Introducing the best NPC ever

[ms_ema_skye]

Who: Ema Skye and NPC.
What: Meetings and introductions.
Where: Tenements. Wherever Ema and Lana live.
When: Nau.
Rating: A for Awesome? XD Prolly PG-ish
Open: Maybe to Lana later... but currently no.
Notes: Like the title suggests, this introduces a new NPC that a certain mod has been dying to play (not me). Also, just a reminder that Ema's

Comments

[the_cake_isalie]

The network cable she had running to the Tenements gave an electronic twitch in her mind, notifying the AI that someone new had logged on. She had been keeping tabs on the new ones, waiting for them to reveal more about their deepest, innermost secrets on the journals she had so generously set up for them. It would make such wonderful research.

But this was an old resident. She checked the databases. And then GLaDOS poked her virtual eyes into Ema's computer, looking at the human girl through the webcam over its monitor.

She froze the screen and then displayed a message, deciding it wasn't worth it to speak just yet.

[WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR, EMA SKYE?]

[ms_ema_skye]

Ema just barely managed not to let out an audible cry of surprise. Despite the networks infamously buggy behavior, the computers had never really talked to her before. Not like this

Of course, the computer wasn't actually talking. It was more like text messaging, if you wanted to be technical about it. Still, it was direct communication that didn't come from someone on the network; it seemed to come from the network itself. For all the strange things she had seen happen on the Internet at home, the 'net talking back was not among them.

Hesitantly, Ema placed her hands back onto the keyboard and typed back a short reply.

[No one in particular.]

[the_cake_isalie]

GLaDOS was pleased by the response. She had been expecting to hear something akin to a scream, and watch the girl's retreating figure as she ran away. That had happened before. This was new. Talking back was new.

She focused the webcam a bit more and analyzed Ema's facial expression. Apprehensive, she settled on. The subject was apprehensive.

[Really? You use the network often. You look at people, read what they have to say, then leave. Why is that?]

[ms_ema_skye]

...How did the network even know that?

Ema was just about to log off when she stopped to think about it. Of course the network knew that; tracking an IP address wasn't terribly difficult. Viral advertisements and internet pornography back home both depended on that ability. Naturally, the network itself would know, too.

Or something. Ema was trying not to overthink it, if she had to be honest with herself. All she allowed herself to actively worry about was what to do if the network became hostile, which would be to unplug the computer and scream for her sister. As long as she wasn't alone, things would be okay

[the_cake_isalie]

GLaDOS scanned her records for anything on Ema Skye. There was little to go on. A few video feeds from places in the city showed her in the company of a larger male human, but that was the extent of it. She was going to have to make a hypothesis without adequate data. Worry about supporting it later.

[Why are you nervous? I can't hurt you. I'm not there. There's no one here. Where I am. There's no...one...to...talk...toooo...]

[ms_ema_skye]

So the network was lonely? That was strange; Ema would have guessed that the network would be anything but lonely. It had access to pretty much everyone in the city, after all. The fact that networks generally don't feel anything never occurred to her; she had always been one to miss certain details in favor of much-more-important science, and this was no exception. What was occurring had to be a ghost in the machine, the sort of thing she'd seen in the movies but had never actually seen in real life. This was the scientific opportunity of a lifetime, so of course she had to investigate it further.

And, despite every horrible thing the city had done to her, science was too tempting to just let go. Slowly, Ema was starting to open up.

[It's hard not to be nervous in this city. But I will talk to you, if you want.]

[the_cake_isalie]

Ema Skye seemed to open up rather quickly. Perhaps it was something she had said? GLaDOS took a moment to note in the day's logs that young females responded well to perceived loneliness. She added "Quantify adolescent females' drive to nurture and cure loneliness" to her list of scientific questions she would answer when the Preacher brought in more of Ema's demographic.

Still, if there was going to be an extended conversation, she might as well make it easier on the girl. GLaDOS warmed up her voice synthesizer and connected herself through the computer's speakers.

"Is it easier for us to talk if I speak?"

[ms_ema_skye]

Ema had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep the cry of shock from coming out and waking up her sister. The ghost had a voice! This was incredible! The AI that had formed in the network was much more advanced than she thought.

A very interesting observation. Out of habit, she reached for her notebook, only to find that it was long gone by now; she'd lost it in Matt Engarde's apartment way back when she first arrived. Silently, she swore to talk to Robin about replacing it. If anyone knew where to find supplies, it was him.

She wondered if the AI could hear as well as speak. Her voice halting slightly (she certainly didn't want to look like an idiot if the AI couldn't hear her, and she didn't want to wake her sister), she said, "That's fine. Can you hear me?"

[the_cake_isalie]

GLaDOS remotely turned up the microphone's sensitivity. She couldn't see where it was, but it was somewhere close enough that it picked up Ema's voice reasonably well.

"Yes, I can hear you. You have a microphone somewhere in the vicinity of this computer, but I can't see where it is. But I can see you. There is a camera on the computer and it lets me see you. Do you have things like these in >name of home world here

[ms_ema_skye]

Ema looked around the computer. The webcam was obviously perched on top of the monitor, but the microphone was nowhere to be found. It must have been internal. Well, at least she knew that she could be both seen and heard. That made a world of difference, observation-wise.

"I-I'm from Earth. Los Angeles... well, Europe these days, but I was born in Los Angeles." As if any of these places existed to the network of the spiral city. "And yeah, we do have cameras and microphones on our computers. We've had that technology for a long time."