.

Oh, and I suspect we can now make some better guesses at the purpose of that hack. Wiping out an entire station through a sleeper agent and making it ripe for resettlement by your own people would be quite an ingenous trick.

>>214768
Pretty much this. If anyone has a magical way to get back, gain enough materials to stay alive, and then figure out how to survive the chaos long enough to construct a way out of--- yeah, fuck it. Just give Sal the sword. One way or another, it's a lot faster than just dying out here on our own.

>>214778
No, we are not going to menace Sal.
"We've got plenty of reaction mass for you to engulf right here; Think you could use that megawatt output of yours to rig up a crude ion drive? Or at least a superheated steam jet or something? We need to save Mika.
Also, could you shed your armature, use me in its place, and share life support? I don't know how many minutes I've got, and that'd make it hard to get split up."

>>214764
Give Sal the sword.

Ask it what it's planning on doing while you do so.

We trust Sal more than anyone else at this point, so go for it.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +1km(?) Lyan 2010/08/03(Tue)10:19 No. 215193 ID: f202ec
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"You need to ask?" I pull loose my sword. "Where are the others? Mika wasn't sealed! What IS happening?"

[Szen is taking care of her. Listen, someone apparently wants you dead very badly. I'm sure you have an iron constitution, but if you're still alive in 20 seconds they'll have to know their plan failed.]

"Sal...?"

[There's no time.] It looks away. [I'm sorry, Lyan.]

>>215193
You're about to feel a little prick.

58-N115-ADZJ - Surface +1km(?) Lyan 2010/08/03(Tue)10:25 No. 215195 ID: f202ec
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[...this shouldn't hurt.]

There's just few drops of blood. Ice is spreading through my chest. Heart is slowing down. See it withdraw the blade, pull it back for a swing.

[I'll see y.. . . . . .]

Lyan 2010/08/03(Tue)10:31 No. 215196 ID: f202ec
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Chapter I concludes tonight.

>>215193
Lets hope Sal knows what it's doing. Otherwise you're gonna have to punch it some when you come to.

Man, if Sal doesn't come clean when Lyan's next backup is instantiated, we're going to have to bust through causality ourselves to get Lyan to do something about whatever is wrong.

At this point, I think Lyan should just stay dead until this whole thing blows over. Wake up somewhere far away in a few centuries.

Try not to decompose too much before chapter 2 starts.

Also, watch out for scavengers; I hear Sergals eat their dead.

N115-ADZJ - near Habitat 58 Suggestion 2010/08/04(Wed)04:38 No. 215479 ID: f202ec
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End Chapter I.


Halting State resumes next week.

>>215476
...did Sal just decorptitate us and turn the body into solar sail?

>>215487

Sal had Rights to Lyan's suit.

Trippy.

>Sal had Rights to Lyan's pants.

Fixed.