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The Arachne System (SPIDERLIV 3)

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[X] Fuck this. Take the crystal out to an empty warehouse and crack it open with a robot arm, study that instead!
 
Hey, please don't smash the amazing crystal plothook! We can probably do that later, provided they don't blow it up!

Also, what do you mean by 'a sample', @open_sketch? I thought Liv/Athena were the only ones who went to Shi'ar, and the teleport involved a blue flash, but the update seems unclear on whether May went as well.

[X] First Contact / Care Package

Thoughts for said care package:
-See if we can get it to send things without an actual human triggering it. Fake hand? Technopathy? Borrow a mannequin from May?
-Include an apology for anything you broke last time, and an offer to help fix it if possible.
-Include an inquiry about what they were hoping to have Darkhawk build, since it was apparently worth shooting police over? Try to be inquisitive instead of confrontational here.
-Put this all on a cheap phone, powered up, on top of the gift basket.
 
10ebbor10 said:
[] Care package proposal :
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Possible addition: A text-dump of Wikipedia.
10ebbor10 said:
4) A simply piece of the strongest most disposable metal you can find, fried using max output from the arc reactor. A demonstration of what we can do
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I think that a cell phone would be a much, much better demonstration of the level of our civilization. The lithium-ion battery is just a start; energy storage is the foundation of a ton of civilizations due to its involvement in transportation and logistics; being able to carry a third as much food for a journey of a given distance is transformative for what you can do with nation-states. The chip inside would illustrate our grasp of quantum physics - semiconductors at the integrated-circuit level are all about quantum physics - and the obvious signs of mass-production nanolithography would show off our level of coordination and approximate population. Finally, the involved materials, varying labels and indicators and markings, and rough order of manufacture would show off how broad our civilization is. If they're as advanced as they look, they'd probably be able to figure out how we purified all the rare materials and specifically the aluminum and iron ores, which'd be an indication of the rough energy level our manufacturing processes operate at.

The arc reactor may be a good idea of what Liv can do, but I don't think it's a great addition to a first-contact package that purports to be from humans.

That said:

[X] First Contact / Care Package

They were nice enough to explain to us why they were kicking us out; we should do the same. This crystal is probably pretty dang valuable, also, so let's not smash it. That'd be a great way to get a war-fleet sent our way.
 
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[x] Fuck this. Take the crystal out to an empty warehouse and crack it open with a robot arm, study that instead!
Because we are not built for cargo.
[x] Let Athena front before making the next swap, and have her try to do the same.
Because Thriller had a good music video.
 
Aunty Shi Ping said:
Examining the thing that allows one to replace an an object in one place with an object in another place might help us replace, say, our clothes, with, say, a colossal mechanical spider named Mister Puffin Surprise without our needing to go home to change into something more comforting.
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Instead of breaking their magical girl amulet and probably getting an extradimensional hit squad pointed at us, how about we talk to them and trade for it?
 
Dark as Silver said:
"You can't date my mother if you're trapped in another dimension!!!"
"What did we say about super villainy Liv?"
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"I choose you, Clint-a-chu!"
"This was the better of the different options we discussed."
"I don't even want to think about the worse option then."
"It involved getting an intergalactic hit squad sent to earth."
 
Aunty Shi Ping said:
Examining the thing that allows one to replace an an object in one place with an object in another place might help us replace, say, our clothes, with, say, a colossal mechanical spider named Mister Puffin Surprise without our needing to go home to change into something more comforting.
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That's a wonderful objective! Which of our available options best serves that?

...Well, here's my guesses.
-'Go back and steal a robot suit' might just give us a robot suit, severed from the higher-dimensional stuff. Probably a bit better than a Stark Suit, but not too much.
-'Go back with Athena fronting' might be the fast way to talk to them, or it might just teach us to use our own extradimensional mass better because we're watching through techsense when we're evicted for the sort of parking violation that destroys buildings and possibly planets. I'm guessing the latter.
-'Go back and stay long enough for Athena and May to take a sample' probably means going back and staying long enough for them to cut a robot arm off? I'm guessing that's the way to get a still-hyperdimensionally-connected sample, but I'm really not sure. It might just give us materials?
-'Smash the thing in order to see what you can learn by smashing it' might give us a Shi'ar comm, a fullbody scanner, a new understanding of hyperdimensional chemistry (webs that can block teleporters?) or something from its' automatic defenses. A bomb? A whole bunch of alien alloys? Mystery box, which is normally a point in its' favor, but it's the sort of mystery I bet we could get answered with...
-'Try talking to them and establishing a working relationship'. Unlocks the Shi'ar as an ally, and a lot more tech down the line. You know how Loki gave Athena a magic primer? I bet talking to the Shi'ar would give us a hyperdimension primer, and maybe more arc reactors. Worst case, it's a pure lore thing. Best case, we can buy a giant spidermech in exchange for helping them set up an antenna.
 
If we smash the crystal, what are the odds that it goes very kaboom and/or summons pissed off interdimensional warriors?

[Note: the difference between 'kaboom' and 'very kaboom' is that the latter is too big to ignore by standing a ways away; the consequences are far-reaching enough that you can't pretend they didn't happen.]
 
Simon_Jester said:
If we smash the crystal, what are the odds that it goes very kaboom and/or summons pissed off interdimensional warriors?

[Note: the difference between 'kaboom' and 'very kaboom' is that the latter is too big to ignore by standing a ways away; the consequences are far-reaching enough that you can't pretend they didn't happen.]
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I don't think we'll know until/unless we smash it.
Problems of dealing with unknown technology.
 
Narratively, I am pretty sure that we are going to benefit in some way from this. Quite likely make enemies, yes, but benefit all the same. So I am reasonably confident that smashing it means we get technology. I also suspect that it is somewhat of a lost cause at this point, so they probably won't be sending hit squads after us for breaking it. Breaking into their secret sanctum though, even with good intentions, seems like something that could really set off their isolationism reflexes. I suspect that all of the volunteered options would make them unhappy to some extent, but I do not believe it is clear what would make them most upset, although I suspect that it is more likely to be breaking into and stealing more stuff than just breaking the stuff that we already stole.

The write-in, of course, could work. I am not convinced that we have the diplomatic chops to negotiate first contact, but meh, sometimes you gotta take a risk.
 
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Vindictus said:
one (1) copy of Marx's Capital,,,
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"Hey, Alien Jim, you ever read that book we found behind the space microwave?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I tried to read it, and I stopped when he started talking about whatever the fuck exchange-value is."

"Who wrote this bullshit?"
 
I don't think the vote has locked yet? And I'd be more comfortable with a vote lead >1.
[X] First Contact / Care Package
Vebyast said:
I think that a cell phone would be a much, much better demonstration of the level of our civilization.
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I'm with @Vebyast on this. The metal thing feels... I dunno, a bit needlessly threatening?
 
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First Contact
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    • "Did you say hi?" May asked, "To the people there."

    "I don't really know if people is the word." you started.

    "More of a presence, if you understand."

    "That still sounds like people. Or, well, a person." May pointed out. "If you're worried you upset them, why not go back, apologize for intruding, and say hi? Be a good neighbour?"

    "First contact." Athena said, and May flashed a little vulcan salute.

    "Oh my God, we are nerds." you said, sitting down on the bed. "Yeah, first contact. We can do that. Make our own little Pioneer plate."

    You grabbed one of the dozens of spare phones you had out of the basket beside your computer and plugged it into your laptop, an idea striking you.

    ---

    About an hour later, Operation Touch The Thing II, Gift Basket Edition was ready. You'd loaded the phone with an upgraded version of your old visual novel app (you'd been delayed several minutes by May wanting to do a playthrough) rewritten to a first contact scenario where you'd explain who you are and what you wanted. Accompanying that was the gift basket: a rundown of your current technological capabilities, with the app explaining what you used them for (helping people and protecting New York). Finally, all that was sealed into a ziplock bag alongside a banana and half an edible, which was the best peace offering you could think of.

    "Okay, I'm going back in." you said, clutching the bag in your hand. "Wish me luck!"

    May leaned over and gave you a kiss, which was not what you were expecting but wow you weren't going to complain.

    "I was about to ask for luck also considered that I will be pulled along on the journey, but now its awkward." Athena muttered.

    Unable to stop smiling like a doofus, you touched a finger to the crystal and counted. One, two...

    Y̢̪̳O̫̫̞̼̹U͜ S̗̥̠̻̞̘T̯̝̕A̤̗̺͓̳̰͕N̼D̵͉̘̗̥̱ ̳͉̠͚̱ͅͅA̞̠̬̘B̠̦̬͎͉́OV̰͕E̯̯̭̲̠̩ ͉͙̦͔̠̝T͍̦̙̗̖H̻͖͔E ̡͇̖͓͔͉̬̘S̕T͏͖̜̺͔A̫̞͓̗̯̖R̻͈̲̼̬S҉̮͙̤̣̞̺ I̥̘̰͎̤͓T͕͈̣̭S̯̭̠̘͙̗E͕̤̼̟̟̻͉LF̰̘̘͇,̕ ̺͎͚̩͉͔ͅI͔̝N͔̬̬͈̗ ̬̘̬͓A͔̱͕̱̰̬͈ ͠S͏P̮̜͎͙̘̳̰A̳̳͖C̣͈̀Ȩ̬̦ ́B̸͚̜͖̘͉̦E̡̤̞Y̸O̱̺͖͙N̛͍̭̘D͖͉ ̰̦ͅS̫̖̀P͉̻A̸͚̳̠̖͖CE̪̳̳̱̯̪̳͡.̧̻̠̣͈͔̜̤ ̙̻ͅA̳̹̮̣͓̫͢ͅ ͉̥̭̯̳̞̰S̷̺͖̬̻W̲͔̣͟I͉͉͓͠R̡̰̖͓̣͔̺L͔͎̜̱̯̭̮ O͚̳̗̖͍F͉͇̬ ̪͕͖̯N̸̜̪O̵͖̝̼͉̗T̶͎͈̳̜̻H̺̱͈͇̮̱̲I͔͔͓̩̗͝N̺͎͉̻GN͙̳̻̮͕͜ͅE̳̻̟͉̰S̮̥̩̣̺̜͓S͍̀ ̡̲̺̱E̹̗̥̦͓͝M̨B͏̭͇̹̩̬̺ͅR̬̘͉̼̱͟A͝-​

    "Yes, yes, I know! Hold on a second!" you called, watching out of body as you pulled yourself free from the tree. On another branch, separated by an infinite distance, another you was doing the same. You couldn't really focus on either, it felt like staring into a camera flash, or directly into the sun. Painful.

    "Okay, uh, so, denizens of wherever this is, I come in peace. I know you don't want me here, but I'm just leaving a peace offering." you released the plastic bag, watching it drift off into the nothing. "Uh... you can send me back now?"

    ̼̯͕̫̺͘R̴̻ET͍͇͓̜͙U͕̟͖͙Ṟ̲̘͉̩͖N̜̰ͅ!̧̯̝̯̲̙͔ ̰̺̪̭̺̣R̴͉̬͉̭͉E̬T͓͚̳̙͎̻U̹͠R̦͙̝̮̭͉̩N̰̞̤̬̱!̯͓̻ R̶E̩͕̭̞T̹͎̹͙͍̻U͔̻-​


    You reemerge into your room, feeling a little off-balance, and collapsed onto your bed.

    "Okay, enough dimensional hopping for one day." you groaned. "Did the armour show up?"

    "Yep. Same as last time." May said, nodding like she did. She was really getting the hang out of this pretty quick. "You okay?"

    "My head hurts." you complained, "This sucks."

    "I do not even have a head and it hurts." Athena confirmed.

    "Do you want to watch some animes?" May asked, and you nodded into the comforter.

    ---

    You were midway through Howl's Moving Castle when you got your answer, as the crystal started glowing rather brightly on the side table. Hesitantly, you reached out and touched it, and this time you didn't find yourself somewhere else. Instead, you got what you could only describe as a blast of information into your brain, too fast for conscious processing, but not too fast for your tech sense, and over the next few confused seconds you pieced it together.

    You knew, all at once, that the Darkhawk armour was one of thousands, predating the Shi'ar Empire, and each was a semi-sentient entity of its own. Its creators were even older and more mysterious, lost even to them. They were intended as guardians of a sacred place, but they'd been hijacked by the Empire and were now used by their secret police as they spread across the stars. However, one crystal was lost in the space between space in the great calamities which had led to their conquest, and something, the mysterious signal, had drawn it to New York.

    Where a young Christopher Powell found it, following the instructions of the armour's artificial intelligence to try and build a device to track the signal. They had to work quickly, because the presence of the crystal may well attract the wrath of the Shi'ar. The robberies were clumsy, stupid attempts to get the funds needed for the materials, born of an AI working outside its parameters and a teenager overwhelmed by the sudden power and responsibility, giving in to his worst impulses with the excuse that he was going to save the world.

    That part was a bit too familiar.

    The last thing you were aware of was an offer from the beings from beyond, a sense of respect and fear. You were incompatible with them, your mere presence in their space tore at the fabric of their reality, but they understood who you were. A guardian, like their armour was intended for. They wanted to help, and would grant you a favour in exchange for the return of their crystal.

    ---

    What do you ask for? Choose one. No write-ins.​
    ​
    [ ] A sample of the material the raptor armour is made of, sufficient to work with. While not quite as good as vibranium, it is both lighter and tougher than hardened steel and a room-temperature superconductor.​
    [ ] The ability to store the Arachne suit in null space and recall it at will, summoning it onto your body with a thought. You will still be able to make modifications.​
    [ ] Knowledge of how to build the tracker Chris Powell was attempting to make. It might be beyond your ability to create at the moment, but its a start.​
     
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    • ...if we build an armor suit out of superconductor, Liv's smart enough to make her suit not take double damage from Lightning attacks, right?
     
    [X] The ability to store the Arachne suit in null space and recall it at will, summoning it onto your body with a thought. You will still be able to make modifications.

    The other thing is cool but this is the biggest quality of life upgrade we could really want.

    (plus imagine if we can keep a safe Athena in null space?)
     
    ....hoo boy.

    I want the shiny (metal) but I feel like ethically I should absolutely be going for the tracker, as a hero. Averting alien invasions Good.
     
    We have the choice between two solid shinies and saving people's lives by avoiding a massive alien invasion but getting nothing ourselves (though we might get something once the tracker is complete).

    We're a hero.

    [X] Knowledge of how to build the tracker Chris Powell was attempting to make. It might be beyond your ability to create at the moment, but its a start.
     
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