video & voice; Story-time for All

[abracafcku]

[The video opens on a bare wall and to the sound of very, very corny fanfare. Then Taako's voice cuts in with the sound of applause.]

Yes, yes, welcome one and all to the greatest day of your lives. Today we have a real treat for you folks, so pull up a chair, take a load off and enjoy this banned text we've managed to procure.

[He clears his throat and a puppet appears on the screen - a non-descript looking human priest wearing dark robes and a blue sash around his neck. The voices that read the following lines are similar, but not the same and anyone who knows both Lup and Taako can probably tell it's the twins taking turns to read the passages. People who don't, however, might have a hard time telling them apart.]

"I used to have a lady love,
she journeyed through the sea,"

[A new puppet appears - a beautiful female mermaid with hair that falls just past her breasts. She slides up from the bottom of the screen and the priest turns to her, fawning all over her.]

"Her fins were as the mourning dove,
a mated pair were we.
Our bodies tangled, hand in glove,
a queen and devotee,"

[As the poem progresses, the priest does some...very not PG-13 things to the mermaid puppet. Eventually, the mermaid pushes the priest away, looking tired.]

"But she was called to rise above,
our bond not meant to be."

[Here the mermaid "puppet" flips a double middle finger at the priest and backflips into the sea, leaving him drenched in water.]

"Though I endure, bereft, belove,
I have her guarantee,
I'll be the one she's thinking of,
a little dove told me."

[The priest pines and waits by the water, pantomiming the lament of a forlorn lover as a bird lands next to him, rolling its eyes. The puppet show ends with a curtain drawing across the screen and then the video shuts off. Taako's voice cuts back in once the video is gone.]

Yeah, so the people here? Raunchy as hell. I love it. But then some people were, y'know, boring and said things like--

[Lup's voice takes over smoothly like they're still the same person talking.]

"If any other colonies can hear this message, please respond. This is Havenwell. We're still alive. The city is safe. We will come get you, no matter how far you are. This is not an automated message. Please respond." That there's a radio transmission from "Colony #56'07'4TM", which, obviously, is home sweet home. Not the most interesting, but I won't deny that the archive visits have been… informative.

Anyone else get something fun?

[OOC: It's a joint post! Replies here can be from Taako, Lup, or both of them. If you have a preference, just let us know in the title of your comment or it'll be a roulette of which twin you'll get.

Feel free to use this post to stir up discussion amongst yourselves regarding the lore contributions!]

Comments

video/audio

[twistedempathy]

[Have some delighted clapping at the little puppet show. How cool is that, seriously?]

What a passionate performance! Mine's not nearly as interesting as either of those. It sounds like it might just be someone making a real bad life decision gunking up their inner workings.

[The video cuts off temporarily, as Will changes windows to pull up the passage he'd saved for later.]

I can't make out the name, but I think it's some scientist's personal notes? Log 285, regarding experiment 73.....

[Will clears his throat, now clearly reading aloud.]

"We really don't need food, right? Rawna, preserve me. This is going to fry my internal processors. I wish people would stop complaining about it. We don't need to eat!"

[necromanswers]

Gods, I feel that. Not being able to eat suuuuuucks, especially when you love food.

[Enough years as a lich has made that an all too familiar pain in the ass.]

[abracafcku]

Thank you, thank you. Not everyone can get a gem as beautiful as mine, but what can you do?

But now at least we know when the whole system broke down. Without food, how do they expect to maintain their humanity? Or robotmanity? Robanity? Fuck. Whatever they called it.

video;;

[postocular]

I mean, I guess it depends how you read it? But then again, maybe they were into fish.

[necromanswers]

Maybe! We're not here to kinkshame.

[Well, only a little bit. There's something stomach-churning about the skin slime.]

Video - bring me either or both idefc champs

[unsunderworld]

[The man who appears on the video is laying out across a couch, doing a job of looking both bored and unimpressed with the 'performance.']

There are children about. Have some manners.

[A sigh, and then there's a subtle shift in his voice that makes it clear when he's quoting the passage versus providing his own commentary, though it's not immediately apparent how. It's almost the reverse of the twins and their hard-to-tell-apart voices.]

When bold and brave - the name or title here is mangled beyond readability, I'm afraid - ruled the skies, wily and cunning - equally illegible - slithered in the dirt, afraid of rearing His head lest it be rent from His body. But He knew that Time was patient and just as cunning as He, so He made a pact and He waited. Millennia passed and a millennia more, and still bold, brave - still illegible, possibly the same as the first - scanned the skies, keeping watch over Aellyn. His Time would come soon though because He could feel it stirring in the air, in the water, in the very hearts of the creatures that plod the ground above Him. Soon the Rending would come and then He would take His rightful place.

Now, I wouldn't want to bias anyone's impressions, but it sounds rather different from the gods we've been told of thus far, no?

u got it

[necromanswers]

That's kinda condescending, though. Kids know more than you think.

[Not that ignorance has ever really stopped the pair from saying whatever they want around children, anyway. Better they learn about the facts of life sooner than never!]

Not surprised that there'd be more gods - or at least that there were. I've been more boggled by the fact that so many places only have a handful of 'em. The pantheon back home's got what, hundreds?

[abracafcku]

Who said I gave a shit about what the kids listen to? If they're scandalized by a little show of biology, they must be losing their fuckin' minds at being kidnapped to an alien world.

video;

[shroudedsecrets]

If nothing else, it says much for the... variety of these archives.

[But she'll give them both... a brief, slow parental clap... for the organizational effort. Even if she wasn't too comfortable with sharing much over these, given the amount of paranoia they'd had in the Fleet, it wasn't as if they weren't very well invited into the archives to begin with.]

My passage -- or log, rather, seems rather succinct in comparison. I do not think it is particularly "fun", however. The name is gone, there are no dates, but perhaps that does not matter. The experiment number, that's interesting. "Number 920194", though whether it's only this person's work or referring to a collective ...

[Honerva get to the point- which she does, reading the record in... well, a much more flat tone to get the point across as to what they were dealing with.]

"Log 83. Without a method of reproducing our original cells, I fear this whole venture is simply impossible. We cannot create life out of nothing. We saw how well that went last time."

[necromanswers]

I agree, that one's incredibly un-fun.

[Booo, lame. But very fitting for Honerva- all science-y and nerdy.]

So they tried to clone their old selves before we all got dragged in here?

[abracafcku]

[He snorts in amusement.]

Heheh, you got such a nerdy one.

video; follow your twinsie dreams

[pinkmin]

[Here was one of those aforementioned children, squinting slightly at the screen. There were a lot of bad influences happening right here, but she was more compelled by

!!INFORMATION!!]

I found a diary, from when people were changing to robots. It doesn't seem like everyone was completely on board with the idea. They were the last one in their neighborhood to not go through the process and were worried about the changes it could have on their person.

[abracafcku]

Oh my gods, do you always whisper? Holy shit, speak up.

[necromanswers]

It's weird how none of the present-day bots really talks about this, right? They seem chill about it now, but like- did everybody eventually agree to it, or were some folks dragged in kicking and screaming?

Kinda morbid, but with us being dragged here against our will, it's worth a thought.

Private to Lup; Sorry Taako he hasn't realized there's two of you yet

[flawed_immortality]

I would hardly call the information I have found... fun.

In all honesty, your Grace, I am even more concerned now of our hosts intentions than ever before.

what a precious muffin

[necromanswers]

You can't just say something like that and then not tell me. Out with it!

text

[astralera]

I was able to decipher one of the transcripts of radio transmission from other city-states. It was as follows:


Transmission Received
Date: ACN7199
Origin Point: Colony #90'13'7KV


This morning dew reminds me
Of the night when we first met
When still our hands could touch each other
And breath was in our breast.
Now how I miss those aches and pains
That once I did protest
When your gentle hand laid upon mine
And brought me comfort and sweet rest.
Through many years we toiled
Under sensation lost, bereft
Still always we were happy
Without the looming fear of death.
Each day we greeted fondly
Each night we called our best
Until this morning when I found
Your soul had gone and left.
Now hear my final plea, oh Gods
Though little you may care
Please, Rawna, take it away from me
This empty hollow, I can't bear.
~In Memory of [NAME REDACTED]

text

[abracafcku]

Man, these guys reeeeeeally love their poetry, huh?

[And it looks like their 'eternal' bodies weren't so eternal after all.]

video

[yaoyoroshka]

W-was that... part really necessary to enact?

[You know which part! :T Anyhow, she wills away the obvious embarrassment on her face with some dignified coughing as she checks a small notebook where she's transferred her blurb.]

I'm afraid the information I've gotten doesn't lend itself much to one's entertainment.

[And here she reads:]

"Does anyone have any more Sildar ores? We're running low here and it's getting kind of desperate. We have Nicean ore to trade."

If anything else, I suppose it's a testament that this world—planet, whatever it may be—is in good terms with others enough for trading to take place.

voice

[abracafcku]

The part where she flipped him off? Most. Definitely.

[He knows exactly what part she means, but he's going to be difficult.]

But uh, that's pretty interesting. I thought they said this was the last settlement alive. Any idea on when this little tidbit came from?

[Video]

[original_is_best]

[You'd best believe Verstael has taken notes of everything he can get his hands on. But, he's willing to share, too.]

I'm beginning to believe we may not even be on a planet. I scoured for hours through texts but many were too battered to decipher. However, I did find something. A diary, written by what sounded to be a farmer. It did not have an exact date. It did, however, note that it was either "pre" or "post" an event called "The Change".

I presume we can guess what "The Change" is referring to, but it could also be something we do not know of as of yet.

The entry read: "The scientists say that once our impact on the environment is lessened that the soil will bounce back and things'll grow better. Not that we'll have any reason to grow things anymore, really. No one'll be eating anymore. Guess we could do contests, grow 'em just to keep something to do. Feels like the city folk aren't really thinking about what it'll do to us out here in the satellite communities, but what're you gonna do, right? It's always been that way."

If this is a diary of one who lived in this area, we may very well be aboard a 'satellite community', whatever the precise definition of that would be.

[necromanswers]

There's a theory I haven't heard before. You think it might mean a literal satellite?

[If she hadn't spent almost a year traveling through modern space she might not even know what the hell that word means, but thankfully that's a non-issue now.]

video

[begguiling]

[He starts out by applauding the puppet show:]

Bravo~! Talk about having time on your hands. But don't we all? And here I thought there was no such thing as a good love story!

[He still thinks that, but that's not what's important here. He's got his own tablet in his hands with his transcription of the text he worked out on it, and waves that before turning it back to his own face to read it aloud:]

"Papa says he's going to be different, after tomorrow. Like Auntie. He said, 'hug me so hard it hurts!' I tried, but he laughed instead. I think he's happy, but everybody's acting weird. Mama isn't gonna do it, she said she has to wait until after . . . "

This is probably a name, but not one I can read. Aaaanyway,

"She has to wait until after someone is bigger, and we'll do it when we're grown up, too.

I don't know if I like it yet, but when I turn into a robot I want laser hands."

Me too! This is what I'd call a good everyman type of protagonist.

video

[abracafcku]

[Taako takes a bow since this is Magolor and he knows both of them.]

Trying to bone down on a god is a time honored tradition, my guy. Love is eternal! And weird, in some cases.

[But that one...huh. That's some info right there.]

But yours? That explains why we don't see a whole lot of robo-kids running around. I wonder if they got their laser hands.

Text;

[hedgehogsdilemma]

[Think of the children, cry other offworlders! And, lo, here is one of those very children. You can't see it, but Shinji's giving this display some rather. judgmental looks. It'll probably be for the best if he just dumps his information without making any kind of commentary, because sharing information is great! But he also has nothing particularly kind to say about the performance. Sorry, twins, your hard work goes unappreciated here.]

Scouting Transcription #9A3201; Agent #1HQ6NWI Interview
Running protection on trade route between home base and Colony #09'07'1UB and spotted new flora growth in Sector 7. Flora is brown stemmed, ruddy broad leaves with yellow spots and large fuschia flowers with blue pistils and yellow tendrils. Surprisingly beautiful, but do not suggest approach or documentation. Agent #2HQ7BYR got close in an attempt to take a sample and upon contact, went completely inactive. Attempts were made to remove Agent #2HQ7BYR from the plant's immediate vicinity, but the tendrils wrapped around his body and began to burn through his chassis. Agent #8HQ7IAG was also lost in the recovery effort. It just...It tore right through them. It burned straight thro-- [...] Sector 7 is overrun and it is my suggestion that we cordone it off and reroute to avoid.

<Interviewer's Note> Agent #1HQ6NWI is now on administrative leave pending psychiatric evaluation.

[necromanswers]

[There's just no account for taste...]

woof, that's a grim one

the perils of exploration!

[this_loser]

Aww! You got a fun one. All I got was something about eating and taste buds.

[It read like one of Verstael's logs in the production facility, too. So weird. He taps up what he found.]

Log of [NAME REDACTED] RE: Experiment 73
Log #94

Without taste buds, this seems like a lost cause. And honestly, do we even need to eat or is it just to keep up the appearance of normalcy? Is it simply a programmed instinct that remains within our souls despite no longer having a physical requirement? More study is required. However, I believe I am very close to breaking the code necessary to give us the ability to "taste" in a fashion. I will keep you updated.

[necromanswers]

Hey, every little bit helps! Though with that one, maybe less than others. I'd guess that has something to do with the VR machines?

[Not a great stretch by any means, considering that was how the robots had introduced it as a concept.]

video

[sweetlies]

[Can you imagine how red his face is?

No?

Well good, no one has to. He has his communicator set to video and his face is crimson.]

That's positively vulgar!

[To his victorian sensibilities.]

[necromanswers]

[Have a wild, unhelpful giggle in response. That's precisely the kind of reaction they were looking for, thanks!]

text>video

[betheirwayfinder]

Log of [NAME REDACTED] RE: Experiment 1 Aftermath
Log #600321
We were wrong.

Oh Gods, forgive us. We were wrong. But we can fix this. I can- We can fix this. We just need to reverse the process. It can't be that hard, right? We could create metal bodies, so flesh should be simple. We just need to find some original genetic material. There still must be some in the archives somewhere.

[She sends the text first and then activates a video.]

I... think all the, uh, 'fun' ones ran out.

[necromanswers]

...Well, uh. They can't all be zingers.

[Bit of a sobering message, that one.]

Wonder how long it took for buyer's remorse to sink in. Like, the world didn't go all to hell overnight.