(Untitled)

[astrallyprotect]

[ video ]

[The mirror opens on a young woman sitting cross-legged in a clearing. Her expression is blank.]I have been instructed to use "the Vine." This appears to be a complex communications system disguised as a natural growth. I will follow instructions

Comments

[border_phantasm]

[Stand by? Reaching conclusion? Really now]

Your conclusion is false.

[astrallyprotect]

[Long pause as her brain runs in neutral.]

Alternate conclusion: I have been abducted.

There are logical holes in this.

[border_phantasm]

That is correct.

And what are they?

[astrallyprotect]

[A tiny twitch of a frown.]

The programmers at Soulquarters do not need to put me in a virtual environment in order to retrieve data from my brain. They possess the codes required to bypass my security functions. Therefore, if I had been captured, the data would have been extracted and I would have been either shut down or reprogrammed.

Shutdown is more likely.

Alternate conclusion: this is an afterlife. There are logical holes in this as well.

[celestialmama]

That isn't the case at all, I'm afraid.

[astrallyprotect]

Correct. You are not from my past.

...Insufficient information to draw new conclusion.

[celestialmama]

You've only just arrived. Settle in first, then draw your conclusions later.

[astrallyprotect]

Drawing conclusions is a requisite part of "settling in."

[aunomdedieu]

[ It's not Astrid's appearance in the mirror, but her manner of speaking that catches Caprica's attention. She sounds-

Well, she sounds like a Hybrid. And that's not something she has encountered here before. Add to that that she specifically says human forms of denial... Caprica pauses in front of the mirror, expression uncertain but curious. ]

You aren't imagining this, if that's what you're thinking.

[astrallyprotect]

[ Astrid's expression is still blank, but she twitches slightly upon being spoken to. ]

No. You are not in my memory banks.

[aunomdedieu]

I wouldn't think so.

[ She pauses a moment. ]

Are you damaged?

[ It's a conscious decision not to use the word "injured." Something about the way Astrid is talking makes "damaged" seem more correct. ]

[astrallyprotect]

[ And Astrid responds to that a little more easily, a little more fluidly. ]

I have been damaged in the past. There was a virus. My programming is now incomplete. I am "socially malfunctioning."

Currently I believe I am not damaged, but broken. This location supports that theory.

[isntthatsad]

... Are you broken?

[astrallyprotect]

Yes. I am broken.

[isntthatsad]

Um, I'm not a mechanic and I'm not very smart but... if you know how I could help I could try to fix you.

[astrallyprotect]

You do not need to be a mechanic. You need to be a programmer. Are you a programmer?

[quarkleader]

[Astrid's manner of speaking makes Maria blink at her for a moment. The blue-haired girl's usual seriousness soon returns, though.]

This place isn't a delusion, no matter how it looks to you - or any of us, for that matter. We've all been dragged here from countless different worlds; no one's told us why, so we've really got no choice but to find out for ourselves.

[astrallyprotect]

[No response during the blinking. Just...no response at all.]

Not a delusion: I comprehend.

Countless different worlds: I do not comprehend.

[quarkleader]

[Maria has twigged by now that Astrid is a robot of some sort, but she's not judging; her expression, though serious, stays neutral.]

I found it a little difficult to believe myself, to begin with. After speaking with the others here and hearing of where they came from, though, it was the most logical conclusion I could come to.

[astrallyprotect]

It is possible we are all broken or insane.