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Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest)

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[X] Try exploring the area. You'd like to give the place a once over and see if it's secure. Maybe you could check your own internal machinery to see if they were still up to snuff at the very least. It could be a very good distraction for yourself.
 
[X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities.

She's kind and actually concerned about us, and could definitely do with some attention. Besides, she lives here, so she might know what's up with the immediate area, Surcouf-the-ship included, and this seems a safe way to start finding out what's going on.

Even anime-Kongo didn't assimilate anything with a mental model, but I doubt we did either; Habakkuk was very new. I do wonder whether our own 'personality' is wholly intact, or if we've blank-slated or corrupted a little due to damage.
 
Eridyne said:
Even anime-Kongo didn't assimilate anything with a mental model, but I doubt we did either; Habakkuk was very new. I do wonder whether our own 'personality' is wholly intact, or if we've blank-slated or corrupted a little due to damage.
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Habakkuk was basically a robot. To the Fog, the difference between a ship with a Mental Model and one without is as stark and notable as a chatbot and an AI.
 
TheBleachDoctor said:
Habakkuk was basically a robot. To the Fog, the difference between a ship with a Mental Model and one without is as stark and notable as a chatbot and an AI.
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Oh, I definitely know the difference. I was just concerned that, with her unusual status, Habakkuk might've had a Mental Model before we got to her, since I didn't see anything definitive either way. Good to know she didn't, now I don't have to feel bad.
 
[X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities.
 
[X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities.
 
[X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities.
 
Here is the vote tally. All hail to the Tally God.

Vote Tally : Sci-Fi - Beneath Celestial Depths (An Arpeggio of Blue Steel Quest) | Page 4 | Sufficient Velocity
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[X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities
No. of Votes: 21
Vyushia
angelofwhim
BoundaryPhantasm
ColdGoldLazarus
CompassJimbo
Eridyne
Hallesworth49
Hannz
korat56
LightMage
LostDeviljho
Lunamoto
MiracleGrow
Muramasa
NuclearConsensus
obssesednuker
pianoman
Pokly
Potato
Unitveras
wtdtd

[X] Try exploring the area. You'd like to give the place a once over and see if it's secure. Maybe you could check your own internal machinery to see if they were still up to snuff at the very least. It could be a very good distraction for yourself.
No. of Votes: 5
Zedman7054
cl20
Imaflatsquid
kinigget
SpeckofStardust

Total No. of Voters: 26
 
Update will be late this evening, as I am currently struggling to get to sleep after a night of tabletop.

It will arrive, though.
 
Update is nearly complete. Will post as soon as I work out the last bits with Rabbit and Bleach.

Edit: Which will, apparently, be some time tomorrow. My apologies, but I can't really post this without clearing up a potential plot hole. Sorry for the wait.
 
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    • [X] Give yourself some time to think about this. It's too much to process and digest for now. You could speak with the human girl about her origins. Perhaps that should give you little information about this submarine pen and its facilities

    You take a heavy breath. This is a lot to take in, but you can handle it. For now, you need to calm down...maybe get to know your...what exactly would you call Mary? Guest? Parasite? Maid? Occupant?
    You suppose it doesn't really matter, for the moment. She's your only contact here, and she's been keeping you clean all of these years, so you suppose you owe her for that, at least.

    "So, Darling...it appears we're going to be spending quite a lot of time together. Tell me about yourself? How'd you get...wherever we are?"

    Mary pauses, licking her lips, and her gaze unfocuses as she speaks, "...I...it was a long time ago. It's all really foggy, you know? If I think back as far as a I can, I remember I was on a ship with...someone. Then there's a loud noise, and then water...lots of water. It was everywhere around me. Then I'm floating on a raft...I guess someone put me in it? After that...nothing. Next thing I remember I was on this island. I remember eating some rations, for a while, but there wasn't anyone else here...things get blurry again, but I know I was wandering around. Eventually, I found myself here. I thought I might find someone to help me, but...this place was empty. I was still really happy, though: I found food, and there was a water distillery, and it was warm, and nothing could get to me in here. I remember hoping for someone to come for me for a while, but..." She shrugs, "No one did. Guess no one knew about me. I've been living here ever since. It's home, if a bit lonely...well, until you showed up! It's better, now!"

    After a moment of silence, she goes horribly still, staring at you in dawning fear, "...y...you're not leaving, right? I...I can't lose you! Not when we just met! I...I want to show you everything! W-we can...I can...please don't leave me!"

    You now have sixteen (?) year old girl glued to your side. You really don't know what you're going to do yet, so you just pat her awkwardly on the back, "Don't worry. It will be fine." You aren't really sure it will be, of course, but...this isn't something you want to deal with, right now.

    She seems to find that heartening, blushing in embarrassment as she steps back, "S-sorry, Surcouf. I just...um...let me show you around the place!"

    She leads your Mental Model off your deck by the hand, dragging you about excitedly. The old submarine pen is pretty run-down. Rust has spread over much of the exposed metal, and numerous pipes have cracked, water leaking from them.

    Despite that, it's still mostly operational. The base's own power-source has been long-extinguished, but your own reactor appears to be keeping the facility powered in in spite of that.

    The docks are rather large for a sub as small as yourself, more suited for the American Stealth Submarines and their "bigger is better" mentality. Idiocy, of course: There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a petite, reasonably sized ship. Nothing at all. You certainly don't need a multitude of massive cannons and obscene number of torpedo launchers. You're perfectly fine at your current size. Really.

    Putting your nonexistent issues to the side. You focus back on Mary's little tour, and find yourself in a sizable, but essentially empty storehouse. there IS a massive stock of MREs, presumably how Mary's been feeding herself, but that's about it. The facility seems to be sufficiently secured as to keep vermin out (or maybe Mary's been handling that), but there's something almost sad about the abandoned space. It should be full of supplies and equipment, but...nothing. You give a slight sigh, patting Mary's head and turning away. She seems puzzled, but leads you to the final stop on your journey.

    The command center is in shockingly good condition, really. It's a bit dusty, and nothing actually running right now, but most everything seems intact. According to Mary, everything even operates...unfortunately, though, she's not been able to crack the passcode despite her best efforts, so she's locked out of all the control functionality. She also can't operate the lift without that, either...which leads to some good news:. There's more floors to this place, if you can find a way to access them. You hope you'll be able to find something useful...or at least some information about what the world's like right now.

    You think as much aloud, and Mary perks up, running out of the command center and back to your, well, you with an exuberance and spryness odd for a girl of her age and lifestyle. You can't imagine she's had much to do around here, after all. Nevertheless, you follow her at a more stately pace, smirking at the girl as she comes sprinting back with a stack of books in her arms, "I've got these! They're pretty old...they've been here longer than I have, obviously...but you'll probably find them useful. "

    Nodding, you take the books and page through them briefly. They're not actually all that helpful to you, having only been written shortly after your defeat of Habbakuk, but you do get a rough idea of what the world's like, now...or, well, a while ago.

    Shortly after your victory, all Fog ships went dormant. The writer seems fairly pleased by that, to your irritation, but you suppose you can't expect much better of humans. There's a decent amount of information about the battles, interactions, and negotiations between the opposing forces immediately after the battle, but nothing of much use to you. It appears that both Blue Steel and the Scarlet Fleet made it through intact. You take the first half as good news, but the latter is rather disappointing...you suppose they'll probably be a problem for you, soon enough.

    After a skimming the text, you nod in satisfaction before returning it to Mary, "Thank you, Dear. That's a great help. I don't suppose you have anything more up to date?"

    She shakes her head, "Sorry, I'm afraid not."

    You heave a sigh, and try to figure out your next course of action.

    ...

    [] Try to access the lift.
    [] Try to access the control systems.
    [] Login to the Tactical Network and see if there's anyone there. Chances are it might be someone pleasant and won't try to kill you. They'd be a valuable source of information... If there was anyone even there.
    [] Inspect your main body's internal machinery...you need to make sure you're still able to operate, at least.
     
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    • There we have it...a bit delayed, unfortunately, but I hope you find it satisfactory.
     
    [X] Inspect your main body's internal machinery...you need to make sure you're still able to operate, at least.
     
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