~1st Round~ - Macallan 12, Neat
[Man, what a night it was. A couple of Sokora's good friends had come by the bar, having just secured possibly their biggest haul - not that he asked - and he decided that it would be worthwhile to keep the place open and the liquor flowing. Hell, it was a win/win situation, and while the night was exhausting, it was certainly profitable to
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I'm Dakki Sigal. I'd be happy to try to fill you in a little. I've only been here a... month and a half, but I get the gist. [She laughs.] And I'm not supposed to be human, either. But this town? It makes you human. If you endure this place long enough, you can earn your real self back. I've seen it happen.
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I'm glad that people around are eager to share information... and ah. That would explain it, then, another sick little game of the people in charge. Lovely. I'm glad that eventually I'll get back to my old self, then, provided I don't wind up too twisted first. Or die.
If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Sigal, what manner of being were you beforehand?
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Most of the people here aren't so bad. They're happy to share what they know. We're all in this mess together, right? [She hesitates for a moment.] ...I don't know if you'll find this comforting or not... but apparently? We can't die. Not permanently, anyway. You'll... you know... die. Get killed. But you'll wake up in your bed the next morning, just fine.
Hm? I don't mind. I'm supposed to be a CAST. That is... I'm an artificial humanoid.
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[Deep breath.]
I'm guessing that qualifier - most - is another reason to stay careful. I'll keep it in mind... Oh. Well. I suppose that's... either good, or very, very bad. And gives me flashbacks to some very unpleasant experiences I've had with simulations.
An artificial humanoid? Such as an android- er, gynoid? We have a couple of those where I'm from... not very common, though. Well, for the sake of sharing, I'm ordinarily an elf. Just another metahuman.
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Most of the people that I've met have been good. The rest have been decent. There's someone bad at the hospital, apparently, some sort of "Black Mage". Beyond that... well. Be careful?
[She laughs sharply]
Some of us suspect this is a simulation. If it is, its the worst one I've been in.
...gynoid! Yes! [Such delight in her voice! It's so rare that someone here gets it right!] An elf? Hm. Variant humanoid, then. I hope you don't find it too unsettling of an experience to be human. I'm... I'm getting tired of it.
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Oh, there is? Well, then, I'm glad to hear that - I'll have to look it up. I suspect weapons haven't changed that much between now and my day, so I do hope I can pick up a Remington, at least...
[ Right, back to the task at hand, at least momentarily. ]
So, sort of a regular social distribution... mostly decent folks, with a few saints and a couple bad apples. Heh... wonder what it is with sociopaths and hospitals. I'll have to keep an eye out for him, then. With a name like that, I suspect he won't be hard to spot.
[ There's a note of agreement as Dakki makes both points. ]
Well. If it is a sim, there's always a failure point, or so I'm given to understand. [ Bit of a chuckle as Dakki seems happy with the former elf's vocabulary. ] Yeah. They call us metahumans, right alongside trolls, dwarves, and the like. At least it's not too far off from what I'm used to... losing my augs is a lot more unsettling.
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It sounds like this world is reasonable close to your own. Lucky you! If any of us can be considered to be "lucky".
Metahumans... hmm. [The word has interesting implications. Ones she may want to chat about with Gat, later. But not the sort of thing she'd want to impose on a newbie.] ...augs? What're those?
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Not terribly similar, no. Maybe a hundred and twenty years ago, but not any world I'm used to.
Hrm. Augs, well, augumentations, are biological or mechanical alterations, intended initially to replace damaged or broken limbs. Nowadays, there are a lot of people who use them to enhance themselves - like replacing their eyes with ones which can see better, alongside vocal chords and ears, for similar benefits. There's a downside, but it's... well, not worth mentioning, usually.
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I'll stop.
[She coughs.]
Augmentations. That's interesting. I can confirm that it's upsetting for your senses to not be... your senses, as you remember them. I hope you'll be alright without them, for a bit.
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[ He chuckles wryly. ]
And, well, holidays have admittedly changed for me, too. I guess animals are the same, though all I've seen in town so far are a couple of dogs and cats... Well, and an absurdity or two.
The Gurhal system, you say? As in entirely different star system? That's got to be hard to cope with...
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[And pain hurts more, too, but let's not mention that...]
We all have to adjust. It's a matter of degree. I shouldn't be so... so upset. Things have been upsetting, lately. You're new! I'm not taking it out on you, honest.
[She sighs, and makes an affirmative sound.]
From what I've been able to piece together? Yes. A completely different star system than this one. Three planets, multiple satelites... it's strange to be confined to a single town. I miss being able to hop a shuttle and just... go.
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[He nods, and shivers.]
No, never thought you were, ma'am. I suspect that going from regular people to some sort of sick plaything is... well.
And, hmm. Three planets, with shuttles between them all? That's entirely different from our one-planet-one-moon layout, not least if all your planets were inhabitable. I suppose it's not too different from how our Earth was set up, however... certain sectors, in Denver, were so heavily guarded that they might as well have been entirely separate..
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[She says it with such conviction. And then seems to catch herself, with a little awkward sound.]
...one planet, one moon.
[She hadn't thought to confirm that this was indeed a single planet with a single moon. The library hadn't been forthcoming with reference books, after all. Hadn't Gat said that Coral had one moon?]
I still haven't fully made up my mind that you're not all highly sophisticated AI purposely designed to toy with me. [She laughs.] If that's not the case? The the universe is much, much, much larger than I had ever expected.
And I had already assumed it was pretty damned big.
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I suppose there is that. A chemical or electrical diet, carefully regulated, must be nothing in comparison to what humans have.
Yes. One planet... well, okay, the system has either eight, nine, or ten, depending on which stance you prefer, but there's only one sun. The only habitable planet is Earth, as far as we're concerned.
[ A slightly bitter laugh follows. ]
Oh, thanks for that. Now I get to wonder if I'm an AI so sophisticated that I don't even know I'm an AI.
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[She makes another curious sound... and then a dismissive one. You can almost hear her waving her hand right along.]
No no, I meant... yes. One habitable planet. It's... I'll have to remember...
[But back to laughing! It's rueful laughter.]
Don't mention it. I'm always good at making people feel weird and doubtful when the conversation gets existential.
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I've had more than enough existential moments back home, trust me. You could probably say that this one's just out of habit! And eh... well, there have been attempts to colonize our system, at least when I'm from, but they've been pretty fruitless.
[ He mutters something about bureaucracy here. Doubtless pithy, true, and entirely pointless. ]
And, well... hmm. Imprecise... I guess that's true. We're this huge melange of organs, nerves, bones and neurons which work under specific, often mysterious circumstances, and tend to fail at the slightest imbalance. What could be more imprecise than that?
[ Snark? Sarcasm? Who can say. ]
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