2/3 Apollo 2015/05/12(Tue)01:11 No. 639831 ID: defceb
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“I’ve been thinking about that question. That one you didn’t ask.”

“When was I uplifted?”

“Information is a game, Marie. A game I play well. How do you know the things you know?”
.
“Can you hear me? I’m trying to get through to you. Can. You. Hear. Me?”

“Who told you that your name is Marie?“

“How do you know to trust them?”

“I am the speaker for myself. You are being spoken to. Morgan speaks for himself. You are being spoken to”

3/3 Apollo 2015/05/12(Tue)01:11 No. 639832 ID: defceb
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>Wake up

These were emphasized in the last little speech. A letter per sentence and a dot in the middle.

DFD.EAEE

Not sure what that means. It might be a address of some sort, the local office network maybe?

Anyway that can wait. Greet the person who saved you from certain death. Ask their name, introduce yourself.

Ask if they know what the hell is going on. Because honestly you have no idea.

>>639830
He shouldn't be bleeding. At least not blood.

>>639832
Are we in the real world, again? Hard to tell if this is more vision-space or if that's just paintings.

You hoodie-wearing rescuer appears to have the same kind of two-tone hair you do. (Not that means much for cyborgs).

>>639833
I can't see any significance to those letters either, offhad. Thought they might map to the passage in the image, but nope.

I thought this wasn't the first time we'd seen seemingly random letter boding in this quest, but I can't seem to find the other example.

>what do
Check internal clock. How long have you been out? (Is Rudy fucked, yet?).

Look around. Where are you? Greet stranger(?). Although now that the face is exposed, you might know her.

Apollo 2015/05/12(Tue)12:10 No. 639903 ID: defceb
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>Are we in the real world again?

“That depends on how far down the solipsism hole you've fallen.”

>Your hoodie-wearing rescuer appears to have the same kind of two-tone hair you do.

“That would be quite the coincidence, if you believe in those.”

>Ask their name
>Ask if they know what the hell is going on

“It wouldn't be any fun if I just told you everything, now would it? What was it that he said? Information is a game, we should treat it like one.”

what if i'm tired of playing?

You didn't thank her for the help slash intervention.

>“That would be quite the coincidence, if you believe in those.”
Recent evidence would seem to tilt pretty against coincidences.

>Information is a game, we should treat it like one.
So you're telling me to cheat.

...where's the spotlight coming from? It moved, from you to her.

Apollo 2015/05/12(Tue)13:10 No. 639910 ID: defceb
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>You didn't thank her for the help/intervention.

“It's a little early to be thanking me.”

>...where’s the spotlight coming from?

“It is rather peculiar lighting, isn't it?”

>What if I’m tired of playing?

“That would be so boring! “

>So you want me to cheat.

“Now you’re thinking on the right track. How about this, if you can guess my name I’ll answer any one specific question of yours. Truthfully. I’ll only give you one guess, no take backs!”

Rumpelstiltskin.

I don't think she's Manaus.

Jeannine Lyotard? Her hair matches Morgan's flashback, and the only other ladies we know the names of are Haley and Marcy.

Marie shound't know a name from Morgan's flashback, though. So I guess using it is appropiately cheating at this game.

Apollo 2015/05/12(Tue)15:01 No. 639938 ID: defceb
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>Jeannine Lyotard?

"...is that your final answer?"

"...Marie?"

You didn't tell me I had only one guess.

>"...is that your final answer?"
'course not. If I gave only one answer I wouldn't be cheating.

I don't suppose you had any relatives who uplifted? The hair could be a family thing. (Sister, mother, cousin?).

Unless this is right >>639939 . Although multiple instances of ourself is gonna get confusing fast. (Well, bonus, we're already confused. Saves time, that).

>>639957
>I’ll only give you one guess, no take backs!
C'mon, our memory isn't that bad.

>>639939
"Is that your final answer?" Either A. Means we got it right and she's giving us a chance to get it wrong, or B. Means nothing at all. That she's asking it, then, should not change our answer.

>>639913
I think this is right- at least we have some amount of reason to believe it.

I also guess Marie.

Are you guys serious? This is Manaus. The bunny waiter had two-tone hair too.

>>639910
There's no pointy ears, so clearly not marie.

>>640037
Well, yes, but I don't think Manaus is the name we're looking for.

>>639938
that's not in the rules, Jeannine. this is a game, and games have rules.
no final answer bullshit, a single answer was not stipulated.

Apollo 2015/05/13(Wed)14:55 No. 640206 ID: defceb
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>Jeannine. Your name is Jeannine Lyotard.

“You really think so? Aha. Ahahaha.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”

Apollo 2015/05/13(Wed)14:55 No. 640207 ID: defceb
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“I don’t know the answer. I’m sorry I just don’t know the answer. There’s a hole in my head where it fell out. Isn't that pathetic? It’s a hole where everything I ever was and everything I could ever be just fell out and it’s gone. All I can remember is that city. That vague impression of a city up in smoke. I hear people praying for mercy and screaming when the gas touches them. It’s all I have left, I can’t lose that too.”

“I’m pathetic, aren't I?”

Can she untie you? You kinda want to give her a hug, because she needs one.

...hmm. Bit hard to cheat when you were already cheating. (Unless we want to make the case that a lack of a name means any and all answers are correct).

“I’m pathetic, aren't I?”
Pathetic? No, not really. She sounds rather like she's in much the same situation you're in. Holes in your head suck.

The interesting question then, isn't what her name is. It's who she is. Who's left when you scrape away your name, your past, your future. Apparently, someone who cares enough to reach out and help someone in a bad spot. Who still needs someone to talk to, to relate too.

That's enough of an answer. It's proof that there's still something good in you. I'll take that.

We might have incoming hostiles the light shifted to the red-eyes.

>>640207
Was the city's name Manaus? We know a person who has a deep connection with that place. His name is Morgan.

Maybe it would help if she could talk to someone who knows about that event? We might know someone who does.

Patheticness is highly subjective! I'd gladly reduce yours, or my assessment of it at least, by several percentage points if you were so kind as to restore my limbs to a usable condition.

"It's hard for me to remember, too. I'm not entirely sure who I am... or if any of this is real or not. All I know is that I don't want to fight anymore. How about you?"

You have enough enemies. Make a friend.

Apollo 2015/05/15(Fri)00:02 No. 640528 ID: defceb
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“Y-you’re right. I should… Why did I even do this? There’s got to be a better way, isn't there? I just wanted answers. I just want answers.”

Apollo 2015/05/15(Fri)00:31 No. 640543 ID: defceb
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>???:They’re trying to manipulate you. Focus!

"Manipulate", says the voice that literally has its own army of corpse-puppets. How do they say getting answers follows from going around killing people with spikes and crowbars?

>>640528
what did you do, lady?

also, from the tiny bits we scraped, looks like you're Jeannine Lyotard, you got your ass gassed but you survived with scarring. your family sent you out of the country. you had a boyfriend named morgan, or maybe just a friend and he just really cared about you.
also, you're past marie maybe? I've got no clue by this point.

so information is a game only when it results in the things you want to happen? if anyone else says anything they are just doing it wrong?

Roll to resist manipulation?

Believe in yourself. You don't know what's missing from the hole in yourself, but you don't have to let someone else fill it for you. Don't let them tell you who to be. Be you, whoever that may be!

Push the red eye. Poke or jab it even. Maybe it works as a BUTTON. Or just tear it out. There's something suspicious about red eyes.

Apollo 2015/05/15(Fri)15:12 No. 640686 ID: defceb
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>You're Jeannine Lyotard, you got your ass gassed but you survived with scarring. your family sent you out of the country. you had a boyfriend named Morgan, or maybe just a friend and he just really cared about you.

“I’m…I’m…”

>???:You’re nobody

>Believe in yourself. You don't know what's missing from the hole in yourself, but you don't have to let someone else fill it for you.

“T-t-t-they[’re in my heaA-aa-ddd.”

>???:They’re liars, you can’t trust them.

>"Manipulate", says the voice that literally has its own army of corpse-puppets. How do they say getting answers follows from going around killing people with spikes and crowbars?

“I c-c-can’t stop him.”

>So information is a game only when it results in the things you want to happen? If anyone else says anything they are just doing it wrong?

>???:Information IS a game. A game you just lost.

Apollo 2015/05/15(Fri)15:13 No. 640687 ID: defceb
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“...average temperature of 400 K. Atmospheric pressure estimated to be 80 bar. Classified as inhospitable. Fourth planet, gas giant. Default inhospitable. Fifth planet, average temperature 120 K. Classified inhospitable. Addendum: third moon rich in He-3. Recommended for refueling. Sixth planet, liquid surface. Default inhospitable…”

Jeannine being a candidate for uplift fits her medical condition. The unknown is how she survived what Morgan thinks should have killed her. And how she's an uplift here and now. Did she come back in time too? Or was Marie not the first- there were secret uplifts in this underground facility?

>???:Information IS a game. A game you just lost.
We'd have to agree to play by your rules before we can lose. And we're not done cheating, yet.

And no one wins if we flip the board.

>2368
So... a little more than halfway between Mars and Marie's present.

From the text, I'd guess this is from her time in space, that's a computer's analysis of a system. Not our home system though. 3rd rock from the sun isn't 400K, and mars isn't a gas giant. Not far enough in the future for the sun to have gone red giant and changed that, either.

Image doesn't match, though. That's a map of the facility we crashed into.

Uh, Marie? Can you do anything? Move, look around, open your eyes...?

>>640687
What I find interesting about this map is that it SHOULD display something to the left of that T-intersection if it were a real map. We haven't been there, though. It's a map according to either Marie's memories or ours.

Apollo 2015/05/16(Sat)02:13 No. 640840 ID: defceb
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>Uh, Marie? Can you do anything? Move, look around, open your eyes...?

You can do all of those things! In fact, by the looks of it you have all day to do whatever you please. Whatever a ‘day’ counts for out here. It used to be a 24 hour period, 16 being up and about with 8 blissful hours of sleep. A few months into your trip and a ‘day’ became 28 hours of activity, with only a few hours of sleep. By your current clock, you've now been awake for 105 continuous hours without feeling tired.

The computer analysis drones on about the topical notations of this system. Inhospitable this, inhospitable that, potential for mining these. You suppose hoping to stumble onto a magical alien space superhighway was a little far fetched. But at this point even finding alien relics would be nice.

>>640840
push butan

>>640840

>In fact, by the looks of it you have all day to do whatever you please.

...

Enhance knockers. (Hey, it's been a while.)

Check the various screens. If everything's okay, then try writing music or drawing.

>>640840
ok, why are you out in space again? where are you even going? was your name always marie or did you change it after you got uplifted? how long have you been out here? where were you before the launch? did you have a boyfriend named morgan? are you out in space by choice or is this some sort of escape shuttle? if it's an escape shuttle, why is it so spacious? did you really take 37 bullets to save haley? when did that happen and what was the story? what's with the cable connected to your back, is it to keep you in place or does it have a purpose?

also, whatever you do, DO NOT ENHANCE KNOCKERS!

>By your current clock, you've now been awake for 105 continuous hours without feeling tired.
No mental fatigue? Humans get kind of loopy without that much sleep. Not that I know how closely your processors emulate a human brain. But the fact you can still sleep, and dream, suggests the associated mental processes still exist. People need to clean up and defrag their thoughts every once in a while!

>But at this point even finding alien relics would be nice.
Have you found anything besides uninhabitable rocks, so far? How long have you been out in space? How long did it take to reach this system?

>In fact, by the looks of it you have all day to do whatever you please.
So, uh, what is there to do on a spaceship? What's keeping you busy?

Is there anyone else on board, or are you flying solo?

What kind of ship is this, actually?

Oh well, better log this stuff. What's the date? Enjoying the zero gravity?

So how are things on Mars going that you have the time and/or obligation to be all the way out here>

Apollo 2015/05/16(Sat)17:46 No. 640962 ID: defceb
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>No mental fatigue?
There used to be. It’s waned over time, like hunger.
It’s been 5 months since you last had something to eat.
The last time you got a message was a little over 8 years ago now.
48 years since you've left Mars. You think it’s been 48 years. Supposedly the tech accounts for time dilation but you won’t know for certain until you get back. If there’s nothing out here then it’s almost time to turn around and go home.

Maybe a nap would be a good idea.

>Is anyone else on board?
You’re the only sentient thing on board. There’s some algae and bacteria samples that could technically count. Some of Roderick’s machines are strapped to the ship as well. Not sentient, but astoundingly effective at repairs and resource collection. He’s always been tight-lipped about how he made them tick though.

It’s a lonely flight, but on the flip side every day can be no pants day.

>Have you found anything besides uninhabitable rocks, so far?
There was one planet with a proto-algae on it. That was exciting. One planet had rocks that if you squinted could maybe look like ruins? Massive amounts of cyanide in the atmosphere though. Logged all relevant information and moved on.

>What’s with the cable?
It’s a direct connection to the ship computers. It’s feeding all sorts of charts, graphs, and information directly to you.

>How are things on Mars?
They’re… fine. They’re doing great down there. Last you heard they were finally building open-air farms now.

>Check the screens
One of the lunar drones is reporting an obstruction. Apparently it’s been trying to move around something but keeps getting stopped. In a wide, flat area of the moon. Unless rocks grew legs that shouldn't happening.

Oh hey! something exciting. Lets check it out.

Also we gotta figure out a way to break you outta this rollback. That poor girl was getting mind whammied something fierce.

Geeze. What made you want to be alone for 48 years? I mean, sure, space, and you're effectively immortal, but you're still psychologically human. You'd think that would get to you.

Did the psychological studies just show if you locked a few people in a box for that long you'd end up murdering each other or something? Maybe lonely is less crazy making than a group, on this time scale.

>hanging around naked, not eating, not sleeping, not interacting with anyone
Huh. Despite what you said to Haley and Victor, maybe you went the asceticism route after all?

...that or space food just isn't worth bothering with. If you don't have to eat, why eat junk.

>One of the lunar drones is reporting an obstruction.
Ooh! Investigaaaate! Way better than space solitaire, or whatever you've been doing.

>>640962
Do you ever dream?

Apollo 2015/05/16(Sat)22:14 No. 640991 ID: defceb
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>Do you ever dream?

Every time.

>Maybe you went the asceticism route after all?

Space food starts out tasting kind of okay, and ends up tasting that bad when it’s all you have.

>Investigate!

You pull up the video log from the drone, noting that it's the one on the He-3 rich moon. At this distance the video is delayed by just under 15 minutes.

So far the video just shows the boring surface of a barren moon.

Apollo 2015/05/16(Sat)22:14 No. 640992 ID: defceb
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Then a flag pops up, being waved furiously back and forth. Or rather, an improvised flag. It looks like some cloth that’s been smeared with an oily substance.

Okay, flags are not naturally occurring phenomenon. You've found intelligence. Intelligence that's not so alien- they understand the concept of flags!

Looks like today is going to be a pants day. You get to meet aliens!

Plot a course, find some pants.

Tell the drone to look down.

Got any external lights on the drone you could toggle for signaling? Start with prime numbers while you're rooting around for whatever the theoretical best-practices standard in alien first contact protocol was fifty years ago.

Keep monitoring the drone, store all data for later, and get closer (if only to get a shorter delay on the drone). How long will it take you to get there?

>improvised flag
Now that part is odd. You would think that anyone who is both able and willing to stick a flag on a barren moon would have it tailor-made, Unless kludged flags are some tradition of theirs, that would suggest that the flag placer actually lives (or is stranded) on that moon.

>>640999
Alternately, it implies that flags are an inevitable technological advance, and that this is a hastily-made flag of surrender. Or an urgent message of another sort.

I get the feeling this is the whole accidental-conquering-of-an-alien-race we've heard about.

Apollo 2015/05/17(Sun)01:34 No. 641007 ID: defceb
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>Plot a course, find some pants.

You punch in the destination and wait for the computer to do all the complicated math for you. Putting into consideration acceleration, deceleration, direction that moon is going, and so on it looks like you’ll be able to get there in about… 80 days worth of time. Might as well start the engines now.

>External lights?
You set the drone to start toggling lights to a series of prime numbers. At the very least that will show them you’re paying attention in roughly 15 minutes.

>Look down.
You switch through the drone’s cameras until you get a view of the alien in question. It moves with sharp, jerking actions not unlike a pigeon. The drone continues to try to find a different course, and the alien follows to continue standing in front of it.

Maybe order the drone to hold position? So it stops trying to go around.

>aliens
Hmm. Seem humanoid. Organics, too, if they need protective suits. Looks like they have less fingers on a hand. Can't tell much else unless that drone has other sensors you can scan through.

Another 2 behind him.

They might not be native to this rock, either, if they need environmental suits.

Start scanning EM bands, too. Maybe their suits have radio or something.

Might as well blast off a message reporting this, too. Just in case it turns out they're a hostile and capable of blowing you out of the sky, the discovery won't go unreported.

Okay.

I can sort of see how this is going to go.

Send a "stop moving, stop ANYTHING, just record" signal to the drone NOW. If, and this is a big if, but some *idiot* programmed it to treat obstacles as something to be mined through... can they do that? Do they have *anything* that might be construed as weapons? Run damage control for anything that might even potentially do damage in a first-contact scenario.

>>641025
Don't worry, I don't think Death Of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool is working tonight.

But yes, DO send a signal to the probe to stop moving.

>>640962
dude, how are you not going crazy being alone for 48 yea- OHHH that explains so much maybe

80 days is plenty of time for a nap. what the hell have you been doing instead of sleeping anyhow?

Aliens seem to be wearing protective suits, meaning this isn't their native environment. Run some spectral analysis to figure out what the suits are made of, that might provide some clues about their native biochemistry and tech level.

Also, go back through the drone's video logs, see how long aliens have been running around trying to get it's attention. Persistently standing in the way seems like an attempt to stop the drone from intruding into their territory and/or trampling something.

Apollo 2015/05/19(Tue)00:37 No. 641426 ID: defceb
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You order the drone to stop everything and scan the aliens. Sifting through the video backlog shows that they’ve been dancing around the drone for roughly three hours. The video mostly consists of them waving their limbs as they run around it, a few minutes where it looks like they’re trying to push it back, and then the current situation after it finally stops to find a path around them.

>Scan the EM bands.
The only thing the drone is picking up out of the ordinary is a weak, irregular pulse. It’s barely noticeable against the background noise.

>What the hell have you been doing instead of sleeping anyhow?
Reading books, watching movies, lots and lots and lots of studying, chess against computers, science experiments, cataloging information, more science experiments, conquering your backlog of unfinished games, participating in piles upon piles of psychology questionnaires, contemplating life choices, more science experiments, studying philosophy, maintenance, introspection, replaying old memories, rewatching movies, re-contemplating life choices, having minor panic attacks over the endless vastness of space and the possible implications of even a minor form of ship trouble when flying alone, replaying old memories, and going through old messages again. But mostly science experiments, cataloging information of your travels, and ship maintenance. Plus all the time in an artificial sleep between stars.

80 days… better than 80 years, at least. But you need a plan for first contact.

Okay, you'll want to review their movements when they initially found the drone, of course. Focus more on their interactions with eachother than how they acted towards the drone, because you know they are friendly with eachother but you don't know if they're initially or currently friendly with the drone or angry at it. Posture and gesture is important. It's not that you want to mimic what they're doing in order to seem friendly- it's that you want to avoid doing something that makes you seem hostile. Confusion is A-OK during first contact, so if your mannerisms are simply strange to them it's fine.

I think you should wear a spacesuit when greeting them. If you walk up without one they'll be freaked out and possibly assume you're not alive. Um, you DO have a spacesuit, right?

They seem to like showing off their handprint as a gesture of peace or communication or something, maybe you can put your handprint on a piece of cloth and show it to them when you arrive?

They will probably try to escort you somewhere. This will be so that they can take off their suits and attempt real communication. So, follow them obviously. If you can bring along a touchscreen or something that can be drawn on that could help. Bring along some sort of display to show information from a variety of topics. If possible bring along some sort of translation aid like a program that can calculate shit like this.

Do we have anything like the Pioneer plaque or the Voyager golden record on board to offer them? Do you have the fabrication capabilities to make one, if not?

You should study them as much as possible from the probe for these months in transit. Learn what you can from their behavior, try to see how they communicate, make basic attempts at communication via probe.

Important to pay attention to is what senses they seem to have, and in what bands. (The partially transparent faceplate suggests sight, or something like it, at least).

Find some appropriately nice clothes for diplomacy. Clothes mark you as an intelligent being, distinct from a probe.

I wouldn't worry about a hard suit, or faking being organic.

Don't bring any weapons. Do send a message documenting all you've logged to date, and your plans, before first contact. Just in case things go terribly wrong, your mistake hopefully won't be repeated.

Make sure to get real sleep before making contact. Can't risk your judgement being effected, or being off your game.

>lots and lots and lots of studying
You know, that would have been real handy in the present / future ...past (damnit) if it weren't for all the memory problems.

>conquering your backlog of unfinished games
Steam libraries finally have a practical purpose! Sanity preservation on sub-light interstellar flights.

>>641426
>The only thing the drone is picking up out of the ordinary is a weak, irregular pulse. It’s barely noticeable against the background noise.

That's probably their radio chatter. As communications tech gets more sophisticated, short-range signals get weaker to avoid wasting power on a sufficient sensitive antenna and noisier-seeming because that's how compression algorithms work. Run it through whatever cryptanalysis you've got, looking for patterns that might be language, and figure out how you might transmit signals on the same band. Don't worry too much about what you're going to say to them until you know what they're already saying to you.

As for 'actions speak louder than words,' have the drone backtrack, extra cautiously at half-speed or less, to the point where it was three or four hours ago when it first saw them. They seem to want it to stop intruding on their territory or something, and such a symbolic concession costs you nothing.

What do you dream about?

>>641426
ok none of that is as important as sleep. cut that shit out.

Apollo 2015/05/20(Wed)22:45 No. 641796 ID: defceb
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Nice clothes, check.
Working tablet, check.
Up to date versions of Pioneer/Voyager messages, check.
Drone backed up about three to four hours worth of travel, check.

You opt to go without the hard-suit, needing only to cover your eyes and ears against stray dust. Crypt-analysis never broke the radio chatter, just turned up junk noise again and again and again in it’s attempts. Watching their actions and attempting to communicate through the drone proved marginally more successful. By the time you arrived on the moon you've transmitted basic math equations back and forth through the on-board light. Since then more of the aliens have crowded around the drone regularly.

You shoot off one more message back home with all this information and grab a good night’s sleep.

>What do you dream about?

Your dreams are often nonsense. Noises, almost-person shapes running around, broken buildings, birds. So many birds. The dreams began vague and have only gotten worse over the years. By now they've blurred into the barest sense of a dream.

Apollo 2015/05/20(Wed)22:45 No. 641797 ID: defceb
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Stage fright is an all too familiar feeling for you. From being paraded around doctors as a medical miracle to making important speeches for Martian politics, you've had many close encounters to the gut-twisting anxiety that predates action.

One of the aliens pops out from behind the rocks and holds it’s arms up high. You've seen the gesture before, it’s practically their handshake.

reply in kind

Throw your hands in the air like you just don't care.

Makes sense for it to be a handshake, as people suspect the handshake evolved to be a way of signifying you were unarmed (at least with the hand offered).

Flags, perhaps they're celebrating something? Return the gesture.

>broken dreams
That's different. Especially compared to the fully fleshed out flashbacks you're getting now.

Did your dreams break completely (so you had to fall back on replaying memories instead of generating 'original' content)? Or did the crash fix or unstick something, and now you're being overwhelmed by your dreams rushing back?

...damnit, where's a good a cyber-neurologist psychologist electrical engineer programmer when you need one?

>ear and eye protection
Do the ear condoms sheaths feel weird?

>white flags, hands in the air
Here's hoping the similarities to human symbols of surrender is only coincidental.

>what do
Return the 'handshake'.

Wave hello, approach at a leisurely pace but stop outside the line of flags until invited in.

You've got basic math available as common language? Start by explaining the metric system, then enough observational astronomy to specify where you're from. This presents the risk that they could use the information to hit Earth with a relativistic KEW, but sharing it so readily implies that you're either ignorant of such strategic considerations or willing to trust them. Then, ask them to reciprocate with their own point-of-origin data.

Biggest thing to remember is that just because they can't speak your language doesn't mean they're stupid. Everything has political implications, and while any remotely reasonable civilization is going to cut you some slack about mistakes during an unplanned first contact, but second chances won't do much good if you're still thinking of them like children on some level just because they have trouble with "see spot run." When in doubt, go for respect and caution.

Apollo 2015/05/23(Sat)01:11 No. 642297 ID: defceb
File 143236869603.png - (11.07KB , 840x600 , 3110.png )

>Do the ear condoms feel weird?
They’re earplugs and they feel fine!

Apollo 2015/05/23(Sat)01:12 No. 642298 ID: defceb
File 143236877505.png - (25.91KB , 840x600 , 3111.png )

You return their gesture in kind and slowly walk towards them. The one standing out grabs a large package and slides down to greet you. The metal legs stand out during it’s descent. From watching all the drone footage it seemed like every single one of the aliens had legs like that. Seeing it in person makes it very clear that from the… knees? down, they’re completely mechanical.

Once it reaches your level, the alien puts the package down and gives it a solid push in your direction.

Crap, we forgot to bring something.
Accept the package. Carefully motion to opening, but watch for any gesture meant to stop you: We don't know whether it's to be opened right here in front of them, or safely in a pressured habitat.

>>642301
no we brought the voyager messages.

trade items.

Huh, interesting, those legs are clearly mechanical.

>>642298
That is interesting. I wonder if their species evolved without legs that let them walk upright? Or maybe it's just so that they can handle space travel better. It is difficult to exercise in zero gravity, after all.

Huh, they got short stubby legs. Maybe... they evolved as swimmers or something? Or tall trees or a cliffside where they swung around from their arms alot? So they're from some kind of an environment they could get around, but isn't so suited to a barren plain in vacuum.

Well, at least then the idea of cybernetic enhancements won't be completely alien to them.

>They’re earplugs and they feel fine!
Pfff. (In the previous image, the ears were the same shade as her visor. I thought they had little things slipped over them).

>>642298
Put the package you brought for them down next to it, and push it in their direction.

Then turn your attention to the one it left for you. What is it?

(Or maybe we inspect, then trade? Not sure if the more polite thing is to first show interest in their gift, or to immediately reciprocate).

Immediately reciprocate is definitely the more polite thing to do from a game theory perspective. Play it tit-for-tat.

Apollo 2015/05/23(Sat)19:58 No. 642504 ID: defceb
File 143243632887.png - (36.71KB , 840x600 , 3112.png )

>Put the package you brought for them down next to it, and push it in their direction.
>Accept the package. Carefully motion to opening, but watch for any gesture meant to stop you
Inside the package you find what appears to be a decorated short sword, two clear and apparently empty canisters, an engraved metal sheet, a folded up bundle of cloth, and a stack of… tissue samples? Gross. They’re suspended in small glass-looking containers. Sitting neatly on top of the pile is also one picture, with writing next to it.

>>642504
What, no writing samples other than the writing on the photo? Gonna have a hard time reading it without enough writing samples to decode their language. Well, at least that picture on the sheet tells you where their home planet is. And apparently they have a space station! Uh, I hope that is this system. Otherwise you may have to devise some sort of method of communication so that you can find out where they are. Or not. I mean, normally you don't tell strangers your home address, and it doesn't get more strange than alien life. If war broke out you really wouldn't want either side to know where the other's home planet is.

Get a better look at the photo. Oh, maybe there's more writing samples on the back of the metal sheet? Check the back of the photo too.

Oh, dang, we didn't think to offer any tissue samples. Did we even bring any?

It looks like we were right to offer something like the Voyager / Pioneer plaques- they have one of their own, right there.

Check that first. Is there enough information that you can tell at a glance if they're from this system? Or where there system of origin is? (If not, snap a screeshot, and transmit to your ship. See if it can compare with the onboard starmap or whatever to determine point of origin).

Hold up the photograph. Is that what they look like without the hardsuits?

Screenshot the photo, send the written text through the crypo-analysis programs you were using before.

I don't think we have any tissue samples to give? Marie is almost completely mechanical.

>I don't think we have any tissue samples to give?
Does our ship have spares of any small, easily detachable part (like maybe an ear)?

>>642512
We might have brought some human tissue samples for those experiments Marie mentioned earlier. The effects on human tissue of long periods of space travel would be could be useful data. They might want to spent a generation or hibernation style colony ship with non-cyborg settlers out, some day.

Apollo 2015/05/24(Sun)02:04 No. 642606 ID: defceb
File 143245824350.png - (27.63KB , 840x600 , 3113.png )

The following weeks go by in a blur. Communication begins awkwardly at best, but in time you learn several important things about your new friends. Their home system is many, many light years out from Earth. Not that you would want to travel there, as their home world itself exists only as space debris in an asteroid belt. Eventually you manage to get across that you’re a full blown cyborg, and thus not at risk of strange alien diseases or suffocating inside their environment. They’re quick to invite you to their lunar base after that.

Following the many hours spent in airlocks, decontamination rooms, and waiting for a whole slew of other tech to confirm you can safely travel inside their lunar base, you finally get to meet one without the hefty space suit. In doing so, you learn one very important detail.

Apollo 2015/05/24(Sun)02:04 No. 642607 ID: defceb
File 143245827807.png - (35.81KB , 840x600 , 3114.png )

They’re not opposed to extensive modification to survive all the way out here.

Apollo 2015/05/24(Sun)02:05 No. 642610 ID: defceb
File 143245831945.png - (27.80KB , 840x600 , 3116.png )

Your name is Marie, which has been mentioned several times previously.

Your current inventory is empty.

You have lost track of when and where you are.

In a moment you will wake up, and what follows is going to hurt.

It’s going to hurt a lot.

Apollo 2015/05/24(Sun)02:06 No. 642613 ID: defceb
File 143245838870.png - (5.16KB , 840x600 , 3117.png )

End of Thread 3

>>642606
>>642607
Oh, hey. Is the big claw they removed what they made the ceremonial dagger / short sword out of?

>Your current inventory is empty.
But the collectibles! How will we ever get all the posters now.

>>642613
Tell us more about the birds!

>It’s going to hurt a lot.
Is that even possible under normal circumstances? I would think putting a maximum on the amount of pain perceivable at a time would be one of the first changes you make when rebuilding those systems from scratch.

An off switch for pain would make sense too.