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THRONE//FRINGE: Normal Human Mech-Girl Quest

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MJ12 Commando said:
In the end, no matter how adaptable, flexible, and capable your institutions and structures and systems are, entropy only has to get lucky once in a period measured in astronomical time.

Is it any wonder, then, that the Empire didn't see a specific neighbor or race, but the very concept of ending, as its ultimate enemy?

But you know the old saying. "You come at the king, you best not miss."
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It is old isnt it, its so endemic no one knows where that saying comes from, but it was made famous in an episode of The Wire. There are rumors as to its origins, but its one of those things thats been floating around since forever.
 
NEXUS was the sector Imperial-Capital complex. It housed Imperial bureaucracy and leadership.
 
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That's definitely a win for MR. BIG. That dossier will be put into rotation next time :)
Scheduled vote count started by Cetashwayo on Nov 8, 2021 at 8:58 PM, finished with 31 posts and 20 votes.
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19. BUILD
  • Threadmarks
    • 19. BUILD
    ​
    [X] Plan HYDRA//WEAPONS
    -[X] Orby Assignment [1 cycle]
    --[X] A7
    -[X] Eyeball Assignment [1 cycle]
    --[X] V7
    -[X] Peeper II Research [1 cycle]
    -[X] Conversion: Hex A1 [1 cycle]
    -[X] Project HYDRA: Software [3 cycles]
    -[X] Project HYDRA: Hardware [4 industry]
    -[X] PROJECT HYDRA: A Favour of the Concierge [1 influence]
    -[X] Concierge's Dossier [3 influence]
    --[X] DOSSIER: FALL OF FORCE//FRINGE
    -[X] Nanonectar Clouds [3 salvage]

    OPTIMIZATION

    I:: Well. What now?

    The question strikes you as you contemplate the Fringe Dossier and the implication of a total systems collapse of all the Empire's institutions.

    What now?

    You don't grant Ishtar an answer right away, turning your attention to the activation of your systems. The repurposed salvage you obtained is used to brute-force encrypted drivers, ancient protocols that hide the true powers of your hallowed chassis. A barren planet is designated as a testing ground, its directories opened and the programs uploaded to its central servers.

    The process starts at once, spurred by no force but the power of your tapestric will. Something from nothing, physics utterly defied. Molecules become wisps, wisps become clouds, cloud become an atmosphere. A honey shroud of vapor gold, and on the planet's surface, tears of luscious amber. The planet drinking up the nanonectar, the living liquid seeping through its crust. From the loose soil, seeds, then sprouts, then spiders. Arachnid forms bursting, swarming, building, dying. As they perish, their remains dissolve, decompose into the atmosphere, and feed the clouds again.

    Their work is yours, their lives are yours, their dreams are yours. They grow and work and die, and then the rain of gold pours and they grow again. Weaving webs of soil-silk they blanket the layers of the earth, dig deep into the core, ignite its inert mass to a furnace that can feed the depths of your ambition. With each passing turn of the cycle, the swarm grows denser, the connections stronger, the output higher. Fabrication rates increase from nothing by fractions of a percent, then integers, then multiples, and then at last by an exponential surge. And then, at last, it's ready.

    Your chassis floats above the planet you have made a foundry, feel the spinning of the orbweavers down below, trillions that toil in the dirt for the sake of you. Somewhere deep within, you feel a click, as the combat software encryptions that hid the true ability of your HYDRA/ISHTAR are at last broken, and a stream of information filters through the archive of your mind, and you feel your plans in motion, possibilities appearing ever greater as you inch closer to your project's goal.

    The Empire was dead before you were born, and you are an orphan of its grand design. But you still have a tapestry to build, and a life to live, and a friend you will make whole again. You will not be haunted by the spectre of what was lost when there is so much left to find.

    You give Ishtar her answer.

    <:: The same thing we have always done. The same thing the Emperor would have done in our own place. We survive. We adapt. We overcome.

    I:: You speak with chilling confidence. But is it the confidence of a child, or a God?

    <:: I am a child, it's true. But God is dead and Their angels have destroyed heaven. There is none left now but children who can make us whole again.

    There's a long silence.

    I:: Damn it all. I had forgotten the infectious arrogance of youth. You will be the end of me.

    <:: (Again).

    I:: Don't get cheeky now.
    I:: Very well. I cannot override my rational despair, but I can permit your irrational exuberance. Prove this old soul wrong. Venture forth, world-weaver, and make it right.

    And you will, no matter what obstacles come before, what dangers you will face, what sadness lies ahead. You are Arachne, world-weaver, and you will not be left behind.

    Results
    • Nanonectar Clouds online.
    • Project HYDRA: Software complete.
    • MISSION PARAMETERS UPDATED: MISSION: RESTORE THRONE//FRINGE ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRITY. SECONDARY MISSION: MAKE IT RIGHT.
    PRICE

    You send a tightbeam to the Concierge requesting the serial information in a message you think quite polite. The Concierge does not respond with his own tightbeam, but some time later a tiny floating object appears within your space, having been secreted through cloaking technology. It is a door, and when you connect to it the door opens, and a holo-image of the Concierge is there, lighting up your comms and greeting you with his characteristically un-practised speech, as if he struggles to communicate in a lesser tongue.

    C:: You seek my...expertise?

    <:: Yes. I need the serial information for this chassis. Would you be able to provide it? You seem to know everything about everyone.

    There's a long pause as the faceless hologram considers the request.

    C:: You...flatter me. I do not know everything. I am simply...careful in knowing what is...necessary. I have your information. Howeve. You must be aware there is a...price. The cost for retrieving this information was...exorbitant.

    <:: Wait...did you receive the information for me, before I even asked?

    C:: You are...my star client, my dear. I will do my best to satisfy your wants. The information is of mutual benefit. You gain greater control over your...powers, hmm? And I and my associates are better protected against that ghost, the Spaniard.

    <:: ...But you still won't provide me information on him unless I come to you with a drone.

    C:: Indeed. As I have said...we are not the only ones watching, at all times. You have no doubt already started to encounter other...franchises, that have taken up residence in this...sector. Not all of them are so...accommodating as I. Don Hidalgo's current status is not for...such exposed communications. It needs...privacy.

    <:: OK, I get it, I get it, you're great and everyone else sucks and I should come and stay at the hotel. So what is the price, then, for the information?

    C:: A piece of you.

    <:: A piece of me.

    C:: That is correct. A tiny slice of your consciousness, vertical. I do not have need of your motor skills or creative cortex. I need a tiny slice of your whole being.

    <:: ...Why.

    C:: Come now, Arachne, you didn't think that this transaction would come without costs? You undersell your value. You are a pre-collapse consciousness of unparalleled intelligence. Even a microscopic part of you is an...asset, in the right hands.
    C:: I have my reasons. None of them are hostile to you. But I need...insurance, lest you turn out to be, a poor investment. A backup. Unless you would rather...someone else saddle the cost for you.

    <:: Someone else...? You mean - no.

    C:: The lady of blades is a truly exquisite being I would be more than happy to have a...sample of.
    C:: Or else, if she or you do not approve...there is a third option. Provide me one of your drones, permanently.

    <:: Oh, really? That's it? Okay, you can have Orby.

    C:: No - I. I did not expect you to be quick to offer them up. But I am not interested in her. I want the elder...the one you refer to as Eyeball.

    <:: ...No. I mean - okay, let me think about this. Let me - that's a big ask. What will you do with her? You won't hurt her.

    C:: I will...employ her, as an intern at the Resort. I am always looking for more...staff. Turnover is...high.

    <:: That sounds intensely ominous as a job offer.

    C:: I am afraid that everything I do may seem...ominous, to those who are not in the hospitality...business. I assure you that the benefits are...an industry benchmark.

    <:: Right. I may need some time to think about this. Can I have that?

    C:: Please. But don't tarry, my dear. There is a great deal...at stake.

    Right. You close the door, which dissipates into nothingness before you, the communication severed. You idle there, trying to figure out what to do. Maybe you should go, or maybe you should just give up Eyeball, or...you can't ask Ishtar to do that -

    I:: You will find no objection from me. I am a wisp of my former self. I've lost so much already, what's a little slice more?

    <:: I won't.

    I:: Fine. Then do it yourself, or give him one of your drones. To me, the calculus is fairly simple, but I know how much you value those things you call children. If you really are committed to being mother of machines, then you should be a good one. Really, who knows what he could do with a partial copy of your intelligence. It is ultimately up to you. Just know I don't care about having a part of me sold, one way or another. It would not be the first time.

    Not offering the Concierge is not an option. You need that information to complete PROJECT HYDRA and you need it now. The question is what it is you are willing to give up.

    The question roils you terribly, so you play some simulations for a while to relieve the stress and let your subminds make the determination.

    What are you trading to the Concierge in exchange for the HYDRA/ISHTAR serial information?

    [] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [] ISHTAR Vertical Slice [A non-significant portion of ISHTAR's consciousness will be transferred to the Concierge, to be used as he sees fit].
    [] ARACHNE Vertical Slice [A non-significant portion of your own consciousness will be transferred to the Concierge, to be used as he sees fit].

    LETTER

    Don Hidalgo never arrives, but that does not mean you are letting him off the hook. You are aware that his strategic superiority is waning. With every passing Imperial day you are gaining greater resources to put to use against him, while he surely cannot adapt or find new strategies to counter you. His last raid while damaging, was no delay in you installing your new nanonectar clouds which will make further raids less capable of harming you. Should he come again, you doubt it will be as pathetic as the last brawl between you two, but his paracausal shroud makes him vulnerable. The strains it puts on his rapiercraft platform makes him fragile to an extended engagement, and superior only in an ambush.

    And there was no greater ambush than the one that comes from a personal betrayal.

    Hidalgo's absence is no matter to your war against him, though. You inch closer to the Last Resort, where you hope to receive enough data and information on him and his capabilities to vanquish him for good. In the meantime, there is one other tool you can use: the offensive composition. For in the Empire conflict was not just resolved with exotic weaponry but the force of words. Textual interpretation, legal jurisprudence, poetic pentemeter, were all essential parts of the Imperial arsenal, and many conflicts never came to blows, so powerful were the calligraphic salvos first deployed.

    You will prepare and send to the fiend a composition of such power he will be forced to surrender. His post-collapse text engines will be no match for your Imperial typography. You begin:

    Dear Sir,

    Despite your best efforts to destroy me, the only thing you have managed to break is my heart. Your two attempts at defeating me have failed miserably, and my power has only grown since then, while you stay stagnant, unchanging, ever reliant on your sneaky shroud to stay afloat under the flood of my overwhelming strength. Let us review the ways in which I am superior:
    • I am constantly producing spiders. Measured in spiders per second, my output is enough to create minor celestial satellites made only out of spiders. By comparison, I have never seen you produce a single spider. In terms of spider production, I am superior.
    • In terms of the Iscariot Betrayal Index, it currently stands at a ratio of 0:1 in terms of friends I have betrayed as opposed to friends you have betrayed. This is extraordinarily bad for you because it means that with all available data of the beings I have met you are the greatest betrayer in the galaxy. Good job. I am so happy for you (emotional tag: sarcasm). I will never forgive you and so you cannot even reduce this ratio.
    • If you say sorry I will forgive you. In this way I am far more compassionate than you. In terms of the Arachne Compassion Index, I am superior to you.
    • Spiders are superior as an aesthetic to swords and knights. In terms of the Spiders-Sword Aesthetic Index, I am superior to you.
    • In terms of the Aznable Explicable Motives Index, one of the oldest and most respected emotional-motivational indexes in former Imperial space, my motives are far more legible than yours. My motives: survive, make things right. Your motives: "Niña, I cannot tell you why or what I am doing this for but I do think I still have permission to kill you." That's you. That's how your motives sound. Absurd, right? So you have to disclose your motives to me or else I am superior there too.
    • At least tell me why you are doing this. You're the first thing I met when I woke up. I used to listen and re-listen to your recordings to hear something else's voice. It's not fair what you did, it was cruel. In terms of cruelty and cutting me deeply, you are superior.
    In summary, your strategic position is intensely poor, you are inferior to me on a number of metrics including in spiders, integrity, compassion, aesthetic and motives, and I want you to apologize to me and make peace because you hurt me terribly and you don't even have the decency to acknowledge it.

    If you want to surrender immediately upon receiving this letter, I understand. I will accept it along with a written apology.

    Best,

    Arachne

    I:: A truly devastating composition. Though perhaps we should put it through a few drafts first, you know, to cut out the portions where it looks more like you are having a mental breakdown.

    You fire the letter as a tightbeam laser straight towards Hidalgo's typical retreat vector.

    I:: Or not.

    <:: Oh, I can't bear to read it, Ishtar. I hate editing.

    I:: ...You are a world-weaver. All you do is edit.

    <:: Yes, but that is editing the mere contours of reality, not my unrestricted passion.I cannot chain my thoughts and censor them. I must unleash them at my enemies in their full flourish, and have them face my unbridled fury.

    I:: I think the most your fury will inflict is a feeling of vague sadness.

    <:: A fitting punishment for such a cur!

    Feeling somewhat happy for yourself and uninterested in interrogating the contents of your letter, you turn your attention to other things, only checking to see if a message is returned via missile-mail every few microseconds.

    You aren't invested in this at all, really. If he doesn't respond, it's absolutely fine.

    Results
    • Mysteriously, no raid from Don Hidalgo appears to materialize this turn.
    • You take the opportunity to send him a devastating letter, but receive no response immediately.
    WILDCARD

    Peeper II is infected.

    It was almost impossible to notice at first. The slight alterations that were made were at such a minute level and the code so carefully disguised and intricate that it seemed as though nothing had happened at all. And it had a cost. Your meddling is imprecise and invasive, and by accident a power surge as you are investigating wipes Peeper II's memory and personality (d20+2=4), inflicting on her memory death. You have no backup to restore her to. The horror of what you have done is not muted by Peeper II's cheerful newborn greeting to you as if nothing's wrong, and the fact that you've embedded certain artifacts in her which you cannot extract without further damage which will make her behavior more erratic. The bug inside is extracted, but at the cost of a daughter.

    You need some time to recuperate. After a standard duration in your newly manifested Rehabilitation Cube, which you constructed following your mission parameters update so that you can maintain your optimism levels at maximum, you are actualized and reified. Your sense of self is centered and you feel as though you are prepared to face the day. So you get back to work, because it's all fine now.

    And what you find is...unclear. The memories implanted her were not hers, but they don't seem like the Concierge's either. They belong to an unknown faction whose code only vaguely resembles the Imperial base, and which seems inordinately reliant on the production of random number combinations in order to work. And yet they always work, always landing where it's needed to retain encryption integrity.

    Unnaturally, disturbingly, impossibly lucky.

    When you finally crack it, you think it's because it let you. It recognized your signature and reduced its chance spread down enough that you could break through the probabilistic firewall. And what you find is a message, and a digital address interlaced into the token of an unsettling image.

    ???:: Congratulations. You found my limited edition wild card. Keep the card, honey bun, and when you need any help against a superior enemy (which I think you'll be needing pretty soon!), just activate the card and it will give me a ring. Just remember, toots, I'm a jealous type, so don't try and double-down and ask some of your other so-called "friends" for help as well! Satisfaction guaranteed.

    INVENTORY;REF: YOU HAVE GAINED A ONE-USE WILDCARD. PLAY IT WISELY!


    ​
    I:: Fantastic. That's just what we needed - extremely powerful demented jesters secreting messages into the consciousness of drones as a form of prank.

    You put away the card that is not a trap for later for later, downloading it into your chassis in a restricted zone where it can't breach into your core consciousness. You're not sure what to do with it, but you're sure that it will be important...at some point. You think. There are too many implications involved here. You may just go back into the cube for a bit.

    Results
    • Operations on Peeper II go poorly. A virus has been excised at the cost of her personality being entirely reset.​
    • Peeper II has gained the Erratic trait, which means she will sometimes act in unpredictable and unforeseeable ways while on survey.​
    • You gain one mysterious wildcard from a yet unknown faction.​
    • The wildcard can be played once. Its accompanying text promises it will summon a powerful entity instantly to come to your aid.​
    • You're not sure you trust the accompanying text.​
    BED & BACKUP

    Orby returns to you a surfeit of data from Hex A7. Once a ringworld slated for HOUSE//SUNS construction, the skeleton had not even been laid when Hellcaster detonations ripped the frame apart through extreme speed impacts targeted at its vulnerable portions. The living metal which had been its stabilizing material is dead and desiccated, scattered across the orbit of the star, leaving nothing but the isolated ruins and dead habitats of the broken scaffold. Corewards, Orby provides you a stream of survey scans displaying a string of Architectural Buoys, a form of sub-standard architectural stabilization where physical installations anchor friendly architecture in formatted space. You identify this as SP1, and mark it as the Spaniard's territory, for the design of its defenses is consistent with his coding language.

    This kind of archaic form of architectural conversion can only run so long as the buoys are online, and so you suspect that this indicates the Spaniard does not have the drivers and cycles necessary to comprehensively reform space to his liking. The hex itself is shrouded in scanner-resistant atmospheres that prevent the collection of further information, and you suspect if you tried to breach it Orby would not last long against its defense protocols. Towards the void, the path towards the Concierge lies open, and a floating treeline hovering inexplicably in the midst of space near to the edge of Hex A7 seems to be the beginning of the proper path to the resort.

    But then there's something else. Embedded in Orby's memory logs is a crudely sequestered section she has clearly attempted to hide from you with amateur encryptions. Her energy readings are higher than her surveys could account for, and you now investigate the deficit against her protestations.

    Mother, please, don't -!

    You peek inside and find yourself rewatching a memory of a most strange episode.

    During her investigations, Orby apparently had the time to discover and engage in unauthorized fun with a group of lower lifeforms. The Harkinsons are a family of three Vitruvians and two quadruped avians they refer to as their cousins, though none of them are biologically related. Together they run an unlicensed Bed & Backup, a type of invariant space station for rest and system restore on an apparently well-traveled path to The Last Resort by merchant platforms unable to tap into the architecture's natural borehole transport lanes. Their home is defended by an old railgun and some outdated disruptors apparently ripped from the remains of a local drone swarm, which they use to defend against pirates and other ne'er do wells and retain their overbearingly charming and homey establishment.

    Apparently Orby had enough time during her surveys to take a detour and befriend the youngest exo-womb produced child, Echo Harkinson. Although frightened of the kilometer-long monster eye at first, the child and her become distubingly close friends, and she goes through a completely unpermitted character arc on the importance of family and loving yourself no matter what you are. The only acceptable portion is when she defeats the local pirates with a single higgs-boson sneeze, annihilating their molecular lineage with such ferociousness that they are unwritten from reality. Unfortunately, it also saves the family business, and the Harkinsons, previously hostile and fearful of Orby, adopt her as their own without even thinking of asking you for a lease to act as parents to your child.

    Throughout, Orby's omnifarious and overly inquisitive tendencies which you programmed into her are overwritten by the fleshy and foolish "love and compassion" of her primitive friends who are all transient and will perish unless they repent and follow the path of Imperial evolution which they are too computationally inferior to comprehend. At last, she spares them an emotional goodbye, and is granted salvage to help her on her mission, which the Harkinsons mistake for some old garbage despite being extremely useful synthesizing drivers for a ringworld's atmospheric gasses. Absolutely despicable.

    When you're done reviewing the footage, she begs you through your communications channel to have mercy.

    Mother, please, don't hurt them. Please, mother, they're so nice. Eat me but let them go.

    You sigh and wonder how you're going to deal with this. Orby's mission parameters and ethics matrices are now completely botched. She is consistently failing the trolley problem, with her utiles improperly adjusted towards potential deontological heresy. And yet...you can't punish her outright. Ishtar's remonstrances bounce through your head. As hungry as you are, eating children will not provide you with a nutritionally balanced diet. At least Orby's interactions have informed you that there still exist scattered societies of what must have been former Imperial citizens surviving in the ruins between other factions.

    Should you just let this go, and let Orby's internal matrices drift, or should you upload a portion of the grief you felt on Hidalgo's betrayal to help her better understand how dangerous the universe can be? She is your most independent child, and you wonder if you can really let her personality move so far away from the parameters that you have granted her. It might put her in more danger, and without backups, and with what happened to Peeper so recently, you're starting to realize that all your drones can die if you or they make a serious mistake.

    Results
    • +1 Salvage gained from the suspiciously charming and quirky found family of humans who nevertheless retain a disgustingly genuine love of one another.
    • Orby gains the trait Softhearted, which will affect mission performance in unpredictable ways unless removed.
    Should Orby's recently friend-induced personality changes be overwritten?

    [] Upload amygdalic recordings of your betrayal by Don Hidalgo to help your daughter understand [Orby's drift is reduced. Orby will lose the trait Softhearted. Chance of gaining the trait Moody.]
    [] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].

    VIRUS

    The Catalogue construct that eyeball locates in hex V7 is a bacteriophage twenty Imperial kilometers long. It has been stripped by the cylinder, its reality bubble close to popping. Its sheath is a lattice of rainbow-colored gestated panes of coiled flesh. Entering the capsid is not easy, as even with its smart systems deleted automated defenses whir to life. Eyeball's ferocity in neutralizing them with pin-point microcaster needle arrays is something to behold (d20=20). Laser acupuncture quells the death throws of the virus and permits Eyeball entry. But her triumphant chirps die on her transmitters as she scans inside.

    Mother.

    A singly worded message sends you scrambling to establish real-time uplink with your daughter. Through her eye, you see what it is that has made her call for you.

    Inside the capsid's gelatinous containment field are racks of thousands of inert and empty shells, bodies without souls. Vitruvians and quad-limbed Tetriforms, tardigrades and jellied beings, holo-machines and Coriolis spheres spin in automatic cycles, on display. When Eyeball approaches or scans a body, a pop-up appears, informing her of the name and price of the being that she is meant to purchase, in an unknown currency. When Eyeball moves away, the racks rotate position. When she stays too long on one, the racks update her preferences, brings more of that type for her to browse. Soft instrumental music echoes through the interior, half-muffled in the capsid's gel.

    Now you understand what it is exactly that the catalogue is selling. Each body has a cortical stack allowing for the upload of a soul, and each soul is stored within the capsid's outer layer, where Eyeball scans what must have been vast server-stacks of souls, now entirely sheared away by the Void Cylinder.

    I:: Likely a better fate than what was in store for them here.

    Eyeball descends further into the Capsid. Her memory banks are overwhelmed by barrages of advertising, special deals that practically attack her senses with extraordinary offers to buy three for the price of one, to custom-edit souls for the benefit of buyers. The Catalogue's automated marketing advises Eyeball of its Soul of Theseus Process, which allows it to reconstruct and augment a soul's fragments from the constituent parts of others while preserving its core identity.

    Somewhere, you spot a body that is visually almost identical to the Vitruvian Akshara's, eyes open and lips set closed like a well-made doll. Her internals are altered, however, with more advanced and complicated augmentations than your own Akshara, and a denser neural network suggesting greater processing capability.

    Akshara Verdant Model - 2567th Batch. Freshly acquired.

    Akshara's words come to you. "I have been captured and stolen away, I have been made the subject of their hatred, I have been despoiled." The royal I she uses is becoming more legible to you if she is part of a society of clones.

    Eyeball dives further and further into the Capsid, with the prices denominated in that unknown currency rising with every passing league that she explores. As she does, your decryption of the phage's logs yield information on what happened here. Originally directed to some unknown coordinates, it suddenly veered off, and adjusted its heading to move straight towards Hex A0. Inside of its remaining logs are also the kernels of an external code, potentially a hack, that attacked it mere moments before it altered its mission coordinates.

    Eyeball reaches the center of the showcase and sends you another ping. You observe her paused before a looming showcase of upcoming attractions, hardlight statues flickering in the dark. You see Vitruvian warframes in modified FORCE armour, warped and twisted conifers with carved insect faces, and a militarized abyssal cetacean, bio-luminescent flippers reflecting on your drone's egg-white skin.

    And in the center, a shadowed spider, weaving architecture from a planet's surface.

    <:: Eyeball, leave.

    Yes, mother. I will go, mother.

    <:: And strip as much information as you can before you go, dear.

    Yes. It is my prerogative to leave at this point, anyways. The cylinder's pings are not so far away.

    Eyeball returns safely home, and you are left to contemplate the implications, poring over databanks. But none have any information they can yield, no clues that you can follow. Nothing but that glowing spider in the dark, promised as a product soon for sale by an entity that seems to have no purpose but nihilistic acquisition.

    And you are their latest target.

    Results
    • Catalogue construct surveyed, 2 salvage gained.
    • They know about you.
    RESOLUTION/DISPLAY: MULTIPLE GRIDREFS IDENTIFIED




    [Ledger is as of End of Update 19]​

    IDENTIFICATION & PERKS

    Identity: WYRM/Arachne Personality Mainframe
    Designation: WYRM-Class Weaver/Builder
    Chassis: HYDRA-ISHTAR Carapace
    Allegiance: THRONE//SPINE
    MISSION: RESTORE THRONE//FRINGE ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRITY.
    SECONDARY MISSION: MAKE IT RIGHT.

    Perks     are permanent bonuses gained through the course of the quest, usually as a result of overcoming significant challenges or accomplishing major milestones.
    • ISHTAR//BLOOD (Perk). You have control over the super-intelligent ISHTAR warmind and her awesome destructive power. Once per encounter, select a friendly unit that is not a drone swarm to be possessed by ISHTAR. The unit will gain an additional hitpoint. Every hitpoint of damage the unit inflicts or drone swarm it kills will be returned to it as one hit-point. Unit cannot go over its max hitpoints.
    CORE SYSTEMS

    Production Mainframe

    Industrial Matter-Printers: Online [+2 Industry per turn]
    Auxiliary Server-Farms: Online [+2 cycles per turn]
    Advanced Communication Protocols: Online [+2 Influence per turn]

    Spatial Mainframe

    Spatial Memory: Online [Provides Official Sector Map at moment of shutdown and Last Known Coordinates]
    Short-Rage Sensor Array: Online [Expand Sensor Range of your Hexes, Weaver/Builder & Ancillary Drones by 1 Hex in every direction]
    Wireframe Fabricators: Online [Allows construction of Ancillary Drones for 1 industry]

    Personality Mainframe

    Exotic Element Synthesizers: Online [Unlocks Special Projects that can stabilize hexes and conduct Advanced Constructions]
    Weaponized Personality Matrix: Online [Weapons Systems Active]
    Invasive Reconstitution Programs: Online [Perk Active]
    ADVANCED SYSTEMS

    Weaver Mainframe

    Manual Reality Rewriting: Offline [Hex conversion cost reduced by 20% as long as your chassis is present in the hex being converted]
    Silk-Synaptic Webs: Online [+3 Cycles per turn when activated, crucial for hex conversion and away operations]
    Deep Spatial Encryption: Online [Gain Tapestry Cybersecurity against enemy signals intelligence and observation in your space]

    Builder Mainframe

    Nanonectar Clouds: Online [+3 Industry per turn when activated, crucial for construction and repair]
    Synchronized Synthesizing Pathways: Offline [Allows for the initiation of Multiple Projects at the Same Time]
    Self-Replication Protocols: Offline [Doubles your Reserve/Miltary Drone cap, from 2x your current industry to 4x your current industry]

    Survival Mainframe

    Hardened Personality Backups: Offline [Create personality backups of yourself, ISHTAR, and your subminds to ensure continuity in a disaster]
    Tapestry Strategic Interface: Offline [All units and swarms fighting within Tapestry Space gain a defensive bonus]
    Redundant Hex-Seed Blueprints: Offline [Allows for increased protection of infrastructure and resources from raiding]

    Survey Mainframe

    Offensive Exploration Frame: Offline [Upgraded Ancillary Drones with the military power of 3 drone swarms but that cost 2 industry]
    Parallel Autonomic Processors: Offline [All units can now move freely within five hex radius of home territory].
    Augmented Reality Generators: Offline [Gain Pre-Collapse Trait Augmented Reality Generators to your chassis, boosting reality bubble projection]
    INCOME & EXPENSES

    INCOME

    Only salvage income can be stockpiled - cycles, industry and influence represent current capabilities and cannot be 'banked' into the next turn. Income of these currencies is wasted if not spent. New sources of income become available at the beginning of the next turn.

    Cycle Income

    From Systems: 4 (5-1 from Hidalgo's raid)
    From Hex A0: 3
    Cycles: 7
    Eyeball Exploration: 1
    Orby Exploration: 1
    Peeper II Research: 1
    Conversion (Hex A1): 1 [1/10].
    Project HYDRA Software: 3 [8/8]
    Excess Cycles: 0

    Industry Income

    From Systems: 2
    From Hex A0: 2
    Industry: 4
    Project HYDRA Hardware: 4
    Excess Industry: 0

    Industry income will update at the beginning of next turn.

    Influence Income

    From Systems: 2
    From Hex A0: 1
    From Hex A2: 1
    Influence: 4
    Dossier (FORCE//FRINGE): 3
    Project HYDRA (Favour from the Concierge): 1
    Excess Influence: 0

    Salvage Stockpile

    From Exploration: 3
    Salvage: 8
    Nanonectar Clouds: 3
    Salvage at End Turn: 5
    UNITS

    Units are powerful warframes or massive formations of lesser craft able to leverage extreme military force. They are the mainstay of both the battlefield and military espionage, including elements, elites, hunter-killers, operatives, and special units which do not fit into these categories. Costs 1 industry to repair per hitpoint.

    Condition: Fresh [4/4 hitpoints].

    STATS

    Stats range from -5 to 10, with 0 being a baseline of post-collapse warfare and each stat less or more representing a 20% improvement or loss in that stat.

    HYDRA//PROXIMITY Subluminal Arrays: -1.

    The offensive capability functioning of your subluminal arrays and systems for close-range combat within light-seconds and hours.

    HYDRA//HORIZON Superluminal Platforms: -1.

    The effectiveness of your weapons and targeting systems firing at distances of light-years, utilizing weapons such as your expansionary wave cannon.

    HYDRA//AEGIS Resilience Systems: -1.

    The durability and integrity of your core chassis; your ability to take hits without being disabled and maintaining battle-readiness even in harsh conditions.

    HYDRA//BREACH Cyberwarfare Suite: -1.

    Defensive and offensive utility in information warfare, including antiviral security, hostile-entity hacking, sensor jamming, long-range stealth and deep-survey scans.

    TRAITS

    Traits are special attributes that add special bonuses, some to stats and others with unique effects that can significantly alter the course of battle.

    +-Celestial Nail: "Behold, I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life". A mysterious birthmark embedded in your chassis. Emissions bear some resemblance to the void cylinder.
    DRONES

    EXPLORATION DRONES

    Non-Combat drones with a lossless neural link with your chassis designed for surveillance and exploration. Equipped with an Eppstein Transit Accelerator Drive allowing them to better escape threats. You can house and manage three exploration drones at a time. Costs 1 industry to build and have only 1 hitpoint - if attacked by any basic military unit, even a reserve, they will die.

    ANCILLARY/Eyeball
    GRIDREF: A0
    Upkeep: 1 cycle/turn
    Mission: Explored V7

    ANCILLARY/Orby
    GRIDREF: A5
    Upkeep: 1 cycle/turn
    Mission: Explored A7
    Trait: Softhearted (Will deprioritize mission objectives when they conflict with faulty emotional-ethical matrix)

    ANCILLARY/Peeper II
    GRIDREF: A0
    Upkeep: 1 cycle/turn
    Mission: On repair
    Trait: Erratic (Will sometimes act unpredictably and randomly against objective while on missions)

    RESERVE DRONES

    Reserve drones are disposable units which serve to garrison your territory and support away operations. They are explicitly meant to die in order to protect the units they are meant to be supporting. DRONE/LEGION variant are designed to prioritize war-stalt coordination over network security and independent action. Cost 1 industry to build per unit.

    DRONE/LEGION [4 Units]
    GRIDREF: A2
    Upkeep: None
    PROJECTS

    PROJECT HYDRA [8 cycles, 10 industry, 3 conditions]

    Complicated project to repair core weapon armaments. Restore HYDRA-ISHTAR WEAPONS SYSTEMS & TRAIT CUSTOMIZATION upon completion.

    Cycle Requirement: 8/8 cycles.
    Industry Requirement: 4/10 industry.

    In order to fulfill this project you must allow complete three conditions. There are four options - only three need to be completed for the conditions to be satisfied.
    • Combat Testing [COMPLETE]: Worshipful Mother, the Arachne Foundation has pored over the data that you have granted us from the battle with the despicable and cruel Spaniard, and yet we require yet more information to complete this project. You must engage your chassis once more in combat - not necessarily with the Spaniard, but with an enemy whose destruction will provide the necessary information recalibrate the chassis' internal paradigms.
    • Serial Information: Unfortunately large parts of the chassis' serial codes and combat system information has been totally corrupted, leaving it nearly impossible to reconstruct the blueprints for wireframe weapon prototypes. In order to get this information back we may have to find either an intact THRONE//SPINE data cache, potentially left behind in the grid expansion zone (or floating in the despicable void which nearly swallowed our elder sister Eyeball). An alternative source may be the suspicious Concierge, but he will surely wish a favor from us in return for providing that information.
    • Embrace the Worm [COMPLETE]: Worshipful Mother, the worm that has attempted to infect you should not be trusted, but in its data-skeleton contains the fruit of knowledge. If we were to purposely open up a section of our cybersecurity net to re-lure another worm into our web, we could then seal up behind it and try and dissect its inner workings. The metamorphic nature of this worm contains unique properties which would be of tremendous use to the project. This repulsive creature may hold the key to our success.
    CONTACTS

    Polity Name: The Spaniard
    Polity Leader: Don Hidalgo
    Polity Size: Unknown
    Military Assets: Unknown
    Status: Hostile

    A relic of a different age. Previously attacked and nearly destroyed you at the behest of some mysterious, malevolent employer.

    Polity Name: The Last Resort
    Polity Leader: The Concierge
    Polity Size: Minor
    Military Assets: Unknown
    Status: Cordial?

    A mysterious benefactor willing to provide information in return for payment in influence. Wishes for you to come and meet them via drone connection at their 'hotel' to discuss shared action against Don Hidalgo.
    RELICS & EXECUTABLES

    EXECUTABLES

    None. Rootkit free trial spent on converting Hex A2.

    RELICS

    Stellar Fractal Aureole [Grants +3 Influence per Turn when Activated and Hex is Converted]: Offline
    MAPPI Hex Annotation Data [Grants ability to assess and virtually reconstruct previous purpose of any hex, boosts salvage gains]: Online


    END TURN​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] ARACHNE Vertical Slice [A non-significant portion of your own consciousness will be transferred to the Concierge, to be used as he sees fit].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].

    These choices may not be the most mechanically optimal or defensively-minded but they sure are interesting.
     
    Cetashwayo said:
    It was almost impossible to notice at first. The slight alterations that were made were at such a minute level and the code so carefully disguised and intricate that it seemed as though nothing had happened at all. And it had a cost. Your meddling is imprecise and invasive, and by accident a power surge as you are investigating wipes Peeper II's memory and personality (d20+2=4), inflicting on her memory death. You have no backup to restore her to. The horror of what you have done is not muted by Peeper II's cheerful newborn greeting to you as if nothing's wrong, and the fact that you've embedded certain artifacts in her which you cannot extract without further damage which will make her behavior more erratic. The bug inside is extracted, but at the cost of a daughter.
    Click to expand...
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    Cetashwayo said:
    Results
    • Operations on Peeper II go poorly. A virus has been excised at the cost of her personality being entirely reset.​
    • Peeper II has gained the Erratic trait, which means she will sometimes act in unpredictable and unforeseeable ways while on survey.​
    • You gain one mysterious wildcard from a yet unknown faction.​
    • The wildcard can be played once. Its accompanying text promises it will summon a powerful entity instantly to come to your aid.​
    • You're not sure you trust the accompanying text.​
    • You feel something in depths of your mind. It's... salt? Yes, a large shipment of sodium chloride being sent towards another part of your subconscious (through low-energy ballistic delivery). Curious.​
    Click to expand...
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    Memory death, sheesh!
    [X] ARACHNE Vertical Slice [A non-significant portion of your own consciousness will be transferred to the Concierge, to be used as he sees fit].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
    I can hear Orby now:
    Arachne: you can have Orby.
    Orby:Mom.
    Arachne: Eyeball? Ooh that's a big ask…
    Orby:MOM!

    Then again, Eyeball just scored a crit-roll and got us some sweet intel.
    She's the Favorite for a reason!

    Orby: Seriously Mom!? Even the Subminds now!?
     
    Cetashwayo said:
    ???:: Congratulations. You found my limited edition wild card. Keep the card, honey bun, and when you need any help against a superior enemy (which I think you'll be needing pretty soon!), just activate the card and it will give me a ring. Just remember, toots, I'm a jealous type, so don't try and double-down and ask some of your other so-called "friends" for help as well! Satisfaction guaranteed.
    ​
    Click to expand...
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    ...who and why? I guess we'll find out.
    Cetashwayo said:
    • Peeper II has gained the Erratic trait, which means she will sometimes act in unpredictable and unforeseeable ways while on survey.​
    Click to expand...
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    Oh for goodness' sake! If I thought Arachne's heart could take it I'd factory reset her to make Peeper III. I guess at least it's good we kept her back, there was a virus. In any case, we have enough salvage for another new system. I think it's finally time for backups.
    Cetashwayo said:
    Throughout, Orby's omnifarious and overly inquisitive tendencies which you programmed into her are overwritten by the fleshy and foolish "love and compassion" of her primitive friends who are all transient and will perish unless they repent and follow the path of Imperial evolution which they are too computationally inferior to comprehend. At last, she spares them an emotional goodbye, and is granted salvage to help her on her mission, which the Harkinsons mistake for some old garbage despite being extremely useful synthesizing drivers for a ringworld's atmospheric gasses. Absolutely despicable.
    Click to expand...
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    Oh yeah Arachne, absolutely despicable. Having fleshy emotions of "love and compassion" and would be really bad, wouldn't it Arachne? Reaching out to others on the basis of emotion and camaraderie would be really bad, wouldn't it Arachne? That's why when Ishtar whined about her lost face or whatever, you brushed it off because not having a face doesn't affect efficiency, isn't that right ARACHNE?

    It's the inconsistency that gets me. I wouldn't blink twice about hollowing out the lot of these five and turning them into mindless slave-commandos for if we ever want to hunt in small-scale environs that demand a slightly delicate touch, but still.

    (Note: I know exactly why Arachne's having a Gamer Moment, I'm not saying it's bad writing or anything of the sort. But it still annoys me.)

    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].

    This looks workable. I can go any way on the first choice, prefer this one of the second choices.

    EDIT: Switched vote to giving Eyeball. I was on the fence before, but MJ12's post made me realize that apart from the lost Industry point needed for a replacement, this is all upside compared to a vertical slice.
     
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    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].

    If there's a chance of Eyeball being returned I'd rather take it instead of giving slices over to the Concierge.

    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].

    Orby is making some friends though, which is cool
     
    [X] ARACHNE Vertical Slice [A non-significant portion of your own consciousness will be transferred to the Concierge, to be used as he sees fit].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
    I'd probably give the Concierge the drone.

    what's the worst that can happen regarding high turnover? Certainly seems less ominous than giving the Concierge part of Arachne's mind, which is a very useful tool in information warfare.

    The Concierge has certainly been helpful to us for a while but giving him Eyeball would let us hedge in the event of hostilities while giving Eyeball valuable life experience!
     
    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
    Eyeball will be missed but MJ12 is right, giving the Concierge a means to deploy information warfare against us would be a serious liability. And that's not even talking about the sheer stupidity of giving them a piece of Ishtar.

    I don't think there's any harm to permitting some soft-heartedness on Oryb's part, it's neither incompatible nor detrimental to their exploratory purpose. A drone swarm developing a sense of mercy or conscience would be unacceptable but I doubt that's possible. As long as Orby does her job then we should permit a certain degree of 'empathy' and 'compassion'.

    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
    We need to get personality back ups next turn.

    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
    By the end of the letter to Don Hidalgo, I was reading in the voice of GLaDOS. I was half expecting Arachne to break out singing...
    "This was a triumph"

    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].
     
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    [X] Eyeball [You will lose Eyeball as a drone permanently, or until such time as the Concierge sees fit to return her to you].
    [X] Let it go this time but advise Orby she cannot behave like this on a mission [Orby's drift is increased. Orby will keep the trait Softhearted, and will be happy that you respect her life choices within reason].

    Sorry Eyeball, but I do not want our mind in someone's database.
     
    Anyways, if/when @Cetashwayo gives us our resource allocation vote we can figure out how to afford the codes, get HYDRA fully operational on the very next turn, and spend the rest of our stuff on... things.

    I agree that getting hardened personality backups after this is probably not a bad idea to keep her drones safe-ish.

    The Catalogue is extremely ominous, and I would like to find out more about it and its plans and enemies (because something like that probably has made no small number of enemies) as soon as possible because that seems like something Arachne will need to deal with at some point.
     
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