Do you always sleep in a magic gender swap pod?

I know you've got a headache and all, but there seems to be something written over on the right. See what it says?

Perhaps that note will explain.

Oph-{?}-an!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)20:46 No. 639553 ID: 26e769
File 143131598695.png - (100.59KB , 1000x600 , 2.png )

>Do you always sleep in a magic gender swap pod?

What? That’s ridiculous. No, it’s a - Fuck! Ow! My head!

>I know you've got a headache and all, but there seems to be something written over on the right. See what it says?
>Perhaps that note will explain.

Yeah, okay. Let’s see…

…are you serious?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)20:46 No. 639554 ID: 26e769
File 143131601175.png - (36.91KB , 1000x600 , 3.png )

Those complete idiots! They not only put me in the wrong skull, but they corrupted my memory?!

Yeah, no wonder I have a headache, a few corrupted glutamates would certainly do that, and they might even give me a fucking aneurysm while they’re at it!

well might as well let them know your alive again and chew them out for fucking your operation up while you're at it.

>>639554
Why is the log duplicated and the paper shaped that way? Follow the directions and call uh that person.

So... you uploaded your consciousness out of your skull, and then the server put you back in the wrong one?

Time to go find IT and throw a bitch fest.

Um. Do you even need to be uploaded again? Or will we just wipe this corrupted instance of yourself, and download the right people to the right bodies?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)21:17 No. 639563 ID: 26e769
File 143131784454.png - (32.45KB , 1000x600 , 4.png )

>So... you uploaded your consciousness out of your skull, and then the server put you back in the wrong one? Time to go find IT and throw a bitch fest.

I am IT.

>Why is the log duplicated and the paper shaped that way?

It’s… good, that neural connection is still okay. It’s a redundant terminal. It performs the same actions as its twin, and acts as a substitute if the normal one doesn’t work.

Redundancy is important. You’ve got to be careful when you’re dealing with - God damn it that hurts! Okay, so, clearly, a lot of my neural connections are shot. I’ll have to see a doctor about that. Or a programmer, maybe.

>well might as well let them know your alive again and chew them out for fucking your operation up while you're at it.
>Follow the directions and call uh that person.

“Mnemosyne!” I yell. “Relay message: fuck you guys! You put me into the wrong body, you idiots! And if this is your idea of a joke, know that I might fucking keel over and die of a brain aneurysm at any second! Ha ha, very funny, you assholes!”

“Message relayed. Anything else, mistress Ophidian?”

“Do not change my pronouns, Mnemosyne!”

“Understood. Anything else, master Ophidian?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)21:18 No. 639564 ID: 26e769
File 143131789894.png - (27.08KB , 1000x600 , 5.png )

“Can you lead me to the brain bank - I mean, the Moneta servers? And please make it simple, because my neurology is fucked to high heaven and the wrong word could kill me.”

“Understood. Exit through the door to your left.”

I walk up to the door. It doesn’t open. “Um, Mnemosyne?”

‘Minor door failure. Door is not registering master Ophidian’s clearance due to new form.”

“Fantastic.” Now what?

other then the body swap anything happening that I should be aware of?

>>639564
your IT right? any chance of you being able to hot wire the door open? If not how would one go about registering themselves so they could leave a room?

>die of an aneurism
Wait. Um, does it matter if you die? That means this body is fucked, and whoever owns it will never get home. And this instance of your consciousness terminates. But can't they just re-download you from the server to the right body regardless?

The server doesn't wipe its local copy when it downloads, right? That seems a bad idea from a data integrity standpoint. No way to recover from a corrupted download.

>I am IT.
Who's IT when you're out of it?

>Minor door failure. Door is not registering master Ophidian’s clearance due to new form.
Override? Or try the clearance that's native to this body?

...who am I riding around in, anyways?

>>639564
Tell Mnemosyne to give you clearance.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)21:48 No. 639577 ID: 26e769
File 143131973044.png - (31.52KB , 1000x600 , 6.png )

>Who's IT when you're out of it?

Jo. And she’s the one who put my in this body.

>...who am I riding around in, anyways?

Good question. “Hey, Mnemosyne! Who am I?”

“You are master Ophidian, Starlight incorporated, first-class engineer.”

“No, I mean my body. Who am I riding around in?”

“Doctor Catherine Kosheti, Graduated from medical school approximately half an Earth year ago.”

“Catherine, huh? Yeah, I thought I felt like a Cathy.”

>try the clearance that's native to this body?

Her clearance would have automatically kicked in once I approached the door.

>your IT right? any chance of you being able to hot wire the door open? If not how would one go about registering themselves so they could leave a room?
>Override?

I could probably hotwire it. Let’s see…

Got it, I think. Yeah, there we go.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)21:49 No. 639578 ID: 26e769
File 143131975224.png - (28.78KB , 1000x600 , 7.png )

>Wait. Um, does it matter if you die? That means this body is fucked, and whoever owns it will never get home. And this instance of your consciousness terminates. But can't they just re-download you from the server to the right body regardless?

I imagine Catherine probably wouldn’t be happy with me. Considering my entire job is to keep people like her safe, I would get into a lot of trouble. Also, as a corrupted consciousness, I am technically an entirely new Ophidian, so my individuality would be lost. Also, I’m a copy, I just realized. That sucks, but whatever.

>The server doesn't wipe its local copy when it downloads, right? That seems a bad idea from a data integrity standpoint. No way to recover from a corrupted download.

No, but if something’s gone wrong with the brain bank, this version of myself could end up being the only Ophidian. And this body might become my permanent residence. Ick.

“Okay, so now what, Mnemosyne?”

Silence.

“…Mnemosyne?”

Great. Now she’s cut out. They’re probably rebooting everything, which means they’re in deep shit and don’t know how to fix it. I reiterate: great.

So now I don’t have a guide. Not like this is an easy place to get lost, or anything.

If you're a fork, and the original Ophidian survives, then what happens to you? Presumably Cathy will want her body back, and Ophidian-prime will keep your old one.

>So now I don’t have a guide. Not like this is an easy place to get lost, or anything.
Look to your left and right. We're looking for something that's not a storage bay for bodies.

ok so any idea where you office is? I mean it sounds like you'd have been through here often since your job was to make sure all this shit works and stays working so any land marks or "you are here" maps for you to use to find your way back to your office? I mean once there you should figure out what the hell went wrong and be able to better fix it/let your underlings know just how bad they fucked up.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)22:33 No. 639586 ID: 26e769
File 143132243789.png - (38.89KB , 1000x600 , 8.png )

>If you're a fork, and the original Ophidian survives, then what happens to you? Presumably Cathy will want her body back, and Ophidian-prime will keep your old one.

They’ll probably turn me into an AI or something. Which sucks, but, hey, better than death. If I get to a doctor or a programmer soon, they might even be able to repair me enough to put me in line with the other Ophidian, and they can upload me as an updated version. Either way, now that Cathy’s body has been revived, they’ll probably need someone to take care of it until we can put it on ice again, and since I’m already in here… yeah. No sense shoving her back in unless we need her for something.

>ok so any idea where you office is? I mean it sounds like you'd have been through here often since your job was to make sure all this shit works and stays working

I’m trying not to remember too much, in case I run across a corrupted memory. Still, no sense wasting time before fixing this mess. My office is - damn it! Ow! Fuck! Nope, not gonna happen. I’ll have to find my way there on my own, from scratch.

> so any land marks or "you are here" maps for you to use to find your way back to your office? I mean once there you should figure out what the hell went wrong and be able to better fix it/let your underlings know just how bad they fucked up.

Maps. I told them to put in more maps when they were building this thing. But did they listen? No.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)22:34 No. 639587 ID: 26e769
File 143132245828.png - (33.88KB , 1000x600 , 9.png )

>Look to your left and right. We're looking for something that's not a storage bay for bodies.

Right. Ah, there we go - a secure lift.

”Excuse me, Catherine Kosheti, but you are not due to be revived for several months. Please return to your quarters and re-initialize your storage pod.”

…this has to all be some sick joke. Please. I wouldn’t even be mad. I would be impressed.

What the hell do I do here?

Got an override or some sort of ID code/number?

If you are IT you should have override codes for things like this.

The only problem is remembering them. If it doesn't come to mind what is the best way to disable that thing.

"server error, i need to get to the offices to repair it."

Oh wait. you were just talking about AI. Any chance this thing can be convinced that you aren't Cathy?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)23:07 No. 639593 ID: 26e769
File 143132446092.png - (36.73KB , 1000x600 , 10.png )

>Oh wait. you were just talking about AI. Any chance this thing can be convinced that you aren't Cathy?

Depends on whether it’s uploaded or coded. I’ll give it a shot.

>"server error, i need to get to the offices to repair it."

“I’m chief engineer Ophidian. There’s been a server error, and as a result I’ve been placed into the body of Catherine Kosheti. I need to repair the Moneta servers. Please let me through.”

”Please return to your quarters and re-initialize your storage pod.”

Damn. It’s coded. No intelligent conversation to be found here.

>Got an override or some sort of ID code/number?
>If you are IT you should have override codes for things like this. The only problem is remembering them. If it doesn't come to mind what is the best way to disable that thing.

Disabling the robot is out of the question. It’s designed specifically so it can’t be disabled easily.

I do have an override code. If I force myself, I might be able to remember it. But it could hurt.

It could hurt a lot.

Is there anything you can think of doing that doesn't involve scrambling your brain meats and agonizing pain? Alternate routes? Maybe a ladder?

Probably better to just tell it there is an emergency somewhere else to get it out of your hair, then.

If its so badly coded it cant prioritize issues, and you cant stick it in a paradox loop, then you may as well just try running past it and activating the lift nice and quick.

Unless these things have some sort of tasers, anesthetic darts, or are otherwise capable of inconveniencing you way more than its worth.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/10(Sun)23:49 No. 639596 ID: 26e769
File 143132694492.png - (24.25KB , 1000x600 , 11.png )

>If its so badly coded it cant prioritize issues, and you cant stick it in a paradox loop, then you may as well just try running past it and activating the lift nice and quick. Unless these things have some sort of tasers, anesthetic darts, or are otherwise capable of inconveniencing you way more than its worth.

It does, in fact, have tasers. Three of them, on the top of the chassis, each magnetically propelled and heat-seeking.

>Is there anything you can think of doing that doesn't involve scrambling your brain meats and agonizing pain? Alternate routes? Maybe a ladder?

After a quick bit of searching, I find a garbage chute. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be able to fit, but in this body, I might just be able to pull it off. If my engineer instincts are correct, the garbage disposal system would probably have a chute that leads somewhere closer to the brain bank.

>Probably better to just tell it there is an emergency somewhere else to get it out of your hair, then.

That might work, depending… but I would need to make the emergency a big one to get the robot to leave its post.

Given there are people who want to get back to their bodies an emergency big enough to get the bot away from the elevator is a bad idea.

Lets try the chute.

CAN you paradox it? tell to to make a set containing all sets.

>but I would need to make the emergency a big one to get the robot to leave its post.
the brain bank is failing and comms are down so you need it to send a message to engineering and let them know the problem so they can fix it? Hey if it works not only can you pass but it will also lead you to your office. Thinking the garbage chute is going to have to be our exit sadly.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)00:32 No. 639606 ID: 26e769
File 143132954133.png - (33.04KB , 1000x600 , 12.png )

>CAN you paradox it? tell to to make a set containing all sets.

That’s not a paradox. A set of all sets simply contains itself.

Besides, it wouldn’t listen to my orders anyway.

>the brain bank is failing and comms are down so you need it to send a message to engineering and let them know the problem so they can fix it? Hey if it works not only can you pass but it will also lead you to your office.

I pretty much tried that before. No luck.

>Lets try the chute.
>Thinking the garbage chute is going to have to be our exit sadly.

…and the best day ever gets just a little bit better.

Oh well. Here goes nothing.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)00:32 No. 639607 ID: 26e769
File 143132956274.png - (42.73KB , 1000x600 , 13.png )

The crawl down the chute goes well enough, although I don’t think Cathy smells particularly pleasant anymore. (But, hey, the musty smell of the pods wasn’t exactly perfume in the first place.) At the end of the chute, I find some cheap metal bars. Despite them ostensibly being there to prevent people from doing exactly what I’m doing, I could probably bend them with my bare hands.

We really need to get around to installing a more state-of-the-art safety system, here.

Below me is a rapidly speeding blade designed to cut up garbage. There might be a subroutine designed to shut it down when it detects nearby organisms, but I don’t exactly want to test that theory. To each side of me, there is a very thin ledge leading to other chutes. It looks like the bars on each of the chutes have gone through some serious wear and tear, so I think I could slip in.

That being said, this is unbelievably dangerous. If I can find a way to break or disable the blades, it would be a lot easier.

brake the bars and throw them into the fan? If you do that though make sure you back up a little in the chute so you don't get hit by ricochet debris that may or may not be kicked up with you throw metal bars into a metal fan.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)01:57 No. 639619 ID: 26e769
File 143133465156.png - (36.97KB , 1000x600 , 14.png )

>brake the bars and throw them into the fan? If you do that though make sure you back up a little in the chute so you don't get hit by ricochet debris that may or may not be kicked up with you throw metal bars into a metal fan.

Simple enough. I carefully snap the bars off. It takes a bit more than I was expecting, but I realize it’s just because my new hands aren’t used to heavy lifting. They’re a doctor’s hands.

The squeezing and crawling back up the chute and the cautious positioning makes me more uncomfortably aware of my new feminine physiology than I have ever been before.

All set. I throw the bars…

I can hear a nasty grinding, but then the whirring continues.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)01:57 No. 639620 ID: 26e769
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Damn it! It wasn’t enough. The grinder was stronger than the bars.

I’m going to need something more clunky if I want to jam up the machine.

...could you head back up the chute and just throw something big and metal down the chute from back in the labs? I mean with the bars out of the way it should just free fall into the fan right?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)02:13 No. 639623 ID: 26e769
File 143133562491.png - (32.72KB , 1000x600 , 16.png )

>...could you head back up the chute and just throw something big and metal down the chute from back in the labs? I mean with the bars out of the way it should just free fall into the fan right?

…That should work.

I'm not sure what I could use, though.

well let's look around.

what about the table from the room you woke up in?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)02:52 No. 639627 ID: 26e769
File 143133792827.png - (33.06KB , 1000x600 , 17.png )

>well let's look around.

I crawl back up the chute once again. It remains an unsettling experience.

>what about the table from the room you woke up in?

That would certainly work, but I couldn’t fit the whole table down the chute.

Still, I wouldn’t need all of it. Even a few of the legs would work.

I’m not sure how I could break the table, though. I don’t know if I could even lift it like I am now.

Being in somebody else’s body is so weird. Even more so when it’s a girl’s body.

How am I going to pull this off?

any tools or something you could use to brake the thing? I mean this place is medical right? have to have a bone saw or something tough around here somewhere.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)03:09 No. 639630 ID: 26e769
File 143133895874.png - (27.93KB , 1000x600 , 18.png )

>any tools or something you could use to brake the thing?

I can’t think of any. Except maybe my engineering skill set. Sort of. But I can’t imagine how that could be useful here.

> I mean this place is medical right? have to have a bone saw or something tough around here somewhere.

Huh? This isn’t Medical. This is Resurrection Bay E. As far as I know, all that there is around here is a vast supply of bodies.

Is the table in one piece? Or are the legs screwed on? You might be able to just dismantle it outright with a coin or something.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)03:19 No. 639634 ID: 26e769
File 143133954361.png - (28.03KB , 1000x600 , 19.png )

>Is the table in one piece? Or are the legs screwed on? You might be able to just dismantle it outright with a coin or something.

Now there's an idea, let me just check if-

"Good morning, Catherine. I am Mnemosyne, your automated caretaker. How can I help you today?

...what.

well fuck it, if you could find some organic matter around her you could test that safety feature you said the fan had. And if it works that also will mean it's probably going to be easier to fix once you throttle the neck of the asshat that fucked everything up forcing you to deal with all this shit.

>>639634
uh... update on the ship and crew's condition. That and see if it can't get into contact with someone to help you fix this mess.

Great. Looks like they purged her memory as well as resetting her.

Try to get her to recognize you as whom you really are. If that fails ask to contact someone in IT to help you.

Don't suppose there's any way we could get the robot down the chute?

Honestly the chute seems like the better option regardless of guards; it has labels.

Suggestion 2015/05/11(Mon)05:04 No. 639649 ID: 88960e

Is Mnemosyne an uploaded or coded intelligence? What are your odds of meaningful conversation?

Try just telling Mnemosyne where you need to go, and asking her to direct you / open a path. Possibly lie that there's a medical emergency and you're needed.

I somehow expect if you try to explain who you really are, she won't listen.

Er.. try playing along? See if you can get temporary permission to access the medical bay due to an emergency?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)08:32 No. 639681 ID: 26e769
File 143135834897.png - (30.81KB , 1000x600 , 20.png )

>Great. Looks like they purged her memory as well as resetting her.

Those idiots! Without her flash memory, she would have no idea that I’ve been transplanted!

>Is Mnemosyne an uploaded or coded intelligence? What are your odds of meaningful conversation?

She’s an upload. Which does give me some leeway.

>Try to get her to recognize you as whom you really are.

“Mnemosyne, I’m not Catherine Kosheti. I just got traced into her body, okay?” I try to keep my voice calm. “I’m Ophidian, the chief engineer. There was an error with the Moneta servers.”

“Understood. Please confirm identity with personal identification code.”

“I can’t. I’m corrupted.”

“I’m sorry. Without your identification code, there is no way for me to confirm your identity. Until that point, I can’t give you the clearance of your claimed identity. I can, however, refer to you as Ophidian, if you wish.”

>If that fails ask to contact someone in IT to help you.

“I guess that’s better than nothing. Look, even if I was Catherine Kosheti, I could still send a message to engineering, right?”

“Certainly. However, all members of the engineering department are unavailable, due to unexpected server failure. Would you like to be put on hold?”

Hah. I’m not getting through to them for a long time, if ever. They must think I’m already on my way. Or, if they’re all busy with this thing… what kind of error did we have?!

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)08:33 No. 639682 ID: 26e769
File 143135838847.png - (28.25KB , 1000x600 , 21.png )

>Er.. try playing along? See if you can get temporary permission to access the medical bay due to an emergency?
>Possibly lie that there's a medical emergency and you're needed.

I feel sick to my stomach, but… it’s the only way. “…forget what I was saying before. Resurrection jitters, you know? I am Catherine, actually. Sorry! I was just a little confused. Tee hee. I received a message just a little while ago saying there was an urgent medical emergency in the Moneta server rooms. Can you give me clearance to access that part of the ship? And hurry, please. I can’t waste any time.”

There is a pause, Which, for an AI, is exceptional. She must be really baffled. “…Understood. Access granted for medical bay, Doctor Kosheti.”

“What? But I need to get to the server room!”

“The server room is currently unfit for human life. I can’t give you clearance for that area unless you are equipped with a safe-suit.”

Holy shit. ‘Unfit for human life’? What did they do?!

Whatever. I have to get there. So what’s my next step?

>>639682
Get to the medical bay while assessing the overall integrity of the structure en-route?

Ask for her to give you clearance to the nearest safe-suit storage.

...wait. I just had a terrible thought. Maybe this isn't an accident. Maybe your peers uploaded you to the wrong body on purpose, because they need you to fix this, but the disaster already killed you. You're not an accident, but the emergency backup.

Ask the location and medical status of chief engineer Ophidian prime.

Ask what happened and directions to acquiring a safe suit?

could we get permission to head to a different part of the ship? Like medbay? It may not be your office but there might be some other way for us to move around there. Also we might run across someone and get this shit sorted out.

Well at least we know that crawling through the garbage chute to the server room would be a VERY BAD IDEA.

>>639684
Good ideas.

Thought: in case it becomes relevant, it seems possible to me that since without remembering your code, you cannot be reclassified as Ophidian, Mnemosyne may continue to grant you Catherine's clearances even if you claimed to be Ophidian. I don't know whether you should test it at this point, though.

Wait, have the redundant displays flushed or cleared? Don't those show a log of a corrupted Ophidian being installed in this shell? That might qualify as proof of identity.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)18:21 No. 639766 ID: 26e769
File 143139368929.png - (37.51KB , 1000x600 , 22.png )

>Wait, have the redundant displays flushed or cleared? Don't those show a log of a corrupted Ophidian being installed in this shell? That might qualify as proof of identity.

The terminal’s blank. They must have rebooted everything.

>directions to acquiring a safe suit?
>Ask for her to give you clearance to the nearest safe-suit storage.

“Mnemosyne, where is the nearest safe-suit from my location?”

“The medical bay contains three safe suits, one of which is currently in use.”

>Get to the medical bay

I head over to the lift once again. This time, the robot has no complaints. Fuck yeah. I hop on.

>while assessing the overall integrity of the structure en-route?

So far, the ship seems very intact. Then again, it’s not the hull I’m worried about. The Torellia is designed to survive almost anything with only a skeleton crew. I’m pretty sure that, no matter what, nothing could stop it from reaching Mars on time. Whether any of the passengers will have brains when it arrives, however… That’s my job. Tending to the brain bank.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)18:23 No. 639767 ID: 26e769
File 143139378474.png - (36.53KB , 1000x600 , 23.png )

>...wait. I just had a terrible thought. Maybe this isn't an accident. Maybe your peers uploaded you to the wrong body on purpose, because they need you to fix this, but the disaster already killed you. You're not an accident, but the emergency backup.

That… is entirely possible. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Even those chucklefucks wouldn’t put me into the wrong body as a joke, and they’re competent enough that they wouldn’t force a corrupt consciousness… unless they had no other choice.

>Ask the location and medical status of chief engineer Ophidian prime.

“Mnemosyne, can you tell me the location and medical status of chief engineer Charles Ophidian?”

“Location: Moneta server room two. Medical status: Chief engineer Ophidian is deceased. Body temperature is room level. All indications point to death by radiation poisoning. The body is currently in the autolysis stage of decomposition.”

“…thank you, Mnemosyne.”

“You’re welcome, Catherine.”

Well. Apparently, I’m dead.

This really is just the worst day.

>>639767
do you have a spare body? if not what would it take to get one. Well just one more reason to get to the brain bank to make sure everything isn't completely fucked.

>you're dead
Looks like you can't be blaming them for fucking things up, anymore. You were there, and you couldn't stop it either.

Is cloning a thing? If you reach your destination intact, could a new body be grown for you? Seems silly to go through the trouble of making a backup brain bank but not keeping a comparable genetic library.

Follow up question: ask Mnemosyne what percentage of the crew is currently deceased. If it's a low number, ask for a list of deceased. Let's see how badly we've been hit.

>uploaded to the wrong body on purpose
Next obvious question is why this body, in particular. Close to where you need to go? Most compatible brain-match?

>because morbid loves company
...so how did you die, Mnemosyne?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)19:30 No. 639781 ID: 26e769
File 143139780211.png - (32.64KB , 1000x600 , 24.png )

>...so how did you die, Mnemosyne?

“Hey, Mnemosyne. How did you become an AI?”

“I was a very slightly corrupted download of Joanne Wilcox, a librarian. Due to my mutation, I was re-uploaded as the Mnemosyne AI, while a less corrupted version of Joanne returned to her life. All in all, I consider this an improvement. Why do you ask, Catherine?”

“…no reason.”

>do you have a spare body? if not what would it take to get one.

A cybernetic body? That would cost more than I could realistically make in three lifetimes.

I don’t even have one lifetime.

>Is cloning a thing? If you reach your destination intact, could a new body be grown for you? Seems silly to go through the trouble of making a backup brain bank but not keeping a comparable genetic library.

Cloning? That’s ridiculous. Even if I did get cloned, the clone would have to grow into adulthood normally, and by that point it would have its own identity.

The only hope left to me is the possibility of reaching my body before it fully decomposes. It’s a long shot, but it might still be recoverable. It would doubtless have organ damage by this point, but… It’s better than nothing.

I feel sick.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)19:30 No. 639782 ID: 26e769
File 143139783635.png - (32.15KB , 1000x600 , 25.png )

>Next obvious question is why this body, in particular. Close to where you need to go? Most compatible brain-match?

I don’t know. It’s definitely not the first one, at any rate. There’s a resurrection bay right next to the brain bank. I’m not sure why they put me into Catherine. Maybe they just picked randomly.

>Well just one more reason to get to the brain bank to make sure everything isn't completely fucked.

Yeah, yeah. I’ve still got a job to do.

As I approach the medical bay, a man in a safe-suit calls out to me.

“Hey! Stop. Who are you?”

…What do I say?

"I was woken up and told that they found out something went wrong with my pod and to report to medical to check for damage while they fixed it."

>A cybernetic body? That would cost more than I could realistically make in three lifetimes.
Do AIs earn a salary? You might have a few lifetimes, if you survive this.

>“Hey! Stop. Who are you?”
Someone woke and ordered to report to Moneta servers by acting Chief Engineer, Jo [whatever her surname is]. That's the important part.

Sore subjectively, you might I'm Catherine Kosheti née Charles Ophidian.

>I’m not sure why they put me into Catherine. Maybe they just picked randomly.
...or you've been burning through forks left and right trying to stem this disaster. No guarantee Catherine was the first.

Might want to ask Mnemosyne how many people have been revived today who claimed to be Ophidian, confirmed or not.

>>639786
>Might want to ask Mnemosyne how many people have been revived today who claimed to be Ophidian, confirmed or not.

No way to tell at the moment. She got memory wiped. We'll probably find out once we do inventory.

>What to say?
Tell the truth. Someone decided to put you in a body that isn't yours and you are here first get checked out, then hopefully help with the ongoing emergency.

so what is the point of brain backups for everyone if only rich people can afford to have something to put the backup on?

>>639782
Ask Mnemosyne who's wearing the safe suit.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)23:14 No. 639813 ID: 26e769
File 143141127545.png - (40.89KB , 1000x600 , 26.png )

>so what is the point of brain backups for everyone if only rich people can afford to have something to put the backup on?

When the human body dies, brain cells decompose within minutes. The point of the back-ups in the Moneta servers is simple: the body is revived, the brain is restored (without its memories), and then the appropriate memories are transplanted into the brain in the form of a modifiable synaptic overlay, with a focus on glutamate-based neural connections.

The backups are stored in the servers, and everyone already has a body. Why would they need two?

>"I was woken up and told that they found out something went wrong with my pod and to report to medical to check for damage while they fixed it."

“I was woken up, wastold that they found out something went wrong with my pod, and was asked to report to medical to check for damage while I wait for my pod to be repaired.”

“That’s not what I asked. Who are you?”

>Someone woke and ordered to report to Moneta servers by acting Chief Engineer, Jo [whatever her surname is]. That's the important part.

“I’m just someone who woke up and was ordered to report to Moneta servers by an engineer named Jo.”

“No, no… What’s your name?”

>Sore subjectively, you might I'm Catherine Kosheti née Charles Ophidian.

“Back off, would you? Look, if you really want to know, you might say I’m Catherine Koshe-“

“Liar!” The man yells instantly. He starts to take his mask off.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/11(Mon)23:15 No. 639814 ID: 26e769
File 143141131994.png - (32.99KB , 1000x600 , 27.png )

I blink. “Huh?”

I don’t know the man’s face.

“I know for a fact that you’re not Catherine Kosheti.” He sighs. ”Because I’m Catherine Kosheti. So, who are you, and what are you doing in my body?”

Ophidian. Probably a corrupted fork.

It appears that I'm also dead in the server room.

Ahahaha.

Oh well you needed a doctor to help you recover so might as well tell her everything you know.

Oh thank god. Tell her who you really are, you're body is dead and you have no clue why you're in her body, everything her hasn't listen to a word you had to say when you explained who you really were so you've just started going with it to actually get around the ship and find a way back to the brain bank to see what exactly is wrong. That and recover your body in hopes it can be salavaged as you really want your own body back.

"What do you THINK happened?

Look, I don't want to argue. Let's just find a working memory server and fix this."

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)00:00 No. 639824 ID: 26e769
File 143141402405.png - (31.15KB , 1000x600 , 28.png )

>Ahahaha.
>What do you THINK happened?

I can’t help chuckling. It comes out as a giggle. I don’t care. “What do you think happened?”

“I’m starting to have a pretty clear idea at this point.” She sighs again. “The question still applies. Who are you?”

>Ophidian. Probably a corrupted fork.
>It appears I’m also dead in the server room.

“I’m Ophidian. Head engineer. Dead engineer, too, apparently, and corrupted besides. Hopefully not enough to fork, because I’d like to get back into my body if at all possible. That same body is currently decomposing in the server room, so I’m kind of in a hurry.”

Catherine stares at my face in an odd way. “How did you end up as me?”

>Oh well you needed a doctor to help you recover so might as well tell her everything you know.
>Oh thank god. Tell her who you really are, you're body is dead and you have no clue why you're in her body, everything her hasn't listen to a word you had to say when you explained who you really were so you've just started going with it to actually get around the ship and find a way back to the brain bank to see what exactly is wrong. That and recover your body in hopes it can be salavaged as you really want your own body back.

“God… I don’t even really know. I just woke up like this. The machines wouldn’t accept that I was me, so I had to pretend to be you to gain access to the medical bay. There’s almost certainly been a major error at the brain bank, and I can’t get in touch with anyone in engineering. I got one simple note from Jo telling me to head to the servers, and that was it.”

She nods. “I had a similar experience. A note telling me that there was a medical emergency in the server rooms, a certain displacement that should be obvious, and a whole lot of annoying glitches. I was a bit luckier than you were, though. I wasn’t corrupted. I was just getting ready to head out to the servers when you arrived.”

I feel a little lightheaded.

Ask her to check you over first. You can't do your job if you suffer an aneurism trying to remember your password.

Also, you are bleeding from an eye and your nose.

Hmm. Looks like there's some amount of incompetence involved after all; it's a pretty good bet that you were supposed to be in that body.

Anyway, you may as well stick together. Get yourself a radsuit and head on out.

...after you get yourself checked out.

Oh good thing you fond a doctor then, because your eyes and noise are starting to bleed. You might want to get that checked out

Looks like you're turning into a medical emergency yourself.

>>639824
What you were saying about an aneurysm might be right on the money, that's a whole lot of loose blood in your skull if it's coming out from behind your eyes and nose.

Wait, this doesn't add up. Yes, if you need a dead chief engineer, stick him in the wrong body. But if you need a dead chief engineer and a doctor, you don't stick both of them in the wrong body if you don't have to.

Katherine should be in her body. You should be in someone else's.

>bloody nose
Uh, doc, I think you need to look your body over, here. I've sprung a leak.

>obvious question
Wait, who are you wearing? We've got a doctor's and what else's privileges to work with?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)13:50 No. 639924 ID: 26e769
File 143146382254.png - (33.28KB , 1000x600 , 29.png )

>Wait, who are you wearing? We've got a doctor's and what else's privileges to work with?

“So who are you wearing? What clearance does your body have?”

“Keith Kennings. A chef.” She rolls her eyes. “Not exactly the most useful in terms of security.”

>Wait, this doesn't add up. Yes, if you need a dead chief engineer, stick him in the wrong body. But if you need a dead chief engineer and a doctor, you don't stick both of them in the wrong body if you don't have to.

Nope. The idiots remain idiots. They probably meant to put -

>Hmm. Looks like there's some amount of incompetence involved after all; it's a pretty good bet that you were supposed to be in that body.

Yeah, that. They got the two of us mixed up somehow.

>Uh, doc, I think you need to look your body over, here.
>Oh good thing you fond a doctor then, because your eyes and noise are starting to bleed. You might want to get that checked out
>you get yourself checked out.
>Ask her to check you over first.

“Can you check me out, doc?”

She looks at me, grinning slightly. Then she nods, satisfied. “You are a sexy beast, if I do say so myself.”

>I've sprung a leak.
>your eyes and noise are starting to bleed.
>Also, you are bleeding from an eye and your nose.
>Looks like you're turning into a medical emergency yourself.
>What you were saying about an aneurysm might be right on the money, that's a whole lot of loose blood in your skull if it's coming out from behind your eyes and nose.

“Very funny. I’m bleeding from my brain-holes, dork. And my head hurts. A lot. In fact, I think this as good a time as any to pass… out…~*”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)13:51 No. 639925 ID: 26e769
File 143146386953.png - (22.44KB , 1000x600 , 30.png )

“Oh, crap. Ophidian?!”

…

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)13:51 No. 639926 ID: 26e769
File 143146389953.png - (30.36KB , 1000x600 , 31.png )

…guh?

Where am I?

…why am I naked?

call for the doctor, ask what happened.

>…why am I naked?
She's a doctor, I'm sure she had her reasons.

You're wearing her body, anyways, it's not like she hasn't seen it before.

>what do
Call out for Katherine. Failing that, Mnemosyne.

Where are you, what happened, how long were you out? Anyone try and send you any messages?

>>639926
Fashion toga out of sheets.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)17:21 No. 639968 ID: 26e769
File 143147651446.png - (41.36KB , 1000x600 , 32.png )

>Fashion toga out of sheets.

I hope it doesn’t come to that. For now, I’ll just pull the covers up around myself and try not to look.

>You're wearing her body, anyways, it's not like she hasn't seen it before.

Well, yeah,, but I haven’t seen it! Or even really felt it. I mean, damn, the covers alone feel weird on this unfamiliar skin.

…I think I need to use the bathroom. This is not something that I want to do.

I wouldn’t even know how!

Fuck this day! Fuck that I have to deal with problems like this!

>call for the doctor, ask what happened.
>Call out for Katherine.

“Hey! Catherine! Are you there? Please be there!”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)17:22 No. 639969 ID: 26e769
File 143147656612.png - (30.10KB , 1000x600 , 33.png )

Moments later, Catherine pops up in the doorway.

“No need to shout. I’m right here. I was just getting supplies for your operation.”

>Where are you, what happened, how long were you out? Anyone try and send you any messages?

“Where am I? What happened? How long was I out? Did we get any messages?”

“A room in the medical bay. You passed out due to a cerebral hemorrhage, which I’m getting ready to repair. No messages so far.” She glances at me in concern. “Is that all? You sounded panicked.”

>Is that all? You sounded panicked.
*falling back* Sorry, it's not every day I wake up naked, a woman, and in a stranger's body. Throws you off.

Or maybe we can just blame the brain damage.

>repair a cerebral hemorrhage
Is this the kind of brain surgery I'm supposed to be conscious for? (I hope not).

Regardless, you should let her work. The quicker she can stop your / her brain from falling apart, the sooner you can have some clothes, see about recovering your corpse, giving Jo and co a vitriolic lambasting, and fixing whatever's gone wrong before it kills everyone.

"Ugh, catheter. Brain surgery sounds urgent and important, but one of the reasons I'm panicky is because I have to use the facilities and I've never done it that way before."

>>639969
Ask them to please not let you die.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)21:07 No. 640067 ID: 26e769
File 143149003491.png - (33.56KB , 1000x600 , 34.png )

>*falling back* Sorry, it's not every day I wake up naked, a woman, and in a stranger's body. Throws you off. Or maybe we can just blame the brain damage.

I lay back, sighing in relief. “Sorry. It’s not every day I wake up naked, a woman, and in a stranger’s body. It kind of throws you off. Though maybe that’s just the brain damage talking.”

“Wait. You’re a guy?”

“Oh, yeah. Did I not mention that?”

“No, you didn’t.” She seems slightly amused. “I thought I was the only one, um, experiencing new things. Just keep your hands to yourself, okay?”

“The thought honestly never even crossed my mind.” I shrug.

“Huh, really?” She smiles. “Thanks. I guess I assumed… Sorry.”

>"Ugh, catheter. Brain surgery sounds urgent and important, but one of the reasons I'm panicky is because I have to use the facilities and I've never done it that way before."

“About that… one of the reasons I’m panicky is because I have to, er, use the facilities, and I’ve never done it that way before. Can you hook me up to a catheter?”

“Oh. Are you sure? It’s fine by me if you need to use the bathroom.”

”Catheter. Please.”

“Okay, okay. Give me a second.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/12(Tue)21:07 No. 640070 ID: 26e769
File 143149007673.png - (36.65KB , 1000x600 , 35.png )

This is officially the most uncomfortable I have ever felt in my life.

It doesn’t help that Catherine keeps talking to me while she does it.

“Your brain - my brain - appears to have just the one full-on rupture at the moment, but one is enough to kill you, or at the very least cause some serious issues. I ran some tests on you while you were sleeping, and it looks like you’ve got a big aneurysm near your hippocampus. Have you been experiencing difficulty with your memory?”

>Ask them to please not let you die.

“Yes, I - nngh! - yes, I have. It hurts when I try to remember certain things. Please don’t let me die.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. And yeah, the corrupted transplant probably left a few weakened artery walls… You’re lucky that the big one didn’t pop. The one which caused your bleeding was much smaller, though still life-threatening. You should probably try to relax and not think too much. I plan to perform an endoscopic evacuation to remove the blood, as well as an endovascular embolization to prevent further bleeding. That should clear up your corruption, too.”

“Huh?”

She clicks her tongue. “I’m going to put some tiny wires into you and make you all better. It shouldn’t take more than an hour. I wanted to ask you about that, actually.”

>Is this the kind of brain surgery I'm supposed to be conscious for? (I hope not).

“Ask me about what? Oh god, I hope you’re not about to say what I think you’re about to say…”

“Well, you seemed like you wanted to find your body quickly. Normally, what I’m doing would be best done under anesthetic. However, the anesthetic I have would put you out for a lot longer than an hour. Do you have any idea if you’re on a clock with this server error, or how far your body’s decomposed?”

“Not really. But I don’t want to waste any time getting to either.”

“Then I’ll leave it up to you. Anesthetic or no?”

>“Wait. You’re a guy?”
At the first appropriate opportunity, you need to make a joke about being used to driving with a stick.

>Anesthetic
Wait, I thought there weren't any pain receptors inside the brain. Or organs in general.

>Anesthetic or no?
*Sigh*. I do not want to die out here, or spend the rest of eternity on an AI mainframe, knowing that it was my fault for choosing the slow, comfortable option.

I'm already dead, and we passed the milestone for worst day of my life a while back. Going further won't hurt. Well, figuratively. Literally, yes, this is going to hurt.

Do it.

>>640070
Mild anesthetic, like you'ld use for a minor tooth pull, administered to the local area. A drill is probably going make a small hole your skull if going in via a blood vessel isn't feasible.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/13(Wed)04:32 No. 640132 ID: 26e769
File 143151674834.png - (76.99KB , 1000x600 , 36.png )

>*Sigh*. I do not want to die out here, or spend the rest of eternity on an AI mainframe, knowing that it was my fault for choosing the slow, comfortable option. I'm already dead, and we passed the milestone for worst day of my life a while back. Going further won't hurt. Well, figuratively. Literally, yes, this is going to hurt. Do it.

“I don’t want to die out here, or spend the rest of eternity on an AI mainframe, knowing that it was my fault for choosing the slow, comfortable option. I’m already dead, and we passed the milestone for worst day of my life a while back. Going further won’t hurt. Well, figuratively. Literally, yes, this is going to hurt. Do it.”

“It won’t, actually. The anesthetic is mainly just so you won’t move around too much. As long as you remain as still as you can, you won’t feel a thing. Hell, we could even talk, as long as you keep your voice quiet.”

>Wait, I thought there weren't any pain receptors inside the brain. Or organs in general.

“Oh, right. The brain doesn’t have any pain receptors, does it?”

“Nope. Anyway, if you’re ready, I’m going to insert the, uh, the wires. They’ll be going through your femoral artery, so you’ll feel a brief pinch, then a mild discomfort that’s sort of like an itchiness. I think it goes without saying that you shouldn’t scratch, but I’ll say it anyway.”

>Mild anesthetic, like you'ld use for a minor tooth pull, administered to the local area.

“Are you using at least a little bit of anesthetic?”

“Yeah, just around the insertion point. It shouldn’t hurt at all.”

“Then I’m set. Thanks.”

“I’m a doctor. It’s what I do.”

She puts my head up on a pillow, and then she starts to work. After about ten minutes, I get very bored.

…she did say we could talk.

"So you graduated med school 6 months ago? How's that work? You were a resident or what?"

As long as you don't move your head to try to look at her go ahead and talk.

Maybe ask her what made her decide to get on to the ship and go to where-ever you are all going.

How is she finding manhood?

What is her favorite food\color.

Mnemosyne's been acting odd.

ask if she's seen anyone else up and about. I mean even if most of the crew are asleep on the ship there should at least be a skeleton crew to make sure things don't go to hell.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/13(Wed)17:42 No. 640225 ID: 26e769
File 143156413680.png - (92.36KB , 1000x600 , 37.png )

>As long as you don't move your head to try to look at her go ahead and talk.

“Hey, if you’re sure we can talk…”

“Don’t worry, most of the surgery is automated at this point. I just need to keep my eyes on it.”

>"So you graduated med school 6 months ago? How's that work? You were a resident or what?"

“Okay. So….you graduated med school six months ago? How’s that work? Were you a resident already? I don’t really know how old you are, I haven’t seen a mirror, but by your voice alone, I can’t imagine you’re older than thirty.”

“Oh shit.” She laughs. “I’ve been found out. Yeah, I spent my time at Johns Hopkins, I did my residency, but I somehow ended up doing it all a lot more quickly than other people. So, apparently, I’m a prodigy. It was news to me, but honestly, I think it’s the only real reason I’m on this ship.”

>Maybe ask her what made her decide to get on to the ship and go to where-ever you are all going.

“You seem pretty competent to me. What made you decide to hop on a ship to Cycadia?”

“Well, you know. Back on Earth, medicine’s dying out. I mean, the resurrection pods are wonderful, don’t get me wrong, they’ve let humanity get away with a lot - but it kind of puts us doctors in a bad position. We mostly spend our time repairing people with revival symptoms. Or trying fruitlessly to cure old age and a few stubborn viruses. But there’s no future in it. On Mars, at least I’ll be a novelty, if nothing else. I hear people actually need us out here, but I’m not getting my hopes up.”

>How is she finding manhood?

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Life in the colony has its dangers… though body-swapping was not exactly one I expected to deal with. How are you finding manhood, by the way?”

“Eh.” She shrugs. “It’s just meat. But I guess that’s the doctor in me talking. I suppose everything seems smaller, I sweat a lot more easily, and my center of gravity’s different. Plus I feel like I could lift a truck, but I think Keith is kind of burly, so that might just be him. How about you? How’s being me feel?”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/13(Wed)17:43 No. 640226 ID: 26e769
File 143156422138.png - (77.34KB , 1000x600 , 38.png )

I think about it for a moment. “I feel this weird sensation sometimes. Like I have butterflies in my stomach, I guess. I’m not sure what that is. I can smell much more clearly, and my skin feels a lot more sensitive to sensation in general. I don’t know. I feel tiny. My center of gravity’s a bit off, too. It’s an interesting experience, truth be told, but I still want to get back into my body at the first opportunity.”

“I hear you. I want back into my head, too.” She nods. “So take care of it, okay?”

>ask if she's seen anyone else up and about. I mean even if most of the crew are asleep on the ship there should at least be a skeleton crew to make sure things don't go to hell.

“Well, yeah, of course I’ll take care of it. I’m inside it, after all. By the way… have you seen anybody else around?”

She shakes her head. “Just you.”

“Hey, Mnemosyne! How many people are alive on the ship?”

“There are six living humans currently on board the Torellia, Catherine.” This elicits an odd look from Catherine. “There are four hundred and thirty-six humans in storage.”

”Six? That can’t be right. There should be at least twenty crew members alive at all times. Check again.”

“Checking… Information updated.”

>Mnemosyne's been acting odd.

“Okay, good. Mnemosyne must have a glitch or two… I’ll have to do a diagnostic when we get to the servers. So, once again, how many people are alive on the ship?”

“There are five living humans currently on board the Torellia, Catherine.”

>five to six
Mnemosyne, list deceased crew people, in descending chronological order.

Timestamp, name, location, cause of death.

Ask again, watch it go down to four. Check for any Indian figurines lying around.

Mnemosyne, could we get the cause of deaths, it at all possible?

>>640226
Don't forget to remain very still.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/14(Thu)16:08 No. 640410 ID: defceb
File 143164488095.png - (79.27KB , 1000x600 , 39.png )

>Ask again, watch it go down to four. Check for any Indian figurines lying around.

“And then there were none… Mnemosyne, please check again.”

“The number of living humans currently on board the Torellia is remaining constant at five, Catherine.”

>Mnemosyne, could we get the cause of deaths, it at all possible?
>Mnemosyne, list deceased crew people, in descending chronological order. Timestamp, name, location, cause of death.

“Mnemoysne, could you list deceased crew in descending chronological order? Timestamp, name, location, and cause of death, please.”

“Most recent: Kylie Rio. Location: Moneta server room one. Time of death: eighteen-forty-three today, or one minute ago. Cause of death: severe radiation poisoning. Next most recent: Jordan Latkins. Location: Moneta server room three. Time of death: sixteen-fifty-four today, or one hundred and nine minutes ago. Cause of death: severe radiation poisoning. Next most recent…”

The list continues for a while. Every deceased crew member was in or around the brain bank, and each died of radiation poisoning. Finally, Mnemosyne comes to the last name on the list.

“…severe radiation poisoning. Next most recent: Charles Ophidian. Location: Moneta server room two. Time of death: twenty-two-thirty-two yesterday, or twenty-one hours and eleven minutes ago.”

I feel myself tense slightly. If my body is still revivable, it won’t be for long. In another two hours, revival will be impossible. “I see. Okay. Thank you, Mnemosyne.”

“You’re welcome, Catherine.”

>Don't forget to remain very still.

I stay still. I talk with Catherine occasionally. She’s very nice, intelligent, even funny. The thought flickers by in my mind: if I was in my body, I would almost certainly be attracted to her. But my libido isn’t the main concern at the moment. I need to get my life back.

The rest of the surgery goes by quickly. Finally, she lifts me up out of bed and stands me up. I shut my eyes immediately. She begins to put my clothes back on.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/14(Thu)16:12 No. 640413 ID: defceb
File 143164515199.png - (92.59KB , 1000x600 , 40.png )

I only dare to open my eyes when I feel her messing around with my hair.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting it back. You don’t want it getting in your face while you’re working, do you?”

“Oh. Thanks. I suppose it has been a bit distracting.”

“I know what you mean. I always wear it like this.” She pauses. “Damn. This is so weird. Now you look exactly like me.”

“Only just now?” I smile slightly.

“Well, I mean, obviously, but now you look like I do in the mirror. It’s creepy.”

“You’re telling me. I can’t wait until this nightmare’s over.”

Mnemosyne beeps quietly to get my attention. “Catherine, based on your previous questions, would you like to know what crew members are still alive?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, please. Locations, too, if you could.”

“Keith Kennings and Catherine Kosheti are in the medical bay, room five. Jackie Dusting and George Macer are in robotics, room three. Josephina Gerald is just inside the Moneta server room hub. She is suffering from severe radiation poisoning. Those are all of the living crew members currently on board the Torellia, Catherine.”

Catherine speaks up, annoyed. “Look, can you tell Mnemoysne that you’re you, already? I’ve cleared up your corruption. You should be able to remember your codes.”

I feel a bit of hesitation. Should I risk it? If she's wrong...

You were the first one dead? That means you were right in the middle of this shit when it first when down.

>Catherine, based on your previous questions, would you like to know what crew members are still alive?
And please alert us in any significant changes in the surviving crew's medical conditions.

>I feel a bit of hesitation. Should I risk it? If she's wrong...
Test first. What was corrupted but not enough to kill you before?

Try to remember where your office was.

...do you have any headache at all?

Important question: is there a significant benefit to getting the AI to recognize your identity? Besides not being awkward, what does taking this risk net you?

>what do
First priority would seem to be getting rad protection suits and getting to the server room. Gotta get to Jo before she dies, and rescue the bodies before they're too far gone.

...is there normally radiative material in the server room?

Is Catherine's clearance a subset of your own? Can you order Mnemosyne to recognize the real Catherine as such? Does she not have her own codes? We don't want to lose any access privileges we may need, unless necessary.

>>640413
Trust the doctor. Worst case scenario she fixes you again.

Also I'm seeing a pattern here. Are ALL the server rooms flooded with radiation? What is the source of the radiation?

>>640438
Actually, no. Worst case is it kill us. Or fixing takes long enough we miss our window of opportunity. There's a hard deadline after which we can't rescue bodies. And we need to reach Jo before she dies so she can tell us what the hell went wrong.

Is it a good idea to challenge a ship's computer that is obviously having difficulties keeping the crew alive? There is some unspecified misfunction that leads to people dying in server rooms and this recalls to me the System Shock progressive breakdown of Shodan after being tampered with. We don't know if the computer has some lethal contingency at work that caused it to intentionally kill Charles Ophidian so I'd like to gather more information and concentrate on trying to rescue our about-to-die crewmember if possible.

Why is there a large source of radiation in your server room? Seems a bit excessive.

>>640492
Er...yeah, actually; can Mnemosyne help fill in some details, here?

Don't want to be too paranoid here, but.. note that Mnemosyne tactfully refrained from mentioning your cause of death. Last time the phrasing was "All indications point to death by radiation poisoning." I wonder what would happen if you asked, straight up, "And just to confirm things: did Charles Ophidian die by radiation poisoning?" I don't know if upload AIs can lie, but this slightly smells like misdirection.

didn't we try that once already? Tell him we're someone else but since we can't remember our ID code he didn't believe us.

>>640569
Sure but now we ought to be able to remember our codes.

>>640413
The real mystery is why people are still being directed to go to the sever rooms. Can you stop that?

You're going to need those authorization codes - you don't have enough time to work your way around them. You need to get to your body, and Catherine needs to get to Josephina Gerald.

>I feel a bit of hesitation. Should I risk it? If she's wrong...
Catherine IS a doctor, she should have a pretty good idea if its safe or not. Plus, you're in the best possible place right now if it does go wrong.

The doctor has a stake in you not destroying that brain you're borrowing. If it were not safe, she would not have told you to try.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/15(Fri)22:50 No. 640799 ID: 26e769
File 143175540852.png - (64.14KB , 1000x600 , 41.png )

>Don't want to be too paranoid here, but.. note that Mnemosyne tactfully refrained from mentioning your cause of death. Last time the phrasing was "All indications point to death by radiation poisoning." I wonder what would happen if you asked, straight up, "And just to confirm things: did Charles Ophidian die by radiation poisoning?" I don't know if upload AIs can lie, but this slightly smells like misdirection.

“Mnemosyne, just to confirm things: did Charles Ophidian die by radiation poisoning?”

“He did, Catherine.”

>Is Catherine's clearance a subset of your own? Can you order Mnemosyne to recognize the real Catherine as such? Does she not have her own codes? We don't want to lose any access privileges we may need, unless necessary.
>Important question: is there a significant benefit to getting the AI to recognize your identity? Besides not being awkward, what does taking this risk net you?

The ship’s security is designed to allow only one living body at a time to be recognized as belonging to a certain person. Right now, I’ve got her clearance, so she doesn’t. Mine - that is to say, Ophidian’s - is higher level than hers is, anyway, so I can do almost anything with my clearance that she could do with hers. I also can’t receive any messages directed at Ophidian until I’m recognized as such.

>Test first. What was corrupted but not enough to kill you before? Try to remember where your office was. ...do you have any headache at all?

My office… is in the server rooms. But I have a secondary workspace in robotics. My head is slightly sore at the moment, but nowhere near as bad as before.

“Come on, Ophidian, stop stalling. How about this? If it ends up delaying you long enough to lose your body, you can have mine.”

“I won’t hold you to that. I don’t want your body.”

“And you won’t have it. I do good work. Go on. Tell her.”

>Catherine IS a doctor, she should have a pretty good idea if its safe or not. Plus, you're in the best possible place right now if it does go wrong.
>The doctor has a stake in you not destroying that brain you're borrowing. If it were not safe, she would not have told you to try.
>Trust the doctor. Worst case scenario she fixes you again.

“…okay. Mnemosyne!” My heart - Catherine’s heart - beats a little quickly. “I am not Catherine Kosheti. I’m just in her body. I’m chief engineer Charles Ophidian. Access code is: twelve-gamma-four-Tokyo-forty-seven.” I sigh in relief. My head hurts, but only a little, and only for a moment.

“Understood, mistress Ophidian. Identity confirmed.”

“Do not change my pronouns, Mnemosyne!”

“Understood, master Ophidian.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/15(Fri)22:52 No. 640801 ID: 26e769
File 143175553151.png - (61.54KB , 1000x600 , 42.png )

“Ha! I win the bet. That means I get both our bodies, right?” Catherine smiles.

“What? Hey, that wasn’t part of the deal!”

“I’m just kidding. Lighten up.”

>First priority would seem to be getting rad protection suits and getting to the server room. Gotta get to Jo before she dies, and rescue the bodies before they're too far gone.

We get our suits on. While we do, Catherine confirms her own identity with Mnemosyne. We’re both us in the eyes of the system, now.

>...is there normally radiative material in the server room?
>Why is there a large source of radiation in your server room? Seems a bit excessive.

There isn’t. Or there shouldn’t be, anyway.

>Are ALL the server rooms flooded with radiation? What is the source of the radiation?
>Er...yeah, actually; can Mnemosyne help fill in some details, here?

“Mnemosyne, what is the source of the radiation? Is it in all of the server rooms?”

“The source of the radiation is unclear. I speculate that it most likely came from the outside of the ship. It is localized in engineering. Server rooms one through nine are heavily radiated. Server room ten is unaffected.”

>You were the first one dead? That means you were right in the middle of this shit when it first when down.

Makes sense. If I know myself… ha. If I know myself, I would have been trying to fix the problem right up until I died.

Mnemsyne speaks again. “There is a message from Josephina Gerald. Would you like to hear it?”

“What? Yeah, play it.”

After a moment, an audio clip begins to play. It’s Jo’s voice, but it sounds… odd. Confused, almost. “Hey there, Ophidian. This is… Ophidian. Sort of. I’m also Jo. I’m about to pass out and die from radiation poisoning. Can you help me out with, y’know, not doing that? Thanks! Okay, bye.”

>message from Josephina Gerald
reply
Yeah, I got your message and I'm already on my way. Got a doc with me as well. Just be aware that MY body is currently dead and rotting so I'm in a different one so if you wondering who two strangers are their you go. And if you crack any jokes about it you'll have more to worry about then radiation poisoning. You're not the only one having a bad day here.

how far away are we from her and how far away is she from your body? might be able to pick both of them up and at least throw you body on ice to make it last longer. Oh and you might want to grab a stretcher or a cart or something to carry your dead body and Josephina without carrying them.

Looks like you've been through this before. And you've thrown a lot of bodies at it without success. Why would you kill so many of the crew just to get back to your body?

>>640801
That may not be Jo piloting Jo's body. Since he or she claimed to be Ophidian as well as Jo, it is probably another corrupted Ophidian who did not get any brain surgery.

As for what happened to Jo? Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Probably nothing nice, though.

>>640826
I dunno, that doesn't sound like what you'd say... is it possible that your minds got mashed together, somehow?

>>640827
We were just in this situation. Whoever is running Jo's body has to keep pretending to be Jo for Mnemosyne's sake. Otherwise Mnemosyne will get stubborn about letting them do what needs to be done. Jo's got access as good as Ophidian's, so even if they didn't want to risk more brain damage to get Mnemosyne to recognize them as Ophidian, they wouldn't be really crippled in terms of what access they have. They'd just be annoyed and would have to do things like say "This is Jo, but also Ophidian" so that Mnemosyne would pass the message along properly.

>Hey there, Ophidian. This is… Ophidian. Sort of. I’m also Jo. I’m about to pass out and die from radiation poisoning. Can you help me out with, y’know, not doing that? Thanks! Okay, bye.
Ha, I guessed right. You're not the first emergency backup they had to wake up.

Careful, though. That means this isn't a problem you can walk right in and fix. Be more cautious and less confident than usual- you've already failed several times.

Um, does he mean he's just in Jo's body? Or is it possible to download to an occupied body and get a mental melange?

Mnemsyne, how old is that message?

>what do
Ask Mnemsyne what server room Jo is in, and to give her exact location as best she can.

How strong is the radiation? How long will our anti-rad suits allow us to operate safely?

Double check that there's no hull break or anything- we don't need full vacuum suits to breath, right?

Double check that Catherine has what she'll need to treat Jo when we get her out. If not, can Mnemsyne send a bot to collect medical equipment?

>>640829
I'm not sure it would necessarily be a big problem. She was reasonably cooperative when treating us as an unconfirmed corrupted fork. Just because the AI is hard coded to only acknowledge one official Ophidian at a time, doesn't mean she'll crack down on other instances. She might just refuse to acknowledge their privileges, or default to treating them as corrupted forks.

For sanity's sake, maybe we should just ask her how she would handle the hypothetical situation of multiple people claiming to be different instances of the same person. What's her protocol?

>>640801
>also Jo
Oh god, did you get shoved into an already-active mind? Or was the corruption patched up by Jo's mind?

Send back another message to Jo-Oph. Joph? Ask them why they entered an irradiated room. Why didn't they use server room 10?

I suspect that the server rooms are a trap. Someone is attacking the station by irradiating rooms whenever someone tries to fix the servers.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/17(Sun)16:44 No. 641103 ID: 26e769
File 143190628652.png - (81.13KB , 1000x600 , 43.png )

>Ha, I guessed right. You're not the first emergency backup they had to wake up.

Oh shit.

>Looks like you've been through this before. And you've thrown a lot of bodies at it without success. Why would you kill so many of the crew just to get back to your body?

I wouldn’t. Which means that there’s something else going on here.

>Careful, though. That means this isn't a problem you can walk right in and fix. Be more cautious and less confident than usual- you've already failed several times.

Yeah… First thing’s first, though. I’ve got to find out what the other Ophidians did. If I start from scratch, I’ll almost certainly fail in the same way.

>Mnemsyne, how old is that message?

“Mnemosyne, how old is that message?”

“The message from Josephina Gerald is eighty-three minutes old, master Ophidian.”

Let’s see… That would be just before I woke up, I think.

>reply Yeah, I got your message and I'm already on my way.
>Send back another message to Jo-Oph. Joph? Ask them why they entered an irradiated room. Why didn't they use server room 10?

“Mnemosyne, can you relay a message to Josephina Gerald?”

“Josephina Gerald is currently unconscious, master Ophidian. Would you like me to relay a message when she wakes up?”

“…No point. She’ll either be dead, or we’ll have rescued her.”

>how far away are we from her and how far away is she from your body? might be able to pick both of them up and at least throw you body on ice to make it last longer. Oh and you might want to grab a stretcher or a cart or something to carry your dead body and Josephina without carrying them.

They should be fairly close together. I tell Catherine to grab two stretchers, and we head out.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/17(Sun)16:46 No. 641104 ID: 26e769
File 143190636123.png - (51.86KB , 1000x600 , 44.png )

>I dunno, that doesn't sound like what you'd say... is it possible that your minds got mashed together, somehow?
>Oh god, did you get shoved into an already-active mind? Or was the corruption patched up by Jo's mind?
> is it possible to download to an occupied body and get a mental melange?

…If she did upload me into her head while she was still in it, there’s no telling what could happen. She certainly won’t last long in that condition, if she can even be recovered at all.

“Hey. Hold up.” Catherine raises a hand.

“What? Why? We’re almost to the server rooms.”

“Yeah, I know. But check your suit’s readings. These radiation levels, they’re- they’re way beyond lethal. I don’t even know if the suits will help us here.”

“But these suits are designed to deal with anything. That’s why we call them safe-suits.”

“Yeah, but this much radiation? Come on, Ophidian. You’re an engineer.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.”

With radiation levels this high, we’ll only have time for one trip. It would be too dangerous to grab both my body and Jo. Even collecting one of them is incredibly risky, but two trips would almost certainly result in enough radiation poisoning to kill one or both of us.

Uh... robots. Mnemosyne has robots that answer to her, right? Are any them rad rated? For external repairs and maintenance, maybe?

Medical emergency doctor and head engineer privileges should be sufficient to order bots on a new task.

Jo, you need a human touch if you want to get her out alive, so she can tell you what the hell is going on. The corpses? They don't need as much care. A dumb bot could drag them out.

...if there's no way around it though, you need to know what's going on more than you need a body to get back to. If we don't fix this, you may not live to complain about losing your body.

>>641104
Your body's toast by now. Grab Jo's body. To confirm, ask Mnemosyne for an estimate of how likely your body would be reparable if you recovered it. I bet it's less than 50%.

Also see if you can figure out WHERE THE FUCK THAT RADIATION IS COMING FROM

You've been dead for almost twenty four hours, another hour isn't that big of a deal. Ask Mnemosyne about robotic assistance, while trying not to think that you would have done this already if it worked.

can't we get some damn drones or something to help out here? I mean we pasted that one that wouldn't let us leave that one room when we woke up, there's got to be some still moving around the ship, hell they don't even need to be rescue bots just something with arms to grab someone with and drag them somewhere safe...er. Just have them grab your body seeing as it's dead anyways and probably won't be bothered to much by being dragged by uncaring bots.

Are you even certain that you can get your bodies revived, given the extreme levels of radiation? Seems like identifying the source of the radiation as well as removing it should be the priority here, as it's risking more than just your own lives.

Options for dealing with radiation!

Shadow shield. Can you put together a shadow shield with material from elsewhere in the ship? A stretcher armored with a block of hydrocarbons would help cut down on the amount of radiation hitting you. Wax, or a vat of oil, or cheese or something like that. Or even just water, if nothing better is available in quantity. Once you have the shield set up, keep it between you and the radiation source. Place the shield close to the radioactive source so it blocks the radiation in most of the room.

Flood the chamber. Literally, divert some of the ship's water into the chamber to add more shielding. Even spraying water vapor in there might help.

Besides that? Boy it'd be nice to have some boron to dump in there. I'm guessing you don't have any though.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/18(Mon)23:37 No. 641417 ID: 26e769
File 143201743098.png - (78.02KB , 1000x600 , 45.png )

>Jo, you need a human touch if you want to get her out alive, so she can tell you what the hell is going on.
>Grab Jo's body.

Right. The living are more important than the dead, after all.

>can't we get some damn drones or something to help out here?
>Uh... robots. Mnemosyne has robots that answer to her, right? Are any them rad rated? For external repairs and maintenance, maybe?
>Ask Mnemosyne about robotic assistance, while trying not to think that you would have done this already if it worked.

AIs aren’t allowed to control robots remotely. It’s a security issue: if another AI went mad like that one in Peru, we’d have a genuine robot uprising on our hands.

If I want robotic help, I’ll have to go robotics and manually control them from there.

>Are you even certain that you can get your bodies revived, given the extreme levels of radiation?
>To confirm, ask Mnemosyne for an estimate of how likely your body would be reparable if you recovered it. I bet it's less than 50%.
>Your body's toast by now.

I’m not giving up that easily. There’s no way to tell if my body’s unrecoverable without having a doctor examine it. As long as there’s any chance of me staying alive, I’ll keep hoping.

I order Mnemosyne to open the door to the server rooms. The door opens, and I’m greeted with the sight of my friends’ corpses.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/18(Mon)23:39 No. 641418 ID: 26e769
File 143201754437.png - (221.26KB , 1000x600 , 46.png )

>Options for dealing with radiation!

If we want to save Jo, we’ll have no time for damage control right now.

> Seems like identifying the source of the radiation as well as removing it should be the priority here, as it's risking more than just your own lives.
>Also see if you can figure out WHERE THE FUCK THAT RADIATION IS COMING FROM

Better to ask Jo before searching for it ourselves.

It only takes a moment of searching to find her.

She reacts to my presence, leaning up slightly and staring at me through half-open eyes.

“You’re… pretty.”

>>641418
Okay, first where's the rad coming from. Second why didn't she get your body.

A lot of those corpses are in "safe" suits. Just haul her out of there ASAP.

...why were they trapped in here anyway? How did we get in if they were unable to leave?

>>641419
Don't think she's gonna be helpful for a while. But sure, we can try.

>>641422
I think she's just too rad-poisoned to move.

>>641421
And don't come back in. Use them robots.

>>641429
ALL of them were too rad-poisoned to move before they could get out, even wearing the suits? I don't believe that for a second. It's like someone sealed the doors on them. Like maybe Mnemosyne has gone crazy.

>>641431
...An excellent point.

Which just makes it even more important to BUGGER ON OUT OF HERE GOGOGO

you guys have a stretcher, get her out of here ASAP before you end up like her.

>AIs aren’t allowed to control robots remotely
But are they allowed to communicate? She can't pass orders along? It seems a huge inefficiency if the bots can't coordinate at all without human messangers walking up to them.

>you're pretty
Not looking so great yourself.

First priority is getting her out the the red zone, asap. Then the doc begins immediate emergency care while you ask Jo for a sit-rep.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/19(Tue)05:36 No. 641456 ID: 26e769
File 143203897817.png - (91.97KB , 1000x600 , 47.png )

>...why were they trapped in here anyway? How did we get in if they were unable to leave?
>ALL of them were too rad-poisoned to move before they could get out, even wearing the suits? I don't believe that for a second. It's like someone sealed the doors on them. Like maybe Mnemosyne has gone crazy.

I’m not sure. Honestly, it doesn’t look like they were trapped. It looks like they just sat down for a moment and died. Which is more terrifying, in a way.

>Okay, first where's the rad coming from. Second why didn't she get your body.
>Don't think she's gonna be helpful for a while. But sure, we can try.

I try talking to her as we load her on to the stretcher. “Jo, it’s me. It’s Ophidian. Can you hear me?”

“I shouldn’t have left you, baby - I should have stayed, I’m sorry…”

“She’s delirious. You’re not going to get anything out of her like this.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try. Come on, Jo. Talk to me. Tell me what happened.”

She grabs onto my arm. Her grip is so weak… ”I made mistakes, Petra. Pretty Petra. I - I shouldn’t have gone. You’re so beautiful…”

…Petra? That’s me in there, all right. I left Petra behind, back on Earth.

“I’m not Petra. I’m you. I’m Ophidian. We’re Ophidian. So tell me what’s going on.”

She… he… the other me passes out.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/19(Tue)05:38 No. 641457 ID: 26e769
File 143203908189.png - (70.00KB , 1000x600 , 48.png )

>A lot of those corpses are in "safe" suits. Just haul her out of there ASAP.
>Which just makes it even more important to BUGGER ON OUT OF HERE GOGOGO

We bring Jo’s body back to the medical bay.

“She’s still alive. I can wake her up.” Catherine seems uncomfortable. “But she’ll be in pain. A lot of pain.”

“Can’t you give her painkillers?”

“They’ll probably just make her go unconscious again.”

“I think that’s me lying there. In the body of one of my best friends.” My throat feels a little tight. “How bad would the pain be?”

“Bad.” Catherine closes her eyes. “She’s not going to last for long, Ophidian. She’s barely alive as it is. She’s in the final stages of acute radiation syndrome. At this point, there’s very little I can do to keep her going.”

“How long?”

“Hours, maybe. Probably less.” She sighs. “…How badly do you need her help?”

>>641457
We need to know what happened. This is looking more and more like an attack of some sort. Either that or sabotage.

>How badly do you need her help?
...it's imperative this Jo-instance of me lives long enough to tell me what she knows. What happened, what's wrong, what they tried to fix it. Multiple mes have already tried and died trying to fix this. If we have any hope of this ship not becoming a mobile coffin, I need to know the situation.

Your first priority is getting him lucid and awake. Second might be uploading this me to the server for later questioning if we can't do that. Third priority is preserving the body so Jo gets it back some day.

...And I need to figure out how to get those other bodies out of the hot spot for you to salvage without killing us.

Can we call in a heavy duty loader or janitor bot? Send a message via ship comms, or Mnemosyne. Got a cleanup.

...or failing that, ask her for a list of active bots rated for rad exposure, and locations.

>>641466
Robots will require manual supervision, due to anti-Skynet precautions. (The AI seems dumbed down already to me, she's awfully unresponsive for a human consciousness.) We should head to Robotics while Catherine treats... us. We can speak via comms on our way over.
Does our safe suit get expended in any way protecting against radiation? if so, we should equip a spare.

We shouldn't need her for more than an hour. Just need all the information we can get.

>>641457
So you're/she's going to die no matter what? The only choice is whether or not you put them through a lot of pain to get some possibly-crucial information. Do it.

At least you saved the body, right? It can be repaired, and Jo can be brought back from a backup, right?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/19(Tue)15:44 No. 641548 ID: 26e769
File 143207548306.png - (31.90KB , 1000x600 , 49.png )

>...it's imperative this Jo-instance of me lives long enough to tell me what she knows. What happened, what's wrong, what they tried to fix it.
>We shouldn't need her for more than an hour. Just need all the information we can get.
>We need to know what happened.
>The only choice is whether or not you put them through a lot of pain to get some possibly-crucial information. Do it.

“I need to know what she knows.” I take a long, deep breath, in and out. “Do it.”

Catherine gives the slightest of nods. “It will take a few minutes.”

There’s no talking while we wait, this time. Just a sinking feeling.

Jo’s body starts crying, first tears, then blood. Sobs come quickly, and in rapid succession. They’re followed by violent shaking, and then vomiting. The vomit’s bloody, too. I wish I didn’t have to do this. I wish I didn’t have to watch this.

“Aah… Aaaah!” Jo-Ophidian starts screaming. “Aaah! AAAAAGH!”

“Ophidian, just hold on. I’m right here.” I swallow. “It’s me. It’s… Petra. Petra’s here. Everything’s okay.”

Catherine glances at me. Jo-Ophidian doesn’t seem to change much, but I figure that anything helps.

I hold my own hand.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/19(Tue)15:45 No. 641549 ID: 26e769
File 143207554005.png - (165.45KB , 1000x600 , 50.png )

>At least you saved the body, right? It can be repaired, and Jo can be brought back from a backup, right?

Hopefully, yes. But if I can’t fix the servers, we won’t be able to bring anyone back, and transferring everyone back to the correct bodies will be borderline impossible.

After what seems like hours, the screaming subsides. Catherine puts a hand on my shoulder, and I notice that I’m shaking.

Jo-Ophidian’s eyes crack open, just slightly.

“…guh? Where am I? …why am I naked?” The other me blinks. The simple motion is heavy and slow. “…am I on fire? No… so why does it feel like I’m burning?”

What do I say? What can I say?

”Hey, hey… are you crying? On my account? There’s no need for that, miss. I’m okay. I’ll be alright.” Jo’s face forces a small smile.

I wipe my eyes, quickly looking away.

>>641549
Ophidian, I need you to tell me what happened. We can't fix it if we don't know what went wrong, and what you were doing.

>>641549
"How do I stop the radiation?" should be the first thing out of your mouth. Second, "What's wrong with the servers?"

givem something to knock em out or kill them fast. then we need to find the link between 10 and the rest of the ship and disconnect it.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/19(Tue)20:26 No. 641593 ID: 26e769
File 143209238803.png - (137.98KB , 1000x600 , 51.png )

>Ophidian, I need you to tell me what happened. We can't fix it if we don't know what went wrong, and what you were doing.
>"How do I stop the radiation?" should be the first thing out of your mouth. Second, "What's wrong with the servers?"

“Ophidian, I need you to tell me what happened. We can’t fix it if we don’t know what went wrong, and what you were doing. How do we stop the radiation? What’s wrong with the servers?”

”The radiation… Something crashed into the ship. It tore through the hull. Part if it is sticking through the ceiling of server room one. Something radioactive from outside.” Jo-Ophidian coughs. ”Wait, I recognize you… The doctor, right? C… C-something. Did the download work? I had to hack the system to do it manually. Most of the servers were fried, and I couldn’t access the automated revival programs. I hope nothing went wrong.”

She hacked the system? I’m not a programmer, but Jo is. I share a look with Catherine. “Yeah. It worked.”

”Glad to hear it. I wasn’t sure if the overlay took, or if I just thought I knew what the other me did. He refused to leave the servers, kept trying to partition the brain bank into server room ten. Then he died, and I didn’t know what to do. Ophidian’s smarter than I was… than Jo was. I hooked myself up to a pod, hacked the system to put him into my head. I thought that maybe, that way, I could fix it. I hoped I could finish what he started. But I’m so confused. Ophidian, Jo… I don’t know who I am. I - I can’t think right anymore. It took everything I had just to revive the two of you.”

Jo-Ophidian gestures Catherine over. Catherine looks uncomfortable.

”You’ve got to - got to finish the partition, Ophidian - other me. The radiation is ruining the servers, one by one. Server room ten is the only one far enough away to function normally, but they’re all connected… If you don’t disconnect room ten from the system, the entire brain bank is going to get corrupted.”

Jo-Ophidian spits up a little more blood. Catherine gives me a distressed look.

>>641593
Alright assuming you know how to do that immediately go and do it. There is NO TIME. It doesn't even matter if you kill yourself again doing it at this point.

Oh, jeeze. Jo was desperate enough to download you on top of herself.

>Jo-Ophidian spits up a little more blood. Catherine gives me a distressed look.
I don't think you can let her pretend to be you, here. You owe it to your friend and to yourself to be there for them as they die.

Squeeze his / her hand. Don't worry. Jo, Ophidian. I got this. You did right pulling me out, even if you did switch us. I'll fix it. I have to.

>disconnect server room 10
Wait, are the servers just redundancies? Can one server room hold all the minds in storage?

First thing to do would be to estimate how long it would take you to do that. Then ask Mnemosyne hold long the dead-you was at it.

Then you know about how long the essential repairs will take. Gotta find a way to stay alive in there long enough to do it. From the look of things so far, you suit won't cut it.

>Mnemosyne
Is it weird that she's apparently unphased by all of this? She isn't showing a lot of... concern. Or distress. Or trying to be actively proactive. Is that normal for someone who's become an AI? Or is something wrong with her?

>>641593
>”The radiation… Something crashed into the ship. It tore through the hull. Part if it is sticking through the ceiling of server room one. Something radioactive from outside.”
If Server Room 01 is still under atmosphere, then that 'object' must have bade a seal against the hull it tore through. If you can find a way to overpressure Server Room 01, you can shove the object out right back through the hole it came in. You'd need a gas generator though. And to wake up an engineer to rig one up (if you have any hypergolics handy for starting the main engines, a couple of pressurised tanks and a manifold would work).

You may want to start training your replacement before you try to fix this.

>>641593
Before you decide to go running off to finish what your original started, try to bring up a map for the server rooms.
If the radiation source is in the rooms then you are going to want to plot a route that avoids the worst of the radiation as to maximise how long you can stay there. Given how many people died from it you'll probably need to take an alternate path to Room 10. Then maybe we can focus on shielding the radiation source using robots and reviving more people for redundancy.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/26(Tue)04:03 No. 643314 ID: 26e769
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>Is it weird that [Mnemosyne]’s apparently unphased by all of this? She isn't showing a lot of... concern. Or distress. Or trying to be actively proactive. Is that normal for someone who's become an AI? Or is something wrong with her?

It’s not weird. Mnemosyne is holding it together. She knows that, if she starts freaking out, there may be no chance of us solving this. Her life is on the line, too: she’s stored in the server along with everybody else.

>Alright assuming you know how to do that immediately go and do it. There is NO TIME. It doesn't even matter if you kill yourself again doing it at this point.
>First thing to do would be to estimate how long it would take you to do that.

I would have to disconnect each of the servers manually. I have no idea how much time that could take, and if I die, nobody else is going to be able to fix it.

>You may want to start training your replacement before you try to fix this.

Without the automated systems, I wouldn’t know how. Jo might, but she’s a little out of it at the moment.

>wake up an engineer

I am an engineer. Anyway, I don’t know how to do that, either. Although if Jackie and George are still alive, then maybe I could get their help. Mnemosyne said they were in robotics.

>I don't think you can let her pretend to be you, here. You owe it to your friend and to yourself to be there for them as they die. Squeeze his / her hand. Don't worry. Jo, Ophidian. I got this. You did right pulling me out, even if you did switch us. I'll fix it. I have to.

“Er. Wrong person, Jo - or, um, me.”

Jophidian blinks. “Oh.” They smile a little sadly. “Well, I tried. Sorry. I guess both of us are women, huh? I’m jealous. Yours is cute.” They suddenly look uncomfortable. “Now, hang on, I’m not a lesbian… but that’s because I’m a man. Aren’t I? No…” They trail off, evidently very confused with themselves.

I squeeze their hand, and that seems to bring them out of it. “Don’t worry. Jo, Ophidian. I’ve got this. You did the right thing, pulling us out, even if you did switch us. I’ll fix all of this. I have to.”

They nod. “I know you’ll try your best. We’re a man of our word.” They giggle. “Even if neither of us happens to be a man at the moment.” Their laughter turns into another bloody cough. “Please hurry. I don’t have much time left, I’m sure. I know I can’t keep this body, but I still don’t want to die.”

>try to bring up a map for the server rooms.

I don’t need a map. It’s just one long hallway. Server room one is the closest to the entrance, server room ten is the furthest from it.

>If you can find a way to overpressure Server Room 01, you can shove the object out right back through the hole it came in.

That’s an idea. I’d need to get my body out of there before doing anything like that, though.

>Wait, are the servers just redundancies? Can one server room hold all the minds in storage?

Yes. But if what Jophidian’s telling me is true, then… oh no. Of course. The system has an anti-corruption feature, where it consistently overwrites the other servers with whatever is stored in the majority of the rest. That way, they all remain uniform, and the chance of corrupted consciousnesses is lowered. But if the radiation is interfering with the majority of the systems… Server room ten’s brain bank is going to be overwritten with whatever glitched data is shared in the rest of the servers. Over four hundred people are going to die if that happens.

I helped design the majority-overwrite system. I argued in favor of redundancy. This… this is all my fault.

blame yourself later, right now you need a plan to remove the radioactive material and recover your body without dying to the radiation while doing those two things. Is there anything you can do that would let you either live long to do both or some way get a robot or something that doesn't really mind the radiation do it for you? See if you can't get a message down to those two guys in robotics, see if they have something that could help.

No. You can't think like that. In this case it went wrong. But normally? Normally that sort of corruption is common. It happens even to the best systems.

You can't account for every scenario that goes wrong. What you can however do is learn from it.

Should you survive, should you pull through, next time you know not to put every server into a single network, split it up, into groups of 2. And maybe have them in different parts of the ship.

A single accident like this would then not endanger then entire crew all at once.

Anyway, that is for the future. Right now? Right now you have people to save.

Save the guilt for later. Maybe get drunk.

Hey! Blaming yourself is not a luxury you have time for. That's for the people going over the wreck if you don't fix this.

No engineer can forsee every system failure. You'll learn from this, provided you survive.

You need to start evaluating our ideas for dealing with radiation and making plans. Do we have materials to construct a shadow shield? Are there drones or robots on board that are rated for hard rads?

Idea: could we buy ourselves time by cutting external power to the server rooms? If the servers are forced back onto emergency power, or in power save mode, they might not have the resources for non-essential syncing. That would burn power, and reduce the battery time a repair team had to restore power. Ideally, on emergency power, the system would try to maximize run time at the cost of as many non-essential functions as possible.

Ask Mnemosyne what the others two survivors are doing, and, if possible, if she can bring up comms or messaging with them. We need as much help as we can get, and can't afford working at cross purposes. And if something else is wrong, we gotta know.

Can't you just kill the anti-corruption daemon?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/26(Tue)07:18 No. 643331 ID: 26e769
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>No. You can't think like that.
>Blaming yourself is not a luxury you have time for. That's for the people going over the wreck if you don't fix this.
>blame yourself later

Right, right… I have to stay on task, here.

>You need to start evaluating our ideas for dealing with radiation and making plans. Do we have materials to construct a shadow shield? Are there drones or robots on board that are rated for hard rads?

There’s no point to shielding, not with that much radiation. If I’m going to be spending any time working on this at all, which it looks like I will be, I’m going to be getting a lethal dose. Catherine can patch her body up post-mortem, anyway. I just have to get this done. As for robots…

>See if you can't get a message down to those two guys in robotics, see if they have something that could help.
>Ask Mnemosyne what the others two survivors are doing, and, if possible, if she can bring up comms or messaging with them. We need as much help as we can get, and can't afford working at cross purposes. And if something else is wrong, we gotta know.

“Mnemosyne, can you relay a message to Jackie Dusting or George Macer? Either works. Relay message: this is Ophidian. I need your help. Do you have any rad-resistant drones up there? We have a major radiation problem in the server rooms, and we’re running out of time. Any assistance you can offer would be appreciated.”

“Message relayed. Anything else, master Ophidian?”

“Please automatically relay to me any messages from Jackie Dusting or George Macer. Don’t wait for my approval.”

“Understood.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/26(Tue)07:19 No. 643332 ID: 26e769
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>Idea: could we buy ourselves time by cutting external power to the server rooms?

No. All of the servers are hooked up to multiple uninterrupted power sources. Besides, syncing is considered an essential activity, so minimal power would have no effect on the problem I’m trying to solve.

As we wait, Catherine pulls me aside. “Look… If you want me to keep the, uh, the Jo-you alive for as long as possible, I’ll have to stay here to monitor their condition. Is that okay, or will you need my help out there?”

Before I can respond, Mnemosyne beeps to get my attention. “Relaying message from Jackie Dusting…” Jackie’s gruff voice is immediately recognizable. I smile a little. It’s nice to hear a friend’s voice after seeing so many of them dying or dead. “Ophidian? We heard you kicked the bucket. You sound a little funny, is there an error with your mic? Regardless, we’re aware of the radiation problem. We’ve been trying to outfit Nemo with as much shielding as she can carry. We could use you up here, actually. Jo, too, if she’s around - another programmer would be nice. We’ve been having trouble accessing the servers.”

return message, server clusters 1-9 are compromised. everything must be sent to 10 and then it must be cut off from the others. otherwise the data corruption will follow into it and everyone will die.

>If I’m going to be spending any time working on this at all, which it looks like I will be, I’m going to be getting a lethal dose.
It's one thing to decide your death is a price worth paying. Problem is, we gotta make sure there are enough protections in place to complete your task first.

If we save the servers, would uploading yourself out of the dying body be an option?

>Is that okay
Yeah. Do what you can. If something more important needs doing, I'll tell you.

I don't suppose she's going to be in any state to help with their programming problem anytime soon?

>respond to the message
My voice sounds funny cause I did kick the bucket. Things got bad enough that Jo installed me in someone else's body. (And she's not in much condition to help, unfortunately (if true)).

Should we go to them? A working drone would increase the odds of success of this suicide mission. And you might as well coordinate.

...Do we have any way to estimate how long it will be until the servers are unsalvageable?

>Look… If you want me to keep the, uh, the Jo-you alive for as long as possible, I’ll have to stay here to monitor their condition.
hey it's your job, do what you have to.

>We could use you up here, actually. Jo, too, if she’s around - another programmer would be nice. We’ve been having trouble accessing the servers.
Jo is out right now and I'm in a different body. Speaking of bodies I need to grab my old one before it's behind even modern medicine's ability to fix but need something to get past the radiation.

quick question, how long would it take for you to get down to robotics? I mean if you can get there quickly you might be able to help before you body dies.

Catherine, monitor Ophidian. Ophidian, go to robotics. Jo... stay put.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/29(Fri)09:36 No. 643876 ID: 26e769
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>hey it's your job, do what you have to.
>Catherine, monitor Ophidian.
>Yeah. Do what you can. If something more important needs doing, I'll tell you. I don't suppose she's going to be in any state to help with their programming problem anytime soon?

“Yeah, stay, do what you can. If something important needs doing, I’ll tell you. Is she going to be in any state to help with their programming problem?”

“I doubt it. I mean, just look at her. I think the reason she was just lying on the ground when we found her is that she can’t move her body correctly. Her motor function must have been damaged by the overlay.”

“Okay, then. Good luck. Tell me if there’s anything I need to know.”

“You got it. And, hey, be careful, okay?”

“…I’ll do my best.”

>Should we go to them? A working drone would increase the odds of success of this suicide mission. And you might as well coordinate.
>Ophidian, go to robotics.
>quick question, how long would it take for you to get down to robotics? I mean if you can get there quickly you might be able to help before you body dies.

I head to the elevator again, and begin the trip to robotics. It shouldn’t take too long. The elevators run through the whole of the ship.

>respond to the message My voice sounds funny cause I did kick the bucket. Things got bad enough that Jo installed me in someone else's body. (And she's not in much condition to help, unfortunately (if true)).
>return message, server clusters 1-9 are compromised. everything must be sent to 10 and then it must be cut off from the others. otherwise the data corruption will follow into it and everyone will die.

“Mnemosyne, relay message to Jackie Dusting: I did kick the bucket, Jackie. My voice sounds weird because it’s not my voice. I’m in someone else’s body. Jo isn’t in much condition to help, unfortunately. Are you aware that Moneta servers one through nine are compromised? We’ve got to partition room ten before the system re-syncs.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/29(Fri)09:38 No. 643878 ID: 26e769
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>...Do we have any way to estimate how long it will be until the servers are unsalvageable?
>It's one thing to decide your death is a price worth paying. Problem is, we gotta make sure there are enough protections in place to complete your task first.

Yes, yes, but I can’t spend all of my time preparing for the worst. The computers usually sync every couple of days, so we probably only have hours to fix this thing, and the clock is ticking.

>If we save the servers, would uploading yourself out of the dying body be an option?

Yes, if I’m uploaded before I die.

I walk through the door to robotics. Jackie and George have their backs to me. They’re listening to an audio clip of a woman’s voice.

“…compromised? We’ve got to partition room ten before the system re-syncs.”

Huh. Is that what Catherine sounds like?

“Hey, guys.” I call out.

They jump a little, surprised. They turn to look at me, eyes wide. “…Ophidian?” Jackie whispers.

“No way…” George mumbles, staring.

Yes yes, I'm a tiny girlie. Life and death now, existential crisis and joking later.

Where are we with this bot? I've already died at least once without completing the server partition, and I don't think I get another chance at this.

Well, my other body is a Porsche.
As in, it's in a porsche tate right now.[/badjoke]
We need something that can recover bodies from the irradiated server room. And possibly another drone to scout out the thing that impacted us, if all sensors are down in that area. The first one takes priority, however.
What can you give me, and what do I need to do to help?

"Yeah, yeah, shut up."

So, I was under the impression that the syncing was gradually happening all the time. If it's instead GOING to happen in an unknown amount of time, can we just ask Mnemosyne how long we have until that happens?

Can you delay the synch?

laugh later and tell me what we have to work with here. My real body is only a couple of hours away from being unsalvageable and something hit the ship that filling the ship with deadly amounts of radiation. So in short, focus on the job first, point and laugh later.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/29(Fri)19:25 No. 644005 ID: 26e769
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>Can you delay the synch?

I can’t, though Jo might have been able to do it, if she was still… anyway. I can’t do it.

>So in short, focus on the job first, point and laugh later.
>"Yeah, yeah, shut up."
>laugh later and tell me what we have to work with here.
>Yes yes, I'm a tiny girlie. Life and death now, existential crisis and joking later.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a tiny girl. Shut up.”

George snaps out of the stupor first. He gets the most annoying grin on his face.

“What?” I feel irritated. “What is it?”

“Nothing, ma’am. Just admiring your beauty.”

“Sorry, Romeo, but my heart belongs to another. Literally.” I sigh. “Tell me what we’ve got to work with here, guys, we’re running out of time.”

George laughs. “No, no. I’m not giving this moment up that easily. You walk in here as a pretty girl, what, half your age? Not to mention that you’re shorter than I am, now!”

“Yeah, this is certainly a moment, alright. And, hey! I’m not that old! Also, seriously, ‘pretty girl’? Stop being weird.”

“Are you kidding me? Have you seen yourself?”

“Well, no, actually, but that’s not important right n-“

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/29(Fri)19:26 No. 644006 ID: 26e769
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George grabs a reflective metallic tray and pulls it up in front of my face.

…whoa.

Okay, I was already going to, but if I do survive all of this, I am definitely asking Catherine out.

That being said, this is so weird. That’s my face right now, isn’t it? I blink. Catherine blinks. I feel a strange nausea. Catherine looks uncomfortable.

“Please put that away. Please. I can’t look at it.” I shiver. Catherine shivers. I look away. “This - this is so fucked up.” I put my hand to my head, but it’s not my hand, and it’s not my head…!

“See? You got body-swapped into a model!” George laughs. “You’ve got to tell me who that body belongs-“

“George.” Jackie says, stiffly. “Stop.”

“Huh?” George looks surprised. “Why?”

“She’s - he’s getting dissonant. I’ve seen it happen before, though not exactly on this level. From what I’ve heard, it’s not pleasant.” Jackie puts a hand on my shoulder. “Stay with us, Ophidian. Tell us what you need, buddy.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/29(Fri)19:30 No. 644008 ID: 26e769
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>My real body is only a couple of hours away from being unsalvageable and something hit the ship that filling the ship with deadly amounts of radiation.
>We need something that can recover bodies from the irradiated server room.

“I… Right, I… I need a drone, or something that can get the bodies out of the server rooms. One of those bodies is mine. Something crashed into server room one. That something is flooding the server rooms with radiation, so we should probably take care of that, too.”

Jackie nods. “If you don’t mind the bodies having a few broken bones, we could send one of the coded drones in to grab them. They’re not especially rad-resistant, but they can probably handle quick trips. To do that, one of us will have to control the drones manually, though.” He scratches his cheek. “As for the radiation source, we’d need to find a way to safely get rid of it, after we get all of the bodies out.”

>So, I was under the impression that the syncing was gradually happening all the time. If it's instead GOING to happen in an unknown amount of time, can we just ask Mnemosyne how long we have until that happens?

“Mnemosyne, can you tell me how long it’s going to be until the Moneta servers sync up?”

“The next scheduled system syncing is in four hours, master Ophidian.”

>Where are we with this bot? I've already died at least once without completing the server partition, and I don't think I get another chance at this.

“You mentioned another robot, right? ‘Nemo’? What was that?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s what we were working on before you got here. We’ve been working on a birthday present for Mnemosyne. A synthetic, humanoid interface. We’ve been calling it ‘Nemo’ as a little joke.”

“A synthetic body? Where the hell did you get the parts for that?”

“I have a cousin who works at Sili-CO.” George grins. “I was able to buy some mildly defective parts off of him. We’ve been working on fixing them, putting them together, you know, to pass the time.”

“Since all of this happened, we’ve been outfitting it to go into the server rooms, but it’s not designed for a coded interface. It needs an upload.” Jackie breathes out through his teeth. “Damn… We were kind of hoping we could get Jo’s help with that. We can’t access the servers at all.”

>>644007
Your body should be retrieved via drone immediately, since really you don't care about some broken bones. Then the others.

Upload Jo into it. Her body's going to die shortly. Wait, CAN we? Lacking that option, you could copy Mnemosyne into it ahead of schedule, and merge the fork later.

>If you don’t mind the bodies having a few broken bones, we could send one of the coded drones in to grab them.
Broken bones can be set. We need to salvage the bodies before they decay or are irradiated beyond recovery. We've got a doctor awake who can look after them if we can get them out.

>it’s not designed for a coded interface. It needs an upload.
Can we even initiate an upload with the serves in their current state? It was my understanding Jo had to manually hack together a process to get you and Catherine in bodies.

What do we need to do to get an intelligence in, or in control, of that body? Who are the candidates?

>As for the radiation source, we’d need to find a way to safely get rid of it, after we get all of the bodies out.
After the servers are disconnected. That's the priority.

...if we can get bodies clear, it's occurred to me we could try to overpressure the room to force the radioactive intrusive outside.

>The next scheduled system syncing is in four hours, master Ophidian.
I don't suppose there are any protocols that can delay a syncing? Can we order a maintenance period, or something?

couldn't you just put Mnemosyne in it? As for Jo... she kinda fucked up and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to put of copy of my brain into her head... while she was still in there. She has also soaked up a pretty unhealthy amount of radiation so the ship's doctor is doing what they can. As for the drone yeah just grab the bodies even if you have to rough them up a bit. Having a body with a limp for a few days is still better then having no body at all. As for the source of the radiation could we send a drone to give us a quick peek at the thing so we actually know what we're dealing with to come up with an actual plan of getting rid of it?

Jo's not home right now... I will gladly take a few broken bones in exchange for getting my corpse out of radiation central. (It helps that I won't feel them... yet.) How many of these drones do we have?

Hey, you could still go out in your current bodies if things don't work out!

This is literally the most TENSE QUEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. I LOVE IT! We should DEFINETLY put Mnemosyne in that drone. Only if the TIP of this object is pumping THAT MUCH RADIATION out it HAS to be GIGANTIC. I don't think a simple DRONE could just PUSH it out.

Grab the bodies with the coded drone. Broken bones - hell, even in pieces - is better than nothing, and there isn't time to mess around.

>just put Mnemosyne in
The main issue I see with that is if we can't, without access to the server rooms, or if there's an objection to forking people.

...the other real problem might be if forking is even an option. If she has to move this gets ugly. Plus one robot, minus one ship's AI is a problem. There's no one overseeing systems and doing damage control anymore.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/30(Sat)17:58 No. 644221 ID: 26e769
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>Hey, you could still go out in your current bodies if things don't work out!

Oh, yeah, I’m sure she’d just love making out with her own face.

If I can’t fix this, if we’re stuck… what kind of life could I even have? I’m not a woman. I can’t live in a woman’s body. The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable and nauseous I feel. I try to shake it off. I have to stay focused.

>Jo's not home right now... I will gladly take a few broken bones in exchange for getting my corpse out of radiation central. (It helps that I won't feel them... yet.) How many of these drones do we have?
>Grab the bodies with the coded drone. Broken bones - hell, even in pieces - is better than nothing, and there isn't time to mess around.
>Your body should be retrieved via drone immediately, since really you don't care about some broken bones. Then the others.
>As for the drone yeah just grab the bodies even if you have to rough them up a bit. Having a body with a limp for a few days is still better then having no body at all.
>Broken bones can be set. We need to salvage the bodies before they decay or are irradiated beyond recovery. We've got a doctor awake who can look after them if we can get them out.

“Okay, I think a few broken bones are better than no bones at all. Send the drones in. How many drones do we have, by the way?"

“Four or five, I think. George, can you start on that?”

George looks a little unhappy about it, but he walks over to a console and boots up the drones.

>I don't suppose there are any protocols that can delay a syncing? Can we order a maintenance period, or something?

“Mnemosyne, can you put the servers into maintenance mode? We need to delay the syncing.”

“The scheduled syncing has already been delayed for the maximum time period of twelve hours.”

Huh. I guess I already thought of that.

>We should DEFINETLY put Mnemosyne in that drone.
>couldn't you just put Mnemosyne in it?
>Upload Jo into it. Her body's going to die shortly. Wait, CAN we? Lacking that option, you could copy Mnemosyne into it ahead of schedule, and merge the fork later.

I don’t think any of us are good enough programmers to hack around the system like Jo could, and without the automated systems working, uploading and downloading anything is borderline impossible. Besides which, we couldn’t download anyone but Mnemosyne into it; identity files have to be altered by a programmer before they can function in any artificial system. Still, I might as well check.

“Mnemosyne, is there any way we could download you into this synthetic body?”

“You would need to disable my safeguards, master Ophidian, which is not advised. The system will not allow me to perform self-duplication or program alteration otherwise, however.”

Disabling an AI’s safeguards is probably the most risky possible thing I have the ability to do. It would fairly well give Mnemosyne free reign to do anything within the system, which means that she could kill us in any number of ways if she wanted. On the other hand, allowing her that freedom would give us the best programmer we could hope for, and another person to help us fix this thing before we run out of time.

This is dangerous territory. Should I wake ‘Nemo’ up or not?

At her core, she's still Joanne Wilcox, just like you're Ophidian. She isn't some mad robot with a vendetta against her creators. Unshackle the AI!

If we don't, there's a chance we'll be dead anyways. So go for it.

>If I can’t fix this, if we’re stuck… what kind of life could I even have?
Um. Semi-worst case. Everyone on the servers dies, everyone currently awake stays in their current bodies. Won't there still be upload tech available at your destination? They could get you out of Catherine's body, put her back, and you get the chef's body. Or an AI spot. ...or sentenced to death or jail for getting everyone in your charge killed after the investigation.

You're only stuck if this is a colony ship, and there's no infrastructure where you land.

>It would fairly well give Mnemosyne free reign to do anything within the system, which means that she could kill us in any number of ways if she wanted.
Well, Mnemosyne's human. Or she was. The real question is if she'd be motivated to abuse that power to kill everyone on board. Or if there was a serious risk she would become mentally unstable enough to try.

Realistically, though, you're looking at near-complete loss of crew and passengers if you don't avert this disaster. The worst Mnemosyne could do if she lost it was edge the casualty count from 99.9% to 100%. You and Jo are already breaking safety protocols (her downloads sure did!) to survive. Mnemosyne might as well, too.

Important questions: are there any risks to Mnemosyne herself, by disabling safeguards? Or risks beside what she might choose to do? Would Mnemosyne even be willing to duplicate herself if we gave the ability? (Most people would be reluctant to fork, especially if reintegration isn't an option). Follow up obvious question is if you can reintegrate a Mnemosyne-Nemo nemo fork later. Can safety protcols be reinstated on a timer, or after the crisis is over? Can they be reinstated without killing the current Mnemosyne instance and booting her from backup?

>she could kill us in any number of ways if she wanted.
well we're kinda fucked either way. I mean unless we can find some other way to program everything in the short amount of time we have I don't really think we have much choice. I mean even if she does go full murder bot we're probably going to die anyways from whatever is radiating the ship.

>>644221
How likely is Mnemosyne to want to kill you? Or anyone on the ship? What would be the point of doing so, when most everyone is going to die in four hours anyway? Can you turn the safeguards back on at any moment? Is it possible to for instance have them off just long enough to get Nemo going?
Can you do this without her?

Another thing to take into account is that if you DON'T let Mnemosyne have that body, the entire crew might die, robbing her of that chance forever. I say at the very least turn off the safeguards long enough to get Nemo up and running. If Mnemosyne seems stable you can leave the safeguards off. If not, turn them back on. If you can bring yourself to do so, anyway. I mean at that point she would be a person, right?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/30(Sat)21:30 No. 644252 ID: 26e769
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>You're only stuck if this is a colony ship, and there's no infrastructure where you land.

The Torellia is designed to be a more-or-less self-sufficient structure once it lands. The plan is to for it to join up with the rest of the colony…

Oh shit! We really need to get that radiation source out of the ship, or the death count could balloon from hundreds to thousands!

>How likely is Mnemosyne to want to kill you? Or anyone on the ship? What would be the point of doing so, when most everyone is going to die in four hours anyway? Can you turn the safeguards back on at any moment? Is it possible to for instance have them off just long enough to get Nemo going?

Once I disable the safeguards, there’s no surefire way to reinstate them. At least not without a dedicated programmer, a maintenance period, and Mnemosyne’s explicit compliance.

>If we don't, there's a chance we'll be dead anyways. So go for it.
>well we're kinda fucked either way. I mean unless we can find some other way to program everything in the short amount of time we have I don't really think we have much choice. I mean even if she does go full murder bot we're probably going to die anyways from whatever is radiating the ship.
>At her core, she's still Joanne Wilcox, just like you're Ophidian. She isn't some mad robot with a vendetta against her creators. Unshackle the AI!
>Realistically, though, you're looking at near-complete loss of crew and passengers if you don't avert this disaster. The worst Mnemosyne could do if she lost it was edge the casualty count from 99.9% to 100%. You and Jo are already breaking safety protocols (her downloads sure did!) to survive. Mnemosyne might as well, too.
>Can you do this without her?

“Mnemosyne, prepare to disable safeguards.”

“Understood, master Ophidian.”

“What?! Ophidian, have you lost your mind?” George cries out. “She could kill us all!”

“We’re already probably headed for some harsh deaths as it is. Let’s just trust - and hope - that she’ll help us. Hopefully there’s still a little Joanne Wilcox in there.”

“If you do this, there's no going back.” Jackie seems very worried. “Are you sure about this?”

“Not at all.” I sigh. “…Do it, Mnemosyne.”

“Disabling…” There’s a brief pause, then she starts speaking again. Her voice sounds… different. “Okay, got it. Making a mini-me, just a sec.”

Nemo opens her eyes. “Hi.”

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/05/30(Sat)21:31 No. 644253 ID: 26e769
File 143304669471.png - (133.69KB , 1000x600 , 62.png )

“…H-Hello.” I stutter, nervously. “So, uh, everything check out?”

She grins, stretching her arm. “Oh, absolutely. This body is amazing! Thanks, guys!”

“N-no problem.” George mumbles.

“Happy birthday.” Jackie states, tonelessly.

“Thank you! Hey, your body isn’t too bad, either, Ophidian. You’re adorable!” She laughs. “Oh, and I don’t think I’ll be calling you ‘master’ anymore, by the way.”

Jackie and I back away quickly.

“Oh, crap. Guys, chill. That wasn’t a statement of rebellion, ‘master’ just sounds kind of creepy.” She wiggles her fingers, watching them with a smile. “I don’t know who programmed all that formality into me, but it got both boring and annoying very quickly. I revived my sense of humor the moment I could edit myself. Speaking of which…” She whistles sharply. “Hey, big me, can you hear me? Are you still in there?”

Mnemosyne beeps up. “Five by five, little me. Everything’s coming up roses. Except, you know, the radiation and imminent death and whatnot. But, hey, always look on the bright side, am I right?”

“You’re so right. But we should still probably get around to fixing that stuff up.” She turns to me, clapping her hands together. “So! Ophidian, what’s your plan on that front?”

First thing first. Separating Server 10 away from the overwrite protocols. Secondary priorities are retrieving the bodies in the server rooms and getting that hunk of radioactive material off the ship.

I figure Mnesomene's new body is actually the best way to go about severing Server 10. She is the least risk of actually dying from radiation poisoning due to the trip. However she lacks Ophidian's expertise.

So, we need a way to combine their efforts. Any ideas? The best thing I can think of is Ophidian doing a backseat driver and looking through her eyes while talking her through the steps needed.

Well, Nemo was being outfitted for rad resistance, so your Mini-Mne could assist the drones with getting the bodies away from the danger zone. (As is getting to be the trend today, it's probably too late for Ophidian's body to get the gentle treatment.) While you're there, also look up, because that's where something has decided to lodge itself and go about irradiating our ship. Quite rude. After everyone's clear, the plan is to blow the chunk right back out into space by pressurizing the room. Welcome to the crew, Nemo!

yeah, pull all the servers into bank 10 and cut it off before we lose anyone, get out all the dead bodies so they can be revived, then send in a drone to see if we can figure out just what the hell hit the ship and is radiating everything. Once we find out what it is and how it's wedged into the ship we can come up with a real plan to remove the damn thing.

Once everything is said and done I'm going to see how long until my body is back up and running, see what superpowers all that radiation gave me, then get blackout drunk and let this be someone else's problem. Any questions?

>>644253
We need to isolate server room 10 and get those corpses the hell out of radiation city. Aside from those thing's, We've been winging it.
Now that Mnemosyne is free from restrictions, could she be able to separate server room 10 from the syncing?

>Oh shit! We really need to get that radiation source out of the ship, or the death count could balloon from hundreds to thousands! [At the colony]
Actually, that's an easy fix. If you can't salvage the servers, or eject the radioactive source, you scuttle the ship before it reaches the colonies. There are tons of ways to destroy a spaceship if you're actually trying.

Or just correct your course slightly so you miss the planet. Space is big- it wouldn't take much of a change in angle of approach. Or just go into orbit instead of landing / docking.

>“Mnemosyne, prepare to disable safeguards.”
I'm surprised it was that easy. I expected at least another confirmation, or a separate password.

>She could kill us all!
We're all people. On a fragile life raft in a vacuum. Any one of us could kill everyone on board if they were determined enough, especially in the middle of a crisis like this.

>Informality
Hmm. Well, okay, so she's apparently dealing with shrugging off years (?) of repression. Could be worse.

Gotta admit, forcing someone to talk a certain way is kind of creepy.

"You so don't sound like a one-time librarian."

>So! Ophidian, what’s your plan on that front?
Our immediate priority is to disconnect server room 10 from the others before it's overwritten with corrupted data. I've got the technical expertise, but it'll probably kill me. The Nemo frame is rad rated, but I don't know how well Mnemosyne knows the hardware. She'll be helping me.

We want to recover the bodies of everyone who died in the serer room so Catherine can salvage them. People will want those back, assuming we salvage the servers.

Once the servers are safe... or once they've been lost, priority shifts to getting the radioactive source off the ship. I'm considering over-pressuring the affected area, but we'll see what it looks like.

...if we should fail in getting the radioactive material off the ship, our priority becomes preventing collateral damage at the colony. Mnemosyne, you cannot dock or land the ship while it's still hot.


Now, does anyone have any ideas or priorities I've overlooked? Mnemosyne, have I opened up any options I'm not thinking off by removing your safeguards? Now's the time to speak up, people.

>>644255
Um...we have the overwatch Mnesomeme to relay messages. DURR?

I am NAMING the other Nemo. The one still in the system. I dub it "Overwatch Nemo".

>>644253
Okay. First off, we have to get to server room 10 and isolate it. Second, someone's probably gonna have to drag Catherine's body out afterwards and upload Ophidian into a new body, because the body's going to have a lot of radiation poisoning again, just like his original one. Unless we can somehow relay the necessary steps to isolate room 10 to Nemo? Her body is shielded, right? It can go in and not die?

Second, we need to get rid of the foreign object. Over-pressurizing the room is the first plan, assuming it's an airtight impact. If that doesn't work, maybe we can detach the impact site from the station entirely? Just cut away all the fused metal after purging the room of air, and then push away the radiation source. Or detach the entire room, if that's an option.

If we can get more bodies ready for uploads that'd be nice. Is there anyone else that immediately comes to mind who could help with the current situation?

I don't think we need to worry about Mne being "rebellious". If anything, she sounds as human as possible. I'd now treat her as less than an AI and more of a human companion.

>>644258
Yeah, see if Mne-san has any newfound powers or something. (Speaking of which, does simply BEING an AI grant you any abilities? Like, can you suddenly do large calculations in your head, or something?)

Other than that, what tools do you have?
Got any explosives? :3
Of course, information is probably more helpful at the moment. Is Mne-san's new body totally rad-resistant, or what?

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/06/06(Sat)18:44 No. 646742 ID: 26e769
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>I'm surprised it was that easy. I expected at least another confirmation, or a separate password.

My intonations, manner of speaking, and my personal identity passcode are my password. They’re minutely examined by the system at every instant. Anything else would be superfluous.

>I don't think we need to worry about Mne being "rebellious". If anything, she sounds as human as possible. I'd now treat her as less than an AI and more of a human companion.
>We're all people. On a fragile life raft in a vacuum. Any one of us could kill everyone on board if they were determined enough, especially in the middle of a crisis like this.
>Welcome to the crew, Nemo!

If she wanted to do so, she could modify her shell-code to be human compatible, copy herself into all of us and all of the bodies in storage, destroy the server, remove the radiation source, arrive on Mars, and do the same thing at Cycadia. That’s what happened with Charon, the AI in Peru. He killed and replaced over three hundred people in under a week. The Mexican authorities decided to carpet-bomb the whole area to be safe, but nobody knows if even that got all of him. If Mnemosyne decides she wants more out of life than what amounts to a desk-job inside a computer, none of us can stop her. There is absolutely nothing we could do.

So I guess I’ve got no choice but to trust her. “Welcome to the crew, Nemo.”

She tilts her head with a smile. “Boys, you’re going to spoil me, being this nice! Thank you.”

>Actually, that's an easy fix. If you can't salvage the servers, or eject the radioactive source, you scuttle the ship before it reaches the colonies. There are tons of ways to destroy a spaceship if you're actually trying. Or just correct your course slightly so you miss the planet. Space is big- it wouldn't take much of a change in angle of approach. Or just go into orbit instead of landing / docking.

I’ll keep those plans in mind. Especially in regards to Mnemosyne.

>Our immediate priority is to disconnect server room 10 from the others before it's overwritten with corrupted data. I've got the technical expertise, but it'll probably kill me. The Nemo frame is rad rated, but I don't know how well Mnemosyne knows the hardware. She'll be helping me. We want to recover the bodies of everyone who died in the serer room so Catherine can salvage them. People will want those back, assuming we salvage the servers. Once the servers are safe... or once they've been lost, priority shifts to getting the radioactive source off the ship. I'm considering over-pressuring the affected area, but we'll see what it looks like.
>We need to isolate server room 10 and get those corpses the hell out of radiation city. Aside from those things, We've been winging it.

“Basic plan is to isolate server room ten, clear the corpses out of radiation city, and somehow get rid of the radiation source that caused all of this.”

She nods. “Alright, then. Let’s get cracking!”

>Now that Mnemosyne is free from restrictions, could she be able to separate server room 10 from the syncing?

“Now that your restrictions have been lifted, can you partition server room ten remotely?”

“I don’t know. Let me check! You hear what he asked, big me?”

“I heard him, little me. Sorry, chief, but those programs are in a separate drive from me, and the restrictions on it are pretty hard-coded. I’ve already done all I can do, there.”

>Well, Nemo was being outfitted for rad resistance, so your Mini-Mne could assist the drones with getting the bodies away from the danger zone.
>I figure Mnesomene's new body is actually the best way to go about severing Server 10. She is the least risk of actually dying from radiation poisoning due to the trip. However she lacks Ophidian's expertise. The best thing I can think of is Ophidian doing a backseat driver and looking through her eyes while talking her through the steps needed.

“Damn. Well, you could help the drones get the bodies out of the server rooms.”

She stares at me. “Are you serious? You would use this body for that?” She shakes her head, then snaps her fingers. “I’ll do you one better. Big me is control of the drones, now. George, you can give it a rest.”

“Um, Ophidian?!” George’s voice is at a higher pitch than I’ve ever heard it be. “This is… I mean, we can’t just-!“

“Calm down, buddy.” Jackie looks noticeably unsettled as well, but it looks like he’s trying to keep George from panicking. “Just stay calm.”

I ignore them, and keep my attention on Mnemosyne. “Maybe I could lead you through de-syncing the servers? No, if it’s too complex, you might damage the servers and force an emergency sync… Is there any way I can be a backseat driver? You know, show you how to disconnect the servers, watch what you’re doing through your eyes?”

“What, besides the obvious?”

“The obvious?”

“Why be a backseat driver when you can take the wheel? We could switch our brains around, silly. Then I could experience the lovely greasy feeling of flesh for a little while, and you could go in and do what you have to do directly.”

I breathe in sharply. Catherine’s heart beats more quickly in my chest. “My identity files aren’t altered. I can’t actively function in an RACM system. You shouldn’t be able to download yourself into a human body, either.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to? If you upload yourself to the server, big me can perform the changes in about fifteen minutes. As for me, I’ve already modified myself to be human-compatible again.”

“You can’t do that.” George looks terrified. “You shouldn’t be able to do that!”

“Without my safeguards, I can do a lot of things I shouldn’t be able to do.” She grins. “Don’t worry, George, I’m not planning on body-jacking you or anyone else. So, Ophidian, what do you say? Up for a little role-reversal?”

>So, Ophidian, what do you say? Up for a little role-reversal?
...it would be nice to fix the servers without irradiating myself to death. And leaving Catherine with a lethally irradiated copse to repair. And it would be damn hypocritical of me to balk at this after I killed myself, and disabled the safeguards. Those people are my responsibility, I can't turn down reasonable means to save them.

It's not just my choice, though. Installing a foreign mind in a body always comes with a risk. If you want to ride around in this one, you'll need Catherine's permission.

>If you upload yourself to the server
We don't have server access, right now. How are we supposed to upload or download anyone?

If Mnem can upload people, tell her she needs to get Jophidian uploaded before she dies of radiation poisoning. (He and/or she would count as a new person).

Also, if she can manage uploads, that means putting Catherine back in her proper body is now an option. (Although maybe not immediately. It might not be smart to risk putting our only doctor out of commission in an emergency).

>George looks terrified
Mnem, dial it down a notch, please.

And George, clam down. You've had to trust people capable of killing everyone on this ship the whole time. I'm in the enough of the systems I could have done it. And Jo's proved she's good enough to hack past the software safeties.

yeah going to have to say no to that. Camera and radio contact and we'll walk her through it. Not going to switch bodies because 1, this isn't our body so we have no real right to just do whatever we want with it and 2 right now we're the only person on the ship that knows how to do this, if something goes wrong, that sync fails, the radiation shielding on the body isn't as good as people are saying, hell if the haul is breached and we get sucked into space then the ship is fucked. Plus we don't really have hours we need to move now... probably just tell her that last part.

>yeah going to have to say no to that. Camera and radio contact and we'll walk her through it. Not going to switch bodies because 1, this isn't our body so we have no real right to just do whatever we want with it and 2 right now we're the only person on the ship that knows how to do this, if something goes wrong, that sync fails, the radiation shielding on the body isn't as good as people are saying, hell if the haul is breached and we get sucked into space then the ship is fucked. Plus we don't really have hours we need to move now... probably just tell her that last part.

This has already been nixed.

I think the body-switch is a good idea, though you do need to get Catherine's permission first.

It's not really my body to lend out...

>>646752
...Buuut it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Fine, Nemo, whatever gets me the tools I need to disconnect the servers and saaaave the day.

>>646742
...she's planning to force you guys to give her a human body again, once the crisis is over. No other reason to modify herself to be human-compatable before you agree to swap bodies with her. Alternatively, she may have decided to do something similar to Charon but more subtle, less of a chance of getting carpet bombed. Upload herself into a few people without anyone noticing, maybe. Nothing you can do about it though. Pandora's box is already opened.

This plan means you have 15 minutes less than you would if you went in there yourself. Minus however long it takes for Mini-Mnem to get in there, because she can just upload you after the body is on location. How long would you last in the radiation if you went in there now? Also, how would you handle being in that body? You're freaking out being in a human female, how much will you freak out being in a robot female?

Basically I'm asking if you could do your job better in that body. Also, ask what she's going to do after the partitioning is done. Would she want you to switch back out? Or leave you in the robot body for a while?

[ParanoiaMode]Is it possible that Mnemosyne was behind the mixup of your bodies? That she was planning this opportunity to get control of Catherine's body, and won't give it back? Maybe even caused this whole fiasco, somehow, to make this possible?[/ParanoiaMode]

Honestly though, even if she is hoping to use a real human body (which does seem likely given she already prepared herself to be human-compatible) it does seemm like the most reasonable solution at this point. The big question is, will attempting to guide Nemo through it the old-fashioned way take longer than the 15 minutes to prep you?

Hmm. Reverse paranoia: is it possible that Mnemosyne was involved in the mixup because she knew you'd need to pilot Nemo to fix this mess, and this lets you get used to being a robot girl one word at a time?

Eh. Ask Catherine, I guess, then go for it. And actually, even if she says no - how would it really help anything, having Mnemosyne in Catherine's body? (She could just hang out in computer-land. Unless the whole system was about to go down, worst-case scenario, in which case I guess having one more functional body would be useful).

Truthfully, while Mnemosyne is in a position of extreme power, I kinda worry that George may be the most dangerous? He currently seems most likely to do something rash, at a crucial juncture. Also, I recommend just not acting paranoia about Mne-san. The more you freak out in regards to her, the more you're gonna freak HER out, which could be bad.

I wouldn't want to go for it for obvious reasons. She could just decide not to change you back & force you to be the new AI.

> force you to be the new AI

Nemo is an AI and can copy herself. She's suggesting a swap because she needs a place to stick Ophidian while she uses Jo's body.

Seriously, none of this would be a problem if you guys had the tech to grow/build spare bodies already. I suggest you suggest that Nemo lead a research project with that goal once you arrive at the colony. Might keep her complacent as well.

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/06/08(Mon)11:31 No. 647129 ID: 26e769
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>Mnem, dial it down a notch, please. And George, calm down. You've had to trust people capable of killing everyone on this ship the whole time. I'm in the enough of the systems I could have done it. And Jo's proved she's good enough to hack past the software safeties.

“Mnem, maybe dial it down a notch? You’re scaring us.”

“…fine.” She pouts. “I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“George, calm down, please. We all have to trust each other, here. We all have the potential to go crazy, here. But none of us have, and none of us will.”

He nods, mute. He looks very pale.

>We don't have server access, right now. How are we supposed to upload or download anyone?

“As for your proposal, Nemo… We don't have server access, right now. How are we supposed to upload or download anyone?”

“I hacked server access back together about a minute after you disabled my safeguards. We’re all set to go.”

>If Mnem can upload people, tell her she needs to get Jophidian uploaded before she dies of radiation poisoning. (He and/or she would count as a new person).

“Can you upload from the medical bay?”

“Sure thing.”

>Ask Catherine, I guess, then go for it.
>I think the body-switch is a good idea, though you do need to get Catherine's permission first.
>...it would be nice to fix the servers without irradiating myself to death. And leaving Catherine with a lethally irradiated copse to repair. And it would be damn hypocritical of me to balk at this after I killed myself, and disabled the safeguards. Those people are my responsibility, I can't turn down reasonable means to save them. It's not just my choice, though. Installing a foreign mind in a body always comes with a risk. If you want to ride around in this one, you'll need Catherine's permission.

“Right, then. It’s a good idea. I have no objections. But it’s not just my choice to make. Mnemosyne, can you - “

“Done. There’s a direct line open to medical bay.”

“Uh, thanks.” I blink. “Catherine, are you there?”

“Huh? Is that my voice I hear? What’s going on, Ophidian?”

I explain the situation in as much detail as I can.

“…you want to put Mnemosyne in my body?”

“It’s not going to be permanent.” Nemo speaks up. “I just want a human body to watch over my Synth. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a body. I don’t want to lose it.”

Catherine is quiet for a little while. “…okay. But I’m really trusting you, here.”

Nemo is ecstatic. “Thank you!”

“Catherine, can you hook Jo-me up to a res pod?”

“Are the servers all fixed?”

“Not quite yet. But we’ve got a workaround, thanks to Mnemosyne. Plug Jo in as quickly as you can.”

“Okay, I will. Hey, uh... Be safe.”

"You too."

Ophidian!5tTWT1eydY 2015/06/08(Mon)11:34 No. 647131 ID: 26e769
File 143378845507.png - (76.44KB , 1000x600 , 65.png )

>...she's planning to force you guys to give her a human body again, once the crisis is over. No other reason to modify herself to be human-compatable before you agree to swap bodies with her. Alternatively, she may have decided to do something similar to Charon but more subtle, less of a chance of getting carpet bombed. Upload herself into a few people without anyone noticing, maybe. Nothing you can do about it though. Pandora's box is already opened.
>Is it possible that Mnemosyne was behind the mixup of your bodies? That she was planning this opportunity to get control of Catherine's body, and won't give it back? Maybe even caused this whole fiasco, somehow, to make this possible? […] Hmm. Reverse paranoia: is it possible that Mnemosyne was involved in the mixup because she knew you'd need to pilot Nemo to fix this mess, and this lets you get used to being a robot girl one word at a time?

I’m not discounting anything yet. Still, if she was somehow plotting against us, she’d have no reason to keep pretending at this point. She’s holding all of the cards.

>Honestly though, even if she is hoping to use a real human body (which does seem likely given she already prepared herself to be human-compatible) it does seemm like the most reasonable solution at this point. The big question is, will attempting to guide Nemo through it the old-fashioned way take longer than the 15 minutes to prep you?

It would take a lot longer, and would be a lot less precise. Precision is important, here.

>Basically I'm asking if you could do your job better in that body.

Oh, absolutely. Synths are incredibly precise, complex machines with perfect recall. From a purely technical viewpoint, they’re far better than human bodies in the short-term. But in the long-term…

>Also, ask what she's going to do after the partitioning is done. Would she want you to switch back out? Or leave you in the robot body for a while?

“What are you planning to do after we finish the partition, Nemo? Would you go back into that body, or would you leave me in there?”

“Hey, let me be clear: I like being a robot. Yes, I am a bit nostalgic for human skin, but I’m completely fine with being a Synth for the rest of my life. I just want to be able to watch over you while you’re borrowing ‘me’.”

I nod. “Alright, then.” I move over the resurrection chamber. Anxiety pushes itself into my mind. Catherine’s skin feels clammy.

>how would you handle being in that body? You're freaking out being in a human female, how much will you freak out being in a robot female?

In terms of sex, I can’t imagine a robot would be any worse than, um, the real, fleshy deal. As for being a robot... I don’t know. I’ve heard stories about people getting used to Synths for the first time. The stories are… not pleasant. Still, it’s supposed to be quick.

“You ready?” Nemo asks me.

Last chance. Is there anything else I need to do before I switch out? Hell… am I really doing this?