It seems not that they chose to be slaves, but if they did not they'd be eradicated. Individuality is only tolerated enough to be useful to their purpose and those who are not useful are to either die or be repurposed until they do.

Oh yeah, like I'm falling for the old 'portal to the dimension of blenders' trick a second time! I'll take the stairs.

Lets not get hasty. Here is a list of the priorities still remaining:

Priority 3: Ekasarra. We really don't want that life support she's hooked up to modifying her. It's possible she would be a better asset with super-psi powers or whatever, but fundamentally and permanently altering her brings more problems than it solves. We also don't want her stuck here- so the process needs to be accelerated, or we need to find a way to move her.

Priority 4: Information control. We can't let the Stran retain the implants removed from Ekasarra, or the data stored therein (assuming they were brought along). It would be nice to deny Voidsong the genetic data it has on neumono and salikai as well, which probably means slagging this place and its systems on the way out, if possible.

Priority 5: Evacuation. You need to secure an escape route for yourself and Ekasarra. Possibly the psi-mono as well, if you can convince it to desert.

As you can tell, clearly we still have a few things to do other than evacuation that are more important. Really, this seems like they are testing for our logical personality to be dominant, in fact, jumping through a portal when a enemy just said "DON"T UNDERESTIMATE ME" is a fairly bad idea, for all you know that portal leads into a disintegration chamber/prison/nuclear bomb with 5 seconds left/instant death/psychic annihilation bomb.

We're not leaving without Eksarra. I don't care about the implants, or information, but we're not leaving without her.

Give me Ekasarra and a way to find you. In return, I will free you from your enslavement once I acquire the means. Absurd as it sounds, you have nothing to lose.

>>880851
"You can come with us, if you would like.
Your empire is terrible, and appears to be on a long slow slide to extinction."

>>880851
We aren't leaving without Ekasarra and Lackey, and if things are going to be so bad for Voidsong we're not leaving without her either. She could be a valuable source of intelligence and data, and as much as she's TRIED to harm us she has failed. Spectacularly.

Point out that we have a Kiter-Empire-Proof Bunker. She literally just opened a portal to it. Completely Safe Desertion With No Downside is literally TEN FEET AWAY.

>>880851
"Come with us."
Go. To (relative) safety.

>>880849
Well a neumono could theoretically survive a long fall, but we don't actually know how high up we are. Or how Minion's redundant organs and regeration have been affected by their modding. Alas poor minion, we lack sufficient information to be sure in mourning your death.

>>880850
>>880851
Hmm. I see two explanations: either Penumbriot, after failing to convert Sisirri to a satisfactory tool, turned around and used bullshit psychic space whale powers to heal Voidsong and dump a massive power boost on it. (New toy won't comply, oh well, buff and repair the known quantity). Or Voidsong's emotional reaction to what it just observed was enough to push Voidsong to this level of power (lack of confidence was weakness, pure desperation, outrage, and conviction is super-saiyan).

>I am going back to that hell.
Well then, I hope you can understand why I rejected it.

>"No more questions. I've had enough of all of this. Go home, salikai. It's over. I'm finished."
>Ekasarra
"...I came here for someone. I'm not inclined to leave her in hell."

>>880860
Realistically, I don't think we have the leverage to push for priority 4. If we're lucky we might be able to push for 3 without losing 5.

We're now in a negotiation with very imbalanced forces, instead of the defacto head of a takeover.

>>880860
>>880858
The same enemy that litterally just refrained from ripping our entire skin off. If she wanted us dead or captured she could do so in a million easier ways besides ripping a hole in time and space.

>>880851
Don’t leave without Ekasarra!

Mostly because if you return to the lab without her, the other 2 neumono will attempt to kill you again for leaving her behind!

>>880851
"No one gets left behind. Is there a way to stop this fire from killing you?"

>>880895
I think those psychic flames are self inflicted, so there’s nothing we can do to put them out.

That's quitter talk. You should give me the neumono and come with me carrying all the empire loot we can carry.

Fight for what you want until your last breath. Don't let a monstrous dying empire be your tomb.

I certainly don't like you very much but we are going to need all the help we can get.

>>880868
It's not completely kiter proof. They teleported away ekasarra and sisirri away easily enough.

that said... Take Ekasarra with you, if you can.

"Your successor will not have this one, even if she dies because I took her off this damn wall."

Go for the exit.

"If you are going to be killed by the kiter, I suggest you make it far more worthwhile than laying down and dying."

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RECRUIT VOIDSONG.

We have had several updates making it very clear that Voidsong is a bad person, and none of our allies would be happy about it either. Inviting them to the base would probably allow them to circumvent some of the protection the safety pod gives us, which we absolutely cannot risk.

We should ask for Ekasarra back. That's all.

Voidsong deserves to be in whatever hell they have in store, but Eksarra doesn't.

Voidsong, are you going to stay here and definitely die, or come hide out with all the non-backstabby folks in the Precursor-built Kiter-resistant mystery bunker and only maybe die? Nobody's a slave down there. Well, alright, maybe the arkots, but even with them I've been trying to encourage independent thinking and diffuse internal strife rather than escalating some sick 'survival of the cruelest.' I am offering you the chance to wield that same power by which I just defeated you, because it grows rather than diminishing when shared.

I'll be taking that damaged neumono with me regardless, preferably alive and unmodified.

Priority 1: Get Ekasarra (She's here and we need to get her out, if only so the others believe us when we say she's not dead)

Priority 2: Bring Voidsong (She is broken. Make sure we're there to fix her as we please.)

Priority 3: Get Lackey (More trustworthy than VS, but given that he was just thrown out of the building this one seem incredibly unlikely to be even possible, let alone feasible)

Then leave. Quickly.

Also, Imperium's symbol was on the wall.

>>862737
>>879845

I'd like to vote infinite times to NOT take Voidsong as this is a horrible idea

Voidsong might not be a good person, but she's been used and manipulated for as long as she's been alive by a bigshot puppetmaster. Easily where Sisirri might have wound up, if she'd not been thrown away.
Sisirri got a second chance, after her downfall. Not just a second chance at life, but a second chance to decide who she is and who she wants to be. Maybe Voidsong could use one too.

take voidsong and lock them up with the Arkots nothing can go wrong.

>>880954
Yeah that second chance has been working out swimmingly for us, what with the near-fatal beatings, the constant looming threats and schemes and finally getting forcefully teleported and almost killed several times in the last five-ten minutes by voidsong.

No second chances, she's not coming with us.

We can't leave here without our friendsallies.

I support attempting to convince Voidsong to help us.
Her changing sides would significantly increase our chances of recovering Ekasarra and/or Lackey.

It should be fairly easy to convince her to aid us since she believes there is nothing to lose.

Do remember that we would be dead if it wasn't for creatures that considered us an enemy giving us a second chance.

Do not attempt to recruit Voidsong.

-We have no means to break it free of psychic slavery.
-We have no means to check if it's actually broken free of psychic slavery.
-Even if w assume Voidsong is free, it can weild psi powers and bio manipulation skills beyond our ability to monitor or understand. It will not be possible to disarm or even keep a close eye on what Voidsong is up to.
-Voidsong freely admitted it would harm us, and betray others to avoid hell, and we'd be giving it a bunch of people to betray for that purpose.
-Voidsong is ideologically opposed to Lastborn of the Warning, and would be expected to try to kill or subvert it. We cannot afford that.

tl;dr- sympathetic slave or not, it completely compromises what meager defenses and safeguards we have to take Voidsong with us.

>>881045
I agree with all of this.

Do not try to bring Voidsong with us!

Congratulations Voidsong.
Now you are free.

Even if we do not bring Voidsong directly with us, telling them that there really is a better path could only do benefit for us in the long run.. Though I'd like to do it, just to cause issues with them.

I do suppose attempting diplomacy but not actually offering for her to come with us is a reasonable middle ground here.

Kiter control the planet. Letting Voids into the base is the only thing we have to offer, except possibly a dubious offer at rescuing her at a later date.
Sissy has no means of testing Voids' honesty. There is no room to make a deal based upon trust. The weird ghost powers are difficult to contain, but the jammer should go a long way, and the chance to study it is great. The base is not much security though. There is no guarantee that Stran can't attack Voids using methods that do not threaten the pod. There really isn't much to offer...
Then again, there is nothing at all to lose. Voids has never needed physical access before, and physical access is something that Sissy knows how to deny. The lack of support mechanisms seems like to weaken Voids if anything. Voids is not actually a threat compared to Stran, so even killing Voids wouldn't help.

What would really hurt Stran though is an ideological victory. We can't save everyone, but we might be able to save anyone. Saving Voids would be a huge morale victory if we can manage it.

Then again, recruiting a mad scientist wouldn't make the Neumono any more civil...

The argument that the cell exists at the mercy of the organism doesn't have quite the same impact when your home planet is host to a unicellular fungus that happily exists on its own, but opportunistically colonizes into complex facsimilies of whole organisms, not to mention freaky rabbit people who can completely regenerate from a severed foot.

Before you leave, kindly remind Voidsong that on any given planet in any given ecosystem, simple, unicellular organisms make up more of its biomass than all multicellular organisms combined.

1/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:14 No. 882756 ID: f72ae2
File 152557646138.png - (18.39KB , 800x600 , salq-210.png )

>recruit Voidsong
>don't recruit Voidsong

...

There's too many unknown variables. There's too much to risk taking her with me.
I feel great pity and sympathy for this broken creature, enough that it surprises me, but there is nothing that can be done here.
Maybe if I plant the seed of rebellion, though...

"You are free, Voidsong."

The psychic flames stop. Blue ash fades into nothing.

"...What?"
"You know what awaits you. You know nothing you can do can change it. You are free. Nothing can stop you from now until then. And if nothing can stop you, and you hate this empire so much, what should you do now?"

The portal in front of me collapses.

Voidsong stares wildly through me, and starts laughing.

"You're right, salikai! If I'm doomed, I have nothing to lose! The stran emphasised so clearly what was to become of me if I strayed too far from their path, and so either I am doomed or they lied to keep me in check! And either way, if I'm doomed, then I'm taking all I've worked on and all I've done with me! All of it! Far from their grip! Haha! I will start anew! I will-- I will go rogue!! I will build anew from the ashes of this wretched empire, and I, Voidsong, not Director, not Fleshweaver, no, EMPEROR Voidsong, will reign over new subjects, utterly subservient to me, but individuals, serving out of love, not fear--"

I hear a dull thump from the pod Ekasarra is in.

2/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:14 No. 882757 ID: f72ae2
File 152557648949.png - (37.98KB , 800x600 , salq-211.png )

I hear the pod burst open, with something coughing and choking coming out of it, dripping in some sort of transclucent jelly.

It's Ekasarra. Without her cybernetics. ...I didn't really want to know what she looked like without them, but I guess I do now.

I'm so surprised by Ekasarra suddenly bursting out of the pod that it takes me almost a full thirty seconds to realise she's floating.

"I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS!!"

Ekasarra swings her left arm around and Voidsong makes a strange squeaking sound as she suddenly finds herself tumbling backwards.

"IT'S LIKE A MILLION TINY BUGS IN MY SKIN!! THIS IS THE MOST PAINFUL EMPATHY I'VE EVER FELT!! AGH! THE SPLICER'S EXPERIMENTS WERE LESS INFURIATING AND IRRITATING THAN THIS!!"

Ekasarra itches at her skin and clearly finds no relief from whatever's plaguing her, and then wipes her eyes until she can open them.

"I'M SICK OF ALL OF THIS! I'M NOT A FUCKING LAB ANIMAL AND I'M DONE WITH ALL OF IT!!"

As Ekasarra shouts the walls rip open and bleed strange green-gold sap -- maybe blood? -- as I hear things wetly explode in the distance. Voidsong suddenly shrieks and curls up into a ball.

Ekasarra looks over to me. "Sisirri? Whuh? How did you get here?"

I stare dumbfounded.

"Wait. Oh fuck I'm naked. Uh. Wait. Does that matter to you? I mean, you're running around naked all the time anyway--"
"STOP!" screams Voidsong. "STOP HER! I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S DOING BUT IT BURNS!!"

Ekasarra pauses, and looks over to Voidsong in confusion. "What's going on?!"
"I have no idea," I say, "but keep doing it."
"What am I doing?!"
"No clue."

"RETREAT!!" Voidsong screams in panic, bathes herself in pink light and abruptly vanishes out of sight.

3/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:15 No. 882758 ID: f72ae2
File 152557652103.png - (15.59KB , 800x600 , salq-212.png )

I try to process what just happened, and suddenly Lackey appears in a different flash of light in a different place.

"My many apologies, Director Voidsong, I-- wait, where's Voidsong?"

I clutch my head as I inwardly scream about teleporting psychics and things not making sense. "She ran."
"Ran?"
"Left. I don't know. Ekasarra broke out and then Voidsong and started screaming--"
"Ekasarra? The test subject?"

Ekasarra falls to her hand and knees. "Uugggghhh what the hell are you and why do you look like a neumono?"
Lackey scratches his head. "What?"
"Ugh, your empathy is making me ill, what did they do to you?!"
"Uhhh???"

Lackey stares in confusion some more as Ekasarra visibly fights retching. He quietly leaves the room.

Ekasarra rolls onto her side. "Urgghh. I hope Tirzi's the medical genius she seems to be, I don't feel great."
"Your cybernetics are missing."
"Yeah, I noticed. Actually, I think I should probably be dead right now. I have no idea why I'm awake or not in more excruciating pain."

Lackey comes back with the strangest hat I've seen. "So, I have no idea what to do now. Acting Director salikai, what now?"
I help Ekasarra up to her feet. Ekasarra stares at Lackey in a mixture of annoyance and irritation. "What is that on your head?"
"Oh, this is a blocker symbiote. It jams psionic fields and prevents empathetic and subconscious crosstalk without diminuishing projection capabilities."

Wait.

"How many of these things do you have?" I ask.
"Oh, there's like half a dozen in the next room, Voidsong likes them around for containment failure emergencies."

...

"Go get as many as you can carry. Ekasarra, you too-- Actually, I'll do it. Then we're leaving."
"Leaving? Where are we going, Acting Director?"
"To the facility. The one I was at previously before Voidsong dragged me there."
"The Mistake tomb? We're a fair distance from there. I'd rather go there via teleportation than on foot."
"Can you take us all there?"

The not-mono looks suddenly nervous. "I've never been outside the spire."
"First time for everything. You can't live your entire life in one structure. I've tried this. It works out badly."
"What would the stran think?"
"Hey. Forget about the stran. You saw how easily I took down Voidsong, right? Come with me."

Ekasarra balks. "You took down Voidsong?"
"It was a battle of will and I won."
"...wow. I thought salikai were creatures who needed to, like, have minions and lairs to do their bidding for them."
"These claws aren't for show. Anyway. Lackey! Get us to the place!"
"I don't know where it is."

ＹＯＵ ＡＲＥ ＮＯＴ ＴＯ ＬＥＡＶＥ ＷＩＴＨ ＯＵＲ ＣＯＭＰＯＮＥＮＴＳ， ＳＡＬＩＫＡＩ．

Oh dear. They've noticed. Faster. Need to leave now.
I desperately recall the map of spires the facility was near. "Do you know where this spire is?"
"Well, I didn't, but as I was falling I saw a white blocky building in the horizon."
"There. Go there. Now. Now now now."

Lackey forms some sort of bubble of light, and--

4/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:15 No. 882759 ID: f72ae2
File 152557653786.png - (30.90KB , 800x600 , salq-213.png )

--we're suddenly standing on a floating island floating some distance above and away from the facility.

Ekasarra yelps, Lackey looks perplexed, and I cling to the jammer pods as hard as I can without breaking them. They feel fleshy.
I notice Lackey apparently didn't bring any of the pods I told him to bring, but I don't know how his powers work. Maybe I hoped for too much.

"WHY ARE WE IN THE SKY?!" yells Ekasarra, over the roaring of wind and rain.
"I didn't-- I think-- look this is hard-- I haven't done this before without more prep--"

"Take us down, Lackey. Good work so far. I know you won't disappoint us." Eugh. I feel weird giving praise like this, but if these crazy psychic powers are weakened by doubt and dismissal, then...

Lackey looks awestruck like this is the first time he's heard a compliment.

The floating island descends at a brisk pace, sailing towards the facility like... well, I don't have any metaphors, but I do have a new idea for a project. Floating platforms seem like they might come in useful for larger scale work. Hmm.

The floating island merges into the ground and I plant all the claws I can on it to make sure it doesn't immediately disappear. Ekasarra stumbles onto the ground, with a light "oof". Lackey tries to help her up, but she recoils at his touch, gagging, before meekly apologising.

We start walking the rest of the way.

5/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:16 No. 882760 ID: f72ae2
File 152557660430.png - (39.55KB , 800x600 , salq-214.png )

"Wait. Why are you naked?" asks Ekasarra.
"Naked?"
"Not wearing clothes."
"Clothes?"
"...you have to be kidding me. Things you wear?"

Lackey points to the fleshy green lump on his head. Ekasarra sighs so long it turns into a defeated groan.

"Sisirri why does an intergalactic empire not know what clothes are? Wait. Never mind. I'll ask someone else. Like. Uh. Oh my god why do so many of you people not wear pants this is RIDICULOUS!"
"Ku wears a scarf, if that helps."
"IT REALLY DOESN'T! Hey, can you at least tell me why you don't wear clothes?!"
"I had some nice aprons and belts back in my underwater facility."
"Okay, thanks for that residual guilt trip--"
"Hey." I lightly pat Ekasarra on the head. "I just saved your life. So you owe me twice, now."
"Great. Fantastic. Thanks for that. No sympathy for me having a chunk of my body ripped out, but so casually quick to remind me of how much I owe you."
"I thought you hated your cybernetics."
"I mean, at least I had two arms."
"I'm sure it'll grow back. Also, you sound fine to me. Healthy enough to walk, healthy enough to talk."
"I have no idea why. Hid-- The Splicer told me that if I lost all my cybernetics I'd need immediate medical supervision. Then again, I guess that's what I woke up in."

I weigh up whether or not to tell Ekasarra she somehow burst out while floating, and decide to perhaps not overtax a recently traumatised mind with that much information so quickly.
If she still has whatever abilities she manifested back in the spire, she'll find out soon enough.

"...Hey, Sisirri?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."

I nod.

"...so, uh, what's your name?"
"Oh. Acting Director salikai called me 'Lackey'."
"Well, uh, alright, then."

I shrug. "I had more pressing concerns than names."
"Yeah I understand. Hey, you sound male, but, uh, you don't..."

Ekasarra glances at Lackey's midriff, then looks away. I think she's displaying neumono embarassment. I think.
"Y'know I don't think I wanna ask that kind of question actually nevermind it's really not important"

Lackey tilts his head in confusion. "Yes, I'm male. Check my genome and that's how the chromosomes are arranged."
"I brought this on myself"
"Do I not look like a neumono male?"
"Well, uh, most of you does, but..."
"I haven't got a lot of information on neumono cultural mannerisms and expectations. Are females, which you evidently are, not supposed to talk with males?"
"What? No, wait, what do you mean by evident?"
"Prominent mammary glands, larger hip to shoulder ratio, subtle pheremone differences, visible female reproductive organs."

Ekasarra's arm goes over her chest, and then moments later her hand slams over her groin. "Yeah stop checking that now."
"I wasn't checking now, I noticed all of this earlier--"
"Also stop talking. Maybe forever."
Lackey looks mildly confused, and obediently falls silent.

Lackey abruptly has some sort of insight. "Oh, are you expecting my reproductive organs to be visible? A standard kiter modification is the retraction of sensitive organs when not required. It takes a simple muscle motion to reverse this action. I can demonstrate--"
"NO, THAT'S FINE, PLEASE STOP TALKING."

Lackey looks over to me. I nod without a word. Lackey goes back to silence, looking more hopelessly lost than ever.

6/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:17 No. 882761 ID: f72ae2
File 152557664488.png - (41.27KB , 800x600 , salq-215.png )

As we get closer to the facility, I notice something seems off. It has the same blocky structure I remember but it looks oddly charred and broken close up.

I also... don't recognise... wait, who are--

"MULANAK!!"

I hear a rallying cry and suddenly dozens of strange creatures pour out of the doors.
They point strange objects at us and don't seem friendly.

"Mulanak! E-Saĝbakta! Ĝala dag!"

I have no idea what they're trying to say. Probably asking us who we are.

I point to myself. "Sisirri, salikai."
I point to the others. "Ekasarra, neumono. Lackey, ...neumono."
I hold my claws up and open them to signify I am not carrying anything in them.

I realise, moments too late, that a large clawed creature opening its raised claws probably looks more like it's about to strike.

"SAĜ ĜAL!!"

I close my claws and splay my arms out further, closing my eyes.

Ekasarra and Lackey both put their hands up.

"ĜALA DAG!!"

The weapons are lowered.

7/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:18 No. 882762 ID: f72ae2
File 152557669448.png - (42.40KB , 800x600 , salq-216.png )

One of the creatures walks up to us, clothed in finery.

"Kiter?"

I shake my head, say "no", and make an X in the damp dirt in front of us.

It points to Lackey. "Kiter."

I grab Lackey and Ekasarra to my sides to try and indicate some kind of ownership.

The creature is confused, but seems satisifed. "Nukiter."

I feel a sudden, soft presence in my head. It does not speak in words, but in concepts. ~<gratitude> <sadness>~

It walks back towards the door, pauses, and says "Šu dabir--"

It pauses and turns around, visibly alarmed. It points out behind us, fearful.

"KITER ESS!!"

8/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:18 No. 882763 ID: f72ae2
File 152557670727.png - (125.75KB , 800x600 , salq-217.png )

I turn around, and am met with a sight even the salikai of Astraneus couldn't have pictured in their fevered nightmares.

It stands taller than Sitkva. Far taller. My mind screams disbelief.

If Sitkva were here, it could tear her apart without batting an eye.

A thunderous voice dredges up panicked shouts from the creatures around us.
Several thunderous voices, speaking as one in a dozen languages.

"Prey cannot run forever."

Hordes pour over the horizon. A vast army of forms, an ocean of bodies, weapons and machines tearing their way towards us.
A drowning wave of violence coursing towards us, at an alarming pace.

9/9 Sisirri 2018/05/05(Sat)20:18 No. 882764 ID: f72ae2
File 152557672044.png - (19.00KB , 800x600 , salq-218.png )

The creatures around me frantically shout orders as some of them fall back into the facility and others taking up firing position.

It's as if suddenly us three have ceased to matter altogether.

I turn around to Ekasarra, to tell her that we need to get to safety, and just as I begin to speak my world explodes into pain.

- END OF THREAD 1 -

THIS WAS THE WRONG GODDAMN FACILITY.

Damn, Sisirri, you just can't catch a break, can you?

>It's Ekasarra. Without her cybernetics. ...I didn't really want to know what she looked like without them, but I guess I do now.
Look at the bright side, Ekasarra without cybernetics has a lot less bloody holes in her than you might have expected.

>"Oh, there's like half a dozen in the next room, Voidsong likes them around for containment failure emergencies."
Con: Voidsong solved our engineering problem for us.
Pro: We can make all the neumono wear silly eyeball hats, net win!

>Lackey looks awestruck like this is the first time he's heard a compliment.
Well, he's only a few days old, and he's been working for Voidsong, so that's a pretty solid hypothesis.

>>882760
Maybe Ekasarra would feel better if you put one of those hats on her!

>>882761
Oh did we... come down at the wrong facility? Is there more than one on this planet? That, or someone new moved in the short time you were gone.

>>882764
Hopefully the fox-elf things have medical facilities. And you know, don't get overrun and killed in this fight.

Note for next thread: Teach Lackey about temporal responsibility.

Hrm, long term plan is to teleport all these unexpected resistance fighters to the other, safer facility.

Short term plan is of course to not die.

oh neat you've been shot. Maybe you'll get some bad ass scars when all of this is over and done with. Hey are scars considered attractive to Salikai? Since, you know, they represent times when something tried to kill you but you lived through it and I know how much Salikai value survival... man people think of the weirdest things when they get shot huh?

Oops, I think this is the opposite end of the Mistake facility.

If you survive and recover from this, you need to raid the nearest armory you can find and hack together your own set of body armor. This universe seems to be going far out of it's way to inflict unreasonable amounts of trauma upon you and at least with personal body armor you'll cut down on the amount of time you'll spend being injured in this fucking place.