Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:13 No. 1079875 ID: b7dad9
File 170371521411.png - (259.08KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_A.png )

A soft woosh and softer click and the door slides open.

"It opened!"
"Looks like... a living space perhaps? I'll have a closer look."

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:14 No. 1079876 ID: b7dad9
File 170371524370.png - (256.99KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_B.png )

"Aaand that's a body."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Could be a puppet. A robot maybe? Either way, looks pretty dead..."
"Make way! Let me see!"

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:14 No. 1079877 ID: b7dad9
File 170371527155.png - (285.39KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_C.png )

"Incredible! It might be some kind of android. It is wearing a garment. It's just slumped over the table like it fell asleep there."
"Wouldn't have expected that robots sleep."
"Look, I'm just describing for the logs."
"Uh huh... Sure is a bunch of weird junk on this shelf."
"Yeah I'll get to that. Let me document the robot first."

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:15 No. 1079878 ID: b7dad9
File 170371530232.png - (293.46KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_D.png )

"HuwaAAAAAAHHH!"
"What?!"
"It's moving!"

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:15 No. 1079879 ID: b7dad9
File 170371533596.png - (286.45KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_E.png )

"Shit get back!"
"Agh! Watch it!"

Frantic clattering resounds.

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:16 No. 1079880 ID: b7dad9
File 170371538884.png - (244.02KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_F.png )

CRASH

Part 0: Disquiet Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:17 No. 1079881 ID: b7dad9
File 170371542515.png - (207.02KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_G.png )

And the dark returns with a vengeance.

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:17 No. 1079883 ID: b7dad9
File 170371546997.png - (297.97KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_H.png )

When you wake, the world is unbearably bright and your body is ailing badly. You're parched. You're hungry. You've got a piercing headache. Consciousness is not treating you well today.

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:18 No. 1079884 ID: b7dad9
File 170371550129.png - (302.96KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_I.png )

Trying to orient yourself, you gaze blearily around the room. It does you no good. You have no idea where you are. A hint of panic shines through beyond the headache: You don't know where you are. Nor how you got here. Nor where you're supposed to be in the first place.

You are lost.

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)14:19 No. 1079885 ID: b7dad9
File 170371554526.png - (256.97KB , 990x660 , HU_00_000_J.png )

It's so hard to concentrate when every fiber of your being is screaming for maintenance, but you give it your best shot. You steady your breathing to the best of your ability to stave off the anxiety attack.

It's not coming to you. Nothing is. Not where you are, not who you are. It's all gone. No name, no face, no nothing.
And there's this awful nagging feeling that you've forgotten something important. Something you were supposed to do.

But it's no use. There's only the hunger, the thirst and the splitting headache.

What are you going to do?

Go to the sink. Can I remember how to use a sink? There's water there.

Hrm. The people in suits left. Looks like they took all your stuff and left you here. Is your face still damaged? There are bits still on the floor.

Hunger and thirst? But you have no mouth, what do you eat and drink? Do you need to recharge? There's some kind of panel at the head of the bed, it would make sense for there to be a recharging cable there.

Looks like you were supposed to kill those astronauts!
Maintenance can wait, you've got suit punctures to make.

Silicon 2023/12/27(Wed)15:58 No. 1079898 ID: b7dad9
File 170372150732.png - (278.36KB , 990x660 , HU_00_001.png )

The thought of murdering astronauts crosses your mind. You're not sure why. You do get the feeling that there should be more things in this room. Maybe there's a faint memory of filled shelves? It's so hazy you're not sure you didn't fabricate it just now.

Well what do you know. There is a plug sticking out of that wall panel above the bed. There seems some hardened gunk on it though. The idea of plugging that thing (sans gunk) into the back of your head seems oddly alluring. There might be something to that idea.

You also idly run a finger over your face and discover that you do have a mouth after all. So that's good.
The right side of your head feels like it has some cracks, which is less good. You resist the urge to fuss with it.

The sink is immediately familiar in an abstract sense. At a light touch the faucet readily yields a torrent of clear water. Your hands turn out to be unfit for the task of holding any of it because their fingers are too rigid to properly close against each other.

This gives you pause. Your hands shouldn't be like this. They're... wrong.

But the worst thing is certainly that you can't seem to manage to get that sweet, sweet water anywhere close to your mouth

Try to use some of that water to clean the gunk off. Not too much, it might damage the plug.

That way, we can combine two of our favorite things: water, and plug.

>>1079898
seems like you have a faceplate, helmet, or facial prosthetic between your hands and your mouth.

You're a cyborg it seems. Or possibly a consciousness uploaded into a robot.

use CUP on SINK.

>>1079898
There's a mug on the table, you can use that to carry water. Uh, don't dip the recharging cable directly into the water, obviously. You can try wiping the gunk off with some of the bedsheet?

looks like there is a soap dispenser by the sink, that should help clear the gunk.

Silicon 2023/12/28(Thu)03:05 No. 1079942 ID: 31c076
File 170376152861.png - (373.72KB , 990x660 , HU_00_002_A.png )

You feel a bit silly when you remember the mug on the table. You must really be out of it. Positively daft with thirst. You grab it and fill it with water.
You drink greedily. There is a bit of pain when the water hits your dessicated tongue, but it quickly makes way for the simple pleasure of nectar down the chute. You didn't know water could be so damn good.
You release the breath you'd been holding and startle a bit at a soft whirr and buzz that seems to be coming from the back of your throat.

There's no more denying it: Your body is not wholly flesh and bone. The fact that you have no idea how much of it has been replaced is distressing. Are the fleshy bits even yours to begin with?

Silver lining anyhow: You can still enjoy a mug of water. And your headache is no longer quite so debilitating. Thinking becomes easier.

Silicon 2023/12/28(Thu)03:05 No. 1079943 ID: 31c076
File 170376154619.png - (301.27KB , 990x660 , HU_00_002_B.png )

Envigourated, you set upon the task of getting that plug in working order, whatever it does. You fill the mug with more water and after another delightful sip (and a little more buzzing in your throat) you add the soap.

The damn panel is crammed all the way into the corner and your weirdly long limbs make working on it very uncomfortable. With a bit of contortion you manage to gently apply small amounts of soapy water to the plug and scrub at the gunk.
It does not yield. Despite its organic shape, the gunk really is very hard and insoluble, soap or no. Adding a corner of the bedsheet to the mix only gets you a very dusty plug and soggy bedding.

This isn't working.
But at least now you know.

Perhaps you can find cleaning supplies, or a clean plug, outside.
Touch your tongue. Is it really flesh? Do your fingers feel soft or hard?

You must have fabricated the memory, because if there were astronauts here at the end of the world, why wouldn't they have carried you with them when they left?

Though it would explain why your room is completely bare, if some marauders had looted the place while you were offline. Still, why wouldn't they loot you? You're not in some spaceman prison, so your vision has to be fabricated.

Unless they designed the prison to perfectly duplicate the room where you fell unconscious??

>>1079964
>why wouldn't they loot you?
Too heavy. Possibly, they planned to come back and haven't yet.

>>1079943
Okay that gunk might have been put there on purpose then. Looks almost like chewing gum... Maybe you're not supposed to use it?
Check that panel next to the door, then maybe it's time to leave if it doesn't turn out to be interesting.

>>1079964
>You must have fabricated the memory
Also no, there's evidence that it was at least partially real. There's debris at the corner of the desk.

What's that thing on the wall behind the table?

The mirror is missing, but that thing on the right. A screen? Is it reflective, and if so, can you use it to inspect yourself?

Silicon 2023/12/29(Fri)04:12 No. 1080022 ID: 936a6c
File 170385194556.png - (172.64KB , 990x660 , HU_00_003_A.png )

You study your strange hands, even though it makes you uncomfortable. They're mostly made of a smooth, rigid material, but the fingertips specifically are somewhat soft and have a bit more friction. Your palms have pads of the same material.
After quickly washing your hands, you determine that your tongue at least feels fleshy and is sensitive to touch. You also have very even teeth.

In the interest of further self-exploration, you have a look at what is indeed a screen behind the desk. Unfortunately it is non-reflective. But you manage to find a little button on its side to turn it on.

There are no other buttons and you have no peripherals to work with. Touching the screen allows you to place a cursor in either of the input fields, but that's not terribly useful.

Silicon 2023/12/29(Fri)04:12 No. 1080023 ID: 936a6c
File 170385197080.gif - (249.22KB , 990x660 , HU_00_003_B.gif )

You decide it's time to have a look outside. The door has no handle, but you do faintly remember those... astronauts... coming in. The door slid upwards, then. After a half-hearted attempt to move it with your hands, you direct your attention at the panel next to it.

You try the buttons. [ANIMATED]

this can only mean one thing. The door can only be open from the outside, you're trapped forever.

but for real the circle button didn't do anything until you hit the square button so try hitting the square button first before the arrow button?

Silicon 2023/12/29(Fri)06:15 No. 1080026 ID: 936a6c
File 170385929449.gif - (415.14KB , 990x660 , HU_00_004.gif )

You work the buttons some more. [ANIMATED]

Pressing the square button before the triangle button changes nothing. You also check if the square button has any effect on the light switch, but that doesn't seem to be the case either.

Looks like all the buttons safe the light switch are unresponsive. There's no other intuitive method for opening the door in sight, which suggests you are, in fact, locked in here.

Just your luck.

>>1080022
Does placing the cursor and speaking out loud do anything? You can just say "name" if nothing else comes to mind.

Also, is this the thing on the wall across from the door or the thing between the door and the sink? Either way, check out the one you haven't investigated yet.

what about the ac unit (?) at the end of the table? That do anything?

>>1080026
That explains why you were slumped over on the desk. The door opens from the outside, but not the inside. Guess you have to wait for them to come back.

Check out that weird wall panel behind the table.

Search under and in the mattress, you were lying on it, maybe the astronauts didn't search it as thoroughly as the rest of the room?

Examine the room with the light off. Perhaps something in here is glowing?

Silicon 2023/12/29(Fri)16:42 No. 1080062 ID: 2916f1
File 170389695103.png - (298.20KB , 990x660 , HU_00_005_A.png )

Speaking to the monitor yields no results. "Name. Test test test", you say, but nothing changes.

The thing next to the table is a garbage chute. It's probably too narrow for you and you don't relish the thought of jumping down there. Maybe if things get real desperate...

Silicon 2023/12/29(Fri)16:42 No. 1080063 ID: 2916f1
File 170389696620.png - (318.02KB , 990x660 , HU_00_005_B.png )

Since you're running out of options, you decide to check under the mattress. Why not? But just when you're about to flip it up, there's a woosh and a click and you turn to see two strangers entering through the open door.

One is tall and imposing, while the other is small and pudgy.

The small one speaks as they clear the doorway: "Oh good. They're up and about."
"Guess so.", replies the tall one.

The door closes behind them. You really hope they can get it open again.

The small one now directs their words at you, a little bit louder and slower: "Good day."

Is it day? There aren't any windows in this place. Thank them for opening the door for you! Apologize that you can't seem to recall your own name, but you're very pleased to meet them. All you can remember are astronauts and head injuries at the end of the world.

They have the same proportions as those spacemen...
Start asking questions. What's that logo next to the door mean?

Start with the basics. What are their names? What's your name? Where are we and what the hell is going on?

They look friendly enough.

Ask them if they are made of meat.

are you guys the ones who knicked all my shit? Because I remember those shelves behind you had stuff on them before someone woke me up from my nap, surprising enough that I lost balance and hit my head, only to wake up to find that someone moved me while I was out and stole everything that wasn't nailed down.

Also I think the door is busted as I can't get any of the buttons to work besides the light switch.

"I thought humanity would have replaced all its identifying markers by now."

>>1080063
Say hello. Ask who they are, and why you can't open the door.

Silicon 2023/12/30(Sat)03:39 No. 1080081 ID: 815fee
File 170393634017.gif - (80.63KB , 990x660 , HU_00_006_A.gif )

You're a bit frantic. You're confused and in pain and so, so hungry and perhaps this is why your response comes out a bit less coherent than you had hoped.

You say: "Hello. Is it day? I can't really tell. Who are you? Who am I? Where the hell are we? Why can you open the door when I can't? Why can't I remember anything except astronauts and head injuries at the end of the world? Are you the astronauts? Did you nick all my shit? I could have sworn those shelves were full earlier. Are you made of meat?"

There is a bit of a pause. [ANIMATED]

Silicon 2023/12/30(Sat)03:39 No. 1080082 ID: 815fee
File 170393637168.png - (190.30KB , 990x660 , HU_00_006_B.png )

The small one regains their composure and speaks in a calm and friendly tone:
"You speak Kushani. That's good. Your accent is unfamiliar to me, so please speak a bit slower. I don't think I understood half of that just now."

You didn't even notice you'd been speaking a foreign language, but yes. Apparently you know Kushani as well as English.
And on the topic of speaking: Your voice is strange to you. Its pitch seems high, the timbre is all wrong. There's a subtle hint of static in it. It's not an unpleasant voice, but it doesn't feel like it's yours.

You also note that these two look distinctly... human, in stark contrast to what you've been able to see of yourself. And the small one is holding a writing pad with a pen. Strangely old-fashioned.

They gesture with their left hand at themself and then the tall one in turn:
"I'm Shyama. I'll be the mouthpiece. This is Vijaya. She'll mostly be watching. Pleased to meet you. You clearly have a lot of questions. I'll answer as many as I can. Please. Take a seat and let's talk."

You wonder whether you can trust them. Shyama seems sincere enough. Maybe they can help you. The amnesia makes trusting anyone or anything fraught, but you do need help. You need food. You need relief from the pain. You need to figure out what that thing was that you were supposed to do.

>>1080082
Tell them you would rather talk while going somewhere that has food.

tell them you hurt and you're hungry and ask if they have anything to fix that. If so you'd very much would enjoy them being able to fix any of those problems and would request they do so at their earliest convenience, if not ignore them and go back to searching your room until they do... or just try and take a nap and hope the pain will lessen by the time you wake up again.

Well you weren't going anywhere, so let's sit and talk.
But don't trust them.

Insist that you had something important to do. For instance, you might need to flush the core before it goes critical.

Sorry, but this hunger is distracting, do either of you have any food on you?

Might be easier to converse over a meal.

Silicon 2024/01/02(Tue)04:48 No. 1080213 ID: 414b45
File 170419972098.png - (309.59KB , 990x660 , HU_00_007_A.png )

You can't just sit here now. Your needs are urgent, so you decide to make this clear. But for now you might as well try being polite about it.

"I would much rather talk over a meal,", you say, "Can we go somewhere that has food? I'm starving, my head is killing me and I couldn't get out."

Shyama gives you a compassionate smile and says: "I'm very sorry to hear that. Of course we will do what we can to make you comfortable." Here their expression and tone turn apologetic. "I suppose I have to lay this out now. I can't let you leave the room at this time. You are our prisoner," they continue, "It's not for anything you have done, but as a safety measure and to ensure the success of our mission."

It feels like something heavy's dropping into your gut. If you weren't already all tense, this would certainly have done it.

You don't know if your expression gave your apprehension away, but Shyama raises their free hand in a calming gesture as they say: "I apologize. We understand that it is unfair to make you bear the burden of our exigency, but we cannot afford the risk. We won't keep you imprisoned indefinitely nor do we intend to take anything from you that we don't desperately need. I hope that despite all this we can build some trust."

Silicon 2024/01/02(Tue)04:48 No. 1080214 ID: 414b45
File 170419973495.png - (306.39KB , 990x660 , HU_00_007_B.png )

With some desperation you try to explain: "You mustn't keep me in here! There's something very important I need to do. Urgently! What if... if the reactor needs flushing before it gets critical?!"

Shyama's calm demeanor remains unshaken. "You sound confused,", they say, "Let's take this one thing at a time. We have not found any food so far, but we will share our rations."

Vijaya chimes in: "Though we don't have a lot to spare."
Shyama shoots her an annoyed glance and Vijaya clears her throat after a moment of hesitation. "Sorry."

Shyama returns their attention to you and says: "Perhaps food will already make you feel much better. And when you're more comfortable, perhaps your memory will be more reliable as well.
"So let's focus on that: We can also have our physician take a look at you, though I'm not sure how much they're going to be able to do, given your... unique anatomy.
"What else can we do right now to help you?"

what the hell is your mission, robbing people?

Though yes, food sounds good, very good. No idea why but I'm very hungry. As for the physician, sure why not, not like doing nothing would help so a chance to fix the head ache is better than no chance at all.

Though I got to ask, if you're so worried I'd ruin your get away for your planned burglary spree why didn't you just grab one of the chairs in this room and bash my head in with it while I was out?

Silicon 2024/01/02(Tue)07:24 No. 1080217 ID: 414b45
File 170420909011.png - (313.12KB , 990x660 , HU_00_008.png )

It just kinda slips out. You start yelling: "What the hell is your mission? Robbing people?"

"You're upset," Shyama says, "That's understandable. I'll happily explain what we're here for, but it's a bit complicated. So for now I'll simplify it: We're hoping to prevent a coming war, that would eclipse all that came before. I'll explain more later. Now, do you want the physician or not?"

"Sure why not? Not like doing nothing would help so a chance to fix the headache is better than no chance at all," you reply.

Shyama nods and says: "Very well. I'll see to it."

But you're not done. You yell some more: "Though I got to ask, if you're so worried I'd ruin your getaway for your planned burglary spree why didn't you just grab one of the chairs in this room and bash my head in with it while I was out?"

Shyama shakes their head. "I assure you, we aren't here to rob or murder you. We haven't taken any of your possessions. We have removed various items and disabled the door controls. All-"

"And the corner plug.", Vijaya interjects.

Shyama sighs: "Yes and the corner plug. Thank you. All to ensure you wouldn't be able to jeopardize the mission. I know this must be horrible. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't deem it necessary."

Sit down on the bed and just collect yourself for a bit. You're getting upset, and it's upsetting the only people around who appear capable of helping you - and as evidenced, they could've hurt you earlier but have not. Trust that fact-finding and confinement seems to be their goals for now, and that you might be able to make them open up if you lay down some cards, give them some trust and present a more collected facade.

Apologize for yelling. Say you don't remember being in this body. You don't remember much at all, but you're sure of that. You have a vague sense that there's something really important you should be doing, which is... low-key upsetting when you don't know what.

You're not sure how you can help them avoid winning some Biggest War Ever contest, but you'll hear them out. But it would help if they could tell you what you are, and what this place is.

If they even know.

...they sabotaged the corner plug? Ask why they did that, isn't that just a recharging cable?

grab mug and get yourself another glass of water to help calm yourself down... keep yourself between the mug and them while they're here just to be safe.

As for more questions... well they're not really telling you anything (no need to bring that up I'm sure they're already aware of that fact) so just wait for the doc to show up (hopefully with food) and see if you can at least get something to help with the headache and hunger before trying this conversation again.

Physician sounds great. The more of a commotion they cause, the better the chances for you to find a chance to slip away.

Seems like you have some sort of Good Cop, Bad Cop situation here, except Bad Cop hasn't finished their training. They already messed up twice.

If you can catch their eye while Good Cop isn't looking, stick your tongue out at them, or whatever the cybernetic equivalent might be.

Get that physician here as soon as possible, please.

They probably know what that urgent thing you need to do is. They probably don't want you to do it. They think it is very bad for some reason. They also know how the door controls work. The sooner good cop leaves, the better. If tall cop sticks around, keep asking questions to see what information slips. The logo by the door, the terminal you don't know the password to, the year it displays... Look at the date again?

Well if we have to be trapped here, the least they can do is leave us something to do. Do they know the password for the screen?
If not ask for a book or a jigsaw or something.

Silicon 2024/01/03(Wed)04:57 No. 1080260 ID: 360d4d
File 170428662125.png - (319.89KB , 990x660 , HU_00_009_A.png )

"You sabotaged the corner plug?", you ask, "Why? Isn't that just a recharging cable?"

Shyama thinks for a moment, then says: "You're asking me? We don't know what it is. We didn't see a way to remove it without possibly damaging it irrevocably. Hence the resin. It clearly fits that socket in the back of your head. We didn't want to risk you possibly accessing the computer systems unsupervised."

You consider apologizing for your outburst. Perhaps staying on your captors' good side is worth pursuing. You decide to save it for later. All this talk is just delaying them giving you what you need.

So you say: "Okay. All right, this isn't going anywhere. Get me that doctor and some food and we'll talk. Oh and... if I'm going to be locked in here, maybe you can give me something to do? A book? A uh... What's jigsaw in Kushani? Ugh... A game?

You decide not to bother asking about the password right now, since they did just told you they don't want you accessing the computer systems.

Shyama nods with a smile and heads for the door. "I'll see what I can do.", they say.
They raise their free hand and rap on the door twice. klong! klong! It opens moments later and Shyama exits, leaving Vijaya behind.

You suppress the urge to stick your tongue out at her. Defying your captors so brazenly is tempting, but unlikely to do you any good. Instead you try asking questions. Perhaps she'll be less tight-lipped than Shyama.

Silicon 2024/01/03(Wed)04:57 No. 1080261 ID: 360d4d
File 170428662718.png - (335.31KB , 990x660 , HU_00_009_B.png )

"Your name's... Vijaya, yeah?" you try.
The woman gives a curt nod. "That's right."

"While we're waiting," you say, "what's that logo by the door mean?"
She glances at it and says: "That a trick question? No clue. Never seen writing like this before." She shrugs. "Shyama's got some ideas, maybe ask him."

You try another one. Pointing at the large screen you say: "What's that terminal for?"
She shakes her head and says, deadpan: "You really did a number on your noggin, didn't you? You keep asking questions we meant to ask you."

"So you don't know. Okay.", you say, "What about the date on the screen?"
She grins: "So it is a date! Called it! Still. Can't read it. And even if I could I don't think it'd do me much good. You use unfamiliar script and numerals. So your calendar and year notation are probably also gonna be completely wack."

It seems you've found a topic Vijaya might actually care about.

Discuss the date. Do the words 'month', 'December' or 'year' mean anything to her? What date would she say it is?

might as well pick up the pieces of your brain that are still on the floor next to the desk, just to try and figure out how much damage you took.

Guess you could tell her it's the 29th of December of the year 2080 HU or 4361 CE.... then ask her if that means anything to her because it's just random numbers to you.

Silicon 2024/01/03(Wed)09:32 No. 1080268 ID: 360d4d
File 170430313113.png - (358.55KB , 990x660 , HU_00_010.png )

You know the Kushani words for 'month' and 'year' but not 'December', 'HU' or 'CE'.

"Do you know what months and years are?" you ask.
She frowns and says: "Of course I do."
"Oh good," you say, "What about December?"
She shakes her head: "Nope. Never heard of that one."

You explain: "Well the screen says it's the 29th of December of the year 2080 HU or... or 4361 CE that can't be right."
"What's the problem?", she asks.

You're not sure. It's only really struck you reading it out just now. 2080 doesn't sound too strange to you, but you have no idea what kind of year notation 'HU' is supposed to be.
4361 CE, if that's 'Common Era' that's completely beyond the pale! You're not sure what the right year is, but it definitely shouldn't be beyond the twenty-third century!

You notice Vijaya is staring at you, waiting for an answer. So you say: "I'm not sure. I may be confused. Uhm... What would you say today's date is?"
She shrugs and says: "Might as well tell you. it's probably not gonna mean anything to you anyway. Let's see... It's the 6th of Pausha Waning, 2512."

Name a few major historical events, see if you can find any overlap between their year system and yours. From the sound of it, though, any events you could name are from before their year zero.

HU? What's that stand for, History Unmade?
Consider that you might be a time traveler and you were sent here to change history. Or... prevent it from being changed? These humans might be trying to change history to prevent a war. That would erase the future you're from, if time travel even works that way.

>Might as well tell you. it's probably not gonna mean anything to you anyway. Let's see... It's the 6th of Pausha Waning, 2512.
wow, well she's right in that it really doesn't mean anything to me except either she or you are really far from home.

Also do you remember if CE is the same as AD or did another major event happen that caused people to reset the calendar again? Like people setting up the first space colony or someone figuring out FTL travel?

>>1080276

Yes that's it. 4361 CE is approximately 2300 years greater than 2080 HU, so in the 23rd century, whatever knocked you out must have also reset the calendar system. That would mean the last thing you remember is somewhere around 2080 years ago. 2300 + 2080 ~= 4361. That's quite a long nap.

...the logo is an hourglass spinning. This is definitely a time travel thing.

Silicon 2024/01/04(Thu)10:36 No. 1080323 ID: 2916f1
File 170439337221.png - (322.35KB , 990x660 , HU_00_011_A.png )

You want to point out some specific historical events, but the Amnesia makes this difficult.
[Hint: Supply your own historic events in the Suggestions next time.]

You remember vaguely that 'AD' or 'Anno Domini' is an archaic name, widely replaced by CE quite some time ago. So the year 1 CE is still the year Jesus Christ was born.

Say. There's a historical event.

"Mmmh... When was the birth of uh... Jesus Christ?" you ask.
She sighs: "Who?"
You try: "Uh.. Iesos Kristos? Y-Yeshuah? Uhm... Isa ibn Maryam?"
She thinks for a moment, then responds: "Hmmm no, I'm drawing a blank. Maybe Shyama knows."

You just can't think of what Jesus' name is in Kushani. It's kind of annoying. Surely that's why she doesn't know. Surely.
And the hourglass could mean anything right? And 'History Unmade'... Thinking of it opens a pit in your stomach. 'History Unmade'...
Surely it's not time travel. It's more likely the computer is wrong, right? Time travel would make this all so much more complicated.

Before you can get into it any further, there is a knock on the door. Vijaya pushes herself away from it about a second before it slides open to reveal a smaller, slimmer figure with quite the eye-catching hairstyle.
The new arrival is clearly marked as a doctor by the stereotypical stethoscope worn around the neck. You wonder if they're playing a prank on you. Surely no physician still uses those.

The 'physician' hands a steaming bag full of some gunk and a spoon to Vijaya and waves to you. "Greetings!", they say.
Vijaya makes room, so they and their big doctor's bag can enter the room, after which the door closes.

Silicon 2024/01/04(Thu)10:36 No. 1080324 ID: 2916f1
File 170439341097.png - (296.77KB , 990x660 , HU_00_011_B.png )

She introduces them: "This is Gamal Elsheikh, our physician," and sets the gunk bag and the spoon down on the desk.

Gamal heads past the table and sets down the bag by your feet. "Just call me Gamal," they say as they start digging through their bag, "What's your name?"

"I don't know," you say, "Amnesia."
"Sounds serious.", they say, with a little plastic stick in their hand, "Open your mouth, please." They turn on their headlight, which seems to have a... lightbulb in it.

You do as asked and Gamal pushes your tongue down with the stick.

"Say Aaaaahhhh.", they order.
You feel so silly, but you go along with it. "Aaaaaaaahh"

After removing the stick, they stroke their beard for a moment in thought. Then they gently prod your chest with the stick and say in a good-natured tone: "You got a name tag, by the way."

Silicon 2024/01/04(Thu)10:37 No. 1080325 ID: 2916f1
File 170439343423.png - (125.13KB , 990x660 , HU_00_011_C.png )

You check your shirt.

Son of a fuck.

It reads 'Disquiet-247'. That feels like a name. It feels familiar.

You a licensed mechanic, doc?
This feels more like a code name or a serial number. Wish I could meet the other 246 Disquiets.

History Unmade... Disquiet... these are some powerful words with a lot of potential meanings to them.

So you have to learn
1) What could possibly cause such a war; what's being fought over
2) What you could possibly do to jeopardize the prevention of that war. It isn't a war over who gets to own units like yourself, is it? That would suck.
3) Where you are. If they're not going to let you leave, they could at least describe the facility your room is in.

Ask why a doctor for fleshy people is examining an artificial body. Wouldn't a mechanic or engineer be more appropriate? Also point out the damage to your head. Also, demand food.

What did you expect a doctor's tools to be? Something more futuristic? Like you're from the future?

You've got clothes, do you have pockets? Maybe it's time to see if you're carrying any notes, as archaic as that may seem to you. What do you usually use for data storage, anyway?

>Major historical events
So far the only ones we can use are those pertaining to Earth, so:
1CE: Estimated birth of major religious figure
570CE: Estimated birth of other major religious figure
August 6th, 1945CE: Big explosion on Earth surface due to warfare, followed by a second one three days later.
October 4th, 1957CE: First launch of object from Earth into space
1974CE: 1,679-bit binary radio message deliberately sent from Earth to whoever might be listening

>You remember vaguely that 'AD' or 'Anno Domini' is an archaic name, widely replaced by CE quite some time ago. So the year 1 CE is still the year Jesus Christ was born.
alright thanks, just wanted to double check that one since I've read some sci-fi stories were CE replaces AD to sound more sci-fi-y and others that have CE come AFTER AD do to some kind of major event or scientific brake through and I just wanted to make sure

>You got a name tag, by the way.
... I really hope not because Disquiet isn't a very flattering name. I mean who the hell calls their kid/creation anxiety?

remember to try your name in the terminal after your captors have left.
Have the doctor examine your head where you cracked it.

>>1080340

Let's be more specific, shall we? We can at least KNOW specific important events in Human and Earth history, even if we describe them out loud generically! We do know these beings we have interacted with greatly resemble those beings associated with these dates, but we don't, for sure, know that they absolutely are the same sort of being.

Anyway:

May 29, 1453 - The capital of the Byzantine Empire falls.

October 12, 1492 - Columbus lands in the Americas

October 31, 1517 - Martin Luther's 95 Theses begin the Protestant Reformation

July 14, 1789 - The Bastille prison in Paris, France falls, beginning the French Revolution

May 24, 1844 - Samuel Morse sends the first Telegraph message

June 28, 1914 - the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sets off the events that lead to World War I.

August 6, 1945 - The United States drops the first atomic bomb used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan.

October 4, 1957 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, mankind's first artificial satellite into space, beginning the Space Race.

July 21, 1969 - Niel Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 mission, becomes the first Human to walk on the surface of the Moon, ending the Moon Race.

November 9, 1989 - the Berlin Wall falls, symbolizing the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Silicon 2024/01/07(Sun)15:23 No. 1080553 ID: 6d3a6d
File 170466979940.png - (292.32KB , 990x660 , HU_00_012_A.png )

Though the name doesn't immediately strike you as odd, on consideration it's a bit weird.

"I really hope not because Disquiet isn't a very flattering name. I mean who the hell calls their kid or creation 'anxiety'?" you say.
Gamal gently turns your head to the side to have a better look at your injury. They reply conversationally: "Oh who knows? Maybe someone living in a blissful prison, hoping their child will not grow too comfortable to look for something better. Just a guess, though."

You can feel and hear them carefully scraping around the crack in your head and they say: "I think you might have gotten lucky there."
"Why are we doing this?" you ask, "You're a doctor. This body is clearly artificial. Wouldn't a mechanic be more appropriate?"
Gamal lightly waves the stick at you and says: "Can't hurt, can it? Besides, Vijaya and Maya both looked you over already. They say the damage looks mostly surface level and I'm inclined to believe them.
"But you have complained about hunger and headaches, which suggests to me that at least your brain may be organic. You also say you have suffered amnesia. You took a hit to the head. Now we don't know exactly how your computers work, but if they're anything like ours, severe head trauma should not affect you in a way that is this... human.
"But I can't see any fleshy bits exposed in there. So I think the most likely conclusion is that you have a severe concussion. We should keep an eye on that. Make sure you get enough rest."

Your head is still swirling with thoughts of time travel and dates and it's just so weird that this doctor's equipment is so archaic. A lightbulb? Why not an LED point light? Where are the scanners and all that junk?

Food. You need food to think straight.

"Please," you beg, "I was promised food. Can I have it already?"

Silicon 2024/01/07(Sun)15:23 No. 1080554 ID: 6d3a6d
File 170466981269.png - (181.29KB , 990x660 , HU_00_012_B.png )

Gamal leans back to give you a bit more personal space and explains: "I did bring the food. It should be nearly cool enough to eat. It's not good, but very nutricious.
"I have to say though... The back of your oral cavity doesn't look like it's made for taking in anything solid. It's like a grate over a drain in there, where humans have an oesophagus. The hot glob we have here isn't exactly solid, but just to be sure, if you want to try eating it, take it slow. Be careful.

Can't you add water to it and blend it?! Treat me like someone who can only consume liquids, what are they teaching you?

let's hope their tech isn't archaic enough to lack a blender for a smoothie

I guess start with a spoon full and see how that goes. Add water from your mug and see if drinking it helps the food go down in you have any troubles. Hope this works cause the hunger is getting annoying.

>>1080561

They should have mortar and pestle, a whisk, a hand cranked egg beater, or hand cranked food mills, should they not?!

Any food would be most appreciated. Keep in mind they called it a ration, which means they don't have enough food for themselves either.

Just take small bites for now. Hopefully you don't require much food, seeing as you survived being dormant for who knows how long.

Hold up a moment. Even though you can ingest water via your mouth doesn't for sure mean your body was designed to ingest food that way too. It's unlikely it wouldn't be, since your body's designers already replicated the human body's mechanical complexity of combining the breathing and water ingestion route, so combining with food would logically make sense, but you don't know if there were technical limitations they were working with that may have prevented combining water and food ingestion together.

Anyway, could be you got a injection port or some such on your torso for nutrition, likely within your reach if it is present. Share your line of thought that led you to this action with the other two while you start pulling your shirt off to get a look over torso and abdomen, pressing it for any possible port-covering flaps. Ask Gamal to look and feel over your back as well for anything overtly or covered that's port-like.

Oh, and ask to borrow a mirror, if possible, to have a look at your face, the damage to your head as well as at your back, since the one over your sink is missing. Also ask if it was missing when they got here or if they removed it.

Once you're reasonably confident there aren't other routes to getting this food in where it can be digested, then spoon up a very small amount, chew it up as much as you can with some water, swallow it and then wait a couple minutes to see if your body has a bad reaction. Repeat this eat and wait until the food is finished or your body has a bad reaction. Treat this like you'd treat a person who's been starving for awhile and their digestive system is weak, since yours may be.

Silicon 2024/01/08(Mon)10:29 No. 1080605 ID: 86faf4
File 170473853912.png - (197.71KB , 990x660 , HU_00_013_A.png )

"Can't you add water to it and blend it?! Treat me like someone who can only consume liquids, what are they teaching you?", you demand.
Gamal frowns for a moment but quickly resumes their friendly demeanour, saying: "We don't have a blender, but-"
"Mortar and pestle, then??", you interject.

Going to fill your mug at the sink, Gamal patiently explains: "Shouldn't be needed. It should stir into water just fine. All we have is water-soluble powder and ready-to-eat chunks. We didn't bring much in the way of cooking implements and haven't found any here."

You take the mug, add some of the prepared rations to it and stir it with the spoon. It does dilute quite readily.

"By the way. It looks like there was supposed to be a mirror above the sink. What happened to it?", you ask.
Gamal looks to Vijaya who answers: "Mh? Oh, the mirror? That one was missing when we got here. Though I think we may have found it a few doors down. Looks the right size anyway."
"I can ask Shyama to bring it by later," Gamal offers.

Silicon 2024/01/08(Mon)10:29 No. 1080606 ID: 86faf4
File 170473854439.png - (181.95KB , 990x660 , HU_00_013_B.png )

Unfortunately even with your expectations being as low as they are you end up underwhelmed. This slop tastes like nothing and even the expected satisfaction of a warm drink doesn't really hit. After eventually finishing the entire bag of goop, you feel no less hungry and even more frustrated.

What now? You consider asking Gamal for help locating a different port for nutrients, but you're not quite sure how this damn shirt even opens and you haven't even figured out what the port you do know about does.

Well the wall port could possibly be necessary but since they consider it a threat...

Time to negotiate, access to the wall port in exchange for assistance deciphering this facility's secrets. Can they even read those words by the door?

>>1080606
>no less hungry
I don't think you're supposed to eat food. You need to recharge. Tell them this. They need to undo what sabotage they've done to your recharging cable. It's on the BED for chrissakes, it's not a network connection!

It’s no good, our proprietary palate predicates we partake of the panel present in our prison cell to provide a proper prescription for our prosthetic peristalsis. As the medical officer can you override their call to disable access to this?

whelp, might as well tell them that this food doesn't fix your hunger problem so you probably need something else. Ask while they were "looking around" if they saw anything that looks like food? If not you think the hunger might be you needed to recharge.

What does it feel like, having this cacophony of suggestions in your head? Are we part of you, deliberate thoughts, or wildfire associations? Can you tell apart different voices?

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:24 No. 1080763 ID: 815fee
File 170499026337.png - (327.26KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_A.png )

Yes, the wall plug seems your last option. You must convince them to at least let you try.

"That didn't help at all,", you say, "Please, I don't know what exactly the wall plug does, but it's beside the bed, so... surely, that's for maintenance, right? I'm still so hungry."

Gamal directs a grim look at Vijaya. "You gummed that one up, didn't you?", they say.
Vijaya responds: "You know the stakes, Gamal. If we give them access to the network, who knows what they might do?!"
Gamal remains steadfast. "It's a risk, sure," they say, "But as it stands this is a human rights nightmare."
"Human rights!", Vijaya calls out, "We don't even know if they're sentient!"
"Exactly! We don't know! So we need to account for the worst case!", Gamal counters.

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:24 No. 1080764 ID: 815fee
File 170499029148.png - (143.30KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_B.png )

Vijaya groans and shouts: "I- You- Look, forget it. Shyama is gonna rip my head off!"
Gamal, by contrast is regaining their composure and calm. "No he isn't. And honestly, that shouldn't matter. You know this is wrong, Vijaya.", they say.

There is a silence that seems to last for minutes.

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:25 No. 1080765 ID: 815fee
File 170499031326.png - (340.62KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_C.png )

"I'm gonna say you forced my hand, Gamal.", says Vijaya as she approaches the bed.
Gamal says with a hint of smugness: "Of course. I take full responsibility."

You make room, stunned you didn't even have to negotiate at all and watch her get to work. She pulls a small plastic bottle and a rag out of her pocket. There is a strong scent of alcohol as she pours a liquid onto the rag and starts rubbing at the resin on the plug.
After about a minute the resin finally seperates with a soft snap. Vijaya lets go of the plug which is immediately reeled back into the wall panel.
"There. Go nuts," she says grumpily and returns to her position at the desk.

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:25 No. 1080766 ID: 815fee
File 170499033011.png - (190.16KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_D.png )

You can feel both their eyes on you as you scoot back over to the corner. Guided by procedural memory, you reach out for the plug, pull it towards yourself in a fluid motion and move it skillfully to the port on the back of your head.
It's like you've done this a thousand times before. Following the current of your automated response, you pull your legs onto the mattress and lay down on your side. And not long after, the world winks out.

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:25 No. 1080767 ID: 815fee
File 170499034404.gif - (36.26KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_E.gif )

Text appears before your eyes. You can feel soft vibrations in the plug as it pumps something right into your head. [ANIMATED]

And then you dream of a feast. It's hazy but also extremely vivid. There's thick cream soup, fresh salad, a hearty roast with potatoes, gravy and red cabbage and finally warm apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. The hunger, the terrible hunger is smothered in gleeful overindulgence.

Silicon 2024/01/11(Thu)08:26 No. 1080768 ID: 815fee
File 170499041132.png - (261.33KB , 990x660 , HU_00_014_F.png )

You're unsure how much time has actually passed when you come back to your senses. But everything is immediately so much clearer. The hunger is gone, the headache has shrunk into a vague pressure. You feel a bit bleary, but no longer like a total Zombie.

It seems that in the meantime Gamal has left and Shyama has returned. He is sitting and writing something on that writing pad of his.

Good news! You do require organic nutrients for your fleshy components, it turns out! Whoever made you just combined the nutrient input port with your power charger, and gave you a mouth for reasons you cannot fathom. At any rate, you feel much better and are ready to help prevent a war that would eclipse all that came before! Or just sit here staying out of the way. You're really not sure what they're doing in here in the first place, but you appreciate the company.

>>1080768
Tell them it's not a network connection, it was nutrient intake and medication only. It gave you a little diagnostic data. It said your power levels were critical, and that it could cause brain damage... which might be the real cause of your amnesia. You're not sure if it recharged you, but probably? Check by removing and plugging it back in, it should give you that basic diagnostic again.

Outwardly wonder why you hadn't used it on schedule, before they arrived. You weren't unconscious that long.

good news, I have figured out the plug is how I feed and apparently is designed to also give limited medical aid to myself in the form of painkillers and similar drugs. Pretty sure it's just a program to simulate those things while I simply recharge but there it is. So what I miss while I was out and how long was I out?

Also is there a reason why their's only two of you guys in this room at any given time or is it simply because this room would start getting cramped pretty quickly if more than three bodies where to be standing around in here?

cough politely before you sit up, so you don't startle them, since as a mechanical being you probably where lying there perfectly still.

Silicon 2024/01/12(Fri)06:32 No. 1080843 ID: b22bc5
File 170506992101.gif - (13.28KB , 990x660 , HU_00_015_A.gif )

You decide to try getting another diagnostic, so you remove the plug from the port and put it back in.

That's looking promising. Apparently you were asleep (?) for about two hours. You don't fully lose consciousness this time and your vision returns after a few seconds.

Silicon 2024/01/12(Fri)06:32 No. 1080844 ID: b22bc5
File 170506993370.png - (259.02KB , 990x660 , HU_00_015_B.png )

You get Shyama's attention by coughing before sitting up on your bed. He looks over at you with a friendly smile and... could that be an expression of relief? He says: "Oh! You've awoken. Excellent! How are you feeling?"

"Oh much better, thank you,", you say, "The plug is not a network connection, just nutrient intake and medication. I'm not sure if it actually injects nutrients and drugs for existing fleshy components or if it just simulates those things as I recharge, but there it is. I cannot fathom why I even have a mouth at all."
Shyama says: "Interesting. I am glad you're feeling better. I apologize for restricting your access to sustenance. It was not my intention."

You go on: "There was also diagnostic data. It said my power levels were critical and this might cause brain damage. Perhaps that's the real cause of the amnesia. Apparently I hadn't been using the plug on schedule even before you arrived. I wonder why."
Shyama takes some notes and says: "Perhaps we can figure that out together later."

Silicon 2024/01/12(Fri)06:32 No. 1080845 ID: b22bc5
File 170506994837.png - (248.86KB , 990x660 , HU_00_015_C.png )

There is a pause before you ask: "Is there a reason there's only ever two of you in here at any given time?"
Shyama looks a bit puzzled as he replies: "Not in particular. The room's not that large and we wouldn't want to overwhelm you."

"What are you doing in here? Not that I don't appreciate the company.", you say
"Waiting for you to regain consciousness, of course," says Shyama, "I wasn't sure you were ever going to wake up again, but it's all worked out in the end."

You swing your legs over the side of the bed and say: "At any rate, now that I'm better I'm ready to help prevent a war that would eclipse all that came before, or whatever it is we're doing here."
Shyama gives you a big smile: "Oh we'd really appreciate your help. Come join me at the table, please. Let's talk."

You get up off the bed and move the chair. You find that it is surprisingly light, but also resists being raised off the floor ever so slightly. Like it's got magnets in its legs. You sit down and scoot closer to the table. You recognise the device sitting next to Shyama as a cassette recorder.
Shyama flips a few pages back on his writing pad and then pushes what you assume is the record button on the recorder.
"This is session one, 6th of Pausha Waning, 2512.", he says at the device before turning to you: "Thank you for agreeing to speak to us."

Silicon 2024/01/12(Fri)06:32 No. 1080846 ID: b22bc5
File 170506996036.png - (212.97KB , 990x660 , HU_00_015_D.png )

He continues: "Gamal and I have agreed that we should try to help you recover more of your memories. We'll determine what you do remember and then see what can be unlocked from there.
"First of course, let's establish the basics. Who are you and where are we? Vijaya says you've also expressed confusion about the when."

He leans down to pull up a flat rectangular object wrapped in a white cloth and lays it on the table between the two of you. He says: "I have brought the mirror as you requested. Perhaps that can also jog your memory. So... to start with:
"How should we refer to you? And what do you want to talk about first?"

> How should we refer to you?

Seeing that you had a name tag and the charger, too, mentioned Disquiet, it's probably safe to assume that this term has something to do with you. It is a bit unwieldy, though, and does not have the greatest implications. (Anxiety? Revolution?)

How about Disq? That also sounds like the storage medium from way back, so it's tying into this whole cyborg theme, and it's less of a mouthful to pronounce.

You remember spacemen, but that was probably relatively recent with the discovery of this place. You have extensive semantic memory, familiar with pretty much everything in this room. You remember tables and scarves, and food, and charging cables, but your episodic memory seems... empty. You remember that your hands used to be different, less rigid somehow. You remember it's the end of the world. You remember there was something very important that you were supposed to do, but you don't remember what it was. That's about it.

Your nametag says "DISQUIET-247" and your operating system is named "Disquietude." It seems inaccurate to name you after what is clearly the name of your whole project, so 247 would probably be good for short.

You want to talk about what is outside of this room, where they came from, why they're here, and why there was no one here for so long before them? Is this an archaeological site? Some sort of derilect spacecraft floating forgotten through the cosmos? Wait no there's gravity; you remember that gravity means you must be on a planet.

Well your name isn't Disquiet, since that was part of the diagnostic program's name. It must be your... body model. Your number is more of an identifier. 247... 24-7? That's another time reference isn't it. 24 hours, 7 days a week! Like an all-hours convenience store. So why not take the name Connie, or Conrad, depending on gender.

...you should look at yourself in the mirror, I guess, but you're probably not going to like what you see. There is a reason it was removed, after all, and you've felt like your body is wrong. Remembering your old organic body would only enhance that feeling.

Go over some basic things to confirm you're both on the same page. Are they from Earth? Are we on Earth now? (maybe draw a world map to clarify what "Earth" is.)
Is 4361 far enough in the future that the positions of the continents would be significantly different? That could confirm that the date is correct.
You already know what the mirror will show. You don't need to use it just yet if you aren't ready, but you should try to get used to your new(?) appearance.

Silicon 2024/01/15(Mon)15:37 No. 1081106 ID: 1d6349
File 170536183103.png - (0.99MB , 3000x2000 , HU_00_016_A.png )

You wonder about the name Disquiet-247. On the one hand, that is a name. You know this, though you don't know how. Just like Shyama and Vijaya and Gamal are obviously names. It's not a surprise. Just a matter of differing culture, you figure. Very different. You know it's pronounced 'Disquiet-Two-Four-Seven'. Normal.
But considering it rationally, there is something kind of sinister about a name composed of such a negatively-connotated word and a cold number. You try to think of other names like that. A few come to mind.

'Anguish-Seven-Three-Nine'
'Rage-Eight-Two-Eight'
'Serenity-One-Zero-Zero'
'Excitement-Nine-Four-Seven'
'Regret-Five-Two-Eight'

But no context for them emerges.

It seems like a strange coincidence that the diagnostic program has such a similar name.

In any case Disquiet-247 is a mouthful and especially for what you assume are a bunch of non-English-speakers.
"The name tag reads 'Disquiet-Two-Four-Seven'," you say.
Shyama tries saying it. It doesn't come out quite right.

You say: "Yeah it's a bit long. Let's go with... 'Two-Four-Seven' or 'Disq'. Either works."
"Are you sure?", Shyama asks, "I can put in the effort to learn the full thing if you wish."
You shake your head. "No, that's all right.", you reassure him.
Shyama says: "All right, then. Nice to meet you, 'Disq'."

Silicon 2024/01/15(Mon)15:37 No. 1081107 ID: 1d6349
File 170536184964.gif - (657.51KB , 990x660 , HU_00_016_B.gif )

"So... Do you want the mirror?", he asks.

You have so many questions and you're apprehensive about your appearance. On the other hand, not knowing what you look like also makes you quite nervous. Better to rip off that band-aid early.

You take a deep breath. "Yeah, let's... Let's see it."
"All right.", he says and he pushes the little cassette recorder to the side to make more room for the mirror.
He raises it up and removes the cloth.

ANIMATED

Hmm...

Silicon 2024/01/15(Mon)15:38 No. 1081108 ID: 1d6349
File 170536189551.png - (197.64KB , 990x660 , HU_00_016_C.png )

Before you can even really register it, the sadness comes bubbling up inside of you.

"Uhm... Oh? Oh wow. I'm... I'm sorry. I have no idea where this is coming from.", you say.
You really don't. It's not like you're utterly hideous or anything. The feeling isn't even... anguish. Melancholy? Strong melancholy perhaps? The tears keep coming. Why do you have tear ducts anyway? This is so stupid.

Shyama speaks softly: "There's no need to apologise."

"Ugh it won't stop! This is so embarrassing!", you manage between sobs.
Shyama shakes his head. "It's really not. Take your time. I understand this is a lot to take in."

"I don't understand anything," you say, "I don't understand why I look the way I do and why looking at my face makes me so sad. I don't know who or where or when I am. I don't know what this important thing was that I was supposed to do. I remember cosmonauts and they seemed to treat me as some kind of archeological find. Was that you? When did that happen? Are you from Earth? Are we on Earth?"

Shyama waits patiently for you to finish. Then he says: "Well, I can answer some of those right now. The cosmonauts you remember were indeed us. We found you two days ago. We're from Earth, yes. You should know where you are, so instead of telling you, I'd like to try and see if we can't get you to remember by yourself."
These are not particularly satisfying answers.

"Perhaps we'll focus on the when for now?", he offers.

You take a minute to compose yourself and then you start rattling off the historic events you remembered earlier:

1CE - Estimated birth of major religious figure
570CE - Estimated birth of other major religious figure
May 29, 1453CE - The capital of the Byzantine Empire falls. (You draw a blank on the Kushani word for 'Byzantine')
October 12, 1492CE - Columbus lands in the Americas (What's Americas in Kushani?)
October 31, 1517CE - Martin Luther's 95 Theses begin the Protestant Reformation (Not sure what the right word for 'Protestant' is...)
July 14, 1789CE - The Bastille prison in Paris, France falls, beginning the French Revolution (You can't think of the Kushani words for 'France' and 'French')
May 24, 1844CE - Samuel Morse sends the first Telegraph message
June 28, 1914CE - the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sets off the events that lead to World War I.
August 6, 1945CE - The United States drops the first atomic bomb used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan. (You're making up a phrase for the United States...)
October 4, 1957CE - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, mankind's first artificial satellite into space, beginning the Space Race. (Soviet... Can't think of the right word...)
July 21, 1969CE - Niel Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 mission, becomes the first Human to walk on the surface of the Moon, ending the Moon Race.
1974CE - 1,679-bit binary radio message deliberately sent from Earth to whoever might be listening

Shyama listens to this with a downright placid expression, but you can see the goosebumps on the back of his hands. He thinks, then says: "I do not recognise most of these. The unnamed religious figures are a bit vague of course. That makes them difficult to place. You use a lot of names that I've never heard before. The Telegraph, the first artificial satellite and the first human on the moon are events I recognise, but I don't know this Soviet Union, nor Morse, nor Armstrong."

This makes you even more nervous about the whole 'when' question.

So Shyama doesn't remember that history? Then perhaps it has been... UNMADE! 😎

You should ask Shyama about any religious leaders or major religious figures he may know. We may need more help to put this mosaic together.

They remember the telegraph, but not Samuel Morse? The first man on the moon wasn't Neil Armstrong? That seems... very odd. Could their history have been tampered with, to change the names of anyone in it?

The feeling you experience is uh, disquiet. Which is a normal feeling to have, when whoever created, or reassembled you felt it important to install a holographic hair generator, but not actual hair.

The historic events you most recently remember are notably related to spaceflight. Satellites, Apollo 11, a message sent out into the stars. That's all that really indicates where you are. Somewhere that required pressurized hazard suits as a precaution, but does no longer. Somewhere likely in space. Somewhere involved in... message transmission? That's all you can figure out of all this. You should know, but you do not. A derilect, long lost space vessel still seems likely, but what would it be out here for, and why are you on it?

I guess maybe ask them what they know about the first person we walked on the moon and what not. Maybe they just lost the names to time or the names are called something else in their language. Like how Jesus sounds completely different in Spanish and English. (G-sus in English and hey-Zeus in Spanish)

Jesus Christ is a name so widely known and documented, that for it to be forgotten would suggest a major catastrophe and resetting of civilization. Yet they know about the telegraph and first satellite, major events at the time, but not much talked about after.
Ask if the phrase "History Unmade" means anything to them.

>>1081108
Tell her it sounds like you are from a different timeline. And if timelines branch like that, then... if they're trying to prevent a war in the past, all that will do is create a new timeline.

Considering the calendars are different, the difference between your two timelines must be from earlier than that. Somewhere in B.C., so... how about these events?

-331 CE: Alexander the Great conquers Persia
-221 CE: Qin Shi Huang unifies China
-146 CE: Roman conquest of Greece
-27 CE: Formation of Roman Empire

...hey, do you remember anything important happening in 2281 CE?

The earlier in the timeline religious figure is known by names such as Jesus, Iēsous, or Yeshua. Christianity is based on his life and teachings. The later religious figure is Prophet Mohammed, and Islam is based on his teachings.

How about this: Here's a list of major Earth religions in rough order from oldest to newest, from your memory:

Hinduism - Around 1500 BCE, with some older practices

Judaism - Around 2000-1500 BCE

Zoroastrianism - Around 1000 BCE

Shinto - Around 8th century BCE

Greek Polytheism - Around 8th century BCE

Buddhism - Around 6th-5th century BCE

Jainism - Around 6th-5th century BCE

Confucianism - 5th century BCE

Taoism - Around 4th century BCE

Roman Polytheism - Around 1st century BCE

Christianity - 1st century CE

Islam - 7th century CE

Sikhism - 15th century CE

Bahá'í Faith - 19th century CE

Wicca - 1950s CE

>>1081157

Agreed on the different timeline with a likely branching event; attempt to isolate the century where the branch likely took place. Or where they or you are having the dystopian memory modifications or intentional history rewriting and book burning or whatever, you're keeping your options open for possible causes.

Because if the event removed Jesus from the timeline... there are major discrepancies! Also ask, what event separates the Common Era from the Before Common Era divide? For example, your understanding was before the more neutral language was adopted, it was 'Before Christ' in English, or 'Ante Christum natum' in Latin for the equivalent 'Before Common Era' bit, that being in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. And 'Anno Domini', translated as 'Year of Our Lord', a reference to the time after Jesus was born, which was later replaced with the more religiously neutral 'Common Era'. So if not the supposed, though apparently ultimately probably miscalculated date of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, than what was the separation event of 1 BCE and 1 CE?

Silicon 2024/01/19(Fri)14:25 No. 1081376 ID: 2916f1
File 170570310677.png - (205.26KB , 990x660 , HU_00_017_A.png )

>>1081112
I'll point out that all those historical events are from earlier suggestions.


"What do you mean?", you ask, "You don't know Neil Armstrong? If it's not Armstrong, then who was first on the moon? Who invented the telegraph?"
Shyama takes another moment to ponder the question before saying: "I don't know who invented the telegraph off the top of my head. But I can tell you the first human on the moon was Gupta Dyaus in 2510."

You shake your head. You don't even know what to say to that.
You think. 2281 pops into your head. That year feels important. And not just because of the math. Yes, you're certain it's important. There is a sense of dread to it. And of anticipation. But you don't remember anything beyond that.
So you pivot.

"Right okay. Well... earlier I asked Vijaya and she said she has never heard of Jesus Christ before.", you say.
"I must admit," says Shyama, That does not ring a bell for me either.
You balk and say: "No? Iesos Cristos? Jesucristo? Yeshua? Isa bin Maryam?! No?!"
"Wait," Shyama interrupts, "Isa bin Maryam? That's a Muslim prophet, right?
You just stare for a moment. "You're joking. A Muslim prophet? You know Islam but not Christianity? The birth of Jesus is our year 1!"
Shyama takes a note and says: "I can't place that right now. I'm sure Gamal would know when Isa lived.

You slump in your chair.

"I give up. Why don't you tell me about a major religious figure?", you say.
Shyama says lightly: "Sure. The obvious one is year 0: Gautama Buddha achieves Parinirvana."
You're not immediately sure where that falls, but... If by Shyama's time it's 2512, that means Buddha lived only about 2500 years ago? But hey that's something, right there. They remember the Buddha.

Silicon 2024/01/19(Fri)14:25 No. 1081377 ID: 2916f1
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"Okay, earlier than Jesus then," you say, "-331 CE: Alexander the Great conquers... Uh... Persia. That's the one."
"Mmmh Haemian history." Shyama muses, That's Alexandros III of Macedon? That'd be around... year 200 I think.

"-221 CE: Qin Shi Huang unifies China.", you try.
"That sounds familiar but I'm not sure where to place it in history.", says Shyama.

You think of another: "-146 CE: Roman conquest of... uh... Macedon?"
Shyama smiles and says: "I was wondering when you were going to bring up Rome."
"Why is that?", you ask.
"There's Roman script all over this place." As he says this he points at the 'History Unmade' thing by the door.
"Oh... I guess.", you say.
Shyama takes more notes and says: "Anyway yes. That must be just before 432."

"Okay one more," you say, "-27 CE: Formation of the Roman Empire"
Shyama looks at you. "Roman Empire?" he asks, "three hundred years after Alexandros III?"
"Roughly?", you say, "I think."

You really hope you're remembering these years correctly.

Shyama looks at his notes with a deep frown. "Impossible.", he says quietly.
Vijaya chimes in trying to sound unconcerned but poorly masking her excitement. "You owe me your tofu rations," she says.

There is silence for a few seconds. You lick your dry lips. How do you put this in a way that isn't gonna sound like complete nonsense? You try: "Am I a time traveler?"
Shyama looks up at you, looking very exhausted. But he quickly regains his composure. Tucking a stray hair behind his ear he asks: "Do you think that's possible?"
Okay. You guess it did sound like nonsense.

"It would explain a lot.", you say, defensively. Vijaya nods.
Shyama takes more notes and shakes his head: "A number of better explanations present themselves. You're an amnesiac and the only context you seem to have for what year it is, is a computer screen. The screen might be wrong. You might be confused. You might have been fed lies all your life. Let's not jump to conclusions."

Silicon 2024/01/19(Fri)14:25 No. 1081378 ID: 2916f1
File 170570312598.png - (335.94KB , 990x660 , HU_00_017_C.png )

You've got another ace up your sleeve, though. You pause for dramatic effect, leaning back in your chair. You point at the logo by the door.
"Does that mean anything to you?", you ask, "'History Unmade'?"
Shyama turns to get another look. "Is that how it's pronounced? I figure the first word relates to 'history' in some way, but I'm drawing a blank on the second one. Granted, I'm not that well-versed in ancient Roman."
"It's English" you say, "It means 'History Unmade'. Or 'undone', 'removed', 'deleted'."

There is a pause. Shyama's face is unreadable.

Vijaya says: "Holy shit."

So we can establish a baseline here. In your calendar system, Siddhartha Gautama becomes the Buddha sometime in the 6th or 5th century BCE, so that gives you a range of the discrepancy between the two calendar systems at least. Try and confirm events before that, though. Do older religions and religious figures exist?

Time to make history! Again! Try not to lose it this time!

So we've established a very rough set of timelines, lets put a pin in that for now.
What kind of tech level are they at? Because of the space suits I had assumed that they came to our location, but now it seems like we are the interloper in their timeline. So are we on a spaceship? Did this facility just appear or was it discovered?

>>1081382

And of course -331 to their year 200 gets you more accurate.

But you can maybe start to figure out where things diverged with more detail. What do they know of pre-buddha faiths and the like. Judaism is a bit more specific on the timeline than Hinduism, which is a bit more mythological. Give dates in both you calendar and theirs, but in yours Moses and the Exodus from Egypt is placed at around 1312 BCE, King Saul at 1025 BCE, King David at 1010 BCE, King Solomon at 970 BCE with the completion of his temple at Jerusalem at 960 BCE. This is the first temple, not the second. Again those dates are in your calendar.

Language might also be useful. In your calendar, Latin itself, the original language to use that script, came about at around 700 BCE. As far as that language, it isn't derived specifically from Latin, not being a 'Romance Language', but the script is; Old English began at about 450 CE, Middle English at about 1100 CE, and Modern English -- THAT -- at about 1500 CE. Again, your calendar.

Romance languages, that is languages more wholly derived from Latin, would be things like Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian, which began to develop in their 'old' forms at around 9th century CE, and took centuries to standardize, with, for example, Italian -- the language of the people who live where Rome is -- changing notably at about the 10th century CE and becoming much more standardized in 1472 with the publication of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Though without Christianity in this timeline, that probably doesn't exist.

I mean, branching timelines or historical revisionism is one thing. But Islam existing without Christianity preceding it? The book-burners or the time travelers are either lazy or incompetent!

Year 0 of HU is 2281 CE. HU would be History Unmade. So, 2281 CE would be the year something important was changed, I imagine. Though... honestly this doesn't make a lot of sense. If you're a time traveler, why are you in a time period where history doesn't match yours? Shouldn't you have gone back in time along your own timeline, rather than jump to an alternate history?
I wonder if what happened was that you were a time traveler, but you were sent TOO FAR into the past, which meant you had to WAIT until you could change the event you were sent here to change, but something went wrong and your presence here somehow changed the course of history via butterfly effect?

>The birth of Jesus is our year 1
Not strictly true. The calendar is a bit off, it's more like 4 BC for Jesus's birth. Blame the guy who made the date system ~100 years later, and the fact that they didn't have very good written records back then.

Anyway, ask her why the Roman Empire thing gave her pause. What happened to Rome in her timeline?

Yeah, we have a rough estimate of CE and theirs line up as numerical timelines - and we also have a lead for where these timelines diverged in content.

"Okay, sounds like the divergence in my understanding of history has to do with something happening to the Roman Republic before it could become the Roman Empire, or something earlier that led to that. Who won the Punic Wars in your version of history - Rome or Carthage?"

"Also, I'm still confused about how you know of the Islamic faith on account of it being an offshoot branch of Christianity in my timeline. What, did Mohammad interpret the Buddha instead of Jehovah as being Allah? ... Wait, the Judaic god Jehovah's supposed to predate the birth of Jesus by like a thousand years - how do you not know that name?"

Silicon 2024/01/21(Sun)09:57 No. 1081522 ID: 815fee
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There's an intoxicating mix of dread and excitement churning in your stomach as your mind races to put the pieces together.

"Let's bear this out,", you say, "Say for the sake of argument that I remember a different timeline from yours."
Shyama sighs quietly.
"For the sake of argument!", you emphasize. Vijaya nods enthusiastically.
Shyama nods, turns over a page on his writing pad and says: "For the sake of argument, fine. What then?"
"We agree roughly on a couple of events in ancient history, but not on the modern stuff. I'd like to confirm that older events still happened the same. So here are a few more major world religions and related events."
"Look, I'm not a historian. None of us are historians. I don't think this is going to yield very exact year numbers." he says.

After a bit of back and forth, you do indeed fail to get very exact numbers, but you can at least confirm the existence of and learn or be reminded of Kushani words for: Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism (largely dead), Shinto (dead), Greek and Roman Polytheism (dead), Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism (dead), Taoism and Islam.

Shyama cannot confirm the existence of Christianity, Sikhism, Baha'i and Wicca. It's not lost on you that Islam without Christianity preceding it should be impossible. It doesn't make sense. However, you don't see how asking Shyama about that is gonna be helpful. Perhaps you can ask Gamal about it later.

You also try to confirm the spread of Romance languages and the evolution of the English language, but this doesn't seem to be Shyama's area of expertise. He can tell you that no modern language aside from your 'English' uses the Latin alphabet. Apparently the Greek alphabet is used by most languages in Western Haemia, whatever that is.

You decide to pull on that thread a bit more.

"When I mentioned the Roman Empire, that gave you pause. Why is that? What happened to Rome?", you ask.
Shyama looks at you with concern when he says: "You really don't know? You seem to have retained a pretty thorough overview of history, divergent as it may be. I'm a bit concerned where this conversation is going. Are you sure you're ready for this one?"
Vijaya chimes in again: "For fuck's sake Shyama. We're running out of time!"
Shyama sighs: "You're right."
He sets down his pen. He presses a button on the cassette recorder and then another to pop it open. He switches out the cassette for another one. He presses the record button.
"This is session one, cassette two, 6th of Pausha Waning, 2512."

He turns to you.
"432, Western Haemia," he says, gravely, "the Apennine Cataclysm."

Silicon 2024/01/21(Sun)09:57 No. 1081523 ID: 815fee
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"Our best source on the matter is an 8th century Greek translation of a contemporary Latin account. The event coincides with a meteor shower visible over most of Haemia. It speaks of lights in the sky above the Apennine peninsula briefly shining brighter than the sun. People looking up are struck permanently blind.
"It records dozens of explosions in the countryside, roughly centered on the city of Rome, turning villages and farmland to dust and rubble.
"A particularly large and bright explosion is recorded off the western coast. It blows apart even stone buildings of nearby port towns. The number of dead is incalculable.
"Afterwards the peninsula and surrounding regions are described as 'blighted land'. People sicken, often fatally. Children both human and animal are born 'twisted'. Even plant life comes out warped and strange for decades."

Shyama pauses, then adds: "The Roman Republic collapsed soon after."

Silicon 2024/01/21(Sun)09:58 No. 1081524 ID: 815fee
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...

Silicon 2024/01/21(Sun)09:58 No. 1081525 ID: 815fee
File 170585990070.png - (211.17KB , 990x660 , HU_00_018_D.png )

Jesus Christ

Sounds like somebody freaking NUKED rome.

>>1081527
Hang on that raises another question, does this timeline know about atomic weapons?

"So, wait, you are telling me that someone detonated multiple different types of atomic weapons on an iron age polity, the Roman Republic, and you all didn't consider meddling by an extrasolar intelligence or an acausal event with timeline branching as one of your top hypotheses? And the nuclear events were such that not only were cities annihilated, but large amounts of surrounding areas were irradiated? That sounds like some of the events maybe were thermonuclear fusion rather than just nuclear fission bombs! What does your radioisotope analysis in the soil, water, and vegetation, your crater analysis, your tree ring analysis, your long term mutation analysis, and your geological sediment analysis say about the details and the particulars of the events?"

Why, though? Rome wasn't directly responsible for any major disasters that I can recall.

>>1081533
I think Rome was meant to make a statement that nothing is immutable for HU.

>>1081532

"Specifically you are looking for Uranium-235, Uranium-238, Plutonium-239, Plutonium-240, and if there is a spike in Carbon-14, that implies the use of fusion weaponry, and if there isn't a large spike in that, it implies fission weaponry instead. All of these have half-lives in the at least the thousands of years so should still be detectable."

>>1081533

Rome was a major disaster. I'm shocked that civilization was impeded by its destruction.

2080 years ago. That's our History Unmade event.

>>1081614

Eh, I'm not sure that's necessarily the case. They acted like a typical empire. Now the Mongols, THEY were a disaster! Destroyed the largest city on the planet at the time!

Ok, here's a totally different question:
Do either of you know who Adolf Hitler was?

>>1081528
>>1081535
Don't you understand, with no Einstein there is no nuclear weapons because we have altered the space-time continuum! Ohh, who knows what nightmares we have created...

>>1081645
Gimme a break, of course nuclear weapons were discovered without Einstein.

>>1081664

These bits here are a cultural reference to an obscure game for the Windows Personal Computer that a generation of nerds grew up with, with a plot involved time travel adjusting timelines around World War II with unintended consequences, a take on a common theme in science fiction for several decades.

>>1081645
>>1081623

>>1081724
Well if it hit Rome, it could have been a Tiberium meteor instead. Just sayin'.

>>1081724
I'm the one who made that second post. Mostly because there was no mention of WW2 yet, just the bomb that ended the war.

Hey everybody, thanks for reading and/or playing. It's been a blast so far.

I am taking a bit of a break, but hope to get started on Part 1 next week.

Until then, feel free to hypothesize and roast me over on the brand new Quest Discussion Thread: https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/141592.html