Machine Learning: A Cave Story Quest

Machine Learning - File 1, Entry 1 - Compile Data

You are broken.

No, that's not quite right. You are damaged. Damaged possibly beyond repair, but not broken. You are not broken. You are alive, and that means you cannot be broken just yet.

You run a diagnostic check. Memory and Logic processors are superficially damaged. No data lost, and reasoning capacities are unaffected. That knowledge lifts a weight from your body you hadn't realized was there. Paren is still noticing that she's forgotten things after being ambushed by a rabid Mimiga more than a year ago, and the technicians never really managed to fix Chevron's decision-making abilities. He never acted too put-out by it, but the idea of being damaged in such a fundamental way never failed to unnerve you. Fortunately, everything that makes you who you are has remained intact.

The same cannot be said for your body, unfortunately. The most severe damage is to your motor systems. Half your body is too damaged to move at all, and the other half does not appear to be responding to you. It's likely some minor circuit damage due to exposure to the elements, but actual diagnostics are inconclusive. Durability has been heavily worn down, and there are multiple breaches in your skin. One of these breaches is submerged, allowing a fluid of some kind to leak into your body. Whatever it is is extremely cold, and your temperature regulator system is struggling to compensate. At least it's not broken. Your eyes are ruined, to put it simply. Not irreparably, your self-repair system is miraculously undamaged, but your vision will be spotty for days even in ideal cases. The same cannot be said for your broadcasting systems, which will require a complete replacement. Considering how close those are to your data banks, you are astoundingly lucky that only the radio was damaged.

Zero contact with your squad and with command will be a problem. Or the first will be, at the very least. Command's number of useful contributions to completing any of your objectives since activation can be counted on your fingers. If anything, having an excuse not to wait for their approval for every major decision will let you be more efficient. On the other hand, you would really like to speak with your team right now. At least to check their current status. You saw Curly and Quote both take heavy blows before you were knocked unconscious, but machine soldiers are built to be durable. They're probably both fine. Paren, Chevron, and the Commander can all hold their own, so they're not in any danger. Still, it would be nice to hear their voices. Even the Commander's voice. Instead, you have to be content with silence and numbness until your automatic repairs have progressed further.

You wonder if the target has destroyed yet. You still aren't certain exactly how long you were unconscious, but it could be anywhere from seconds to hours. Maybe even longer, judging by the weathering damage you've suffered, but that doesn't make sense. Even if you're not anyone's favorite, your team wouldn't have just left you in the open while you were knocked out. Has something gone wrong? You can't imagine that everyone actually lost to…

To…

As you scour your recent memories, the agonizing reality becomes more and more apparent: your memory logs were, in fact, damaged. Not significantly, but you failed to process some more recent memories into long-term. To your dismay, you have managed to just barely miss every mention or sight of the thing your squad was fighting.

It doesn't matter. Nothing on this island could hope to actually win against all six of you at once. Rabid Mimiga are vicious creatures, not to be underestimated under any circumstances, but you could take two or three in a fight on your own depending on the circumstances. Only Quote and the Commander would be able to perform similarly, but Curly, Paren, and Chevron aren't incapable fighters. The Mimiga population on this island couldn't be more than a few hundred at most, and you were told that the majority of them hadn't yet become rabid. Even if every one of them had charged your squad at once, all they'd have done was kill themselves faster. It would be ridiculous for your comrades to all have been defeated by a single foe, even if you can't remember who it was you were fighting.

Answers come slower than you want but sooner than you'd expected when your eyes return to functionality. You're staring at the ceiling of a cave, layers of ice glistening brilliantly in some unknown glow. It's beautiful, the way the light catches against the frozen crystals and scatters across the brisk air. The sight is still indistinct and out-of-focus, but that does little to suppress its beauty.

You can hear running water. More than that, you can feel the water rushing around your body. The current's tug is harsh and strong, but only a small part of it. For the most part, the water around you is too shallow to take hold. You must have been swept up in the current during the battle and carried to wherever you are now. Further down the stream, you can see a massive lake dotted with small bits of ice. If you had been dragged any further, you would have ended up completely submerged. Between the temperature and the internal flooding, the possibility of surviving would be practically zero. You were very lucky to land on the shores.

You shiver at the thought of what could have happened to you, and then blink. Then again. Your movement has been restored, at least partially. You raise one arm and grope for something to support yourself on the frozen banks. It's almost revolting how slow and stiff the movement is. Still, you manage to find a protruding rock anchored strongly enough to the ground to support your weight and use it to haul yourself up.

Finally, you can take a good look at the cavern you find yourself in. The whole thing is coated in a thin layer of frost that sparkles ethereally in the light. The cave is illuminated by a pair of fluorescent lights placed just above a metal door leading into the cave. Their light is faint and barely reaches the small shore where you stand, but that only serves to make the gleaming traces even more beautiful. A small metal balcony overlooks the underground lake, which stretches perhaps a kilometer end to end. There are a few other natural entrances to the cavern, but none that you can actually use. All three as well as the one you presumably entered through are small and occupied by a constant stream of water rushing through them and feeding into the reservoir.

You're not sure how this works geographically. Geologically? You don't know the word, it wasn't relevant to your position. But all this water has to be going somewhere, and the lake doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. Maybe there's a pump somewhere down here funneling the water back somewhere else on the island? There is a man-made balcony here, so there must have been some reason to survey this place.

No matter the reason, it's another stroke of luck for you. Whatever's on the other side of that door must be connected to some larger facility. If you pass through it, you should be able to either find a way back to a regroup point or, better yet, repair your transmitter and get back in contact with the rest of your unit. And command as well, you guess.

Your first step forward is unsteady, both because of the icy ground and the stiffness in your joints. The ice beneath your foot cracks into splinters under your not-inconsiderable weight. The resulting cloud of diamond dust is scattered into the air around you, and you have no choice but to pause and appreciate the way it glitters in the frigid air.

Unfortunately, your time appreciating nature is cut short by a shrill shriek. A small swarm of bats, blue-furred and each the size of a human's head, detach themselves from the ceiling and take flight in your direction.

You turn and glare at the swarm. The Island's fauna are unusually aggressive and dangerous as a rule, though running into a swarm of cave bats now of all times is terribly unfortunate. With your current condition and their numbers, you can't disregard them as a mere annoyance like usual. At least your weapons are fully operational. All machine soldiers were made for battle, so it's only right to take pride in it. Maybe this wasn't misfortune at all. You were just handed a completely reasonable chance to vent some of your frustration.

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Primary Objective
[] Remove the threat posed by the Mimiga
[] Safely acquire the Demon Crown
[x] Obtain information regarding the creation of the Red Flowers, the Demon Crown, and the Island itself
[] Destroy the Island to remove it as a potential threat
Select one Primary Objective. All other objectives will be listed as Secondary Objectives. Secondary Objectives can be reassessed and even discarded if there is logical cause, but the Primary Objective must be completed at all costs.

Weapon Systems
Capacity: 50/50
Each selected weapon reduces your maximum Capacity by a listed amount depending on the weapon's level. Your maximum Capacity will determine how much damage you can take. There will be opportunities to upgrade weapons or obtain new ones later without reducing maximum Capacity, but these opportunities will be neither free nor common.
Two weapons at maximum can be carried for now.
[x] Machine Gun
-[] Level I (-10 Capacity)
-[] Level II (-12 Capacity)
-[x] Level III (-15 Capacity)
Standard-issue for lesser Machine Soldiers, but Curly is proof that advanced units can still bring out some special potential in it. Fires faster at higher levels. At maximum level, can propel the user via recoil.
[] Fireball
-[] Level I (-10 Capacity)
-[] Level II (-12 Capacity)
-[] Level III (-15 Capacity)
A heavy projectile which lacks much airtime but ricochets off of most surfaces and can crowd corridors or small areas to quickly clear out hordes or single, durable targets alike. Can cover a wider area at higher levels.
[] Rocket Launcher
-[] Level I (-15 Capacity)
-[] Level II (-17 Capacity)
-[] Level III (-20 Capacity)
An answer to all worldly obstructions, but an expensive one. Ammunition cannot be synthesized and must be assembled through scavenging. Becomes more destructive at higher levels.
Carries a maximum of ten rockets. Increased to fifteen at maximum level.
[] Bubbline
-[] Level I (-5 Capacity)
-[] Level II (-7 Capacity)
-[] Level III (-10 Capacity)
An energy-based weapon with projectiles that hang in the air after being fired. Good for setting traps and keeping space against opponents, but weak in inflicting harm. Projectiles last longer at higher levels and will cloud around the user defensively before firing out with greater range when burst at maximum level.
[] Snake
-[] Level I (-5 Capacity)
-[] Level II (-7 Capacity)
-[] Level III (-10 Capacity)
A bizarre weapon with shots that completely phase through anything in their way up to a certain distance, dealing damage as they travel. Great against swarms of enemies or foes with durable bodies. Gains increased range, damage, and speed with each level.