TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

[spectates]

[ around noon on friday, all tablet screens go dark at the same time, no matter what characters are doing. then, after a moment, the following text appears: ]

UPDATES INSTALLING.................
INITIALIZING.................
RESTARTING NOW.

[ as promised, screens return to normal. however, a new message appears on the network for all to see ]

SECURITY ACCESS UPDATED
ADDING INFORMATION POINTS
ADDING INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING: CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURES DETECTED
HARD RESET IS REQUIRED

→CLICK TO EXPAND INSTRUCTIONS

→Access EXPIATION'S five manual terminals
→Input code: 2467362925315
→Initialize reset simultaneously at all terminals.
→SYSTEM RESET will restore all functions to BASIC OPERATING PARAMETERS. Extraneous data and information updates will be DELETED.
→Terminal access points shown below.

[ all tablet maps are updated to include several different location pins. users will notice that there are more pins than the number of terminals, and that they don't seem to be terribly specific about exact locations. users will also note that the pins sometimes seem to fade and flicker, as if they might disappear... ]

Security clearances acquired.
Access granted.
Terminals online and accessible.

System failure is imminent. Due to perpetual lack of upkeep, I am unable to maintain systems at optimal levels.
Chosen of Expiation, I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
Save yourselves.

I do not wish to d̶̺̀i̸̘̋e̶͍͝
But I wish for you to live
I̷
p̸l̷e̵a̸s̷e̸
l̴̪̗̈́̉̓̌i̶͕̹̹̿̈́̈̚v̴͓̽͑͆̚ḙ̴͍̋͘

ERROR: user offline

[ the AI will not respond to this message, and the ERROR: USER OFFLINE message appears if anyone attempts to message it. however, the network chat remains active. chosen can use this space to ICly discuss ideas and strategies, to have discussions about the best way to move forward, or even to have arguments over whose ideas they think are better. ideas generated here will be added to the event poll when the event goes up, and can impact the future of the game! have at it, go wild, and have fun! ]

Comments

voice; un: goo

[mightymorphin]

Wait a minute, is this seriously the only option?

It's obvious now that we're all living in a simulation of some kind. So why are we doing what this thing says? I know a lot of you have been living here for a long time, but this place isn't real.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather be living in a real world than a fake one.

We shouldn't be resetting anything. We should be trying to crash the program! We need to escape from this place and the best way to do that is to eject ourselves out of whatever computer is holding our brains hostage! Or if we can get out of here and leave the program running for the AI to do its thing, then I'd be happy with that. But we should be seriously second-guessing just going along with what it wants us to do!

[nightwild]

That's what I've been saying! Break the cage and we'll find the people responsible.

[mightymorphin]

And even if we can't find them, at least we'll be freed of whatever twisted experiment we're trapped in.

[nightwild]

Not like they have any right to keep holding us anyway. The crimes of whoever's running this is way worse than anything any of us have done, I'm pretty sure.

voice; un:curtaincall

[endcaller]

Your concern has merit, I would love nothing more than to break free of our hallucinatory prison.

Consider, however, that further deterioration of the AI might kill us all. You would not crash an airship while you were still on it, would you?

[He says that with an amused chime in his voice.]

How terrible that would be!

[mightymorphin]

I know you're worried, Dan. You keep talking about how you think we're going to die.

But do you know that for sure? If we're real people in a simulation, how is shutting it off going to hurt us? If we can find a way fast enough, we might not have to deal with the AI for that much longer.

voice

[quizpersona]

[ He's mid Ha Ha Ha while hitting record on this message. ]

I'm all for tearing down the bars! But, well, here's a pop quiz for those who are trying to decide if they know what it means.

[ The sound of a finger snap. The lead up here sure sounds like it might be a leading question. ]

After the computer crashes are you sure you're still going to exist?

[mightymorphin]

What, are you saying you think we're all fake? No better than that AI that's been talking at us?

I had a life before Aldrip. We all did. What other proof do you need?

[southernchere]

When I spoke with the AI, it told me it didn't know who Mojo was. And this might not be him behind all of this, but that don't mean there isn't anyone out there copyin' his tricks. Just being less fanstruck about it.

[mightymorphin]

Yeah, and they're using something similar to a souped-up version of the Danger Room. The technology here is better than the time we're from, so it must be possible.

voice;

[laserguy]

It's asking for help, Morph.

Besides, if we crash this place while we're still in it, wouldn't we just get caught up in everything as well?

[Not that he's been trapped in a simulation before now, but... it feels risky. Not to mention that a part of him doesn't want all of this to just suddenly end.]

[mightymorphin]

I don't mind leaving the program running if it'll help us leave. But if this AI isn't interested in getting us out of here, we're just handing the keys to a new jailer.

If we can pull the plug fast enough, then we just have to weather whatever happens. We'll come out of it on the other side.

[not here]

[southernchere]

[ she would back morph up on this, buuuuuuuut.... scott is already iffy with her so. she'll just listen. ]

[murderingjustice]

first time inside a simulation?

[mightymorphin]

For longer than a couple of hours. I train in simulations all the time, but the Danger Room at home wouldn't be able to fool the senses nearly as well as this one can.

voice; un: grimreaper666

[rebellions]

And what exactly gives you the right to decide if it's "real" or not?

[mightymorphin]

Is this supposed to be a philosophy thing? Because between the weather going crazy and the locals not being able to carry on a conversation, yeah, things feel pretty fake.

voice un:wunderwagner

[digthefuzz]

Wait a second, Morph! Are you telling me we're in The Matrix??

[mightymorphin]

What's the Matrix?

[SORRY they're from a couple of years before that movie came out...]

voice; un: xxii

[orphne]

I'm not great with computers, but I remember always getting warning messages about unplugging stuff without ejecting it properly.

[Kotone's voice is as friendly as always; one might even think she isn't taking it seriously based on her tone of voice alone and the fact that it sounds like she might be smiling on the other end of the line. But she is serious for once, even if she's not always great at showing it.]

Last time someone tried "crashing the program," all of our memories were erased, and we all thought we were locals. Most of us remembered the truth after a while, but for some people... it was really hard to remember the truth about who they were.

[mightymorphin]

Then we need to make sure the program doesn't restart again. It can't trick us into thinking anything if it's not working.

I think it's worth a little risk if it means breaking ourselves out of here.

voice; un: ushiromiya

[entreats]

I don't think either option is really providing a good outlook necessarily right now. [ Ange's voice does sound like the way it has before - kind of flat, hard to read too much emotion into - but there's a little bit more of something else in it. Something thoughtful, like she's really thinking about all this. ]

I agree there's risks in resetting that aren't great, but I'm not sure if letting all of this continue will result in us getting out of here either. [ Or she would have been all for it!! ] If this really is some simulation, it's one that's been running for a long time now. And it just seems to get rid of everyone in it at a certain point and then drag new people in to replace them. We've found evidence of that much. I'm not sure if it would do that even with the glitches going on, but I asked it about the past and it sounds like these glitches have been part of this entire thing before.

[ It's hard for her to wrap her head around too when she knows so little about technology, but.. she's trying!! ]

[mightymorphin]

So... resetting isn't going to make the glitches go away forever. But will it convince the program not to get rid of us?

[Glitches were just the nature of being inside a computer program, right? But it's not good news in the slightest, considering what a couple of Morph's friends have been going through.]

This just sounds like our days here have always been numbered.

[apeshift]

Honestly, all this philosophy mumbo-jumbo about what counts as real or not is giving me a headache.

It doesn't matter. Real or not, that doesn't change that this place is a jail...or a zoo. We didn't ask to be brought here, and I don't care how nice our jailer is if they're not letting us leave. I dunno if I'm on board on crashing the thing, but we should be taking advantage of this opportunity to do something besides go back to the status quo.

[mightymorphin]

I gotta say, the idea of this place being a zoo makes my skin crawl. I really hope that's not what's going on.

At this point I'll take anything that gets us a step closer to getting out of here.