Scene #1754: Evergreen

Owner	Pose
Simon Petrikov	Simon has spent his Union paycheck on renting a large self-storage unit. It has air conditioning, he has had plumbing put in, there's electricity, a security system, furniture, food, water, and so on. For what amounts to a small-to-medium-sized warehouse, it's actually a fairly comfy home. Especially compared to the places Simon and Marceline were living in before the Union rescued them. Simon has decided that in order to protect Marcy, he needs to become a hero or something like one. He has already demonstrated he is willing to sacrifice his own well-being, even his own sanity, for her. But sacrifice alone isn't enough to keep her safe, and clothed, and fed, and create an environment suitable for a little girl to grow up in. He needs strength of his own. And while he doesn't expect to ever be a lone hero fighting the whole world to protect the little half-demon who is like a daughter to him, and though he realizes he's a scholar - not a warrior - who needs to work with others to be at his best... He still wants to contribute more than just reading old books and translating tombstones and making funny jokes to convince old witches to part with Dragon Balls. He wants to be able to fight, and maybe even to learn magic. Magic he can use without the Crown. He has resolved never to put that thing on again for any reason. But even now, months after the last time he wore it, he feels it clawing at him, like an addiction. To remain strong, he has to feel he has strength of his own. Something he can do. After hearing about Abstractum, Simon thought maybe a partner, someone who can work with him, might be just what he needs. While initially leery of any more talking magic artifacts, he has been reassured repeatedly that Abstractum are different - and trustworthy. Which is good, because he is getting a bit tired of weird dreams about dinosaurs and some kind of ice wizard or something. Something that isn't going to mess with his head even more is ideal. Right now, he's waiting in the doorway into the self-storage unit, enjoying the pleasant weather they're getting now that winter is starting to fade away. he's wearing a long-sleeve shirt with a light vest over it, a tie, clean slacks and new shoes. His long white hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, his beard is well-trimmed, and he looks far nicer than he did a few months back. He even has new eyeglasses, though he doesn't seem to need them anymore, and they 'feel' wrong. Marcy is playing outside, drawing chalk outlines on the concrete. He'll have to make sure those get cleaned up before the manager of the place sees them, but for now, Simon leaves the little girl be. He's expecting someone.
Staren	Someone is here. Staren teleports into a nearby alley, trying to keep out of sight of the world's natives. He's not sure if this world is cool with a flying catboy or not. Little hoverjets in his shoes allow him to 'skate' up to the warehouse, as if he were on rollerblades. He's dressed in his normal clothes, including the labcoat. As he approaches Simon and Marcy, he smiles and waves, "Hi guys!" He waves with his right hand. He skates to a stop in front of Simon. "Simon, good to see you." He holds his left arm in front of him, bent horizontally across his chest, and pulls back his sleeve. He's wearing a brass-colored gauntlet, segmented with five armored wires running up from the base of the gauntlet to the knuckles, bracer-style plates on the back of the arm and hand, and a blue crystal eye situated behind the wrist, about where a watch would be. "Simon, this is Eureka. Eureka, Simon." Staren takes a breath, then pulls a sheet of paper from his bag and holds it out to simon. It's a printout of Homura's Abstractum Primer (+info Staren/Abstractum-101). He's still smiling, but his tone becomes a bit more serious. "Just so we're clear on this... you're sure you're ready to have an Abstractum made, and you understand this means you may be called upon to fight the conceptual enemy known as 'Them'?"
Simon Petrikov	Simon greets Staren with a smile and a wave. Marcy isn't sure if she recognizes him, but waves anyway, without putting down her chalk, before resuming drawing out what can only be the aftermath of a grisly massacre based on the number of bodies she has drawn, to the point of overlapping. She's a pretty morbid kid, but... You know. She's also apparently the daughter of their world's version of The Devil, so maybe it comes with the territory. "Nice to see you again! Thanks for coming over! Can I get you anything?" Staren showing Eureka receives a bit of an owlish blink from Simon before being greeted in turn. "Nice to meet you, Eureka." When he is handed the paper, Simon accepts it and starts looking it over. When he is questioned however, his white eyebrows go up and pulls his gaze away to look back at Staren. "Err... No. I don't understand that. Didn't, rather. This is news to me. I'm not really a fighter, though I'm trying to correct that a little bit. Enough to become a protector, even if not a warrior. I didn't really intend to go looking for trouble, or facing these... 'Them'." He finishes reading over the paper, and then looks to Eureka. "I, uh... I might need to think about this a bit more. This isn't quite what I thought I was agreeing to."
Abstractum.Net	"A pleasure to meet you." The little gauntlet says, swiveling its glassy crystal eye pleasantly to Simon. Shadowy lids frame it in a cheerful, pleasant posture, and if Simon shakes the offered hand, the gauntlet seems to squeeze a little bit on its own, despite it being a left-hand shake. "You might be misunderstanding. Not everyone is a soldier, Simon, and my User and I know that especially well. Expertise, understanding, and intelligence might be all that someone is comfortable in offering, and it is still a valuable contribution to any conflict. We Abstractum, and the Homeworld itself, don't make any demands that you wouldn't be able to fulfill in the capacity of your identity."
Staren	Staren blinks. "Get me anything? Ah, um..." Slightly flustered, Staren replies, "I, uh, I can't eat anything right now, I'm a robot. Thanks though!" he smiles again. Simon reads the paper, learns about Them. Staren wonders how informed Simon was, but... noone is in a better position to inform than Staren and Eureka. "Indeed. There's gonna be conflicts, and you might fight sometimes, but..." Staren scratches the back of his head with his non-Eureka hand. "How do I put this... Abstractum are made from your concept. If you're not a fighter, /at all/... then your Abstractum will be built around that. It will have capabilities that help you, and possibly others, in other ways. To accomplish your own goals, and to defeat Them, perhaps not in direct combat." He looks down at Eureka. "How many have entered Oblivion Paradigm? How many of them have been fighters?" He looks up to Simon again. "Take Eureka, for example. Though she can slightly improve my power in combat directly, her Prime Resonance allows me to basically... shift the genre of people and objects. It's not a direct combat power, though it has combat and noncombat applications. She can also make protoabstractum that don't have the same constraints as the ones anyone can make on the homeworld. Perhaps even more valuable is her disposition and knowledge... I would be nowhere near as far along in my understanding of Abstractum without that -- I've learned as much just by asking as I have by experimentation, though both have played key roles..." He scratches his head again. "Perhaps we should come inside and sit down while we talk about it?"
Simon Petrikov	"Oh." Staren is a robot right now? Well... Okay. He just kind of accepts that. A testament to either his adaptability or how broken his mind has gotten that this isn't really that weird to him. Simon considers the explanation, and then says, "Yeah, go on ahead. The living room is in the partition to the right. I'll get Marcy to come inside, since I'm not going to leave her out there unsupervised. The last time I did that for just a couple of minutes she came back covered in gross." When Staren goes inside, and turns to the right, there's a divider wall separating the initial area, which seems to be where all of Simon's books and stuff are kept, from proper living space. There's a couch and chairs and a recliner, as well as a portable refrigerator and freezer, and even a television. ...This IS a self-storage unit, right? It's pretty homey for one. Eventually Simon will join Staren and with chalk-covered Marcy in tow. He helps her up to the sink to wash her hands off at least. "Hup!" Marcy lets out as she is lifted. Simon says, "I'm still not quite sure I get it, but it sounds like I can still be useful even if I don't know kung-fu, and that it might even allow me to do kung-fu if I ordinarily wouldn't be able to?" His main concern is Marceline. First and foremost. What's best for her. More than a scholar, more than 'not a fighter', he is a survivor. And rule #1 of survival is don't take unnecessary risks. Is fighting Them necessary for protecting Marcy? He doesn't know, but he is lost in thought to the extent that the girl in his arms is done washing her hands for several seconds while he's still holding her up with the water going. Marcy has to turn the water off herself, and say, "You can put me down now, Simon." a bit annoyedly to get attention. "Huh? Oh, sorry." Simon sets the little girl back down and then turns back to Staren, withdrawing the paper from the pocket he stored it in and giving it another glance-over. "There's no small print here is there? No hidden price? No secret agenda? I've been assured Abstractum are trustworthy, and I'm the kind of guy who will give most people a chance or three. But the last time I put something that looked like an object but talked on me, bad things happened. And even with all the assurances, that's hard to shake." But that isn't the real worry, is it? The real worry is if this is going to make him too dangerous for Marcy to be around or something. Will he be targetted by 'Them' by taking up arms against them?
Abstractum.Net	"I can provide an explanation in more traditional terms." Eureka says, plaintively. "If kung-fu is in your identity, your concept, your essential soul, then that's what it will give you. But you're a man of reason and knowledge, or at least that's the impression I've gotten. I'd hold some confidence that whether or not the Abstractum gives you some power to fight, it will more concern itself with giving you mental benefits of knowledge and thought, or the ability to apply your knowledge beneficially to the world." There's a bit of a "headshake" from the gauntlet. "There's no small print. You agree to help against Them, but that's not really a contract that's enforced." There's a bit of a prideful look. "Our network takes pride in not cursing the bloodlines or haunting or punishing or anything like that, if someone feels like they got in over their head and wants out. If you find that helping your world in the conflict is something you can't do, you just violate the contract and go, and you even keep the Abstractum, if that's what you want." "The worst I can say would happen is that the Abstractum helps you more indirectly, or that what you think you need isn't what you really need. We exist purely for the sake of our Users and helping them."
Staren	Staren nods at the comment about Marcy and heads in. So, this is where Simon and Marcy live? It seems fine, Staren could see living here. Although, he suspects he could get them a more advanced computer and entertainment system, from what he's heard. Marcy gets a brief, confused look. She was drawing with chalk. So how did she get /covered/ in it? Staren shrugs. "Yes, you can definately be useful. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that your Abstractum will teach you kung-fu." How would you teach Simon kung-fu with Abstractum? Perhaps some kind of weird proto-abstractum? Ah, no, there was that special kind of Rotation Eureka mentioned. Rotate Simon into a robot, install kung-fu programming, wait for it to set in, then rotate him back. Yes, that's how you'd do it. Satisfied that it has solved the completely hypothetical problem sort-of posed to it, Staren's brain returns to more present matters. He just blinks at Simon with a blank stare, and quickly replays what was just said to himself. Then he has to catch up with what Eureka said. The comment about breaking the contract gets a surprised, "We can /do/ that??" from Staren. Staren shrugs and shakes his head. "No hidden price has been found as yet. Abstractum seem to be at least as on-the-level as, say, the Union. I totally get where you're coming from, but..." how to put this... "...The Crown seems to be trying to do something to you. Change you into something you're not. Abstractum are a reflection of /you/. Your Abstractum will share your goals and be devoted to you. As I noted," he points to the paper, "an Abstractum will sacrifice itself to save you if it comes to it. Even if there's nothing they can do, they have to try. I hope that this will never come up, but... you see what I'm getting at here, would the Crown do /that/?" Staren sits back in his chair again. "There is one thing you should know, though. I don't think it's bad, but it's the kind of thing you might be upset by if you learned it after the fact." He leans forward again. "Abstractum are made from pieces of Them." After a suitable dramatic pause, Staren finishes: "What we're going to do today, if you consent, basically amounts to attracting a, a /tendril/ of Them to you, then lopping it off while making a conceptual mold of you, then stuffing the piece of Them into the mold, imbuing it with a soul, and adding Dr. Burden's programming to it. The result is an Abstractum. But Abstractum are no more connected nor bound to Them than you, I, or Marcy are controlled by our genetic parents. There's a version that /does/ stay connected, and doesn't get a soul or the same programming, we call them Pures, and the minions of Them use Pures in a manner that at least superficially seems similar to Abstractum, but... well, we haven't exactly had the opportunity to study them much. But even the Pure-Wielders don't seem to be controlled by Them. So Abstractum... well, they seem as safe as can be, all things considered."
Simon Petrikov	Simon rubs his head trying to follow the explanation. He knows he's smart enough, but working it out in his head, getting the pieces to fit, cutting through this FOG is rough. Marcy starts to climb up into the recliner, definitely listening to what's being discussed, but either not understanding or choosing not to interrupt. But Simon calls out, "Whoah, hey! Change your clothes first! You'll need a bath later, but for now, at least get a new outfit on!-How did you get that much chalk on you, anyway? I can understand your pants because you were kneeling, but..." Marcy just goes 'pffft'. "I also lied down sometimes when I got tired of kneeling!" Duh. Of course. Makes perfect sense. "Be that as it may, no chalky-clothes on the furniture. Go get changed! Scoot!" Simon shoos Marcy towards the door, but she turns around to look up at him and ask, "You're not going to act weird anymore, right, Simon?" Simon pauses, and then kneels down to hug her, even if it means getting chalk on his nice clothes. "Not if I have a say in it, darling." Marcy looks over Simon's shoulder at Eureka, furrowing her brow, but decides to trust Simon to know best. Even if he broke a promise in the past, he has shown he is trying really hard not to do it again. And everything is so much better now. For both of them. Even so, she'll be keeping an eye out. "I'll be back!" she intones and then points at Staren and Eureka as she backs up out of the room once she has been released from the hug. "Don't do anything cool yet!" Simon sighs, smiling faintly as Marcy retreats to her equivalent of a bedroom. Small, but it has a bed, a dresser, decorations, a lamp, and so on. Far more comfortable than a sidewalk with newspapers for blankets. Simon stands up and turns around to face Staren and Eureka. "Alright. Sorry for asking so many questions. I guess I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into." Then he glances towards the closed door and says, "And to make sure I don't endanger her by becoming a threat to Them. As for the Crown..." Simon focuses fully on Staren and says, "Sacrifice, I've found, can be a short-term solution to a long-term problem. I'll do my best not to put my new partner in a situation where he... Or, uh... She, or it, has to consider sacrifice as an option. But the Crown, for all it's done to me... I think it was trying to protect me in its own way by changing me. Hiding who I am deep inside of myself, to keep me from getting hurt. Changing my body to not die as easily." He holds up his hands, palms towards himself, and wiggles his pointed fingers as he says, "Giving me powerful magic, even!" Then he looks down as his hands. "But the things it was giving me, and doing to me, were to fit the mold - the 'concept' it had - of what was safest for me. It didn't really give me a choice, except on whether I put it on or not." Simon closes his eyes and clenches his hands into fists. After several seconds, he opens his eyes, looking determined, and faces his guests. "Staren, Eureka. I joined the Union not just because it was necessary to protect Marceline, but because I wanted to pay you all back for what you'd done for us. If I only do what's necessary, it might be another of those 'short-term versus long-term' dealie-Os. Sometimes I have to take that risk, to do more, achieve more... And... BE more. I'm ready."
Staren	Simon explains the crown's potential goals. "I see..." Staren doesn't have more to say to that, though. After it all, Staren nods a little. "There's nothing to be sorry for! Questions are great. Questions are how we learn. And this process... is going to make a person. It's always good to show caution when doing that." He looks down at Eureka. "I guess we should wait until Marcy comes back to do the Genesis Drive. I believe it counts as something cool. Although the whoosh of... what do you call it? The thing where a User touches an unconventionally-procured Abstractum? The whoosh is flashier. But really, the processes at work here are amazing, no matter what the appearance is."
Abstractum.Net	"Well, yes." Staren gets a frank, "duh" sort of look from Eureka when he comments on the breachability of the contract. "What am I going to do, sue you? I am a glove." It is just trying to demonstrate how absurd of an idea it is for the Abstractum to actually cause problems for Users who don't go along with the agreements. Then it turns back to Simon. "If you go through with this, you will be more of yourself, essentially. All we do is amplify our User's concept, their identity. Essentially we are designed to make what you /do/ be closer to who you /are/. And if that's what you'd like, we can provide it. All that's required is explicit consent, from my User and from you."
Simon Petrikov	The 'being pieces of Them' thing was good to know, but not too concerning. Except for, like, the possibility of them maybe getting reconnected somehow or something? But Simon doesn't even know if that's a possibility and isn't too worried about it. Staren and Eureka both seem incredibly confident that things will work out just fine. But then Staren reveals he didn't know a kind of crucial detail of this 'contract' after however long with an Abstractum partner, and doubts start to surface again. If at all possible, Simon would like to avoid breaking any contracts, just like he'd want to avoid making a partner sacrifice themself for his sake. <<You can't know everything in advance, Simon.>> he tells himself. <<Sometimes you just have to trust.>> So Simon says, "You have my explicit consent then." Any further words from anyone are interrupted by Marcy's bedroom door whipping open and her emerging in a pink rabbit costume that might be some kind of pajamas. She stands there in a Metallica t-shirt so long it basically serves as a night shirt, in the doorway, with her hands on her hips, her super serious expression on, ready for some awesome. "It was the fastest thing I could put on!" she explains without prompting. Simon doesn't question her wardrobe choice, just gives her a thumbsup, and focuses on Staren. "When you and your buddy are ready."
Staren	Staren nods. "I'm ready if he is." He doesn't have much more to say.
Abstractum.Net	"All the whooshing that Abstractums do is called Resonance exhaust." Eureka clarifies, as a quick aside, to Staren. "It's the emission of the tiny fraction of unusable Resonance we generate." And then it's back to Simon! "Alright then." It's beginning to hum, a little ominously. "We'll begin. Powering Genesis Drive." THEME: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/201370883/PROCUREMENT.mp3 A vivid blue light shines out of the Eureka's eye as it shifts, slowly, into a monotone. "User explicit consent confirmed. Candidate User explicit consent confirmed. Drawing resonance." Loud whirring builds to a peak in the Abstractum; a burst of wind blasts out of the Eureka that sends small shockwaves into the environment. "ASSEMBLING CONCEPTS. AMPLIFYING PARADIGMS." It speaks in a harder monotone. "DETERMINING IMPRINT." Simon is going to feel a sensation not entirely unlike being grasped, tightly, but instead of in physical space, it's in another spatial axis entirely. It lifts him, and then he's struck against reality, with the sensation of leaving an imprint in it, a mold of sorts. When he's struck against reality, there's a bright blue shockwave of light and another swirling rush of wind, likely to blow light debris around. "CONCEPT MOLD ESTABLISHED. ENGAGING FULL GENESIS." And, it would seem, this "imprint" gets filled in. Like certain actions before it, this "filling in" seems to be performed on another spatial dimension, looking the way a mold might look to a flatlander when filled. It appears to be a small metal implement, perhaps the size of a bookmark stylized with intricate engravings related to earth's history along its length. Right at the tip, one can find a hemispherical gem embedded in it. Within the gem, a defined black pupil forms, surrounded by a pair of shadowy eyelids. Both Abstractum speak in unison now. "NETWORK MESSAGE: A new Abstractum has been deployed. Thank you for assuming the duty of protection. When They return, together we'll end them." And, abruptly, everything settles down. Eureka seems unexhausted by the process, like someone who's exercised enough to no longer experience the exertion of effort. It speaks pleasantly. "And that's done then. I hope it'll be a good partner for you, Simon." The bookmark was floating, and is now slowly descending; Simon should likely grab at it, otherwise it'll fall on the ground. It seems to be waking up!
Simon Petrikov	The blasts of wind make Marcy duck part way back into her room, but only enough to hang onto the door frame. She squints her eyes into the glare and the shockwaves, and watches all that happens. Simon does something similar, startled by what's going on, a bit scared, but determined to stand his ground no matter what. The bizarre sensations, the imprinting upon reality, the ominous proclamations, the power and light and sound, all of it is a bit overwhelming. But again, that mind of his, bent and battered enough that the form it has healed into now is more flexible, more ready to accept strange things, simply acknowledges 'this is what is happening right now', and moves on. When the silvery bookmark appears, Simon reaches out carefully to catch hold of it, avoiding the crystal eye so as not to poke it out or something by accident. http://tinyurl.com/nuejy8n His hair is a bit messier now, but he seems none the worse for wear. Marcy's hair is much more mussed up, but once things have settled slightly, she emerges into the living room as well, to inspect this new treasure that has been found with a mix of curiosity and anxiousness. She looks towards Staren and Eureka, and asks, "And that's how it's supposed to happen, right?" Simon looks to Marcy and smiles. While he worries about her, she worries about him. Between the two of them, they might worry about as much as that Hall character. "It's fine, Marcy. I think everything is going to be just fine." Simon then looks to Eureka and says, "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about in that department. Thank you. And thanks to you too, Staren."
Staren	Staren's seen this before, but it's always interesting to see what new Abstractum will come of it! Is that a... bookmark? Huh. He hasn't usually seen Simon carrying a book around, like, say, Twilight, who summons one that seems to help her cast spells in combat... Staren has an 'a-ha!' moment. /Simon doesn't do combat/. This Abstractum is meant to help him... research? Iiiinteresting... Staren wonders what sort of abilities it has? Staren nods to Marcy. "That's how it usually goes, yes." Casually, Staren reaches into his bag with his non-Eureka hand and pulls out the CAPTCHA camera to snaps a picture of the new Abstractum. It can't hurt to keep track of how many Abstractum currently exist in the Multiverse!
Abstractum.Net	As per the norm, it's unusually offset, but the incrementation of numerals indicates to Staren that this would be the 76th existing Abstractum. That's a lot! Jeeze. Meanwhile, the new Abstractum is waking up. Tilting its body, its eyes peek open and it looks around. "Oh." It says, articulately. "Hi there. Right, that's how I was supposed to get made. Hi, I'm Evergreen, and thanks for making me. What should I call you?" The tone is intellectual, academic, polite, but still genuinely friendly. There's a palpable warmth to it, looking between Simon and Marcy now. "Oh, hi there, miss! Your friend is right, all that stuff was actually supposed to happen."
Simon Petrikov	"Ah! Nice to meet you!" Simon responds, somewhat awkwardly. "I'm Simon. Simon Petrikov. That's Marceline. Evergreen you said? Hmm..." Simon strokes his chin with his free hand and says, "...For some reason that name seems familiar... Or like I heard it somewhere before... Or in a dream?" Marceline exclaims, "A -talking- BOOKMARK!?" A pause, and then she clenches her fists and says, "Coooool~!" Simon waves the matter of the name away and says, "Anyway, I'm glad to have you with us, Evergreen! So, uhh..." He shifts back and forth on his feet and then says, "...Can I get you anything? Do you eat batteries or something? I heard something about 'resonance'."
Staren	Staren's eyes widen a bit. "Seventy six..." he breathes. "There are seventy-six Abstractum now?" He puts the camera away. "Nice to meet you, Evergreen. What kind of stuff do you do?" he decides to go ahead and ask, since it's not the first thing on Simon's mind. "Abstractum basically run on a sort of... waste energy that you give off as an Elite. They are able to use it so effectively because they match your concept. That's resonance. And despite their appearance, Abstractum are neither electronic nor magic. They are... well, basically they are made of something that's constantly shifting between different kinds of technology, magic, and the like. Err, 'rotating' is the term, actually, 'shift' is something else."
Abstractum.Net	"Awww, thank you, Marceline." The bookmark is quite friendly with the child, it seems to have no trouble interacting with her. "You look pretty cool yourself, I can't wait to get to know you." And then it's back to Simon, and the bookmark swaps back to its academic mannerism. "Staren's right. We call it 'Resonance'. You make waves in the universe, like a sort of shockwave. Everything you do makes waves, and the frequency is your identity. I just sort of... Ride the waves, and resonate with them. That's what keeps me alive. I don't think I have a battery slot." It takes a contemplative posture. "If you ever find one on me, feel free to try putting some in." Eureka helpfully supplies another explanation alongside Staren. "You could say that our heartbeat is the conversion of magical to scientific. They're merely two sides of one coin, and you can fit one into the other, so when they go back and forth, the basic processes that keep us alive occur. The resonance powers that conversion, because it's purely conceptual energy. As long as you're alive, Evergreen will be too." Evergreen answers Staren's questions about what it DOES, exactly. "I help assimilate and store information." The bookmark says, with an informative tone. "With scans, and speed-reading, and all sorts of things like that. Simon uses me on data, and I can guarantee it'll get to him and stick in his skull easy. I've also got a few emergency combat sorts of things, for when things get a little hairy. Uh, I mean, you know, more hairy, in a way that isn't hair." A few awkward, sheepish glances at Simon. "You'd be surprised what a good scan can do to get out of a fight quick!"