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

[coordinatroll]

Mmm, it's really hard to tell... In my word, entities like that are not, by any stretch of the imagination, "alive"; rather, they are programs that execute predetermined actions as instructed by their creator. They are simply tools, and are not recognized as living beings like humans or even animals. And they most definitely lack a soul, so destroying them isn't considered a big deal, aside from monetary loss.

However, the concept of these entities gaining sentience and developing beyond objects has long since fascinated various artists and philosophers. I admit that after speaking to it, I'm not sure how I feel about the matter... like you said, it appears to have formed a personality of sorts, and who am I to deny its existence? Besides, it's entirely possible for machines to be "alive" in the traditional sense in other worlds, so my own experience might not apply here.

... I apologize, I seem to have gone off on a tangent; your concerns and feelings on the matter are, of course, reasonable, regardless of the true nature of that entity.

[starringsecond]

That's the thing, isn't it? If it wasn't so hard to tell we wouldn't have this conundrum at all.

I don't know how to figure out if something has sentience or not, but what I do know is that jumping to conclusions could end up in disaster. I'd rather not have innocent blood on my hands, thank you very much.

[coordinatroll]

Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that... There are plenty of people who wouldn't think twice about killing another person for their own gain, even if their nature was never in question.

That's a fair point! I'm not quite certain we have the luxury of waiting until we can find out more, however.

[starringsecond]

Yeah, that's true as well. It doesn't matter if they're actually human or not, either.

It's the only reason why I'm agreeing to the possibility of resetting. Sometimes things aren't so ideal and you gotta go with the options available to you.