Homeworld Experiments

Homeworld Experiments
Date of Scene:	23 June 2014
Location:	The Homeworld
Synopsis:	Homura and Psyber meet the Operators for a few questions.
Cast of Characters:	2, 253, 347
Tinyplot:	When They Return

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Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
The visiting room is traditionally empty, besides a few nice, comfortable chairs. It's just off the Red Wing, with a door to it in the corner, for some reason. On one side, behind thick glass, you can usually find Mr. Welcomes and Mr. Answers - both the elders of the group, Mr. Welcomes being the more energetic and Mr. Answers being the more scholarly - in a pair of chairs of their own, always pleasantly ready to discuss things. Mr. Speaks is also here, for once, the younger fellow lacking the gray hairs of his co-workers but all three sharing the same simple business suit.

Psyber (253) has posed:
It's time to experiment in the Homeworld! Psyber had a bunch of things he wanted to do, so it seemed best to just set aside a day and try to crack the most important stuff out all at once.

Of course, he had invited Homura to this. It was only polite.

Then he spots Speaks! Which is a checked off box on his list, since EVERY time he visits the Homeworld he probably checks if he has an appointment with Speaks. Which means this time... he must have an appointment!

"Yo Speaks. Long time no see. Is it time for a meeting? I'm just chock full of questions."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"Every meeting comes at its time." Speaks says, his deep voice polishing the words like a rock tumbler. "If we have a meeting now, then it happens when it was meant to."

"I'm pretty sure that's a 'yes'." Mr. Answers says, dryly, with a bit of a sigh. "I really can't understand what value you place in his words, but it's not really my place to question that sort of thing."

Mr. Welcomes doesn't have much to say here, and so resigns himself to sitting there and watching.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
Homura did not ask questions.
She merely deduced that since Psyber did not bring food that meant they weren't going to go harass Burden. She did bring some food though. For herself. It's her dinner. Looks like Taco Bell. Munch munch.

She is amazed Psyber managed to nail all three Operators at once.

Psyber (253) has posed:
"No offense, Answers, since I value your input too. It's just that Speaks seems to know a weird amount more than anyone else," Psyber admits to the first Operator, stopping and smiling at the three of them, "But since I managed to catch all three of you at once, well..."

"I realized I've done nothing but bug Burden for information on a specific topic," He admits, rocking back and forth on his feet, "So, I'll be pretty direct about it..."

He looks between the three of them, "Do any of you three know much about Samael?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Mr. Answers gives the first bit of information. "Samael is a Pure User, one who has taken the name of her Pure for her own. Most Pures never reveal their names to their Users. For some reason, hers did, to her, as do her subordinates'. She has a deep and innate connection with the Pures, one transcending that of most of their Users. According to my co-worker, Mr. Welcomes, she has likely been present in multiple cycles. I would assume that she has some means of preserving herself after They arrive, similar to how the Homeworld preserves itself."

"The Homeworld survives mostly by mutual agreement with Them; we all seem to figure the Abstractum are the best chance of Them being killed eventually. That's not enough on its own, obviously; the methods past that are a bit difficult to describe to linear inclinations. It's possible Samael has another similar arrangement, or that she's a more intrinsic part of the cycles." That's Mr. Welcomes.

"Samael is something that you do not yet know you're missing." Mr. Speaks says. "A necessity both to Their victory and to Their death. She is unlike any Pure User. Fight with her, as hard as you can. The necessity of her existence will remain, until such time as it does not, at which point you'll find much more success. Or much less, depending on what you find of her true nature."

"The good doctor knows her well. She does not know the doctor. Unfortunately, this is to neither's adavantage. Her efforts to oppose you will bring you your answers eventually, as well as show you her purpose in destroying Them. It should come right on schedule, in fact."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
Wow info dump.
Homura swallows her bite of food and then stares silently a bit.

Why DIDN'T they talk to these guys before?

"We saw the Cycle that Samael originated from first-hand, so we can confirm she's been around since then. Hard to say how active but she claims it's enough that she lost track."

She decides to home in on a weird question.

"Why don't Pures reveal their names? And what ARE their names? Samael's have an angel theme going on, is that constant, or do they vary like Abstractums do?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber listens very carefully to all of that, "Wow. I think I just got more information in the past minute than in the past month from Burden." Psyber states simply, looking between the three of them. He'll let Homura get her question out for now, while he mills over and mentally records this event.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Mr. Welcomes seems to brighten at the mention of having seen that past cycle firsthand.

Mr. Answers shakes his head. "Because most of them do not really have names worth saying. It would be not unlike whispering the names of each of your finger bones to a glove you decide to wear. They use the Users in the same manner; communication about identity is not a priority."

"The names of the Pures are like Their true name. A self-destructive concept expression. Unless someone with sufficient association is the one doing the speaking, the information does not convey, self-destructing conceptually before it can be heard. So we do not know many details about the names."

"For example." Mr. Speaks cuts in. "The name of Them." He opens his mouth and a sound comes out, but there's simply no information about it; it's like static, white noise vocalized. He clearly intended to say something, but the information just disintegrates conceptually, in recording, in perception, and in sound. "######."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
"I... see. So you KNOW Their name, but any attempt at communicating it fails. I'd ask how you learned it in the first place, but you'd probably not answer." Homura shrugs; she's got her answers! Psyber's turn, now.

She stuffs her mouth full of taco.

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber rubs his hands together and then crosses his arms, "So then. Is there value or worth in saving Samael?" Psyber asks seriously to the three figures, "Is there value and worth in saving any Pure, or is it best to kill them and simply call it done?"

He looks between the three figures and asks more specifically, "Is Samael's death necessary, or her life? Is this all going to end the same way, or is it variable in outcome?"

His question all boils down to the same point: "I'm tired of chasing people who can't be saved. Can she?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"A Pure User can be saved from that self-destructive inclination. Whether this is practical or prudent depends on the situation. A Pure cannot; all the Pure are is limbs of Them, intrusive elements of a greater part that can be cut off. Recycle that as much as you wish, but that is not saving the Pure." Mr. Answer says, frankly. There's a bit of a shrugging there., lightly awkward.

Mr. Speaks says, "Samael is omnicidal, sociopathic, and harbors nothing but contempt for human life." He points to Psyber briefl, with a casual sort of posture. "I speak no truth and no lies about what you could do, or what might come of it, in efforts to save Samael from herself. I'll say that there's no spark of goodness or light in her at all. But it's not my place to say if that means it's not worth saving her."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
No spark of goodness...
That's entirely possible.
She's quite the sociopath.

Homura finishes eating, and chimes in lightly with an easy question, to hopefully give Psyber the room he needs to follow-up on his own inquiries. "So you're saying even if we could convert a Pure into an Abstractum, it would hardly be saving it or redeeming it, it would merely be using its corpse and infusing a brand new life not its own into it?"

The answer is obvious, she thinks, but she wants to hear it from their mouths, to see how they word it.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"They were never alive to begin with. At least, no more alive than, say, a finger is, all on its own. What's there can be reused, recycled, possibly, if you have certain needs or skills, but such gestures hold no inherent morality to speak of." Mr. Answers says, nodding to Homura.

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber looks to the three men and asks a question he doubts they have the answer to, "Who was Samael before she got the Pure?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"I would not know, we do not appear to have any records on the subject that we can access." Mr. Answers says. He gestures to the Abstractum worn by Homura and Psyber. "Our sister network, the Abstractum Network, seems to know of her, but we cannot access that information."

"There's only one person really qualified to answer that question, and we've all missed our chance to ask them." Mr. Speaks says, in a distant sort of tone.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
"Well, we do know she was a "fair maiden". Maybe a princess or nobility of some kind. One of the last people she killed was a knight who was after her, before she joined Their cause." Or that's what she gathered from what they saw, anyway.

Homura simply asks back: "Who did we miss the chance to question?"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
Mr. Speaks sighs. "I wish I could tell you. But I never did catch her name." A casual shrug. "Doesn't matter much now. She left a great deal behind, but unfortunately what she left behind isn't really something that'd be productive to investigate much."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
"... whose name did you not catch? The person we should be asking, or Samael's? I can't tell if you're talking about yourself or someone else right now," Homura asks Speaks, just to get that sorted out. "Though, if there's one thing you should have learned about us by now, it's that we care about the past even if you think it's irrelevant."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
"The only one who was ever qualified." Mr. Speaks says. "And while I am quite sure you have your own interests in the matter, I can tell you that you won't find the opportunity to identify her for a long while yet. Just so long as you are... Attentive." He shrugs plaintively. "If you really find yourself so invested in the matter, anyway."