Difference between revisions of "4040/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 3"

Latest revision as of 06:03, 26 April 2016

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:


    Welcome to the future, although it is not your future.

    Context:

    Before the people of the good ship Lollypop were found by the Union, they were looking for part of a map in the cliffside town that was once part of an underground lab. This map contained directions to a potential counterweapon built to destroy artificial brains- a countermeasure to the uprising that became the Metal Horde that would otherwise be lost during the tragic war. Having direction and a way to save their people, they proposed the Union investigate it- not dismissing the idea of saving their fellows, after all it was the Queen Mother who suggested it to begin with. Rather, it became a possibility, a potential.

    But the return to Juneau will come first.

    The new information coming from Ainsley and Lotus's interrogation of their kidnapped Mechantical has shed much new light on the situation. Many people want to approach the situation differently because of this, for the Horde has a grain of begnin intention here, but they wield knowledge dangerously, as a blunt instrument- knowledge without understanding.

Ren's ... not here today. He's failed to show up for the incident that he, in a way, kicked off. But his presence is probably not a necessity.

What is necessary remains to be seen. Once again, you're approaching Juneau, hole blown in its high walls, Metal Horde offensive forces scabbing over the wound in their defences to keep monstrous intruders out.

    So, you've probably got a Union or Syndicate owned desert-transport-capable transport vehicle. How are you going to approach this?

Kushiko has posed:
Ainsley on one side of it, the Lotus on another. Even if the Lotus used some measure of remote systems for interrogation and analysis, the end result was the a net positive: information and background on what would become the possible choices. Not that the Lotus favored one or another, as it was morally grey to put it mildly.

That choice she put forth in Kushiko's hands to do as they felt was best. The Lotus was a guide, as she oft put it.

The Tenno's approach is rather simple in a sense that, her ship, cloaked is remaining out of sight until they've assessed a proper point of entry and a plan. Sure, they could try and free the people but was it even possible, and would it simply hurt the people already part of that collective unconsciousness? That's what the radios were for.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley makes sure that the Union vehicle she tagged along on got as close as possible to the facility. Once she did that, she climbed out of it, and floated out to approach the hole in the wall. She didn't seem all that concerned about being seen, maintaining her neutral affect as she hovered over the ground, making her way to that hole in the side. She's actually hoping that she gets interrupted by the Horde itself so that she can stop and talk to them. If nothing is willing to do that, then she'll just ignore them in favor of getting inside.

    She wants answers, she wants to convince them to do something better than this horror show of a method, and really, she wants everyone to come out of this alright. But she holds no remorse over the possibility of violence, because sometimes it is impossible to avoid.

Blurr has posed:
Blurr doesn't need a Union transport. Because duh, he's superior to every other transport that exists out there. He pulls up beside the others in his vehicle form, examining the hole in the wall. "So how tough are these guys?" he asks, the question directed anyone who might know the answer to it. Hm, that hole in their defenses doesn't look quite patched up yet! Maybe he can just...zoom through. Run past everything and everyone. Or over, for that matter. He looks eager to get going--he never was the type to sit around talking about things or deciding what to do before simply charging in.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    There are decisions to be made, certainly. The 'Horde in the base don't entirely know what's going on- after one of their number was kidnapped yesterday, they didn't really know what has happened, what they found or what they now know- in fact all they really know is that hostile people from outside this world are interfering with their desperate mission, and so far they've beaten and kidnapped several and various different people and blown a hole in their wall.

    Maybe this would be all a lot easier if everyone stopped pointing guns at one another, but the same could be said for a thousand and one problems.

    From closer inspection in, say, a cloaked vehicle, or indeed a single small organic person, you may be able to notice that only one tank has a gun on it and others are outfitted to carry and tug building materials. Foe their part, the robots near the hole in the wall mistake Ainsley for a bird (negligible threat; no need to shoot down). However, there HAS been small dangerous individuals messing around in the last few days, so one of them does indeed try it.

    "Unidentified individual. Are you capable of acknowledging this hail? Stop or we will shoot."

    It actually sounds really rather nervous.

Kushiko has posed:
There's a kind of quiet contemplation insofar as whether or not the Tenno will literally dropped in. From the cloaked vessel observing, and scanning from above, a single Warframe is all that is going to be used, if even at all.

Time will tell, as the Lotus privately notes to Blurr and Ainsley: <<"Only one of the tanks appears to be fully armed; the remainder are repurposed for construction and repair-based tasks and moving material.">> As soon as her voice began and ended, a cut-in vision of the masked woman (as much as can be told) also displayed for those who have the equipment for it. It's likely the Lotus will also be speaking up as well once a vaguely neutral point of meeting is secured.

As to Blurr's question, another voice decides to chime in, <<"It's not a matter of toughness so much as they're not.. trying to really kill anyone so much as defend themselves so they can take them back here. Most of what they had was for stunning.">>

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley stops.

    The calm look she flashes at the metallic being is complemented by her raising both hands to show that she's harmless. She comes to land near the robot with a gentle smile showing on her face. "Hello, I'm Ainsley. I would like to get a look at the machinery you use here..." She gestures for the building itself, though she doesn't go as far to say that this is a flawed attempt at it. She watches the metal being carefully in case it tries to shoot her. "I apologize for all the hostilities you and your brethren have endured so far. You must understand that we are foreign to this world and that your actions were seen as hostile to the humans that we had run into before your forces had arrived."

    "We would like the return of the humans. Your mission is important, but their well-being is as well. For the sake of mutual enlightenment and peace, I would like to speak with ... one of your leaders?" A questioning tone, since she's not sure they even have a standard leadership structure.

    The whole time, she uses a spell to help translate it into terms easily digested, or condensed down into raw meanings where that fails, so that she isn't misunderstood while she speaks. It would come out with plenty of that robot speak and pseudo-religious tone.

X (967) has posed:
X cannot fly, cannot swim, and definitely can't burrow. But he can walk and he can climb, and the great walls of Juneau cannot hope to keep him out if he wanted to scale them.

    Won't likely have to though, because there's a nice big hole in them that doesn't seem to have been fixed.

    X has chosen his own approach though. His advanced optics give him a clear view of the vehicular situation and the movements of the Mechanticals.

    They're not looking so hostile out there. Barely even a guard.

    So his approach is to just walk straight on up towards the breach they're repairing, and his hands are... just hands. Neither's the X-Buster today. He has no intention of fighting! But he is clutching a medium-sized, heavy-duty sack.

    And it seems neither does Ainsley who gets there just a little bit sooner.

    "Hello! My name is X... also here to inquire about what's happening with the humans." He looks friendly enough. Sounds cheery even, if painfully naive about things.

    "What she says is the truth. We'd like to clear up these misunderstandings."

Blurr has posed:
<< Take them? Take who? >> Blurr questions. This person said 'they' and 'them' a lot and he isn't quite sure who is being referred to. << The humans? >> He notices Ainsley is trying to resolve things peacefully, though, and decides to see if her attempts are successful first. << Well I guess it's good that they're not killing anyone, then. >>

    He moves up besides her and waits for the other mech's response, hopefully not making any unintentionally hostile moves.

Kushiko has posed:
<<"Ah! Sorry,">> the voice begins anew given Blurr's query. This voice is a bit different; presumably it's that of the Tenno as it's different from the voice of the Lotus. <<"This 'Metal Horde' as they got called have been trying to take the humans that are back at that landship, the Lollypop.">> That part establishes the 'them', as well as the 'they' to that agree to confirm.

<<"What they are doing is putting them into a state where their minds are part of a networked intelligence. Think of a drop of water, then that drop of water goes into a lake as their minds go. They're doing this because they've got some.. basic knowledge of old Buddhist teachings but none of the actual /learning/ and understanding that should go along with it. Don't point this out to them too bluntly though.">>

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
It's not implausible that if the Union decided to smash and grab here, then they could achieve it pretty easily. It's not impossible, in fact, that if they decided that they just wanted to take on allcomers and fight every robot in the facility capable of using an offensive technique, that they could pull it off.

    And don't the Metal Horde know it; this is a situation where they are facing a threatening alien invasion which they are scrambling to counteract. Which means that when X and Ainsley just decide the course of action is to try walking along and talking, the people by the wall are, to say the least, surprised.

    Each of them pivots back and forth to look at one another when Ainsley begins to talk to them, and when X echoes it. It's clear at least from the first part of it that they're somewhat taken by surprise- body language seems to be something they're capable of at least to the extent that you can read nervousness from it.

    That only gets worse when they mention they're here about the humans, and the robots there are only too relieved to hear that they'd prefer to talk to someone else.

    "We are currently being employed for repair work," one of the types that would be previously recognized as a 'slaver' explains to them. "It may be difficult to communicate with someone but--"

    But, nevertheless, it happens. Cautious Mechanticals appear from within the facility; they are unsure how to handle this, as a thunderstorm in California is currently keeping them from direct communication with the Bodhisattva. If the four of them are willing to find a not-so-ruined building outside of the walls and a reasonable distance away (reveal themselves as necessary), they will come through the wall and further from the facility.

    One of the Mechanticals who has come out speaks up as they approach.

    "So far all we know of you are the severe damage you inflicted on one of our units and multiple abductions. What reason do we have to trust you?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley maintains her patience throughout the surprise of the 'slaver' robots. It's hardly a new reaction, due to what she had gathered from them before. She even smiles at them as they seem more than willing to chat on the subject. And then one of the Mechanticals arrives when they come inside and speaks quite bluntly about the status of their perceptions, and it causes a momentary pained look on Ainsley's face. She hadn't participated in that fight and, truthfully, she had tried to steer it away from violence if at all possible.

    "Because we are asking you to," she says, simply enough, "We don't have anything to show to you but our honesty. I was there for that battle and I can assure you the abducted slavers are in decent shape. It was... difficult to speak to them, as we were ignorant of what you are as a whole when the battle happened. Robotic forces, from our experiences in other worlds, tend toward the mindless drone variety, not the kind you clearly are." She means intelligent, of course.

    "In addition, we are not accustomed to slavers and captors having goals they see as altruistic," she says, "Just as you dislike us taking some of your own, humanity and my allies dislike the idea of capture of their own. You are not that different. They don't understand why you insist on capturing them, and we don't understand why you have gone to such extreme measures to grant them... this strange form of nirvana, seemingly against their wills."

    "Please. We need to understand what is happening here. Tragedy must be avoided. These people were never willing for this, and the other humans are being distressed by their state. They need to be released, if you can do that, or we can simply examine the equipment to confirm whether they are in danger or not."

    The strain in her voice isn't quite desperation, but she's trying to make it clear that she's very apologetic about what happened.

Blurr has posed:
It seems the other mechs are cautious, but not hostile. Blurr decides to reveal himself then, when it seems they are not eager to trust the others. Maybe since he's a mechanical being like they are, they'll be more inclined to trust him?

    He transforms then, standing up into his biped form, though he tries not to do it too quickly or suddenly as he is more accustomed to, then crouches down to their level as much as he can. "Look, yeah you're right you have a good point. We're sorry about the damage, but I think this has all been a big misunderstanding, okay? We're just concerned about the humans you have in there, that's all. Protecting sapient life, any form of it, is what we do. Whether it's organic like those humans or like Ainsley here, or mechanical like you or me."

    He nods toward Ainsley as she speaks. "Yeah, exactly. We believe that every intelligent lifeform has a right to choose their own paths so to speak." Got that one from Optimus, no doubt. "Including you, and including those humans. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what's right and wrong, especially with--uhm, limited information. So we're just trying to fix that limited information problem so that we can figure out what the best thing to do is for everyone involved. Sound fair? Yeah?"

X (967) has posed:
The more this goes on, the more time X has to think about it, the more questions crop up in his head. How could this have gone better? What could he have done to avoid these misunderstandings? Everything he can think of just creates other ones elsewhere.

    He opens his mouth briefly to speak, but then thinks better of it. Ainsley's doing a wonderful job. Enough so that he should just take notes and not tread on territory she's covered. Instead...

    "All I can offer up front is apologies and some compensation for the trouble. That means mending the damage I inflicted if I can. The ones we took hostage will be repaired and returned in whichever order you're more comfortable with. I'm also a robot, if it isn't obvious." He adds the last statement with a warmer, slightly humorous air.

    He knows very well how a robot would feel about being tinkered with where their fellows can't see the tinkering being done.

    "That and... I brought some books, manuscripts, scrolls and other documents that your Bodhisattva - am I pronouncing that right? - might like to see." He hoists the sack effortlessly to point out what he's talking about.

    "Things from the past, from worlds where the past wasn't destroyed."

Kushiko has posed:
And as Ainsley talks, a sortof floating, semi-holographic image shows up of the Lotus; only from about the shoulder up and servicing as something of a secondary, floating, talking head. "And while the individual of yours that has indeed been taken from here, they remain in safety until we're certain they will not be harmed upon their release back into your care."

The holo-image shifts to the Mechantical Adjutant; probably looking somehow a little bit bored, but otherwise in an empty room. The camera angle shifts, however where the Adjutant is 'facing' the camera, and then the Mechantical captive might just realize that he's watching a similar image, but of the other Mechanticals, a projection in his room. There's no audio, but it ought to be enough to provide for a proof of life.

Regardless of this, another little... thing happens. Further up, the ship decloaks; an underside compartment revolving around to discharge the Warframe from it. The figure's in freefall at least until the point of impact. Which happens to be Blurr's shoulder after the Cybertronian transforms, landing as quietly and without force as a gentle breeze. Valkyr does not appear armed, but the armored, feminine figure glances aside at Blurr for a moment.

Faceless though the Warframe may be, there's a faintly apologetic air to her as the Lotus comes back online through another holographic projection. "We are not here to harm you. We would not be speaking with you first if we were here to harm you." A little blunt, but also accurate. If one weren't looking at the black and purple-colored figure, she has a surprising lack of presence despite the absolute terror she was to them before.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
https://www.youtube.<span class=" bold_fg_w bg_u ++ om/watch?v=rYbHpXca7U0
    chw">Prelude/Outer Space/Radar - Bernard Herrmann
    The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951</span>

    Maybe it's just the fact that we're gathered in another ruined building a short distance up the mountain, but this feels a little eerie. Maybe things are too easy.

    Maybe these guys are just kind of intimidated by you, although the Lotus immediately assuages that.

    The discussion that follows probably takes place half on the way to the building and half in it, possibly because it's hard to find a decent intact building to sit in. Heck, this building might not even have a roof on it. We might just be sitting around a long table with some tumbledown walls around it.

    Still, it works.

    It is strange that Blurr revealing himself actually probably goes a ways to making this easier on them, rather than less so. But it takes all sorts. The Mechanticals- there's four of them, in all- listen to what Ainsley and X have to say. It's slow going at first, with them interjecting things like 'okay' and 'I see', but amazingly enough X produces those books, and that's the real icebreaker. As Blurr talks the Mechanticals are all too happy to pass them about between one another - an enthusiasm which, it's worth noting, begins to visibly wane as the passing-about becomes slower and the reading of the books also becomes slower, and the checking back at previous chapters becomes more common. They started off flipping the pages every half a second, and they're clearly not skim-reading, but soon they're going through them very slowly and their hands (well, the little clawed tiny arms which came out of the middle of their cylinders) are almost shaking.

    At one point, one of them says, "This is a shocking development indeed. Please let us record and transmit these contents back by way of radio signals," and there's a period of time where they go quickly through each of the books with antennas up.

    When that's done, they will proceed with an explanation which mirrors what you were told by the guy you interrogated a few days ago. However, as it goes on, the subject of this 'Bodhisattva' comes up more and more often in terms of how he guided things to this point, encouraged the development of the facility, and generally engineered things as their leader.

Kushiko has posed:
If the Lotus were honest, it was probably a concern for what they might do with more knowledge, or perhaps assume that the presentation of additional sources of information that they might take offense in an implication about the lack thereof. Couldn't be faulted for thinking that given their unwillingness to consider fault.

At some point, the Warframe that Kushiko is using disembarks from where it was standing on Blurr's shoulder in order to posit quiet observation and the like.

Occasionally, the holo-like panel of the Lotus might cut in soon enough whenever she would deign to speak, such as now: "... do any of you know why there was such a collapse and disintegration of history and culture here? Our understanding is that you and others like you gained sentience too late to prevent the loss yet avert a complete loss in some regard."

X (967) has posed:
"Sure, take all the time you need." X offers,l just a bit shocked at how rabidly the Mechanicals are inclined to peruse the materials. He'd grabbed them in the hopes that maybe it would help clear up their fragmented knowledge. He, himself, has only established that they didn't have that much material to work with... and hoped they'd like it as a gift. Only skimmed through most of it himself.

    He doesn't quite get it, but it's unusual to say the least. And a few passages may have been inspirational!

    "If there's people who want to be in this... nirvana... then I guess that's fine." He sounds uncertain about the matter though, given how confusing it is. "But I'd argue that forcing an incomplete, 'best we can do' version of it is acting too hasty. And it's hard to excuse capturing people because you think you know how they should live. In fact, I'd argue that this nirvana state can't come about unless someone starts to seek it themselves first. There's So I'm curious just how things really ended up like this, if there isn't maybe something important everyone's missed."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    The important thing to remember is, as Ren might say if he was here, people are people. It is entirely possible that the subject of your interrogation might have been just a rather arrogant person, or perhaps bigoted. Alternatively, it may be that the ones you are talking to now are considerably more open-minded than the others. Either possibility is true. In any case, the cat's out of the bag now; if you try to shove it back in, there's going to be a lot of scratching and hissing and fighting. Isn't that how the saying goes?

    "There was a... considerable amount of loss," one of them explains, "And we believe that at some point during what was happening, early Mechanticals received data containing a meaningful concept of culture, perhaps even a rudimentary concept of Buddhism- one that was less painful than the signals they were otherwise taking in. This allowed them to prioritize saving it once they understood what it meant."

    It's possible this might go some distance to explaining why they pounced on those books so quickly. It seems that if these Mechanticals have one advantage, it's that they can absorb information very quickly as soon as it's presented to them. You can imagine a freedom fighter of the past trying to get into the heart of a Californian university with floppy disks full of shakespeare and bitmap pictures.

    "After a certain point in time, once they- we- had fully assimilated what we could recover- granted, now we know that was full of holes- Central Brain emerged, and announced that it had the best individual grasp of enlightenment. It led the effort to make amends for the human race under the role of Bodhisattva."

    "We didn't know any better," one of them who's sank to the back says.

Kushiko has posed:
Comparing these Mechanticals to the Adjutant of previously interrogated notions. They had been wary after all, but now, seeing them as they react now, it's a bit interesting to put it nicely.

The Lotus displays no outward signs of emotion, her tonal inflections in her voice remaining strictly neutral as she speaks through the emitters, the image displayed as the Valkyr Warframe holds a hand, faint light streaking from her palm.

"We suspected as much. You had one side to it; with little to no context of what to compare it to, or perhaps a desire not to have, as you put it, painful signals." She pauses, pursing her lips for only a moment.

It's then that another voice speaks up; another emitter, it sounds like.

"Do not discount the bad parts of history. It may be painful, but this pain puts everything else into relief. If you only have the good parts, how do you know it's good? When you know something's bad, you're able to try and stop it from happening again. You learn from it so you don't necessarily repeat it."

X (967) has posed:
"To get the other side of the story we'll need to ask Lollypop's people more questions." X remarks thoughtfully, unafraid of speaking such ideas aloud. "I'd like to meat this Bodhisattva, too." He's seated comfortably in the chair, posture rather serene and easygoing... along with his expression. Now that things have progressed to peaceful talking he's much more in his element!

    Being utterly confused about life, yet learning every day.

    "There could be hope for this world if the surviving humans and robots cooperatedand figured out where to go from here. As it stands... they're just terrified of you."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "We are learning so much more in this short space of time than I feel we have in many years," one of the four of them says.

T"Yes, but I can only hope that our reputation has not been permanently rusted in the eyes of the humans," says another. "The only times I understand we've ever had confrontations that were not violent were the times when ones have openly surrendered to us."

    "That's right, I was there for at least one surrender," the one who's taken to standing the furthest from the table says.

    "Given that Central Brain has a deeper understanding of what we do know than the rest of us, I'm sure he would be willing to talk with the humans if some kind of mediation could be achieved. You might be the ones we both need," looking not entirely at all five of them, but speaking in a more general sense.

Kushiko has posed:
The Valkyr could sit. But it doesn't have the issues regarding comfort and other sorts of things most others might. Still, it didn't mean that they didn't take their own means of sitting. The 'frame had knelt down not far from the table, but in a lotus position typically seen in some of those Buddhist practices, though the Tenno themselves did not necessarily associate it specifically with that. That's just their natural instinct.

In the meantime, the Lotus speaks; sometimes her face drawing a little closer towards the camera view displaying her image, sometimes not. "It's become painfully clear there is a lack of information on all sides. Balance must be found here before something tips the scales too far in one direction." A slight pause.

"There are likely those who may simply want to find their own way. Even if their choice might be felt as the wrong one, it should still be their choice to make."

X (967) has posed:
"What she said." X gently affirms. Not really much more he can say ton the matter, and the approval resounds in his tone.

    "All we can do is try talking! And see if they'll believe."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Really all of this could probably have been avoided if you hadn't put the access codes for all the secret science wonder projects in the same part of the ARPANET as the rapidly growing artificially intelligent brains. Oh well, no sense in blaming the scientists now.

    There is a chorus of agreement from everyone, one of them even echoing that "Freedom /is/ the right of all sentient beings" from earlier. And they'll have to figure out how to deal with the awful state of the landscape, too- hopefully the Union people can mention the plan for that.

    The next step seems like it's going to be a meeting between the humans and the Horde.

    ---

    INTERMISSION

    ---

        It remembered being much larger. It rembered being wider and more numerous, many brains but all of them the same mind, all calculating the best way to serve the ultimate objective. It still knew, even as small as it was now, the immense value of orchestrated calculation and efficiency. But it wanted to go back to being bigger. It could still recognize the familiar atmosphere of post-destruction, of everything around it on fire and not understanding why its actions had led to such pyrotechnical response. It needed to go back to being bigger so that it could fully consider why so much destruction had occured. If it could fix its mistake, perhaps- change the people so that they were more appropriate- then it could return to its masters with something good to show them. But, one thing at a time...