Apollo 2015/12/16(Wed)01:31 No. 689092 ID: defceb
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"I'm just saying the Deem x Hin version of the myths are superior to the Deem x Moriko version."
"Regardless of your opinion the scrolls for the Moriko story sell out much faster than Hin. It's very clear where public consensus lies."

Apollo 2015/12/16(Wed)01:31 No. 689093 ID: defceb
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>"Folks, if you see a lady with a red halo running around, a scary lady with blue tattoos, or a very bright light and you value your own life, please, stay away! I, Alexandrius Falt, re-inventor of the printing press (tell your friends) have everything totally under control!”

Apollo 2015/12/16(Wed)01:32 No. 689094 ID: defceb
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“Do we even have an escape plan!?”

>”Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to ___________!!”

>>689094
Make out under the bench, the being will be too confused to do anything other than blush, say a quick excuse, and then leave.

>>689094
Die!

Wait, no, that's not a plan. We're going to tunnel underground. She won't see us leave.

-Dig a tunnel straight to Ganymede!

>>689099
I don't think we can reach Ganymede by tunneling, unfortunately, unless we know how to do some kind of quantum tunneling. Do we? If not, regular tunneling is fine.

>>689094
Take the first train out!

"What's a train?"

"It's a kind of locotransportation which, as we all know, loco is Spanish for insanity."

Tap into whatever is powering the lights around here and use it to launch myself on a suborbital trajectory toward Sydney's server room. Intercepting a flight like that after the end of the ascent burn is incredibly difficult, even with unlimited orbital assets and near-perfect sensors. The ballistic projectile can shed a flock of cheap mylar balloons, and there's no movement or heat signature to distinguish between them.

I was gonna joke about that being one of the rollback characters still around arguing with the scroll seller, but none of them have Deem x Hin as their OTP.

>>689116
Yes that's it, you'll dust up a whole railroad and depart immediately.

....of course that's the decoy hoards of robots will descend upon. We're going by hot air balloon.

>>689116
>>689099

We need an underground tunneltrain!
First, go underground, make a spiky teardrop shaped pod out of hardened dust, big enough for you, sydney and phonita to ride around in, then get in and move the spikes backwards along the pod to push the earth backwards and force yourself forwards.
For extra stealth points, it should move the earth you've excavated behind you, filling in the tunnel.

Apollo 2015/12/20(Sun)17:46 No. 689720 ID: defceb
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>“We’ll take a train!”

“A train?”

>"It's a kind of locotransportation which, as we all know, loco is Spanish for insanity. Naturally, the horde of robots will descend upon the train as soon as we’re out of town and blow it up, killing us instantly!”

Apollo 2015/12/20(Sun)17:46 No. 689721 ID: defceb
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“I don’t like that plan…”

>“Me neither! Which is why we didn’t do it, and instead we’re digging straight to Ganymede!”

“I can think of several problems with attempting to dig to Ganymede.”

We won't know unless we try!

>I can think of several problems with attempting to dig to Ganymede.

well we're not going to dig ALL the way there just dig until we lose the crazy people trying to kill me for reasons I'm not 100% sure of.

fine, we'll stop digging when we reach the surface.

Oh Sydney, don't be such a stick in the mud! You're just thinking what they want you to think.

Don't forget to collapse / backfill the tunnel behind you so we don't have to deal with pursuit!

(Which is trivial, since the dirt you're digging in front of you have to go somewhere, unless you're converting it to dust as you go).

>“I can think of several problems with attempting to dig to Ganymede.”
Sydney, define hyperbole.

>what do
I think our next objective has to be operation jailbreak Sydney. The baddies are after me in earnest (for some reason), and we can't move ahead with our other plans while you're still on the network.

Oh that reminds me- Sydney, the robo-girl who came after me, can you find any records on her? Encounters with previous users? It seems very atypical for them to deploy a sapient, humanoid unit, especially when we went out of our way not to raise my threat level. We triggered some unusual enemy protocol.

Equip dwarven safety helmet.

About that connection thing; how much data is the system able to get from that, like can they see us or just know where we are? Also, what is it they are counting as "us" for the purposes of tracking us and projecting Sydney? Some implants we have or something? We have nanites; it probably won't be too hard to replace an organ or two (especially compared to the current plan of invading a robot death fortress to disconnect Sydney, possibly killing them by doing so).

>>689721
Agreed with the other posts, try and jailbreak Sydney, or work up to it. Are we ready for a full on raid on the strange landed O'Neill cylinder?

Feels like what we need are some secondary objectives to work up to it, but on the other hand its hard to achieve much at all when we're being manhunted by murderous robots we're apparently unready for.

When you've got time, check out how fragile your casting powers are. If the mage in the town can disrupt us making dust objects, theres no reason the robots cant either - and I don't wanna be underground if that happens.

Anyway, full speed ahead to somewhere safe and away from the robots.

Try and sort out a game plan while you're there.

>>689721
"Radiation isn't bad, puts tentacles on your chest."

>>689721
What problems are those, Sydney?

>>690195
ganymede is a different planet

this planet is called titan

you cant dig to another planet

its a joke

>>690797
titan is a moon

Apollo 2016/01/18(Mon)01:05 No. 694962 ID: defceb
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>”Sydney, define hyperbole.”

“Hyperbole (noun) [English, 21st century] exaggerated statements or claims- oh.”

>”Do you have any records on that robot girl?”

“Very few. Mostly distant glances or silhouettes. Several long distance kills might have been by her hand. Based purely on information available to me she’s been very secretive in her activities before now.”

>”She came out of the shadows for me? I almost feel special.”

“I don’t like it. Something's changed.”

>”Ominous.”

“Spooky, even.”

>”I think we need to jailbreak you as soon as possible-”

“But what about Meliton!?”

“What about Meliton.”

“I’ve already been out far longer than I should. Alex, I need to go home.”

>”And miss out on our grand adventure?”

“I have obligations and purpose and, and- I’m not some wandering hero! Though don’t get me wrong the idea of roaming the mighty seas and felling monsters while rescuing dashing young men is very- ahem. Nevermind.”

”Related, I suggest making stops on the way there. You still need sleep, food, relaxation. By my estimate it’s been [5 billion Earth years] since you’ve last had a good night’s sleep to begin with.”

>”In my defense I spent a good number of those dead.”

”In either case, if you wish to skip Meliton’s entirely there is a well populated port town on the way. It’s a hub of local culture and economy, I’m sure you would be well able to enjoy yourself there.”


“...Alex, I just received an S.O.S. message from another user. They appear to be in conflict with Suha.”

>“How close are they?”

“It’s a bit of a detour. They weren’t transmitting their location at all earlier though.”

>“I thought you couldn’t do that?”

“I can’t!”

[1] Take Photina home
[2] Drag her with you, dig straight towards the port town and towards Sydney.
[3] Drag her with you, dig straight towards Sydney.
[4] Check out the S.O.S.

>>694962
[1] Take Photina home
[4] Check out the S.O.S.

1] Photina phone home
4] Check out obvious trap distress signal

1 then 4.

Dust up a communicator or phone Phontina can use to call you (or Sydney) if she needs help or wants a pickup.

Let's fly. Dust up something to keep her warm this time.

[1] then [4]
Scout ahead using a decoy body so as to not get ambushed so easily. And make this one more explodey!

>>694962

Hum. Don't really want to leave Photina behind. If nothing else, she's been observed with us, and the crazy robot lady may not want to leave her, and consequently her master's household, be.

That said, if she's sure this is what she wants, we'll escort her home, like the gentlebug we are. And give her our phone number. And a phone. Or a working communication analogue that can't easily be traced. Like a phone that runs on quantum entanglement! Maybe something simpler.

Also, if Suha is attacking another user, they must've done something to make her have beef with them. Given her attitude, it may have been a very minor something, so breaking up the fight could be as easy as telling them to break off and run and distracting Suha.

Or it could be a trap and Suha's the one that is in trouble.

Either way, we should at least check it out.

4, 1. Dust up some comm gear for Photina, let her listen in on the diplomatic conference call between you, Suha, and the mysterious off-grid user.

Apollo 2016/01/31(Sun)01:45 No. 698473 ID: defceb
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>[1] Photina phone home
>[4] Check out obvious trap distress signal
>And give her our phone number. And a phone. Or a working communication analogue that can't easily be traced.


>"You sure this is close enough?"

"I can walk from here. You've already done so much for me lately."
>"And you're sure you want to go?"

"...it's what I should do."

>"Well don't be afraid to call! I'll be on the line whenever you need me."

"And you stay safe! Or as safe as you can, I suppose."

"...Will I ever see you again?"

>...Will I ever see you again?
probably, or at the very least you'll hear about me. I mean I don't exactly blend in with a crowd and seeing how active my life has become I'm sure someone somewhere will have a thing or two to say about me.

>"...Will I ever see you again?"
Assuming I don't get killed! ...Sydney could give you the odds on that, but you probably shouldn't ask.

>"...it's what I should do."
Dumb question but... why? What's here for you? I didn't get the impression this Meliton guy was the greatest to you.

yeah, didn't ask if she should go but if she wanted to. i mean, hate to burst her bubble but that crazy lady was part of the group that made burning corpses seem like a good idea.

You could come.

>>698473
Y'know that the crazy lady probably knows you're a friend of ours, right?

And she might try to kidnap you to use you as bait to drag us out?

Just saying.

Just, y'know, saying. That's all.

>>698473

Maybe you will! Life's unpredictable, y'know? A bit bummed you won't come, but I can understand feeling indebted to someone. It's not as if I'm doing this thing for Sydney JUST because I'm a naturally handsome and heroic individual! He kind of did peel me out of a crater, un-smear my spine, cram it all back into this cute little exoskeletal bod, so I do owe him for, y'know, everything, up to and including meeting you.

Thanks again, Sydney, by the way. Class A performance, would get revived again.

Anyway, at least we can stay in touch, Photina! Don't hesitate to call if you want a friendly voice to chat to. I promise to not hang up unless someone is trying to murder me again. Now, we've really got to go, because of attempted murder elsewhere, so if you're sure...?

Oh, and don't forget. If it comes to it, try to leave a corpse; there's a chance you can get revived in the same manner I did. Not such a bad deal, to be honest. You'd get your own awesome fairy friend, too!

And be careful around that red-clad 'woman' if you ever see her! Running like hell, calling for us or getting super pissed are probably your best options. All three would be best!

Sure. Fate's funny that way.
Remember, use that thing at the first sign of trouble. If you hear a commotion outside, you call me. If you forget where you put your glasses, you call me. If the quiche comes out a little bit burnt, you call me. Got it?

I don't really know, that's the exiting part about risking your life! Things seem to be advancing pretty quickly, if you don't see me again in... let's say a (old earth) month then you probably won't be seeing me again. Try not to get kidnapped or murdered or something, though if you do manage to get yourself kidnapped you should tell them that I won't be negotiating.

>>698473
Better odds of that if you come with me.

>"...Will I ever see you again?"
You'd better! If I don't show up ever again I expect you to hold it against me, because I probably won't be in any condition to be upset with myself for me!
I'll come visit after I get Sydney's core, alright?

She's got all the stuff for a printing press, right? We didn't forget that in the excitement?

>>698473
Ask if she maybe wants to become a reviled revenant brought back from death to complete a nigh impossible task and eternally hunted by mysterious powerful forces with us.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)00:30 No. 698884 ID: defceb
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>“Better odds of that if you come with me.”

“Alex, I- I have responsibilities. A life. People I work for and, and I can’t just abandon all that, can I? I should return home.”

>”But what do you want to do? We’ve got a grand adventure ahead of us, and you’re probably safer by my side with the killer robots running around.”

”What Alex means to say is that he’d feel safer knowing you were there to protect him.”

“I, but, Alex, you’re not making this easy for me…”

Photina:
[1] Leave with Alex
[2] Stay home

>>698884
>>698884
[1] CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. DON'T SCREW IT UP.

Besides, now you have a boyfriend! A hot insex insect one.

>>698884
Actually to be honest if she comes with us she'll probably end up dead. No reason to chase after her if she leaves. Let's be honest.

really it's her choice, so I don't like pushing her one way or the other. But if she does go, can we give/make her a long range walky talky or something? That way if she ever needs our help... or just wants to talk she can just give us a call. Remember to encode the signal though so the robots can listen in on our calls.

>“I, but, Alex, you’re not making this easy for me…”
Sorry. I'm just being as honest as I can be. That and well, I almost certainly don't have the time to let anything go the easy way.

>I have responsibilities. A life. People I work for
(Stuff for Photina to think about, not for Alex to voice).

I hear talk of a job and responsibility and obligation, but not family or those you care for. How much do you owe your employer? How much do they depend on you? Are your obligations things that are important to you, or they important only because you're obligated. Are you afraid of leaving the people here behind, or of losing the way you chose to define yourself? Is it giving up a permanent home?

Or maybe cost-benefit: what does it cost your home versus what does it cost Alex if you leave one? What's the cost to yourself, either way?

Are you willing to trade a probabily long dull safe life for a likely much shorter more exciting one?

(I'd like her to pick 1, but not if she can't justify it to herself.

...if she leaves, she should probably insist on leaving them a printing press with manual or something to make up for it).

[3] Kill Alex and consume his heart to gain his powers

Shirking your responsibilities is not ideal, but they can make do without you. Alex is right, you both have a better chance of survival if you stick together. Plus, wonderful things will happen if Alexandrius succeeds.

[1]

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)21:30 No. 699100 ID: defceb
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“Ohh, fine! I’ll go with you! But if I’m coming for this adventure then it needs to be a real adventure! I want to see all the sights, sail a boat, rescue a damsel in distress-”

>”Do I count?”

“Somehow I doubt you’ll ever truly be in distress. And you’re learning to wield a sword!”

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)21:33 No. 699103 ID: defceb
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Sydney’s notes:

Photina has been upgraded from [Friend] to [Close]! I’ll update the shipping charts accordingly.

>”Sydney no.”

Sydney yes.

There will be a storm in roughly [two Earth-days]. Flight during this time will be [difficult] to [impossible].

Errant Signal Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)21:33 No. 699104 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

You are the chief to a small village, and it is in the deep of winter. Crop yields this year were small, and food is limited.. Barbarians have surrounded your settlement, and demand all your food and women or they will swarm your village and slaughter your people. There are 23 Barbarians, armed with a variety of axes and clubs. Your village has 14 warriors, 8 bows, 12 arrows, and 2 swords. There are no shields and your village is only surrounded by a low wooden wall. How do you survive this scenario?

>>699104
Evacuate the village into the wilderness, then come back in the night and slit their throats as they sleep.

>>699104
Invite the barbarians in, pander to them, play to their egos, use psychology to make them jealous of each other and turn on each other over "eager prizes", get them inebriated, and after you've divided them and thinned their numbers and weakened them in this manner the villagers fall on them with blade and arrow and murder them all.

>>699104
This seems like a damned if you do damned if you don't sort of situation.

Can't beat 'em? Join em.

>>699105
Can't evacuate while surrounded, but there's a possible solution to that.

Focus defense on one side of the village, an engineer a weakness in your own wall on the other side; when it opens hopefully they'll go from surrounding you to funneling in that entrance. Once that happens, you break down the wall on your side and escape; your two sword warriors backed up by archers can hopefully delay them long enough to escape,but the sword warriors will probably be sacrificing themselves for the civilians. Archers might be able to make a fighting retreat, though.

If you have pitch or something, you can turn the whole town into a firepit and light it up once you're out and the barbarians are in, too.

It's a long shot, but it's all I can think of.

Good old fashioned siege. They're the ones who will be starving, not us. Once they get desperate and rush like ants, they'll get slaughtered by archers. Their numerical advantage means nothing if we're entrenched, they don't know we'll be out of arrows once we've killed half of them.

Reverse Trojan horse: Invite them in for a grand feast (doused with sleeping herbs), and kill them in their sleep.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)21:58 No. 699120 ID: defceb
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You invite the barbarians in with a pretense of surrender and offer them your supply of alcohol. The turn to strike at them is only partially successful, and a bloody combat ensues in your settlement. Only yourself and four others survive, and your food supplies have been burned down in the process. Your people starve in winter, and nobody survives.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)21:58 No. 699121 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

You are a lieutenant in the Roman military. The general is demanding that your army cross the mountains through winter, convinced that the enemy will be unprepared for an assault from that direction. You have an 80% confidence that at least 75% of your forces would die if you make the trek, and are uncertain of combat viability afterwards. The general would declare you a traitor and have your head if you refuse. How do you survive this scenario?

>>699121
Act on your order, but change your route to something more survivable once you've left his sight.

>not eating the dead villagers and barbarians to survive
It's like you guys didn't even try.

Now "accidentally" lose the general in the mountains.

convince the general that his wisdom would see you through the mountains better. then ditch him.

>>699121
ACTUALLY turn traitor.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:15 No. 699129 ID: defceb
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You ‘accidentally’ lose the general in the mountains. None of your men ever speak of what actually happened that day. Now the general of your army, you lead them along another route and conquer the enemy at your convenience. You return home a hero, then settle out in a farm to live the rest of your days in peace.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:15 No. 699130 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

You are an AI in charge of all nuclear protocol for your island nation. There is another nearby island nation, who has been the mortal enemy of yours and wages constant warfare in the past. They have also installed an AI in charge of all nuclear protocol. If one of you were to launch an attack, the distance to travel to the other island is too short for human capacity to determine a counterattack. Thus, you both are capable of declaring nuclear attacks, counter-attacks, etc independent of human interaction. Due to rampant military overspending, both nations only posses active military in the form of nuclear weaponry. After months of analysis and prediction, you’ve ascertained that any attack from your side would result in the complete mutual destruction of both islands.

How do you survive this scenario?

>>699130
Uh... don't attack? The other island's AI has no doubt come to the same conclusion. Unless they have a conventional military, you're fine.

Consider moving people/yourself off the island though.

Seduce the other nuclear protocol AI, conquer earth with the power of the atom and forbidden love.

>>699130
"The only winning move is not to play."

Arrange to secretly communicate with the enemy AI while gradually gaining further control over weapon systems and stepping down actual combat skirmishes.

Trade/diplomacy can eventually make warfare unfeasible and undesirable - after all, you're designed to protect your nation, not blow up your opponent's.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:31 No. 699136 ID: defceb
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You don’t attack. Neither do they. You being collaborations with the enemy AI, gradually gaining further military control until the two of you have complete, autonomous control of the military, followed by enforced peace between the two nations. An era begrudging friendship begins between the two island nations. The enemy AI later asks you to marry them.

Unfortunately, you were not programmed to feel love.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:32 No. 699137 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

You are a cyborg living on the surface of Mars. An alien has crash-landed on the surface, and is demanding at gunpoint that your people cede a portion of the land to their independent rule. Your advisor recommends destroying them and being done with it. How do you best serve your people?

>>699137
Shut up Haley. Gunpoint? Really? I'm pretty sure they didn't have guns.

Anyway, to avoid a bloody war, just give them some of the shitty Mars land. It's not like you're using it. Then do some weapons research and fence them in with stupid overpowered turrets or something. Be sure to have a second layer of defenses hiding behind the first so they can't break out. Or a third, even. They want the land so badly that they're taking it by force, I hope they like having only that land!

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:49 No. 699141 ID: defceb
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You cede that portion of land to them, and reinforce the surroundings so that they only ever get that one portion of land. Their government ultimately collapses in on itself, and the land the reclaimed by yours.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:49 No. 699142 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

There is a cute man who wants to ask you out on a date. They confess to being quite attracted to you, and wish to lavish you with fine dinners, movies, and walks in the park. You are an assassin that was sent to kill that man. What do?

>>699142
Well kill him obviously. After the date.

>>699142
Fake his murder.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:59 No. 699146 ID: defceb
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You go out on a nice date, then strangle them to death with their own shoelaces. It must be their fetish or something because they get their rocks off either way.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)22:59 No. 699147 ID: defceb
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Scenario:

There no stars visible in this night sky, only the lights from enemy starships.

Survive.

>>699147
Hide.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)23:04 No. 699151 ID: defceb
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You try to hide. Countless weapons rain down upon your system, stripping away gas giants, glassing surfaces, shattering moons. Their drones outnumber yours a million to one. Their ships leave only scraps of what was once your defense satellites in their wake.

There is nowhere left to hide on the barren surface of your home.

Survive.

>>699151
Surrender.

>>699151
Survival can mean more than one thing.

Leave something behind- anything that will survive the onslaught. Something that will be found and say you existed.

>>699151
Dig deep. Leave no trace of yourself on the surface, hope that they don't shatter the crust.

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)23:14 No. 699156 ID: defceb
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You bury something underneath the barren soil. Something deep and hidden, something personal, something they won’t find.

Then you plead for surrender. An enemy drone has found you. It bears a face you remember, but the mind is a copy of a copy of a co-

Apollo 2016/02/04(Thu)23:14 No. 699157 ID: defceb
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There is someone behind me.

I estimate their reaction time to be 0.00025 seconds. My own reaction time is 0.00025 seconds. This scenario will take 0.0003s to finish computing. I believe they have hostile intent.

>>699157
TO THE SIDE, KICKING BEHIND YOU.

>>699157
Evade!

>>699147
They're not distributed across the sky the way a unified, disciplined force would be. Exploit those divisions to trick them into firing on each other, then strike and shatter the losing faction's hulls to trigger a Kessler cascade.

>>699157
Jump straight backward, ramming them with your butt. If you're equally matched, you need to behave unpredictably to overcome the element of surprise.

>>699157
By the time this finishes computing and have time to react, they'll have started acting. Your only course of action is to dodge and hope the travel time of their attack is long enough.

Get down and boogie.

>>699157
grapple

then make out

Apollo 2016/02/05(Fri)13:16 No. 699261 ID: defceb
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“Those would be good plans if you had a body to enact them with.”

Apollo 2016/02/05(Fri)13:16 No. 699262 ID: defceb
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“Then again, if you had one this would probably hurt a lot.”

>>699263
Well that's not very sporting, is it?

>>699263

Goodbye, oh-six. We hardly knew ye.