3926/Door to the Past

Door to the Past
Date of Scene:	19 March 2016
Location:	Core Fleet - Orbiting the Starbound Colony
Synopsis:	The Flotilla, alongside select members of the Union and Confederacy, explore the log files of the Mugunghwa. Things become more heated than some might have anticipated.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Riva Banari, Eryl Fairfax, 596, 626, Starbound Flotilla, 673, Corona Arclite, Sanary Rondel, 958

---

Mute (958) has posed:
    The location that the group is called to today should be much more familiar to the members of the Flotilla: it is the Core Fleet, surely enough, which is presently in orbit above the planet their recently established colony is situated on. True to expectation, Mute has chosen to remain in Moonfin's ship for the time being, meaning that today she will be showing the group exclusively the documents that were downloaded on to his spare drives. In other words, they won't be getting the full story today, but she has promised that they will at least be of paramount relevance to the more holistic story of the Mugunghwa.

    As the various interested parties slowly begin to filter on to the ship, then to the comparatively tiny screen providing access to the ship's SAIL module, they will see a new icon labeled simply 'Archives'. And should they press that icon - which they are assumed to shortly after arrival if Moonfin had not done so beforehand - they would see a new screen, similar in appearance to that of the Mugunghwa's Security Terminal, appear afterwards:


==============================================================================


*** Mugunghwa Archives ***


Block 5


Notice: You better not be accessing this without my permission! I'll know if you do! - *Mute


Last Login: "Moonfin," 2 hours ago
AI PERSONALITY CURRENTLY DISABLED. WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY RE-ENABLED UPON LOG ACCESS.
AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: month, promise, name, folly

To display a document, type read <document>.


==============================================================================

    So it seems like they can get started right away! If anyone in the group types the 'read' command, then the whole group will be able to see the contents of the log appear on the screen.

    It may also bear mention that Mute isn't visible at the moment. She'll reappear after the first log is accessed, then briefly deactivate each time the group drops back to this screen. This will give people an opportunity to think and talk amongst themselves without her being present, if needed.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    The Core Fleet of the Flotilla -- more colloqially known as the Starbound Flotilla, or the Starbounders -- reside in the middle of the drifting fleet, spread out unevenly but always in close proximity to each other in some way. The SFS Vehemence is an ultramodern white craft, a heavy weapons platform that leads the other five. Just behind it, the SFS Abdication -- a miniature house-sized castle-looking spaceship with a large sensor array -- and the SFS Kaleidoscope -- four other ships welded together, lashed with vines, and given a heavy railgun -- slip into the available space as well, and beyond them, the trio of the SFS Rapacity, a pyramid-styled craft bristling with strange red gems, the SFS Mendacity, a modern, chunky durasteel industrial craft, and the SFS Connoisseur, a light blue fish-styled sleek spacecraft.

    The orbit of Amalgam doesn't show anything but the soft light of the colony below, gently lit up by the residents and their activity. Otherwise, the planet is bare of any development. The sun is going to set soon, but not too soon, over the rounded horizon. This will be plainly visible from the viewing room that Moonfin has established. This large, rounded chamber, covered softly red-tinted glass for most of its exterior wall, is fit with a large variety of holoprojectors that can make use of the entire space, or the wall of the glass itself, for Mute's benefit. He's moved his SAIL access point here, leaving it flat on a table in the center of the chamber. As befitting a Hylotl, his craft's interior is an anachronistic mix of eastern culture designs, mostly centered on pseudo-neo-feudal Japanese designs but incorporating a few elements of traditional Chinese, Korean, and similar influences. Decorative flora are kept in top condition, floors are covered with tatami mats, shoji screens divide the rooms between subtly decorated ornate walls, the area is furnished with stylish hand-carved furniture in a way that perfectly respects feng shui, and everyone can expect to be sitting on their knees for a lot of this, around that table. All six Starbound Captains are already here, and Moonfin is already preparing tea, with Seft's help to make a more useful blend for the artificial members of the Flotilla.

    "Each visitor to my craft is welcomed as an honored guest. May you find comfort that exceeds home. Please, take your seats." Moonfin, for his part, is going through a process that's probably some kind of horrendously elaborate Hylotl tea-serving ceremony or something, but has long since stopped trying to get anyone else to go along with it. Boy though, it sure adds probably way more class than would ever be necessary.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite happened to be working on her own ship, the one that looks like someone slapped rocket engines on a steam engine, so she beamed over to see what was so interesting. Though at first she's a bit distracted by the decor of the ship itself, letting out a low whistle. "Ah shouldn't be surprised Moony's ship would be all gussied up like this, but that don't make it no less impressive of a sight."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"All about the PARTY SHIP!!"

    Sadly, on the inside Kyra's ship is a lot less of a 'party' a more of a mobile lab and machining shop. Over time, she's procured all sorts of equipment for her laboratory from a high-end PCR machine to a protein assay device to a 3-D printer. It's also a total /wreck/ on the inside yet somehow despite the mess, everything within is bolted down, webbed, magnetized, or somehow secured on the off chance that it has an internal gravity field failure. The ship is even big enough to have sleeping quarters!

    Kyra provides transport to the handful of Union-leaning people that cottoned on to the Broadband-related exchange-for the most part, Riva and Eryl. They've been invited to make themselves comfortable on the 'bridge', though only one person is going to get their own seat. The other will have to stand or go elsewhere on the ship if they want to sit down. Kyra seems to manuver the ship with ease, piloting manually instead of via the built-in AI and navigational computer-a testament to the practice she's been receiving from Juno.

    She can even dock properly, providing a sealed doorway to egress from the Rafflesia, protected by airlocks of course, to Moonfin's ship, the SFS Connoisseur. For now, she leaves the ship docked, floating in tandem over Amalgam.

    Kyra yawns a little as she settles in. Much like when Riva saw her last time, she seems a little tired. Between training herself up to improve her physical condition and secretly running Ground Zero (and the mountains of preparation involved in that), she /is/ rather exhausted.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary's looking a little stiff today. Is it the classy new coat? Is it Moonfin's formal welcoming and the strangely familiar decor? Is it the array of unfamiliar words and odd screens with things she can only barely attempt to understand? Or is it the fact that she's inside a space-faring machine with no way to get back to solid ground without either praying that it functions as expected instead of crashing like some sort of firey death ball?

     She's actually not too worried about that last part. Space is safer than the air, after all! No, it's definitely a combination of the first three. She still manages a light salute to Moonfin and the Starbound captains at that greeting however, grinning pleasantly and taking a look around the ship from where she's standing. "Thanks for bringing me along. Not sure what kind of logs these are, but I'll try to help with something while I'm here."

     Hopefully, she won't make too much of an ass of herself!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa was here and she was ready as they were getting into the rchives to find out waht was going on. She'll lent her skills top this as best she can, if it's needed. She is however quite in a chipper mood as she arrives as she beams over form her own ship and gets a very warm welcome here..

"Good o see all of you, and Kyra it's beena while since I have see you. Have you been all right?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Though Eryl was silent on the radio, he was not ignorant of this whole affair. Always awake, always listening. A little creepy? Yes, but it has paid off in this instance. He knows enough about Mute to understand what she is, and where she's coming from.

    An AI made to serve humans, one that failed completely. While Eryl has never failed on that level, he too was made to help protect humanity. He hopes that this common ground would help her open up some. She seemed quite brusque on the radio, but such a thing is bound to cause some trauma, even for a simulated consciousness.

    Thus, he hutches a ride with Kyra! And being the gentleman that he is, he remains standing so that Riva can sit. "I'm used to being on my feet," he would say. Upon docking with the Connoisseur and being greeted with Moonfin's elaborate rituals, Eryl actually falls in line with them! "Your efforts are excessive for the likes of me. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you."

    It's not just him being nice though. The whole space flight over, Eryl was brushing up on tact and diplomacy from Asiatic cultures. Based on what he knows, Mute's origins probably lay in Korea, but it doesn't hurt to branch out. Thus, playing along with Moonfin makes for some good practice.

    When the interface is opened and the files listed, he speaks. "In all likelihood, these are sorted by date. So, starting with 'month' and going along the list would tell the story in chronological order, which is much easier to follow. This is just my two cents, however."

Riva Banari has posed:
Kyra's here, and her smartphone is at hand. The Templar girl is all up and hip to the technolgies, though she isn't /strictly/ a hacker. Her phone does that for her, you see.

But she doesn't begin messing with anything. Right now she's perfectly behaved, though she seems to be sitting lotus-style instead of on her knees as she watches the proceedings begin. she leans in against Kyra, giving her a supportive hug and sister-esque hairfuzzle before things get moving. She sets up a local connection to Moonfin's computer to get some data on what's goin on in this thread as well as to the generation ship. She'll be flicking back and forth over time as things go on.

Anyone who's looking over her shoulder will note there is an ominous button in the corner of her phone UI in the shape of a cat, with a slider. It's currently at 0.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Well, background context glossed over, Zwei is true to its word. Porting in on Moonfin's ship, through exterior colour confinement rather than taking up his teleporter pad with so many other people streaming in, is Weiss, set up to look like high class Korean nobility. Flushed out skin, natural eye colour, a little shorter and more slender, rounder features, decked out in a hanbok and fan she probably doesn't intend to touch, though without colouring her hair. It's kind of a small comfort in amidst all the crazy dress and even crazy /species/ present here, but a promise is a promise, and so she sticks out as perhaps a little island of normality for *Mute.

    "Well I think it's lovely." she says airily (and vaguely) in response to notice of Moonfin's decor. Higher culture and all that. "Quite a crowd. Is this everyone?"

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "Bemused. That Moonfin goes to such lengths to impress his friends should be expected." Seft says, then synthesizes a well-meaning giggling-like sequence of chirping beeps. "Greeting. Hello, Sanary, I will look forward to your review of things." And then, to Eryl, "Assuaging. Please try not to mind the tradition where it presents any inconvenience. We have convinced Moonfin to make no demands of the others." Zwei gets a friendly, positive nod. "Grateful. He goes to great lengths, I am sure he appreciates it."

    Moonfin, while he works on serving the tea, follows along with Eryl's suggestion, and hits 'Month' on the main interface, mirroring it to the broad display on the large glass. Seft sets out -- or in Eryl's case at least hands out -- the tea for the artificial members here. Well-brewed supplies of essential liquids for machines, with the same elegant warmth and taste of your average cup of tea. As the log queues up, Moonfin serves more mundane Hylotl tea, which has the sort of taste that only a tea connoisseur will fully enjoy, while it winds up being a bit off to the casual drinker, as the Hylotl love their elitist barriers.

    "If there are no further matters to discuss, let's begin."

Mute (958) has posed:
    As the phrase 'read month' is entered, Mute fades into existence shortly before a long ream of text. She is in her standard pose, one hand held to her side, her expression quite clearly twisted in anxiety even with its lack of realistic detail. She hesitates for a while before she speaks, and she only manages to do so once she has closed her eyes to the group; for whatever reason, she still seems fairly uncomfortable with them.

    "Hey," She greets. -Then- she manages to open her eyes, allowing her to get a glimpse of Moonfin's (attempt at) a tea ceremony and Zwei's attire, both of which she observes with easily missed nods of approval. The more observant among them may also notice her shoulders gradually relaxing as her eyes scroll around the viewing room, which is decorated in the same, futuristic-yet-classical atmosphere that she's accustomed to. At that, she can't help letting out a long exhalation. 'Thank God there was a ship like this, at least,' is the sentiment that anyone could garner from the gesture. It's a feeling of relief that she hasn't been able to get over for the past several days.

    Now composed, her hands join at her waist, and she speaks again. "So," She starts, "the files I found today come from the fifth block of the Mugunghwa's system. That means that they're written by a small handful of authors, and while they're REALLY not the authors I would've liked, I think they're enough to give you all a good idea of what happened on the ship. Why it was floating in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of skeletons on it, I mean." She straightens her posture slightly once she's finished.

    "The first one is 'The Pale Bride', a girl from a family called 'Kim' who became the Emperor's second wife. The second one is 'Kim Jung-su,' her father. It looks like the one you picked was written by..." At seeing the name, she breathes a long, lasting sigh of relief. "Okay, good, this one is by the father. Trust me, you'll be glad that you didn't read something from the daughter first. I'll be quiet and let you read now, though."

    The message that appears with her reads as follows:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: The month of good fortune

Author: Kim Jung-Su


The second month of the 319th year was one of great fortune for the Kim family. While on official business, the Captain and Emperor Ryu confided in me that he wished that I had a daughter of marriage age to give to him, to take as a second wife. His first wife had been unable to provide a son, and was becoming increasingly concerned that she never would.

At the start of the month, I had no daughter in my family to give; my only son Yeong-seok was without a child. Yet it was a perfect opportunity.

This may sound fantastical, but I swear it is true: passed on through generations of the main branch of the Kim family, is a giant egg, of translucent luster, such that one can see the form of a sleeping child inside.

She is known as the Pale Bride, for the inscription on the egg, and she was entrusted in our family to be awakened during a time of great prosperity.

Yet as any man knows, prosperity is seized, not waited on. A daughter to provide the Emperor with a son would elevate the family above the other noble house once and for all.

Considering this, I promised the Emperor that I did have a daughter who would soon be of marriage age to present to him. Then I smashed the egg, such that the Pale Bride passed through the Kim family for years could be adopted as my own daughter.

She is a strange child, but will make a fine wife for the Emperor. What good fortune this means!


==============================================================================

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Thanks, Moony." Though it probably would be an annoyance to a 'connoisseur' that instead of sipping it as one should properly do with tea, Corona just chugs it down more akin to the way one would guzzle down their morning cup of coffee. But what can you expect? Tea isn't really her thing, she's just being graceous of the host's offering.

And there's other things to pay more attention to, like the log being unfurled for them to see. "So.. they just had a gal in an egg sittin' 'round waitin' to be used as barterin' a marriage? Ah've heard of pre-arranged marriage, but this is takin' thin's up to 12..."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
"Huh. Maybe a... Like a robot? Realtalk, this sounds like a skeevy robot."
"Avast, that be gross ye dog."
"What! It's /true/! It sounds like he had some kinda mint-condition relationship-bot getting passed down! S'the best I can guess."
"Human comesss... From egg??? Shocking truth!"
"No."
"But sssaid--"
"No."

    The main two individuals that Mute is familiar with have their own things to say, but for now, the mess of rabble-ish Starbounders mutter between each other in an irrelevant, easily-ignored way.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Several familiar faces! Probably some smart ones, too, which both relieves and worries Sanary. On one hand, they could probably figure out most of this stuff while she pretends to understand. On the other hand, they could also point out things that she gets wrong. Or, even worse, put her on the spot!

     Time to take the initiative, then. She scans the monitor rapidly as the words start appearing, a low hum escaping the cleric after not too long. As she reads, however, her expression goes from curiousity and intrigue to awkward confusion.

     "That's... That's not even how eggs work. I mean, unless they're not human or somethng. Then..." Sanary shrugs lightly. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with egg-people... Uh. So! We've got this pre-arranged marriage, but..." She glances over at Mute, furrowing her brow just a bit. "... It didn't go well, huh?"

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute glares to Biteblade and the rest, though her anger doesn't seem to stem from their words, specifically. "I don't know what the fuck she was," She says, "but she -definitely- wasn't human. I don't think she was a robot, either, but there is no way a human could do what she did."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl offers a small grin to Seft. "It is no great chore to observe good manners. Not to me anyway," is all he says. He accepts the drink that is like tea and sips it gently. Yes, he is actually still standing even though there are more chairs now.

    Finally, Mute makes an appearance. Immediately, Original Face is scanning her hologram, while Eryl privately marvels on how expressive an AI she is. Far more advanced than ADAM was, clearly. Her tension followed by relaxation when she takes in the environment is noted. Clearly she is still reeling from Multiversal culture shock. He inclines his head when she looks in his direction.

    When the file is opened, the diplomat begins speedreading, creating profiles in his head of everyone mentioned. Kim Jung-Su, an ambitious nobleman, his son Yeong-seok, the Emperor and Captain Ryu... and the strangest character, the Pale Bride.

    "A girl stored in some kind of egg-shaped stasis perhaps..." he says. At Corona's words, he looks to her and shakes his head. "Though she was called a bride, I don't think she was arranged to be wed. Apparently, she was only to be released at a time of 'great prosperity.' If she was intended for an arranged marriage, Mister Kim Jung-Su would have likely mentioned that."

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory's here! And of course, politely declining tea because she cannot drink it, but she's kneeling without complaint. ... Because she can't feel discomfort either really, turned that off. No getting stiff or anything here!

    "A... Pale Bride.. in an egg. ... Human mating traditions can be so strange sometimes. There was really a grown woman in an egg...?" The AGI's tilting her head now, looking puzzled as she tries to parse this. It could be written more poetially and less literally after all....

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute looks to Sanary next. "-No-. In fact, even if he didn't know it at the time, this was probably the second dumbest thing that Kim Jung-su ever did. The first... well, you'll see. But this was -definitely- the second worst."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Was not expecting Riva, she'd sadly not been able to catch up with her friend Riva and smiles widly as she arrives on board with a number of other people. She smiles ar her friend waving to her.

"It's good to see you."

Kotones attire is likely not something Mute would approve of but she'd been caught in the middle of some equimpment testing. She doesn't seem bothered by it and she does seem to be in good spirits from the looks of it. She also give Corona a wave before she turns her attention to the matter at hand with the information Mute's willing to share. The expression on her face goes from one of being good natured to a grim look on her face as she reads What Kim Jung-Su did.

She's slient however she opens a channel to Rory. <<A stasis pod, they basically used her as money and sold her to the Emperor for poltical power>>

She speaks up after a moment "A stasis pod it sounds like, and this man already sounds slimey."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Hello Moonfin, hello Seft." Kyra smiles tiredly before settling down into an almost-seiza, which is a custom found on Ramuh. Though in Kyra's case, her feet are curled instead of her ankles staying flat against the floor, which alievates some pressure on them while in this position. It also helps that she leans against Riva a little to rest against her and endure the sisterly hair-ruffle.

    Her tea is consumed gradually, she clearly not caring very much for the taste. Damn Hyotl teas.

    "...the Emperor's second wife?" Kyra's ARRANGED MARRIAGE triggers are tripped though she doesn't show any more perturbation than her question. Settling down, she looks to the screen, eager to soak in some knowledge. She reads this and...frowns.

    "Uh, clearly this is some kind of exaggeration. I doubt there was ACTUALLY an egg involved. Maybe some daughter was being stored in cryogenic preservation by the family, to be awakened later for the express purpose of marrying her off to someone important. Why else would you call her the 'pale bride'? The translucent thing could just be ice-frosted glass or something. I mean, it's not that surprising for a couple to have children just to set them up to marry to important people. I've seen it happen a lot."

Rory White (673) has posed:
".... The people aboard the ship were so uneducated they refer to cryogenic pods as EGGS?" Rory now blurts in surprise. This answers both Kyra AND Kotone really.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute levels her expression, looking to Eryl. "A 'stasis pod'? You mean, like. Something that forces a person into a long sleep, right? I think I have a file from the UKSPA manual that explains how those are supposed to be used, but I have no idea why something like that wouldn't be visible on my network." She puts a hand to her cheek in contemplation, looking away as she muses. "That would explain a lot, though."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Second-most? Huh." Sanary furrows her brow even more. Just how bad could /that/ have been? She takes a sip of the tea and swishes it around a bit before raising her cup and grinning at Moonfin. Whatever's in it, she definitely doesn't seem to mind it!

     The notion of the egg being some sort of stasis pod or... Cryogenic preservation?

     "That's the one with the freezing, right?" She asks of nobody in particular, although she may just be fishing for a confirmation from Kotone or Kyra to make herself feel better. "Would be easier than pumping meds into the girl the whole time, at least... And keep her fresh, maybe." Sanary mutters that last part, sounding conflicted about something.

Riva Banari has posed:
Oh hey, this is the new person. Riva looks over Mute, considering the well-dressed woman as the Templar lounges around in casual clothing. She totally drinks tea though, nodding in thanks to Moonfin. Thanks are due where they are due, after all. She drinks the tea, savoring the... different flavors of the Hylotl tea. "Huh. That's new. Won't see it at Biggby's, I think, but definately an experience." She summarizes. "You know, I think that tea alone made this trip worth it." Not necessarily because it's good. Riva's opinions are odd sometimes.

Still, things get down to business, and in between commentary from the AI, Riva scrolls through the information. "Welp, this is a whole lot of contextless local poltiics going on."

Riva gestures. "Let's not jump to conclusions here, Rory. It's a generation ship, right? The place must have been rolling along for ages and who knows how things changed over all that time."

She looks back to Mute. "That's why you've got the log files, right? We're going to need to keep looking into these things until we've got all the pieces."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute looks to Kyra, her expression neutral. "Yeah, his second wife. He hadn't been in power long enough to have a whole harem, although that's just what the official records say. I think he had more women he saw in reality." The sheer ease with which Mute makes this observation may be enough to tell Kyra that this is, in fact, entirely normal to her. At what she says next, Mute just shrugs. "Yeah, that's what you would think, right? Can't really blame the guy for making that assumption. I mean, why would people freeze a girl who was meant to be a bride if she didn't even know proper etiquette? ... tch."

    She turns away again, looking annoyed.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Moonfin spends a long time contemplating. After this time in almost a theatrically pensive position, he speaks. "...Mmm. Some of the situation forms; a clarity becomes established. Opportunism, and the abuse of technologies of old. If this is an artifact, one that he is unfamiliar with; the technologies of the ancients -- cryogenic, stasis, machine storage -- are nothing to be trifled with, much less destroyed. They are to be given due respect. To breach the ways of those wiser than oneself is to invite chaos into the home and destruction into the community." He nods, self-assuringly.

    "Uneasy. The Hylotl traditions about arranged marriages vary based on region, but if this is one of the stricter types, I am worried about the direction this may take. Arranged marriages are common among Glitch Hivemind simulations, but the injection of Creator Speci--" *buzz!* "Correcting. The injection of artifacts of unknown origin into the process makes this a volatile and risky scenario for all those involved, not least of all the Pale Bride herself."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Moonfin spends a long time contemplating. After this time in almost a theatrically pensive position, he speaks. "...Mmm. Some of the situation forms; a clarity becomes established. Opportunism, and the abuse of technologies of old. If this is an artifact, one that he is unfamiliar with; the technologies of the ancients -- cryogenic, stasis, machine storage -- are nothing to be trifled with, much less destroyed. They are to be given due respect. To breach the ways of those wiser than oneself is to invite chaos into the home and destruction into the community." He nods, self-assuringly.

    Seft has an expression of uneasy contemplation that's less dramatic and more genuinely emotional. Her eye-screen displays a somber loading icon, and she speaks in that usual monotone of hers. "Uneasy. The Hylotl traditions about arranged marriages vary based on region, but if this is one of the stricter types, I am worried about the direction this may take. Arranged marriages are common among Glitch Hivemind simulations, but the injection of Creator Speci--" *buzz!* "Correcting. The injection of artifacts of unknown origin into the process makes this a volatile and risky scenario for all those involved, not least of all the Pale Bride herself."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"I may never understand human obsessions with mating rituals." Rory exclaims softly, though her tone's full of thorough disgust and bewilderment. THis, directed at Kyra at least.

    "I should have caught on to Cryogenic storage. What a strange way to describe it... to think that even a ruling class would not understand the technology surrounding them... what did people know of the ship they were in, Mute? Did they know so little of space and what they were there to do?"

    Again she shakes her head. "If the pod was indeed SMASHED, it's surprising that this 'Pale Bride' survived revival. She may have even suffered injury of any kind from it. Possibly even mental problems."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Then, Riva. "Yeah," Mute says. "I could just tell you what happened, but that would be too matter-of-fact and dry. If you read the logs like this, you'll know how horrible it really was. You'll know that the people who died were actually -people-, who were trying to live their lives and look out for their families." She shuts her eyes after that, muttering, "Then you'll know why it was so /wrong/."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Well the tea was a nice offering but hardly satisfying to non-elitist taste buds. No offense, Moonfin. But it's probably not much of a surprise that once she's done the polite guest thing and drank said tea, Corona fishes a small flask from inside her boot and takes a swig of whatever is within that instead.

There, that taste washed out of her mouth. Again, no offense meant. It is just too highbrow for her grungy space western tastebuds.

"Then let's turn the page as it were. Go to the next log, keep the storin' goin' while attention's fresh."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"It's a social status thing, Rory. And kind of eugenics. You know, ensure the good genes and magic particle patterns. Summoners are REALLY big into that."

    "Ah, a harem." Strangely, Kyra doesn't seem to react with as much disgust to this concept as she does arranged marriages. "So they don't have officially registered harems or anything? Hmm. And I dunno, maybe she was taught etiquette before being frozen. Or there was some kind of subconscious programming going on while she slept to give her the proper behavior. Is that a thing? Please don't tell me that was a thing, this is already getting pretty icky in that 'being robbed of free will' sort of stuff. Eeeeew."

    If it's any solace, Kyra seems equally annoyed as Mute. "Anyway, let's hear the story from the Pale Bride."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Moonfin. Mute hesitates when he first introduces the idea that the destruction of the stasis pod might have been a disrespectful act, but ultimately, she nods her agreement. "... yeah. I hadn't really thought of it like that. I mean, he did it for his family, but it's true that he really didn't think of what might happen, or what it might have meant to the people who left it there. I mean, he blatantly disobeyed the writing on the plaque! Maybe that's why it turned out so bad." At that, she winces. "... but, still! Then it should've just come back to bite -him-." Seft gets a nod, too.

    With every passing moment, Mute feels more and more like the members of the Flotilla are the only people in the world who make any sense. Except maybe that Zwei person. Yeah -- them, Moonfin, and Seft. Those three people, at least, she can rely on.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    "You know . . ." Weiss begins, picking a low seat or convenient cushion instead of clustering around the monitor, easily able to read it even without a proper, eye level viewing angle. "It's entirely possible that stasis pods aren't involved. If they were brought on board a generation ship of all things, there would be banks of them for emergency life preservation. It seems more probable to me that the 'egg' in question was either an assembly station for an android, or possibly more likely, a cloning or medical vat. Generation ships are supposed to colonize wherever they land. They can't very well do that without living organisms, so it's common practise to record genetic databanks of useful species, as well as human genomes, in case of a hydroponic failure, mass disease, or limited breeding pools. If something goes wrong on board and, say, a food crop goes extinct, they can consult the databank and regrow fresh starting populations from scratch."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"If this Pale Bride wanted to be active before the ship reached its destination, then she would not have been in stasis to begin with. The destruction of the pod, and everyone unable to recognize it, means there may have only been one aboard. .... So whatever she was hoping to accomplish by sleeping in stasis was now ruined. She could never reach their destination." Rory comments sadly.

    "Worse, to be caught up in an arranged marriage out of nowhere, I suppose. She would be... VERY angry."

    Rory nods Kyra's way, but there's a troubled look in her eyes. Just slightly. More puzzled.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Back to Kyra. "Maybe it would've been better if it was," Mute replies. "It would've saved everyone a lot of grief. I mean, downloading foreign thoughts into somebody's head may -sound- like a bad idea, but in practice... well, you'll see. I don't know if I would've vouched for something like that either, but some of these logs make it kind of hard not to." But -- she has the right of it. Mute nods, albeit with a small roll of her eyes. "Yeah, you might as well read some of what she wrote. I'll drop back to the command line in a minute. Just type 'read promise' when I do, okay? That should tell you a lot of what you want to know."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute regards Zwei inquisitively, closing her eyes a moment in deep thought. When they reopen, she says, "I just scanned through the manual, and it doesn't say anything about that sort of biological regrowth. It was accomplished on a smaller scale, but mostly for plants and other edible things. They never mastered more complex maneuvers that you would've needed to, like. Regrow a whole, functional brain. Obviously if they had things wouldn't have just stopped like this. And as for genetic variety and stuff..." Mute stops, and thinks. "They didn't have any solutions for that other than 'put a lot of people on the ship'. So I don't think it was that either. I mean, everything you said makes sense, but I'm just not seeing any records of that sort of technology existing on the ship."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute folds her arms, looking to the group more generally again. "Okay, okay, I think you guys have got about as much as you're going to from this one. I'm going to drop you back to the command line and let you pick a new file. I'll be back here once you pull it up."

    And with that, her form fades, displaying the main terminal screen again. The options that haven't been selected yet are 'promise,' 'name,' and 'folly.'

Riva Banari has posed:
"I'm sure what happened was absolutely horrible." Riva replies to Mute. "I'm sure it'll all come out as we look over the logs and get a fuller picture of the people involved and how things went down."

She nods to the Starbounders. "I agree that the egg was probably some kind of protective storage facility, but we've got a ways to go to answer why anything else happened. Arranged marriages or not, that could very well have just been the local culture and, present company situations excepted and matters of personal choice aside, arranged marriages aren't completely unheard of and generally don't go over that poorly."

She does tap her chin though. "But... This was a generation ship. Does this mean that not everyone was in storage? I mean, maintaining biological diversity is a thing, that could be one reason why they had the arranged marriages and, ummm..." Riva things. "Hmm. I'm extrapolating too much, I think."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa expression gets more and more dout but she is listnring as Mute does seem to think this sort of thing is normal. She looks to Riva and nods.

"The tea on this ship is amazing." IT's a welcome distraction for a moment from what's going on. She still knows she's got to see this to the end even if she doesn't like it.

"She was form another time, another era, another mode of thought. YEs and she was givne in trust to the people of the ship which he abused it. Or should we say Kim did and yes Moonfin, this is monumnually flabbergasting. Brain Damage could be a possible result of what happened. No he didn't do it for his family he did it for his own gain under the pretex of family, juding from the letter."

Kotone is at least giving Mute honesty rather than lies, shich she seem to think was worse. She does seem to wonder about Zwei's thought.

"That might be a better idea than my own..."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Moonfin chuckles, then sets about messing with the interface again. "We will see more. The nature of the storage, the purpose, the will of the Pale Bride... The folly of Kim Jung-Su. With time comes wisdom." He says, gesturing for someone else to do the honors of calling up the next log. "We seem to be in agreement of progressing through the story in the linear ways; a review in other perspectives may be performed, some time"

    Seft doesn't have anything to say about this at the moment. She keeps a thoughtful, concerned sort of expression, which is to say, little loading icons. She may have more soon.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite chimes in, "Ah suggest leavin' folly fer last. Call it a hunch, but that's pro'ly what tells us all what happened, and might not make all the sense in the world iffen we ain't seen the others first for the bigger picture."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl lets the discussion caused by the log wash over him, quietly considering the facts at hand. Plenty of speculation has been made concerning the nature of the Pale Bride. Android, clone... but even Mute concedes that the stasis pod idea might be it. Thus, he builds his speculation from there.

    For what reasons might someone be preserved? The originator of such tactics, cryogenic, was devised to preserve those who were dying from something untreatable, so they may be revived in a future where they can be healed. Might the same be the case here? Perhaps the Pale Bride was pale due to illness?

    And based on what Mute said, the Pale Bride did something horrendous, inhuman. Perhaps the looming spectre of death drove her to despair, or the illness itself addled her wits. Either way... "Miss Banari is correct. Speculation is only that until we read the next logs. I would recommend 'promise.'" And since he's standing, he'll go and input the command should no one else feel like getting up.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Eryl enters the command 'read name' into the terminal, allowing Mute to reappear alongside another body of information. She just sighs in recognition of the message's contents. "I really wanna apologize in advance for everything this girl writes," She says. And with those, final words, the rest of the group are allowed to see the message displayed in full:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: Broken promise

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear Diary,

Last week I woke up from cryo-stasis. Before I went in, father promised me that when I woke up in the future, they'd have medicine again. That I'd finally get better. That I might not see him again, but his descendants would make everything right.

The future broke his promise.

I'm scared and confused and I don't get what happened. I think there was a big disaster while I was in stasis or something. Everyone's so uneducated and stupid! Father and mother were kind of dumb at times, but the guy who woke me up... he might be named Kim, but he's nothing like them!

Father was wrong. Nothing's better. The future sucks!


==============================================================================

Rory White (673) has posed:
It's rare that Rory can manage proper expressions... but she pulls off a rather convincing wince at the text that appears. "... Yes... whatever purpose being in stasis hoped to solve was forever ruined... because the people aboard were uneducated. ... I wonder... how could so many people aboard a spaceship NOT understand...?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite opens her mouth... but it takes several minutes for her to actually formulate something to say that isn't going to come out sounding spiteful. The length of time it takes is a good indicator of how hard that is to do, and even then, it's not entirely successful. "That bloody idjit, he done goofed good iffen he woke her up without known why she was in there! Medicine? She pro'ly had some terminal illness... or disease.. or..." She drawls off for a moment. "... somethin' infectionous..."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl steps back and reads the 'promise' log. It doesn't show, but all of his implants are working overtime right now to keep his face blank. He's worried that laughing might insult Mute, who clearly hates this girl and wants this to be taken seriously.

    But really, a modern girl going into preservation, only to wake into a future where culture has regressed? It sounds like a daft comedy. "So, she was preserved due to illness," he says, quietly pleased at arriving at the correct conclusion. "Whomever left instructions on how she should be treated should have been more specific. A time of 'great prosperity' would mean medicine, but they should have made that clearer."

    He sighs, and shakes his head. "An awful example of human error." He stresses the 'human' a little while glancing at Mute. As if to say 'it's not your fault.'

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute gives Rory a -look-. "They may not have known how to use this stuff, but that doesn't just mean they were 'uneducated,' okay? There were things they knew that the people from before obviously didn't, like how to run a proper damn society for example."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa reads the file there's a look on Kotone's face it's one of horror, to be honest, she gets what's going on now. IUt was Cryo sleep but it was worse. It was someone who was sick frozen for when medical advancment might cure their illness and they'd have another shot of life. This? Was something else as she looks her eyes narrow.

"So ... she was a cold sleeper who was put into stasis for when medical advancement rendered her sickness curable."

She wants to say more she looks and stares at it.

"I have my theroies on how that might have happened."

She doesn't want to be rude or let her own world view trample on things.

"That's true a mistake was made but who could expect a starship from a space fairing culture to have education die out as well."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Seriously, that's..." Sanary sighs and rubs her forehead, crossing her arms over chest and leaning back in her seat while taking another sip of the tea. That's helping to calm her nerves a bit, at least! "No wonder she went nuts and killed everyone. Freaking 'nobles' and their bullshit." She shakes her head slowly, then pauses with another hum. "But... If she wasn't human, then was she some kind of... I dunno. Animal-person? Or a cyborg? Robots can't get sick, right?"

     A pause. "Er. Or androids or computer people. Can they? Er. You?" That last bit is directed at Mute.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute looks to Corona, turning up her nose in a flagrantly irritable gesture. "I don't know if she was /physically/ ill," Mute says, "but she was DEFINITELY sick in the head."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
"Well, I'm an idiot."
"Yes."
"Ahhhh, give it a rest! Not as though ye knew better."
"Huh. Froze for long enough, sssomething bad happen. Weeeeeird. Hey, sssecurity friend! Do you know, bad thing happen? Pale Bride sssay: Disssaster happen, what would be?"

Continues prodding from the peanut gallery.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Aha!" Kyra points a finger to the sky, "I called it! ...half called it. It sounds like she was in cryo for a really long time. Though hmm, freezing due to sickness, not entirely unheard of. She doesn't really sound sick in the head though. Just...from a different time."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "She may have had a mental illness as well that required treatment as well, Corona." She looks to Kyra. "I'd not be shocked if she was from the generation that launched on the ship."

Mute (958) has posed:
    To Kyra, Mute says, "You keep saying all the things I thought before I had the full picture. But I fucking promise you: when you know the whole story, it won't matter what time she's from."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite isn't all that bothered by Mute's scathing retorts. You don't grow up through what she did by having your jimmies easily rustled by angry words. "Then by all means, let's get on with the story."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva reserves her opinion as she reads the second file. "This is going to be... a thing." She says.

Okay, not ALL of her opinions. Just most of them. "I'm with Mute on this one. We need to look at the whole story. Making judgements is kind of pointless, isn't it? Aren't all these people dead?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory returns the look with something close to a scowl. "Mute," she begins in protest. "I understand you respect these people, but one mistake is all it takes in space. It's abhorrent that the Pale Bride's warning plaque did not have a better explanation, and that anyone in a ruling class would overlook such things. Few excuses for that. Very few. Though... we'd best see the next entries, as you say..."

Mute (958) has posed:
    At Eryl, Mute just sighs. "I wish that I was still on the ship," She says. "If I was I could just use one of the cameras to get a look at the plaque. Then I could know what it says for sure. For all we know, though, The Pale Bride was just blatantly lying because she didn't want the responsibility. You can't trust -anything- she says, got that? Keep that in mind whenever you read anything by The Pale Bride: you. Cannot. Trust anything. That she says." Mute punctuates the brief, ensuing silence with the hard word, "Never." Then after another moment, "And that's why I'm more inclined to think that Jung-su knew what he was talking about and she didn't. I mean, if everyone else knew that the plaque said 'Pale Bride', and she was the -only one who didn't-, wouldn't she have to be wrong?"

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Seft makes a series of tense noises. "Stressed. This is an awful situation. To be stranded in a time when all those around you have no understanding of things you can easily understand..." Her voice begins to buzz harshly.

    Moonfin doesn't let the smugness drain from his expression, but he works a bit to rationalize the shortcomings a little. "I understand it may be a distressing hypothetical, but I am sure she could have integrated effectively. The superior culture of the time clearly demonstrated by what I saw of your ship, it surely found a place of honor for her, especially if she was to be married to the emperor. Perhaps it even understood her perspective, in some sense."

    "Bitter. Being honored is worthless without being understood." Seft's voice remains synthesized, monotoned, but it keeps a... Harsh buzz to it, and her expression looks every bit as bitter as her self-narrated emotions claim. The tone of the voice synthesis remains calm and polite, but it seems to be hitting a sore point. "Strained. My apologies, Mute, this is a point that is somewhat sore for me. Shall we continue?"

Zwei (596) has posed:
    "Staren, three hundred and nineteen years is more than enough time for an entire civilization to break down even with other, stabilizing, outside influences. Completely isolated and with no other human populations within contact to serve as cultural or scientific background, it's hardly fair to berate the late crew for some kind of miraculous failure. No doubt there /were/ specific instructions that were lost over time. How much do you know about your own world pre-Fall for instance? Cryostasis technology isn't exactly something you can figure out with a screwdriver and a spare weekend."

    Weiss goes so far as to partake of actual tea here. It does nothing for her of course, but it's a relaxing action, and she's currently portraying a relaxing atmosphere, showing no excessive concern or vehemence over the logs very deliberately. "I'd ask if this was the girl you hated, but didn't you say the ship was six centuries old *Mute?" Somehow the asterisk sounds audible, like some kind of subvocalized noise. "It would certainly explain why someone would be driven to do something that drastic. Especially with her prospects destroyed along with the stasis equipment. She'd be expecting to live out the rest of her natural life in a dark age feudal society. That could drive almost anyone to the edge."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl stares at Mute impassively. "Very well. I will take everything we read with a grain of salt." He words it so carefully because he means it as it is said. When it comes to the Pale Bride, Mute is clearly incapable of thinking rationally. This speaks volumes about how human-like she is, but it does make dealing with the topic tricky.

    Certainly, the girl could be lying, but what would she gain? He doubts that someone seemingly this young had the forethought to paint herself a tragic figure to people reading her diary in the future. It's far more likely that she was just a girl who was normal in her own time, but became a massive outlier in a future where being different was likely heavily condemned.

    But, Eryl says none of this. Though she is irrationally angry, Mute is a victim in all this too. So he holds his tongue, so as to not aggravate her further.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute gives Moonfin another of her looks of approval, but shares one much more deep - and much more complex - with Seft. Ultimately she doesn't say much to either of them, but her gaze does not leave Seft for a long, long time.

Mute (958) has posed:
    "Alright," Mute says, "I'm dropping back to the command line. This next one is by the same author because I just want to get this the fuck over with. It's 'read name'."

    With that, Mute rather unceremoniously disappears, perhaps leaving Seft with a lingering impression of her unease.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    If nobody else does, Seft -- still looking uneasy, almost bitterly -- at the screen -- will do so, poking in her own command in quick, robotic motions.

    >read name

Mute (958) has posed:
    As it has been the last two times, Mute reappears alongisde the next log. She makes a point of not looking at any members of the group directly, instead focusing her gaze into a distant corner of her monitor. This provides the group all the time they would need to read the next file undisturbed:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Title: At least use my real name!

Author: The Pale Bride


Dear Diary,

This week I tried to convince the old man to put me back into stasis by going on a hunger strike. It didn't work. Obviously. On the plus side, at least I figured out where that stupid name they all keep calling me came from!

Sorry. That last bit was written yesterday. I couldn't bring myself to keep going, I just kept crying. I still would be, but... well... it just gets exhausting after a while. I'm too tired to cry.

Things aren't going to get better. They can't get better, I'm not going to be put back into stasis. I'll be dead by the time I'm 18. Why oh why did I ever agree to be frozen in the first place? If the future can't make me better... I'd rather die with my family there, at least, rather than these awful Kims.

I wonder if they'll realize I was right after I die.

Anyway... hunger strike. It was really hard, and I kinda cheated by sneaking into the kitchen while nobody was looking, but it at least convinced "father" to listen.

"Fine," He said by the fourth dinnertime, "I'll show you why I can't." Up until he said that, I had been hopeful. Everything would be fine if he just put me back, I thought! But...

Sorry. I guess I've ben trying to write this for TWO days now. It's really hard. Anyway, he took me to go see "the egg I hatched from," his stupid name for the stasis pod. When he said "hatched," the worst possible thing came to mind. Worse, it turned out to be true.

In order to get me out, he had smashed apart the glass with a hammer. The pod was still full of shards. All my hope died when I saw that broken glass.

"The time was right to bring you into this world," He said. I don't remember what I said. Something obscene, probably. It wasn't enough. "I know it's hard, Pale Bride, but it is for a greater purpose."

What was the point of arguing? It was broken, and nobody in this awful future would know how to fix the pod now. Instead, I argued with what I could. "Why do you keep calling me that?!" I said to him. He responded by pointing at an inscription that my real father had left on the pod, a message for me to read when I woke up. The first line was written in Chinese characters - his idea of being fancy, I suppose - but he explained them in Korean underneath.

"See?" The old man told me. "The rest is foreign and archaic, but it names you at the top: the Pale Bride."

It didn't say that. It didn't say that at all. I shrieked at him in response. "You idiot! You moron! You illiterate!" Probably some other things, too, I can't remember exactly; I was furious. "Are you stupid? That's not how those characters read! It says, 'to my sick daughter!' Sick daughter! Sick daughter! You illiterate monster, it says sick daughter! Me!"

He started to argue, but then stopped. I think he was patronizing me, as if I can't read simple Korean script! He just asked, in the smuggest voice, "Then what should I call you, child?"

I screamed. I'd already told him a thousand times before.

"Hyun-ae! My name is Hyun-ae!"


==============================================================================

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite doesn't have anything to say while Mute is 'not there' as it where, she just lets out a slow breath almost a sigh, and scratchs behind an ear. She's trying to not make any rash judgements just because of Mute's apparent chip on the shoulder over this matter until they've had all the logs gone through. Clearly the AI was distressed over what happened, but was this one entity really to blame for it?...

Unfortunately, the next log doesn't make matters any better. The old man is stupid, the 'Pale Bride' or whatever is overly emotional due to the condition or whatever she has, and Mute... well...

Despite her insistance that this girl writing the logs can't be trusted to be telling the truth, Mute's own attitude with the last few answers isn't making her seem to be the most reliable narrarator either... Though it's starting to sound more and more that this matter is messed up on -all- sides...

"This just keeps gettin' more questions than strawht answers," the foxgirl finally murmurs to herself.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl reads the next log. Again, his face remains impassive, but his stomach sours. For a girl to awaken in a future that could not help her, that acted like it knew what was best for her when they failed to comprehend anything about her... a level of isolation even he was unfamiliar with.

    But again, he holds his tongue and sets his mind to work. What Hyun-ae did is still unknown and it is clearly a major shaper of Mute's opinion of the girl. But it was clearly more than just that. From Mute's point of view, Hyun-ae got a chance to participate in a superior culture, to be wed to the Emperor, no doubt a great honor. And yet, she threw it all away by behaving like a spoiled brat.

    Such behaviour gives the AI free reign to dismiss any concerns Hyun-ae might have had, and hate her entirely on a morally justifiable level. 'She's dying' is just a ploy to get her way. Outrage at being awoken at the wrong time could just be her lying about the plaque. The reason she might lie on private entries is simply that she's awful to the core.

    The diplomat nods once. He has a better understanding now. "How horrible," he says in a sympathetic tone. Again, deliberately vague.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Oh... oh dear." Rory's getting quieter and quieter, though at the same time growing less expressionate. A really good peer might reveal HORROR in her eyes, but she's not paying enough attention to expressing herself.

    She's just too disgusted and flabbergasted. "... I really would like to speak to Hyun-Ae later, since we seem to have her Ego somehow..." Mumble mutter.

    "I see what happened. He misread the plaque because of varying nuances between the languages used. Rolan's running comparisons on the linguistics right now." But Rory just folds her hands and gives Mute a rather apologetic look.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Kyra looks rather horrified now but this time, she does not say anything since clearly her particular viewpoint on this has been horribly disagreed with already. She adjusts her sitting postion to take some of the pressure off of her ankles since seiza really hurts after a while.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary's finished with her tea by the time she finishes the next log, nodding in agreement with Corona after a few moments. "I think we've got the gist of why she was so... Messed up, at least." Somehow, it actually seems as the cleric's picked up on that vagueness! "Her dad put her in the freezer, she got pulled out early into this new place. And then... All that shit happened."

     At least she's trying to be vague and indifferent. Not that she can particularly trust either source completely, though. Noticing Kyra's discomfort, however, she gets out of her seat to squat by the White Mage and give her light nudge, then a concerned eyebrow-raise.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Terminally ill, put into stassis in the hopes she might be cured the colonists degenerate hard socially, she thinks for a moment and a sucking feeling of dread as another example comes up from the history of Korea. She shudders visbaly to everyone there. She looks right at Mute's display. There's abject horror and fear on Kotone's face. She's not saying anything, she can kinda see where Mute is coming from, yet she looks at it from her own nd the girl's likely viewpoint. A living hell, her chance to be healed ruined, a Security AI that failed to stop the pod from being /destroyed/. She doens't know if it was the girl who pulled the trigger on some many people. She'll have to wait and see but there is a look of honest fear and terror on Kotone's face that can't be missed. She also looks over at Kyra for a moment.

Mute (958) has posed:
    "Yeah," Mute echoes Eryl, "horrible. But can't we all agree that she was making it worse for herself? And those things she said to her father afterwards... ugh!" Mute scrunches her eyes closed in a visible demonstration of agony. "So disrespectful. Like, maybe you could say that he's not trying hard enough to listen to her, but think about it from his perspective. To him, she was an emotional girl having a breakdown. Of -course- he didn't take her seriously: she was obviously delusional, or at -least- not thinking straight. He wasn't -supposed- to get caught up in what she was saying, and he did everything he could to stay calm because that's -the only way he could think to help her-. So maybe he wasn't trying hard enough to understand her, but that's because that wasn't the right way to help her." She flashes a glance at Seft immediately after finishing that statement. "And it's not like she was trying very hard to see where he was coming from either!"

    Mute folds her arms, almost seeming to shrink her body as everyone makes their responses to the flood of information. Her expression flat sinks when she sees Kyra, and though she can't think of anything to say, she somehow wishes she could comfort her. 'I only want them to see where I'm coming from,' Mute might be thinking, 'not to just make them feel miserable.'

    Her eyes gradually scroll across the group, to Corona, then Kotone, then Sanary and Rory, at which point she lets out a long, long sigh. "Alright," She says, "okay. I'm being unfair. I'm criticizing her for not trying to understand his viewpoint when I'm not giving her the chance to say how she feels." Then her eyes shoot open in a flourish. "Fine. I'll give you a command to make her the active AI. If you really want to talk to her, just... ask me to drop to the command line, and type 'enable_ai hyun-ae'. We can't both talk at once, though, so you'll have to use the same command with my name to bring me back afterwards.

    Then she falls silent again, eyes wandering back to the same corner.

    Sigh.

Riva Banari has posed:
The pain train just keeps going. Riva watches this new entry and physically /winces/. Despite this, her jaw clenches for a moment, tensing and relaxing several times before she leans back, sighing as she looks up at the ceiling. Sure, she's the one who's been advocating maintaining an neutral viewpoint, but these entries and Mute's feedback sure aren't making it easy. "Okay, so... The purpose. Why we're here." She looks around. "It's to get the whole story, right? It's too late to save anyone. No life sighs, right? All we can do is a post-mortem and make sure the lessons here are learned."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute glances at Riva for the fraction of a second before muttering a soft 'Uh-huh' in response to her. Presumably that means that her assessment, in its entirety, was correct.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory will be quick to enable hyun-ae if nobody else does, after checking to make sure that she won't have control over anything important. Like the ship's life support.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "..." Moonfin ponders further. "A lack of medical care. It would seem she was on a time limit. The shores were rising on her island of life, when mere days before, for her, it was a mountain." He clasps his webbed hands together and thinks it over. "Hyun-ae... The name we heard before." Then he... Tilts his head. "But the one that came /with/ you, Mute. You were both there. How would she have gone from being..." He seems to be very concerned about this. "The volatility flows, from pond to ocean. What /is/ the Hyun-ae we have seen mention of..." For a long time, he thinks, and then shakes his head. "We must see in the other logs. Perhaps there will be a clue."

    Seft is not taking this well. The buzzing edge on her voice is severe, but the words come with that... Simple, synthesized politeness. "Bitter. I will not claim that what happened later is justified, but I would ask you understand this, Mute." She focuses on the AI directly, attempting to lock eyes with her despite Seft's own lack of anything but pale blue dots, and Mute's own aversion to eye contact. "Tense. She awoke, having known nothing but despair subjectively less than days before, maybe moments. Everyone around her followed new creeds. Her life, as far as she knew or was taught to care, was over. She was trapped in a society that did not match everything she knew to be true." There's a whirr like a flywheel spinning up and slowing down. It comes like a sigh. "You understand the pain of a situation like that, correct?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite lets out another slow breath, her tail giving a twitch around her ankles. "Anyone else think we should see the last log before we go pokin' any other sbudued programs? Or she might try an' blindside us with somethin' we ain't read yet..." There was still more questions than answers floating around.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Somehow, she managed to upload her Ego to run on Mute's neural architecture, Moonfin. They seem to be sharing a code foundation but are separate identities. Like one body with two heads!" It's the simplest analogy she can come up for the situation.

    "... the simplest way to create artificial intelligence is replicating the neurology of existing intelligence. So, mind uploads. Egos."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute's eyes shoot open. Her neck stiffens in attention.

    Her gaze darts to Seft, and she locks her teeth together. She balls her fists, which then begin to quake in a continuous, shivering movement that then seems to emanate across the rest of her body in the truest demonstration of just -how strongly- this 'Artificial Intelligence' is indeed capable of feeling.

    In the end, though, she has nothing to say. She can't conjure words, and drops her gaze to the floor. Her fists never unclench, but they do loosen as she bows in 'defeat', after which her eyes close again.

    They do not reopen until Mute forcibly drops the terminal back to the command line.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    With Mute gone, Moonfin can speak candidly to Rory. "Miss White. Please, a moment." Moonfin puts a hand on Rory's, when she moves to start up Hyun-ae. "Understand the emotions of the moment. I do not believe now is the time to reject Mute. Hyun-ae will keep, and we have one more log to examine. For now, please, let us speak to her another time, when we can assemble those most interested, and when we can... Receive her appropriately. She will be disoriented. We need... Time, and a chance to properly care. Will you accept the delay?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory pauses when Moonfin speaks up... then frowns. But she backs away from the terminal. "... Very well.... we really need both sides of the story though, Moonfin! Or we'll never get to the bottom of this. I think we are looking at two wildly different cultural viewpoints clashing..."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"I got nothing." Kyra says testily at Sanary. "Just listen to what Seft said about the whole thing." She restrains her urge to blurt out her admittedly very dark opinions on this-that the ship had been right to suffer for the monsterous and backwards civilization they let the ship residents take on.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl listens at Mute's dam finally breaks, but others jump in before he can let some of his own thoughts trickle out. So he just listens. Seft makes a point he had planned to help Mute realize on her own...

    Indeed, she makes it so harshly that Mute just drops to let them input again. When Moonfin chips in, Eryl is quick to agree. "Right now, everyone is likely feeling quite emotional, and that is perfectly natural. You wish to meet Hyun-ae yourselves so you may try and help her. But, it is best to go into these things with as best an understanding as we can reach. Thus, reading the last log first might be best. Right now, she is simply... asleep. Let us not wake her until we have perfectly worthwhile things to say."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Piping up from the back is George, of course. As usual, his irreverence conceals an intense caution, shielding a canny wariness and a desire to approach this slowly behind some jokes. "Hey, I'm just sayin', but, like-- Remember the last guys that woke her up before reading a lot of the stuff that was relevant? Remember /all those skeletons/? I mean, I'm not saying', but I'm just sayin'. Let's get some of our shit /in line/, if you know what I mean. Big and Tall Can Opener Emporium has a good point here."

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Rory's right 'bout the culture clashes Ah think," Corona chimes in, "But Ah think we gotta have all the pieces from the logs first. Or suddenly divin' into the other side of the story is only gonna cause more confusion than answers right now."

Mute (958) has posed:
    When Mute reappears, she does not face the group.

    Her eyes are glistening in a way that might suggest that she had been crying, a fact that is clear for a brief instant when she looks to the group as if in surprise. When her expression calms, she briefly looks over her shoulder and seems to nonverbally say, 'So you didn't activate Hyun-ae, huh.' She turns away, perhaps calling attention to the fact that this is the first time she has turned away from the group outright.

    It seems like she isn't up to talking, but the last file appears anyway:

Mute (958) has posed:
==============================================================================


Folly

Author: Kim Jung Su


I wrote before that the Pale Bride was gift of extraordinary value to the Kim family, but the tumult of the past several months has forced me to reconsider.

She is in every way a product of the era she must have originated from, if her story is to be believed. Though I mean no disrespect to our ancestors, it is clear that they were not as versed in proper etiquette. She absolutely refuses to behave as a proper woman, tossing aside her food at dinner, lashing out at Yeong-seok's wife when she attempts to help her, and hiding in her quarters when she is called upon to help with the cooking or cleaning.

Moreover, she finds some way of being unenthused with the idea of being married to the Emperor. I must admit that I have come to question the notion myself; were she to be presented to the Emperor as she is now, it would most certainly not bring fortune to the Kim family, but humiliation to last generations. And yet I have promised the Emperor a daughter. Whatever am I to do?

Reneging when I was so forward, so eager before would surely bring humiliation, too, but surely less than sending such an uncultured creature to the seat of the Emperor would. Perhaps I could convince him that she simply isn't ready? Or perhaps I could confide in him about the egg, and the time she says she comes from? Though he would no doubt take me for a madman were I to try.

No. Looking at all the alternatives, it is clear that we must make every effort to change her. I would so like to believe that it would be enough to tell her how much such a thing would be helping to raise the Kim name in the Emperor's esteem, but she seems completely disinterested in filial affairs.

So perhaps I could try telling her that a life in the Emperor's company would be luxurious, and that it would leave her much time to her own devices? Perhaps she would respond if I expounded upon the comfort that such a life would afford her? It pains me to think that those are her only concerns, and it would likely mean some friction between her and the Emperor throughout their lives, if the Emperor were to choose her at all.

Oh, if only there were some way to silence her. Were there no need to fear the words that might come rushing out of her mouth, so many problems would be solved.

    Though in the end, I must admit that this is ultimately my folly. I was the one who suggested such an arrangement to the Emperor without first consulting my family, and without having any awareness of the girl's true nature. If we cannot salvage this, it should be my burden to bear.


==============================================================================

Rory White (673) has posed:
"... I'm sorry for coming off insensitive, Mute. I truly am." Rory exclaims after reading through the scroll. It doesn't take her long - she's very fast at reading for obvious reasons.

    Both her hands rest on the table now. "This is as much an offense against my cultural sensibilities as it is yours, Kim Jong Su's, and Hyun-Ae... I just wish to sort it all out.... try to find an answer for the only survivors of this tragedy... did not mean offense." But she is bad at the sensitivities part. More at expressing than anything else, it seems.

    Unlike Seft, she'd chosen to keep her viewpoints about feelings to herself and instead focus on the follies.

    "By the files we're reading... Kim Jung Su's motivations and reasonings made sense to him. Hyun-Ae's reactions to being awoken make sense for her... I do not really know what to make of it yet."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    When Mute regards the group with mild surprise, Eryl offers her a polite smile. Judging by the wetness of her eyes, she probably thought that they would listen to Hyun-ae over her, perhaps never to activate her again. Putting that degree of faith in them was very bold of her.

    But, the final log. Eryl reads through it, crossing his arms and drumming his right fingers against his left bicep. "So, Mister Kim Jung-Su wanted to go ahead with the marriage, in spite of the obvious incompatibility between the Emperor and Hyun-ae. And based on what he wrote, he wanted to..." He takes a moment to choose his next word carefully. "Educate her, coerce her... or perhaps even mutilate her, judging by his wish to simply silence her forever." He looks to Mute apologetically as he says that. "Though, I would like to think a man like him would not go to such lengths."

    He looks to Rory, and says, "Of course they made sense to them. People go their whole lives believing that they make sense and that everyone else is deluded. There is no objective truth to be found here, only the clash of different viewpoints."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary's not quite sure what to think about all this. She looks from person to person int he room to gauge their reactions, actually managing to keep a fairly neutral expression herself. She does give Kyra a light pat on the shoulder, though, then holding that arm out in case she needs a hug or something. It'll only be a little awkward, at least.

     And then there's Mute. The cleric's face twitches briefly at that pained look from the girl.. AI? Whatever she is, Sanary would probably give her a hug, too, if she could. She does give her a sympathetic look, at least, even if she's still not sure what to actually say to try and comfort her, maybe ease her mind about the possibility of Kim Jung-Su killing Hyun-Ae himself.

     But Eryl's analysis... That gets her brain going on further possibilities! "You never know. Arranged marriages, killing their own family members... Wouldn't put it past nobles."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Kyra continues to not say anything because she sure as hell does not feel giving anyone a fair or balanced 'go' at their perspectives. She shrugs a little, sadly not taking Sanary up on the offer of a hug. But after a long, long period of silence she does say someting.

    "I think it's best to let Hyun-Ae lie. Waking her up in any capacity would just cause more problems."

Zwei (596) has posed:
    "The culture of this particular part of Earth, at least from where it originated, places extremely heavy emphasis on honour, social status, presenting a strong public face, station and invidual sacrifice for the good of the whole; in this case the family. Complaining that the culture is different from yours is a little beyond the point now. They're all dead. What's important is to understand it for context, not agree with it. Besides, it isn't as if the elder Kim was unreasonable or harsh with her. He honestly sounds like he was trying his hardest, and way out of his depth." Weiss pauses. "Though I get the feeling the next log is going to involve him resorting to something a little less kind. Feudal societies like these aren't know for being soft."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    Seft looks as though she's about to speak up, but Moonfin shoots her a look. "For now, our place is not to judge, but to gather. And what I have gathered is..." He sighs. "A sudden rush of foreign culture injected into the circles of nobility. A dangerous scenario. One with little to lose in a high-stress situation, sharing social proximity with the figures of great power, holding motives and ambitions that none of them know or could even understand..." He takes a long sip of his own tea and settles it somberly. "The rumbling of a powerful storm. Jung Su held no malice, but surely he held no insight, nor nobility's intuition. His attempt to ascend in the nobility reached far beyond his grasp."

    Seft sulks. She gives Mute a quick glance, one that looks a little more regretful, awkward... But she focuses on speaking, oddly, to Kyra specifically. "Anxious. That is one point, but..." She shifts around, staring at her own lap for a little while. "Awkward. Her moment of passing was a moment of mass murder. Someone of that sort is someone who did not pass at peace. I do not believe we should reject Mute, but I think Hyun-ae deserves a chance to speak her part and perhaps become at peace with the troubles she dealt with. The same chance that I hope Mute will have."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "We be est open the Folly file I think, we need to have the whole story here to be honest. Before we know what's happened." She then goes silent as the file loads. She's sliently reading she'll need to dig deeper but to be honest, this is the old cultral mindest. She shakes her head now, and ponders about this.

"I think another point is Hyun-Ae, came from a soceity which may not have had noblity /at all/."

"We came to find out the whole story Kyra. That means even talking to Hyun-Ae as well."

She look to Zwei for a moment tilts her head.

"I think you made a logic error. Have you not considered the dating system in the eariler log? If I recall right it's shorter than the time the ship was in space. There's a possiblity someone of that cultral mindset sized control of the ship through some means and forced the social change. Look at Hyun-Ae's reaction the culture on the ship was clearly very different at one point. Kim's behaivous indicateds that there could have been a control of information over the common people on the ship by the rulers."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite takes in the entire of the final log, and sits back in her chair. Once again the flask is retrieved and drank from, this time draining the storage unit of its certainly strongly alcoholic contents in two long, silent draws. Before finally capping the empty flask and tucking it back into the boot it was recently retrieved from.

With all that settled, Corona finally gives a soft snort. Pinchs two fingers to the bridge of her muzzle. "This is all just one big ol' trip on shit creek, regardless iffen yer goin' downstream or up..."

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute does not respond verbally to Rory's or Eryl's words, though she does give subtle, physical responses to the things that they say. For example, her shoulders raise in tension when Rory says that this is 'as much an offense against her cultural sensibilities,' but then they lower again, as if in an exaggerated breathing motion, when she says that she doesn't know what to make of it yet. Likewise, her fists ball when Eryl uses the word 'coerce', then let themselves lay flat when he wraps back around to his concluding point. She can see clearly enough that these people are trying to understand her, and in the very, furthest brink of her mind, she has a severely troubling thought:

    'If only I could think like them, everything would be okay.'

    The moment she takes notice of the thought, she winces. She drinks a breath that sounds almost like a hiss, clutching one arm in the opposite hand, hunching momentarily in a posture that makes her look far more like an avatar of antiquity -- an elderly woman from a time before time. Surely, this posture is but an outward reflection of how she feels, for even if the stance itself fades shortly after it forms, the niggling questions in the back of her mind will persist for so much longer.

    Oddly, when she finally manages to turn back around, Kyra is the first one she looks to. After folding her arms and composing herself - though her eyes remain somewhat narrowed in reflection of her mood - she speaks again. "Believe me, I would love nothing more than to just let her rot, but I don't think the others are going to let that happen. And..." She pauses, closing her eyes. "And, she was the active AI for the 600 years between when the Mugunghwa shut down and when you people woke me up. So I think she's had a long time to calm down. Maybe she'll be a little less homicidal if she can tell that you people aren't like the ones from our world." 'Our world,' she says, eliciting another wince. She really has already started to think of it as an entire universe unto itself, lost forever...

    ...damnit.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Is /everything/ I say going to get disagreed with today!?" Kyra blurts out, following Seft and Kotone, clearly extremely frustratred. "I don't even know why I fucking bother. That's it, I'm /done/." She pushes her empty teacup out in front of her and struggles to her feet, rolling her ankles to get the circulation back in them once more. "Just forward me the recording of the conversation later. I don't have anything else to add to this shitshow."

    She looks to Mute, "If she's so homocidal-you know what, I'm not going to finish that thought, I'll just get more blowback. I'll be on my ship."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Now that the log-reading is complete, the matter of 'what do to with Hyun-ae' reaches the forefront. Some hold that she should be given a chance to live again and speak her own mind, others think that leaving her to restful oblivion would be best. And judging by Kyra's outburst, some are too emotive right now to make that decision.

    "Today has been an emotional rollercoaster," he begins carefully, musing on each sentence. "Right now, we are all in a low mood, and that is perfectly understandable. But it is causing friction among us." At this, he gestures at Kyra's retreating form. "As such, I say that we should leave it here for the day, and decide what to do concerning Hyun-ae at a later date, when we are fresh and clear of mind once more."

    A look to Mute, with a querying tilt of the head and a soft smile. "Is this acceptable to you, Miss Mute?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite turns a bit to watch Kyra storm out. "Yeeeeeah, Ah reckon pilin' talkin to her on top of everythin' else tonight would be a bad thin' to do."

Zwei (596) has posed:
    "Irrelevant." Weiss is quick to say to Kotone. "The ship obviously has no logs of anything aside from itself when it was launched. We already know it was a Korean People's project so far, and the culture it regressed to is clearly based on the same ancient standards and values. Whether or not someone forced it isn't required to understand the general strokes of what it is, and why Hyun-ae or Kim Jung Su acted the way they did. Rabbling and being outraged about its tenets and tropes doesn't produce anything helpful."

    Finally, she gets up out of her seat, apparently having finished disposing of the tea. "Is she really that formidable of an AI? I second the idea that we really should interrogate her as well, but if her potentially accessing Moonfin's ship is the real problem here, I'd be happy to set up an airgapped, minimal capacity system for it."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"I'm not coming back. I haven't felt this unwelcome since we came to that Glitch settlement on Amalgam." Kyra speaks up through gritted teeth, not even bothering to turn around to look at the others as she heads back to her ship.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Whoa. She wasn't exactly expecting that kind of a reaction out of Kyra. She seemed so level before!

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, wait a minute. Look, I'm a fucking -security AI-. I know what a stupid idea this is, okay? But I can't exactly go against what these people are saying when they're the closest thing to an Emperor that I'm ever going to get, either. I don't want them to wake Hyun-ae up, but I got -overruled-. All we can do is make suggestions, you know? And sometimes those suggestions get overruled. Throwing a fucking tantrum over it isn't helping anything, and I'd -really- like it if you didn't lump me together with the rest of the people who -want- to let a homicidal psycho control the sensitive parts of their ship. Seriously, that would leave a pretty awful taste in my mouth."

    She sighs, putting her hands together, veiling them with her sleeves. "So fine, go back to your ship, take a break. That's what I've been doing every time you guys have dropped to the command line. Just try not to feel like people are ganging up on you, okay? We're -all- on edge right now, so like. Don't pretend you're the only one who's getting bitched at."

    Well, that could've been delivered a lot better. But maybe Kyra will respond well to it? Mute doesn't really know, but the /intention/ wasn't a malicious one.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute looks to Eryl, finally returning her hand to its rightly place at the side of her leg. "Sure," She says, "whatever. As long as you all keep looking through the logs, you're still holding up your side of the deal. I can't really complain about /how/ you decide to do that when I didn't even specify a way, can I?"

    If nothing else, she's very fair person.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute's attentions shift to Zwei almost immediately after she finishes talking. "Yeah," She starts, "yeah, do that. You can hang around a while after everyone else leaves today to set that up with me, if you want. Since we're both using the same software, though, you're going to have to lock -both- of us out, which is why it would probably be better for a third party to do it. I'll walk you through the process if you want, but something tells me you aren't really going to need my help." After that, she lets slip a small smile. It's... kinda nice, having another, computer-savvy artificial intelligence in the house.

    She'll never admit that she had that thought, though. Hell no.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has nothing to say to to Weiss as Kyra's response gets her attention she'd not intended to come off harsh to Kyr. She tries to think of something to say at this point has nothign else to say on anything she's just getting real quiet, maybe she's not even helping with this whole mess at all? Maybe she is hurting getting to the bottom of things.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Yeah, let's... Let's come back to this another time." Sanary lets out a long sigh as she wobbles back onto her feet, rubbing her head slowly and trying to process everything that's just happened. And happened already, even, considering how long ago the actual things happened. "Remind me to ask you how much of the ship is... Er. Functional next time, though. 'cause if it's really functional..."

     She makes an uncertain noise. "... Any chance we could move this whole setup to something smaller?"

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
    "Kyra." That's George speaking up there, on Kyra's way out, but not stopping her. No "kiddo" or "Kyr'" or any of that overly friendly stuff. His tone seems off, and oddly dissonant. "Talk to me later, alright? Take whatever time off and then come see me." Then he goes back to relaxing, as if that entire bit wasn't as entirely out of character as it was.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Locking her into a virtual machine for quarantined access was already on my mind." Rory states sigh a sigh to Zwei and Mute. "... This entire debacle has given me much to think about for social interaction. Hopefully it will go better next time." She gives Mute an apologetic look...

    But ain't gonna stop Kyra for now. Gotta let her cool off.

Mute (958) has posed:
    Mute rubs at her forehead, her expression somewhat lower now than before. She folds her arms, assuming a simultaneously exhausted and defensive posture before locking eyes with Moonfin.

    "Yeah," She says, still facing Moonfin, but directing it to the group at large all the same. "I think that's enough for one day. I'm gonna drop to the command line -- it's kinda the closest thing I've got to sleep." After a moment's hesitation, she hastily adds, "Oh, and thanks. Thanks for coming, everyone. Sorry things got a little heated toward the end."

    With those words, the screen goes blank again, displaying the same messages from before. The output log still displays the four commands that were entered to open the four log files, serving as proof that they had done what they came to do, and perhaps bringing back little snippets of discussion that had been prompted by each one.

    For a story so many years old, it's having a perhaps surprising amount of influence on the present.