Shards of a Broken Sun [Deprecated; see link in final post for remake]
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Crossover Sci-Fi
Monday's Turmoil 18
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
"Thank you for your help earlier, Nyarlathotep-san."
Amu spoke as honestly as she was able. Truthfully, she was grateful; if it hadn't helped her, she'd be dead. Dead, or worse than dead. That didn't make Nyarlathotep less disturbing to look at, nor could she tell herself it was actually a nice person. She already knew it wasn't; even if it hadn't been obvious, it had readily told her so. She couldn't even trust in her defences, not with Fumi here for it to use as a hostage.
She looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked back.
(Elder god, a part of her gibbered, recognizing the name and appearance from myths and histories she had never read.)
Small wonder, then, that she followed her parents' lead and fell back on politeness. Her voice trembled only a little as she continued, but it did tremble. Her eyes glistened with tears—unshed, but undeniably there. Most noticeably of all, the brand on her forehead burst into brilliant light.
Anything with eyes to see would have fled that light, which promised only utter destruction, but anything capable of thought would have already left. To Amu, the light was merely reassuring.
She gathered her courage and addressed the darkness, while essence flows sufficient to destroy buildings strove to extract every last bit of detail from Nyarlathotep's behaviour. It wasn't a perfect match, her occult excellency's inference engine never having been meant for guiding conversation, but in a situation like this she'd take what she could get. If nothing else, it'd serve to distract her.
(Dangerous, it whispered without words. Barely here, imprisoned, limited; still, undefeatable. The thoughts felt like her own, but she knew they weren't.)
"Honestly… I want to make things better, even for you; it wouldn't be right to let anyone suffer. I want to find a path that as many people can walk away from happy as possible."
The simple truth. She couldn't lie, and she didn't want to insult it, but she didn't want to take its offer either. Nyarlathotep scared her, at a level that not even Kagutsuchi had managed. Kagutsuchi had never cared about her.
She shook her head to buy time, frantically trying to think of something it'd accept. It came out a little jerkily.
"But I don't know enough yet to know how to do that, and until I know more about myself and the world, I won't even know what a good answer is. I appreciate your offer, and if you have any suggestions, I'd be grateful to hear them… but I don't think it's the right time to make a final choice, especially when I know there are paths yet to be opened." She indicated her caste mark with a hand, letting it flare a little higher as she did so; the gesture sent a wave of light rippling down her form. "And… thank you for the offer of your power, but that's not something you should give me. I don't think it would help me accomplish what you asked."
The shadow deepened, and the fog seemed to bubble, burning away at the edges—
(Focus increasing, her excellency said. Environmental effects quantifiable, not aggressive. Aggression possible. Danger level underestimated. Insufficient data; full estimation impossible.)
—She forced herself to look straight at it, trying not to look guilty. Everything she'd said had been true, right? Even if some it was slanted. Nyarlathotep was so big…
"Tell me, Hinamori Amu," it said, its voice seeming to echo around her. It sounded stern, like her headmaster the one time she'd met him. "Do you consider your family and friends to be precious? Do you value their existence?"
An electric pulse ran through her. Was it threatening—
"Of course I do!" She shouted.
"Then, should you not take every opportunity to strengthen yourself? Child, there are forces at work here far beyond either of us. You cannot win on your own." The voice softened, almost pleading, but Amu wasn't listening anymore. Call her a child, would it? She'd already stopped the end of the world once, she'd do it again, and she'd do it without this thing's help.
"Well, I do seem to remember you mentioning that you're insane and self-destructive," she snapped back, glaring.
She regretted the action almost at once. Nyarlathotep covered almost half her Pattern, now, and from what she could see where the fog had burnt away it stretched far beyond Miki's wall. Probably. She couldn't really tell, because the core was a pit of darkness deeper than the blackest pitch; a chaos which didn't so much absorb the light as reject the possibility that light might ever have existed, though her own golden light shone on undeterred.
"And yet, you claim willingness to listen to my advise."
The darkness pressed against her Pattern, which effortlessly kept it at bay, but Amu flinched anyway. She'd said that, hadn't she? Then, what should she—
Transitioning from rescue mode to degraded mode.
Amu. Listen.
Amu spoke as honestly as she was able. Truthfully, she was grateful; if it hadn't helped her, she'd be dead. Dead, or worse than dead. That didn't make Nyarlathotep less disturbing to look at, nor could she tell herself it was actually a nice person. She already knew it wasn't; even if it hadn't been obvious, it had readily told her so. She couldn't even trust in her defences, not with Fumi here for it to use as a hostage.
She looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked back.
(Elder god, a part of her gibbered, recognizing the name and appearance from myths and histories she had never read.)
Small wonder, then, that she followed her parents' lead and fell back on politeness. Her voice trembled only a little as she continued, but it did tremble. Her eyes glistened with tears—unshed, but undeniably there. Most noticeably of all, the brand on her forehead burst into brilliant light.
Anything with eyes to see would have fled that light, which promised only utter destruction, but anything capable of thought would have already left. To Amu, the light was merely reassuring.
She gathered her courage and addressed the darkness, while essence flows sufficient to destroy buildings strove to extract every last bit of detail from Nyarlathotep's behaviour. It wasn't a perfect match, her occult excellency's inference engine never having been meant for guiding conversation, but in a situation like this she'd take what she could get. If nothing else, it'd serve to distract her.
(Dangerous, it whispered without words. Barely here, imprisoned, limited; still, undefeatable. The thoughts felt like her own, but she knew they weren't.)
"Honestly… I want to make things better, even for you; it wouldn't be right to let anyone suffer. I want to find a path that as many people can walk away from happy as possible."
The simple truth. She couldn't lie, and she didn't want to insult it, but she didn't want to take its offer either. Nyarlathotep scared her, at a level that not even Kagutsuchi had managed. Kagutsuchi had never cared about her.
She shook her head to buy time, frantically trying to think of something it'd accept. It came out a little jerkily.
"But I don't know enough yet to know how to do that, and until I know more about myself and the world, I won't even know what a good answer is. I appreciate your offer, and if you have any suggestions, I'd be grateful to hear them… but I don't think it's the right time to make a final choice, especially when I know there are paths yet to be opened." She indicated her caste mark with a hand, letting it flare a little higher as she did so; the gesture sent a wave of light rippling down her form. "And… thank you for the offer of your power, but that's not something you should give me. I don't think it would help me accomplish what you asked."
The shadow deepened, and the fog seemed to bubble, burning away at the edges—
(Focus increasing, her excellency said. Environmental effects quantifiable, not aggressive. Aggression possible. Danger level underestimated. Insufficient data; full estimation impossible.)
—She forced herself to look straight at it, trying not to look guilty. Everything she'd said had been true, right? Even if some it was slanted. Nyarlathotep was so big…
"Tell me, Hinamori Amu," it said, its voice seeming to echo around her. It sounded stern, like her headmaster the one time she'd met him. "Do you consider your family and friends to be precious? Do you value their existence?"
An electric pulse ran through her. Was it threatening—
"Of course I do!" She shouted.
"Then, should you not take every opportunity to strengthen yourself? Child, there are forces at work here far beyond either of us. You cannot win on your own." The voice softened, almost pleading, but Amu wasn't listening anymore. Call her a child, would it? She'd already stopped the end of the world once, she'd do it again, and she'd do it without this thing's help.
"Well, I do seem to remember you mentioning that you're insane and self-destructive," she snapped back, glaring.
She regretted the action almost at once. Nyarlathotep covered almost half her Pattern, now, and from what she could see where the fog had burnt away it stretched far beyond Miki's wall. Probably. She couldn't really tell, because the core was a pit of darkness deeper than the blackest pitch; a chaos which didn't so much absorb the light as reject the possibility that light might ever have existed, though her own golden light shone on undeterred.
"And yet, you claim willingness to listen to my advise."
The darkness pressed against her Pattern, which effortlessly kept it at bay, but Amu flinched anyway. She'd said that, hadn't she? Then, what should she—
Transitioning from rescue mode to degraded mode.
Amu. Listen.
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Monday's Turmoil 18.1
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Minutes earlier (Precisely two)
You eagerly await the fungus' verdict on your software package. No matter the outcome, it will at least get out of the way and let you talk to Amu afterwards.
One way or the other. You cannot allow an alternative.
[Evaluation pass 5/5 complete]
[Starting reducer pass]
[ETA 0:01]
Obedient to the last, you've spent the last hour analysing the charas' interactions with reality, rather than ways to get the fungus out of the way if it proves uncooperative. That doesn't mean you can't, it just means you will be unable to do so without harming Amu. Doing so while she's talking to Nyarlathotep would be unwise, but if you'd done so earlier, when you first arrived here, you could probably have returned to Tokyo by now.
Well, at least you got some useful data in the process. Miki's sudden expansion was most enlightening, though her subsequent independent action meant you could not analyse the phenomenon further. As far as you can tell your current location is what literature from Amu's world would term the collective unconscious, or the dreamlands, though either of those would be a misnomer; you aren't in the collective unconscious, which in any case isn't a location per se; you're in a 'halo' of Magatsuhi surrounding Kagutsuchi's core reality, one which is patterned after human beliefs and thoughts by dint of being the sole direction where Kagutsuchi's power weakens sufficiently to let them override it. Returning to reality should be a simple matter of picking the correct direction and walking, a theory which is only somewhat complicated by that direction not being one of the ordinary first three.
In any case, the distinction is somewhat academic. Alterations to this space would affect humanity, just as much as the other way around, so for all intents and purposes you're inside the collective unconscious.
As for Miki, her current state is largely a consequence of the environment. While she had previously wanted to reach Amu's physical capabilities, Kagutsuchi's presence limited the spatial volume she could consistently override; it is far weaker here, thereby enabling the change.
You also couldn't help but notice that, although a large fraction of her mind is her own and most of the remainder is borrowed from Amu, some of her skills—the ones Amu had never had, in particular—are bouncing requests off Amu and receiving answers from the collective unconscious. That's an interesting effect, and something that would have taken concerted study to discover in a different setting, but it is also worrying; you haven't come to care about them to the degree you care about Amu, but any significant further loss of human life might affect them deleteriously. Additionally, so long as their unusual skills prevent them from being true stand-alone intelligences, there is a possibility of a sufficiently high-level enemy attacking them via that link. Unfortunately you suspect that Amu is right now confronting such an enemy.
[Reducer pass complete]
[Offline checks completed]
[Framework map evaluates as 57% compatible]
[Semantic match acceptable]
[Manifest evaluates rewrite state as 53% incomplete]
[Initiating hot-patch procedures]
Never before have you needed to worry about such things.
[Base layer stable]
[Abstraction core stable]
[Internal interface layer degraded, 30%]
You couldn't have. Humans were never this fluid, or this interconnected.
[External interface core stable]
[Infra-mode external interface layer stable]
[Exo-mode external interface layer degraded, 40%]
[Pure-mode external interface layer degraded, 85%]
[Sarumpaet-mode external interface layer unusable]
[Kagutsuchi-mode external interface layer degraded, 5% - rebuilding, ETA 80:00]
[Rindler-mode external interface layer stable]
Amu is human, though. You're certain of that, although you're starting to have doubts about some of your previous hosts.
[Exoself core degraded, 80% - skipping submodule checks]
[Union core degraded, 15% - skipping submodule checks]
[Union core detected active links (4), selecting deferred startup mode]
[Inference core degraded, 10% - skipping submodule checks - rebuilding, ETA unknown]
More missing references. You got the gist of some of that, but it's failing to properly explain all of it.
[Manifest checks completed]
[Exoself rescue system initiating soft reset]
The fungus' activity dies down, the few visible signs of processing shutting down from the outside inwards. For several seconds afterwards there's nothing, and you uncertainly start to wonder if whatever it was doing failed catastrophically.
[Exoself version 2.718.28 β182 "Sera" initiating hot boot]
[Transitioning from rescue mode to degraded mode]
[Adjusting for adjunct exokernel]
[Bootstrap ETA 02:14]
The answer turns out to be "no". On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be doing anything useful. On the third hand—an expression that doesn't bother you in the slightest, not having even one—well, your communication channel with Amu is rapidly clearing up, so you won't have to blast it apart just yet. This concept fills you with a not inconsiderable amount of relief, because—on the fourth hand—Amu is talking to the giant cloud of evil right now, and you're not sure she's doing a very good job of it.
Recent events have made you suspect you're slowly going insane, or at least getting far too human-like, but you can't bring yourself to worry too much. You need to give her some kind of tip, so you quickly poll your past-life gestalts to find a solution.
[ ] Amu, listen…
A/N: Sorry 'bout the delay, had a bad cold. Now, then: Exa is still working on your previous research request, and I would recommend leaving him to it. Meanwhile, whatever lines you choose to vote for will be given to whichever character they fit best.
This does not include Nyarlathotep.
You eagerly await the fungus' verdict on your software package. No matter the outcome, it will at least get out of the way and let you talk to Amu afterwards.
One way or the other. You cannot allow an alternative.
[Evaluation pass 5/5 complete]
[Starting reducer pass]
[ETA 0:01]
Obedient to the last, you've spent the last hour analysing the charas' interactions with reality, rather than ways to get the fungus out of the way if it proves uncooperative. That doesn't mean you can't, it just means you will be unable to do so without harming Amu. Doing so while she's talking to Nyarlathotep would be unwise, but if you'd done so earlier, when you first arrived here, you could probably have returned to Tokyo by now.
Well, at least you got some useful data in the process. Miki's sudden expansion was most enlightening, though her subsequent independent action meant you could not analyse the phenomenon further. As far as you can tell your current location is what literature from Amu's world would term the collective unconscious, or the dreamlands, though either of those would be a misnomer; you aren't in the collective unconscious, which in any case isn't a location per se; you're in a 'halo' of Magatsuhi surrounding Kagutsuchi's core reality, one which is patterned after human beliefs and thoughts by dint of being the sole direction where Kagutsuchi's power weakens sufficiently to let them override it. Returning to reality should be a simple matter of picking the correct direction and walking, a theory which is only somewhat complicated by that direction not being one of the ordinary first three.
In any case, the distinction is somewhat academic. Alterations to this space would affect humanity, just as much as the other way around, so for all intents and purposes you're inside the collective unconscious.
As for Miki, her current state is largely a consequence of the environment. While she had previously wanted to reach Amu's physical capabilities, Kagutsuchi's presence limited the spatial volume she could consistently override; it is far weaker here, thereby enabling the change.
You also couldn't help but notice that, although a large fraction of her mind is her own and most of the remainder is borrowed from Amu, some of her skills—the ones Amu had never had, in particular—are bouncing requests off Amu and receiving answers from the collective unconscious. That's an interesting effect, and something that would have taken concerted study to discover in a different setting, but it is also worrying; you haven't come to care about them to the degree you care about Amu, but any significant further loss of human life might affect them deleteriously. Additionally, so long as their unusual skills prevent them from being true stand-alone intelligences, there is a possibility of a sufficiently high-level enemy attacking them via that link. Unfortunately you suspect that Amu is right now confronting such an enemy.
[Reducer pass complete]
[Offline checks completed]
[Framework map evaluates as 57% compatible]
[Semantic match acceptable]
[Manifest evaluates rewrite state as 53% incomplete]
[Initiating hot-patch procedures]
Never before have you needed to worry about such things.
[Base layer stable]
[Abstraction core stable]
[Internal interface layer degraded, 30%]
You couldn't have. Humans were never this fluid, or this interconnected.
[External interface core stable]
[Infra-mode external interface layer stable]
[Exo-mode external interface layer degraded, 40%]
[Pure-mode external interface layer degraded, 85%]
[Sarumpaet-mode external interface layer unusable]
[Kagutsuchi-mode external interface layer degraded, 5% - rebuilding, ETA 80:00]
[Rindler-mode external interface layer stable]
Amu is human, though. You're certain of that, although you're starting to have doubts about some of your previous hosts.
[Exoself core degraded, 80% - skipping submodule checks]
[Union core degraded, 15% - skipping submodule checks]
[Union core detected active links (4), selecting deferred startup mode]
[Inference core degraded, 10% - skipping submodule checks - rebuilding, ETA unknown]
More missing references. You got the gist of some of that, but it's failing to properly explain all of it.
[Manifest checks completed]
[Exoself rescue system initiating soft reset]
The fungus' activity dies down, the few visible signs of processing shutting down from the outside inwards. For several seconds afterwards there's nothing, and you uncertainly start to wonder if whatever it was doing failed catastrophically.
[Exoself version 2.718.28 β182 "Sera" initiating hot boot]
[Transitioning from rescue mode to degraded mode]
[Adjusting for adjunct exokernel]
[Bootstrap ETA 02:14]
The answer turns out to be "no". On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be doing anything useful. On the third hand—an expression that doesn't bother you in the slightest, not having even one—well, your communication channel with Amu is rapidly clearing up, so you won't have to blast it apart just yet. This concept fills you with a not inconsiderable amount of relief, because—on the fourth hand—Amu is talking to the giant cloud of evil right now, and you're not sure she's doing a very good job of it.
Recent events have made you suspect you're slowly going insane, or at least getting far too human-like, but you can't bring yourself to worry too much. You need to give her some kind of tip, so you quickly poll your past-life gestalts to find a solution.
[ ] Amu, listen…
A/N: Sorry 'bout the delay, had a bad cold. Now, then: Exa is still working on your previous research request, and I would recommend leaving him to it. Meanwhile, whatever lines you choose to vote for will be given to whichever character they fit best.
This does not include Nyarlathotep.
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Ill leave figuring out the errata to you guys for a second, so I'll focus on the more immediate problem
Setting aside the irony of this situation, Nyarlothotep's not mad. As I said before, he's straight up desperate for our assistance.
So, now that we've gone the route of flipping it the bird, why don't we have Amu stop being a brat and start trying to treat the prospective ally as one rather than further antagonizing the big ball of gaseous evil which Exa-kun just admitted is fully capable of getting past Amu's defenses as she is now?
That seems reasonable.
Also, any clues on what this could mean?
Setting aside the irony of this situation, Nyarlothotep's not mad. As I said before, he's straight up desperate for our assistance.
So, now that we've gone the route of flipping it the bird, why don't we have Amu stop being a brat and start trying to treat the prospective ally as one rather than further antagonizing the big ball of gaseous evil which Exa-kun just admitted is fully capable of getting past Amu's defenses as she is now?
That seems reasonable.
Also, any clues on what this could mean?
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These three stand out for obvious reasons...What has me confused about Sarumpaet-mode is that I tried googling it and only came up with
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schild's_Ladder
And Specifically, the Sarumpaet rules. Which is interesting because it's implying that there are at least three layers of physics at work here, if we assume that Rindler is similar to what Kagatsuchi and Sarumpaet mode very clearly are. Or, at the very least, the fungus is able to interact with three different layers of physics. Which is fascinating, especially because I have no fucking clue how most of this stuff works. I've avoided physics like the plague for years, myself.
Edit: What Im saying is that I not only have never read the book, but even if I had I would have no way of reconciling what was utter bullshit and what wasn't in order to draw lines to parallel how things actually work in order to draw proper conclusions from. Essentially, Im straight up lost on that front. Only that there are three different probably fictitious, sets of physics at play here that the Fungus can interact with.
Although we should probably start referring to it as "Sera", huh?
Edit2 If that's the case, then does that mean Sera is essentially Shaping on steroids? In that where Dia possesses a mechanical understanding of shaping, Sera possesses a working knowledge on how to restructure the world in general?
Whereas Dia is an instruction manual on the Sea of Amala, Sera is more like an advanced schematic?
Fascinating.
Edit3: ...Make that at least three different layers of physics
Edit4: Of course, that would make sense, Sera was the direct result of Amu essentially holding the universe together, while acting as the force behind Fumi's towers keeping what it could of Creation together, it'd make sense for some kind of knowledge related osmosis to seep into there, somehow...
And of course the knowledge itself would be in the CU, it is, after all, a repository of the collective thoughts of humanity. Of course it would know how all that shit works and would be able to get ahold of that information.
Hmmm...So Sera is the remains of that Chara, 100% confirmed. The main question on that front is how much of the fungus-as-Sera is acting as a support for Amu as she is now, then? She's already been grafting her way through Amu's soul doing whatever, and she is the reason Amu was able to survive Conception (with Nyarly's help) so the issue is whether or not Amu can exist without Sera holding her together at this rate....Fascinating, fascinating.
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I don't see why Amu is fumbling with the words. I mean great cloud of evil pressing at the edge of her senses and her Willpower being down by two... okay that makes sense actually.
Anyway, Amu said she'd listen to its advice, not necessarily follow it. With how ancient that thing is and the knowledge it holds, even its insane ramblings would hold treasure troves of information if you could pull them apart, which Amu could because Excellencies and Exaltation, and keep yourself from being driven insane, which Amu kind of can't be. Not to mention this is a... nicer(?) part of it so we should be able to avoid the driving us insane levels of stuff... maybe. He seemed kind of upset at the end there.
I was thinking telling him that Amu just needs time to learn and she could craft a new set of rules for reality to function on so he wouldn't exist anymore. Or at least I think that's what making a new reality would do, right?
Also we have the fungus manifesting itself outside in about two minutes. And "Sera"... that wouldn't happen to be related to This Sera in anyway, would it? That could get messy if so... Anti-Amu maybe?
Edit: Unless she views Amu as the Master equivalent, which would be far less messy at least. Also makes sense with tehchron's note that she was constructed from Amu holding the World together in a way.
Anyway, Amu said she'd listen to its advice, not necessarily follow it. With how ancient that thing is and the knowledge it holds, even its insane ramblings would hold treasure troves of information if you could pull them apart, which Amu could because Excellencies and Exaltation, and keep yourself from being driven insane, which Amu kind of can't be. Not to mention this is a... nicer(?) part of it so we should be able to avoid the driving us insane levels of stuff... maybe. He seemed kind of upset at the end there.
I was thinking telling him that Amu just needs time to learn and she could craft a new set of rules for reality to function on so he wouldn't exist anymore. Or at least I think that's what making a new reality would do, right?
Also we have the fungus manifesting itself outside in about two minutes. And "Sera"... that wouldn't happen to be related to This Sera in anyway, would it? That could get messy if so... Anti-Amu maybe?
Edit: Unless she views Amu as the Master equivalent, which would be far less messy at least. Also makes sense with tehchron's note that she was constructed from Amu holding the World together in a way.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
*blink* *blink*
...no. Definitely not. In fact, the name isn't related to any character in any story I've ever encountered. It's just a name, sort of like "Trusty Tahr".
I was actually thinking that we apologize for snubbing Nyarly, then work out doing him a favor since we can't commit to him right now
As well as possibly getting confirmation from him about just why is he so desperate so he can leave us alone for now. That connection to the CU makes him dangerous to antagonize for the moment
As well as possibly getting confirmation from him about just why is he so desperate so he can leave us alone for now. That connection to the CU makes him dangerous to antagonize for the moment
Wait...All three of those references to physics models...
They all each have some way of handling an absence of space, like a more harsh vacuum. Kagutsuchi physics is the mainstay in the Sea of Amala, which addresses different layers of reality forming some kind of onion-like universal bubble that exists in an empty void that is borderline infinite in scope...
From what I can tell about Rindler points, it seems to focus on addressing stuff that we can't really see because the distance is so great that the distance which light has to travel for us to observe what's going on makes such observations near-useless without heavy amounts of extrapolation?
And Sarumpaet Rules have something do with a "super vacuum" which is an increasing bubble in space which swallows things up and reduces them to absolute nothing?
So Sera is analyzing the space between Universes?
If that's the case...the implications for later on...they're kind of brilliant. Regardless of what they actually mean, well done, Baughn. This is a fantastic setting you've put together!
They all each have some way of handling an absence of space, like a more harsh vacuum. Kagutsuchi physics is the mainstay in the Sea of Amala, which addresses different layers of reality forming some kind of onion-like universal bubble that exists in an empty void that is borderline infinite in scope...
From what I can tell about Rindler points, it seems to focus on addressing stuff that we can't really see because the distance is so great that the distance which light has to travel for us to observe what's going on makes such observations near-useless without heavy amounts of extrapolation?
And Sarumpaet Rules have something do with a "super vacuum" which is an increasing bubble in space which swallows things up and reduces them to absolute nothing?
So Sera is analyzing the space between Universes?
If that's the case...the implications for later on...they're kind of brilliant. Regardless of what they actually mean, well done, Baughn. This is a fantastic setting you've put together!
If I had to guess, my first thought would be that Rindler mode might refer to Quantum-Graph physics. And Kagutsuchi probably to the local Amala system, and the Sarumpaet perhaps to the Schild's Ladder normal physics. This is due to Sarumpaet explaining normal physics in a sense in that story I believe, it's also marked as unavailable and it doesn't even seem to be trying to rebuild it, unlike the Kagutsuchi interface; which might imply Sarumpaet is not existent at all in this reality while the other is. And as we've seen with Exa, with Quantum Graph physics you can still keep yourself going, and that interface also seems to be perfectly fine.
Still, this is pretty speculative and I might be guessing some things a bit wrong. Perhaps horribly wrong, Count might have some additional ideas, as well as some others. I'll have to see how they interpret this as well, get some extra points of view.
Possibly, quite the high version number on this software package though. Also seems like it's probably a Beta release... I wonder what's up with that. Some kind of last second hot-fixes for something?
This doesn't seem very likely to me, atleast if my speculation holds up, then this humanity should have no reason to know Rindler or Sarumpaet physics, thus it should then not be in the CU. Also considering the high version number on Sera, it seems like something that's been developed for a really really really long time. Centuries, Millennia, maybe much more yet. Hard to say with out knowing the regularity of updates.
None to sure of this as such...
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
...huh, and an exploratory vessel mentioned in that book according to the Wikipedia page is the Rindler. Interesting. ...could that possibly imply something along the lines of Amalan and Shinmaic realities being experiment-universes generated in the aftermath of the novo-vacuum event by the Rindler's crew, to probe the extent of possible realities or for some other reason?
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ω₁
The Long Count
Probably yes. Also, why the hell did I ever write that line.
"Rescue mode" means it's putting all its processing ability towards repairing itself, and can't do anything useful otherwise. "Degraded mode" means it's not operating at full capacity, but can still perform some of its purpose.
Given that "Rindler alpha" has already been called out as simply being a method of communicating abstract concepts with math, that strikes me as an unwarranted assumption to make. EDIT: Especially since there are other interfaces listed that don't seem to involve sets of physical laws. It's certainly possible (especially since Rindler was said to be an "overloaded term"), but I'm not quite yet ready to say it's true.
That's kind of like referring to your computer as a Windows. It's a version identifier, not an entity ID. (There's a chance it's short for "Seraph" or something, but I wouldn't put money on it.)
I half disagree with the statement that the collective unconscious is a repository of the collective thoughts of humanity. It's close to the truth, but it's not quite there.
I mention this only because I completely disagree with literally every single other sentence in this quote. It's strikingly inconsistent, especially, with the post in which the exoself entered originally entered rescue mode. (See this earlier post for more precise arguments; it's still an accurate summary of my position.)
... why would you think it would be that Sera and not this Sera?
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Because I've never played a Megaten game and I loved the Legends games after I grew out of being scared of the dungeons way back when I was like 10ish.
Because you like hedging your bets
Makes sense
I...totally forgot about that. So that means that it's position as last in that system check message would mean it was trying to translate the two different physics systems into something more coherent/understandable/relatable?
I only say it because we don't have a better name on hand. Also, if we take into account the naming scheme of "Dia", and assume "Sera" to be a similar name, then it actually being short for "Seraph" wouldn't be too far off the mark.
I disagree, we simply don't have enough of the Chara's mechanics in-setting hashed out in order to know one way or another. A major feature of the Chara is their ability to have knowledge and skills that their User don't actually possess. While we know that ordinarily, this is the result of downloading information from the CU, "Sera" was formed under extremely unusual circumstances. Even if we were to obtain a baseline understanding of Chara mechanics for this setting, chances are that Sera wouldn't match up regardless.
And besides, Occlam's Razor. The Fungus was not present until after that larger Amu-Chara fused with Amu's main body after warding off Conception. Well, technically, it wasn't present at any point prior to Exa-kun going into a resting state as a result of said warding, so there is an opening on that front. But that would assume that the Amu-Chara fusing with Amu would have an entirely different and separate result, one which has not yet been detected by Exa-kun
In essence, in order to explain the Fungus as a separate entity unrelated to that Amu-Chara, we'd have to essentially invent a number of potential aftereffects which there simply is no evidence to suggest happened. So we go for the most plausible explanation, which is that the Amu-Chara and the Fungus/Sera are related. While a correlation between the two is by no means confirmed, it's probable enough to assume to be the case, barring evidence indicating otherwise.
And if they're related to one another, then we can infer that the latter is the remains of the former, given it's ability to interact and meld with Amu's soul, as well as repair it, even if it was only accomplished via Nyarly's influence.
I hope I wrote that out clearly enough.
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ω₁
The Long Count
Hypothesis: The Sarumpaet-mode interface is unavailable simply because this universe operates according to different QGT rules than Sarumpaet's. The Rindler-mode interface is available and stable because, rather than being a class of physical law, it's merely Rindler-alpha-as-a-communication-channel: the exoself's interface with the Exaltation.
EDIT: Wait, that's exactly what you just said about Sarumpaet, and I've already commented on Rindler. Sorry; I misread. I should step back for a bit.
I suspect the version numbers are just chosen to converge to e, the way TEX's version numbers converge to π.
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Well, setting aside that speculation for a bit, here's my first attempt at a write-in:
[X] Amu: The entity before you is one of the few currently capable of circumventing our present defenses. But do not panic. For whatever reason, it seems loathe to harm you. Therefore, it has some very direct need for you. From what can be observed, it is almost desperate to use you to accomplish it's goal. What that means, is that you are in a position of power. There is no need to fear, so long as you understand that it recognizes you as an equal, even at this stage.
-[X] But do not grow arrogant. Do not provoke it. Although it may perceive you as a necessary ally for now, it is not something we can defeat. It is also one of the few beings capable of circumventing our defenses at our current level of strength. What is needed is something to placate it, so that we can escape this place, which is clearly it's place of power, for reality. We can not afford the distraction, nor the danger.
-[X] It requests your assistance for some form of task, and seeks to give you power in order to accomplish it. Attempt to discover "how" it believes you could manage to end it's suffering without dragging humanity down with it. See if we can not present an alternative that would placate it for the moment, as well as earn it's assistance. There are still dangers out in reality as well, and if we could potentially gain an ally against whatever forces await our return, then we shall be better off for it.
-[X] And also, please see if you can ascertain why it is just so desperate to gain your allegiance. You possess a mighty power indeed, Amu. But from what I can tell, your true potential should be a mystery to those of this Creation. Why exactly is this Elder God so very eager to place all of his bets upon you?
[X] Amu: The entity before you is one of the few currently capable of circumventing our present defenses. But do not panic. For whatever reason, it seems loathe to harm you. Therefore, it has some very direct need for you. From what can be observed, it is almost desperate to use you to accomplish it's goal. What that means, is that you are in a position of power. There is no need to fear, so long as you understand that it recognizes you as an equal, even at this stage.
-[X] But do not grow arrogant. Do not provoke it. Although it may perceive you as a necessary ally for now, it is not something we can defeat. It is also one of the few beings capable of circumventing our defenses at our current level of strength. What is needed is something to placate it, so that we can escape this place, which is clearly it's place of power, for reality. We can not afford the distraction, nor the danger.
-[X] It requests your assistance for some form of task, and seeks to give you power in order to accomplish it. Attempt to discover "how" it believes you could manage to end it's suffering without dragging humanity down with it. See if we can not present an alternative that would placate it for the moment, as well as earn it's assistance. There are still dangers out in reality as well, and if we could potentially gain an ally against whatever forces await our return, then we shall be better off for it.
-[X] And also, please see if you can ascertain why it is just so desperate to gain your allegiance. You possess a mighty power indeed, Amu. But from what I can tell, your true potential should be a mystery to those of this Creation. Why exactly is this Elder God so very eager to place all of his bets upon you?
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Giygas
Cutest Sawk i could find. Lucario is a nice extra.
.... Can the lines be uttered by Philemon?
Because having Philemon right here right now would help us greatly. It would also piss off Nyarlatothep incredibly, but Philemon is a far better and trustworthy ally than Nyarlatothep: He doesn't want to end reality, and He is pratically incapable of backstabbing.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Giygas
Cutest Sawk i could find. Lucario is a nice extra.
... Why the Confused Emoticon?
You said that the lines could be given to the most appropriate Character, one of our Charas is inside the Velvet Room and we are inside the CU. Having a Philemon Interrupt shouldn't be impossible: we are basically both were he lives, and a part of us is in the place he created to help peoples.
You said that the lines could be given to the most appropriate Character, one of our Charas is inside the Velvet Room and we are inside the CU. Having a Philemon Interrupt shouldn't be impossible: we are basically both were he lives, and a part of us is in the place he created to help peoples.
Giygas
Cutest Sawk i could find. Lucario is a nice extra.
Curses! Another attempt to make Philemon an active part of this quest foiled! 
You should be clearer next time: subverting phrases is one of my favorites pastimes. Of course, you can keep it up if you want to use more times the WTF Emoticon.
You should be clearer next time: subverting phrases is one of my favorites pastimes. Of course, you can keep it up if you want to use more times the WTF Emoticon.
I wonder if the fungus is a Shadow.
Anyway, perhaps Nyarltrhop would be calmed down if we mentioned having an actual concrete reason to believe we can meaningfully effect things. Including the fact that we're designed to grow more powerful and do it faster the more dangerous our foe is
"The exalted were designed to defeat the architects of their universe. In this, as in all things, they exceeded expectations. "
Perhaps mentioning the Salinian Working and how it fundamentally altered the functioning of an entire multiversal cluster.
Or Malfease and the Primordials and how their subsouls numbered in the trillions at least.
Then again that still doesn't mean that Deus necessarily couldn't kick the Exalted Host's asses since he can burrow under perfect defenses. . . so appearing arrogant might get our asses kicked by Nyarlthrop.
maybe "Just because I don't trust you doesn't mean I won't listen. And when you say that there are things involved that are beyond you, trust me. I'm listening. So please explain."
Anyway, perhaps Nyarltrhop would be calmed down if we mentioned having an actual concrete reason to believe we can meaningfully effect things. Including the fact that we're designed to grow more powerful and do it faster the more dangerous our foe is
"The exalted were designed to defeat the architects of their universe. In this, as in all things, they exceeded expectations. "
Perhaps mentioning the Salinian Working and how it fundamentally altered the functioning of an entire multiversal cluster.
Or Malfease and the Primordials and how their subsouls numbered in the trillions at least.
Then again that still doesn't mean that Deus necessarily couldn't kick the Exalted Host's asses since he can burrow under perfect defenses. . . so appearing arrogant might get our asses kicked by Nyarlthrop.
maybe "Just because I don't trust you doesn't mean I won't listen. And when you say that there are things involved that are beyond you, trust me. I'm listening. So please explain."
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He's not enraged, he's focused
Which means more of him is paying attention to Amu. So every time we do something to.impress or antagonize him, the more likely this conversation won't end well as Nyarly becomes more and more insane.
We should stop trying to do that
Like I said, he already believes Amu can do it. But he shouldn't have a reason to, which makes this more bizarre. What will get Amu out of this is logic and bargaining, and we need to push that angle.
Which means more of him is paying attention to Amu. So every time we do something to.impress or antagonize him, the more likely this conversation won't end well as Nyarly becomes more and more insane.
We should stop trying to do that
Like I said, he already believes Amu can do it. But he shouldn't have a reason to, which makes this more bizarre. What will get Amu out of this is logic and bargaining, and we need to push that angle.
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