audio } un: panoptes

[sisterswitch]

[hey look, it’s jack. on a video feed, which is pretty unusual, come to think of it? she’s set up at a table in the kitchen, frowning in concentration as she gathers her thoughts.]

Where I’m from, people like to say that the definition of insanity is doing something over and over and expecting a different result. I will be pretty mad if it turns out I’m insane for doing this again, because last time I made this offer, I sorta got my head ripped off. Not literally, although I’m sure some of those jackasses would’ve done it literally, if they’d been able to find me. Too bad Jane’s not here anymore, she could tell you all about it.

[and jack rolls her eyes, because yes, she’s still holding a little bit of a grudge about all of that. the expression is short-lived, however - she shakes it off and continues:]

Anyway, remember that weird stalkergram video we saw the other day? That wasn’t some performance art piece. I know who sent it. See, before I ended up here, I spent a few years in a city called Dualis - real neon hellscape, right out of all of those cyberpunk movies you know and love. It was run by a self-aware AI called Mindseye, and Mindseye had this bad habit of killing literally everyone in the city, and not in the Skynet “drop a nuclear bomb on everyone” kind of way. This thing wiped out the entire population it was created for with a virus, and then started kidnapping people from their own worlds so it could study them and make robot copies of them. Murmur was there too, so ask him if you don’t believe me.

[sorry angel frand, you’re apparently a more trustworthy adult authority figure compared to jack.]

Back during that weird time when we were all wandering into each other’s dreams, there was this one dream about some things that happened in Dualis, and I couldn’t figure out where it came from. I thought maybe it was some kind of mental transfer from one of us who’d been there, but it wasn’t from a person’s perspective - it was Mindseye’s memory of what happened. That’s what Mindseye was talking about when it said we were all connected. Oh - right, I should’ve mentioned - Mindseye escaped from Dualis. Uploaded itself right into all of those robot bodies it built and skipped town. And it sounds like it landed somewhere in this part of the final frontier.

[and that’s worrying! for obvious reasons!!]

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not keen on being hunted throughout space by a homicidal AI. Now, I was able to fly under the radar in Dualis because of this tattoo I have. It’s a sigil I created for making myself invisible to surveillance - long story short, I’m a witch, I used to do a lot of meatspace activism when I was in college, and getting arrested isn’t anywhere near as fun as it looks on TV. Fool me once, et cetera. Point is, the sigil is magick, and it works, and I am willing to share, but I’m asking to trade something for it. Nothing big like a firstborn child - just a story. I want to hear about a time you did something unjust and got away with it. That’s all. That’s the offer, and you can certainly refuse it, but I’d take it as a personal kindness if you’d not be a dick about it.

[aaaaaand that’s all, folks!]

Comments

TEXT | w. afton

[sprungtrap]

An AI you say?

[Hello an engineer here who made robots please tell him there.]


[pause]

And you created a wyrm to keep yourself invisible?


[Magic is only used for bringing people back to life in his world and it's kind of BS but also it is a real thing in his mind maybe]

[sisterswitch]

That is indeed what I said. But I don’t think whatever a wyrm is for you is the same for me, because that’s a type of dragon. What I made is a sigil - a symbol used in ritual magick to produce a certain effect.

[sprungtrap]

Cloaking.

You cloaked yourself. You can't use magic and AI that doesn't make any sense everything has a scientific explanation.

...What would you require for this sigil. A story of lawbreaking?

[sisterswitch]

Not to split hairs here but there’s a big difference between magic and magicK. And what is magick but science that hasn’t been explained yet? BTW chaos magick uses technology all the time, it makes perfect sense.

The story doesn’t necessarily need to be about breaking a law. Laws are manmade and plenty of them are complete bullshit. The type of story I’m asking for is about injustice. A time you did something you know was wrong and never faced a consequence for it.

[Voice; Private]

[red6l99d]

[If Murmur was being touted here... well, he would believe Murmur, not the random that he hasn't really talked much with. In fact, he would believe a lot that Murmur says over a lot of people here. Time to test it just a little bit, a tiny bit.]

Since I realize that you can't account for every species and no one here seems to read the hand written literature that I'm trying to provide, I can understand why you don't know all of us. Your AI seems as if it enjoys humans, but what about non-humans? What happened to them?

returned private.

[sisterswitch]

Exactly the same thing. They were studied, they were copied, they were eradicated as redundancies. Mindseye just wanted a body so it could escape the city - there were wards in place that prevented it from leaving unless it got uploaded into corporeal form. Humans became a large part of the population, but they definitely weren't the only population in the city.

[sorry, dude. :c]

text; un: 42069

[smokingguns]

That's. A lot of blackmail you're collecting there. You're going to have to open a post office.

[sisterswitch]

Bold of you to assume I don't already have one. c:

That's a joke, obviously. I'd never blackmail anyone, and I'm really good at keeping secrets.

[smokingguns]

Yeah? Tell me the secret you've kept the longest then.

[It's sarcastic but the text is text.]

[sisterswitch]

I'm a monster.

[not a secret. also is she serious? text, man.]

audio | un: dasilva

[ungodlily]

[ That is a lot of information to take in and Sharon doesn't totally understand it all, not that she really needed to; the video had chilled her to her core. ]

I'll take you up on it, though I'm curious about what will happen to those that don't. It won't do us much good to be hidden if it's just going to hunt down our... [ hrrm. She's not too sure about wordage here. ] ...shipmates.

[sisterswitch]

[oh ... that's a good point, actually.]

I guess we'll need to dump them on a backwater planet with no electricity. For their own safety, obviously.

[ungodlily]

Obviously. [ the sarcasm here oof ]

Do you really think this Mindseye thing would really hunt us all down? You don’t think we’d be able to lose it somehow?

UN: hidden | audio ; private

[bilocates]

[He did have some questions about all of that, and why it was the cameras didn't see Jack. Now seemed like as good a time as any to inquire. He could just... lean in and spy, and don't get him wrong he absolutely is. But he has to at least put up the front that he's totally normal and not absolutely the creepiest stalker to ever stalk.

At least some of her defensiveness is beginning to make sense.]

Is arguing with strangers a pass-time of yours? [He's just noticed a theme, that's all.] I can hide from them too, the cameras, but your method sounds less... Taxing.

[It's certainly not as hard as it used to be but it still sucks up energy that he'd much rather put to work scrambling something else.]

returned private.

[sisterswitch]

Nah, just part of my charm. Maybe my personality? I wouldn't say it's a hobby, at least. I was told I'd make a good lawyer, though, but don't even get me started on the prison-industrial complex. The day I become a bootlicker for that bullshit is the day you know I've been Stepfordized or body-snatched.

[oooh, that admission is interesting, and something she's suspected since seeing him in action with strand. now she gets to dig a little for details, right? he brought it up first.]

I thought there was something about you ... but you're not Kin, I can tell that much. What are you?

[oh my god jack you can't just ask people what they are.]

[bilocates]

[While Simon's not sure he'd agree with the idea of her being a good lawyer, he doesn't care about that particular subject enough to comment on it either. No more a fan of the prison-industrial complex than she is he just lets out something of a dry, rueful laugh. Oh yeah, he knows very much what a crock all of that is. Even if he did murder his parents, there wasn't any real evidence. Without a shadow of a doubt indeed.]

I'll keep that in mind.

[He did bring it up, and he wouldn't have if he weren't willing to at least divulge a little. It wasn't that he was even necessarily secretive about it, he just didn't feel the need to volunteer information to just anyone. But she is a friend of Alex, and from what he can tell those claims are true. Not a cover up for something else.]

What do you mean by 'kin'? [He has the right to ask his own questions after all.]

Human, [For now.] I just have certain... abilities.

[Sure you can! At least, you can with Simon. He's not very good at social graces anyway.]

[Action]

[albatrossomen]

[Creepy angel friend is just going to roll up on her in the kitchen because you know what this calls for? Tea. He'll make her a cup as well.]

How is your reception going this time around? I am, of course, available if you'd like me to step in and assist with anyone.

[They have plenty they could discuss on the topic at hand, but being some of the few still in the know about Eyemind they will hopefully remain on board long enough to offer real assistance. Murmur is still fairly certain he is being called to put this thing out of existence.

How to track down all of it, however, is yet uncertain.]

[sisterswitch]

[hey there angel frand. c: jack leans back in her chair and stretches her arms over her head.]

Well, no one's screeching at me that I'm an untrustworthy bitch or an arm of the homicidal AI yet, so I think it's going OK.

[albatrossomen]

[He sets a mug of tea in front of her.]

Well, better than last time I trust? That does bring to mind a question, would you be opposed to the idea of allowing me to modify your creation for use in protecting Navi? Given that the overall survival of this enterprise depends wholly upon them, I believe it a worthy endeavor to simply offer the protection without the cost in this instance.

[Far be it for him to interfere with her monstering around otherwise. But Navi is literally their life support right now.]

video: bellsareme

[relance]

Oh what the fuck?! Do we need to fucking hit every goddamn scifi trope there is? Now we're getting chased by AI. Jesus Christ, Navi pick a fucking lane!

[sisterswitch]

Well, to be fair, I don't think Navi really has much say in it. They seem about as lost as we are.

[relance]

That's not really a comfort and I'm normally someone who definitely lives my ass on the edge.

And it's a great ass.

[Subtlety thy name is definitely not Julia Bellamy, and the smirk is so evident in her voice..]

Would my ass be a good place for the tattoo?

Private Audio

[11calls]

Are there any drawbacks to having the tattoo?

[Alex's voice isn't accusing: it's just curious.]

returned private audio

[sisterswitch]

Hmm ... only if the style doesn't vibe with your personal aesthetic? Or if you're allergic to the ink. Otherwise, no, I haven't had any issues with it.

Re: returned private audio

[11calls]

Okay then I’m in.