expiationnet | TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

[ 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! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

We can't be sure of anything! Resetting the AI may well kill us all. Such a pity, really.

From my perspective, however, the reset and following reboot of the system is less potentially destructive than the alternatives. If we do nothing, the current system failures will only worsen until this world is unstable to the point that it can no longer sustain us. If we destroy the AI then any number of things could happen, some of which could be immediately lethal. If we destroy the terminals then we lose our ability to interface with the AI at all, which is hardly ideal.

[There's a rustling of fabric and chains.]

So, resetting the system becomes the only logical option. If we are being forced to play a game of Garlean Roulette here, we'd might as well pick the gun with the fewest bullets in its chambers, yes?

When you say "kill us all," do you mean just the "us" that's inside the simulation? Are you saying you think this might be a way to send everyone home?

[Or was he suggesting that whatever connection this AI had to their outside selves could potentially kill them outside of this place too?? It's a scary thought, and given there had to be some sort of connection, anything was possible. She doesn't really know how these computers work to really know, either way.]

But you're not wrong about the way things are being unsustainable. I wonder, too-- if we do reset it, will there be the possibility of changing the parameters? Or, at least, removing Jerry and the Council from also coming back? [And also maybe giving them the choice to return home?? She knows some people wanted to stay here, so she wasn't sure about destroying it entirely. If they could just be here by choice, without the Council's control lingering over them, it would be a completely different story.]

When I say "kill us all" I mean kill us all! In ways we cannot come back from.

[He lifts a finger and waves it in the air. She cannot see the gesture, but the chain rattling comes again.]

We need to consider the possibility that the "us" who live outside the simulation, if there even is an us outside the simulation, might be in a...precarious state. If our bodies are comatose while our minds are here then the AI managing us might also be tending to our physical forms. So destroying it is likely not in our best interest.

[Fandaniel still wants to die and take as many people with him as he can. Everyone dying in their sleep is not what he has in mind, however. He cannot let things end that way. Where is the screaming? The theater?]

I was afraid you might say that. [The idea that the Council might still have her in their clutches, even if it's just a copy of her here and now, was also unnerving. There was so much they still didn't know about their situation. Even if she didn't really like the idea of a reset, it seemed less risky than completely destroying everything.]

Given their ability to manipulate us and our memories, it wouldn't be hard to assume that they could make us forget, if they took us captive before putting us into the simulation.

[it didn't explain all the gaps in the story, but it could make sense. but she didn't like it-- not that she liked any second of their situation.]

TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

no subject

no subject

cw: suicidal ideation in brackets

no subject