Culya 2014/11/11(Tue)19:31 No. 601656 ID: 3f935e
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--and she finds herself standing inside an enclosed plant sac, fluid dripping from her, as tubes pull away. The fluid drains, and the sac opens.

A familiar creature is pointedly pressing sacks of gel on a console in an extremely familiar room.

She sees a familiar screen, and a familiar lack of exits in the room.

She is naked and wet, but her heart is pounding and she can breathe again. She feels a thrill course through her body. She's alive.

She... isn't quite sure what just happened.

Are these guys cloning Culyas? Normally I'd say you should be upset about that happening without permission but in this case I think you should be supportive of it. It would be neat to have two of you. Or maybe something else happened. Either way it's good. Say hi to whoever this thing who saved you.

>>601656
...it occurs to me that you may have essentially gone back in time. If that is the case, you now have a very large amount of information that AXON does not expect you to have. This will probably allow you to escape its plans, but... on the other hand, you still do not quite know how to deal with this problem. AXON controls this entire facility. It is watching you constantly, and you are mostly helpless to fight it. Most importantly, you should not make it obvious you have foreknowledge of events.

Still, maybe we should try to get some answers. Go walk over to that thing and ask who it is, and what it wants. Why are you here? If it doesn't talk to you, grab it and demand answers. These are all actions that don't look especially suspicious.

>T-take me to one of these satel-l-lite production facilities. I'm gonna b-build a rocket and g-get the f-fuck off the planet.
...why in god's name did you tell him your plan? You never EVER tell the guy trying to kill you how you plan to get away. You lie, in fact from now on, unless it's someone you trust lie to them about everything, or if you're trying to gain someone's trust then only give them the bare bone minimum of facts. Seriously what the hell where you thinking? In fact from now one pretend your mute.

As for what happened, you either
1) went back in time (incredibly unlikely)
2) have been cloned (don't think so since you still have birth mutations and actually remember what happened to you)
3) you were thrown back into stasis and for whatever reason have been re-awakened. (most likely but still feels off, I mean AXON did seem hesitant to end the white guy even when he did say he had no use for him, maybe your the same? felt it was better to lock you away until he felt he needed you again. Or just fucked up again and thought something did something else and didn't bother to see things through.)

Whatever has happened though, don't assume anything until we get some proof, and try to be more careful this time.

Last time we saw this guy he didn't say anything to you at all. Wonder if that'll change?

>She... isn't quite sure what just happened.
Possibility:

1) You went backwards in time. Somehow.
2) AXON, did not, in fact, gas you to death. He merely rendered you unconscious, pretended to kill you, and returned you here. Possibly attempting to fuck with your head.
3) Someone or something cloned you, and had a live connection to your head. When you were killed, they restored you to a clone backup.
4) You're trapped in some kind of dream that loops. Either due to a psychotic break, or some kind of drugging, or terrible virtual reality plot.

>what do
Attempt communication with the creature that revived you, again.

As soon as possible, you need to access a terminal with a timestamp, and see if it reads earlier or later than when you checked the time and date with the Doctor.

Culya 2014/11/12(Wed)19:53 No. 601870 ID: 3f935e
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Culya doesn't know if she's back in time or a clone. All she knows is every option is deeply implausible aside from AXON trying to psyche her out, but that doesn't explain her post-mortem vision of the thing on the console right now.

"Wh-what the f-fuck just happened??"

She starts to walk out of the pod, but pauses. The last time she did that, the creature simply walked over to the pod and enclosed itself inside it. She decides this time to stay where she is.

The creature does not reply. It pushes a button. A voice booms out of the console.

"Welcome to AXON Interactive Help Service! Please wait while your query is processed. Query processed! You have been restored from long-term suspension as a result of biomod installation, preparation for biomod installation, or other possible reasons. If you do not recall these reasons, please make sure to alert the nearest member of staff! Thank you for choosing PragmaSoma as your first stop for biotechnical needs!"

"No. Don't g-give me the c-canned message. What the f-fuck did you do?"

The creature pulls the tube out of its mouth, and pushes a button. The exit to the room opens. It taps quickly on the console's panel, and a badly constructed artificial voice speaks from the console. "You have thirty seconds before the corridor is blocked. Run."

"I want some answers, d-damn it!"
"It hasn't planned for the blockage. You can't be followed. Answers later. RUN. NO TIME."

Culya frowns, and makes haste.

Culya 2014/11/12(Wed)19:53 No. 601871 ID: 3f935e
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The corridor is not blocked to the left. She charges down it at full pelt, running for her life.

She slows to a halt and catches her breath before the entire corridor rumbles and shakes. She hears steel rent and gurgling, wet explosions as a pile of broken biotech flesh bursts through the corridor like a blister rupturing. It's a faintly nauseating display to watch, even if it looks more like an exploding swamp than an exploding carcass.

Still catching her breath, she comes to the realisation that AXON's supposed reworking of her body did nothing for her stamina. If she makes it through whatever the hell is happening, she decides to herself, maybe she'll try working on getting into better shape.

This concern seems less important than the slow realisation that she's now trapped on the other side of an unfamiliar environment.

She does not seem to do well in time-critical scenarios, either.

She seems to have no choice but to continue down the corridor.

Culya 2014/11/12(Wed)19:53 No. 601872 ID: 3f935e
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All she can see down the corridor is where the corridor intersects some other corridor at a perpendicular angle.

And a synthetic. Female, apparently. Vaguely avian. Yet again, completely unlike any of the synthetic designs she's familiar with. But, more to the point, the synthetic seems to be holding something.

It glints in the light. Shimmering, blue sapphire. A keynain device.

The keynain are known throughout the universe as a species of technophile obsessives. They even wear powered exoskeletons as a matter of cultural presentation. The most dominant interstellar keynain religion regards machines as a model of the universe, itself the greatest machine ever known.

Their advanced technology is legions far above what Culya's been capable of making or even understanding.

Whatever the device is, it's wasted in the synthetic's possession. Culya can make far better use of it.

Culya 2014/11/12(Wed)19:53 No. 601873 ID: 3f935e
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She walks calmly over to the synthetic, who proceeds to see Culya, make a panicked yelp and fall backwards into the wall.

Culya runs to the wall where the synthetic stood. A concealed door.

She pulls open the door seam and squeezes through. "Wait! Hold on, I want to talk to you!"

No response. She finds herself in an empty room.

Or so she thinks. She looks around the room, and notices a conspicuous looking distortion of light in the room, an anomalous refraction of light in the shape of a certain overgrown birdlike thing.

A keynain cloaking device. A handheld cloaking device. A cloaking device with an interface simple enough for a random synthetic to be able to use it.

Culya has never wanted anything this strongly before. She would sell everything she owned before to get her hands on something like this, and it's right in front of her.

Being used by a synthetic that's doing her best to pretend she isn't there.

She wonders if she should try approaching the synthetic diplomatically, or seeing if she could just somehow trick her into giving her the device some other way. No question about it; the device has to become Culya's. It is wasted on anyone else. The synthetic can use it? Culya can make it better.

She has to make a decision fast. The synthetic is draining the battery on the thing without question, and without energy, it'd be useless. And where is Culya going to find a new energy source in this place? If nothing else, the working battery in the keynain device is worth triple its weight in gold to her right now.

She's so lost in thought she doesn't even notice something behind her.

"Areeni are supposed to all be dead."
"W-well I'm n-not. Not interested in one of your l-lectures on b-breeding right n-now."
"Would you prefer a practical demonstration?"
"N-not interested in w-watching."
"Watching?"

She doesn't know if property laws even apply. Is theft even a thing anymore? Could she just force the device away from the synthetic? Why is she considering something so terrible? Is this alien technology worth so much to her?

Is it worth abusing a synthetic and stealing her only possession?

"Are you finished staring at the wall yet? I have one last job to do before I can return to the lake for restructuring, and you are incapable of understanding just how sick I am of this overly sensitive body and its lack of weapons. I was a hunter platform, areeni, I was better than this. Just answer me clearly so I know if I have to keep looking for a partner or not."

Decline, but ask if they can give you any information on where you are or what's around here. You're kind of trying to escape to safety, somehow.

>>601873
Tell him you're probably sterile anyway and you have a trait that would kill all those like him somehow if you were captured. So yeah, probably a bad idea to have sex with you.

Once he's gone, call out to the synthetic. Tell her to turn off the cloaking device because she's draining the battery and you will do anything she wants to have it with a decent amount of charge in it.

If she continues to ignore you, then just grab her. Take the device and tell her you aren't taking no for an answer. Yes, you are going to have that device, Culya, but she can have something in return.

If the synthetic has one device she might know where to get more. So lets play nice long enough to find out if there is a stash of alien tech somewhere around here.

Call out to her and say you know she is there. And that she should turn that off to save battery power. Then ask why she is spying on you and where she got a cloaking device.

ok so when you left the pod the first time AXON's plan was for you to go down the hall and move along a preordained path that was meant to make you fallow a set series of events to let him manipulate you to achieve his goal. Now you have been reawakened in a almost exact fashion as the first time and once again seem to have been pushed down a preset path only to walk into something that you have been lusting for since before you even came to this hellhole with one synthetic disparately trying to hide and another talking about some lake like the crazy red bitch that thought it was her duty to show you how the miracle of birth works.

Yeah this sounds like a set up, last time you found something that was cold metal it was simply a trap, now once again you have blindly chased after some shinny piece of junk (yes it is junk, even if it lets you become invisible, you said it yourself that thing has a battery life that can die at any time, including when you are using it to hide which given your luck it would die right as whatever you're hiding from is looking straight at you.)

My advice, LEAVE! everyone you have passed seems to want to fuck you in some way, either by simply fucking you over to achieve there own goals or by literally fucking you. I say leave this place, ignore these two synthetics and just find a way to burn this place to the ground. If you really REALLY can't leave without something try and get the black synthetic to leave by saying no you're not interested but you saw some one down the hall that looked willing, then get the other synthetic to tell you where she found that thing. Once you get that leave. Diplomacy has had limited success and everything around here looks like it could easily kill you in a head to head fight or if not has something nearby that can so starting a fight sounds even worse, as such I think it would be best to just try and avoid other living things form now on because at best they have only been useless and at worse have tried to kill you horribly. I think right now we should be trying to A) find some form of weapon to defend ourselves, B) cause as much property damage as we can because not only fuck this place but if AXON is still watching us we need to start a few fires (if you can actually set something on fire and let it spread do so) to distract him so we can move around more freely (also future note, if we come across AXON again use as few words as possible when talking to him and pretend you have no clue who he is) and C) we need to get the hell off this world, and if that synthetic has found a stash of keynain tech we might even get lucky and find our ticket off this world if we can find it ourselves.

But yeah in short, get the hell out of here because this is just screaming trap, MAYBE see if you can't get some information if you actually think you can pull it off, cause as much damage to this faculty as you can whenever you can, and find a way off this rock if you can, or at least the wilderness since AXON (assuming we believe a damn thing he has said) doesn't have any eyes or ears there.

Okay, you went back to before the corridor collapse. So you did go back in time. Or you're trapped in a looping simulation. Or... AXON went to great lengths to fuck with you, repairing the corridor and then redamaging it in the same way a second time.

Interesting, but we lack sufficient information to

>Just answer me clearly so I know if I have to keep looking for a partner or not.
I am not interested in mating with you, no. But if you wish, I can direct you to Empire's group of synthetics within this facility who should decide to begin a breeding program with an hour or so. You can tell her Culya sent you. If she protests she does not know this name, ask her to talk to Seer. (That should be interesting. Pity you can't watch what will happen).

>I was a hunter platform, areeni, I was better than this.
And I can understand your frustration with being forced to preform a function other than what you would wish. I've experienced a lot of that indignity myself, lately.

>Is it worth abusing a synthetic and stealing her only possession?
Um, probably not, no. Even if she does have the best possession ever.

When he leaves, try talking to her. Please, reveal yourself. Don't waste the change on the device. I don't mean you any harm, I'm not carrying a weapon, and I'm an unmodified areeni in less than great physical shape. I'm not a threat to you.

...I'm sorry if I startled you. I just wanted to see it. I work with machines, and that one you have there... it's beautiful.

>also
I'm amused Culya is so focused on this piece of tech she barely notices, or cares, that she's being propositioned right now.

> I was a hunter platform, areeni, I was better than this. Just answer me clearly so I know if I have to keep looking for a partner or not.

Barter system. The two synths hook up, hunter platforms' 'last job' is done, meaning he gets his body back, avian gets protection from new-and-improved-hunter, you get the cloaking device nobody else needs anymore.

Culya 2014/11/14(Fri)22:24 No. 602391 ID: 447d8d
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Culya turns to face the speaker and is surprised to find something a lot more male than she was expecting. The voices these creatures have are strange, deep, and hard to pin any sort of masculine or feminine quality to them.

"U-uh, no, not interested. I'm p-probably sterile anyway." She considers sending this thing to Empire's group, but decides they never wronged her enough for that. It strikes her that, if she has indeed somehow fallen backwards in time against all sensibility, none of them would even know who she is. She isn't sure how she feels about that. They were the only reasonably pleasant people to talk to, however briefly, in this damned place. There was understandable friction, but considering what she represented to them she could hardly fault them for their initial unease.

"Very well."

And, to Culya's surprise most of all, he starts to leave. Without further comment, without aggressiveness on his behalf, without any further action at all. Just walking away.

"Wait! I was w-wondering if you could maybe h-help me with some information?"
"Unless you're going to help me find a random female I can mate with and fulfil the one obligation keeping me from my former glory, I do not have the time or interest in helping a stranger to the lake."

Culya pauses.

"I d-don't suppose you'd be i-interested?"
"Incredibly. I don't know how you one mode organisms cope with reproductive drives. I want this resolved." He displays prominent signs of arousal, and Culya is momentarily taken aback.
"Uh, no, not you. I'm t-talking to her. Yes, you. You with the device. You can drop the act, I know you're there, and you're wasting the ch-charge on that beautiful machine. Save it for whoever's fooled by it, okay? I'm l-looking right at you."

After some slight hesitation, the female synthetic pops into view, device held in one hand, and the male creature stares.

Culya 2014/11/14(Fri)22:24 No. 602392 ID: 447d8d
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He bounds over to the synthetic, who, in alarm, drops the device entirely. Culya winces as it makes a soft thud on the floor. No matter. Keynain tech is durable for the most part. Something that's apparently still usable after some unspecified calamity has likely survived worse.

He pins her against the wall as he brushes up against her. The female synthetic looks considerably upset at this. Culya turns her attention away from the device.

"H-hey. Hey, no, wait, I didn't know you were going to be that aggressive!"

Against her better judgement she pulls the lake creature away from the synthetic. He shakes his head wildly. "Do you know how few compatible females there are around here?! You wanted information?! Let me have her!"
"Y-yeah, how about no, you sociopath. If I knew you were g-going to do this I'd have let her stay hidden!"
"You betray me! Let me go, areeni! See if I trust your kind ever again!"
"The f-feeling's mutual, you jerk!"

Culya lets go of the creature and he stomps towards the room exit.

"Since when did areeni care what happened to synthetics?"
"Look. I've done worse to people who d-did less to their synthetics than what you were g-gonna do. You w-wanna f-fucking try your chances?"

The lake creature glares at Culya. "You wouldn't be worth the effort, areeni."
"F-fuck you too."
"I wouldn't waste the resources."
"Are you going yet or are we just going to k-keep arguing all day?"
"Why do I have to leave? Why can't you leave?"
"Well, I'm not the one l-looking for some random synthetic to screw, am I?"
"I'm not surprised! I imagine they all stay a fair distance away from you!"
"Is that s-supposed to upset me?! I'm n-not f-fucking interested in g-getting laid when my f-fucking life is on the line in this place!"
"A smart survivor would pick a side to support them, not wander around making enemies! Not that you are an enemy of mine. No. I will be happier if I do not see you again, but you are currently a pesky nuisance! You have betrayed my trust. Only a reproductive act between us could salvage it!"
"Are you f-fucking serious? I s-said I'm sterile!"
"This is not about procreation now! This is about trust! A symbolic act!"

Culya feels like she's about to scream. While she tries to create a colourful string of expletives for her next sentence, she hears what sounds like running from outside.

Culya 2014/11/14(Fri)22:24 No. 602393 ID: 447d8d
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With a loud smack, someone bursts into the room and, with sickening weight, punches the male lake creature in the head, leaving him reeling. He sways on his feet for a bit.

"Ooohhhh. Ohhhkay. That hurt. Thaaat hurt. Thaaaat's..."

He falls onto his knees, then falls face first onto the floor, looking out of it. His eyes gaze ahead while he mumbles about biologial imperatives and priorities.

The male synthetic having burst into the room shakes his hand. "Fffffuck that hurt. Wait. Wait this is the wrong guy."

The female synthetic backs into a corner, looking more confused than anything else and trying to stay out of the way.

Culya takes this opportunity to go grab the abandoned device on the floor.

"But if this is the wrong guy then who is he? And who are you two?"
"Flown," says the female synthetic. She almost squeaks the word out. "Please don't hurt me!"
"I, uh, no, I don't normally try to punch people in the head, see, I, there was this, and he, but, and... ugh. Never mind."
He helps the downed creature back onto his feet. The creature seems pained, a little off balance, and heavily confused. He staggers to a wall to gather his bearings.
"Wait. What's the areeni doing here?"
"I don't know! She just seems fixated on that thing I have!"
"Well, Flown, my name's Mover. What's your name, areeni, and are you a friend or an enemy?"

Culya is lost in thought. She holds the device with respect, treating it with more care than she would her own child, or a thermonuclear warhead.

"Okay, we're going to be here a little longer, Flown. I see she's going to be like this for a little longer."
"What? 'We'?"
"Well, I don't think the areeni's giving you back that device, and you won't want it out of your sight so you'll follow her, and I'm following her to see whatever her deal is. So I guess you might as well get used to my face!"

The male synthetic calling himself Mover smiles and puts his hands behind his head. Flown looks concerned.

Culya is absorbed entirely in this fascinating device.

Culya 2014/11/14(Fri)22:25 No. 602394 ID: 447d8d
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Culya inspects the device more thoroughly. The main difficulty in ascertaining the function of keynain technology is the cultural fashion of appending entirely useless components to devices to make them look more complicated than they are. The body of the device is mostly a blue box with lights and some fine mesh vents, and one prominent button. The large gear wheel and crystal assembly on the top may be integral to the device's function, or they might simply be there to make it look better. Different keynain have different ideas on what makes a machine look better. Some prefer sleek curves, while others, such as this designer, likely prefer useless gewgaws. The giant gear being completely fixed in place points to it being largely decorative, but the crystal could be anything.

Culya realises with growing dread that the device does not appear to have any obvious means of being sealed. No attachment points, no fastenings, no seams. It is an entirely uniform surface. Whatever process assembled this device was designed to be impractical to reverse without the same machinery. The only way she'd be able to see its internals would be to break it open, and the force that would require would likely junk the insides completely.

She experimentally presses the button, and watches the device and her hands disappear. She presses it again and returns to visibility.

She flips it around some more and spots a small display.

It reads, [ზდგლ 59% | გცჭჯ EP], and Culya realises she doesn't actually know what language this is. Under the display is the symbol for Flock Corvian, Sui's 'flock', and she wouldn't even know that if Sui hadn't told her before. She still isn't quite sure what a flock even is. Something along the lines of a tribe or house, or something.

Sui's flock. Sui's flock. Is she out here somewhere?

"C-can I have that back? That's one of a kind, I, uh, I probably know more about than you do."

The male lake creature groans. "I want to go back to the lake now."

>>602394
Tell her no. You are a machinist and this is the only metal technology you have found here. However, you are very interested in what she knows about it. You are willing to trade a favor for it.

Tell the lake creature that you are definitely on their side considering they exist to destroy AXON, but you're still not interested in procreation. You don't have time. AXON could be sending forces to force you into its plan as we speak. Also tell it about your dangerous genetic trait, dammit. The lake creatures need to know so that they don't try to capture you and thus kill themselves or whatever AXON expects to happen.

Also say that apparently, you escaping this planet would be harmful to AXON's long-term goals. If the lake creatures can get you to the satellite manufacturing plant, you could make a rocket and escape, which would apparently be bad for AXON. So, it's in their best interests to get you to the satellite plant.

Stop zoning out, Culya. They've been talking about you, and you're ignoring it.

>Mover
You... look a lot like someone called Seer. And you talk like her too.

>C-can I have that back? That's one of a kind, I, uh, I probably know more about than you do
...could I ask you to tell me how you came by this? Sorry, I'm kind of a tech nerd. And this word here, it's for the flock of a keynain I know.

You should probably hand it back to her. Legal or synthetic status aside, you'd feel really bad about getting her assaulted and then robbing her. Maybe she'll let you see it again?

>also
Um. Sorry for almost getting you raped. I... really didn't think that through. Thank you for stepping in, Mover.

>What's your name, areeni, and are you a friend or an enemy?
Culya. I'm no enemy, at least. I doubt I want to be here any more than you do.

>I want to go back to the lake now
I thought you said you use to be a war platform, don't tell me you're not use to a little pain?

>mover
just notice his existence and ask where the hell he came from.

>C-can I have that back? That's one of a kind, I, uh, I probably know more about than you do.
Ask her where she found this, what she knows about the device, where you might be able to find more, why does she have it in the first place, ask her if she knows how the device is powered and if she can read what's one it. Then realize you're starting to sound just ask crazy as everyone else here, calm down, apologize, give your name and then ask the questions again excepts this time in a more civil manor and give her time to respond. Also whenever she ask for the device back avoid the question with another one of your questions or answer some of her questions as long as it isn't her asking if she can have the device back. I mean we might give it back if we can find more tech like it, but till then unless she has a good reason way she should get it back this is pretty much the only good thing that has happened to you in 2 years. Also if she can teach you more about this device and or lead you to more tech like it give the device back as a token of good will because if you can figure out how to build something like that, even if it's only a shitty knock off, that would still put you in a much better position then you are in now.

Well, I think we would probably get more out of this exchange if we gave the device back and asked for information rather than just trying to steal it and run off. Ask where this came from, or at least where she found it. You might be able to find some technology bits more useful to you there.

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)16:17 No. 605112 ID: 447d8d
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Culya decides to stop scrutinising the device. "Well. Let me put it l-like this, uh, F-flown? That's your name? Well, anyway. I'll g-give it back to you, but I w-would really love to know where you f-found this. I w-work with machines and this is the first one I've s-seen in all too long. Were there other m-machines where you found this?"

Culya holds the device out. Flown takes it quickly, but shows respect to the machine.

Mover frowns and mutters. "Well, I'm on a losing streak today."

Flown clutches the device tightly to her body. Culya imagines the gear can't feel that comfortable. Flown examines it as though Culya's mere touch might have ruined it and polishes it with her feathers. She reminds Culya of a keynain in many ways. "There were a lot of machines. Many of them were bigger. It was a big metal place. Lots of blue. I like blue."
"I l-like blue too! D-do you know where it was?"
"I, I don't think I should tell everyone I meet where it is." Flown looks around nervously. "You just tried to give me to one of them. Like I'm property again. I don't really want to help areeni anyway and you haven't given me much reason to trust you."
"L-look, I didn't know he was g-going to--"
"What did you think was going to happen?!"
"Okay, I have to admit, I m-might not have thought things through, but I stopped him doing anything, didn't I?"
"No, Mover stopped him! If he hadn't shown up you would have just been his next target!"

Culya sighs. "M-maybe. Th-thanks for helping, Mover."

Mover says nothing. His tail flicks. Flown moves a little closer to him, away from Culya and looks nervously around the incredibly dull green room. "I won't let anyone know where I found this."
"I'll d-do anything f-for you if you l-let me know."
"Whoa!" says Mover. "You sure, after what you just saw, you want to be promising 'anything' to anyone?"
"R-right! Right, no, I mean, uh, s-some limits. I c-can fix machines!"

Flown rubs her beak. "I guess there were some things I couldn't figure out. Okay. Okay, I'll take you there. But I don't want you to know where it is."
"I d-don't even really know where I am now."
"Oh. Okay then."

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)16:18 No. 605113 ID: 447d8d
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Mover chuckles to himself. "Heh. You might not know where you are, but I'd bet you know enough to be dangerous to yourself, areeni. What's your name, now you're paying attention?"
"C-culya."
"If you didn't hear me before, mine's Mover. And you seem willing to stick around for a bit. I bet you're probably a little off put by my naked body, but that's apparently how things work now, so sorry about that. Had a nice set of emergency response gear for a while, but, well, that didn't last long. This place just hates clothes, it feels like. I have my theories, but, well. What are you doing around here?"
"L-looking for a way out of this p-place. And th-thank you for stepping in, and, uh, h-helping."

Culya looks at the dazed lake creature.

On the one hand, they oppose AXON. On the other, they could just as equally be a threat to her. She remembers Empire talking about red invaders. It sounds like they're not on good terms with the synthetics around the facility.

Right now, she's most willing to side with the synthetics. They're the closest to sanity she's come across, and she is acutely aware she is in no place to judge sanity herself. She pictures herself stumbling on another areeni survivor, her state as she is now, a naked, ranting lunatic obsessed with technology, and feels her self-worth die away.

Mover blinks. "You okay? You sort of went into a trance for a second there."
"Huh? O-oh, nothing. J-just reflecting on how f-fucked up my life is r-right now, I guess. What about him?"
"Who? The red swimmer?"
"T-that black synthetic with the red eyes?"
"Yeah. Red swimmer. Look, we're lucky he hasn't started spewing blood everywhere and calling his friends. We'd better leave."

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)16:18 No. 605114 ID: 447d8d
File 141687470294.png - (467.91KB , 800x600 , 81.png )

Back out in the corridor, after much fumbling for an exit, the three head down a direction Flown points out.

"S-so Flown, right?"
"Yes."
"C-can you read the display on the other side of that device? The side opposite the glowing lights and button?"
"I can't make out anything other than a number."
"What number did it have when you last checked? F-first checked?"
"Uhhhhh... 60 and I think 103?"
"Sshhhit. F-fuck, I was thinking it was a charge percentage. 103 doesn't make sense as a charge percentage. Maybe it's a different b-base system. No, that d-doesn't make any sense either. W-well, I know one thing, and that's what the symbol printed below it is."
"What is it?"
"It's a k-keynain flock symbol. Like, a symbol of a family, or, I g-guess it was families thousands of years ago, but nowadays it's more like a society. A nation not attached to particular land, I think?"

Flown looks confused.

"It's n-not important. J-just means that this was definitely made or at least owned by a keynain. And keynain know technology."
"Like areeni know biotech?"
"Okay, I m-mean a specific keynain! She g-got me interested in th-this stuff, l-look, it's a long story, but, well, oh never mind."
"Sounds like you know a bit about this stuff," says Mover.
"H-hey, I knew someone who l-looked like you. Her name was S-seer."
"Seer? Yeah. Yeah, I know who she is. We're variations on a theme. We got separated and something is determined to keep us apart. Don't know if it's fate or..." He jerks his head towards the wall. "Something else. It's a shame. We were close. Pretty close. About to, well, no, you won't want to know about that, but then that was it. Never in the same room since. Maybe she's just avoiding me. I doubt it, but."
"Huh."

The three walk on in momentary silence. They turn right at the end into a new corridor, just as long but now sloping gently downwards.

Flown ruffles her feathers. "Mover, you seem like you've met other synthetics. Are there... are there any other synthetics like me? Male, maybe?"
"Huh. Oddly specific request. Not that I've come across."
"I see."
"Why, are you craving some attention?"
"Hey! Hey I was just curious! Can't I just ask a question? ...Maybe a little. ...okay, maybe I sort of want to see how it feels to be, well, you know."

Culya feels vaguely like she's being watched, but in an apparently nigh-omniscient facility, that's probably true regardless. She decides it's ridiculous. Something would have had to be following them for a while or just emerge from the wall out of nowhere to be behind them now.

>>605114
The ridiculous seems to happen a lot around here. Alert your group to the newcomer.

look behind you because fuck it, this places doesn't make since so why would would be ambushers? If you see something ask who are they and what they want, also be ready to move backwards if they try to lunge at you or to push either flown or Mover out of the way if whatever could be following you lunges at them. Hey Flown knows where something useful is and Mover seems to be the only person that knows how to fight out of the three of you.

Oh hey who's that.

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)20:13 No. 605274 ID: 447d8d
File 141688881011.png - (540.70KB , 800x600 , 82.png )

Culya looks behind her on a paranoid whim.

She sees absolutely no one behind her, and feels strangely unsettled by this. In the back of her mind, she bets if she hadn't turned around something would have turned out to be waiting for her to drop her guard. Constant vigilance is exhausting, but she'll see if she even makes it to the point of worrying about sleep on this weird repeat.

She turns back around and decides she's just understandably on edge what with the constant unrelenting assault of new snarling faces she keeps stumbling upon.

"Culya?" Mover glances over her way. "You okay?"
"Th-thought I heard s-something. N-nothing there."
"Yeah, I don't think we're going to be jumped any time soon. The swimmers drop off in number fast the further away from their lake you get."
"H-how did you learn any of this?"
"They love talking about themselves."
"T-true. I know that, unfortunately."

They keep on walking. Flown stares at the device some more.

"Flock symbol."

Flown looks at Culya.

"What, um, what was it like being part of a big group like that? A 'nation' or whatever you called it?"
"I, uh, it was okay, I g-guess? I, uh, d-didn't fit in so g-good, so."
"I see, I see."

Flown starts to drift away into deep thought before snapping to attention. "We're here. End of the corridor."

She brushes away some foliage, revealing a blue security door. She punches a long, intricate key code into a panel, and the door slides open with a hiss.

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)20:13 No. 605275 ID: 447d8d
File 141688882012.png - (555.95KB , 800x600 , 83.png )

Culya steps in.

It's an abandoned workshop filled with keynain technology beyond her wildest dreams, and, as a consequence, beyond her capacity to repair or refit. She isn't even able to tell at a glance what lies functional and what is merely there to fill space and give the impression of greater complexity than what exists.

Some species of primitive avians would select their mates based on the shininess of their tributes. Apparently, at some point, so the theory went, this went for complexity of objects for the distant ancestors of the keynain, with this complexity leading to a fascination with machines. Ever since then, said a recent theory, keynain have almost had a biological imperative towards machinery and overengineering.

Regardless of the truth of the theory, Culya finds herself in a pile of cogs and springs and blinking lights and realises she is no more at home in this situation than she was in the dripping flesh walls of the facility.

The resulting scream of utter frustration causes both of the synthetics to clap their hands over their heads. Flown doesn't even seem to have external ears, but the volume of Culya's despair is overwhelming.

Culya 2014/11/24(Mon)20:13 No. 605276 ID: 447d8d
File 141688883628.png - (587.64KB , 800x600 , 84.png )

"JUNK! IT'S ALL J-JUNK! NONE OF THIS IS IN USABLE CONDITION!"
"But you said you could fix--"
"I can fix USEFUL THINGS! Look at this! This has A HANDLE AND WHEELS ON IT! What POSSIBLE PURPOSE COULD WHEELS SERVE ON SOMETHING YOU HOLD?!"

Culya scrapes her thigh on an exposed metal prong on something and shouts again. "AGH! Useless pointless keynain stupid JUNK I'm going to STRANGLE the next bird thing I see! No not you Flown anyone else."

Flown nods and takes a few steps back just to be safe, while rummaging through the pile herself. "It, uh, it took me a while to find the cloaking thing myself, this, uh, not all of it is good, but it's all shiny and blue, so that's good, right? You said you like blue too, that has to be something, right?"

Mover looks around. "Well, huh. I was always under the impression that keynain technology was this pinnacle of efficiency and automation. I guess that applied to the best of keynain technology."

Culya roots through the objects strewn across the floor. She isn't even able to tell what shape the room is beyond a vague box. The miscellaneous blue metallic trash just makes this room resemble an overgrown forest of scrap. All she knows is Sui had better taste than this.

She clears a space against a wall to slump on it. She slumps onto the wall, and hears a beep come from the wall. A tinny voice speaks out close to her ears, only loud enough for her to hear as the synthetics rummage through the junk pile.

"Genetic signature unrecognised. Please give name and password."

Culya inhales to give her name and an annoyed response, and stops. Sui. She only knows Sui as "Sui" and "Sui, Flock Corvian" at most. She has no idea what password Sui would have, anyway.

This is still her best break so far. All she has to do is think of a name and password. She grins, and probably grins a little too much. Flown backs away a little further.

I don't suppose "administrator" and "password" or some equivalent would work. Maybe the owner was exceptionally lazy. Is there anything around with words written on it that might hint us towards a real answer?

>>605276
Tell the others to step out of the room for a moment so they don't hear your password.

Give your name. Password is "Circuit breaker"

alright, so what do you know about Sui? Tell us everything you know of her, with that we might be able to guess what her password would be. Also even if this place turns out to be a complete bust we could still use it as a home base of sorts. I mean even if all this crap is useless if you could get your hands on some tools you might be able to make something useful from the scrap. Plus I doubt that AXON can watch you through here since it's all metal and I don't think he can see or hear through it like he could have out in the synthetic jungle you just left.

Speaking of AXON still a bit iffy on trusting these two. I mean Flown is probably safe but I still find it fishy how someone, out of all the people we could have walked into, would show up and be holding a piece of technology that you would wet your pants to see when it was so god damn rare even before the world went to shit. Especially after AXON used that piece of scrap metal to lure you into a trap. He did say he planned a route out for you and until proven otherwise I'm going to be suspicious of everyone we come across. Mover has me worried as well. I just find his timing when saving you and Flown from the red lake guy and all the information he's spouting just a little to covenant. My theory is that AXON was hoping we'd run into the red lake guy who would drag us to the lake like he hoped for and mover was on standby incase things didn't go as planned to try and steer you back onto AXON's path should you stray. Flown was likely just bait seeing as she had something AXON knew you couldn't ignore and seeing as how AXON or at least someone is trying the hardest to make sure she can't find Seer it wouldn't be to much of a strech for him to heard her towards you to be the bait. NOT saying you should turn on them or anything as this is all just paranoia and even if some of it is true it's also possible that they have no idea what's going on and are being manipulated just like you. So in short Stick with them and watch there backs as they are at least not actively trying to kill you but be very careful what you say around them, remember what happened last time you got careless with your words and let AXON find out what your plan was.

>You just tried to give me to one of them.
Yes, that was a terrible idea. If you get killed and get to try again, let's not try and offer anyone up for rape in exchange for tech.

...maybe, before we guess, ask Mover? If he's like Seer, he might be able to help. (Ie, brainstorm with him, and hope his precog helps you pick the right word out of what you know about Sue. Like building a pysche profile, only cheating).

>It's all USELESS
A little quick to write it off, I think.

If nothing else, it's material to work with. You can piece together actual physical tools out of metal, unlike the flesh rooms. And even if everything in here is crazy, you might be able to make something if you start breaking them down to components. Circuits and gears and wheels and stuff are still what they are, even built into weird configurations.

>She has no idea what password Sui would have, anyway.
Did she have a pet? Or a nickname? Can you remember the names of her family members? Or maybe some kind of in-joke? Those are all pretty common passwords.

Culya 2014/11/25(Tue)14:10 No. 605479 ID: 447d8d
File 141695341976.png - (326.56KB , 800x600 , 85.png )

Culya considers how trustworthy her current allies are. It does seem suspicious how quickly Mover showed up when things started to go awry, but he hasn't tried to convince her to do anything so far. Flown seems more a victim of bad luck than an active distraction.

"Wow you're fluffy!"
"So are you."
"No but seriously you're deceptively fluffy. You can see my feathers from like the other side of the room all fluffy but you? I wasn't expecting this! Your arm is so fluffy!"
"You're adorable. Hey, if you want to keep rubbing me, would you mind getting my back?"
"Oh wow your back is even fluffier!!"

Culya thinks about what she knows about Sui. The answer turns out to be surprisingly little. Sui hasn't ever mentioned much about her family as a whole, and if she has a nickname then Sui is probably the nickname, making her real name an enigma. No pets, nothing she can think of. Sui was great to talk about tech with, and a great person to be around altogether, but she always seemed to be just a little bit aloof when anyone got a little too close.

If Culya ever mentioned Sui's evasiveness to her, she'd laugh it off and claim it was a Flock Corvian trait. Her flock supposedly came from some obscure secret society dedicated to the preservation of secrets, but that this was hundreds of years ago and anything calling itself a "Flock" would be far too big to have some secret common goal.

Culya is not greatly aware of the galactic culture, but she's aware Flock Corvian is mentioned by plenty of conspiracy theories as a still-relevant secret society. Conspiracy theories, though.

Culya 2014/11/25(Tue)14:10 No. 605480 ID: 447d8d
File 141695343117.png - (523.31KB , 800x600 , 86.png )

Culya decides to try mumbling to the wall to avoid being heard, rather than make it entirely clear she's doing something maybe suspicious to two synthetics she doesn't know she can trust entirely. She calms herself and tries to avoid stuttering.

"Administrator. Password."
"User will not exist. Please retry."

Something about the phrasing of the response sends a shiver down Culya's spine.

"Culya. Circuit breaker."
"User will not exist. Please retry."
"Sui. Password."
"Password will not exist. Please retry."
"Sui. Corvian."
"Password will not exist. Please retry."

Culya thinks long and hard about any names Sui has mentioned. She mentioned someone in her flock called Riotetet. Other than that, Culya can't think of anything.

"Sui. Riotetet."
"Password will not exist. Please retry."
"Culya. No password?"
"User will not exist. Please retry."
"Guest account?"
"User will not exist. Please retry."
"User w-will not exist??"
"Invalid response. Please retry."
"Sui? Culya? What names are in this--"
"Access granted."

Culya freezes.

"Uh, uh. Uh. Log out."
"Logout function has terminated. Please give new credentials."
"Sui. Culya."
"Access granted."
"Seriously?!"

Culya isn't sure how to feel about the password to Sui's account in this whatever-it-is being her name. She isn't sure it's the kind of thing she could ever bring up to Sui without confessing to trying to break into her stuff.

Culya peers into the gloom and sees Flown and Mover together. They seem distracted enough.

"Okay. Uh. What c-can you do--"
"Function list. Geometric configuration alteration. Current geometric configuration: obfuscation. Alternate configurations: minimalist, manufacture, design, spacefiller. Suit location. Datalog record and playback. Other functionality is currently limited in this time."

Culya's mind races with possibilities. She doesn't even know what to try first.

>>605480
Suit location, please.

After that... playback the datalog. I think you would like to know if Sui is alive, at this point. After that, change the configuration to Design. That will let you start working. Manufacture configuration will let you build whatever it is you decide to make. I advise some sort of weapon. Preferably one that doubles as a cutting tool so you can carve your way through the facility.

I suspect you may want to get the others out of the way before you change the room.

Warn the people behind you and try a different layout. Perhaps "minimalist" might let you find anything lying around the room which might be useful, assuming it isn't so minimalist as to be useless. Then play the datalog to see what's going on. Finding a place like this that your friend had an account on (nice password, must have been a pretty close friend for someone who never told you their full name) is a bit of a probabilistic stretch. You might want to find that suit, too. Maybe it could be modified to fit you? Or otherwise salvaged for parts?

That explains things. The current layout of the room is set to make it look like a worthless junk heap so that no one without access can use it. Be careful if you change it with the others around.

So this room was deliberately set up to get that reaction from someone vwith your mindset! Man, they're good.

>She isn't sure it's the kind of thing she could ever bring up to Sui without confessing to trying to break into her stuff.
Considering the situation, I think she might understand.

Also, it's possible that she used your name as the password beacause she expected you to find this place.

>what do
Warn your companions you're going to try something that might make the stuff move around, Then reconfigure the room.

Then check where the suit is (clothes!).

Then listen to the messages. Maybe she left something for you?

see if you can't pull up any logs off this thing, either written or audio because right now the only thing we have going about what happened here is from a crazy AI who's trustworthiness is about as close to zero as one can be without actually hitting zero. That and if might give you an idea where to go next. Other then that I think we just found our home base.

Possibly you were Sui's only real friend in the world!

Before exploring too many functions, remember that Axon wanted you to be here. Most likely, as far as it's concerned, you're a set of lockpicks to open up this keynain workshop.

Culya 2014/11/25(Tue)18:19 No. 605558 ID: 447d8d
File 141696836598.png - (364.40KB , 800x600 , 87.png )

Culya decides to first get the location of the suit and reconfigure the room to minimalist as a test.

"Hey guys!"
"What?" Mover and Flown snap to attention and stand respectfully distant. They rapidly smooth and pat down their feathers and fur to a more presentable state.
"Heads up. I think I got into something deeper. I'm going to try something and it's probably going to shift the walls around. Maybe just stand a little closer to the entrance or something? I don't want you guys getting crushed."

The pair moves over to the entrance. Culya mutters "minimalist".

The useless gadgetry all, in one motion, sweeps and churns and collapses away to leave only an empty room. Well, the description was accurate, thinks Culya. It doesn't get more minimalist than this.

Next, she mutters "suit location".

"Suit is located within this structure. Current charge: 0%. ETA to charge completion: No charge available. Infinity."

Culya's excitement dies away rapidly.

Firstly, Sui, like any keynain, never left her suit except for matters of hygiene and sleep. Sui even ate in the thing most of the time. And if Sui is in the structure, there don't seem to be any doors or any passages to other places. But more importantly, the suit is apparently dead and without charge. If Sui was separated from the suit for any reason, surely she'd leave it charging.

Something is wrong.

"...play log."

"Playing available log entries."

Culya 2014/11/25(Tue)18:19 No. 605559 ID: 447d8d
File 141696837807.png - (267.17KB , 800x600 , 88.png )

Sui's voice sparkles into being, courtesy of some unseen machine.

"This is the log of Sui Corvian. Each entry will begin with a click. If you hear a click followed by another click, something has happened to make an entry unplayable. Either I have deleted the entries for security purposes, or they've become corrupted."

There are a string of clicks. Many, many clicks. Then, Sui's voice again.

"This is Sui. I was too late. My suspicions regarding PragmaSoma's abrupt prominence in the local economy should have been more thoroughly investigated. I blame only myself. In an effort to keep cover, I adopted the persona of a trader. In absence of external supervision, I lost track of my primary mission to keep this colony safe. In retrospect, I was a fool to think the sudden lack of contact from external Enforcer sources was random misfortune. This was planned. I will investigate further--"

The next entries are all heavily garbled and warped. There are clicks as whatever is playing back the entries skips further and further ahead. The next time Culya hears Sui's voice, it is hoarse, tinged heavily with the synthetic flange of a malfunctioning suit repeater.

"Can't take chances. Can't leave suit. Air filled with spores. Facility biomass actively working to remove protective layers from detected organisms. Only safe inside suit. Secondary infestation is greater threat than primary. Entire colonial collapse. No areeni left alive. Both infestations operate at microscopic levels. Can't contact Enforcers for authorisation. Attempting to brute-force activation sequence for nanophage bomb. Escape remains impossible. All facilities with offworld FTL capabilities long destroyed. Would take hundreds of years to get back to society. Only options - survive or kill everything. Including myself. Allow a new threat to the galaxy to develop. Can't allow this. Can't take chances any more. Generators dying. Batteries draining. Base tunnelling system broken. Closest to cores it will ever get."

A click, and a new entry plays. Sui shows on the wall, naked, with something strapped to her stomach. Culya has never seen Sui outside of her suit, let alone naked.

"I did everything I could. Tired. Suit systems shutting down. Filtration systems exhausted. Out of supplies. Trader suit cannibalised for resources weeks ago. I will try one final thing. The fungal mass is growing beyond sustainable size and will destroy itself within a year. The nematode hive is the greater threat. I will go to the greatest concentration with the nanophage bomb. It is primed and active. I leave my suit here. It does not need to go with me to where I'm going. If I reach my destination, I will fire the bomb. If I am attacked or captured, I will fire the bomb. The trigger is neural. Nothing can stop me from firing it. If anyone is listening to this message, which is impossible, because no one is left to hear it, I apologise for the remaining minutes of life you have left. Make your peace. Five feathers ashen. I'm sorry."

The image of Sui looks away from the camera. "I'm so sorry, Culya. I couldn't save even just you."

"End of log entries."

Culya 2014/11/25(Tue)18:19 No. 605560 ID: 447d8d
File 141696838998.png - (406.21KB , 800x600 , 89.png )

The room falls into total silence.

Flown hugs Mover hard without a word. Mover slowly hugs her back.

Culya stares at the wall, thinking.

She doesn't know how long she spent on the other path, but she feels like more time passed there than passed now. Either Sui is still currently on her way to carry out her plan, or her plan will not work. Never works. Time is difficult.

So, in the event she gets destroyed by some world-ending explosion, she supposes she has a third thing to worry about after AXON and the red things.

Culya paces around the room as Sui's image disappears into nothing more than motes of dust.

It slowly dawns on her that Sui has confirmed what AXON had boasted about before her. Everyone she's ever known and loved is dead. Everyone and everything she ever knew is gone, and for all she knows, she'll be joining them in moments.

She sits down, and holds her head in her hands. She's been so focused on survival, on assuming there'd be a way to get out and survive. If her friend who was apparently some secret agent the entire time thought everything was beyond hope, what hope does she have?

What can she even do now?

Finish the job. Destroy this place.

Something saved you. Kept you alive. Brought you back. There must be a reason for that. Why bother, if you can't do anything.

The only reason for hope you have is that something you don't comprehend believes in you. Reverse faith?

Try switching to design mode. Is there anything you can make? A communicator, maybe? If you're about to die again, and you come back, all you can bring is information. Getting as much as possible before you go would be good. Maybe we could call Sui?

Or we could try to hack causality. Ask Mover if he has a message for Seer, and then take it to her next time?

...wait, I think why we know why AXON wanted you to go to the swimmers place. He wants you to stop the bomb. That Sui wouldn't detonate if she saw you.

>>605560
AXON told you already. If you escape by getting to the satellite facility and making something to get you off the planet, you will be a threat to its long-term plans. That is your hope. Escape! Find out if Mover or Flown know where the satellite facility is.

Okay, two pieces of information stand out right now. Sui said the fungal mass will die within a year. What fungal mass was she talking about? AXON, maybe? Secondly, what the crap is a nematode in this context and have you seen anything like that around here? If AXON is the fungal mass and the nematode is the XV virus/the red runners, then it's possible AXON wanted you captured by the red runners so that you would stop Sui from deploying the nanophage bomb. I expect the sight of you untainted by XV would cause her to hesitate.

There's no way to tell how old that last log entry was, is there? Okay, okay, do one last thing before you leave. Leave a log entry of your own, on the odd chance that it is preserved when you go back in time. The way the machine phrased things makes it sound like it might be. It might even be possible for Sui to listen to them in the next cycle, if there is one.

Say whatever you think would be most important to leave in a log. Even if it's just saying you're alive, and you're going to stay that way.

Best case scenario whatever brought you back involves time travel and you might be able to go back and stop this.

Worse case you can finish what she set out to do and blow everything up with you.

Most likely you will end up in the middle somewhere. But do not give up hope just yet. You still have plenty of options left.

You've got to find or contact Sui. She's a better friend than you knew and you owe her that much.

>I'm so sorry, Culya. I couldn't save even just you.
Well, maybe now you understand why you were the password. You were a lost friend, someone she couldn't save. Something important to her, that she would remember, that others wouldn't guess.

>what do
Check timestamp on the last log entry, ask the computer to compare with current time. If possible, ask the computer to estimate travel time, on foot, from this location to the nematode hive.

Record your own message, just in case she comes back.

Sui, this is Cluya. You probably won't ever hear this, but just in case you do, I'm alive. And d-damnit, I'm going stay that way, no matter what the hell is happening here.

A promise to yourself. You will find a way through this.

Well, I think we have to go look for that bomb. But I'm not sure quite what to do about it. As much as you hate all the people here are you sure destroying the planet or whatever would be a good option? It might be a better plan to locate and disable the bomb and then just find a way to escape. That way you could contact a larger military force that could take more measured action against AXON. If the bomb is still active we won't be able to prepare to escape in time, and if it's inactive then the threat of using it is probably the only way we'll be able to have enough leverage over AXON to not get struck down.

Culya 2014/11/27(Thu)16:12 No. 606100 ID: cc93be
File 141713352056.png - (343.42KB , 800x600 , 90.png )

Culya stands up, wipes her face and sighs heavily.

"Mover. If you c-could say anything to Seer, if there was any m-message you could pass on to her, what would it be?"

Mover leaves Flown's embrace as he paces around near the doorway in.

"I... I don't know, Culya. I don't see how it matters. She must know I miss her anyway. I never found any answers. It's all for nothing."
"Okay. S-sorry for bringing it up."

Culya mutters to the machines again. "When was that last log recorded?"
"Data unavailable."
"Record log."
"Please say 'end record' when you have finished."
"This is me, Culya, Sui. I'm going to f-find you and together we're going to get the f-fuck out of here, okay? Hold on for me, Sui. I never knew I meant s-so much to you. I'm not p-planning on dying any time soon. Hold on. End record."
"Entry recorded."

She turns to the pair of synthetics.

"I don't know what you two are p-planning, but there's something I have to do now. I'm going to go after Sui. Find her in the hive she spoke about."

Mover frowns. "It's suicide. You don't understand how dangerous the lake is. You don't have to throw your life away like this."
"If she knew I was still alive, she'd c-come after me. What would you do in my position if Seer was the one with the bomb?"

Mover looks away and to the floor. "It's your decision."

Culya turns to the empty room again. "Where is this 'greatest concentration'?"
"Ten minutes from current location. Quickest route has been established; opening door to bypass corridor."

A door in the room opens to reveal a small blue metal corridor that seems to end haphazardly and diagonally into an existing facility corridor.

"Follow corridor to destination. Signs of infestation will appear prominent. Potential biohazard. Avoid direct contact."

"Thanks," says Culya, not sure if the computer is capable of appreciating the sentiment. She heads through the new door.

Mover and Flown watch her leave without another word.

Culya 2014/11/27(Thu)16:12 No. 606101 ID: cc93be
File 141713354059.png - (330.21KB , 800x600 , 91.png )

The corridor walk is uneventful. Quiet. Lonely.

Even the noise of the facility has died away to total silence.

It seems to last forever, and then Culya arrives at the edge of what Sui had described as the 'nematode hive'. She has no idea what nematode could mean. As far as she's aware, it's a word for tiny worms. She is not aware of any species of worms that form hives.

The green plantlike flesh of the facility gives way to fluctuating, pulsating red, much like the environment the red runner from before had created with the blood pouring from her mouth. The 'door' at the end of the corridor seems to be formed like a biological valve. The flaps peel apart as she draws closer.

She's instantly surrounded by many, many creatures.

"Uhh... h-have you seen a blue keynain, female, looks sort of like a bird, if you know wh-what a bird looks like--"

Culya 2014/11/27(Thu)16:12 No. 606102 ID: cc93be
File 141713357373.png - (336.64KB , 800x600 , 92.png )

In a confusing blur Culya is grabbed by several of the creatures. Before she has a chance to even yelp in surprise something is wrapped around her jaws, stopping her from speaking. She is bodily dragged deeper into the hive.

Inside, an undulating mass of different red creatures are ripping flesh from the walls, while others tear chunks of flesh out of each other. She also notices creatures busy in reproductive acts at various stages in the process, and newborn creatures joining in the frenzy of blood and carnage. Culya hears howls of agony as she tries to fight off and resist the creatures around her, only to be met with more force and pain.

This is it, she thinks. This has to be Ske's hell, as envisioned by areeni millenia ago. Or the absolute best approximation she's ever seen in what is theoretically the real world.

The creatures force her legs open and push her, legs astride, onto a wedge shaped structure with groove running through the top. Her arms are bound behind her back by something. She can't turn to see it.

A loud screech from elsewhere sends the creatures bounding towards it, abandoning Culya to her new situation.

She realises that, for creatures so talkative in her other encounters, none of them are speaking. Most of them are silent. Others are making animalistic, guttural growls and gurgles.

The groove on the structure is filled with a red fluid, flowing slowly along and submerging parts of her she doesn't particularly want submerged in strange unknown fluids.

Her legs and tail are still free, though awkwardly positioned. The chaos of the surroundings makes it hard to see if anything even notices her. There's no trace of Sui.

Great. We're back to having to hope you get killed before you get raped, or worse.

The stealth device might have been handy, here. Too bad there weren't any more and your conscience stopped you before. ...actually, why would Sui have left that behind? Even if she were on a suicide mission, invisibility would have helped her reach her target.

>nematode
Well, thinking of the worms: they're highly adaptive, able to survive in lots of different ecosystems. They're also frequency parasitic. So it's sort of fitting as a namesake.

>She realises that, for creatures so talkative in her other encounters, none of them are speaking.
Interesting. Could Sui have already set off her bomb and been unsuccessful in destroying them? Maybe she hurt them enough to damage the hive consciousness?

Or maybe they only communicate when trying to engage outsiders. Here, in their own domain, in control, they have no need for it.

>Her legs and tail are still free, though awkwardly positioned.
So... we could just step off? There's nothing keeping you on the wedge?

Look around, see if you can see an exit or do to head for, and then step off and see if you can make your way through the orgy.

You're, uh, going to want to get that red stuff out of you as soon as possible. I don't know what it is, but it can't be helpful. Once you find a way out of this thing that should be your first priority. Who knows what sort of corrupting influence it might have inside of you.

>>606102
I suppose you're going to find out for sure why AXON wants you here, now. Step off the wedge and go investigate that screech. I wouldn't worry too much about the red stuff, as you're immune to XV.

well let's see what we've gotten into no...
Wow, we walked right into AXON's plan didn't we? What was that he said about how he wanted to use us? Something like bringing us on a pre-planned route that would effect our decisions in such a way that we'd somehow get captured by the red lake creatures and submerged in said lake. Glad to see it worked without a hitch this time. Hook, line, and sinker.

Aw well fuck it, if you can get off that thing do so, not like sticking around here is going to do you any good, especially seeing what's going on in the background. As for your friend, Either that message was old and the bomb did go off and this is the end result,
Sui came thinking to end this but forgot to factor that the bomb she strapped herself to would only go off if she were to die or pull the trigger, not say, get mutated into some red spewing monstrosity that only wants to eat and breed or hell seeing as these things mostly just eat and multiply there's a very real chance that they didn't kill her and just tied her up somewhere and are raping her or something.
Third possibility is we did just miss her and we might be able to find her before she kills everything but seeing as how Flown said she found that invisibility machine in that Sui's suite a while ago when Sui herself said in the message she didn't leave her suite for anything until the power ran out I highly doubt that. Or fuck it COULD just all be a lie by AXON. Unlikely but it's not beyond reason to believe that he looked into your pass well you were in that tank, found out who you're friends were, created some BS story using familiar faces to gain your trust and with the purpose of sending you further down his path. But we're here now so not much we can do about it at this point.

Either way try to get off that thing you're on and see if you can't find anyone around here that you want to find... or at least people who are not bat shit crazy.

>Wow, we walked right into AXON's plan didn't we?
Not necessarily. We slipped his control this time. If he doesn't know where we are in this timeline, he may not be able to capitalize on our presence here. AXON may miss the window our being here opens for him.

Man you just wander from one bad situation to another. Well try to get free and figure out where your friend is.

With any luck whatever happened to her is not to horrible. But you finding that out sort of depends on what sort of horrible stuff might happen to you shortly.

Just remember that if something did stop her from setting off the bomb it had to either be because someone convinced her not to or some form of mind control. She said she had the bomb set to trigger on several fail safes and a neural link. So if she did not set it off its because she chose not to.

That or she did a crappy job with her dead man's triggers and did not account for something simple.

1/3 Culya 2019/09/15(Sun)08:43 No. 945116 ID: 08a7bd
File 156856218291.png - (310.24KB , 800x600 , 93.png )

Culya tries to wriggle off the wedge shape, but finds her feet aren't quite touching the ground. The wedge starts to resist her efforts to move, and she almost feels like she sinks into it more deeply.

She looks around for Sui. She can't get her arms free. Whatever is keeping her arms together resists more strongly the more she tries to move her arms apart.

She hopes this is a consequence of the material, and not some weird organism actively reacting to her struggles.

She tries to angrily demand where Sui is, only for the thing around her snout to lead to her words coming out as indistinct muffle. When she tries to shout louder something tries to enter her mouth. She slams it shut and resigns herself to not talking.

The activity of the room continues. The creatures consume parts of the wall and bite at each other, not tearing each others' flesh as she first thought, but taking great care to draw and lick blood from each other.

She tries harder to leave the wedge, and is abruptly pulled off the wedge by one of the creatures, muscular and tall. She's dragged into one of the many winding passages, like veins of some greater being.

2/3 Culya 2019/09/15(Sun)08:43 No. 945117 ID: 08a7bd
File 156856220009.png - (281.57KB , 800x600 , 94.png )

As Culya opens her mouth to protest and shout, the squirming thing around Culya's snout finally manages to lodge a tube inside her mouth. A tasteless greasy oil floods her mouth and she swallows it in surprise.

Within moments, she feels her body warm and feels her blood pulsing into her groin, her nipples standing erect. Her eyes water from the burning sensations across her body. She tries to bite the tube, and instead it just gushes forth another burst of fluid. She tries not to swallow it, before the creature frogmarching her stops and jerks her head upward. Culya swallows the fluid to avoid choking on it.

She feels fluid starting to moisten her genitals. She isn't sure if it's because of the red fluid she was submerged in, or whatever vile fluid just got pumped into her mouth.

Everything feels dreamlike, nightmarish, and nothing feels right anymore. Culya has the sinking, lurching feeling she knows exactly what's in store for her now, and isn't sure how she feels, emotions confused and muddled by everything overwhelming her. Everything else was taken from her, after all, so what little autonomy she has left being stripped of her only feels par for the course. Horror and numbness compete inside her, and for now, numbness reigns supreme.

3/3 Culya 2019/09/15(Sun)08:43 No. 945118 ID: 08a7bd
File 156856221271.png - (254.13KB , 800x600 , 95.png )

Several creatures grab Culya's limbs, forcing her down and onto her back, her rebellious spirit fighting a losing battle against her own resignation. Her legs are pulled apart and more red tendrils are wrapped around her thighs, which pull tight, exposing her to the entire world. Another red tube is pulled over her stomach. It abruptly constricts erratically, squeezing her body in a confusing way.

Culya feels her belly clench and realises, with the odd stimulation of the red tube and the fluid she swallowed earlier, something is forcing her to ovulate, bypassing the last conscious control an areeni female would have over their own reproductive independence.

Or, well, it's trying to. It's very much trying to. Yet it still can't force it. She still has to, in some way, accept her current situation, or else remain defiant and refuse to go along with this. Even if forcibly mated, without some cooperation, nothing would form inside her. Even if it could, she could still reject it, throw out whatever tried to grow inside her.

But clearly, the control areeni females have over their wombs is something these creatures have encountered and tried to bypass. It all seems like so much of a struggle, Culya isn't entirely sure why it's so important to them. She also doesn't know how long she can hold out.

A male creature with swollen, pulsing genitals approaches her slowly, watching the flesh squeezing her stomach intently as if waiting for some confirmation.

Culya tries to figure out if this defiance is something she wants to keep up to the very end, or if she should just submit to whatever fate these creatures have in mind for her.

Do you think they'll let you go when they're done? It might be the worth it to just get this over with.

Well this isn't going well!

Uh, you probably shouldn't give up?

resist?

It's obviously a bad idea to give in, so let's do it and find out what happens. Surrender, Culya.

>>945118
Never stop struggling we want to keep our mind and most likely escape this hell

>>945118
The tube is still soft flesh our teeth must be able to bite it off!

Cirr i am suprised this quest is not in your wiki?

>>945118
You should hold onto the only form of control you have over this situation. Maybe you can force them to bargain with you somehow.

Nothing but a conga–line of fuck, probably for the rest of your days, awaits you if you give in. Oh, and the endless birthing of monsters.

Best to consider this from the perspective of gathering intel for when you get looped back in time again, since either way you choose it's highly unlikely you'll be leaving the nematode hive now. So, finding out what happened to Sui and the nanophage bomb would be most important. Your best chance to do that is if you can move around the hive, and your best chance at being allowed to do so is if you comply and are impregnated. If you're compliant they may figure you either want to be here or your will has been broken and you won't leave, so you can be released. Resist and they'll keep you restrained for sure, and in the end either your resolve will wear out and you'll be impregnated anyway, or you'll find out you can hold out indefinitely. In the latter case, they'll either bring out a stronger, harsher method to force you to be impregnated, put you on life support to use as a test subject for new methods to force areeni impregnation until they either succeed or you die, stick you in stasis until you're needed for something or just kill you.

Secondary intel gathering would be finding out how being impregnated by the nematode hive helps AXON against the hive. This has to be the reason AXON wanted you to end up in the hive, since none other makes sense. It wanted to introduce whatever trait you have into the nematode hive gene pool to somehow help in destroying them or bringing them under AXON's control. Finding out what that trait is and how it'd work in this situation would be good intel.

>>945146
If I remember correctly, Cirr had this quest struck from tgchan because he felt it was, or becoming, too self-indulgently fetishy. (I figure because this scene was gonna be next before he axed the quest.) He then wiped the quest's wiki page and removed it from his authorbox template. (It's that box that lists a quest author's quests on the wiki.) But, since the quest is back then somebody ought to restore all that on the wiki.

>>945152
...on the other hand, if this really is a timeloop if we die we'll just get sent back anyway. Perhaps it's time we found out why AXIOM wanted us in their hive?

>>945150

Bargaining seems like the best shot. Convincing them not to waste their time on you, or maybe letting them have an attempt with a promise to let you go after.

>>945154
Its not too fetishy for this site or the internet

1/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:42 No. 945174 ID: 08a7bd
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Culya tries to bite down on the tube again only for it to flood her mouth with more vaguely greasy fluid. She keeps resisting, determined not to let the tube around her stomach force anything in her.
She tries to bargain with the creatures but trying to speak only leads to the same tube forcing itself into her mouth, and this time it swells and stays, forcing her tongue down.
She tries to close her mouth to bite the tube and finds that her jaws are just not strong enough to fight against the force now gagging her mouth.

Culya looks to her side and sees a heavily pregnant female creature being marched to her side. Two males either side start squeezing her swollen stomach as the female throws her head back and tries to wriggle out of the grasp of whatever is keeping her held nearby, and Culya isn't sure if she's hearing things cast from other rooms in this network of tunnels, but she thinks she can vaguely hear muffled screaming coming from the female's belly.

Bright, vivid red fluid, far too bright a red to be blood, starts oozing out of the pregnant female's vagina, with a faintly gelatinous consistency. Fluid of the same colour with less thickness runs from the creature's nipples, and the males keep squeezing her stomach until her stomach visibly lurches and clenches by itself. One of the two males stops, scoops up the substance oozing from the female, and turns to Culya, rubbing it into one of her nipples. It feels wet, warm, and slightly sticky. The male does the same with Culya's other nipple as the female screeches in pain, the screaming inside her belly still muffled and still happening, as her stomach lurches and distorts again, and the other male marches her out of the room.

2/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:43 No. 945175 ID: 08a7bd
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Another male figure places both hands on Culya's stomach and pokes and prods around her, as if trying to find something. The red band around her stomach constricts her even further and Culya tries to shout. She can feel her resolve weakening as the fear and terror she's trying to force deep down inside her threatens to spill over. The idea of surrender seems more appealing, but she thinks about it further. If she relents to this specific treatment, perhaps that will buy her more opportunity later if she gives the illusion of compliance.

Knowingly making a bad decision when all options are terrible, Culya closes her eyes, and stops fighting. The red tube around her stomach squeezes her and she lets go, feeling a tension-relieving shifting of her reproductive organs as she releases an egg.

The male with the erect penis staring at her widens his eyes, as his penis abruptly grows larger, fleshy spurs jutting from the surface. His testicles bulge and contract. Culya's legs are pulled apart wider, and Culya braces herself for the inevitable.

3/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:43 No. 945176 ID: 08a7bd
File 156867381716.png - (177.89KB , 800x600 , 98.png )

In.

The male pushes deep into her with some difficulty. Even with the lubrication, the size is just slightly too big. Culya screams into the muffling tube gag out of surprise and intensity. Only breathing through her nostrils she breathes deep and hard, muffled anxious moaning as the male works himself deeper into her.

Out.

The spurs rub inside Culya in ways both unnerving and stimulating. They tug at her clitoris as they come out, and she tries to shout some more, the sensation on the borderline between pleasant and painfully overstimulating.

In. It hurts, but far less than Culya was expecting. The male appears to be actively trying not to hurt her. Every time a spur catches he grunts and groans in pain before she does.
Out. Some of the males next to her start rubbing her breasts, massaging them as if something could be milked from them.
In. Culya doesn't feel as in control as she told herself she was.
Out. She's wincing with every thrust and can't tell if it's from pain or pleasure anymore.
In. She can't tell if she likes this or not, but whatever it is, it's intense.
Out. In. Out. In. Out. Faster. Deeper.

Culya arches her back as the stimulation becomes too much, an orgasm wracking her body, screams of intensity still muffled by the tube in her mouth. The male thrusting into her is grunting in louder and louder volume.

She feels hot fluid pulsing inside her body, and the roar of the male accompanying it, bestial. Barely any sounds these creatures have made in this place sound like the noises of people.

She gasps for breath, shuddering, body limp on the surface as she tries to process enough of what has just happened.

4/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:43 No. 945177 ID: 08a7bd
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Culya finds her legs being pulled up and her pelvis being tilted upward, all of the creatures in the room making sure she remains in this position. The red tubes formerly strapping her down are all removed, with the increasingly annoying exception of the tube in her mouth. Her breasts are once again squeezed and massaged.

Culya is still not sure what is going on, and her shouts are muffled again as something she can't see is plunged into her vagina. Like the tube in her mouth, it swells and locks into place.

5/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:44 No. 945178 ID: 08a7bd
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After being held up for ten minutes, Culya is gently placed back down on the surface as a paler female creature comes to her side. She makes a loud barking shout and the other creatures back up against the walls.

She walks over to Culya and looks annoyed, glaring at the others. "All need more swimming in lake! Fools! This areenie antigen host!! Go submerge in lake, idiot fools!!"

The others turn to leave, before the pale female shrieks at them. "Which platform contaminated?! Which one inseminated?!"

The male that mated with Culya looks around and slowly points to himself. He looks lost, scared and confused.

"No lake for you. Others, lake. NOW."

The others all disappear as though melting through the fleshy walls of the room. The remaining male looks terrified, shaking slightly.

6/6 Culya 2019/09/16(Mon)15:44 No. 945179 ID: 08a7bd
File 156867386271.png - (268.39KB , 800x600 , 101.png )

The pale female walks up to the male, pacing around him as he starts to sweat.

"Antigen blood too risky for lake. Cannot spill antigen blood, no. Genetic contribution to antigen female host complete, yes?"

The male slowly nods, hesitantly.

"Useless idiot platform filled with bad worms and bad blood. Never going into lake again. Never, ever. Immune response required for antigen."

The pale female darts behind the male and wraps an arm around his neck, squeezing tightly and choking him. He splutters and writhes and frantically tries to pry the deceptively strong female off of him, legs buckling as the female squeezes his throat harder and harder.

Culya, realising her limbs are now all free, pulls the damned thing around her mouth out and throws it far away.

She sees a perfect opportunity to run, say something, or just do anything. While part of her is immensely glad to see the male that just forcibly impregnated her get his comeuppance so quickly, she isn't sure what will happen next, and she absolutely does not know how to get the hell out of this place.

"Areenie stays if head not filled with bad worms too!" yells the pale female, while the male continues choking and gurgling, clearly seconds away from losing consciousness altogether from the weakness of his resistance.

He looks Culya directly in the eye and shakily reaches his hands out to her. At first, Culya thinks he's trying to grab onto her. But it seems more like he wants Culya to grab him and pull him away somehow.

Culya could really not care any fraction less of helping the thing that just forced itself on her.
He continues desperately struggling while the pale female stares at him without remorse or pity, only irritation. "Please quickly die or you are thrown into enzyme pool still alive."

Grab him and run. He seems scared and confused, and may not fully realize what he did to you was wrong. What if he’s a victim in this system too, and doesn’t know it? This female seems particularly vicious, too.

Urgh, no sympathy for the guy.

However, if he really is infected with some sort of antigen and 'bad blood,' we should help him.

If he makes it back to the lake he may also infect it. That is to say, what this female is trying to not make happen. It may have an adverse, and hopefully cascading, affect on these creatures for this male to taint the lake.

Hmm, "immune response required" might refer to his immune response. They want to get his corpse so that they can derive an antidote.

Can you cut yourself with your own claws or teeth then threaten to get the blood over the female? That could scare her away, which would let you recover the male, who you want to keep out of their hands just so you can keep them from deriving any countermeasures. Optimally you'd somehow get to the lake to poison it with your blood but I'm not sure you can convince the male to bring you there, even if you save him.
Didn't you come here to find someone? Demand to know what happened to them.

>>945188
This, looks like we gotta save this swimmers life too save our own bacon. That and he is kinda sorta probably? our baby dady.

So, if I'm following the logic here...

Because this guy raped you, he's now dangerous to everyone else except you. And they're going to reverse engineer some form of cure or salve from this guy by dunking his body in some kind of corrosive bath.

But before they'll do that they will somewhat mercifully strangle him to prevent exposure and give him a less painful death than having his flesh sublimated in the pool of.. whatever.

And let's be honest, even if you fight the female creature (which you probably can't) more will likely show up and kill him anyway after restraining you. And they MIGHT take you attempt at aggression as a sign to also kill you.

Let him die, there's no benefit and he raped you. Once he expires try and request safe passage out of this place or at least not getting the will of others imposed upon you.

1/2 Culya 2019/09/17(Tue)13:04 No. 945243 ID: 08a7bd
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Culya stares into the eyes of her choking, dying rapist, full of fury and contempt and not a small amount of schadenfreude.

But the pleasure is short lived. His desperate struggles and his weak efforts to reach towards her feel increasingly off. Why would he expect any mercy from her after what just happened? She isn't certain he even understands the ramifications of the actions he just made.

Perhaps she's been compromised. Perhaps all the various chemicals she's ingested are twisting her mind into feeling more sympathy towards something she should rightfully be strangling to death herself. Culya feels slightly dizzy and incredibly unsure of herself, and resolves that she'll at least use him to infect the lake and see what the entire reason AXON wanted her here was.

Culya considers trying to cut herself on her own teeth. She tries running her teeth over part of her hand, but shies away from it, not quite able to bring herself to slice herself open.

She walks up to the pale female, trying to stall for time. "H-hey! H-hey you! Wh-where's Sui?! B-b-blue bird?!"

The pale female sighs in irritation. "Areenie is resource, no questions. Gestate faster."
"Oh, f-f-fuck off with that! T-tell me where S-sui is or I'll g-get my b-blood on you!"

The pale female drops the male, who crumples to the ground, wheezing. She turns to Culya, making direct eye contact.

"If areenie threatens the lake with wrong blood, areenie is going in the enzyme pool. Understanding antigen threat no longer required if antigen threat gone."
"And wh-what if there's f-future antigen threats? Also wh-what the f-fuck did you do to m-me if I'm f-fucking poison to y-you things?!"

The pale female breaks eye contact and looks off to the side. "Antigen areenie can easily be taken and bound until pregnancy finishes. Perhaps should be. Either produce hybrid with antigen resistance, for blood analysis and injection into existing platforms. Or dead fetus from inhospitable womb can be analysed for next try until surviving hybrid birth."
"If y-you're telling me y-your entire p-p-plan, why won't you t-tell me where Sui is?"
"Machines bird incompatible biology, devices removed, biology taken for analysis."

Culya feels a shock of nausea and her blood runs cold. "You killed her."
"Machines bird tried killed itself with machines virus. Lake watched as bird screamed and blood flowed from bird to lake. Viral machine try to consume XV derived microbiology, XV derived microbiology kill viral machines first."
"...it didn't even w-work..." Culya trails off, tearing up, trying not to picture Sui's last moments as her bomb fired and destroyed nothing but herself.
"Machines bird biology new, precious. Forced XV and worm into machines bird biology to force life into dying bird platform. Machines bird body ongoing battlefield. Unstable. Dying, not dead. Encapsulated. Too dangerous to biology to open womb chamber to show machines bird, life critical."

Culya tears up further and, with the weight of the revelations coupled with her recent trauma, sinks to her knees and bursts into tears.
It all feels so futile. Not even Sui, with all her advanced technology, could avoid becoming another prisoner of this place.
Culya feels at her stomach and probes at her crotch, confirming whatever she felt being inserted inside her is still there. The reality that something alien to her body is now growing inside her finally dawns, and does not help her feeling of helplessness.

2/2 Culya 2019/09/17(Tue)13:04 No. 945244 ID: 08a7bd
File 156875068871.png - (212.39KB , 800x600 , 103.png )

The male shakily stands up and walks over to Culya, watching her shake and sob, and stands over her, between her and the pale female as if trying to protect her.

The pale female rolls her eyes and hisses. "Stay away from lake, idiot platform. Not needing to contaminate more platforms to handle antigen areenie. Handle antigen areenie. Take to feeding chamber. Put food fluid into areenie."
"I w-want to l-leave!" demands Culya, between sobs.
"Lake needs to see pregnancy results. Then lake wants antigen areenie out of vulnerable place."
"I'll-- I'll bleed over everything!!"
"Restrain areenie, defect platform," says the pale female creature, as she disappears down the turning corridor.

The male creature pulls Culya up to her feet and pulls her arms behind her back. Culya feels like it would be pointless trying to struggle against him.

"What the f-fuck do y-you want with m-me now, you f-fucking..." Culya trails off, not quite able to think of a proper insult. "F-fuck."

The male creature pauses and seems hesitant, awkwardly looking around the now empty room, before moving Culya's arms back to her sides and deciding to only hold one of her arms, a gentle but firm grip of her upper arm. It's slightly more comfortable a position, at least.

The male looks around, still lost and confused.

"W-well?!"

The male opens and closes his mouth repeatedly. With much struggle, he manages to say some words. "No hear where feed chamber is scream. Blood voice speak less. Lake talk less to we me. Broken. Broken. We I broken."

He looks around shakily, and starts whimpering, tears streaming from his eyes. "Always act lake command. Always act lake command fast true correct. Try hurting least. Lake know best. Act lake command. Science platform angry I we act lake command. Try kill we I. No understand. Act lake command but do not act lake command. Mate areenie but do not mate areenie. We I broken? Lake broken? Areenie broken? We I break areenie. I we hurt areenie. Areenie command rejected before given. No understand. Areenie enemy? Lake enemy areenie? We I areenie enemy? If enemy why mate areenie? If mate areenie why hurt areenie?! No understand, no understand, we I broken. Lake reject we I. Lake reject! Lake reject! Broken!"

The male stops speaking coherent words as he bursts into tears, letting Culya go completely. Culya awkwardly stands around as she plans her next move.

Wait, you're just free to walk around? Go look for Sui.

Still no sympathy for this guy. Go push him into a lake.

Welp.
This guy's not a threat anymore.
The question is, is he useful.

Take him with you, wherever you go.

>>945244
Maybe Sui's bomb did more than they thought. It could be blamed for either broken platforms like this guy, or for the science platform(s) having a negative reaction to successfully completed tasks.
Sounds like he doesn't know where to go, which is further evidence that their infrastructure is malfunctioning. You should not call attention to this.

Why don't you try some manipulation? Tell him it's going to be alright. You'll help him get accepted by the lake again, but to know how to do that he's going to have to explain how this place works. What is the lake? What other kinds of platforms are there? What other structures are there around here, can he show you to the ones he knows how to get to? Does he know where "Machines bird" is? It's too dangerous to go into the chamber where she's kept, but it'd still be nice to know where it is. Might even be nice to talk to whoever's trying to keep her alive, to find out how it's going. Maybe we can get a timescale on how long it'd take her to recover.

Events of the previouse few minuits aside, you kinda need a little bit of backup here, and this male is the closest thing to that. He's going through an emotional time right now, so he's ripe for emotional manipulation (yes, kind of an immoral thing to do but at this point a: morals don't matter and b: he ows you big time anyway). Play up the fact that he's been abandoned by the 'lake', for something thats not his fault, and that you are the only one who cares for him (a lie? of course) and that he really should be helping you instead of following orders right now.

Unsympathetic or not (I know, but this should sounds very familiar to you), if he's grappling with paradoxes and free will, he needs to understand that what HE did is wrong if he didn't reject they told him to do.

Convince him to lead you around, to where you want to go.
Find Sui and her belongings.
Prepare to finish what she started, if you want to be reset and leave.

>>945244
....I think science lady emotionally and mentally abused this guy until he thought he was supposed to rape you. This makes him a victim as well. This also means it's science lady's fault. She's a gigantic bitch anyway. We should wait until Sui is stable then hit her with a rock and escape.

Meanwhile, Defect is emotionally compromised and vulnerable right now. It would not be difficult to manipulate him into helping you or serving your interests. It honestly depends on how much you can bring yourself to hate a whimpering self-hating mutant with brain damage.