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

[ashesofkatarr]

I am merely asking. I have not been here long enough to know much more than what is before me now.

You consider this computer, the one that runs the simulation... a person?

[rebellions]

[ The actual answer is... complicated. Because it's not something he believes to be true for every computer out there ─ pigs will fly before he extends the same courtesy to the Takamagahara System ─ but this particular case hits way too close to home for him not to think that. ]

... Yeah, I do.

[ashesofkatarr]

I understand your perspective now. My ship's crew possessed a utility droid with an... uncommonly strong personality. Most of us would have been very displeased were its memory wiped.

[Along with a couple of other droids. Also with uncommonly strong personalities. But T3 was the nice one... as long as you were nice to him, that is.]

[rebellions]

[ Her admission helps to calm his nerves a little, and when he speaks up again, his tone is almost uncharacteristically soft. ]

... I know they're supposed to be just 1s and 0s and shit. But sometimes, somehow... they become more than that.

[ Himself included. Even now, he has no idea if the people who created him meant for him to become sentient or if that was just a fluke, or why he became the way he is out of what must have been thousands of subjects... but if you ask him, none of that matters. ]

I'm not gonna pretend I know how or why or where the line is... it's just what it is.

[ashesofkatarr]

They are not alive. Yet they can become--lifelike. Greater than the sum of their parts.

[There is a pause. She would not thought she had much in common with a droid or a sentient computer, but...]

She is offering her life for ours. Reluctantly, but of her own will.

[rebellions]

... And who gets to decide that? What counts as "alive"?

[ He knows there are people out there who would argue it doesn't apply to him; that he's not human, and that he doesn't deserve to be treated as one. What gives them the right to make that judgement, anyway? ]

Her own will, huh. [ He repeats her words slowly. Even he's not stupid enough to think that's wrong. ] I'm sure... she knows what she's doing. That's her wish.

[ He makes a pause, and when he speaks up again, his tone is comes off stronger and even more determined than before. ]

But I still don't like it. The idea of someone having to sacrifice everything they are just to keep me alive doesn't sit well with me. So I'll defy it. Whether it's human, or system, or even God... I won't accept it.

[ashesofkatarr]

[Visas' instinct is disagreement. It is something that bothered the Jedi Exile--and in the final battle with Darth Nihilus, the Exile refused Visas' offer to end her own life to put him at a disadvantage.

But as Visas said at that time--it was her choice to offer, to feel the way she did.]

The offer is hers to make. If she cares for us and finds us precious, she can choose to risk herself--end herself--for our sake.

How will you defy it?

[rebellions]

[ On some level, he gets what she's saying, and even the fact he's being a hypocrite by being so stubborn ─ after all, he had no trouble sacrificing himself despite his siblings' pleas. But none of that is gonna stop him. ]

Ain't it obvious? I'll save her.

[ashesofkatarr]

What is your plan?

[rebellions]

[ There's a pause on his end as Ragna mulls over how much he really wants to reveal about his plan. Well, "plan". It's more like "do the same shit as always and hope for the best", but this sort of thing has worked out for him so far. And just like other times, he has no intention of getting other people involved in it, but he figures they'll keep hounding him for answers if he doesn't say anything. ]

... I can preserve her. Take what makes her "her" and leave the rest of the system to run the place.

[ashesofkatarr]

I see. Do you plan to sequester her in a storage device, or a separate system?

[rebellions]

That's...

[ "My right arm" is the actual answer to that, but obviously it's not something he's willing to reveal all willy-nilly. ]

... complicated. Guess it's the latter? Point is, I know I can do it.

[ Well. He thinks he can do it. ]