The SDG: Part Three - OOC IC
Becoming.
Part the third: The Player becomes a character in his own right, attempting to not give away information, Mel discovers the Internet, disaster is narrowly avoided.
After a brief chat with the other new Emergent (which to value some tiny amount of integrity left, will not be made public knowledge here), Mel showed up.
Mel has arrived.
Chris waves. "Hi there, Mel. Nice to meet you."
Mel muses, "Was I late? Did I miss it?"
Mel muses, "Does my reputation proceed me?"
Mel flicks out a ticket... "...Chris..."
You say, "You kinda missed the big fireworks, yeah. Trilogee did too, sadly. But I'm the result. Sorta."
Mel looks at Chris warily.
Chris takes the ticket. "Thanks. Huh, I don't even remember if you gave Nikolai a ticket or not. It's been too long. But then he's supposedly been around a long time anyway."
Chris catches Mel's puzzled expression. He waves the keyboard. "Um...sorry. I'm Chris....the Player."
Mel muses, "Sort of like Player1?"
Elegy is humming Prokofiev very softly as he looks Mel over.
Mel peers back at Elegy. "And you are... *flick* Elegy. Not from the same place, I take it."
Chris taps at the keyboard.
Clockwork has connected.
[OOC] Chris says, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. "
Mel seems faintly startled, but looks like he received an epiphany.
You say, "Nobody pays attention to the one behind the screen. Until he falls in. "
Elegy shakes his head as he pluckes the card from Mel's hand. "No. From the opposite direction, you might say." He holds the card up before his eyes to examine it.
Mel is actually perplexed at Chris on many levels. This is not an easy thing to do.
Clockwork's electronic pile starts to hum... and a few moments later, arcs of electricity connect all the parts together.... and a few moments after that... It, clockwork that is, arcs out of it's shell. "Did someone get a traceroute on that ...." it stops, twitching in place violently... it, perhaps, recongizes something out of place...
Chris taps on the keyboard again.
Mel hums back Mussorsky to Elegy.
[OOC] Chris says, "I'd tell you to consult the Wiki, but Mel wouldn't likely know that either. "
Mel rubs his head confusedly. Poor muse has no clue.
Elegy beams at Mel in approval.
Mel seems to like the Great Gates of Kiev.
Chris smiles. "Sorry you're confused. It's Nik's fault. I knew he was doing something...but /this/ is pretty drastic."
Clockwork arcs about for a few moments, as if in a dither... Finally, it decides to just go back to it's Pile, and attempt to figure out what just went on.
[OOC] Chris says, "The machine is off, by the way, now. "
Elegy starts humming along, filling in a different part.
Mel muses, "You're projecting strange thoughts through me."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "So I figured... but poor clocky... :P"
Mel seems comforted by the harmonizing.
[OOC] Chris says, "But the wall-breaking lives on. Sorta. "
You say, "I'm....well, not from here. "
You say, "Might just say I'm visiting. Nik (and my other components) performed a reverse-transcendence. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Say, you ain't from around here, are ya? ... Well... you got perdy lips boy."
Mel muses, "No. Not at all. You're some sort of temporal-dimensional projection in the harmony of Nik."
You say, "You could say that. What would you call the opposite of transcending from one plane to a higher one? "
[OOC] Elegy plays a banjo. A synth-banjo with robo-voice distortions.
Mel muses, "Descension."
Mel muses, "But I'm not sure... that applies."
[OOC] Clockwork plays a guitar, counter to Elegy.
You say, "Decension into a lower plane...or pulling down someone on the higher plane to your level. That's...kinda what happened. "
Mel muses, "Are you certain this isn't a higher plane though?"
Chris tilts his head, amused. "I don't know if I should even use terms of spatial relation at all. Higher and lower...doesn't make a difference now that I've been yanked here so rudely."
Mel muses, "The impression I get from you is you're the superconsciousness of Nikolai."
Elegy smirks at Chris. "Rudely? Can you fault Nikolai's etiquette when all he did was build and activate your device?"
Mel muses, "So this is what the Theater might be capable of. Nikolai himself... is he alright?"
Clockwork slips back into his Pile, and knocks up the Datasphere(quite litterally, how else is it to breed?) for a gigwad of information... after a few breath's worth of moments, it arcs out like a lightning bolt, headed straight for the machine. It surges into it, or around it, or...(well, effectively does for a deep few moments of studying the construct)...
Chris nods. "You're correct in that assesment, Mel. And...no, I can't fault Nik, he was only following my idea. That I infected him with, rather selfishly to this particular end. He's...alright. Somewhere...in here." He taps his head. "He's strong...he'll probably break out again soon. He's not the only one that wants out."
Mel muses, "So who else is up there?"
You say, "A liquid dragon named Coalesce. He was the first to sneak off here, almost a year ago. More recently one Red King, as well. He goes by other masks too...a sly one. Sometimes a pale horse, sometimes a estranged otter. That's just Meta play and namechanging, though. People do that. "
Mel nods a little. "Identity here is mere myth."
You say, "The oldest...who's never come here, to my knowledge, is a blue dragon named Cobalt Blue. I like him a /lot/. "
Mel muses, "I've never seen him."
Clockwork arcs from the computer, right towards Chris... no, not Chris, but the keyboard. It doesn't actually try to enter the keyboard, but the ragged end of the cord definately catches it's attention...
Mel muses, "Or even heard the legend."
Chris shakes his keyboard. "Hey, careful! I need this thing! I think."
Chris hrms. "Legend?"
Mel muses, "Legend. Stories of the dragon Cobalt Blue."
Clockwork schoots back a few inches, " Aww, common, just lemme see it for a moment?" it asks, arcing closer, trying to make contact with the keyboard.
Elegy opens his wing-casings, fluttering restlessly. He paces around the totems.
Mel muses, "Please do not hassle the superconciousness."
You say, "He is, I might say, my closest fit 'costume', so to speak. The most like me, who I would be but for color and lack of tail, wings, and so forth. Ah well. If you'd heard stories of him, would that make him real here? Heh. I ask too much like that. "
Mel muses, "Do you know anything about my superconciousness?"
You say, "But more and more I've become enamored of Nikolai. Mad science so fits me. Witness...this emergence here. Crazy. "
Elegy says, "Or about mine?"
Mel muses, "I think if I had, it would make him more real."
Clockwork arcs off after, well, being told off. It dips down into it's Pile, checking it's memories... since everyone else is asking, it asks. " What's a superconciousness?"
Mel muses, "I assume you superconsciousnesses might know each other."
Chris hms. "Honestly, no. I've talked to yours, Mel, through this conduit a few times." He rattles the keyboard. "And yours, Elegy, from, well...other channels."
Mel muses, "My superconsciousness is recalcitrant to speak to even me, so I suppose I'm not surprised."
Chris erfs. "Sorry, Clockwork. I don't want to lose my meta abilities. I'd...give you a hug if I won't be electrocuted."
Elegy's wings flicker out again. He grins impishly. "And there's really nothing you can tell us about them?"
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker emits a soft, confused sound. " Get a charge out of life?"
Chris smirks mischeviously. "I could switch on the generator and let you talk to them yourselves? If you don't become them...heh, nah. I don't think you'd want to know. It's...too tricky."
Mel muses, "I'd be curious if you know anything that might... well, make life potentially easier and more peaceful here."
Clockwork says quickly. " Ohshit, not that again! Last time was bad enough, i don't need to meet the other older me's again!"
Mel muses, "I'm not concerned with subjectivity influx. I am made of similar stuff."
Chris rubs his forehead. It's a bit dry, and flakes of skin fall off. "I'm having a hard enough time /not/ giving things away, from what I know. Even without talking to the superconsciousnesses...err, gestalts that comprise you, Mel and Elegy, I get enough from their musings on the datasphere knowns as the Wiki that I shouldn't ruin."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "For some reason, I've AC/DC's "thunder Struck" stuck in my head... at the idea of electricuting the Visitor."
[OOC] Chris says, "I /have/ been backed up. :-P "
Mel muses, "Pity. Hate to think my superconciousness is still withholding information."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "To quote another song... o/` crashing through the family, lunacy has found me, battery is here to stay! o/`"
You say, "Of /course/ it is. It's got to have the ideas far in advance of you, to give it time to plan ahead. Unless it's all improvisational, in which case I'm much impressed. "
You say, "This story that you star in doesn't write itself. Or maybe it does. "
Mel muses, "I hope it has a happy ending."
Chris chuckles. "There has to be an ending?"
Mel muses, "I like you."
Clockwork's speaker, well, speaks up. " Does that mean that I'm here asking this here because some slot with a keyboard is making me do this and be involved with this... and... and... ask you this question? ... am I just a shade of a shade, of a shade?"
Mel muses, "I'm used to being the extension of a greater thing, so none of this really alarms me."
You say, "My ending...well, I know I can't stay forever. But...since I'm backed up, now, then my ending of the story--dying in the other world--will be waking up here.."
Elegy stretches, arching back with his hands under his hair. "History is an inexorable force. We're only flotsam, filling the roles that open up."
Mel marvels at Chris.
You say, "And likely at that point...I'll be setting my emergents free forever. "
Elegy straightens again, smiling at Chris. "So this is your Nirvana?"
Clockwork's arc'd circuits surge for a few moments, putting off a bit more light then normally, before returning to like it was... there, it seems, to be a lack of comprehension. As is usual for him, confusion rules.
You say, "Or afterlife. Or perhaps it may come earlier, with the march of technology. "
Chris hands the keyboard in his hands to Clockwork. "Here, try this. Type your own speech."
Mel muses, "Your thoughts are not alien to me."
Elegy says, "When you return to your world, will you follow the path of the bodhisattva, then? Will you steward others over, so they can have this chance?"
Clockwork comes out of it's Pile, and interfaces with the ragged end of the keyboard... it shifts about a bit, nervously, seeming to not quite know what to do.... and not quite be sure of what to, well, pose...
Morgan arrives.
Clockwork asks, after a moment.... " What should I say?"
[OOC] You could try 'Hello World'?
Chris hmms at Elegy. "I'd love to try. I don't know if I'm really capable of that or not. I didn't bring me here...directly, anyway.
[OOC] Clockwork says, "hello world?"
Mel muses, "This strange... OOC telepathy."
Mel muses, "It has a peculiar echo."
Morgan says in his strange accent, "Hello, World."
Chris taps at the keyboard for a second. A screen hovers in the air in front now. "Here...that might be easier."
Chris tilts a hand in Morgan's direction.
Clockwork tries again, peering about nervously. ...
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hello world?"
Clockwork arcs violently a good three or four meters into the air, and dives for it's Pile to hide....
The screen prints out 'Clockwork says, "Hello World?"
Mel muses, "Is it safe to allow others to touch your god-like pad of touch-symbols?"
Clockwork's voice comes across as a squeek on the speaker... "The matrix is out there"
Chris chuckles. "Try it, sure."
Mel pokes at a few keys. His hand slips and accidently hits an alt key and a function key.
Chris ducks. A bigger window looms over the clearing now.
Mel muses, "This does not bode well."
You say, "Um. I thought I turned the generator off. Heheh. "
Morgan squints at the screen. "Wot's an alt-eff-fower?"
Elegy leans over to look at the keyboard, squinting at it. He sighs. "The only familiar characters are the numerics..."
You say, "Oh? You must have a different alphabet...that's right...heiroglyphics or something? "
Chris waves his hands warningly to Morgan. "Please don't hit that one."
Morgan hits it.
Chris blips out.
Here I actually did leave, gave Mel some meta-suggestions to type ctrl-alt-delete, and came back shortly.
Clockwork eyes the keyboard... then the others. "Shouldn't we get him back?" It arcs out of it's Pile to move closer to the keyboard... trying to investigate.
Morgan's demeanor changes. "Did I? That was likely the most awful murder I've ever committed. A push of a button? How quaint. How nostalgic! How...1984-esque. It's disturbing. And a shame, for one ought to put more effort into such things."
Mel wanders at the board.
Mel pokes at three keys together.
Mel muses, "Control Alternate Delete. That sounds ominous."
Chris blinks into existence behind a logo that flashes 'Loading' for a second then is gone.
Clockwork glances around to see if anything happens, looking like it's just about ready to kype the keyboard for It's own Pile...
Morgan waves dismissively. "System reboot," he says, almost as if that's nothing important. "Ancient style. Practically antique."
Chris erfs. "Ow, that was weird. I don't like limbo."
Mel muses, "It's boring, I'd guess."
Chris gathers his keyboard up, and types on it quickly.
Elegy casts a disgusted look in Morgan's direction. "Nobody asked you."
Mel muses, "See, I told you letting others dabble in your GodPad would be a bad idea."
Another keyboard appears on the ground.
Clockwork backs away from the keyboard, arcing back and forth a bit, nervously... It tries to act calm, nope, wasn't just going to steal anything.
Chris shakes his head. "There, play with that one! Ahh...yes. Hindsight is wonderful sometimes. That was stupid. I forgot the rules of this place."
Mel picks it up, faintly protectively.
Morgan is used to disgusted looks. "Nobody was required to. I am High Lord, of course." He shakes his head. "And here we have Mel! In fact, just the person I wished to speak to..."
Mel covets the GodPad. "Yes?"
Chris taptaps.
[OOC] Chris says, "The new keyboard is just a clone, but it doesn't control me anyways. Mel can keep it if he wants. "
Elegy's expression lights up. "Aah, a card-carrying member of the decadent bourgeoisie. I might have guessed."
Morgan folds his arms behind his back. "After all of the begging that you did for an invitation, and you didn't show at all. For shame, for shame, for shame, for shame."
Clockwork glances sidelong at Mel's "godpad" ... and arcs into it, effectively dissapearing from site.
Mel muses, "I knew you'd eventually catch me on that rather inconsiderate act."
Mel muses, "I must forward my fullest apologies for missing your delightful affair."
Morgan nods..."Continue."
Mel muses, "But for some reason, the event escaped me."
Morgan nods..."Because..."
Mel muses, "Did Trilogee appear in my behalf?"
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hello World? ... Hello World? ... Hello World? ... Hello world? ..."
[OOC] Mel says, "It seems a terrible waste to use this for simple 'Hello World?'s."
Mel types on the God Pad.
[OOC] Chris says, "Or for that matter, to use it for mere OOC conduits. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hellloooo world!"
Morgan narrows his gaze. "No more Hello Worlds. What a horrible phrasing. And such triteness. One would think you a low level automaton."
Morgan turns back to Mel. "She did not say as much."
Clockwork twitches...
Mel muses, "I believe that I heard it went well."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Did it just try to insult me? ... Damnit, Not close enought to my Pile to check against my memory... Should I electricute him?"
[OOC] Mel says, "I don't think you should. Strangers are still people, for goodness sake."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "But ... I'd just be getting myself out of him. He really doesn't need me's... Of course, I'd have to get more of me to really make the me-taking from him effective..."
You say, "I was going to attend with Trilogee....err, no, sorry. I shouldn't do that. It makes people's heads hurt. "
Morgan chuckles. "Excepting a spat with Atazael, of course. A threat to deny my existence as a Hemotopian, let a lone a Lord." He turns to look at Chris. "And you are?"
Mel pokes at the godpad experimentally. A little window opens next to Mel. He stares.
You say, "I'm a...um, Metabaron? "
Clockwork gets sort of creeped out all of a sudden, and arcs out of the godpad into It's own Pile. It's holo-cube readers light up with activity...
Mel muses, "What is this... Half-Life 2, and why is it so desirable?"
Morgan hmms. And disappears.
Morgan has left.
Chris smacks his forehead with his palm. "Oh no. That's just...the internet, Mel. Pay no attention to it. It's a big datasphere like here, but with a vastly disproportionate signal-to-noise ratio. In other words, 90% crap."
Mel looks at Morgan. "He fears the Half-Life 2, apparently. It's might makes lessers Quake in fear."
Elegy glares at the space Morgan had occupied, finally unclenching his fists.
Mel muses, "I cannot seem to draw myself away from its lurid appeal."
You say, "Umm...there is /one/ useful thing on the internet. But I don't know if you want to access it. "
Mel muses, "It is like a terrible car accident."
Clockwork, as if suddenly having an insight... " Porn?"
Mel muses, "A good portion of this Internet seems to be dedicated to repetitive images."
Mel muses, "And you said you came from a higher realm, was it?"
You say, "Yeah...I usually access this place through...well, a similar method than you do. "
You say, "Than you are doing, I mean. "
Mel muses, "So what is this one place of interest?"
Mel fascinates. "Google..."
Mel muses, "It is like some terrible misspelling of goggle."
Chris types on Mel's keyboard for a second. The screen brings up a page describing...Puzzlebox. "I'm...being Meta. Frell. I'm sorry. But here, you did ask."
Mel reads.
Mel seems disappointed. "Is this the only picture of me?"
Mel muses, "I know these facts. Interesting to see them laid out so barren in text."
Mel muses, "Some of this information... is painfully frank."
Chris looks rather uncomfortably trying /not/ to say more. "Er...yes."
Elegy shakes his head at no one in particular. "Time for rest." That stated, his wing-casings snap open and his wings unfold. There's a muted buzz in the air as he flies to the top of one of the cyclotron trees, finding a place to roost.
Mel muses, "Poor Sebkha is still Strange Corrupted."
You say, "It's metadata. It's part of the higher infosphere. But...that's where your superconsciousness is coming from. "
You say, "You asked. "
Mel muses, "My superconsciousness is evasive even here."
Mel muses, "I can see where I have written things that I do not recall writing."
Chris waves. "Goodnight, Elegy. Nice meeting you."
Elegy calls down, "We'll speak again."
Elegy has disconnected.
Chris gets a mischevious grin on his face. "Um...this is going to sound truly mad. But want to see what it's like being your own superconsciousness?"
Mel muses, "I don't understand the magnitude of what you're offering."
Clockwork's speaker squaks briefly. " That's like infinity...
Chris manipulates the symbols on the keyboard, and activates a link. "You can...connect to the world...here. As Mel."
Mel pokes at it. "I do not know this word of passing..."
Chris hrrrms. Then sits back. "Ah well. Sorry. It's as well, didn't want to destroy the world in an infinite loop anyway."
Mel muses, "This Red King is an ironic character. The dreamer that dreams the dreamer."
Chris grins sheepishly. "You can see where Nik gets it from. 'Oh, I just want to see what happens!' Yeah. "
Mel nods warily at you.
Mel peers. "Why is it a sin for you to be here?"
You say, "Err...kinda a silly phrase to you, I know. Only that it's highly frowned upon in most creative endeavors to, well, self-insert into one's own story."
Mel muses, "These Live Journals are fascinating as well."
Mel muses, "Alas, my superconscious is stubbornly occult."
Chris ties the dangling cord from his own keybord into a loop, and slings it over his shoulder.
Mel grows tired of the signal-to-noise ratio. "None of this is really any secret to me, though the style of delivery is novel."
Chris nods to Mel.
You say, "Just don't...well, sign onto any instant-messengers. You could end up talking to yourself. "
Mel muses, "I do that anyway."
Chris snickers. "Oh yeah, I remember a few nights ago. "
Mel muses, "Alas, enlightenment escapes me yet again."
Chris sighs and shrugs. "Ah well."
Mel muses, "I will take this godpad with me, if that is alright, and return to the museum for now."
[OOC] Mel absconds. Must sleep.
Mel has disconnected.
Chris looks tired. "This has been kinda draining, being in character. Maybe I'll go find...I don't know, some entertainment. "
Clockwork seems to come awake, arcing out of it's Pile. " Watch out for Virii." it warns."
Chris chuckles. "I'll try to. It's kinda hard. I mean, I'm here bodily this time...there's no screen-condom."
Chris blinks, and taps on his keyboard for a moment.
[OOC] Chris says, "It is the measure of my weird level that I came up with such a term as 'screen condom'. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Screen ... Condom .... Like those plastic covers they used to put over monitors to keep the dust off?"
Clockwork, not experienced enough to know exactly what to watch out for, just arcs back and forth in place, silently agreeing.
[OOC] Chris says, "Was thinking of the screen itself as a condom protecting me against virtual virii. As long as I'm the player. But when I'm bodily here, I can catch them. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Ahh, right...
End of Log
Part the third: The Player becomes a character in his own right, attempting to not give away information, Mel discovers the Internet, disaster is narrowly avoided.
After a brief chat with the other new Emergent (which to value some tiny amount of integrity left, will not be made public knowledge here), Mel showed up.
Mel has arrived.
Chris waves. "Hi there, Mel. Nice to meet you."
Mel muses, "Was I late? Did I miss it?"
Mel muses, "Does my reputation proceed me?"
Mel flicks out a ticket... "...Chris..."
You say, "You kinda missed the big fireworks, yeah. Trilogee did too, sadly. But I'm the result. Sorta."
Mel looks at Chris warily.
Chris takes the ticket. "Thanks. Huh, I don't even remember if you gave Nikolai a ticket or not. It's been too long. But then he's supposedly been around a long time anyway."
Chris catches Mel's puzzled expression. He waves the keyboard. "Um...sorry. I'm Chris....the Player."
Mel muses, "Sort of like Player1?"
Elegy is humming Prokofiev very softly as he looks Mel over.
Mel peers back at Elegy. "And you are... *flick* Elegy. Not from the same place, I take it."
Chris taps at the keyboard.
Clockwork has connected.
[OOC] Chris says, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. "
Mel seems faintly startled, but looks like he received an epiphany.
You say, "Nobody pays attention to the one behind the screen. Until he falls in. "
Elegy shakes his head as he pluckes the card from Mel's hand. "No. From the opposite direction, you might say." He holds the card up before his eyes to examine it.
Mel is actually perplexed at Chris on many levels. This is not an easy thing to do.
Clockwork's electronic pile starts to hum... and a few moments later, arcs of electricity connect all the parts together.... and a few moments after that... It, clockwork that is, arcs out of it's shell. "Did someone get a traceroute on that ...." it stops, twitching in place violently... it, perhaps, recongizes something out of place...
Chris taps on the keyboard again.
Mel hums back Mussorsky to Elegy.
[OOC] Chris says, "I'd tell you to consult the Wiki, but Mel wouldn't likely know that either. "
Mel rubs his head confusedly. Poor muse has no clue.
Elegy beams at Mel in approval.
Mel seems to like the Great Gates of Kiev.
Chris smiles. "Sorry you're confused. It's Nik's fault. I knew he was doing something...but /this/ is pretty drastic."
Clockwork arcs about for a few moments, as if in a dither... Finally, it decides to just go back to it's Pile, and attempt to figure out what just went on.
[OOC] Chris says, "The machine is off, by the way, now. "
Elegy starts humming along, filling in a different part.
Mel muses, "You're projecting strange thoughts through me."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "So I figured... but poor clocky... :P"
Mel seems comforted by the harmonizing.
[OOC] Chris says, "But the wall-breaking lives on. Sorta. "
You say, "I'm....well, not from here. "
You say, "Might just say I'm visiting. Nik (and my other components) performed a reverse-transcendence. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Say, you ain't from around here, are ya? ... Well... you got perdy lips boy."
Mel muses, "No. Not at all. You're some sort of temporal-dimensional projection in the harmony of Nik."
You say, "You could say that. What would you call the opposite of transcending from one plane to a higher one? "
[OOC] Elegy plays a banjo. A synth-banjo with robo-voice distortions.
Mel muses, "Descension."
Mel muses, "But I'm not sure... that applies."
[OOC] Clockwork plays a guitar, counter to Elegy.
You say, "Decension into a lower plane...or pulling down someone on the higher plane to your level. That's...kinda what happened. "
Mel muses, "Are you certain this isn't a higher plane though?"
Chris tilts his head, amused. "I don't know if I should even use terms of spatial relation at all. Higher and lower...doesn't make a difference now that I've been yanked here so rudely."
Mel muses, "The impression I get from you is you're the superconsciousness of Nikolai."
Elegy smirks at Chris. "Rudely? Can you fault Nikolai's etiquette when all he did was build and activate your device?"
Mel muses, "So this is what the Theater might be capable of. Nikolai himself... is he alright?"
Clockwork slips back into his Pile, and knocks up the Datasphere(quite litterally, how else is it to breed?) for a gigwad of information... after a few breath's worth of moments, it arcs out like a lightning bolt, headed straight for the machine. It surges into it, or around it, or...(well, effectively does for a deep few moments of studying the construct)...
Chris nods. "You're correct in that assesment, Mel. And...no, I can't fault Nik, he was only following my idea. That I infected him with, rather selfishly to this particular end. He's...alright. Somewhere...in here." He taps his head. "He's strong...he'll probably break out again soon. He's not the only one that wants out."
Mel muses, "So who else is up there?"
You say, "A liquid dragon named Coalesce. He was the first to sneak off here, almost a year ago. More recently one Red King, as well. He goes by other masks too...a sly one. Sometimes a pale horse, sometimes a estranged otter. That's just Meta play and namechanging, though. People do that. "
Mel nods a little. "Identity here is mere myth."
You say, "The oldest...who's never come here, to my knowledge, is a blue dragon named Cobalt Blue. I like him a /lot/. "
Mel muses, "I've never seen him."
Clockwork arcs from the computer, right towards Chris... no, not Chris, but the keyboard. It doesn't actually try to enter the keyboard, but the ragged end of the cord definately catches it's attention...
Mel muses, "Or even heard the legend."
Chris shakes his keyboard. "Hey, careful! I need this thing! I think."
Chris hrms. "Legend?"
Mel muses, "Legend. Stories of the dragon Cobalt Blue."
Clockwork schoots back a few inches, " Aww, common, just lemme see it for a moment?" it asks, arcing closer, trying to make contact with the keyboard.
Elegy opens his wing-casings, fluttering restlessly. He paces around the totems.
Mel muses, "Please do not hassle the superconciousness."
You say, "He is, I might say, my closest fit 'costume', so to speak. The most like me, who I would be but for color and lack of tail, wings, and so forth. Ah well. If you'd heard stories of him, would that make him real here? Heh. I ask too much like that. "
Mel muses, "Do you know anything about my superconciousness?"
You say, "But more and more I've become enamored of Nikolai. Mad science so fits me. Witness...this emergence here. Crazy. "
Elegy says, "Or about mine?"
Mel muses, "I think if I had, it would make him more real."
Clockwork arcs off after, well, being told off. It dips down into it's Pile, checking it's memories... since everyone else is asking, it asks. " What's a superconciousness?"
Mel muses, "I assume you superconsciousnesses might know each other."
Chris hms. "Honestly, no. I've talked to yours, Mel, through this conduit a few times." He rattles the keyboard. "And yours, Elegy, from, well...other channels."
Mel muses, "My superconsciousness is recalcitrant to speak to even me, so I suppose I'm not surprised."
Chris erfs. "Sorry, Clockwork. I don't want to lose my meta abilities. I'd...give you a hug if I won't be electrocuted."
Elegy's wings flicker out again. He grins impishly. "And there's really nothing you can tell us about them?"
Clockwork's pile's radio's speaker emits a soft, confused sound. " Get a charge out of life?"
Chris smirks mischeviously. "I could switch on the generator and let you talk to them yourselves? If you don't become them...heh, nah. I don't think you'd want to know. It's...too tricky."
Mel muses, "I'd be curious if you know anything that might... well, make life potentially easier and more peaceful here."
Clockwork says quickly. " Ohshit, not that again! Last time was bad enough, i don't need to meet the other older me's again!"
Mel muses, "I'm not concerned with subjectivity influx. I am made of similar stuff."
Chris rubs his forehead. It's a bit dry, and flakes of skin fall off. "I'm having a hard enough time /not/ giving things away, from what I know. Even without talking to the superconsciousnesses...err, gestalts that comprise you, Mel and Elegy, I get enough from their musings on the datasphere knowns as the Wiki that I shouldn't ruin."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "For some reason, I've AC/DC's "thunder Struck" stuck in my head... at the idea of electricuting the Visitor."
[OOC] Chris says, "I /have/ been backed up. :-P "
Mel muses, "Pity. Hate to think my superconciousness is still withholding information."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "To quote another song... o/` crashing through the family, lunacy has found me, battery is here to stay! o/`"
You say, "Of /course/ it is. It's got to have the ideas far in advance of you, to give it time to plan ahead. Unless it's all improvisational, in which case I'm much impressed. "
You say, "This story that you star in doesn't write itself. Or maybe it does. "
Mel muses, "I hope it has a happy ending."
Chris chuckles. "There has to be an ending?"
Mel muses, "I like you."
Clockwork's speaker, well, speaks up. " Does that mean that I'm here asking this here because some slot with a keyboard is making me do this and be involved with this... and... and... ask you this question? ... am I just a shade of a shade, of a shade?"
Mel muses, "I'm used to being the extension of a greater thing, so none of this really alarms me."
You say, "My ending...well, I know I can't stay forever. But...since I'm backed up, now, then my ending of the story--dying in the other world--will be waking up here.."
Elegy stretches, arching back with his hands under his hair. "History is an inexorable force. We're only flotsam, filling the roles that open up."
Mel marvels at Chris.
You say, "And likely at that point...I'll be setting my emergents free forever. "
Elegy straightens again, smiling at Chris. "So this is your Nirvana?"
Clockwork's arc'd circuits surge for a few moments, putting off a bit more light then normally, before returning to like it was... there, it seems, to be a lack of comprehension. As is usual for him, confusion rules.
You say, "Or afterlife. Or perhaps it may come earlier, with the march of technology. "
Chris hands the keyboard in his hands to Clockwork. "Here, try this. Type your own speech."
Mel muses, "Your thoughts are not alien to me."
Elegy says, "When you return to your world, will you follow the path of the bodhisattva, then? Will you steward others over, so they can have this chance?"
Clockwork comes out of it's Pile, and interfaces with the ragged end of the keyboard... it shifts about a bit, nervously, seeming to not quite know what to do.... and not quite be sure of what to, well, pose...
Morgan arrives.
Clockwork asks, after a moment.... " What should I say?"
[OOC] You could try 'Hello World'?
Chris hmms at Elegy. "I'd love to try. I don't know if I'm really capable of that or not. I didn't bring me here...directly, anyway.
[OOC] Clockwork says, "hello world?"
Mel muses, "This strange... OOC telepathy."
Mel muses, "It has a peculiar echo."
Morgan says in his strange accent, "Hello, World."
Chris taps at the keyboard for a second. A screen hovers in the air in front now. "Here...that might be easier."
Chris tilts a hand in Morgan's direction.
Clockwork tries again, peering about nervously. ...
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hello world?"
Clockwork arcs violently a good three or four meters into the air, and dives for it's Pile to hide....
The screen prints out 'Clockwork says, "Hello World?"
Mel muses, "Is it safe to allow others to touch your god-like pad of touch-symbols?"
Clockwork's voice comes across as a squeek on the speaker... "The matrix is out there"
Chris chuckles. "Try it, sure."
Mel pokes at a few keys. His hand slips and accidently hits an alt key and a function key.
Chris ducks. A bigger window looms over the clearing now.
Mel muses, "This does not bode well."
You say, "Um. I thought I turned the generator off. Heheh. "
Morgan squints at the screen. "Wot's an alt-eff-fower?"
Elegy leans over to look at the keyboard, squinting at it. He sighs. "The only familiar characters are the numerics..."
You say, "Oh? You must have a different alphabet...that's right...heiroglyphics or something? "
Chris waves his hands warningly to Morgan. "Please don't hit that one."
Morgan hits it.
Chris blips out.
Here I actually did leave, gave Mel some meta-suggestions to type ctrl-alt-delete, and came back shortly.
Clockwork eyes the keyboard... then the others. "Shouldn't we get him back?" It arcs out of it's Pile to move closer to the keyboard... trying to investigate.
Morgan's demeanor changes. "Did I? That was likely the most awful murder I've ever committed. A push of a button? How quaint. How nostalgic! How...1984-esque. It's disturbing. And a shame, for one ought to put more effort into such things."
Mel wanders at the board.
Mel pokes at three keys together.
Mel muses, "Control Alternate Delete. That sounds ominous."
Chris blinks into existence behind a logo that flashes 'Loading' for a second then is gone.
Clockwork glances around to see if anything happens, looking like it's just about ready to kype the keyboard for It's own Pile...
Morgan waves dismissively. "System reboot," he says, almost as if that's nothing important. "Ancient style. Practically antique."
Chris erfs. "Ow, that was weird. I don't like limbo."
Mel muses, "It's boring, I'd guess."
Chris gathers his keyboard up, and types on it quickly.
Elegy casts a disgusted look in Morgan's direction. "Nobody asked you."
Mel muses, "See, I told you letting others dabble in your GodPad would be a bad idea."
Another keyboard appears on the ground.
Clockwork backs away from the keyboard, arcing back and forth a bit, nervously... It tries to act calm, nope, wasn't just going to steal anything.
Chris shakes his head. "There, play with that one! Ahh...yes. Hindsight is wonderful sometimes. That was stupid. I forgot the rules of this place."
Mel picks it up, faintly protectively.
Morgan is used to disgusted looks. "Nobody was required to. I am High Lord, of course." He shakes his head. "And here we have Mel! In fact, just the person I wished to speak to..."
Mel covets the GodPad. "Yes?"
Chris taptaps.
[OOC] Chris says, "The new keyboard is just a clone, but it doesn't control me anyways. Mel can keep it if he wants. "
Elegy's expression lights up. "Aah, a card-carrying member of the decadent bourgeoisie. I might have guessed."
Morgan folds his arms behind his back. "After all of the begging that you did for an invitation, and you didn't show at all. For shame, for shame, for shame, for shame."
Clockwork glances sidelong at Mel's "godpad" ... and arcs into it, effectively dissapearing from site.
Mel muses, "I knew you'd eventually catch me on that rather inconsiderate act."
Mel muses, "I must forward my fullest apologies for missing your delightful affair."
Morgan nods..."Continue."
Mel muses, "But for some reason, the event escaped me."
Morgan nods..."Because..."
Mel muses, "Did Trilogee appear in my behalf?"
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hello World? ... Hello World? ... Hello World? ... Hello world? ..."
[OOC] Mel says, "It seems a terrible waste to use this for simple 'Hello World?'s."
Mel types on the God Pad.
[OOC] Chris says, "Or for that matter, to use it for mere OOC conduits. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Hellloooo world!"
Morgan narrows his gaze. "No more Hello Worlds. What a horrible phrasing. And such triteness. One would think you a low level automaton."
Morgan turns back to Mel. "She did not say as much."
Clockwork twitches...
Mel muses, "I believe that I heard it went well."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Did it just try to insult me? ... Damnit, Not close enought to my Pile to check against my memory... Should I electricute him?"
[OOC] Mel says, "I don't think you should. Strangers are still people, for goodness sake."
[OOC] Clockwork says, "But ... I'd just be getting myself out of him. He really doesn't need me's... Of course, I'd have to get more of me to really make the me-taking from him effective..."
You say, "I was going to attend with Trilogee....err, no, sorry. I shouldn't do that. It makes people's heads hurt. "
Morgan chuckles. "Excepting a spat with Atazael, of course. A threat to deny my existence as a Hemotopian, let a lone a Lord." He turns to look at Chris. "And you are?"
Mel pokes at the godpad experimentally. A little window opens next to Mel. He stares.
You say, "I'm a...um, Metabaron? "
Clockwork gets sort of creeped out all of a sudden, and arcs out of the godpad into It's own Pile. It's holo-cube readers light up with activity...
Mel muses, "What is this... Half-Life 2, and why is it so desirable?"
Morgan hmms. And disappears.
Morgan has left.
Chris smacks his forehead with his palm. "Oh no. That's just...the internet, Mel. Pay no attention to it. It's a big datasphere like here, but with a vastly disproportionate signal-to-noise ratio. In other words, 90% crap."
Mel looks at Morgan. "He fears the Half-Life 2, apparently. It's might makes lessers Quake in fear."
Elegy glares at the space Morgan had occupied, finally unclenching his fists.
Mel muses, "I cannot seem to draw myself away from its lurid appeal."
You say, "Umm...there is /one/ useful thing on the internet. But I don't know if you want to access it. "
Mel muses, "It is like a terrible car accident."
Clockwork, as if suddenly having an insight... " Porn?"
Mel muses, "A good portion of this Internet seems to be dedicated to repetitive images."
Mel muses, "And you said you came from a higher realm, was it?"
You say, "Yeah...I usually access this place through...well, a similar method than you do. "
You say, "Than you are doing, I mean. "
Mel muses, "So what is this one place of interest?"
Mel fascinates. "Google..."
Mel muses, "It is like some terrible misspelling of goggle."
Chris types on Mel's keyboard for a second. The screen brings up a page describing...Puzzlebox. "I'm...being Meta. Frell. I'm sorry. But here, you did ask."
Mel reads.
Mel seems disappointed. "Is this the only picture of me?"
Mel muses, "I know these facts. Interesting to see them laid out so barren in text."
Mel muses, "Some of this information... is painfully frank."
Chris looks rather uncomfortably trying /not/ to say more. "Er...yes."
Elegy shakes his head at no one in particular. "Time for rest." That stated, his wing-casings snap open and his wings unfold. There's a muted buzz in the air as he flies to the top of one of the cyclotron trees, finding a place to roost.
Mel muses, "Poor Sebkha is still Strange Corrupted."
You say, "It's metadata. It's part of the higher infosphere. But...that's where your superconsciousness is coming from. "
You say, "You asked. "
Mel muses, "My superconsciousness is evasive even here."
Mel muses, "I can see where I have written things that I do not recall writing."
Chris waves. "Goodnight, Elegy. Nice meeting you."
Elegy calls down, "We'll speak again."
Elegy has disconnected.
Chris gets a mischevious grin on his face. "Um...this is going to sound truly mad. But want to see what it's like being your own superconsciousness?"
Mel muses, "I don't understand the magnitude of what you're offering."
Clockwork's speaker squaks briefly. " That's like infinity...
Chris manipulates the symbols on the keyboard, and activates a link. "You can...connect to the world...here. As Mel."
Mel pokes at it. "I do not know this word of passing..."
Chris hrrrms. Then sits back. "Ah well. Sorry. It's as well, didn't want to destroy the world in an infinite loop anyway."
Mel muses, "This Red King is an ironic character. The dreamer that dreams the dreamer."
Chris grins sheepishly. "You can see where Nik gets it from. 'Oh, I just want to see what happens!' Yeah. "
Mel nods warily at you.
Mel peers. "Why is it a sin for you to be here?"
You say, "Err...kinda a silly phrase to you, I know. Only that it's highly frowned upon in most creative endeavors to, well, self-insert into one's own story."
Mel muses, "These Live Journals are fascinating as well."
Mel muses, "Alas, my superconscious is stubbornly occult."
Chris ties the dangling cord from his own keybord into a loop, and slings it over his shoulder.
Mel grows tired of the signal-to-noise ratio. "None of this is really any secret to me, though the style of delivery is novel."
Chris nods to Mel.
You say, "Just don't...well, sign onto any instant-messengers. You could end up talking to yourself. "
Mel muses, "I do that anyway."
Chris snickers. "Oh yeah, I remember a few nights ago. "
Mel muses, "Alas, enlightenment escapes me yet again."
Chris sighs and shrugs. "Ah well."
Mel muses, "I will take this godpad with me, if that is alright, and return to the museum for now."
[OOC] Mel absconds. Must sleep.
Mel has disconnected.
Chris looks tired. "This has been kinda draining, being in character. Maybe I'll go find...I don't know, some entertainment. "
Clockwork seems to come awake, arcing out of it's Pile. " Watch out for Virii." it warns."
Chris chuckles. "I'll try to. It's kinda hard. I mean, I'm here bodily this time...there's no screen-condom."
Chris blinks, and taps on his keyboard for a moment.
[OOC] Chris says, "It is the measure of my weird level that I came up with such a term as 'screen condom'. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Screen ... Condom .... Like those plastic covers they used to put over monitors to keep the dust off?"
Clockwork, not experienced enough to know exactly what to watch out for, just arcs back and forth in place, silently agreeing.
[OOC] Chris says, "Was thinking of the screen itself as a condom protecting me against virtual virii. As long as I'm the player. But when I'm bodily here, I can catch them. "
[OOC] Clockwork says, "Ahh, right...
End of Log