&sigma 1 [text]

[fallenfreelancr]

[The important things out of the way, Meta having found her armor and finally gotten the cats to leave by reading their silly little scrolls, she makes use of the vine to try and gather more information. At this point, she didn't care about any gardens, didn't care about any Queen; her only drive was the AI she'd had and the one she'd been persuing

Comments

[restlessdevil]

[Oooh, written messages! Zenobia loves those!]

You are in the Gardens. That's seriously what this place is called.

Epsilon is here somewhere.

Um... I dunno who or where Texas is.

[Zenobia's only complaint about text is that she can't see the face of the girl she's talking to; not that she'd be able to in this case anyway.]

[fallenfreelancr]

[Yes, they definitely carry a certain amount of mystery, don't they? Like the fact that Meta's giving a little lilting purr at that second comment. At least all was not lost.]

NOT VERY HELPFUL. WHAT PLANET? WHAT SYSTEM?

WHERE CAN I FIND HIM? HOW? [She hasn't quite gotten all the details yet.]

[restlessdevil]

Sorry, I don't know that. I was never any good at astrology.

Well, Epsilon has a garden around here somewhere. But maybe we're thinking of two different people. Because this Epsilon is definitely not a "him." [Though now Zenobia's wondering if maybe robot genders work differently or something.]

[fallenfreelancr]

[Meta growls lowly to herself. Judging from what she'd seen so far, she doubted the technology was going to be anything able to get her off this rock any time soon.]

[Still, it sounded from the others like she had plenty here to keep her occupied for at least a little while.]

TOLD THIS PLACE MAKES BOYS INTO GIRLS. COULD STILL BE MY EPSILON.

WHO ARE YOU?

video

[sheroic]

Oh! Texas is right here! [ She points to her star-shaped hair clips. ]

--But we're not in Texas or anything.

video || I lolled so hard! XD

[fallenfreelancr]

[Meta can only answer that with a moment of silence, before writing back. She growls lowly to herself, it was like dealing with Simulation Soldiers.]

YOU ARE NOT TEXAS. SHE WAS IN AN AI STORAGE UNIT. SHE'S MINE. I NEED HER BACK.

video

[sheroic]

Mexico, if this is you in some weird armor, you can't have Texas back. We agreed already!

video

[fallenfreelancr]

[Somehow this visual intimidation factor wasn't working like she had hoped. She snarls back, scratching her futher message]

NO. NOT MEXICO.

THIS IS META.

I WILL GET HER BACK.

[text]

[mnementomori]

[you'll get slightly wobbly, almost childish-looking handwriting in return.]

There's someone named Epsilon here. This place is called the Gardens. I don't know where she is right now, but she'll probably reply if she sees this.

[text]

[fallenfreelancr]

[Hey, as long as she can read it.]

[Wait. What.] 'SHE'?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'SHE'?

[text]

[mnementomori]

I mean she.

The Epsilon you know is a boy? Because that happens a lot. Boys turn into girls here.

[text]

[fallenfreelancr]

[There's a long delay as Meta lets that sink in. Okay, the shfit and the cats and the scrolls were weird enough. Epsilon is suddenly turned into a girl ...?]

THE EPSILON I KNOW IDENTIFIED MALE. HE WAS AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. HE WAS IN CHARGE OF HIS OWN APPEARANCE.

BOYS INTO GIRLS. HOW DOES IT DO THAT?

[notvitiligo]

You are in the Gardens. There are brochures in the library that will explain what we know so far about the place.

Texas is in America which is far away right now. At least for our purposes as we do not have any idea the location of this place.

There is an Epsilon here at my fortress. It is possible you know her.

text

[fallenfreelancr]

[She will definitely be checking those brochures out -- once she has this other matter taken care of; Epsilon.]

[She'd travelled far enough already chasing the AI, a little mishap like this wasn't going to stop her. Too bad it's not her Epsilon.]

I HAVE FOUND TEXAS. I WILL GET HER BACK.

AS FOR EPSILON ... YES. I KNOW 'HER'. I KNOW HER VERY WELL. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET A HOLD OF HER FOR A LONG TIME. [Completely jumping to conclusions, here.]

WHERE IS YOUR FORTRESS?

fffff wrong girl

[notvitiligo]

[A pause as this sinks in.]

I am not sure I should reveal our location without consulting with her first.

d'oh! XD

[fallenfreelancr]

[Meta growls lowly to herself. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.]

WHY NOT?

YOU CAN TRUST ME.

[urbanwonderland]

I don't know of a person or place called "Texas". But I do know of a person here going by the name "Epsilon". She's a friend of mine, actually! Not sure where she is at the moment, but I'm sure she'll turn up. Are you by chance another artificial lifeform?

Oh, and you're in the Garden. I won't bore you with a lot of description-- save to say that no one is certain where we are, but that we do know we aren't going anywhere any time soon. A pamphlet about this place can be found in the library. Just let the cats lead the way!

[fallenfreelancr]

[Meta's purring to herself, sure that she's just a few more pokes closer to finding Epsilon's location.]

[As for herself being an AI, however, that seeps in and sours her mood immediately.]

I HAD THEM. I HAD SEVERAL OF THEM. I WAS GETTING MORE. I WAS NEARLY THERE. ALPHA.

I HAD THE ALPHA. [She pauses for a brief moment, trying to calm herself from the outburst. It gives her a chance to actually listen to what the other woman was saying, and that left her grumbling a little.]

CATS? WHY CATS?