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treave

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Codex 2012
No, authorial fiat has the one in your lab as the last surviving member of the species. :troll:

To unlock a closer look into it you had to go the "moral, set things right" path at the start of the previous chapter, or the nanotech research halfway through.

Right now if you want to go and take a look at Ean's nanomachines once you have the opportunity, you'll need to encounter an event that will give Senya a reason to do so. Triggering a flag, so to speak.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
Duly noted. :salute:

Yeah, I wanted to set things right. Maybe that's why I was asking. We'll just have to wait and see though. Maybe the proper motivation will show up along the way.
Right now, we seem to be locked into the path of gathering power and unlocking the "other"'s powers. I wonder how that'll go. :roll:
 

ScubaV

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omap5.jpg
 

treave

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Codex 2012
No updates for the weekend, so I'm forced to update today to keep up the pace. I'd originally planned for the whole LP to be over and done with within a year but, eh, fucking life.

A1 wins, narrowly.

***

Interlude in the Cracks of Reality


It takes two more days for me to remodel the Anhur Mk II. The fusion reactor was replaced with the prototype generator I had built for the power-suit. Running at full power, it would be able to power the frame's basic systems and allow it to move close to 50% efficiency. There would be no time to construct the necessary casing required to contain a generator with a higher yield. The gravity-based armaments of my suit are powerful enough to pose a threat even to CFs, and I integrate these into the frame, mounting the weapons on the torso and limbs. Erec was not happy that I appropriated the CF for my own usage, but I painstakingly convinced him that his goal of humiliating the Federation had already been achieved, and that the mech would now do more good in 'our' hands than his alone.

Next, I turn the quantum computer into Yua's new core. I would need her to manage and stabilize the wormhole. With that, all the preparations for departure are complete.

***

"You don't have to do this, you know." says my father.

"It's no problem. I don't plan to be a freeloader forever." I'm sitting in Anhur just a few clicks away from the Gate of Ean, getting ready for the jump.

"It's okay, dad, I'll take care of him," chimes in Emiri from aboard the Independent Spirit of Adventure (New). The White Fang were undermanned after losing a fair number of their crew during the hijacking, and Emiri had volunteered to be one of the bridge officers.

"Dad?" I sigh and turn my attention to Yua. "How're you feeling?"

"Exposed," she moans. "It feels like I'm in this great, big empty room that stretches out forever. My coding wasn't built to operate on this type of hardware. No offense, Master, but the technology far outstrips what you can do. It's like... like... jamming a slug into a turtle shell!"

"No offense taken. You still can handle the creation and stabilization of the wormhole, though?"

"Yeah, I can do that. There's probably a lot more I can do with this computer eventually, but I'll need to adapt my programming to exploit its capabilities to its fullest."

"That's alright, Yua. I'll help out when I have the time. For now, let's focus on getting that wormhole started."

"Aye, Master!"

A control ring detaches from the back of my frame - a disposable gravity-generating construct which Yua would use as a focal point for the wormhole. Once Yua adapts further to the quantum computer I would probably be able to dispense with them, but for now they are needed. I had built about six of these, and have the materials for at least a dozen more onboard the Independent Spirit of Adventure. No harm in having backups.

"Are you ready, Captain Garland?" I ask the captain of the White Fang's ship.

"As ready as ever, man!"

"Well, let's do this then." I mutter.

The space around the ring begins to warp, folding in on itself. The effect is barely noticeable in the blackness of space. I keep an eye on the frame's power level - the generator is coping with the drain, but it'll probably be a week or so before I have enough power to pull such a stunt again. The ring distorts and wavers, and then shrinks into a single white pinprick which vibrates violently for a brief second before being engulfed by an expanding hole in space.

"The connection is established. Stabilizing and widening the passage." reports Yua. The edge of the hole glows a brilliant blue as it expands to a size large enough for the Spirit of Adventure to pass through. Streaks of purple lightning flash around the hole.

"Well, we're ready. Captain Garland, I'll go through first. Follow my lead."

"Roger that, Hoshikawa. Whenever you're ready."

Anhur's thrusters activate at my command, gently nudging the frame forward, into the tunnel wrought from the fabric of space-time.

***

I find myself sitting in a sunny, well-kept garden, on a white, iron-wrought chair. I blink my eyes in surprise.

"What the-"

"Pardon me, but I took the liberty of... ah, shall we say, nabbing you from the tunnel when you stepped through." The speaker is a handsome middle-aged gentleman with neatly groomed black hair and a pencil-thin moustache. A monocle rests on his right eye, glinting in the sunlight as he stirs a cup of tea with his white-gloved hand. "Now, I am sure you have many questions..."

"Aren't you going to offer me some tea?" I ask.

"Hm? Oh, forgive me, where are my manners? The cup is right in front of you." The gentleman makes a gesture, pointing at the table in front of me.

Indeed, the cup is right in front of me, where there had been none before. I pick it up. The tea within is steaming.

"Would you like some milk to go with that?"

"This is perfectly fine, thank you." I incline my head in appreciation. "Bloody good tea, by the way. This delicate taste and distinctive, light fragrance... Dorje, I presume?"

"You are indeed a well-learned man after my own heart," smiles the gentleman. "You are correct. This is tea from the land of Dorje."

"That's quite impressive, considering that the area was nuked by the Shinar Empire a few years back. Every single leaf became more valuable than gold. Of course, after the Gray Death swept the planet, Dorje tea is now thought to be non-existent."

"I am good at obtaining things that do not exist." says the gentleman, taking another sip from his cup. "Like you."

"Are you proposing that you are insane?" I grin, before taking a sip myself. "What, then, is drinking your tea?"

"An exceptionally lively illusion. You should not exist, whether in your reality or ours. We have not allowed for it."

"Should not is no 'does not'. If you're convinced I do not exist, why take the trouble to invite me to tea, then?"

"The work you have done with the calculator that we gifted to your reality was... interesting. Interesting enough that the moment you used it to open that portal it grabbed my attention. Then, I grabbed you. Imagine my surprise when I ran the checks on your identity." He raises both of his immaculately shaped eyebrows to articulate the sheer surprise he felt. It comes off as quite insincere.

"You mean, you found out that I do not exist?"

"Yes, exactly that. I have never seen anything like you."

"How about 'we'?" The man had been referring to I and we throughout the conversation; clearly he was part of a people far more advanced than even the Star League. "Have 'we' seen anything like me?"

He laughs in a polite yet gregarious manner. "No, neither have we. 'We' do not know of your presence in my garden right now. Only I know that."

"It's not nice to keep secrets." I say.

"If you do not really exist in the first place, how can it be a secret?" he winks.

"Point taken. Now, what will you do with this exceptionally lively illusion?" I continue smiling and acting casually. Being able to grab me in the middle of a wormhole means he probably possesses god-like power. I activate my ability surreptitiously. To my surprise, no blue lines appear anywhere within the garden - not on the chairs, or the teacups, or on the gentleman himself. This is not a normal reality I am in.

"We are in a temporary space where the system holds no sway, where It will not observe us." grins the man. There are a lot of teeth in that grin. "Do not bother, non-existent one."

I narrow my eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Well, in all honesty I just wanted to speak with you. You do not qualify for participation in the game, despite the voices that lie dormant inside you. However, your very presence is telling me that the game might no longer be important anyway. You could change everything. If that is so, should I inform the others of this little predicament?" wonders the gentleman out loud. "That is why I wanted to meet you first, so that we could sit down and have a nice cup of tea and introduce ourselves."

"That suits me just fine. I have no objection to non-violent discussion, particularly when it involves superb tea." I shrug. A space where 'It' will not observe us, he says? That means this is probably a pocket dimension of some sort, separated from the regular multiverse, if there can be said to be such a thing. And if it is temporary... Blue flecks begin to float across my vision, with more and more appearing the longer I focus. It seems that he is not wrong. This is only a temporary space.

"That's the spirit, dear boy. Now, we've made our introductions-"

"We haven't exchanged names. That is no proper introduction."

"There's no need to. We know who we are, and that is sufficient. You are an illusion, a shade that should not exist."

"You are... the gods of the Star League. The ones awaiting at the center of the galaxy."

"That we are," nods the gentleman. "We play a great game, one that you can only be a pawn in... but at the same time you are outside of the game board. I am undecided what to do about that. Now, I will return you to your comrades, and you will proceed with your mission as you see fit, but before we part, I have a question to ask. Be truthful with your answer. I will know if you lie. Power or knowledge. Which do you truly desire? Is it power, which you so clearly lack? Or is it knowledge, to cure your ignorance?"

***

A. "Power. I can do nothing without enough power to back up my words."

B. "Knowledge. Ill-advised application of power can backfire spectacularly."

C. "Both, of course. Hey, you didn't say I couldn't pick both. That's clearly the best answer, right? ...right?"

D. Finally, the lines come together. I cut apart the pocket dimension in a demonstration of my strength. "You were saying?"

E. There is only one way to answer this. "Power! UNLIMITED POWER!" I attempt to assault the gentleman - already I can see blue specks floating on his monocle and over his being. He will be as vulnerable as any man once I get my hands on him. Then I can make him answer all my questions, thereby gaining KNOWLEDGE!

F. "I choose neither. What I truly desire is something else." I smile enigmatically. He will never understand.
 

aleam iacis

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115
Codex USB, 2014 BattleTech
Cool beans, treave. It seems as if C and E are extremely stupid, D is unwise. A is how we played Ean, which sort of worked out in being a semi-tragic hero. B would be more Shulgi, who ended up a bizarre monster and a fool (he thought he knew enough to predict our actions, but he didn't and it cost him).

B is the smarter answer, but since we can basically guarantee that our application of power will be ill-advised, let's go with A. The fact that we routinely take action without much knowledge means it is the choice that suits us best. Maybe we could get enough power to survive our mistakes or even fix them after the fact?
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Well, it's just a question, nothing more. You won't be punished here for giving an answer he doesn't like... If indeed there is an answer he doesn't like.

Edit: Added an F for the sentimental folks.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
Note though, that the monocled Master here doesn't say that he'll provide Senya with either. I think this is more of a formative question, as the one after the grey death, where we could have set out to "set things right".

This might just be one of them flags treave was telling about. :M
 

Rex Feral

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Aw shit, you got me. F


Just kidding, since none of you are going to vote F any way I'll actually go with B. C
 

Anabanana

Augur
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Jul 31, 2012
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E is obviously the right and only answer. This is probably going to be our only chance to take down a god!

....I'm kidding. B, please.
 

ScubaV

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Note though, that the monocled Master here doesn't say that he'll provide Senya with either. I think this is more of a formative question, as the one after the grey death, where we could have set out to "set things right".

This might just be one of them flags treave was telling about. :M

I believe this is spot on. Therefore, I must choose C. I think it more truthfully reflects how we've played Senya to this point as well as the direction we seem to be heading in than just knowledge alone. For what is knowledge without the power to make use of it and what is power without the knowledge to guide it? This is stretching a bit, but Ean seemed the embodiment of A and Shulgi the embodiment of B. Senya must be both, becoming greater than the sum of the parts in order to confront the Masters.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Bros, remember, this is the TRUTH Senya will be speaking. We'll be shaping his character here. I think that's the real point behind this choice.

That's why I strongly dislike F. I understand why you might want to pick it, but it means Senya will prize neither knowledge nor power.

So what will we truly want? Kyrie back? The world to end? Think carefully, bros. F is an uncertain and emotional answer from our supposed pragmatist - meaning it's yet another step further down the road of personality instability. Remember how we picked pragmatic in the beginning? Anyone? We're still seeing visions of Kyrie as is, bros. Let's not go further down this path.

C- Ironically, the thing our "pragmatic" character has most lacked has been knowledge, not power. We've always been strong enough to overcome our adversaries - even Shulgi eventually. What we lacked was a true understanding of our situation. At every turn THAT is what has caused us to fail. From granting the gieloth our essence (bye-bye tentacles!:cry: ), to not knowing who cyber jack was (bye-bye chance to kill Shulgi and take over his network:? ), to not chasing down our other self or learning his secrets (thereby losing Kyrie, destroying the earth, and gaining a rather gruesome show model for the price is right...:mad: ). Knowledge IS what we need. That said, seeing as how this is going to be the truth and will therefore shape Senya and his future goals, we need to choose POWER as well as KNOWLEDGE in order to apply what we learn. Otherwise our boy wonder will while the years away accumulating knowledge without the power to back it up and that knowledge will be useless. Senya's goals should be to seek knowledge AND the power to apply that knowledge.

If C doesn't have the votes, then I'll go with B or D E.

Actually, D might not be so bad... Assuming it doesn't strand us in the middle of nowhere-space or cause all the other masters to see us, it let's us escape the personality shaping he is apparently trying to force on us.

Oh, and E might pay off too. Maybe a brief confrontaion will let us see some lines in the masters next time. Though I think it will bring us rather close to our other aspect. And this Master might punish us a bit...
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Tasteful assault and some good ol' fisticuffs will teach the splendid old chap what's what.

Still, if personality is what you're concerned with, just because the good man tells you not to lie doesn't mean you can't lie. As I said, it's just a question, and you're just giving an answer. It doesn't have to be the 'true' answer, or the 'right' answer, or even the 'best' answer. Make of that what you will.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
Actually, in a previous update, we were sort of spoiled on the part of the immortals. Apparently, they can be undone, if not outright killed. Senya can do it.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Actually, in a previous update, we were sort of spoiled on the part of the immortals. Apparently, they can be undone, if not outright killed. Senya can do it.


they can be erased. not killed, as I understood it.
No, no, didn't you read the update when we met Mere Tarliss? The immortals are powered by nano tech - the same nano tech Shulgi gave us (I think that's what the master meant by dormant voices - and I think we even heard a voice when we met Mere "excellent deduction Hoshikawa" or some such). We can cut them to ribbons in a way they can't regenerate from now that our body understands the technology.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest

Yet now, I see the lines floating over her. They are faint, but there nonetheless. The lines exist now because I understand the fundamental method behind the making of these immortals – they are the same nanomachines that flow through my body, the ones that Shulgi gave to me.

A very astute observation, Hoshikawa.
I went back and read that part of the update. Looks like some of the info I was referring to was in a choice. Is this Senya's estimation or can it really be done with fault lines alone? *sigh* If only we had put her head in a jar...
C. I came here prepared for a fight, and it would be a shame if I returned home without engaging in one - after all, I did design the suit to fight superhumans. If I manage to trace her lines, I will inflict a wound that her regeneration cannot fix. She does not know what I am capable of – I can take her by surprise right here and now. After all, there’s a glass jar in my study just begging for a living head to inhabit it…
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
that's still an immortal tho, no? by narrative rules alone the Masters should be physically more frail
Perhaps. Though aren't you forgetting Zeus? Wasn't he a master of sorts? Besides, the way these Masters work...well, the way ALL superpowers in the world seem to work...is that they hack the rules of reality in their favor. This master can conjure objects and pocket dimensions from nothing. I would think that making himself 1000x stronger would be child's play - though he might not know about or expect our abilities or that we'd be insane enough to attack him...
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Masters and immortals are different entities. The understanding of how immortals are made in itself doesn't tell you how you can defeat a Master. Whether they can come back from being cut up... Well that depends on where, when and why you do it.

Edit: Zeus was a Master inhabiting an immortal avatar. There is a difference.
 

Storyfag

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I think D and E have a high chance of getting us something far, far worse than the attention of the Masters. The attention of the Great Idea.
Also, since B seems to be winning, I'll stick to that. Unless enough of us decide to flop to C. Then I'll flop too.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
Dammit. You guys! You made me flop, even when I said I wouldn't...

Yeah, I've gone C, and I've edited my original vote to reflect that. :roll:
 

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