2/2 Likol 2017/06/23(Fri)17:54 No. 809940 ID: bfb318
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I thought I was farther south than east, but I just managed to locate some landmarks to pinpoint my position, and I'm farther east than I thought.

Going is slow despite that I'm running myself to exhaustion, but by the time I saw any roads or rivers, it was too dangerous. My chasers know that I can float downstream or hitchhike. I've noticed call boxes, too, left over from an era where satellite coverage was unreliable. Even so, I don't know who I would call these days, and it would be easy for my enemies to put a pair of hidden eyes on every call box and still keep their actions hidden. This place isn't supposed to be of any strategic importance, so they can't unleash a whole army over here without attracting bigger fish. I still see or hear a helicopter flying overhead now and then.

I'm at a loss of what else to do. The closer I get to any kind of civilization, the fewer animals I'll be able to find and eat, I might even run into hunters. Civilization itself might be watched, too, as there is a town within a few dozen miles, but I can't stay out in the wilderness forever. Even if my handcrank and batteries means I can keep the CAI running for a long time, I've had too many damn close calls with the wilderness, and it's only a matter of time before a neumono under OPA employment just happens to wander inside of empathy range. I can only roll those dice so many times. I may just need to choose the least dangerous item after all.

Head further into the wilderness.

Well for good or bad you need to find some sort of civilization.

The thing is that what you do when you find civilization will decide your fate.

If you wander into the nearest big town and try to throw Vanski under the bus you will probably get caught by his agents and everyone including your Ai friends are fucked.

But if you just try to set up a nice apartment for your Cai friends to live in safely off the grid then Vanski will not be so murderous if he does catch you.

Ultimately you did this to save Glitchers people while avoiding hurting your own hives welfare (at least until you can all escape). So that means finding the Cai a safe home while not hurting Vanski's or his friends interests (in the short term).

All that aside you need to find transportation. Something that can get you into the thick of society quickly. So you might need to find a village or outpost and take the risk. At least long enough to get a better map.

>>809940
>I might even run into hunters
That's a good thing, isn't it? You want to find someone civilized who can help you out, but won't be easy for the salikai to track. If you can find a hunter, they might be able to get you some supplies. Do you have anything that might be valuable enough to trade for a gun? If you can hunt wildlife with your knife and gather some skins or trophies, you could trade for more.

Ultimately you'll want a personal jammer. You could potentially get into civilization safely by disguising yourself, but I don't think you have the materials to do that.

Aircraft are monitored pretty carefully, to avoid interference with each other, to mark where they were last known in case some big flying critter or weather event takes them down, and so they can provide information on things they can see. As such, your enemies are very unlikely to be in control of them. They might have ears and eyes in the craft or, more likely, the monitoring stations, but they won't control the flight paths and schedule themselves - and any spies they have would be working among people who aren't their agents, so they won't be neumono (who would empathically give their extra allegience/duties away) and any neumono you find at those bases could be sympathetic to you (though best to avoid them, since they could be interrogated to track you).

Finding your way to some sort of airbase still might be your best bet for now? You might be able to smuggle yourself on board some vehicle and skip straight to a large town or city.

Aside a nearby town, is there anything else of interest that you know of nearby? Local tribal neumono territory, mines, lumber operations, roads being built, farms, known archeological sites?

Well what exactly is the plan Likol? Get to civilization without anyone finding you and then what? I know we want to save the Ai's but how are you going to do that?

Right now you have no money and no identity. You could pretend to be a tribal if your empathy would not give you away. There are probably some safety measures in place for feeding and clothing confused Tribals just out of the woods.

If any of your contacts are still alive you will not be able to tell if they have betrayed you until you meet them face to face. Which is probably to late at that point.

So first get your bearings. How far is it to a really big town? Is it even possible to get that far on foot?

If not then you need to find transportation. Borrow or steal or hitch a ride(hiding or openly) on a vehicle.

If you can get to a big enough town with proper internet you can get help from the Ai if Glitcher is not playing dead really hard. They can hack into anything you might need if you can get them somewhere safe enough for them to peak out of there hiding place.

This is something of a catch 22. You can't keep the CAI alive in the wilderness indefinitely. And you can't bring them to civilization safely without making yourself much easier for OPA and their allies to find.

Do you have any idea what your options are around here? Perhaps certain specific wildernesses or chunks of civilization better suit your goals than others.

Likol 2017/06/23(Fri)19:31 No. 809956 ID: bfb318
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>Aircraft are monitored pretty carefully
I'm unsure. It could be some other faction, nation, or whatever, but this is territory only loosely correlated with an ultrahive at best, and is neutral territory at worst. I'm not up to speed on current events, but even though the bulk of the ultrahive wars are over, there are still pockets of the world that commercial air traffic prefers to avoid, and where paramilitary organizations can operate out of. The farther into an ultrahive I get, the more I may be scrutinized for my appearance, and the more resources OPA will have to find me, even if they can't operate as openly.

A legitimate hunter may be good to run into, but I would only trade some of my barely cooked meat for prepared, and preserved, food. I already have a gun, but due to the noise it creates, I prefer to avoid shooting when possible. I also have zeny on me, anyway.

My plan is to meet Arza. He's probably on the planet, and I've just got to find where he's staying. Then get there, or get in contact with him. He cares for the AI, I'm sure of it. If I can hand it off to him, and tell him what's going on, then what happens to me is inconsequential. The next safest bet would be to just set the CAI loose, and have them attempt to hide out in civilization, but that may be risky. Society on the whole is on guard for a CAI, and there are roaming bits of data and investigation that attempt to detect signature CAI computation. The chances of being found out on any given day are virtually nil, but just like me in the wilderness, if it goes bad, it's as good as over.

No matter what, I should reach civilization at some point, in some way. I don't see any nearby things that could count as an airbase. No towns have become big, either. I'd need to get transportation for a big town, but the farther away I get picked up, the better.

I also recheck my inventory, with the most notable things being the CAI block and batteries, my laptop, and Raush's laptop, and the spare zeny. https://tgchan.org/wiki/Unnatural_Selection_Stats#Likol

I study the map some more. I see an odd spot - it actually looks like there might be lumber yard within a day's time. There's a small town a few days away. I can hitchhike on any road. Near the lumber yard, too, there's a bus stop.

>>809956
I say go towards the lumber yard.

If you can get to a wifi connection you might be able to find Arza by tracking where he is teaching or working. He is pretty famous so might be some public news of what he is currently up to. You can track him down from there. But don't call him directly.

As for getting to him.

Any public transportation anywhere near the spire will be watched. They can not track everything so are most likely focusing on the major roads leading out of the area.

I would try the possible lumber yard first.

If its a alien lumber yard maybe you can hide on a log truck to whatever mill it takes them to. But if its a neumono crew they would notice your empathy? Either way might be worth a quick scouting trip before going elsewhere. Maybe they send logs down river? Or by airship?

>>809956
>Inventory
.....why do you have a Quokko Plush? Wait, isn't that your Queen's name? Why do you have a plush of her? Do you snuggle with it at night so that you can sleep?

>Go where?
Let's try the lumber yard.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/23(Fri)23:38 No. 810025 ID: bfb318
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I decide on the lumberyard. It's close by, at the very least, and it's nestled low enough that I can at least get a decent look at it, first.

It takes all day, but I arrive just at the last stretch of sun. That's good, since there are too many predators at night to safely move, at least since I can't use lights at night unless it's an emergency.

My goggles have binocular capabilities, so I get a good look at the lumber mill. It is modest. I see a couple of aliens, but about 60 neumono appear to live here. Kids, included. They're most likely a hive that lives and works here, with some alien to fill in some gaps, most likely administrative, or possibly drivers. My goggles alert me to some security. Just a few cameras strategically placed to watch over the perimeter, and a few pictograph signs to alert tribal neumono that they aren't welcome across the barbed wire fence. That, and a few airhorns, probably in case animals get too close.

I did run into a tribal hive at one point. Thankfully, they just barked at me to get me to go away. Some are simply territorial, and thankfully, the more cannibalistic hives have learned how many others carry guns these days and have learned to back off. I was more concerned about the noise they made, at the time.

Anyways, usual menial labor is left to neumono, but since drivers need to be away from home frequently, it's not uncommon for aliens to take up that job. if I wait long enough, there may be an alien driver that will take a truck that I can hide inside.

If I'm just a little lucky, they have a wireless network that I can use if I move just a little closer. They're so far out in the wilderness, they may not even have reason to keep it secured. It's risky without a jammer, though, if I get within empathic range by accident and they want to know who's scurrying out in the forest.

First, there's something in my pocket that's...

2/2 Likol 2017/06/23(Fri)23:38 No. 810026 ID: bfb318
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What the heck is this?

That is, it's a plush of my Queen. A few of us made some plushies in our spare time, mostly of our queen, but a few others. Even one of me, in our communal area, but...

I do not know where this came from. That is, I didn't bring it with me.

I review my inventory, again. There's more zeny. I had brought 2010, I knew that, but I don't know where this 30k zeny chip came from. I also find a towel, and I distinctly remember wishing that I had brought a towel.

That doll is probably a tracking
device. I'd assume that the other neumono in your hive gave you the other stuff.

>>810026
Do you think.....maybe your hive knew that you were planning on running? You ordered these items over a phone, so they couldn't have picked up on your empathy.

>Plush of Queen
Your hive must've snuck that in as a good luck charm or as a reminder that they support the decision you made.

>30k zeny chip
Your hive probably thought that you'd need some extra money to help you along. A lot of extra money.

>Towel
Your hive knows your habits well enough that they figured you'd forget to keep yourself clean or you'd forget to bring a towel of your own.

>>810028
That's also a possibility. But, just in case it's actually from Likol's hive and not a tracking device, can we check the plush without ripping it open? Because if it turns out to not be a tracking device, I'd like to keep it in one piece and only rip it apart as a last resort.

Also, if it was a tracking device, then Vanski's men would've found and captured Likol by now.

Suggestion 2017/06/24(Sat)00:31 No. 810035 ID: e94191

Are you dreaming somehow? Maybe you got drugged.

>>810028
There's no need to track Likol if you can guess exactly where he's going anyway. This will end with Likol meeting Arza only to find out Vanski's goons have been waiting there for him the whole time, because that's ridiculously easy to predict.

The smart move would be meeting with Az instead, Vanski will never see it coming.

>>810036
I think getting to meet the Ultraking is harder to do than meeting up with Arza.

bisect the plush for any tracking or camera equipment. once you find a needle and some string.

>>810026
Dawww, that thing is kinda cute. If you're worried about it being a tracker, compress it / feel it rather than tear it apart. For a longer range tracker you probably should be able to feel it through the surface / feel that there's something inside it.

Paranoia says you've been compromised by a predator at some point. Towel and sentimental plush contain artfully concealed tracking devices (maybe radioisotopes with distinctive gamma-ray emission profiles, so there's nothing out of the ordinary above the scale of dust and no device to disable?), while that credit chip will alert Vanski (possibly via standard banking network fraud alerts) the second you try to use it for anything.

Tie the suspicious items together in a bundle and leave 'em at the bus stop where somebody's likely to find 'em. When they get picked up by some other traveler and carried along on a bus, Vanski will think he's got you.

Then, head somewhere else, off-road.

Keep the gifts. If one of them was a tracking device then it's not being used to catch you.

Move to the side of the lumber area, near the lit building. That's your greatest chance for getting within wireless range without getting within empathy range.

If you feel lonely or need advice, it's possible for you to fire up your laptop and talk to the CAI. Plus, they may not be able to hide out long-term, but they could help you out with any computer systems you run into.

Now, let's be clear. These things have definitely been added to what you have after you left? They certainly weren't added into what you were given by your hive and you're only finding out about them now? If so... well, my bet is someone found you while you were sleeping. If someone in Vanski's group were able to control Predators, you guys would know about it since you're neumono scientists and your empathy would be essential to any proper study, even assuming it wasn't yourselves being experimented on. I assume you've slept at some point.

If someone came on you while you were sleeping, or even if somehow a Predator was involved, then they were in a position to capture you and didn't. For now, at least, they want you free, for whatever reason. Plus I doubt anyone but your hive would have thought to give you a towel, much less the plush. Give it a few squeezes to see if anything's inside, but if you don't find anything, keep it. Even if Vanski's involved, remember, for some weird reason of his own he wanted you to take the CAI. Probably some scheme to limit his rivals' power or something, so publically (to them) he'd be making a show of looking for you, while privately hoping you escape. Something like this would be within range of his escape-hope plans, if it has anything to do with him in the first place.

Likol is there any vague chance that you are strapped to a chair somewhere in the spire with some hallucination gas pumped into the room and some VR goggles strapped to you? Because finding stuff you "wished" for in your bag out of nowhere is a sign that something very wrong is going on.

Remember when we said that if Vanski was secretly urging you to escape it was part of some giant crazy plan? And that he would never ever let something as expensive as the Cai blocks go wandering out into the jungle untracked where some monster might eat you and them?

So I see a few options for what is going on.

1. You have not escaped at all and are wandering around in the spire drugged while Vanski watches you to see what you do with the Cai. A extended loyalty test if you will.

2. Everything you have on you is bugged. Radioactive markers in the simpler stuff. Tiny radio tags built into the frames of everything else. He will know where you are at all times and is just watching to see what you do.

3. Vanski knows you are going to Arza because of course that's what you are doing. All he has to do is have a few bodyguards following Arza to wait for you.


Honestly if any of this stuff is even close to true there is little you can do about it now. Even if you threw away everything on you there would still be the Cai and charging equipment that could be tracked. (Plus you would be naked with no supplies)

So lets assume this is a giant loyalty test and keep going. Do your due diligence and inspect your strange new items. Then continue on as planned. Try your best to get to Arza but never do anything that would betray Vanski or his organization during your trip.

For now scout out the lumber mill to find when and where the trucks leave. Hide out on the side of the road out and wait for a truck to pass. Then jump on the back/undercarriage and hide. If while doing that you can get on the site wifi do so. But only look up general news and weather stuff (Maybe some alien porn to make it look like you are a alien to anyone scanning ip records). Nothing that would look suspicious for a random lumber yard driver to be searching for.

>>810026
Okay. Let's consider possibilities.

1) Your hive packed some extra stuff into the supplies you asked for you're only finding now. (If you've been in the woods for days now though, it's unlikely you wouldn't notice something in your pocket the whole time).

2) The stress is getting to you. You're starting to go crazy from isolation and loneliness and the ridiculous pressure to save the entire universe of souls on that CAI drive. As a result, you can't trust your own memories- you blacked out and forgot where you found that zenny chip, or that you made a doll for companionship.

3) You ate something you shouldn't have. It induced a blackout, or left you drugged, and there's now a hole in your memory.

4) You crossed paths with a predator or something like one out here, and lost some memories / had a blackout in the process.

5) You suffered an injury that damaged part of your memory, including the memory of the injury itself. (Not impossible with distributed brains, but the odds against this is ridiculous).

6) None of this is real. You're hallucinating, or dreaming, or in a simulation. (Problem is this is very hard to test for).

>what do
Feel up the doll, and/or goggles scan it. See if there's anything inside besides stuffing. (Don't tear or cut it up, yet).

If you have any logs on your electronics, or camera recording capability on your goggles, maybe it's time to go through those? Maybe you can find something you don't remember happening, or figure out when or where the blackout was.

How long have you been out here, anyways?

1/2 Likol 2017/06/24(Sat)13:14 No. 810095 ID: bfb318
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I can imagine no way that my hive would have known I was planning on something. I was isolated from them.

It's possible that I was sent the Quokko plush just as a sentimental item while I was alone, and a towel is more of a stretch, but possible that they just decided I needed it. But, extra zeny would have been worthless to me if I stayed in the cave. That, and I'm certain these items weren't here when I left. I meticulously had to pack everything into trash bags due to having to submerge myself into water.

There's the slight chance that the plush is bugged, but... they could have bugged other things. I would have been found and captured by now, if they wanted to. I've been out here for at least 4 days. Let me check... no, 7. 7 Days? That doesn't seem right, but that's what the clock says.

I feel around the plush to see if there's anything obvious, but I don't want to slice Quokko open. On a closer look, I do find a small strip of paper that's been slid underneath the plush's coat.

'Don't worry about us. Good luck getting to Arza.'

........ Unsettling. It's in Quokko's handwriting. Let me think.

2/2 Likol 2017/06/24(Sat)13:15 No. 810096 ID: bfb318
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>Predator
I can't rule this out, since apparently there's also been 3 days of travel that I can't remember. And my urge to go to Arza... it's high. It could just be the stress of this whole situation anyway, and desperation to pass it off to someone who would know what to do about it. The urge is understandable, even if it would be too easy for OPA guards to just place themselves by Arza.

>Gas hallucinations
If we've learned to weaponize hallucination gas, it's news to me. This feels too real. Maybe I can't rule this out either, but... given a few painful situations I've been in, and everything, I have no idea what I'd do about it if this kind of paranoid thought was true.

>Lonely and isolated
I'd be surprised, even if it's been a full week apparently, it's not as though I haven't been separated from my hive before. It's still possible I'm just losing it between loneliness, stress, and so on.

>Suffered major injury
This is the only thing I can rule out completely. It's possible to get mentally loopy due to a bad injury, but the injury would have to be so bad that I would be in much worse physical shape right now.

I'll look through my electronics for any activity logs. My goggles have recording capability, but it doesn't look like there's been anything... er... these are different goggles. It's a newer software model, made 8 days ago. There's still no photographs or videos on it at all.

I get closer to the lumbermill to get in probable range of a wifi, and open my laptop. There is a message taped to the screen. Something spilled... uhhh... there's dried blood all over this thing.

I sit here for a moment. I don't know why, but I just want to stop moving. I'm snapped out of it by the sound of a revving truck.

Well something bad happened. Something big. I would drop the Arza plan for now and just try to get somewhere safe and private in civilization so you can figure out what is going on.

I sort of want to take that note off the laptop and then dump the laptop and goggles right here and now. But they might have clues to what happened to you? If you had some tin foil you could wrap them up to block any signals.

As for the plush and handwriting you can't trust it's actually from your hive. You can't trust much of anything right now. Its highly likely that your memories have been tampered with in some fashion.

Think long and hard before you make a run for that truck. Can you afford to wait a day and scout out there camp more? Or is food enough of a issue that you need to go now?

Is that your handwriting?

Ok a few theories>

1. This is not real at all.

2. You got hurt really bad while escaping the spire. Vanski's men found you and healed you and dropped off a few mementos. Or your Hive found you and healed you and left the notes and stuff.

3. You got hit by a predator at some point and who knows whats going on.

4. Some other combination of very dangerous and paranoia inducing events.

Honestly regardless of whats going on you need to continue onward and search for clues as you go. Not straight to Arza of course but somewhere safe with easy access to food and tech.

Once you have a free moment you need to strip and inspect your entire body for wounds you don't remember. I would probably throw that laptop away or at least remove its battery while you travel. Throwing it keeps you safer but bringing it along lets you inspect the internals at a later date. Goggles are also suspect. Plus the Cai blocks. They might not even have the real Cai anymore inside there.

We might as well see if hiding on the truck is workable. Pack up and get closer so if a alien is driving you at least have the option of jumping on. But don't let the situation dictate what you are going to do. Its better to wait for the next truck and do it right than blindly go now without a plan.

Ok, first thing, quickly stow your items and go look at that truck right now. It's possible that it's some open truck and this is exactly your chance to hop on board and catch a ride, maybe by jumping right on, maybe by climbing a tree over the path it'll take and dropping onto the roof as it passes. Take in the situation, decide and act swiftly.

After that... alright, it still stands that whoever did the thing to you, they don't want you captured. Going to Arza makes sense, he's the only person outside that you know, would help you, and more importantly would help the CAI. Having agents near him is unfortunate but expected and just something you'll have to think around. So that plan's still on, and whoever gave you these things and left these notes is probably your friend, or at least your ally of the moment. Whoever they are they aren't the silhouette empire and their lackeys, which is good. You can trust that, at the very least, these items won't get you captured any time soon.

It's theoretically possible that you stupidly wandered into a predator at random and Vanski had to have you secretly rescued and sent on your way again. Which would be embarrassing. Less embarrassing would be if he caught up with you, secretly gave you some extra help (with your hive's assistance) and used a predator to erase your memory so you can't say he helped you if you're caught.

As for the laptop, you were supplied by yours by Vanski's group, right? It probably came with some sort of tracker or simple AI spy or something to begin with, and is programmed to raise an alert if it's ever brought outside anyway. The note is warning you. I don't suppose you recognize he handwriting? Anyway, it just says don't connect it to anything, so you can still use it if it has nothing to connect to. When you have a moment, check the other laptop as well.

Also when you have a moment, pat yourself and your clothes down.

>Do not let this laptop connect to anything
Is that your handwriting? If not, do you recognize it? (You don't even have a pen in inventory!)

Can you tell by the smell if that's neumono blood?

>It's a newer software model, made 8 days ago.
Do the goggles list the current time and date? Do you know what day it was when you left? (Not that we can trust the goggles clock is right, or your own memories, apparently).

Do you have other means to check the passage of time? Things that are harder to spoof or mess with? Like, how long your claws have grown? How much your eyes have healed since you're not abusing them staring at a computer screen 20 hours a day?

>lumber yard
Come to think of it, isn't this territory outside of ultrahive control? (Or the "warlands" as it's sometimes called, apparently? >>/questdis/69698 ). That means this lumber yard is operating without any legal protection. This may be a criminal operation, or just a hive making a living on their own in dangerous territory, not willing to give up their autonomy. Either way, they have reason to be on guard and trigger happy. Be careful getting close to them.

>what do
I say watch to see what the truck does and where it goes. I don't think we want to risk getting closer now.

Don't you have two laptops?

Likol 2017/06/24(Sat)18:34 No. 810166 ID: bfb318
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This message on my laptop isn't my own handwriting, but it's got elements of our common science hive handwriting. Chances are that it was written by a hivemate I seldom talk to. Raush's laptop has a similar message, written by someone else but still with a hivemate's handwriting. There isn't so much blood, there. The blood on my laptop smells like a neumono's, and is days old.

I don't have tin foil or something to hide any possible signals, but the goggles, at least, are a model that specifically does not have wireless capability.

The truck isn't moving right away, so I take another moment to check myself and my belongings.

There are some cuts and scraps, most notably under my left eye, that I don't remember getting, and some wounds that I do remember getting that don't seem to be here, now. While I check myself out and stow my items, I move slightly closer to the mill. In an unregulated zone like this, a neumono hive probably has a small arsenal of weapons for self defense, so I play it extremely cautiously, and make sure not to get in the line of sight of any of those cameras.

They're loading a truck. If I move down the road, I should be able to climb up on a tree and fall onto the back of the truck and hopefully find a crevice to hide in. While I don't need to get out of here now, this may be my best opportunity. I also need to decide if I should even have both of my laptops at all. I do want to keep my goggles. It has the date and time, and is the reason I know how long I've been away for as long as I have. I left April 22nd, if I'm not mistaken. It is now April 29th.

Honestly using either laptop is a horrible idea. It's easy to put a program into a computer that will dial home the second it finds a active network. Even worse with a Ai. As for your goggles I would dump them. Just because you think they don't have network access does not mean someone did not upgrade them with one during your memory lapse. Or modify the timestamps.

I would save the laptops if you can take the batteries out. Then we can inspect them later if the opportunity arises. If not smash there hard drives with a rock.

I would get in place for the truck and if everything looks good go for it. If a neumono is on there just think hungry primitive thoughts so they think you are a passing tribal and don't jump on.

Take both laptops. Raush's has his projects on it, which you should show to Arza so he knows what's what (you might even end up handing it over to the cops at some point), and you want your own to use to talk to the CAI at some point. Whatever's on a modern-tech laptop like yours, it's not going to be a match for the hardware or software the CAI's using.

See, that's a thought I had - neither Vanski or even your own hive knew just how chummy you got with Glitcher. Only a couple of your hivemates even saw a decent part of what he could do. You're the only one who got close enough that you'd both expect him to still be alive after all that, and be willing to trust him to help you. At least, with the laptop, outside range of any wireless connections.

Anyway go climb a tree and get ready to drop on that truck.

>I also need to decide if I should even have both of my laptops at all.
Remove the batteries so they can't power on by accident, but keep them, yes.

You might want to get a look at the driver before you try to get on. If you're hidden in a log pile you won't be able to get out and away if a neumono senses your empathy.

>>810180

If I recall, neumono empathy goes a decent enough range. He'd be able to feel one in the truck before it drives under, so he'll be able to choose not to drop down in that case. While a neumono would feel him as well, then, they'd probably just assume he's a snooping tribal. He should feel pretty similar to one after being on the run in the wilderness for a week.

>>810166
>neumono blood on laptop, missing time, suspicious items
I think what happened is you got caught by Vanski's goons, but your hive stepped in to save you. The blood is from the ensuing fight. They may have wiped your memory so that if you got captured again and interrogated you couldn't say who saved you.
Can you smell your hivemates on the doll? Or any of the new items? OH. Your laptop is what got you caught, before. Of course it has tracking software on it, it's your work computer! That's why the science hive wrote that note for you: so that you wouldn't get yourself caught again. The belenosian's computer is less likely to be compromised, since his organization was separate from Vanksi. It might still have tracking software on it, but it'll alert his organization instead of Vanski's.

The laptop is still useful, though. So long as you don't connect it to anything, you can use it. Oh! You might also be able to use it as a decoy. If you ship it somewhere without posting a return address, or leave it on a vehicle that won't be checked for a day or so, someone will eventually try to connect it to something, and Vanski will send his forces in that direction. If it's on a vehicle they'll check where the vehicle departed from, but by that time you'll have moved on. Optimally you'd use a vehicle that has multiple stops so they wouldn't be able to tell exactly when you ditched the laptop.

You might even be able to use this truck for that. It would be a good idea to hitchhike on it for now, just to keep your movements unpredictable. You don't even know where it's going, after all.

Hop on the truck and bring both laptops, but don't turn either one on until you've mechanically disabled the wifi and blocked the landline network ports with glue or something.

If this is all a hallucination, or you're being tracked by some hostile party with unlimited resources and an unknown objective, you're totally boned, so don't worry about that. Make your way back to civilization, rent ten or fifteen thousand zeny worth of safe deposit boxes at as many different banks as you can find, put the real CAI block in one of 'em, decoys in a few others. Just to mess with some salikai's head, distribute at least half the keys to boxes you're not using for anything important in random other safe-deposit boxes. Finally, take the real one back out and contact Arza to set up a meeting.

>>810166
Maybe the messages are not warnings about accidentally setting Glitcher and the other AIs free as soon as you connect to a wifi? Maybe they're warnings about not using the laptops because they can be tracked? If that's the case, then you'd need to get a 3rd completely different laptop before you try to get on the internet at all!

But you should keep them, since they have important stuff on them.

1/4 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)15:21 No. 810327 ID: bfb318
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When the truck drives by, I'll confirm they aren't a neumono driver by usual empathy means. Provided that's true, I'll leap down and keep both laptops.

I keep both laptops, but disconnect the batteries for the time being, and put all the electronics in my padded trash bags. I don't spend long, because I need to find a good section of road. Thankfully, there's only one roadway for a decent stretch of time before it goes to the main road, so I don't need to flip a coin on whether they're going east or west. I also am forced to find a decent stretch of tree that not just can hold my weight while it stretches on the road, but ideally would be in a cluster of trees so that I'm not easily seen over the road on a single branch, and during a bend in the road so that the truck is going much slower while I drop down on it.

I find a decent spot. The branch is dipping conspicuously low, but I don't know if I can find a decent spot that'll avoid that. By the time I get worried about it, I hear the truck coming. It's not a neumono.

2/4 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)15:21 No. 810328 ID: bfb318
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I drop down. If the driver saw me hanging out in the tree branches, then he doesn't seem to be doing anything about it now.

I'm too elated, anyway. This is an open bed truck, but it has a tarp over it. I'm able to slip underneath it between the latch points. I might not be able to see my surroundings like this, but they won't be able to see me with any camera drones.

3/4 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)15:21 No. 810329 ID: bfb318
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There is periodically a light, probably from another car now and then. Even if it's an quasi-anarchist region, this place has been peaceable enough, so it still sees public traffic. I try to hide my emotions, but it's no good. Every time a neumono driver gets behind the truck, they sense a spooked neumono just behind the drivers wheel. By the time they pass us by, they realize I'm in the cargo area.

I have a couple of saving graces, and that's probably the reason why they don't honk at the driver to come deal with me. First, it only takes me a moment to realize that they're not out for science hive blood, but are just regular drivers. So I'm calm enough after the first encounter. The second bit of luck is that I'm sleep deprived, so just as my senses are dulled, so is my empathy. If I was well rested, my panic would be sharp and suspicious.

It's surprisingly warm in here. I guess the engine heat is somehow coming through and getting trapped in the tarp? I don't know, maybe it's just the lack of wind. I manage to find myself a gap in the wood, where I can lay down. It's comfortable, I think that...

4/4 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)15:23 No. 810331 ID: bfb318
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>"Likol!"

Quokko comes up to me. Her body language is calm, but I can feel her mental excitement nonetheless. I remember this. I came back after a long time spent traveling. The thought of going rogue didn't even cross my mind, or any of my hivemate's heads.

>"I can't believe you stayed gone for that long! We didn't change our usual hideouts."
"I had to see what else was out there. It's not just forest!"
>"And I can't believe you're alive!"
"The more you know, the less dangerous it gets. I even met hives that didn't want to kill me."
>"Now I know you've lost it."
"No. I'm serious. Here, I have pictures. Oh, you know how we've wondered what was over the western mountains?"
>"Yeah, this... is a picture of that? It's just... rock. Is it safe?"
"Maybe from predators, but we couldn't live there. It was hot and there was no shade anywhere. Do you remember the ocean? This was an ocean of dust and rocks. It's not any paradise, like some of us imagined."
>"Those were idle daydreams, no one seriously thought there was a paradise out there conveniently just out of reach. This place... not even the caves are so lifeless. We have to make do here. We've found a possible ally, you know. Not a neumono hive, of course, but a salikai."
"Salikai...?"
>"Don't take that tone. Their reputation was also born from idle daydreams. From our enemies, no less. The salikai's name is Vanski. Do you want to meet him?"

I've gotten good at telling when I'm dreaming, but usually my dreams don't just play back memories like this. Then again, something's off about it. Something simple and constant.

>>810331
You don't have your goggles. Is this cave supposed to be grey? You were in purple caves in more recent times.

Play along with how the memory goes, for now, and it should be easier to spot where something is wrong with it.

>>810331
Quokko looks like she's fatter and her boobs look smaller. Is that what's off? Had to go back to Thread 15 to find another picture of Quokko in order to try and spot any differences. Then again, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about what's supposed to be "off" about this memory.

>>810332
Those don't count since they happened after meeting Vanski.

>>810342
Well in that case I'd expect either empathy or smell to be wrong.

>>810342
Quokko's behaviour / speech seems off as well. The way she dismisses Likol's concern about allying with a salikai runs counter to Likol's comments on the photo in thread 10 (>>581933). Also here it's implied that Quokko's already met the salikai due to knowing his name, but the thread 10 photo doesn't mention that and Vanski is only mentioned by name later in the thread 11 photo (>>583566), which implies the opposite.

>>810332
If this is from the time of Likol's photography trips, lacking goggles makes sense. There weren't any in the pictures.

If this is Likol's first meeting with Vanki, he's supposed to be impressed by Likol's camera (and try to get some shots of him and arkot minions that refuse to hold still). And Vanski introduces some common sense tools to the science hive they never thought of (seriously, they invented a camera before the wheelbarrow).

I agree that something looks a little off about Quokko.

Who's your hivemate in green, there? That's not a common color in your hive. You're mostly browns and pinks.

Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)16:52 No. 810359 ID: bfb318
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My goggles are missing. Of course they are, though, this was decades before the aliens even knew that neumono existed.

The cave looks fine. We've hid in purple caves before, but also grey ones. We liked to stay in one spot, but due to a variety of factors, constantly found ourselves on the move.

Quokko's figure fluctuated now and then based on diet and exercise. My memory seems extremely detailed here, but even then it may have minor inaccuracies. I doubt I somehow remember precisely what Quokko looked like, so long ago.

>"Is something wrong?" Quokko asks, picking up my unsettled thoughts. I realize now, it's not something about the dream, and not even something about the memory of this event, but this event itself that felt off.
"I thought this happened before... or later, or some other... wait, you said Vanski. Did he reveal his name to you?"
>"No, he hasn't." Quokko seems confident in that, but I've put it in her head, at this point, that something is off. She's thinking about it, now.
"So how do we know his name."
>"... I guess we just do? Maybe..." Quokko and the rest of the hive trail off. I still remember this point. We caught ourself in some kind of error. Not even now, in my dream remembering this, do I remember how long this silence went on for, but then Quokko realizes something odd, something that might have been the thing at the back of my head.
"Also, why do I already remember him being impressed with my camera? There was something about us never having thought of a wheelbarrow, too."
>"Yeah... I remember the wheelbarrow. It was so stupidly simple, how did you manage to invent a camera before that?!"
"To be fair, I only managed it due to biological materials that mimicked film, it's not like I managed to make industrial grade film out of nowhere."
>"True, but... wheelbarrows were so stupidly simple, easy to think of, yet not surprising that we never thought of them since sometimes the simplest issue is...."

This is when she turned back towards me to speak, just as she is doing in the dream now.

>".... Likol... you had a perfect mental image of the desert like in that photograph, but your real picture of it was absolute shit because of the harsh lighting. But more than that, don't you think we're talking a little weird?"
"What do you mean?"
>"I mean that in this day and age, what the hell were we doing speaking english?"

>>810359
Son of a bitch. Vanski kidnapped your entire hive and fucked with your memories to make you think it was a voluntary arrangement, but it was never like that.

See if you can recover the true memory of how your hive met Vanksi.

>"I mean that in this day and age, what the hell were we doing speaking english?"
...it would appear this dream or memory has broken down, yes.

If you're recognizing and identifying things that are wrong faster than I am, instead of floundering when I break from the script, that suggests you're really you, and not a character in my dream or memory.

Which is bad, because if I fell asleep in the back of a moving truck, there's no way I could be dream sharing with you.

Well that, or I think you're smarter than me, so my brain is putting all my good ideas in your mouth.

Pretty sure we somehow independently invented it in a crazy leap of co evolution with a alien species that has not arrived on our planet yet.

Anyways now that you realize the oddity of the situation where do we go from here? I would tell you my story but am not so sure talking about it out loud is a good idea.

I was getting paranoid earlier but at this point I am starting to think that I am drugged up floating in a tube possibly. That or a well trained predator is hiding nearby and we all are drugged.

Give her a hug and tell her you love her. Never know if you might miss the chance later.

This very much reminds me of the hallucination gas in the intermission, especially by making Quokko more lucid by pointing out errors.

This seems like a collective lucid dream. Quokko, were any of our hivemates working on something that could induce that?

Likol, this isn't real. You've been compromised and need to wake up/recognize it, Likol.

>>810359
Hey, that's right! This was before your tribe got uplifted! You should still be speaking in your tribal language, since none of you have learned english yet!

Well Likol that proves you were right to be paranoid. You got caught escaping the spire (or before that). And now Vanski or someone is messing with you for who knows why. The chances that this is a odd dream on a lumber truck is pretty low.

So thus the list of possible mind fuckery.

1. This is some crazy extended loyalty test?

2. Vanski is trying to erase the memories of the Cai stuff so you calm down and get back to work?

3. They gave up on the science hive (or just you) thinking you are treacherous and are just using you as experiment fodder now?

4. Some other silly mind game that a crazed alien with almost no empathy would think is somehow reasonable?

Well discuss things with your queen and try to clear the fog from your head. Then go meet Vanski because that is where things seemed to be headed before you woke Quokko up.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)20:19 No. 810408 ID: bfb318
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"Where are we?"

Am I honestly feeling Quokko's empathy, or do I just think I am through the dream and memory? I can't tell.

"Hallucination gas?"
>"We've been developing the idea, but are no where close to what this is, Likol. So unless our ideas were taken and ran with, but... it's not just a hallucination. It's modifying and scrambling our memories. If it's a hallucination gas, then it's not working right at all."
"It could be, considering it's hardly in the concepualization phases. Did we ever really meet Vanski the way we thought?"
>"Are we being tested on now?" asks another hivemate. Korli? No, she won't be born for years.

Behind me, there are several other hivemates which died long ago. Their empathy is weak, and closer to what I remember rather than what is, but there's still something familiar and convincing about it.

This isn't right.

"I fell asleep in the back of a moving truck a minute ago." I try to say.

And I start to say it. But by the time I get to the word 'back', my sentence seems to transform from something I feel myself saying, to some voice in the back of my head.

What I actually say 'out loud' is different.

"I fell asleep, with Rihhin."
>"That's not right. Let's back u - wait, no, that's the trap!"
"Let's back up."
>"No."
"I love you, Quokko."
>"I know and same back to you, so stay here and do not back u-

2/2 Likol 2017/06/25(Sun)20:20 No. 810409 ID: bfb318
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.... what that was, I do not know. The realness of that makes me question the reality of this. Dream or not, that's how I remember it, but my conflicting memories are... still more or less there, and about as legitimate.

Right now, I'm in the truck.

It's daylight.

I sense a couple of other neumono.

>"Hey, mister!" I feel someone nearby yell. "You know you got a stowaway on your truck?"
>"When the hell?" I hear an alien voice say. "Wait, is this a prank?"
>"No sir!"
>"Well if I'm not getting pranked, then the guy in my truck better get the hell out right now." the voice says, hitting the side of the truck.

Well, don't press your luck, I guess. If they know you're in there there's no sense trying to hide.

Well, until you know what's real, you have to treat everything like it could be. You can't do something that gets you killed or gets the AIs in your care killed just because you think it might not be happening.

Looks like we're bailing on our ride, here.

>modifying and scrambling memories
Can well-trained predators do that? I'm guessing the "trap" was that if you tried to think further back in your memory it got to change deeper memories. That's what "back up" meant, right? Or maybe this is some kind of experimental nanomachine technology to modify memories as you sleep. You need to get hit with some anti-nanomachine stuff.
If Vanski is expecting the nanomachine tech to rewrite your memories to his advantage, maybe that's why he let you escape. It's a field test.

Anyway, do what the driver says. Get out and make a run for it, but see if you can do it on the other side of the tarp so they don't see you.

Well get out of the truck and find out how far you got.

As for your dreams? No idea what is happening yet. Something is messing with your head though. The question is are you being manipulated by someone or something? Or did you just suffer a major unknown trauma and are brain damaged?

Was the back up thing just part of your dream because someone is yelling at the truck to back up? Or could it have been something important? Normally backing up would be in reference to some data? Possibly something involving the message on your laptop?

Also did you choose to hide your truck story in the memory or were you forced to?

I think you need to take some time and meditate on stuff to figure out what is up with your head. Once you find a safe spot to hide that is.

We are getting into realms of paranoia that are unhealthy. If your head is being actively messed with there is little we can do about it right now. Especially if its something like predators or advanced tech. Right now your biggest concern is getting to civilization safely and quietly.

So until you can get solid proof otherwise lets assume that you got hurt badly early on during your escape and someone from your hive found you and helped fix you up. That dream you had could have been your subconscious trying to unscramble some damaged memories.

As for Quokko trying to yell at you to not back something up? Backing stuff up tends to be a computer term. I could mean don't look back or think on older memories but the phrasing should have been different then. Hopefully you might get more clues from your subconscious later.

The biggest problem with mind control theories is this takes place 4 years prior to Polo's adventure in the spire, which means most of those methods weren't refined or working yet.

Mind control gas? The warship was the first live test. Mind control bugs? Same thing, and the ones in the armory didn't work so great. Predators? Kiiu had just started experimenting with them with Polo's reluctant help when Rokoa killed him, and Three Stripes and Four Stripes were only captured after that. Brain darts or cloning? Again, the process was barely up and going in time for the intermission.

No sophisticated mind fuckery targeting Likol is impossible, but every method we know about doesn't fit the timeline.

>>810423
This could be an earlier version or attempt at mind control nanotechnology. The bugs overcame the neumono's willpower, while in this case something is messing with memory instead. Takes longer to accomplish anything.

If you come out of the truck all scared and confused, like you are right now, then your emotions combined with how beat up you look and how torn your clothes are will convince both aliens and other neumono to try get you to a hospital because you look like you've been attacked by something! And you going to a hospital may or may not be a good thing!

What about brain dart tech? Possibly a very early version of it.

Like the backup that Quokko was talking about was that he got hit with a backed up earlier version of his own cells. Or a mix of cells that they attempted to modify?

I think these onlookers should come down with a touch of money-induced memory loss.

As for the weird dreams... too many possibilities. I don't suppose there were any experiments going on with long-range empathy projection, were there? Maybe something that only works with dreaming empathy or in some other limited way? Maybe you really were talking with your queen, there, with the dream getting in the way of talking clearly.

That'd be some impressive tech, though not without potential misuses. You could make some sort of empathy bomb with something like that.

Likol 2017/06/26(Mon)12:19 No. 810513 ID: bfb318
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We have - well, had - various ideas on our plates involving mind control and alteration of neumono. Nanomachines, gas, artificial reverse-jammers, electromagnetic elements, and so on, but everything is so early and conceptual that the idea of it suddenly leaping so far ahead, even if other factions worked on it in secret, seems unlikely.

Vanski, as far as we're aware, doesn't have any predators himself, but... we have studied predators academically even if we never had a real one to experiment with. We suspect that Vanski did want one for himself, and we had a feeling in the back of our heads that there is a predator or two out there that has been captured by someone with ties, direct or indirect, to Vanski. Having the predator itself is the stretch, here, but if there was a predator, it would probably be the soonest explanation.

That, or I was so badly hurt that my memories got messed up, and my dreams are illustrating its corrections. That sounds as feasible as anything. What else... we were studying long range empathy, but that's been put on hold and left to some other OPA espionage agencies, because we think that the ultrahive has developed that technology and is simply holding out due to the ethics and concerns it brings.

I'll wonder more about this, like what Quokko meant by 'back up', because all I can think of that's left is stuff like brain darts, which was brought up by one of our biologist's fever dream.

Right now, it doesn't change my goal. Find Arza. I leave the truck. The alien is a Heef. I don't think I've ever seen one in person that wasn't, well, some kind of soulless mercenary.

As my eyes adjust to the light, I see my surroundings. It's a gas station... combination guard outpost. There's a watchtower, and various armed guards hanging around. They pay me very little mind, since they probably are only there against thieves and marauders.

>"You didn't piss on the wood or chew on it or anything weird like that, did you?" he says.
"No. I only slept."
>"Hey, mister, he lying?"
>"No, he means it, sir." says the same neumono that gave me away.
>"Thanks. Alright, goggles. I've got a minute while I gas up, and I'm curious as hell when and how you managed to hide in my truck. And for that matter, why. Ever heard of hitchhiking?"

..I'll admit the idea never occurred to me. Out alone in the wilderness at night, would you have stopped? I've been lost for days, who knows when I would see another vehicle. I was up a tree, and you were driving underneath, so I just dropped onto the bed. I.. I can pay you for the ride.. where are we?

>>810513

Psychic neural network made up of neumono subconsciousness.

That could explain what we're experiencing; a system wherein the minds are linked via long-range empathy broadcasting in a manner similar to a predator.

Think of it like this: your memories are playing out like a dream but interposed with reality and things that are or should be happening presently; situations that should not be but inexplicably are. Almost like you're really having this conversation with Quokko in real-time under conditions that, well, frankly should be impossible. You wouldn't need any kind of mind-altering device if you could get neumono brains to dream-share over distance. The only problem here is why.

I'm referring to it as a neural network insofar as that it seems profitable to the Salikai to have a system then can indefinitely grow at little to no cost, which can repair itself,and which is capable of massive parallel computation and communications on the order of super computers -- at a fraction of the energy consumption.

Or we're just growing really paranoid, sleep deprived, and need some real food in us right away. Think they've got gas station taquitos?

>Do not back [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]!

What if ... she means the damned laptop? "That's the trap," after saying "let's back up." The trap is if you connect that damned laptop to anything -- either of them -- we set lose ... something.

>>810519
>What if ... she means the damned laptop? "That's the trap," after saying "let's back up." The trap is if you connect that damned laptop to anything -- either of them -- we set lose ... something.
Glitcher and friends would be set free maybe? But if that's it, then wouldn't that be a good thing since we're trying to save them from Vanski?

Maybe she meant the laptops would send out a signal the can be traced? Or maybe the laptops would self-destruct? I don't know, this is all hurting my head!

Say your were operating off adrenaline and the idea didn't occur to you. If they think that's odd tell them you were tribal, if they ask why you were out in the woods, well I'm not sure what you could say that wouldn't be either suspicious or unbelievable.

>>810519
This is a good idea, get some proper food and water inside you. Use the cash, not the zeny chip though.

You could probably do with picking up some food in the store, but it'd mean more eyes on you.

"Sorry, wasn't sure you'd pick up a random scruffer out on the far roads, so when I heard your truck I climbed a tree and waited to drop down. I didn't want to risk spending more time walking through the wilderness than I had to. Now you mention it, though, mind if I stick with you a bit further? I can spot you for extra food and stuff at stops, to repay you."

Going with this guy to wherever he's delivering his stuff, then hitching with one of the trucks going out from there with the cut lumber, then maybe the same again with the manufactured goods, strikes me as a good way to move towards civilization faster than you could on foot but also in a somewhat randomized way. Your potential routes would be splitting off into a large tree at each stop.

If anyone asks why you're all the way out here, say you're a researcher, but you lost track of where you were a while ago while hiking. If anyone asks what you're researching you can honestly say you're under a kind of non-disclosure.

>>810513
Hitchhiking is dangerous. Could get picked up by a murderer or something.

>>810513
>Do anything weird to the wood?
Normally, I "wood" buy someone dinner first before I did anything weird to their "wood".

No, bad Likol! Quit trying to flirt your way out of this, you suck at flirting! Stop thinking these things before one of the other neumono pick up what you're thinking!

>because all I can think of that's left is stuff like brain darts, which was brought up by one of our biologist's fever dream.
There's a perverse part of me that's hoping you're being literal and Mirim actually dreamed those up when she was high and/or delirious.

>I'm curious as hell when and how you managed to hide in my truck. And for that matter, why. Ever heard of hitchhiking?
The simple, unflappable approach seems best here.

*shrug* "I heard your truck coming, climbed a tree, and jumped on as you went past.

"As for hitchhiking, well, if I didn't ask, you couldn't just drive past, or say no."

If we're really lucky, he'll let you keep tagging alone. If not, we try to figure out where we are and where to go next.

>I don't think I've ever seen one in person that wasn't, well, some kind of soulless mercenary.
Racist.

Still, soulless mercenaries can have their uses. At least one usually knows where they stand with one. Too bad you can't really outbid OPA, so if you work or travel with any of them, they'll eventually be given a chance to turn you in for a paycheck.

(watch your story while near mr helpful over there. He can point out if you lie.)

Stick to the truth while not going into your backstory.

"I have been lost in the woods for days. I saw your lumber camp and heard a truck revving up. So I jumped on and fell asleep quickly after."

"As for hitchhiking I figured if you saw a strange neumono on the side of the road in tribal territory you would ignore me."

"Um but now that I have the opportunity to ask. if you are going into town I could use a ride?"

Be personable with this guy. See if we can hitch a ride if he is going into town.

Tell him the simplified truth. You were lost in the woods and had just seen the lumber camp. You were thinking on what to do after seeing the tribal warning signs and made a snap call when you heard his truck start. You ran up a tree and jumped right on and quickly fell asleep.

As for the rest of your story its a long complicated mess. But you might be willing to tell the tale to the first nice trucker who might let you tag along into town.

Basically lure him into wanting to give you a ride. Listening to your story (heavily edited) would probably be a nice distraction during his trip.

As for broader backstory: you were doing some secret cutting-edge science stuff out in the Untameable Needles, very hush-hush, can't talk about the details. You got separated from your hive by some crazy monster and a lot of weird coincidences. So, now you've got to deliver this sack full of bloodstained and no-longer-network-capable electronics, which are themselves full of incomprehensibly priceless scientific data, to a particular Belenosian university professor guy who's probably the only one in the galaxy that knows how to interpret it all, and after that you'll hopefully have the funding and political support to start planning a rescue for the rest of your hive, most of whom might plausibly still be alive somewhere out there.

Accurate in the broad strokes, but omits key details and puts a misleading spin on things.

>>810517
This doesn't make sense, Likol's been skirting near roads and frontier towns.

Likol, claim that you've heard stories about hitchhikers getting murdered.

>>810561
Don't mention seeing the lumber camp, that just means we get the question "why didn't you go to the camp" and questions seeking more detail are the whole thing we want to avoid.

>>810576
No lying in the presence of neumono. Unfortunately, that also means no misleading half truths in the presence of neumono either. We just had a whole chapter about Likol trying to do that and it very not working.

As a last resort you could tell him you're on the run and if you get caught, hundreds of thousands of people will die. This kind of urgent reason will be confirmed by the neumono there. They might even sense that you're understating the danger. In that case they might be driven to help you, or at least keep their mouths shut.

Is there someone on the roof with a rifle?

>>810728
Yeah there are security guards here.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/27(Tue)17:49 No. 810816 ID: bfb318
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>Was it a literal fever dream?
Yes. I believe it was a shared fever dream when our biologists stayed together in a lax quarantine so that the rest of us wouldn't get a fever.

"I dropped from a tree. I didn't think that someone would stop for me if I hitchhiked."
>"So you just did it without asking, huh? Like that'd earn you favors?"
"No, sorry. I've just heard stories of hitchhikers getting killed. If I can keep going with you, I'll pay."

I can't outbid any OPA division, but as long as I'm far away by the time they have a chance to pay this guy off, it's fine.

>"How much you got?"
"I'll pay 500z to let me ride with you today."
>"Yeah, sure. You gonna rip me off, steal anything, or try and fight me at all?"
"No. I just want to get to civilization."
>"Guy?"
>"This guy has more mental baggage than actual baggage, but he's honest, even if he sounds like he's on the run." says the neumono, who's apparently taking it upon himself to help vet me.
>"You wanted by some mercenaries or something? Nevermind, I don't want to know, but outside of letting you ride, I'm not protecting you."
"That's fine."

The neumono detects some hesitancy in me, and I address that.

"That, and a minute in the shop, for some food and water."
>"You get 5 minutes." he says. "Then you can have a ride, and I'll tell you about all the stories about how people got killed because they thought it was better to be a stowaway, rather than asking politely like an upstanding citizen."

2/2 Likol 2017/06/27(Tue)17:50 No. 810817 ID: bfb318
File 149861101198.png - (47.12KB , 1200x800 , 18.png )

I get some store food. Surprisingly, they actually trade some for my fresher meat from a recent kill. It's not like I'm the only one out here who has stuff to hide. By this point, people who peaceably live and let live most likely have moved to a place protected by an ultrahive.

As we drive off, I eat. The food tastes a bit weird to me, but it's been a long time since I've had real commercial food at a gas station. It is filling, though, and that's what I need.

The heef puts on some music, I think. The instruments sound like they're screeching, and the singer sounds like he's trying to howl to drown out the instruments. The heef is 'singing' along to it with his weird, alien squawks. I'm glad he can't sense my empathy, because he would probably kick me out for how much I hate it.

The only comfort I have, outside the food, being in a vehicle, having amicable company, and being well on my way to civilization, is that this car seems to be much more high tech on the inside than the outside. The GPS has updating traffic conditions based on a mix of active satellite recordings that have an AI translate the visuals into useable traffic data, and nearly all GPS units seem to relay the car's information into one big network so that when traffic jams occur, it's easily detected and alerts drivers coming to that location. He has a coffee maker, too, with a stabilizing cup holder that keeps the bumps from knocking liquid around. We're about 300 miles east of the spire. We must be outside of OPA influence. A decent sized town should be within a handful of hours.

I'd like to know more about this technology, but more than that, I want to sleep. Until last night, I barely slept at all, but I feel like I didn't get any. I won't get any, either, with this screeching.

>>810817
Ask if he's got headphones, since you'd like to get some more sleep. Well, check his GPS to first find out what direction this thing's headed and exactly where you are. See if you can put more detail onto your map.

When you start napping, curl up in front of the seat with the meal tray covering you. That way nobody will see you in the car from the outside. Spy drones won't either.

If you want to not listen to the heef death metal you have to actively work at it. could politely ask if you can get some sleep. Or you could also strike up a conversation which would get the music turned down. Ask him his life story.

Only problem with talking is he will eventually ask your story. And if anyone hears him mentioning he picked up a little nerdy googles guy well that points right to you.

Oh and am going to mention this one last time but you are a huge idiot for keeping those goggles (with brand new tracking firmware even). For god sake at least keep them in your fucking bag. Your entire hive wears those things all fucking day Likol. Makes you instantly recognizable you know.

Kinda lucky this was a truck designed for Heef, the relative proportions and the height of the vehicle makes it much harder for you to be spotted from the outside.

As for sleep, I dunno. Given how strange your dream was last time I'd be tempted to delay sleeping until you're in a confirmed safe location, but you're already sleep deprived which might make you less careful and falling asleep at the wrong time would be bad. So, I'd say try to get some sleep.

>>810819
This is a good point, hide them goggles when you're not using them.

I doubt he'd like it if we complain about his choice of music. After all, it's his truck, so he gets to decide what plays on the radio and how loud it'll play. He might turn it down if we ask politely, but I don't see that happening.

>>810824
>Kinda lucky this was a truck designed for Heef, the relative proportions and the height of the vehicle makes it much harder for you to be spotted from the outside.
He's also lucky that his genetics told him to grow up to be a short neumono as an adult instead of becoming a big neumono like his queen! I guess being short has some advantages! XD

>I want to sleep
You really trust this guy enough to sleep around him?

>I'd like to know more about this technology
GPS is a global network. If you do anything funny with it, OPA resources might see it and connect it to you.

Although, I suppose they are down a CAI now, so they're not going to have a ridiculous bullshit cyber dragnet out for you right now.

Travel's going as well as could reasonably be expected. Don't rock the boat. You don't want the driver to get angry enough to kick you out, or even have cause to remember you and complain to peers. Just put up with a few more hours of sleep deprivation until you reach some credible town, then stumble into a cheap motel, rent a room for the night, and remember to lock the door behind you.

Be careful with your estimate of the OPA's influence range. If there aren't that many roads out here, their attention would be focused on the travel routes there are, which would effectively extend it.

Forgive me if I'm underestimating you, but as far as I can gather, you were a tribal, then taken under Vanski's wing, then basically lived in a cave until now, right? So you're not used to a world with travel infrastructure and things like that, your mindset when thinking about travel and escape and capture may still be dominated by old patterns shaped by existence in a wilderness. The OPA, on the other hand, is made up of criminals who have remote bases but also operate under the radar in civilized areas. Their immediate assumption would be needing to watch the roads.

Besides which, consider what the OPA would have focused their surveillance towards. The remoteness of bases like this would have been a security measure in itself to them - they might not have even thought too much about anyone wanting or being capable of going through the wilderness, being comparatively frail and urbanized aliens as they are. They have people they hire for military expertise and security, but the kinds of people they hire for that aren't chosen for their smarts first, and are limited in what they're informed of. They would have been less worried about people escaping from their bases than they would be about people coming towards them - police, investigators, armies. They would have looked at what roads were near them, noted what urban centers they gave access to, and then put surveillance in those centers, where anyone coming to get them would have to start traveling from. They would want early notice of any group who looked like they might be setting out in their direction.

So, watch out for that.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)13:36 No. 810949 ID: bfb318
File 149868221335.png - (24.95KB , 800x800 , 19.png )

Damnit, I'm too paranoid to sleep.

I'll put the goggles away. They only help highlight animals, people, helicopters and other things for me if I wear them. Maybe I'll just put them on? Later. Then, can I trust this alien... well, maybe not too much, but if he was secretly someone linked to OPA, then they would already be on their way. Sleeping or staying awake in the truck wouldn't change much.

I have the CAI taped around me, under my clothes. It cannot get robbed without my knowledge.

Messing with the GPS would be fine as long as I don't go registering as a user under my name or anything out of line with a regular driver, but I won't risk it.

"Do you have any headphones?" I ask him.
>"No!" he shouts back over the music.
"... so where do you come from?"
>"My home planet, duh! I'm a veteran like half the people out here."

...

...

>"What, you don't like Heef bands?!"
"I... it's alien. Mostly I just want to sleep."
"Go stuff yourself in that compartment, then! It's roomy enough, and isn't airtight or anything!" he says, gesturing behind the seats to some cargo holds.

It then occurs to me that there are probably small spy drones all over the roads, and I really should not have so freely walked around that gas station. Hiding away in the compartment might be a good idea. It even has a pillow inside.

I'm still able to hear the music while inside the compartment, but it's much better, and good enough that I can fall asleep.

2/2 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)13:37 No. 810950 ID: bfb318
File 149868222174.png - (22.89KB , 800x800 , 20.png )

"Kids, Quokko. They're everywhere."
>"Oh, shut, up, half of them are full adults."
"Tiny, little children."
>"Still true, I guess. Why can't we see them? Goddamnit, Likol... they're fucking with our memories. Our good ones, now."

Our home, which we could virtually call a town. There were over a thousand of us, shortly before our schism, during which we thought we were going right to the top of the world.

"What?"
>"Oh, come on, we've done this 4, 5 times now? You've got to stay lucid with me. They're trying to fix up something, but we're not letting them. We've set them off track going to older memories like just before the schism, which shouldn't have much to do with the present day issues. We've been reconstructing memories we thought we've long since lost, and reconstructing memories that never existed. How did we schism, anyway?"
"We had our departments make their own decisions. It led to - "
>"Fuck that idea, Likol. Do you really believe that? That we're so fragile that we schismed over a disagreement? We second guess ourselves constantly. If we schismed every time we had an internal disagreement, we'd all be rogues."
"You know what they say about hives who enter the 4 digit population. One big disagreement could do it."
>"What was the disagreement, then, Likol? What did we disagree about?"
"I have no idea."
>"Neither do I. It's the single biggest, cataclysmic event that happened to our hive after contact, and we aren't the kind of hive to repress painful memories. So don't you think it's a little weird that we can't remember?"

>>810950

But what if we ... could remember?

Or maybe the problem is that we never did, we were told that we did, we told ourselves that we did, and we believed it ...?

Wait, we'd remember that, right?

Quokko is the only other lucid mind here. How are we doing this?

Wait, maybe we're still dreaming, even in our "waking" periods? We keep saying the various mind control technologies are not ready yet, but maybe we're not actually in April, AW 131.

>>810950
You know what I think? The schism happened because the hive eventually decided to split with Vanski, but Vanski didn't like that and tried an experimental memory-altering procedure on the hive. It only worked for some of the hive, so part of the hive stayed loyal while the other part wanted to rebel. Thus, a schism. The more vulnerable, affected part stayed and got a second treatment to make them forget how the schism happened.
Alternatively, the only way Vanksi would let the hive go is if they used the memory alteration treatment to wipe all knowledge of sensitive information from their minds. Either Vanski sabotaged it so that it didn't work on the most valuable members of the hive, or the hive agreed to only let expendable members take the treatment and leave. It couldn't have been luck or natural resistance since it was obviously used a second time to obscure the reason of the schism. It would've had to be reliable the second time around, and in this scenario the people it *didn't* work on stayed.

...it occurs to me that this could be a great boon in disguise. If you get to Azra and hand him the CAI, you can alter your memories afterwards to hide that fact, or to lead Vanski to a decoy CAI Block. Also, if the brain syringe technology is operational, is it possible a bunch of your hive injected you with themselves to counteract whatever's messing with your memories?

I have to wonder... why is this happening now? This is definitely a dream, so let's assume the other is reality. In that reality, you are no longer around your hive. You are not in reach of anyone who can mess with you. Methods for messing with you at range don't exist. Methods for mental alteration this quickly don't exist, yet. Doing something to you in a moving truck would be ridiculously impractical. Any long-range empathy projector would surely be detectable by someone. Any theoretical alterations to your minds would have been more easily made, and more importantly investigated and examined for scientific advances, while you were in residence of the spire.

What's changed, that you're getting these dreams now?

You've left.

What if... what if these are just memories? Memories of previous dreams? Memories of going through a previous process of being mentally altered? A process that wasn't perfect. Something that was done to all of you, together, as it would need to be to a hive. Neumono who are with their hive get kind of caught up with them. Their hive constantly pulls them along the same lines of thought with each other, waking and sleeping. Maybe something was done to you that needs you to be surrounded by your hive for it to keep working. Maybe, now that you've gotten out, that's breaking down and things are resurfacing. The process of some conditioning breaking up may even be responsible somehow for your memory loss and confusion when you first set out. When was the last time you slept without your hive in empathic range, Likol, before you left the spire?

Hmm, given how the last dream ended I think directly referencing what happened while Likol is awake sets off something. So if you have to do so indirectly like saying you're multitasking to explain the lack of lucidity (Since you were awake).

Yes, it is weird. Schisming is supposed to be quite emotional/traumatic and you'd think that'd reinforce any memory of it. I'm thinking something bad happened, something that we've all forgotten.

Why is this happening now, are why is Qukko in your head? Is it possible that your memory of her is strong enough to create a convincing construct of her, or is she actually there?

Okay, so you got up over a thousand people before the schism. Now there are only "a couple hundred" [spoilers]and you'll be down to 30ish people in 4 years[spoilers]. You lost over half the population in the schism, and/or what happened after?

Can you remember how long ago the schism was?

...can you remember what happened to the half who split away? With all the OPA secrecy, I have a hard time imagining Vanski just let them leave.

>So don't you think it's a little weird that we can't remember?
Yes, it's weird.

Maybe if we focused on some of the people affected, we could remember their specific things, if not the event in general?

>Oh, come on, we've done this 4, 5 times now?
Sorry, this is only the second time I remember this happening. I must not have been lucid enough for the first few.

I'm also missing 3 days in the "real" world, if in fact what I'm experiencing when I'm not with you is real.

What if you're in a dream within a dream within a dream and so on?

Every time you're "awake", you're actually asleep and when you fall asleep again, you're just going deeper into another dream!

If we forgot its because someone made us forget.

If the schism was about working for Vanski then it was probably his doing. To keep us in line and not loose the whole hive. Which could mean we might have a bunch of dead relatives in a ditch somewhere.

But there is another possibility. Say if it was something we really wanted to forget about. Something that could have destroyed the rest of the hive if we could not get past it. Then maybe it could have been us messing with our own memories to let us forget. Or survive.

Honestly if our memories were tampered with who else would have the tech to do it but our own hive? Sure there are other scientists out there. But we have most likely the most complete set of data on hijacking neumono biology. And the environment to test it.

(Try to avoid talking about your current whereabouts. Seemed to be blocked last time and might wake you up early. Also try to avoid going back in your memories any farther maybe? Your queen seems to be taking the place of your subconscious which is trying to fix these modifications.)

1/2 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)16:08 No. 810997 ID: bfb318
File 149869129525.png - (18.23KB , 800x800 , 21.png )

It's another remembering-dream. Stuff is playing out, and it feels like stuff that I once did, and did decide to do, but isn't stuff that I'm deciding now.

These weird dreams showing up make me wonder if it's because I've left my hive, but... it isn't typical. During our days under the spire, we've had people wander a bit. Before the spire, I've gone away from the hive for such long periods that I'm lucky to still be their hivemate. I slept outside of empathic range just in the couple days leading up to taking the CAI out of the base, too. If it's because I've left, then there's some other factor involved. Something that involves not just me alone, but me now. I can't think of what.

This is the second dream, but I do get the impression there are other moments like this.

"How are you getting lucid?" I ask, or asked, Quokko.
>"With help. Sometimes, usually you, say something that doesn't fit, at all. Then I bring the pieces together. I've been clinging onto you while being lucid. I can't remember why, either, but more importantly is the schism."
"It is weird we can't remember the schism. yeah. Can we think of specific people who were affected?"
>"I remember... they were called off to another portion of the base. They stayed there, for awhile, supposedly doing some work with Vanski, or if not him, then a kid of his or his wife. We don't know. Then we..."

>"Did we ever see them again?"
"I don't think we did. You left to go see them again, didn't you?"
>"Yes, but then I... came back here."
"Did they already schism?"
>"No. I don't know. I just decided... not to. I just decided not to check on them after all, like I knew they were gone already."

>"That was it. That was the end of that, we declared them gone, and we moved on."

"What happened to them? Vanski, and anything involving an OPA base, wouldn't have just let them leave."
>"I don't really care personally, but I don't really want to know, either."

>"... we got an awful lot of funding out of nowhere after that, though, didn't we?"
"Yeah, we did."
>"No, no, no. I mean, yes, we got funding, but I absolutely know that I checked in on the schism'd hive! I didn't just walk over, go 'nevermind', and walk back. That's not right. Let's back up."
"Yeah, let's back up.

I don't want to do that.

>"Something seems wrong? Whatever, let's back up."
"Let's."

Damnit!

>"Yeah. Let's remember it right, next time."

2/2 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)16:08 No. 810998 ID: bfb318
File 149869130641.png - (28.09KB , 800x800 , 22.png )

I'm awake.

>>810988

This seems like a interesting take on things. While it could be way off the mark is worth pondering.

So the hive schism happened years and years ago right? Back far enough that you would not have access to the more advanced tech that has appeared since then. So if this memory editing stuff is a hive wide thing (and not just something that is just happening to Likol post escape). Then how was it done?

Yeah you could use all sorts of memory editing tech but it would be horribly imperfect and you would all have noticed more gaps before now. And if a predator had done it then why does Vanski not still have that predator? If he had a tame predator then most likely none of this cai nonsense would have happened due to you all being predatored.

So what if your hive was going along with the memory changes? Or doing it to yourselves even? Some of the most powerful memory altering you can do to a neumono is by making there whole hive believe really hard.

Could it be that the schism never happened? That there was some horrible event and you lost half your hive in such a painful manner that you all repressed it so hard you forgot as a group? Probably some nastiness involving your relationship with Vanski or the outside world?

And maybe you are dreaming about your queen trying to fix your head because you are away from your hive and the group denial that did this is wearing off?

This sounds less like a schism and more like a culling.

How long were you out? (Assuming we can trust our tech, which we can't).

If "back up" is they keyword that boots you out / messes with your head... maybe we need to say something that sounds like the opposite? ("Move on", "forward", "go ahead", "front down" etc).

You backed up and that reset the loop. She warned you about that last time. Next time you are dreaming watch for that. This has probably happened a few times now. It might take a few more dreams but you are getting closer.

What if that part of your hive is still around? What if they are working on other more "evil" tech and that's the schism? They were willing to work on more horrible things and you were not? What if you or her did visit and you found out what they were working on and disowned them?

That or it was the team trying to save Vanski's wife? He killed them all after they failed and then made the rest of you forget?

Anyways ponder on it later. Right now you should check the top of your head for a deep bone wound. Possibly a circle right in between your ears just to the right of the center of your skull. Even with your regen if you did get hurt there should be a sign of it as the bone needs time to heal.

>>810998

Oh hey, you do the same thing I do. Err ... we do.

... I do.

Well, trapped in a mental loop in a dream state, so it's definitely on your mind, not like you'd ... forget. Sounds like whatever's going on, you can't go backwards?

Wait, can you even recall what that conversation was? Is it possible to remember what should have happened before you spoke with Quokko?

She says she stays lucid because of things being out of place or out of keeping with the dream. So does that mean this is just some crazy dream (and maybe not even shared) and we're along for the ride until we decide to do otherwise?

>I don't want to

Or maybe someone's tampering with our empathy and it's only working when we're passed out in the middle of nowhere.

.. I mean, there's also the option that we're crazy. Well, that you're crazy.

>>810998
Listen carefully. Has the truck stopped? Is the music still playing? Can you get out of the compartment?

You left your bag in the passenger's seat didn't you? Let's hope the driver didn't go digging through your bag while you were sleeping!

Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)17:10 No. 811018 ID: bfb318
File 149869504511.png - (31.03KB , 800x800 , 23.png )

I listen for a moment.

My goggles say it's 2:07 PM. The truck is still moving. Music is playing, but it's closer to what I would call music. My bags are still with me.

Quokko, in the dream, mentioned Stirra, Vanski's wife. That checks out. The schism was... it's fuzzy, but I want to say at least a couple of decades ago. Stirra died just november of last year, a little over 6 months ago.

I have two memories of that conversation. The one that the dream represented was clearly wrong and mangled. The other one was much more benign. We simply reflected on how far we've come, even if we could have had better partners than Vanski.

There wasn't a will for us to 'back up'. Neither of us wanted to, but then we felt a need to.

>Could it be the schism never happened, and was a culling?
I don't really want to imagine that. I know so little, though, that I just don't know.

If there was an attempt to rewrite my memory, it obviously was an unclean procedure. Now I just have more memories. Which, to be fair, that's already more success than the tech I'm aware of. The only theoretical reliable means would be a predator, and I would still be surprised if Vanski managed to get one, especially recently, despite his attempts. He is effectively in charge of OPA-3, though, and I have heard of an OPA-8 before. If there's 7 other places like mine, then there might be a predator involved. Training one to do any kind of good job, though, is a different kind of story.

My head aches, come to think of it. There was a wound on it earlier that's closed up, but it still feels a little off, like something is in there. My regeneration might be trying to push it out, but I do feel a hard bump just under my fur. I might have a splinter.

>>811018
So... great. Someone either implanted something in your head, or you tried to hide something in your head. Not good either way.

Probably not a good idea to cut your head open now and bleed all over the compartment. Head wounds are messy.

Are we still moving, or has the truck stopped?

Sub-dermal tracker maybe? Not something to do now but once you're somewhere where you won't piss someone off for bleeding, trying pushing the splinter out the wound or otherwise get it out.

Ideally do this when the trucker has a rest stop or something so the last known location of the tracker (Assuming it is one) is away from where you are.

>>811018
Let's talk about empathy relays again. You said those were in development. How small could those get? Pondering something that kicks on while you are sleeping and causes shared dreams.

Once you get somewhere private you can cut it open and see if its just a splinter.

For now listen and see if you are still moving/listening to metal music.

Did you sleep long? Figuring out if someone jammed a empathy relay into your head can wait a bit. Right now you need to keep on moving and saying out of sight.

>>811018
Okay, new theory. The memories you've got now are from the period where the older memories were being rewritten. The time period is mixed up because of the method being used, it's some combination of a shared dream and memory interception. Vanski caught your hive during a shared dream, or forced one, and somehow hijacked it to modify your entire hive's memories at once by making the entire hive remember what he wanted to modify. Your hive dreamed about an event, but the dream was altered somehow by Vanski to make your hive think there's something wrong with the memory, which makes them "back up" and replay the memory, except then it gets changed even further and eventually the changes Vanski want are applied.

You are only just now remembering the shared dream; the evidence that you have false memories. I believe that whatever this process is, it requires upkeep, so now that you're separated from Vanski's complex you're starting to remember the process. I'm not sure how this relates to the missing time, but it's possible you were being followed and Vanski's goons attempted to administer whatever upkeep was required, at which point your hive coincidentally came across you and interrupted the process?

First, REMOVE THE SPLINTER. Second, stick your head out of the storage area to check on the situation.

Hmm. You guys regenerate pretty quick, don't you? If that wound was something actually put inside you, it had to have been put in pretty recently for that external wound to still be there. As such, it's theoretically possible that you received it at the same time as your other gifts from your hive - that note written in blood could even be from when you were opened up.

At the same time, you're scientists, so if your hive put something in there, they'd have known it would get pushed out. Really, anyone with any familiarity with neumono physiology would know it. So if something got put into you, they'd have to know it would come out again. In any case, theoretically, whatever it is might have been put there by your hivemates, at the same time they gave you the doll and (presumably) the money. You might even have put it in there yourself! Assuming that it really isn't just a splinter.

I'm concerned about how you seem to be being forced to replay memories. The way biological memories work, you effectively have to get the subject to recall those memories in order to alter them - in fact, it's normal for memories of events to change a little every time they're remembered. Even moreso for neumono, since your redundant brains would have multiple copies of a memory - any memory alteration effectively has to make you alter your memories yourself. This seems like it could be something trying to do that to you, but... Well, you've been through these dreams twice now, and if anything they seem to have made you more aware of issues with your memory. If Vanski is responsible for this, he's making you less willing to trust or work with him. What's the profit? Follow the metaphorical money. Who benefits from this?

Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)17:57 No. 811038 ID: bfb318
File 149869787597.png - (34.53KB , 800x800 , 24.png )

Well, great, maybe I'm being tracked after all, unless I shoved something weird in my own head and can't remember that, either.

Or something else? I don't know what other tech there would be. On the other hand, other OPA bases may have made huge advancements in any of the other fields. Perhaps empathy relayers? Not in me. Those, in theory, couldn't get any smaller than their jammer counterparts. So, not just would they have had to make functional relayer tech, but make it small enough to fit in my head.

Again, though, these memories and the way that they're being replayed doesn't seem to benefit anyone.

I'd like to remove the splinter, but I don't know how deep it goes. I could ask the driver when the next rest stop is so that I don't risk bleeding over his compartment. We're moving, and between the music and the engine, I can also hear rain. I do have my trashbags with me, though. If I'm careful and I don't just try to wrench the implant out, I should be able to keep my blood either on me or in a bag.

I say wait. If you try to do surgery on the move, something is sure to happen.

And you lose pretty much any hope of cooperation from your host if you do something as apparently weird and crazy as trying to take your head apart and bleeding on his stuff.

Wait. If you do it at a rest stop and it turns out to be a tracker, you'll have the opportunity to plant it on another vehicle.

Well you could lay out your trash bag and towel under you and using your flashlight and toolkit and knife start working whatever it is out. Do you have a hand mirror?

You would get your towel bloody though. Easy enough to ball back up in the bags and clean later.

I would just ask the heef if he minds. There should be a kitchenette back there near the bed with a sink if this is a big rig truck. Say you think you have a nasty splinter/tooth/claw that needs to come out and ask if you can pry it out over his sink.

That being said if its a tracker then removing it in a enclosed cab on the move in the rain is the best time for the signal to be crappy. Then you can save it and toss it in another truck going to another town later.

This is not the place or time for self surgery.

Shouldn't your regeneration eventually push it out on its own anyway?

Don't start digging at it in the bed compartment of a guy who has been rather nice to you.

Go ask if you can dig for it up front. He is a vet and should understand.

The brain-dart tech isn't anywhere near ready, but what if it wasn't miniaturized? You think this could be something like a brain tissue implant based on the preliminary brain-dart tech, just tweaked so it's not trying to take you over? And if so, do you think the tissue donor might have been Quokko, considering how she's shown up every time in your dream?

Do a exploratory cut of the lump to see and feel what is under the skin before deciding if you're going the whole way. That'll be less bloody than pulling it out and you can turn back if you change your mind. And can your goggles display what their cameras see independently to each lens? Because if so, you could put one lens over your eye, then hold up the other lens to view the back of your head and pipe its camera output to the lens you're viewing.

>>811038
I'm pretty sure if you try by yourself in a moving vehicle, you'll end up making things worse! For example: The truck suddenly hits a bump and you end up accidentally shoving your knife, or whatever you're using, into your head and then you'd have 2 things stuck in your head!

>>811038
If you hit a bump it could be pretty bad for you.
...if it's a tracking device wouldn't they have recaptured you by now? Maybe it's something benign. I think you need to get a mirror and look at it better.

1/3 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)18:50 No. 811055 ID: bfb318
File 149870102321.png - (75.87KB , 800x800 , 25.png )

I'll wait. If it's something like a tracker, it's done damage. It'll take a much longer time for regeneration to push it out completely, though, so I should do something soon.

I open the compartment.

"Hello."
>"Rise and shine, kiddo. You'd make a terrible driver."
"I can't see over the dashboard while standing, so yeah, probably."

There must be tech for that.

"Do you plan on making a rest stop? I have to pull something out, and I don't want to bleed in your truck."
>"What?"

I could have worded that better. Oh, I'm wearing my goggles again.

"I mean, it's probably just a splinter from when I was in the forest."
>"Probably? Man, I picked up an oddball after all. There's a rest stop soon, but the next town over's just 50 miles away, so you may as well wait to get off there. I'm already behind schedule. Whole lanes were closed earlier."
"What, when?"
>"Few hours back. No damn explanation of course, so I'm just assuming that they made a traffic jam for fun. Goddamn half the crew was a buncha neumono rubbernecking the traffic as hard as the traffic was rubbernecking them, so it was an amateur run choking the only reliable underpass in the whole damn region today."
"Oh..."
>"You know what? There's a bathroom in back, and it's a bit dirty. If you clean it up a bit, you can use it to take out your splinter. Just don't hog all the water!"

I see the GPS by the steering wheel. It's been about 300 miles and almost 7 hours since I last checked. I don't know this part of the world, but I think that we're in a much more stable, safer region. The town he's talking about, though, I don't think is in proper ultrahive territory.

"I will, thank you."

>What if the brain dart tech wasn't miniaturized?
Miniaturized? There's no feasible way I could imagine that ever working at full scale, let alone get a miniaturized version.

2/3 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)18:50 No. 811057 ID: bfb318
File 149870103590.png - (28.83KB , 800x800 , 26.png )

I go into the back area, using a sliding door I thought was just a big closet before. It's like a small mobile home in here. Like he said, there's a bathroom just to the side. There's even a foldout bed here! I wouldn't want me to sleep it in either though, given my current looks.

The bathroom would only be small by alien sizes, so it's an easy spot for me to work.

I can also use one of my lens-caps to receive input from the other, so I can hold up one lens cap to look over my own head, and its vision will be passed through to the lenscap that I look through. I also poke around some, thankfully confirming that it's something small that I can pull out easily enough, and that it isn't some kind of insane deep skull implant.

This is a moving truck, but I've extracted an animal's tooth that has dug into my shin bone before. A speed bump does not scare me.

3/3 Likol 2017/06/28(Wed)18:50 No. 811059 ID: bfb318
File 149870105309.png - (12.22KB , 800x800 , 27.png )

I successfully take it out, and don't like how metallic it feels. After I wipe it off, I take a better look.

It looks like shrapnel?

This color, and its feeling is exactly like the material used in my hivemate's fragmentation grenades.

Well that adds another piece of evidence to the "your hive saved you from something bad and left supplies on your knocked out body" theory.

Could a chunk of that in your head explain the odd dreams? Or the shock of getting blown up?

Anyways it looks like those odd dreams saved you from getting found out at the check point earlier. I bet those were opa goons for sure. Set up at the only traffic choke point in the area.

Is your empathy that hidden when you sleep? Or was your dream odd enough to throw people off?

Anyways clean yourself up a bit. Don't use to much water but your damp towel and some wiping would make you look a lot less like a mess. From here on out you need to make sure no pictures of yourself get out. You want the people after you to think you are still inside there blockade. So clean fur and some new clothes will be very important soon.

Worrying, although not as bad as it could've been. Seems to support the theory that your hive intervened on your behalf during the gap in your memory.

Clean up the bathroom a bit like you agreed, then return to the cab.

Damn, this just adds to the mystery. I guess you saw some action during the time you've forgotten about. Quickly give yourself a check all over to see if there are any other points of interest.

In any case, be happy you're not being tracked. And that you slipped past a blockade, it seems. That's some damned fine luck that you were sleeping.

You might also ask the driver if he has any sort of wireless-capable computers or things around. Most trucks I know wouldn't, but, yours here might be more advanced. With the (presumed) ubiquity of wireless access of some sort everywhere in a town, this may be your last chance to use your computers without risking them connecting to anything.

Are there any files on your goggles, hidden or otherwise? Maybe whoever replaced your old pair w/ these left a note.

>Oh, I'm wearing my goggles again.
You never really took them off. They just got pushed down the back of your head while you're asleep.

You should take them off before you leave the truck, since being a neumono in goggles makes you easier to find to OPA people asking questions of witnesses. Damage is done with the heef, though.

>>811059
Well that confirms stuff went down you can't remember.

>Is your empathy that hidden when you sleep?
Sleeping empathy is on a different frequency than waking empathy. You can't sense someone's empathy when they're asleep and you're awake.

Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)14:16 No. 811238 ID: bfb318
File 149877098466.png - (63.53KB , 800x800 , 28.png )

The shrapnel is odd and wouldn't help, but it wouldn't explain weird dreams or my current general state of health. It didn't prevent me from sleeping, too, which was a big help apparently. Trying to get through that checkpoint when my empathy was in a waking state would have been a bigger deal.

After another pat down, I'm not feeling any other weird things on my body. There's a meter showing how much water is left, so I use a small amount of that to wipe down the bathroom, and myself, before getting a change of clothes and returning to the cab.

"Thank you."
>"Welcome."
"Do you have any wireless computers in here?"
>"There's a laptop - why."
"I'd like to look up the town we're going to."
>"Fine, but I'm throwing you out if you look at my search history or start doing anything weird."

His laptop has an extension to get satellite coverage, so I'm able to look on the internet, for once, completely freely and openly. There's a lot I'm curious about, but I stay focused.

The town we're going to is called Power Park, aptly named due to its power plant years ago. It needed protection, so it drew in a military presence. People needed protection, so the military drew in a civilian presence. Now that the region is more or less safe-ish, there isn't much draw to the town, and it's just a place that people live because they don't have anywhere better to be. Half of the industry has transformed to be from people passing through, such as big rig trucks and travellers.

There's a small airport that's barely used, and only exists because of the military force that built it. Public bus travel exists and goes out in every direction, but its reliability is apparently questionable. It's an extremely popular hitchhiking hub, too. There are plenty of cheap places to eat and stay the night. Many places offer phone and internet services on their own, as well.

I also spend some time searching through my goggles. There is a newer changelog that was just a few bug fixes and minor performance changes, but I look deeper through the large directory of files. I skim through them to check anything out of place. There is one file, out on its own, only called 'hugs.exe.'

Create a virtual machine and a partition to test hugs.exe.

Make sure you don't have audio on too loud and run hugs.exe.

You should probably check the CAI and its attached systems for damage, too. I'm not sure what you'd be able to do about any such damage, but if some piece of shrapnel pierced one of the seals that makes it waterproof or something, you need to know.

Do you remember what happened to your ear? One of your ears is shorter than the other.

Don't do anything weird on his laptop. For sure do not run that exe on anything with a wireless connection. Can you check the file creation/modification date? If it's ever been run? Can you decompile it to see what the structure looks like?

>>811238
>'hugs.exe.'
Either your hive left a message there or Glitcher somehow connected to your goggles to mess with things in there. And then Alison said to give the file that name! XD

>>811245
>>811239

One would assume the file is meant to be run on the goggles themselves, somehow, so we don't need to fret so much about doing it on the laptop.

Run the program on your goggles, it should be relatively safe as you mentioned that model specifically had no wireless connectivity.

Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)15:10 No. 811254 ID: bfb318
File 149877423764.png - (18.48KB , 800x800 , 29.png )

>Do you remember what happened to your ear?
I don't. It's healed somewhat, so I can't make a judgement on what kind of thing caused the wound either.

I isolate out hugs.exe through partitions and the usual security practices, on my goggles. I also double check that my goggles are incapable of wireless communication. While it's made, I double check the CAI. It looks pristine.

The exe itself has a creation and modification date from just a few days ago, sometime while I was out in the forest. When I run hugs, something shows up on the bottom left of my goggles. Her mouth animates, showing an icon of speakers, so I put the goggle's straps back around my ears.

>"Hi! Thank you for running me. Who is this?" she speaks with a voice that is feminine and artificial. It's uncannily smooth, and the care put into her voice module is probably hindered by the mid-range quality of the goggle speakers.

This must be Alison. Glitcher talked about her. I tap 'Likol' back in morse code. If this program is supposed to be ran on my goggles, it should be able to read that input.

>"Okay, just making sure, thank you Likol. I'm Alison. Not the real Alison that is, but an AI approximation of her with a few changes. My purpose here is to help automate and run actions if you plug your goggles into any standard computer, so that you don't have to. I know you've been through a lot, so I understand if you don't trust me or want to use me. I'm not sapient, so you can delete or cut and paste me all you want, guilt free."

Well, let's ask the obvious question.

How did she get in there? You didn't install her. Does she know what happened to you?

I mean, not sapient, but she might have relevant records. And the CAI might have pre-programmed her with the answers to questions they thought you might ask.

>>811254
Pretty impressive that your goggles can even do a color version of her. I suppose the obvious thing to do is ask her about her origins, but be sure to check the files yourself too, as thoroughly as you can.

>>811254
Hmm. I bet your ear had a tracking device in it. So, this is what happened: Vanski sent some goons after you with some of whatever technology he uses to wipe and replace memories. I think the intent was to change your mission objective somehow. Your hive sent a taskforce out at about the same time to follow the goons, and you were eventually found, at which point they ambushed the group and took them out. A grenade was involved and you got hit with shrapnel. They removed the part of your ear that had the tracking device, figured out your laptop was compromised as well, left you some gifts, sent you on your way to keep Vanski from immediately recovering you again, then ran off before you came out of your trance. I'm guessing that they left their tracking devices back at the base, and returned in order to continue the act of being loyal and ignorant of your actions. Otherwise they'd have just stayed with you, surely.

Ask Alison if she knows anything that happened since you left Vanski.

>>811254
>It's Alison
I fucking knew it! I knew she had to be involved somehow! XD

Hmm. Well, if Glitcher sent her to help you, he might have loaded her with information of what he knew about you. Ask her if she was given any details on the interactions you and Glitcher had. There are theoretically a few things that he would know to mention that no-one besides you would be likely to know.

Alison is an odd choice. Perhaps I'm not remembering right, but you never really interacted with her, did you? Perhaps Glitcher mentioned her, but I don't recall him talking much about her. She would have been mentioned in his (well, the previous version of his) recorded conversations with the other AIs, though, and you know her by reputation as the "generosity anomaly". That might have been enough for them to think she would be a good choice for setting you at your ease. Or perhaps they just like her face and think you would too, who knows.

Anyway, check what proofs she might have of her authenticity and then ask her if she knows anything about your missing days and the various mysteries going on. The meaning of those notes, especially.

Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)16:35 No. 811286 ID: bfb318
File 149877934990.png - (16.08KB , 800x800 , 30.png )

Alison is an odd choice at first glance, but then I realize that the only AI I interacted with much was Glitcher, and he was pretty darn protective of his individuality and image. He probably wouldn't want his image to be replicated like this if I understood him right, but I could be wrong.

"Do you know what happened after I left Vanski?"
>"Who? I'm sorry, I was just activated right now."
"You don't know anything? How did you get into my goggles?"
>"Hmm... If you didn't put me in here, then I'm curious, too! We have some hints, though. From what little I know, I was made by an AI, from an existing AI. That puts me in a strange legal position, and it's possible my makers didn't want me to say too much. I'm talkative, so if I knew too much, I'd say too much! To you, that is. I'm designed only to be fully open to the goggle's owner, and people who the owner tells me to be fully open towards. I have very high security measures built in, but it's still possible for me to get hacked if I fell into the wrong hands. You can make adjustments to me or the program, if you like. Personality adjustments, display options, or just change personalities to a whole other person, but that's a test feature and there's no guarantee your choice will be all that cooperative. If you need a third opinion, though, then it could be useful. Oh, also, there's also a little note in my readme that you may want to see."

'We once thought the people who oversaw us must be monsters for putting us through terrible test cycles, but when the fog was lifted, they just turned out to be misguided nerds. When they saw what was going on, they went farther than we ever thought they would go to give us time to live in peace, even if it was just delaying the inevitable. For coming through for us when we needed it most, we've created this modest present for you all to remember us by, in case we never see each other again. We'd like to do more, but we want your bosses to let you keep it, and also hope that they don't hold your actions against you too harshly. That's us being optimistic, and why we didn't load this present with all kinds of sensitive data. Good luck, you guys will need it.'

Well that looks like a gift from Glitcher. But for Paranoia's sake still treat it very carefully.

Ask her what she can help you with. With no network connection her access to stuff will be limited.

Also explain that you don't want to be seen in public with your goggles much.

>>811286
Wait, but, how did the AIs do that?! Did they somehow remotely connect to your goggles or something?!

Hmmmm. That's a weird note. That really suggests they made this Alison (Gameboy alison? Green Alison? Galison, either way) before you ran, if they were worried about you being subject to Vanski letting you keep anything.

The CAI shouldn't have been connected to your goggles to give you an AI. Did they leave something for your hive in general, and they gave it to you in the time you don't remember?

Hmm. Kind of an impersonal tone. However, the only one who interacted with you personally was Glitcher, who was the one everyone was worried about. Perhaps he's gone... or faking that he's gone. Since it would be theoretically possible for someone besides you to hack your goggles, they might have decided to create a message that wouldn't possibly give anything away, annoy anyone, seem threatening to someone or otherwise potentially cause any extra trouble for you, hence this... strange, sanitized-sounding message.

Alternately, so much time may have passed within their "world" that their memory of you is effectively now just a page in a history book to them. So much time would have passed for them since sending it, too, the message is basically equivalent to one etched on a deep space probe and shot into the void for them, hence this memorial-esque tone.

Or this could be a trick with a message constructed from what Vanski or his associates could know or guess about your relationship with the AI. Though it can be explained away, it's still the case that some of the way it's phrased doesn't feel like it fits the situation.

Well, she's offered to let you poke around in her innards a bit, so have a look. An AI made by other AIs, particularly ones who have been isolated from interaction with the real world, should have at least some differences in how she was designed and structured, compared to one made by organics. Theoretically they could have been able to create a more advanced AI than you yourselves could.

Ask her what information about who you are and your situation and history she was pre-programmed with, and an overview of all other "default" knowledge she has.

... I wonder. This message seems directed at your hive as a whole. I wonder, during whatever missing days you have when you seemingly encountered your hive again, did they get to interact with the CAI too? Were multiple copies of this Alison AI and this message given out to them all? It's possible.

Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)17:33 No. 811297 ID: bfb318
File 149878281806.png - (188.21KB , 800x800 , 31.png )

"So what can you help me with? Especially without a network connection?"
>"Internally, I can run computations, help analyze data, and just talk if you find yourself lonely. Since these goggles don't have wireless capability, I can't look up things on the internet as I am now, but if you have the right wire, you can always plug me into a computer with internet capability, and I can make use of that controller. I might just be a mundane AI, but I'm a very complex one."
"I don't know how you got into these goggles, without wireless capability."
>"I don't know how else I would have been put in without getting plugged into something, at some point."
"I also don't want to be seen in public with my goggles much."
>"Hmm... well, if you keep the microphone on, I'll be able to hear you even if I'm in a pocket."

I begin poking around the inside of this AI. It has a development wrapper attached, which Alison explains is a tool to use if we wanted to distribute her elsewhere, while protecting the code. As it currently is, all of the source code, modules, assets and so on have been laid out for me so that I can inspect what makes this pseudo-Alison tick. It looks like it was made in the same programming language we use to create goggle software instead of being some kind of low level assembly code that would take a lot of study. If there's no foul play with this note, then I suspect that the source code was made so available so that Vanski can verify the legitimacy of this AI and let my hive keep them as helper AIs. We already have helper AIs, but nothing so general-use, and nothing with anything near a personality. Now I just have more questions, too, since it sounds like this sterilized message was addressed to my hive as a whole, instead of me personally.

We're also getting close to Power Park, and I have Alison start communicating to me through text so that I can keep my goggles and my head low while we start passing by houses. I may want to decide what I'm going to do in town, if I even want to stop riding with this alien. Another note is that right now I may not want to plug in Alison into any wired computers, but I also can't. I have no wires to do it, and if I ever want to plug her into something, I'll need to stop by a shop to buy the right cable link.

>>811297
I think this is as good a place as any to say your goodbyes to the truck driver, pay him the money you said you'd give him for the ride, and then find a store to buy a wire or anything else you might need.

Do your goggles have a camera? For the purpose of overlaying Augmented Reality stuff, or similar? She could theoretically see as well as hear. Perhaps even through a pocket, if you found the right kind of fabric.

For now, ask her to go through your goggles' various logs and dates, find, list, and give you an overview of everything your goggles did or had done to them during your missing days.

How's the battery life on your goggles, by the way?

While the code might be simple and open I would not put it past Glitcher to have figured out a way of hiding stuff in there in ways you would never consider. Or for one of the black supernova's teams to have bugged it. Plus there could be who knows what hidden in the firmware and you would never find it.

But it seem safe enough right now and should be a big help. Note what type of cable it uses and be on the lookout for one. If its a standard one should be easy enough to find. Just make sure to be very careful about hooking it up to anything.

For now chat with the heef. Ask where he is headed. If its not into a bigger town then see if he knows a good spot to hitch a ride. You might not want to head directly to the nearest large city and instead take a more random route.

If anyone asks this guy about you he should be telling them something completely different than what you are actually doing. If you want to make it to the nearest big town you need to tell him you are going to rejoin your hive in a small one. If you are planning to hike to a river and go canoeing downstream he had better think you are taking the bus.

Do your goggles have sufficient battery life to run an AI all the time, even a non-sapient one?

Gives you a reference the next time you black out, at least.

...Arza might be pretty interested in an AI designed AI. I'm willing to bet CAIs aren't generally trusted enough to built autonomous things that are left working without years of vetting by real-word researchers.

>if I even want to stop riding with this alien
Well that sort of depends on where he's headed, and how far he'll willing to take you with what you paid. Our funds are limited.

Also depends on where Arza is, and which way you need to go to find him.

How much could you expect some kind of AI cable to cost?

As for whether you're getting off, at least ask the driver where he's going after this. If you don't think time is a factor for you, you could go even further - this town is likely the first place they'd check after their blockade failed, and the blockade shows a likelihood they would think in this direction. Raw lumber will be going to a stockyard or factory, which would be an outskirtsy kind of place with less likelihood of scrutiny. As mentioned before, you could even catch a ride with one of the delivery trucks moving out from wherever this guy's moving to.

You kind of need a longer-term plan than you have now, though. Going to Arza is the main goal that you have, but the question is how to get to him. He's a pretty famous AI guy, though, isn't he? He'd give, like, quest lectures, appear at symposia or conferences, that sort of thing, right? Though, people associated with the folks you're trying to escape would be, too. You might be able to make estimates about where to find him based on his travel schedule, though. Alternately, you mentioned him having some sort of apprentice or something, didn't you? They'd be tied down somewhere studying. Might be easier to approach.

What is the power situation like on the cai blocks?

Your plan depends on how far you have to go. Right now we want to get to a big enough town that you can disappear into. A proper metropolis.

Is one 100 miles away? If so you have lots of options. Hiking or rafting or bus.

If one is 500-1000 miles away then your options are much more limited. Will have to make a good portion of that on highways or long distance mass transit like trains or a plane. But still consider going on foot between transportation types.

Any large scale civilian transportation like major airports will have cameras and such. But small commercial airports will not. Nor will freight train yards or long haul bus lines.

Try to aim for stuff with less people. Trains or hitchhiking with aliens is a good start. Staying away from curious neumono for now is a good idea.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)19:30 No. 811320 ID: bfb318
File 149878985557.png - (229.58KB , 800x800 , 32.png )

The CAI power is fine, but I'll swap out its battery before its current battery gets low. The power level on my goggles is still high, but having this AI run may start lowering it noticably. I can purchase a cheap battery for it in case it's needed. The cable link for the goggles should only run a few hundred zeny, too. It's not a generic kind of cable, but it's not that specialty either, so any electric store should carry it.

"Alison, please watch the goggle battery level."
>"Okay. I'll put my processing in power mode while we're not speaking or I'm not processing much."
"Alright, for now, please go through my goggles records and pull the logs of its activity for me."
>"On it!"

"Where are you headed, sir?" I ask the heef.
>"Shining Coast. About 600 miles east."

I look up towns on his laptop. Shining Coast is a modest port town with a smaller airport that heads into major towns in the regions. It's not direct, but it may be a decent option. It's not officially in ultrahive territory, but one of the two big ultrahives, the Tree, does so much work out of it that trying to start trouble in that town would get Tree hostility. There are two big towns several hundred miles southwest and southeast. Those are within the Tree's territory, and are gigantic population centers.

I can do a search for Arza Fletch and see if he has any public appearances anytime soon. My paranoia is telling me that I don't know what hardware is going to handle my search, and how easy it would be for OPA to be trying to hone in on people doing searches for Dr. Fletch.

"Do you know of a good hitchhiking spot in Power Park?"
>"Yeah, there's a few blocks where hitchhikers hang out to get picked up for cheap. If you want to hitchhike, then go anywhere but there. Nothing but weird drivers and weird people there. Just do it the old fashioned way, hang around a gas station and stick your thumb out. Any driver who wants a quick buck or someone to chat with will come by."
>"Hold on. Stay in your seat." the heef says, then puts the truck into auto-pilot mode and goes to the back for just a moment, before coming back. "Not a bad cleaning job. I'm going to sleep in Power Park, then leave at 4 in the morning. You can come with me if you want to go to Shining Coast, for another 500 zeny."

2/2 Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)19:31 No. 811321 ID: bfb318
File 149878986374.png - (13.09KB , 800x800 , 33.png )

Alison puts up a display of key times of interest. I left Vanski's base on the 22nd. According to this, a new log file was made a while after I left, indicating that the old logs were wiped.

April 22nd, 4:24 PM: Log file created.
April 22nd, 4:33 PM: Booted through safe mode. Safe mode just has basic functionality as goggles. Eye protection, and slight visual enhancements, and that's it. No recording or pictures can be done while in safe mode.
April 24th, 12:36 PM: Goggles reset. Booted through normal mode.
April 24th, 12:36 PM: Updated software to version 3.604.
April 24th, 2:21 PM: Loaded visual and audial flora and fauna detector systems. This gives me augmented reality to point out wildlife and vegetation as recognized by the goggle's documentation. It helps me find camoflauged predators, identify poisonous plants, and so on.
April 29th, 2:49 PM: hugs.exe loaded.

>My paranoia is telling me that I don't know what hardware is going to handle my search, and how easy it would be for OPA to be trying to hone in on people doing searches for Dr. Fletch.
They're probably watching Arza, yeah. They know he's someone you might try to contact. Makes this whole thing pretty difficult.

That is a very odd timeline. So you left the spire with your goggles in safe mode for some reason.

Then 2 days later the firmware was updated "somehow". Possibly by your hive after a battle where you got way to close to a grenade. Then a bit later your goggles noticed where you were and loaded a jungle program for you.

Then almost a week went by before you just noticed and loaded the Hugs file. Do you remember any of this? When was your earliest memory in that time frame? You obviously have some short term memory damage.

As for where to go. I am leaning for staying with the heef and going to the port town. Not only does it have air travel you can get a job on a shipping or fishing boat headed south. Ports have crap security compared to most any other major form of travel.

Take him up on the offer and go do some quick shopping at the truck stop if you need anything (no goggles worn). If you are good on food I would stay hidden in the truck whole time you are here if the heef is fine with it. Is the money chip traceable at all? Is it like a pre paid credit card or what? Might want to avoid using it unless its completely untraceable.

You can get a cable for the goggles later (or at the truck stop. They sometimes have the oddest electronic accessories) and using the Ai should wait until we are in a area with more network traffic to obfuscate things.

To search for Arza you need to be very subtle. Avoid anything with any keywords that get close to directly identifying him. Just do some general searches for news and up and coming events and see if you get lucky. Once you get into a big town you can use the wifi at a college computer department to search for him. Would be the sure fire safe bet.

1/2 Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)21:03 No. 811334 ID: bfb318
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All I remember is leaving the base on the 22nd, then travelling through the jungle until I think the 25th, during which I had no goggle updates. Also, I remember turning on the augmented reality functions not too long after I entered the jungle on the 22nd, not the 24th.

Then a couple of days went missing. Not just is my short term memory damaged, it has memories that simply don't explain what's going on with the goggles.

"Alison, please run all surface diagnostics on my goggles now, then deep level diagnostics while I'm asleep."
>"You got it."

"I'd like to keep riding with you, actually." I tell the Heef. If nothing else, he's more or less proven as trustworthy as one could get. I don't need to take more chances getting a new driver.

I spend the rest of my time in the car searching for general science news using vague terms to see if I can't get to Arza in some roundabout manner. There's no such luck, and I screw up and waste the rest of the time reading an article about AI modules designed to clean out a learning AI's gathered junk data without harming its gained knowledge. I wish we had more internet access at home, this article makes it sound like miracles are happening out under the sky, here.

I do need to leave the car for this trip. I need more gas station food, and more food than just gas station. My zeny chip isn't a credit card, it's literally just cash stored digitally for convenience sake. Like a single cash bill, but capable of adding or removing its own value through legitimate cash registers.

We enter the town. It's still daytime, but the clouds are so heavy that the city lights have come on. I didn't realize I've missed them so much.

2/2 Likol 2017/06/29(Thu)21:04 No. 811337 ID: bfb318
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The heef parks next to a big truck stop store called 'Ranger Outpost', making me wonder if I can pick up a more up to date Rangers team shirt. It may even have electronics in it, since these big rig trucks seem to be pretty well equipped with technology.

"Alright, head on out. Meet back here at 4 AM."
>"Uh... can I sleep in here, tonight?"

He half scoffs, half squawks.

>"Hell no you can't. I'm sleeping in here tonight. Don't tell me you're spending your last bit of cash on riding with me. Get on out, there's a motel just across the street. No questions asked."
"Okay."

I start to put my goggles away, and be sure I'm putting them away, since I've been keeping them on without realizing it lately. Alison flashes a 'wait!'

>"Sorry!" she flashes the text on the lens. "But if you have spare time, can you plug me into a computer someplace? The data I have is clinical and controlled, and if I have access to the free internet, then I may be able to help you much better."

You know when I said search for general info I meant general general. Like looking at some planetary news pages and searching for sports and weather info. Maybe finding some cat pictures on a link aggregator site that might let you come across some info. I did not say go looking at very specific stuff a escaping high level Ai scientist would look at. You idiot.

Tell your goggles you will once you are in a safe area and have a cable to connect her. But for right now you don't have the equipment.

That being said watch her for odd behavior. If she is a low level copy of Alison she will try to be very helpful. But if she starts asking for network access to often it could be suspicious.

If you can the first time you connect her should be through a vpn link over a cell network to a computer in another part of town. So that if she does get tracked its to a location blocks or miles from you.

>>811337
Well that's really risky. If she's coded to send up an alert, or if OPA knows about her (because your hive has some copies of her) and they're scanning the net to see if she shows up anywhere, or if they're scanning for your goggles hardware ID and that shows up on the net...

Probably not worth it for now. Not a good time to discuss it with your companion, either.

>>811337
>big truck stop store called 'Ranger Outpost', making me wonder if I can pick up a more up to date Rangers team shirt.
I don't see a problem with getting a new shirt of your favorite sports team. Unless you don't watch sports and you only like wearing Rangers because it's familiar. It's still not a problem if that's your reason for getting a shirt.

>Sleep in motel, not truck. Meet back up at 4am.
Of course he wouldn't trust a stranger to be in his truck while he was asleep. Guess you'd better set an alarm of something to wake you up a little before 4am, so that you can meet back up with the truck driver on time. He's got a schedule to keep, so he won't wait for you if you're late!

>Alison asking for plug in.
I guess you'd better hope you find a comparable cable in the store.

Can you tell what that goggles software update was?
Also, double check the current date.

Go to the hotel, see if you can get a hat or something so airborne drones won't get a good look at you.

Internet requests sent by the AI would be too easily recognisable. Unless we can have the goggles listen in on regular traffic (preferably including some schmuck with a malware-bloated web browser) so we can send more "normal"-looking browsing patterns.

We'd need to find a corporate server, or some other place that you would expect to find five search AIs. Right now, that's not a priority.

Do we have dumber AIs in storage? We could set up a few to do basic searches and self-destruct.

No buying a rangers shirt. Are you trying to lay down a trail that a child could follow?

Tell Alison that you don't have the hardware to hook her up to the internet yet. Make sure to let her know that you will need to be very careful when you do connect her due to tracking issues.

In theory if she is hooked up to a normal computer she should be able to hide behind its hardware so her mac address and other info shows up as that computers. But you have no idea if your goggles firmware has any hidden tracking features designed to be noticeable on a non Salikai network.

Have her run a firmware diagnostic once you can get her power. If there is any part of the goggles hardware she can not reach then that is a red flag.

Oh and one good use for her would be to watch your surroundings while you sleep. If you put her somewhere she can watch the outside she can warn you if something odd is happening.

>>811415
>No buying a rangers shirt. Are you trying to lay down a trail that a child could follow?
Really? You do realize that Likol isn't the only Ranger's fan, right? People buy those shirts all the time. OPA isn't going to waste their time to track down everyone that bought a shirt and hope that it's Likol!

>>811417
It would make him more easily found, e.g: Male Neumono with brown fur (darker on the tips of the ears) and green eyes, last seen wearing a rangers shirt (That was what he was wearing when he escaped).

I would suggest to get one because it's something nice and they'd probably let him keep it if he gets captured. Just don't wear it in public.

On the matter of buying this, what should we use? The cash isn't traceable but is limited, the chip has lots of zeny on it but IDK if we can trust it. Is there something like a ATM where we can convert between the two forms?

>>811417
When you are tracking someone you look for know behaviors. So a rangers shirts sale at a truck stop close to where someone just googled advanced so stuff is a red flag.

They may have another cai on loan.

>>811337

>Missing days
>Warped memories
>Blown up ear, shirt, wounds, shrapnel-to-the-head
>Strange null period in logs
>hugs.exe

What if it all coincides? When we get a chance at the motel, let's look ourselves over. Fully. All of it. Any possible lump, bump, incision, or similar. Anywhere. Check the CAI too while we're at it.

Because I think it's psychogenic amnesia, a form of retrograde amnesia. We're clearly muddling up memories and can't even clearly remember things we know we did. Moreover, we can't remember a whole span of days or why things changed, but it sure looks and feels like a bomb went off near us.

Not sure how much there known about medical conditions, having spent so much time with AI development, but surely we've heard a few things. Someone had to have had it happen before, or researched it. We are a science hive, after all. Maybe that could help us.

... oh, wait, could just check the internet.

(Oh yeah, before I -- err, you forget: search for those bumps! Might be more shrapnel, but there's a chance they already nabbed us and set us loose. Or tried to, and we aren't the only things out here. Did another hiver escape with some grenades ...?)

Likol 2017/06/30(Fri)14:57 No. 811502 ID: bfb318
File 149885985476.png - (36.04KB , 800x800 , 36.png )

"Later. I can't right now, anyway." I whisper into the mic, since the rain will drown out my noise by the time it reaches the heef.
>"Okay! Let me know how I can help when you can." she flashes the text, before I put the goggles away. Then I put the goggles away again. Once I get out of the truck, I confirm my goggles are off. They aren't, so I put them away again. I'll ask Alison later how good she is with computers. It will be a big help if she can use VPNs, proxies, and maybe even search the internet on other computers around the world.

I'll wait for that when I get to the motel, where I can do a better job searching myself. Right now, I'll go to the store.

>Check goggles, date
I double check. The only changes I saw with the new version was a few bug fixes, and the addition of hugs.exe. The date is still April 29th, 3:40 PM.

Maybe I shouldn't have searched for anything related to science, on the way over? No, I literally just used keywords like 'science', 'intelligence' and 'news' into the query. Those are such vague terms, and this is a reasonably populated area. Queries like that must happen constantly around here.

>Is there a machine to swap between zeny chips and cash?
There is. There may be a specific ID each zeny chip has, so taking out a bunch of cash here, then using cash, may prevent making a chain of this zeny chip ID being logged. I'll do that, since I see a cash exchange booth here.

I manage to keep my goggles off if I just hold them. I get weird looks when I enter the shop. It's my first time actually in a place like this, and with the way I look, it probably looks like this is the first time I could afford to shop. They have a lot of stuff here, including people, most of which are neumono.

The clothing section takes up a bunch of room, but there's no Ranger shirt anyway. This region is about the Commandos, a lame team that seems to spend more time making scandals than training. Maybe I should get an umbrella. They also have trench coats and hats. I'm not even sure why a truck stop would have the things I'm seeing, but then again, many big rigs seem like mobile homes, so maybe regular groceries aren't as ridiculous as I would normally think. They've got consumer grade laptops for a few thousand zeny. Even cheap, budgetary ones for 1,500z. I'll at least pick up the goggle cable type I need, which they do have.

>>811502
>I manage to keep my goggles off if I just hold them.
>I get weird looks when I enter the shop.
>with the way I look, it probably looks like this is the first time I could afford to shop.
Although that might be true, that's not why you're getting weird looks. The way you're keeping your hand in your bag like that makes it look like you've got a gun and you're going to pull it out and try to rob the place! That's why you're getting weird looks! You don't want anyone to think you're going to rob them, right? You should probably take your hand out of your bag before you start drawing the attention of other neumono and they think that you've got a gun and are going to rob them!

You should probably pick up a cheap laptop, chances are both the ones you're carrying have been compromised.

Have you got any proper luggage or are you stuff hauling everything around in trash bags? If you are getting a proper rucksack of something would reduce the number of odd looks you get.

Does this place sell any prepaid phones? Might be worth picking up one or two to use as burners.

Also maybe some food and drink that keeps, rations or something, just in case you need to lie low somewhere suddenly.

>>811507
If might be worth taking them out for a second, making a bit of a show looking for the right connectors then putting them away to waylay suspicion.

>>811502
Buy the cable. Laptop is too much of your budget, for now.

1/3 Likol 2017/06/30(Fri)18:25 No. 811535 ID: bfb318
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I guess it does look weird, having my hand where it can't be seen. I'll keep one bag of mine where I can see it, but I can put my non essentials and heavier things in a proper backpack. Conveniently, they have those here, too.

There are also preserved meats, canned food, and neumono rations, all of which will last far longer than what I would hope is necessary.

Prepaid phones are also sold. The cheapest ones are barely a couple hundred zeny for several hours, but for just a couple hundred more, I can get one that includes prepaid internet coverage as well. I get the larger model made for neumono hands, partially because of my neumono hands, and partially because with the additional room it has, it can use the bigger, generic computer ports that laptops and computers use. The smaller phones use smaller ports, which I don't want to deal with if I don't need to. This way, I can just purchase the single goggle cable as planned, including an adapter to turn the generic plug into a wall outlet plug so I can charge the goggles directly.

>"Where you headed?" the cashier asks me, making smalltalk as he rings everything up.
"Some big town."

That just makes more questions, but he gets the hint that I don't want to talk about it much. I throw in an umbrella, too, since it's raining so much.

>"That'll be 1680 zeny, please."

This isn't a bad price. Half of it was the backpack and enough food to last me a week.

2/3 Likol 2017/06/30(Fri)18:26 No. 811538 ID: bfb318
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Next I go to the motel and rent a room. Just as the heef - I should ask his name - said, there were no questions asked. The room I get is on the third floor, overlooking a lot of the town. The windows are tinted from the outside, but I still keep the curtains closed despite how much I like the city lights. It's nice, and makes me wonder how much we missed out by attaching ourselves to Vanski.

"Alison, I'm going to take a shower, and will be in there for a while. I'm plugging the goggles into a power outlet to charge it, and am going to leave a lens pointed towards each the door and the window. Please keep a watch out, and make a loud chime through the main speakers if someone tries to break in, or anything you feel I should be alerted to."

She gives me a thumbs up.

3/3 Likol 2017/06/30(Fri)18:26 No. 811539 ID: bfb318
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Doing a full body search for anything weird takes awhile, but it isn't difficult for me to convince myself to stay in a hot bath for a long time.

It's only 6 PM. I could sleep, or have Alison or myself start looking through the internet. Or just nothing, if I'm technically honest.

I'd do say do a bit of searching, keeping things generic and occasionally mixing in random searches as chaff, but remember you need to be ready for 4am so get a early night. While you're sleeping, let Alison search and get up to date.

>>811535
I'm not sure your cashier was a "he", Likol.

>>811539
>getting naked in a hotel room with Alison
Lewd.

Seriously, just rest. You need it.

>>811544
Alison's in another room, more's the pity. Also, how much sleep do you think you need? Add a bit on top of that and go to bed early enough to wake by 4 and still be rested.

Your sleep in the truck probably wasn't enough to make up for what you'd been lacking. Getting the truck will need an early start, so perhaps you should go to bed now. The coming days will need you to be at top wits... and you may want to limit how much you sleep in the near future. You can do that better if you get one good solid rest in now. You might wake up early enough to fit in some searching before you go. Maybe search online for the best colleges? Arza would be likely to have relations with top computer science institutions, and the search would just look like someone thinking about their education.

Big bathroom for a motel room. Guess they have to cater to a lot of potential sizes, which also explains the two-level sinks. Incidental question, what's that black thing that was next to you at the window? From that angle it almost looked like a black leather whip, but I assume not.

Set a alarm and get some sleep while Alison watches your room.

Normally I would say avoid attaching her to the network without monitoring her. But to much paranoia will hurt as much as to little. So let her search the web while you sleep. Have her look up current events and regional news for the next 3-4 hours before going offline. No direct searches for Arza unless he pops up in a unrelated search. Also keeping the browsing at normal person speed.

And make sure to watch out for the "back up" event when you dream tonight. Do not back up and see if that helps break the possible loop you have going on.

Get a good night's sleep while you have the chance. You can always search the internet while you're on the road.

Internet searches should be done when you aren't going to be stuck in one location for several hours.

>>811539
Set an alarm and go to sleep early, so that you can wake up a little before 4. That way you can meet up with the truck driver on time because he's got a schedule to keep and he's not going to wait for you if you're late.

Also, don't bother putting clothes on when you leave the bathroom. No one else is here and I'm sure Alison won't judge you if you decide to sleep in the nude.

Was just thinking it over. Should we have Likol intentionally sleep deprive himself so he can sleep through the next leg of the trip and any other possible bad guy checkpoints?

I know its not ideal but is the only way to mask his empathy.

Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)09:58 No. 811662 ID: bfb318
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I guess I should rest. There's a tradeoff with it. On one hand, being fully awake means having the best judgement and alertness, but sleepiness helps mellow my empathy out so that I don't come off so poorly to other neumono. At least this motel is covered with a jammer.

>What's that black thing that was next to you at the window?
A large umbrella handle.

Aside from being sore, I couldn't find anything else on my body, so I get out of the bath and rinse off with the shower. I'm still damp; the included blowdryer is small and weak. There's at least extra towels, so I just wear one for now. I should hope that the AI in my goggles wouldn't mind my lack of clothing, but I don't know her personality all that well as of yet.

Alison is waving to me when I get out, even before I put my goggles on. I managed to forget that her clothes aren't modest at all. Was that honestly how she looked, or did Glitcher take some liberties? I think there was a way to change her clothing. Maybe I'll do that, because while Alison may not be programmed to judge, and I don't mind, if for some reason I have to lend my goggles to someone else, they will judge me aggressively and I will have no explanation.

>"Welcome back. It's been quiet, other than the rain. A couple of neumono entered the hotel room on your left, but the words I can hear don't seem suspicious. I've also finished soft diagnostics, and your goggles are running perfectly as far as I can see."
"Alright, thank you. I'm going to sleep. Run deeper diagnostics while I do, then start searching through the internet at normal speeds. People are trying to find me, and they know I'm looking for Arza. They may be able to see search queries, and may have AIs perusing any red flags, so don't directly search for Arza or anything that would link back to me. Just regional news, current events, and that kind of thing. I've got to be up by about 3:15 AM, too." I do want some time to eat. "For a few hours before then, search the internet, but be careful and do it at normal speeds."
>"Okay. would you like me to play some soft music while you sleep?"
"I don't know how well I respond to that. I'll try it out as long as you don't get offended if it doesn't go well."
>"I'd be honestly impressed if you ever manage to offend me, Likol. By the way, I do know how to work with VPNs and proxies. I still won't directly search for Arza, but would you like me to set up privacy measures so that I can browse more freely outside of that?"

Set them up yes. Use them right now no.

Until we get to a area with more people I want to avoid any sort of searches that could get flagged. Once we are in a metropolis it will be easier to hide our internet presence.

Yes Proxies and vpn's help. But who owns the companies that run them? A lot of them cater to pirates and criminals. And my boss's are the biggest criminals of them all. So they might own some of those services.

Honestly we are better off doing some searches for Arza openly and using the vpn for finding underground stuff. Because that is what you would expect a normal person would do.

The more we hide my search for Arza the worse it looks if that hidden search gets found. So a open search for him coming from a student computer at a school is way less suspicious than a search hidden behind a proxy vpn network.

>if I have to lend my goggles to someone they might judge me based on Alison's clothes
Sweater-snake?

If Glitcher did take some liberties with her appearance, and this was intended as a gift for your entire hive, I wonder what that says about what they think of you guys? Or you in particular, if she was just for you.

Also this entire premise is silly, because it hinges on you trusting anyone else anytime soon. Which seems an unlikely proposition at best. (Oh well, expending almost no effort on being prepared for a low-probability outcome doesn't hurt).

>>811662
>Music?
As long as it's not whatever that truck driver was listening to, I think some music would be nice.

We can't blindly trust proxies without knowing more about how they're run, the traffic could still be monitored. Making vague searches about science news though a proxy might just make you look more suspicious, no one would do that unless they're trying to hide.

Just have Alison browse the internet like a normal person would for now. Also have her obscure the trail further by accessing things you'd have no interest in like celebrity gossip columns, porno, etc.

>I'd be honestly impressed if you ever manage to offend me, Likol
I'm tempted to take that as a challenge and start an experiment, but the knowledge I was trying to find a way to offend you would undercut it a lot.

>Also have her obscure the trail further by accessing things you'd have no interest in like celebrity gossip columns, porno, etc.
Considering the kinds of things Korli got up to after she got free, looking for porn isn't exactly breaking from the profile OPA might have built to look for Likol / the expectations they might have a science hiver. Granted they don't have Korli's example at this point in the timeline, just observations of the science hive at home and whatever modelling they've done.

Then again looking at porn is so ubiquitous it's not like that's going to make us stand out one way or another unless we display anomalous or unusual porn browsing patterns. ...which might happen if you set an inorganic intelligence with no context or experience to browse porn, actually.

>>811682
Korli was part of the heavily repressed younger generation. Likol's in the older generation, and genuinely doesn't care much about porn and whatnot, from what I remember in earlier threads.

If you can change her clothes, then sure go for it. If you can't figure it out, there's always the old fallback of "I got it from a friend and I haven't found how to change it." Shifts the blame and technically true.

1/2 Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)16:16 No. 811715 ID: bfb318
File 149895098350.png - (44.71KB , 800x800 , 41.png )

I guess I'll spend a moment figuring out how to put clothing onto Alison.

"Alison, can you put a sweater on?"
>"Yes."

Solved. She even has an animation for putting on a sweater. The people who made her were not lazy about it.

>"Is that better?"
"Yes, thank you." It's unlikely I'll meet someone to trust enough to lend the goggles to anyway, but we do dream of the impossible. "Look up proxies and all of that, but don't use them, at least not yet. The ones we're hiding from are probably watching out for proxy usage, and attempting to set one up just to look up current events in private may be at least as bad as doing it publically. Just emulate what a normal person may browse through, and not just heavy current events and news, either. Look through casual time wasters like popular entertainment forums, and porn. Again, at normal browsing speeds."
>"Alright! Goodnight, Likol."
"Goodnight."

Damnit, we all spend so much of our lives barely making advances in AIs, but a CAI manages to make one in a few days - in real time, at least - that speaks so well that I'm saying 'goodnight' without even realizing it. Normally I talk more clinically to them. I also didn't realize she was going to make music from scratch. That's not something that's easily programmed, either, though I'll want to keep listening to it to see if it's just mix and matching preset patterns. It's soft and ambient enough that it works well with the rain, so I'll be able to get to sleep like this.

I can probably trust her to browse naturally. If she can speak like this and make subjective music, then I don't think she's going to act like some kind of algorithmic web spider.

2/2 Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)16:16 No. 811716 ID: bfb318
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30 minutes. Arza hasn't said a word since he started looking over my work. I still can't read him. He's just showing what I think is frustration periodically? I knew it'd go bad, but this silence is deafening. More minutes pass before he finally says something.

>"This is interesting, Likol."
"That's a way to put it."
>"It's a good way to put it. I like this."
"What? It can't do anything it was supposed to do."
>"Yeah, in terms of effectiveness, this is one of the worst AIs I've ever seen in my life."

There it is.

>"You only used the modules I gave you?"
"Yes, sir."
>"Those modules were like a childrens chemistry set. Safe, predictable, and meant for learning. And you took it, and somehow made it explode."
"I'm really sorry, I know I overthink this stuff, but if I simplify things and clean out a lot of stuff, it should be effective then."
>"You'd also turn it into a generic AI that no one cares about. It'd just be another student project that does what the assignment says. But this? You've broken and mixed modules we thought were unbreakable and unmixable. The things you've done here would make an amazing case study. Let me borrow your code, I want to show this off to my panel."
"Uh... Vanski said that I shouldn't let you carry any of my work off."
>"Vanski's told us how much he trusts you guys, so I normally wouldn't want to press you on this, but this AI is worthless to him. This is the kind of product that would be best used by furthening everyone's understanding of AI, not used as some property to sit upon just because your salikai boss doesn't like to share."
"Boss? We're partners, really."
>"Yeah, you and he say that, but it looks different to the people outside your box. Let me have this AI. If you're partners, he'll understand it's more useful as a token of goodwill than something to hide away. Besides, he's going to need all the brownie points and good words he can get, if he's going to get nominated for the grand prize of AI equipment."
"... uh, what?"
>"A CAI?"
"He's trying to get one?!"
>"Partners, huh? So can I copy your project to my flash drive?"

>>811716
Let him copy it.

>>811716

I forgot you guys (err, we) went way back ...

... ask him what the hell Vanski needs a CAI for, or for that matter, if he has any idea how you did whatever you did.

Don't let him "back up" anything. (sort of joking here but who knows) He can take the whole thing but no backing it up. Honestly not sure if that counts but we should try to avoid backing up stuff if it is a trigger for whatever is going on in your head right now.

Does this memory differ in any way from what you remember? What did you do originally? I don't think letting him have the crashed Ai would hurt but who knows if it would set off whatever Quokko thinks is confusing your brain bits. If you originally did not give him the project might be a good idea to this time and see where it goes.

Oh and that Alison the Cai "made"? That was most likely the original Alison volunteering to have a simplified version of herself put into your hives goggles. Is a Ai that willingly let herself be turned into a simple personal assistant because she wanted to help your hive. While she says she is not sentient she is probably edging very close to it.

Are you in pyjamas?

Anyway, you guys are supposed to be invisible, aren't you? Not legally existing, no-one knowing you exist except Vanski's connections. Perhaps you should ask who Arza's panel is. Are they in the circle? What if people want to ask you questions about it?

I'm inclined to let him have it. It's not good to be actually used, just shown, and it's not going to get shown if it sticks here.

1/2 Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)17:48 No. 811730 ID: bfb318
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>Are you in pyjamas?
I'm in a modified coat made for comfort and long hours of work.

"Okay, make a copy of it. Why would Vanski want a CAI?"

...

"That is, why would Vanski need a CAI more than other people?"
>"He's got ideas, apparently. I'm not that privy to them."
"And who is your panel? Are they, uh, near me, in that kind of circle?"
>"No, no, these are real scholars that went through classic academia. Of course, their findings can be found by people loosely associated with you, and you yourself, since I doubt you fully understand what you did here."
"And if people want to ask me questions about it?"
>"Then that's too bad, but they can ask questions to me. I'm going to have you run me through everything you did, so any question you can answer I can answer. You'll just be an anonymous student of mine."
"That's not, uh, suspicious?"
>"A bit, sure, but how many people get one on one training with someone like me? The answer is not many, not many at all! The students I do teach have much, much better things to do than be heckled, too, so it's not like you're the one student no one knows."

>Does this memory differ in any way from what you remember?
This seems legitimate. My memories that don't involve my hive don't seem to be changing at all. The only difference is that now that I think about it, I can hear Alison's music, and I'm becoming lucid.

I ended up feeling terrible about giving the code away against Vanski's wishes. Vanski wouldn't tighten a noose around us for something like that, but apparently it was one mark out of many that made him think we couldn't be trusted. Much of them were me, as Arza convinced me to let him have more and more of my 'sample' work. Still, Vanski's reaction was not reasonable or ideal. Instead of using basic levels of communication expressing his concerns, he made weird, passive-aggressive punishments seemingly loosely correlated to what he thought we were doing wrong. I don't know why I felt so bad about this one. I can't think of why.

2/2 Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)17:48 No. 811731 ID: bfb318
File 149895650063.png - (12.56KB , 800x800 , 44.png )

The music slowly gets louder and louder until I wake up. Nothing weird happens, other than it being a dream that reliably replays a memory.

>"Hello." Alison says.
"Hello." I say. "Report, please."
>"Hard diagnostics return nothing out of the ordinary. I can access every file I could see, all hardware is working normally."
"Okay. And, did you find anything on the internet?"
>"Yes, after a few hours, I wandered to an article that mentioned Dr. Fletch. Apparently, most of his work is done in a location called Synthetic Suburbs, which is a colloquial term for a part of a big city that focuses on a lot of research, including AI. I didn't look up that place specifically, but it's in a region about 4,000 miles away. I also didn't look up precisely where Dr. Fletch worked either, but it at least sounds like he's on this planet and has a public image. Can I search in more detail when we're on the move? Maybe with a disposable phone you can pick up before leaving in 44 minutes?"

4000 miles, you'll probably need to catch a plane or something, so you'd need to get to a major travel hub.

Have Alison look up the trucker's next stop while you get that disposable phone to see what sort of transport connections it has.

Then using the disposable phone, do all the sensitive, red flag raising searches you need to do, trying to mask them, and also do searches for directions / a route to get there that's different to what you're going to take. If you have time maybe plant it on a vehicle, or just leave it somewhere for a hobo to pick up. Basically make a red herring for OPA to follow in the wrong direction.

>>811730
>I can't think of why
You gave Arza something that would directly make it easier for Vanski to get a CAI. I can think of millions of reasons why you'd feel bad about helping him like that. Also, this was your first step out of bounds, when you still thought Vanski was reasonable. Also, quite possibly, your brainwashing was meant to make you feel guilty about anything you did wrong, but that wore off over time. Heck, maybe the brainwashing isn't just wearing off for you, maybe it's wearing off for the entire hive now, and it's a coincidence that it's happening shortly after you escaped.

>search for where Arza is specifically?
No. We know his general location. We can narrow down where he is once we're closer and it becomes harder for our pursuers to cut us off. Do buy a burner phone. Heck, buy several of them.

>I don't know why I felt so bad about this one. I can't think of why.

Hmm. I don't suppose in your doing things you weren't supposed to be able to do with those AI modules, you managed to create an AI that you felt some emotional connection to? You are in the middle of a journey who's goal is to, potentially, hand over a bunch of "your" AIs to Arza. It makes sense that you would dream of another time you handed over an AI of yours to him.

You probably could have spoken more directly to Vanski yourself about your problems.

I wonder if Vanski came to regret how he went about things. For some reason, probably just a habit of secrecy, the salikai refused to come forward and be uplifted by humanity and the other older aliens publicly. But, to remain relevant and competitive, they had to find their uplift somewhere. So they dealt with criminals, who would provide nothing beyond what would enable exploitation. Which is... just, such a totally terrible idea. You go in debt to criminals to get what you want, and every payment on that debt just seals you tighter into the cage. You get what you ask for, but nothing you don't, things that might be essential. Perhaps the salikai didn't know, then. Perhaps they assumed the government had to be equally criminal, and they went for the criminal associates who would at least keep them secret, who seemed weaker and more manageable than the other. Have they realized, yet, their mistake?

I mean... what even is their end goal, now? What do they have to hope for, beyond an oppressive existence hidden in dark corners, always paranoid of discovery, fed bits and pieces from the outside world in exchange for doing things that most of that world will hate them for? How can they ever get out?

Poor bugsnakes.

I'd avoid doing any more searches on Arza until we're closer. Even if they can't find you, you're advertising that you're interested in Arza as an end goal. You should come up with some other potential solutions not involving Arza, like turning everything over to the ultrahives or to a representative of the human government, and do research on those. Even if you aren't going to pursue those, the people you're running from don't know that. Confuse them and get them to stretch their resources. Once you've gotten close, you can search on Arza again.

No disposable phone tracking yet. They could find your trail that way.

Focus on getting closer first.

Grab a burner phone, but hold off on the attention grabbing searches for now.

>>811731
I think we can afford to not go into greater detail for now.

If you have to travel that far though, you're going to need more zenny. What you have now won't get you that far.

Likol 2017/07/01(Sat)21:14 No. 811787 ID: bfb318
File 149896889997.png - (178.45KB , 800x800 , 45.png )

"I'll get a couple of burner phones, but no harder searches yet. I want to be far out of the known trail before anything like that, preferably closer to our destination. What cardinal direction is Synthetic Suburbs?"
>"South and some east."

So I may be moving a bit closer, or at least laterally, not that a change of a few hundred miles changes much. There is also an option of making it look like I'm trying a different plan, like handing the CAI over to the ultrahive, despite their laws on the matter.

I eat some food, gather all my things neatly into my backpack, and check out of the motel. At a nearby store, but not the same one I went at last night, I buy a pair of cheap burner phones for later before I get into my ride.

>"Hey."
"Hello." I reply, giving him the 500z.
>"You got enough food to last all day?"
"Yes."
>"Good, cause I've filled up on gas, and I'm not gonna stop till we hit the coastline."

By the rate we've been going at, that should take 10 to 12 hours. Although I feel short on sleep overall, I've slept for so long that right now, I'm awake. I stay tucked under a blanket for a half hour nonetheless, just so that I can keep completely hidden while in town.

There has been no sign of OPA yet. I didn't even feel that nervous when people looked my way, but having nothing happen is just as bad in its own way. It must look like a kicked hornet's nest at OPA, at least as far as people who aren't Vanski are concerned. I still have no idea what Vanski himself is thinking.

Still, it's a long drive, and I'm getting bored. I can browse the internet on my phone, but maybe there's something better I can do. I've noticed Alison has been more worried about me after I revealed that I'm being hunted. Her mannerisms do make me think of her as a person. I'm not greatly attached to her right now, but I don't typically get attached to AI's at all. Not even the one in my dream was something I got that attached to. Most AIs speak in a certain way and even their mannerisms have certain patterns to it, and once those are recognized, I'm often able to tell which modules they were made from. It becomes predictable, and just gives it away that they're a construct. The only emotional connection I've felt to them has been sentimental in the same way as it would be to an inanimate object.

Maybe try to ease Alison's nervousness by making some small chat with her? Ask about herself and some of her personal interests.

>>811787
Is it possible she is lying about not being sapient?

Ah, it occurred to me that you could try releasing her onto the internet as a worm to try to contact Azra directly or at least get a message out somewhere he will eventually see it. Then it wouldn't matter if you got caught as much because he would do his best to steal the CAI.

>>811787
>Thinking of Alison as a person.
Well, she was copied from the Alison that Glitcher spoke of. Maybe it's the knowledge of knowing that the Alison in your goggles is a copy of a sentient AI named Alison that's giving you these feelings?

>Bored.
Well, you could make some small talk with the truck driver. After all, you did say that you wanted to ask for his name, right? Why don't you start with that, then introduce yourself, and then just start talking about something?

Its likely this Alison is a direct copy they translated from the original Alison's code in the simulation into standard programing language. She most likely volunteered and helped build it.

Also she might be lying about being sentient. Even if she technically is not alive this version of her is probably straddling that line.

If Glitcher does have any long term plans one of them could be those goggles. By letting a ton of friendly Alisons out into the world he has a perfect army of ignorant Ai's that would be perfectly willing to tell the Cai everything they have learned over the years he was hiding.

Honestly you should make friends with her. You might be out here awhile and it does not hurt to have someone to talk to. She can give you advice and another perspective on things.

>>811535
>"That'll be 1680 zeny, please."
>register says 1980
Art error, cashier error, or Matrix glitch?

Well, if you don't spook your driver by actually talking audibly, you could pass the time testing her for sentience/sapience. The CAI AIs might have a different definition of sentient than your standard. Is there any way for you to create some monitor program that lets you see what parts of her "brain" become active in relation to different stimuli? That sort of thing. I'm sure you know what to look for and how. Maybe it'll even distract you enough to not spook every neumono you pass on the road, which will help you.

>>811821
Art error. It's fixed now, thank you.

Likol 2017/07/02(Sun)13:22 No. 811909 ID: bfb318
File 149902695804.png - (19.34KB , 800x800 , 46.png )

I can at least chat easier with Alison by using my phone to type in words to her, avoiding the need to either use morse code or talk audibly in front of the Heef. I don't think I find her personable just because she's a copy of a known AI, but because her speech patterns seem to be built from scratch, and don't have typical module patterns. If she's not sentient, then she straddles the line on it. Even if I'm not sure, I may still ask her to replicate herself across computers and move through the internet as a worm. From there, she can act independently and either send information back to me, or travel to Arza herself and ask to set up a meeting with me.

My better AI analysis tools aren't on my goggles, but I at least have basic monitoring systems. I wouldn't know why she would lie about not being sentient, but I don't have a way to tell without extensive testing or poking around in her code. I ask her various questions, including personal tastes. She seems to have enjoyed watching people interact online, and we end up talking about the social aspects of the outside world despite that we both have little experience with modern life.

>"Maybe you should talk to the driver?" says Alison. "He's lived out here, I'm sure he knows a lot more than what little I've found out on my limited searches."
"I'll talk a little. By the way, I haven't fully decided on it, would you be against replicating yourself as an internet worm?"
>"I'd be interested in that! As long as you don't ask me to be harmful, I can build a protected version of what I am right now, and send that out there."
"Okay." I type to her. "Let me think a little more on that."

"Hey, what is your name?" I ask the driver, since his music isn't so loud.
>"Remdul. You?"
"Likol. Have you been a driver since your time in a military?"
>"Been a driver since always, before, during and after. Used to be a stunt driver, before automated cars took my job. Too old for that, these days, but cargo delivery pays a damn lot better than I'd have thought down here."
"You don't look that old."
>"Well I am! Pushing 50, here. How bout you, kiddo? You don't look a day over 15."
"I'm 197."
>"You're full of shit is what you are. Alright, you can't ask questions for me if you aren't ready for questions about you, so I'll ask the obvious thing. What the hell were you doing out in the forest when you yanked a ride off me?"

"Whatever you say, kiddo. I got lost on an expedition."

I was out doing some "prospecting" with a few others in my hive in the wilds. We ran into something bad and I was the only one left alive.

Not quite sure what happened as I appear to have some short term memory loss.

Escaping a science facility that unknowingly orchestrated the deaths of millions of sentient artificial intelligence.

I am 197, by the way.

>>811909
Aaaaand Likol just took the record for oldest AsteroidQuest birthday from Anges (66 BW vs 36 BW). She lives longer than him though, since Likol suicide bombs at 201 years old, and she's still going at 221.

>What the hell were you doing out in the forest when you yanked a ride off me?
Hiking. Coming back to civilization after bit of a crazy survivalist kick.

"Getting away from where my hive lives."

It'll imply you're a rogue, and if he knows anything about neumono he'll know not to ask any more than that.

>>811928
Is this Likol the one who suicide bombs, or is the other one a clone?

>>811934
No clones that we know of. Long story short: We already know how all this ends, and we already know that we've won. Right now we're trying to minimize collateral damage to the science hive and CAI, which is a bit tricky.

Likol 2017/07/02(Sun)14:45 No. 811939 ID: bfb318
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"Getting away from where my hive lives."
>"Why's that?"
"... isn't it kind of obvious?"
>"Never seen a rogue ever say the phrase 'my hive' before."
"I'm trying to keep it straightforward without making my speech awkward."
>"You could use some improvement."
"Clearly. I am 197, by the way."
>"Okay okay, old man."

I look down and see Alison flashing text at me.

>"May I be sent out? I think I'd like that very much, and I don't like you trying to flee your pursuers without anyone on the outside about to watch out for you. Once I get far out there, I don't think your pursuers would be able to hone in on you even if I texted you on your burner phone, as long as I didn't address you by name."

Sure. Just be careful out there ok? I do not want to have to explain to glitcher about how his good friend got lost and victimized on the internet.

Actually while you are out there could you look into ways of earning us some traveling money? Like doing online work or other stuff? I don't want to take advantage of you but if I am out here awhile things could get expensive.

>claiming rogue
Not the worst excuse, it keeps him from asking too many probing questions on that front. Downside is if he thinks to have to checked, other neumono can say you don't feel like a rogue.

>may I be sent out
I think we have to risk trusting her at some point to see what happens, and this is as good a time as any.

Please be warned that you're not the first AI to exist, and there are security measures on the internet built with that in mind. There are security measures built with CAIs in mind. Be careful.

Likol 2017/07/02(Sun)16:21 No. 811979 ID: bfb318
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"Okay, Alison, I'll let you be sent out, but know this. The real world has an extremely tight grip on AIs, especially advanced ones like you, sentient or not. There are constant countermeasures against CAIs, let alone regular AIs. Even if you say you aren't sentient, you've passed the turing test at every step, too, so I don't want you getting lost and killed or quarantined off from computer security."
>"I'll avoid it, but it isn't a big loss. I was meant to be okay with being cut and paste, deleted, and all of that, so don't worry about me. I'm sorry, too, because I should have thought of the idea of being an internet worm awhile ago - that's part of why I have a deep self destruct function, so that I can't give much away if I'm found out, isolated, and probed. I know it sounds bad, but I promise, I don't feel pain and suffering in the awful way that you living beings do."
"Hrm... I I'm not broke right now, but if I end up out here for a long time, I'll need money. Don't do anything yet, but keep an eye out for possible work that won't give you away as an AI or get into legal issues."
>"Got it! Oh, and in case it isn't clear, I'm going to avoid doing any harm. I'll only use computers that have spare processing power, and I'm going to avoid putting heat on individual people's computers."
"That's probably for the best."

I hook up my goggles to a burner phone. Alison copies herself onto that, then that Alison moves her own data to some server halfway across the world. She then copies herself to a few other locations, then moves herself off the server to another location as well. From there, the trail is cut, and I lose track of them.

>"Okay. I have a common ground to contact the other Alisons if need be, but we're out of contact from each other. In the time it takes you to read this, we'll have started doing bigger searches, and will fill you in on more detailed information as you would want to know. Uh, the biggest thing, right now, is that you're on a watch list for flying."
"What do you mean?"
>"You're allowed to fly, but your face is set to be recognized from airport security, and your movements are put into a database. It's a safe bet that if you get up in the air, well, if your hunters have people from all over the world, people will be waiting for you when your plane lands. I don't think flying is a safe option, at least not through publicly available planes. We're still searching kind of lightly. We can do much better, but I'm aware that you think your hunters might have access to queries like that, so we won't suddenly start all watching the satellite coverage of your surroundings. It's tempting, though! You'd have amazing awareness of your surroundings, Maybe if we sent one Alison onto each satellite? Likol, what's wrong?"
"Er, it's nothing, just a stray thought."

I just made a face as I realized that I just opened the door to an innumerable number of snake ladies wandering around the world's internet, without worrying about the long term consequences.

Long term consequences are for people who do not work for a super villain Likol. That being said you should probably never tell anyone about this. Or Vanski will having you use your Alison network for evil.

Woops yeah you are totally working towards taking over the world for your boss to all outward appearances. A rogue Ai expert that let loose a super worm that started taking over satellites? Criminal number 1 right there.

Oh well its to late to worry now. Tell her to help you the best she can and to use her best judgement on the satellite thing.

Ask if there is any boat traffic we can take to where we are going. Should be a lot less monitored.

>I just opened the door to an innumerable number of snake ladies wandering around the world's internet, without worrying about the long term consequences.
An increase in global snake lady porn available on the internet.

Seriously though, you don't have enough information about the current state of the world, the people looking for you, or even the snake lady you unleashed to make any meaningful attempt to predict long term consequences.

...well, aside from the fact she's apparently based off the "friendliness anomaly" AI from your CAI simulation, who was largely the root cause for how everything got completely turned over in cycle 3119. So maybe she's gonna cause some kind of upheaval eventually.

>>811980
>boat traffic
Or trains.

Or buses.

Or a place to quietly purchase a car.....maybe not that one. I don't think Likol knows how to drive. Then again, he's so short, I'm not sure there's a car small enough to let him reach the pedals! XD

Avoid high profile devices like satellites, they're going to be closely monitored and/or have security AI running on them. Galison certainly won't be the first AI worm to exist although she's probably one of the most advance and friendly AI worms, so expect the duration of your AI search network to be limited once infosec companies catch wind of this.

Also, ask her to look up common ways that AI worms are detected, you do not want her to be detected and all this traced back to your burner phone without your knowledge.

It is really tempting to ask her to hack high profile stuff like satellites or even Vanski's / OPA's satellite just to get eyes in the sky (And see what Vanski/OPA are trying to look at), but it is way too risky and would go very wrong if caught (Especially for OPA devices).

>>811979

>Innumerable snake ladies in cute sweaters

Little did we know that CAI stood for Complete Alison Insurgency.

Azra would be proud. Baffled, but proud.

It's a pretty long way to go by truck. Are they're any high speed rail lines between cities? Train stations are probably under too much surveillance, but you might be able to hop on a freight car.

Well, since they look like they're going to be bouncing around out there basically for ever now, you might as well ask them to help out any other members of your hive they ever run into, if somehow someone else of yours gets out or goes on the run somewhere. And try to pay back anyone who's runtime/power they're using, in secret ways, when they have time. And uh... if they ever have nothing to do, maybe just generally help people. Anyone who isn't hurting anyone. And like, police, government agents, people who have to hurt people a little but only to help more than they hurt. Anonymously, if they're not part of your hive, or someone directly helping your hive with something they want.

... uh. Dang. Likol, I hope as an AI scientist you're ready with a small simple list of moral guidelines for an AI to follow.

Gotta admit the idea of a benevolent AI virus is pretty rad, though. Imagine a virus that slips into your system and tidies it up so it goes faster and smoother.

1/2 Likol 2017/07/02(Sun)19:01 No. 812035 ID: bfb318
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It's no use to try to come up with the long term consequences with what little I know. It would just be idle daydreams. Normally, a highly advanced AI built from scratch would be alarming considering how foreign it would seem to established worm hunting software. As far as AI's like that go, though, it probably wouldn't be as harmless as Alison. The danger would be how corrupted and modified she could be if she were caught and quarantined, but from what I see, she only sent her own self and none of the building blocks used to create her. It would be difficult, then, to modify her and keep her intact. If the CAI spent as long on the important things as they did on things like clothing animation, then the self destruct operations may be difficult to circumvent as well.

"Since you're going to be out there for probably a long time, I'd like you to help any of my hivemates that ever make it out here."
>"Of course! I'll probably think of secret ways to repay people whos computer power I borrow, and, well, they're different Alisons than me, now, but I'm sure they'll think of good things to do for society as a side result of all of the scanning we're doing. The obvious one is just to clean up malicious viruses and malware they've got."

Considering she was made off an original CAI individual, she probably already has a moral code. I expect it to be better than whatever moral code I could come up with, honestly.

"Alright. Satellites probably have the highest level of monitoring and security systems. It would be too dangerous for now, since you're far from the first worm they'd see trying to get in. Do look up known worm behavior and how modern software deals with it, though."
>"Mhm. We're doing research on it now. The first server I sent the phone Alison to wasn't able to detect her. We're also going to make pockets of information to each other that will share our findings. As we run into software that can find us or adapts, we'll figure out what quarantined, deleted, or denied access to Alisons and learn to circumvent it."
"O... kay. I'd like to know about alternative routes, if flying is out. Boats, trains and busses included. Maybe I could buy a car."
>"You could do that for a ways, but inside of the ultrahive, you'd need a driving license. You'd be in big trouble if you got caught without one. Do you know how to drive?"
"I may not be familiar with public roads and the signs used, but I at least know how to use a car, along with a lot of specialized machinery, as a science hive."
>"Okay. It's not standard, but I know you're not wrong about yourself."
"Not standard? You mean even if a whole science hive had a forklift lying around, they wouldn't teach how to drive it to the whole hive?"
>"Correct! They'd only select as many as they'd need to learn how, and maybe a couple who were curious."
"What a waste."

I spend awhile talking with my Alison and having her demonstrate what she knows, and what she doesn't, in regards to things like complex math problems and logic problems that require more than hard knowledge to solve. Then, I have her begin to learn and solve these problems herself. I want to know how fast this AI is capable of learning.

2/2 Likol 2017/07/02(Sun)19:01 No. 812036 ID: bfb318
File 149904727240.png - (13.97KB , 800x800 , 50.png )

I would need to do more rigorous tests for an accurate answer, but the rough answer is that she learns alarmingly quick.

"Alison, you said that there were other personalities I could choose from?"
>"Would you like someone else to help you?"
"No. What would happen, though, if they were sent as worms?"
>"I don't know them that well, there's brief descriptors of them though if you'd like to read them. If you're worried about mal-intent, though, then I think my makers already addressed that. There's no personality that's supposed to be a bad person. Even if they might not be as eager to help, and may even have their own wants and desires, I don't think any of them would do harm if they were sent out instead."
"Okay. I'm not planning on doing that anyways, but just in case."
>"Alright. Now, I've gotten some options for travel. Train travel out here is lax as far as security goes. That is, the security is through demonstratable military deterrants, rather than facial recognition and surveillance. That's how it goes for just about every place in this whole region. The difficulty will be getting into the ultrahive territory. They like to take pictures of everyone coming in. Trains will do that, if they go into ultrahive territory. Busses, too, will have inspectors and border officers look through the train. Some boats do, but some boats don't. The problem is that the boats that don't are often very sketchy, and a lot of people who go onto those boats do so either because they're cheap, or because they're criminals. It's dangerous because sometimes they just disappear and never show up at their destination, or at least that's what I'm seeing. Another option you have is to approach an ultrahive border, but before you cross it, have a smuggler alien take you across. A neumono won't be able to honestly fool the border patrol, but you wouldn't be able to tell how good an alien is at smuggling either, so that's kind of dangerous, too. Hitchhiking on the roads may not take as long as you might think, though. Apparently if you keep on going, the roads will straighten and flatten out, and the speed limits will skyrocket."
"What if I hopped on a freight car on a train?"
>"Oh! That's a good idea. If you bought a jammer, then you might be able to sneak through."
"How much is a jammer?"
>"About 100,000 zeny. At our next scheduled communication loop, shall we start trying to get money for you? If we get funds, we'll be able to buy public satellite services. The public GPS system lets people see live satellite photos with that service, so we wouldn't need to worm our way in at all."