Scene #7722: Worm Food

Owner	Pose
Ishirou	The strange worm was even stranger after a bit of testing. It was intelligent, and with the basic testing provided was more than capable of proving itself sapient. It passes basic turning tests that can be performed without speech (it is not able to speak in this form due to being...well a worm.) It does occasionally save incredibly complex puzzles. The limiting factor seems to be its human intelligence, so if you do something a genius needs or without an ability for it to perform it can't do that. It does, also, show out of its way to indicate that it is a person. It understands it is a prisoner, but also opens any simple lock made to keep it contained. It doesn't leave, it just does it as an indication it seems to understand what you're trying to prove. It also eats but in a weird scaling sense. It goes for any mana source with an INDUS world sense, preferring androids over anything, then mana sources from INDUS, then Mana of any kind, then blood, then normal food last and as a last resort. It also shows the ability to control itself, holding out for a greater reward if it means not feeding itself now. It is well behaved, does not go after anybody unless they are an INDUS android (which probably means it doesn't go after anyone unless you go out of your way to get one), and generally seems to be aware of its surroundings.
Kukuru	It's time to see the worm! Kukuru's not exactly the most scientifically minded-person, but she does understand the basic idea behind trying to turn anything into a potential advantage later. When she arrives at the testing location, she's dressed in her usual white and green/brown outfit, complete with a little plastic contained that might look familiar to the worm. It's the same one that she had fed it from when she had extracted it from S4. Today, she's brought fried boar meat! It might even be a familiar flavor to the worm if its eaten anything from the wooded region near INDUS. "He-llo there. Have you been behaving?" She speaks, already treating the worm as though it can understand her. Whether it can or not is not something she actually knows, of course, but it might provide some useful data depending on how the worm reacts. Unless she's stopped, she'll even try to feed the thing not only boar meat, but a few other types: Pan-seared meat from some kind of local (to her region) magic deer, mutated fish, and deep fried broccoli florets. THere's nothing special about the broccoli. It's just there for balance.
Staren	After the incident with the leeches, Staren is taking the extra precaution of teleoperating a robot version of herself (it looks the same) from outside what she hopes is its mana-draining range. (She could just BE a robot, but it's possible that having a mana reserve that isn't batteries might be helpful for some experiments, so she wants an organic body close at hand.) At least here, wearing a labcoat is entirely appropriate... although, Staren almost feels like she needs something more sciencey since she wears the labcoat almost all the time. Maybe a different style, add some Concord Orange on the shoulders, wear glasses? Things to consider in future. She carries a data pad she pretends to keep notes on, at any rate. "Hello. I don't suppose you understand any human languages, or can read, or something?" Getting by this communication barrier is the real problem. Those are the first tests she can think of to run, perhaps. Obviously, if it can nod and shake its... head? in response to questions, that begins to solve that, but if it can't she'll try offering things to read, with simple multiple-choice reading comprehension tests or something in an interface a worm can use. She has another idea -- seeing if they can give this thing -- no, this person -- a body, but first, she wants to see how Hiromi's communication attempt goes.
Hiromi	A wolf enters the room. No matter how you look at it, it's a wolf. About three feet high at the shoulder, dark-furred, and accessorized in bronze, with bells and leg bands. The bells make no sound when it walks. It snaps up a piece of meat from Kukuru's provided provisions, simply because it was in reach. Wolves don't chew in quite the way that humans do. The sight of one eating is a bit different. Throat clear, it makes a sound that is at once a growl, a simple closed-jaw vibration with at most subtly nuanced variation, and a perfectly understandable statement. It's the idea behind a set of words, rather than the words themselves. It's an understanding that skips the step of providing a set of symbols to understand. Name yourself, worm. The target is indicated clearly. The meaning is an imperative. The method for doing so isn't specified. Anything that constitutes 'communication' will be understood, in turn. That's a side-effect of Hiromi's Authority; she can always give an understandable order, and can understand anything that's given in return.
Ishirou	Food is placed down in front of the worm, of varying types. It seems to consider each one for a moment, because it's trying to decide between various types of 'ugh' right now, before settling down on Magical Deer, which seems to be the 'favorite' of what's placed down before it. It finishes it before too long but does not seem to want to touch the others. Staren attempts to communicate with it, to which it responds by moving its head up and down at the question. Hiromi enters the room which initially causes the worm to be uneasy. The order is given, and despite the worm not making exactly what might be considered direct sound, but a combination of noises and body language that conveys an idea. "Adam."
Staren	"...Wait, did you just nod? You can understand me?" Well, that does make things a bit easier. Staren sets down a tablet the worm can poke at to spell words with a predictive-text keyboard and appropriately-sized buttons. "Adam, it's nice to meet you, though the situation for your people isn't great... I am Staren Wiremu of the Concord. First of all, is there anything you wish to tell us or ask of us? Second... We are trying to understand your relationship to the other, non-worm -- do you have a name for your species? -- to the other species of nullborn and the humans and androids of Indus. Third... what exactly is going on when you interact with androids? If it's just about obtaining a body, could we give you a different one?"
Kukuru	The food is accepted! There's some suspicions cleared up when the worm goes for the magical deer, and then... Kukuru munches away on some of the leftovers after the definitely-unidentified wolf takes some for itself. No sense letting this meal get cold, after all! "Adam? That's a..." She pauses. "... Interesting name. Did you pick it yourself, or did someone give it to you?" She asks in her usual languid tone, even going so far as finding a clear enough spot nearby to just lay on her side and... That's it. Kukuru's just lounging around while conducting this research/interview/curiosity sating exercise. "My name's Kukuru. Ku-ku-ru. Now... Um..." She scratches her side idly as she listens to Staren's questions, not speaking up until a little while after she finishes that. "Why'd you wanna get into that android's gut? Wouldn't it be easier to grow outside of that?"
Hiromi	Adam. It's clear enough, despite the lack of actual words, and missing the phonemes that should make up a name, that that's what Hiromi said. It overlaps to understandable associations that mean, for the most part, 'man.' There's a faint sense of humorous contradiction, not in the 'word' stated, but in Hiromi's pronunciation of it, implicitly derisive of 'a worm named as a man.' Adam speaks and understands. Hiromi turns to look at Staren. Wolf faces aren't very expressive. She doesn't have to ask what's next, because Staren is already speaking, and it doesn't appear that Hiromi will have to interpret anything but the answers. That, she'll do, for the moment. Her own question follows. I am Hiromi. Tell me about your giants. Her own name carries a grand list of meanings.
Ishirou	The worm seems to shrink away from the tablet. Seemingly considering it with suspicion. Hiromi could pick up a sense of distrust of the technology. There is also the sense that it's a younger person. What it speaks about is something it seems to have been taught, as opposed to experienced. "She wants me to touch the machine? It's the same as INDUS, they are..." he doesn't have the word, "Bad," he settles on. A lot of questions are asked, but Hiromi asks a very direct one. "The...nullborn?" he asks, clarifying, "The planet wants to destroy those killing it, humans on our world caused its decline so the Nullborn came to destroy them. Our people did not want to hurt the planet so we gave up technology." "However, the nullborn still want to eat us, too great were humanity's sins. We found a way to become nullborn, to infuse our intelligence into the nullborn, to help save the world. ...To survive. We wanted to survive, which is the real truth, despite what the father said. I was ok with that, but we had to use the tools of our enemy to live." "To grow to the next stage in this cycle of nullborn, we have to feed off of mana from a creature who uses it. The androids are a good source of that." "If he wants me to have a different body, I need mana to eat and time," he says to Hiromi.
Staren	Staren's ears splay and she winces a bit as it becomes clear this is a young one, and she just cooked most of his family the other day. "I'm sure we can find you mana, if that's what you want, but... what's your ultimate goal, besides surviving? What do you want to become?"
Kukuru	"So you're not the nullborn? I thought..." Kukuru starts, then yawns and scratches her cheek. "So there's androids, nullborn, humans, and wormies... Yous. But you become the nullborn if you eat enough mana, and the androids have a lot of that?" It sounds like she's still struggling to grasp some basic premises here along with new information that's being revealed at the same time. "We heard that you kind of.. Explode when you eat too much mana, though. Does that mean you're all.. Um... How does one of you become like the Bullette, though?" A beat, and then she follows that up with "The really big you. I mean, wouldn't you just explode before getting that big?"
Hiromi	Survival is the first want. Hiromi delivers that to Staren, carrying the meanings of both initial and primary, a root of wants and desires. There is nothing before it, nothing before its fulfillment. Again, the overlapping of the meanings of time and importance. Nothing is greater, until afterward. They bled their world. Harmed without killing, like a raider, or a thief. To live greater lives, probably. She doesn't know that story, but doesn't mind too much whichever way it went. Now, their world consumes them, to survive. That's just the way of things, for survival. Nullborn must be the world's children, if this is true.
Ishirou	The worm isn't so sure about the answer to Staren's question. He wasn't a ring leader, he was a member of the cult...a young one at that. People would consider it a monster, and its situation is quite out of its reach. It was told it would have a body, and now it does not. To Kukuru it tilts its head slightly. It tells Hiromi that it is both a human and a nullborn, and not sure about explosions. It finally decides to answer Staren. "To evolve, to protect my world. In my world, to that goal...humanity must be stopped or killed." Hiromi seems to understand it, nodding at each point. "The Nullborn are. where they die nature is restored, they feed off of the mana from machines and from the excess that other cities bleed. Humans die, but nature is restored." "We did not want to die, maybe Father wanted to repent for humanity. Survival is important too. Strange INDUS lady makes it sound like that is bad?" he asks Hiromi, who seems to understand it, and not just with words."
Kukuru	"So it's all about restoring nature, then.. Huh. That doesn't sound too bad, then." Kukuru murmurs while scratching her midsection again while loafing around in that same undignified pose, pausing to munch on another slab of meat. A moment later, she digs out another chunk of magic deer to offer to the worm. "Jumping into androids to get all the mana you need is dangerous, though. Has the Father or anyone else ever thought about... Um. Going after someone that might get you some friends instead?" Perhaps realizing just how confusing that might have sounded, she clears her throat before waving a finger in the air. "What about going after the Council? They've probably got just as much mana, but they sound like jerks. I don't think too many people would try to stop you if you went after them instead of random androids." She looks towards Hiromi, then Staren. "Does that make sense to you two? The world's enemies are probably the people in power, anyway, so... Um. Removing them might help the world more, right?"
Staren	Staren begins to pace back and forth. "We're working WITH humanity... well, no we're not, we're working with the androids to try and find a way for everyone to live. Your planet must be saved... and perhaps you have found a-- I mean, your people have found a way for humanity to survive... Although, I don't think most of them would go for the whole 'becoming a worm' thing." Staren stops, and sighs, and turns towards Adam again. "You're young. This doesn't have to be your fight. There are many worlds out there. It's not right, that you didn't get to choose a path because your world is so messed up." Staren nods to Kukuru. "Yeah, the Council's definitely evil." Beat. "...Or something. At this point, the way things are going, you just know that we'll kick down their penthouse door, have a fight to the death, and then only after do we find their journal about some other threat to the world and how they made a complicated moral decision to make things shitty for some gain we never even knew about." Staren sighs and slumps her back against the wall, slowly sliding down to a sitting position. She wraps her arms around her knees. "I killed them all. I killed Adam's people. They were just trying to survive and I killed them." The catgirl rests her head against her knees. "I could give him everything. A perfect happy life far away from all this, or equip him as a mighty warrior to go after any foe he wants but myself, but nothing I can do can make up for it..." She looks at Kukuru, who gives off a somewhat motherly aura, and Hiromi, the wisdom of nature personafied who sees things from a viewpoint so far removed from her own that she might see something Staren misses. "What do I do...?" She stares back down at the floor. "What do I do..."
Hiromi	Prey must die and competition starve for the predator to survive. They wish to consume and thrive, as do all people. Are they your people? Then to use them for your own survival is wrong. Are they not your people? Then, if they are your prey, kill and eat them. If they are your competition, fight for your survival. If they are your predator, hide and grow, and fight when you can. This is the way of all things in nature. One would certainly think that a wolf would be on the side of nature, but she does clarify one point. If they must survive by killing their world, then it is not wrong for them to try. To give their own people better lives, it's right to consume what they can. Gluttony becomes unwise only when trapped in a pit that cannot be climbed, and starvation follows. On the council, specifically, Hiromi half-turns her head toward Staren. If their leaders are not wise, and are not strong, then overthrow them. Strength proves authority. Control their pack and show your wisdom. Their justifications don't matter. No matter what their reasons, if they've failed to show the strength that leads to victory, then they were unfit. If they had no choice, it's because they were too weak to rule. The rule of the weak and selfish is an unnatural state common to humans. The sense of 'unnatural' carries with it very clear disdain for lesser creatures, who require correction, the question only being whether she has an obligation and opportunity to provide it, rather than whether it would be right of her to do so. There is no doubt in Hiromi's mind, nor in her words, that her actions are both wise and righteous, within the framework that is the Archwolf's knowledge of what should be. All creatures try to survive. That is true of every thing that would kill you. Were they your people? Were they of your pack, or your family? If not, then do not weep for them. They were not yours to save. Only those you take into your pack give you that obligation. If you adopt them now, that responsibility does not carry into the past. It's foolishness, but it's with a tone of gentler scolding for Staren's crisis than Hiromi had given for the philosophical consideration of the INDUS Council.
Ishirou	The Worm looks at Kukuru as if she has three heads. "If I could reach them, then I would. The weak have a habit of surrounding themselves with the strong. I use their strength against them, that's...all I can do right now." There is a focus on right now. The worm stares at Staren, then back at Hiromi. "She's right.." it says, "We were not allies, and right now I am not your ally but a prisoner," it says, considering something. It lays on its stomach before staring out of the containment again. "Wolf is wise. INDUS girl is not. Asks me if I want to abandon my home and my people. Wants me to live somewhere else after I agreed and gave up what I was to be this." "Adam is what I chose for a name after my rebirth. Seemed right...others kept their own name, but I am not who I was before, I am something else. I want to be bigger, better, stronger..." "I want to kill those who hurt my world, I want to help my world," Adam continues. "So either kill me or help me. Do not leave me like this, please."
Kukuru	"Of course they're evil. They turned on I4 when he was working for them, and they wouldn't even send anyone out to defend their own city because they expected us to do it all." Kukuru nibbles on another chunk of meat, raising an eyebrow when she notices Staren's apparent turmoil. She sets the partially eaten food back in the container, then gets up to offer some food to Staren. "What happened happened. You did what you thought was right at the time, and that's what counts. It's not like you were trying to do something bad, and the fact that it ended up going... Not so good doesn't make you a bad person." If permitted, Kukuru embraces Staren's head gently, running a hand through her hair to try and soothe her. "The important thing now is that you're trying to do better. You can make it up to them by..." She turns to Hiromi, nodding slowly in agreement. "We're still the Concord, remember? We do things like this because we have the power to. We can fight for ourselves and other people, but... Yeah, they're not with us yet. If you want them to join us, though..." Kukuru turns to the worm. "Then I guess we could start with going after the Council, huh? Helping their world helps us if... Um. You know..." She scratches her cheek lightly, clearly straining as if trying to put together all these mental threads is giving her trouble. "The world getting fixed. Nature. Politics or PR or something that sounds good. Um... I just kinda wanna beat up the Council because they sound like jerks." Adam is offered another chunk of meat. "You help us fight them, we can help you and your friends get nice and big. And then everyone's happy, right?"
Hiromi	A world is a grand parent. There's a sense of 'bigness' to what Hiromi calls grand, but also arrogance, the sense of an ambitious claim, of which she is slightly critical. She isn't saying anything about whether it's a good or bad thing to claim, or of whether it's right or possible to wish to save a world, though one could guess that she doesn't think a worm can manage that. Kukuru gets a wuff by way of acknowledgment. Hiromi won't stop other members of the Concord from selecting their own projects, even if this one hasn't earned any effort out of her. For all that she's down on them, Hiromi's pack is mostly humans. She does have a strong bias in choosing whom to adopt.
Staren	You did what you thought was right? "No, it's not. It's negligence." Staren shakes her head. Although she does allow the soothing. Staren mutters, "They don't give their people better lives... they enslave androids... and Adam's people too... Those who live in Omelas are living a lie told by its builders..." "But conversely... It could all be a misunderstanding. They could be weak but well-meaning. No matter how good my justification, it changes nothing if stopping the Council by force dooms the world..." She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter if they were my people. Those with no hope... Those fighting to survive, or giving up in despair or exhaustion... They are everyone's people. They don't deserve life and happiness any less than the fortunate." She listens to Adam, or to his translation. She opens her mouth to interrupt a few times, but then closes it and waits for him to finish. Finally, she stands. First, she looks to Hiromi. "I won't do what looks convenient and then bear the consequences alone. If we're taking out the Council, and it turns out that doing so jeopardizes the people of Indus, or the planet, or whatever, then everyone involved, or at least some people besides me, have to agree to take on the responsibility to fix it. It's no fair... it's not what a family should do, to dump the moral concerns on me just because they don't get it." She turns to Adam. "You are our prisoner, but you're still a person. You deserve no less solely because you had the weakness or misfortune to be captured, and we the strength or fortune to capture. If to be a warrior is truly your wish... Well, your commitment to your cause in becoming this and telling us so seems worthy of respect to me. What's the phrase... if it was the right path for some of us to take, then let us never tell someone else it can't be the right path for them?" She wipes her eyes on her sleeve and then tries to look serious, hands folded behind her back and addressing Adam. "How can I best give you strength? Will you evolve as you desire if fed mana? Or would you prefer to puppet an android-like body as some of your fellows have done? Or is there something else I can do for you?"
Ishirou	Hiromi does not believe it can do anything, to be fair it's not sure if she is right or not. A lot of this was done on faith, but it can't afford to doubt itself now. To Kukuru it seems to frown, "What friends? I'm all that's left if you mean the other Nullborn, then 'friend' is a bit of an overstatement." To Staren it looks at, "Androids were just a tool to grow stronger, I need mana to feed and to grow. If you want me to grow and evolve, I need that. If not, then...well I said what I said already."
Kukuru	After giving Staren another pat on the head, Kukuru finally releases her and steps back. "Nobody's perfect. It's not bad to try to avoid mistakes, but trying to do do it all the time is just setting yourself up to get really... Like this." She doesn't gesture anywhere, but she does direct a pointed look at Staren at that. "I'm not a... Um. Strong political type, but you know my stance already." She squats in place besides Hiromi, slowly settling back into that side-lounging position and reaching for the wolf to offer her hands for.. Some reason. More physical affection, most likely. "I'll support you in whatever you wanna do. My strengths are.. Um. In strength and healing and stuff, anyway.. She looks over at Adam next, actually smiling after a moment. "If you'll join us, then that means you'll be a part of our family, too. You'll be able to eat tasty stuff every day. Doesn't that sound nice, too?"
Staren	Staren relaxes slightly from Kukuru's reassurance. "I guess it's a start." She turns to Adam. "You can't just feed on natural sources of mana, it has to come from a creature? I think we can work something out. I'll be right back -- I'm going to give you a meal to tide you over for now, and then I'm going to talk to the kitchens... I'm going to see who I need to talk to in our food supply chain to get you meals." She looks to Hiromi. "He's a cub, right? You'd know more about teaching him to fight, than me." She leaves. And comes back in her real body. "Drink up, but don't take my blood." She has more mana than a nonpractitioner, but not as much as most mages. Afterwards, she leaves to ask where in Elysium Apex's supply chain the slaughterhouse is, and then to find some Concord mage-interns or something to teach about ritual sacrifice. The animals are being killed for food anyway -- may as well extract their mana to feed Adam, as well.