hadriel | 016 [Video]

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Hey, everyone. So uh, I've got a few things to go over, but for everyone who's new, hi. I'm Chris, and I've been here way too long.

[He says it with a grin, clearly finding some humor; he's not as upset about being here as a lot of people are, for a few different reasons.]

I guess that's the main reason why I'm making this post, because um... You've all seen the Null stuff, and Fear's post, and I know that like... A lot of you are missing parts of the story, which you kind of need to make good decisions.

So I figured like, Mello's guide is great about what the hell we're doing here and what to expect, and he and Sharon put together a list of past events, but that's not the big picture stuff. It's all super important, but we also kind of need to be on the same page about everything.

So... Yeah. We know the gods and the Null both existed before all of us got here, and that there was another species here that the gods got energy from. Who knows how long that was, and I guess it doesn't super matter, though there were originally more of the gods, like... More than one Hope, and whatever; they're their own species. So everyone's a happy family, and then the Null get all pissed off because they don't like feeling emotions, and decide to go robot-apocalypse on the gods and the other host species until it's just Hope and Fear left.

So, it was only like, a few months ago we found out about this part, but Fear can move the whole city and keeps doing that to stay ahead of the Null. But he needs power to do that, and Hope needs power to resurrect other gods, so Fear screwed around with the Door and that's why we all keep showing up. Sucks for us but good for them, and they started up the whole events thing so they could get the energy they needed, and so Hope started bringing back the other gods and that's why we've got the eight of them we've got now. No idea on if Hope could resurrect any of the other ones too, but I guess we could ask him.

[Chris doesn't really think that's a priority at the moment, and it's kind of insensitive, but he figures it's worth saying simply because someone'll probably wonder anyway.]

Okay, so, now we've got the Null showing back up. For everyone who's super new, the Null started posted on the network like last month explaining how they're gonna go all murdery again, and kept waffling on whether we were included in the murder plans too or not. Latest update they're offering to send people home if we help them out in killing Hope, but they kind of conveniently don't actually have the Door yet, so it's like promising someone you'll get them a pony when you don't have a farm.

[In other words, probably not a promise to count on.]

Meanwhile, Delight and Rage aren't around right now since they're out trying to figure out how much of their threats the Null could actually pull off, in terms of like... If they even actually know where we are. Which hopefully, they don't.

So yeah, that's where things are. We're in the middle of gods vs robots, and not the cool kind of robots, but the dick Borg kind. It sucks. But uh, from someone who's been here awhile, I really think people are being too quick to jump to the side of the death-robots; I mean yeah, some of the gods are dicks too, but others really aren't that bad.

[Actually, most of them aren't too bad.]

I've talked to Hope and Fear a lot, and Hope especially doesn't exactly deserve all the murder threats. He's not the one keeping us here, and actually neither is Fear; if you want to be pissed at someone about that, which is totally fair, go be pissed at Sorrow. But guys, it's... You know, not the best plan in the world to be trusting the Null's promises in the first place, let alone agreeing to try to murder the one god that's really on our side and has been since day one. Don't you think it's also a little suspicious that the Null want us to take out Hope when he's specifically the one keeping us all alive?

{And okay, this is a lot of talking at once, but he's gotten the important history stuff said at least.]

That all said, um, I think we need to actually get all this sort of information actually written down in a way we can give to newbies like Mello's guide is. It'll save all of us a lot of time and confusion if everyone can get on the same page of things really quickly, no matter how little time they've been here. So, that's where everyone else comes in; I know a whole lot about this stuff, but if other people know things I don't or that I just straight-up missed and want to share, that'll help.

Also, um, if there are any questions, feel free to ask; if I don't know maybe one of the others who've been here awhile will, and if neither of us do I'll ask one of the gods and see if we can get an answer.

[Whew. He thinks that's everything about this topic, finally, and he can mention the other things he needs to get to.]

But yeah, all of that out of the way, I also wanted to let people know that Hannah went home. Which um... Sucks, for a lot of reasons. But yeah, people should know.

On less shitty news, I finished a game; you can now all play chess against each other. No computer AI opponents since Deep Blue's kind of beyond me, but you can at least challenge each other and then brag about what a nerd you are. And you know if I'm saying that, it's pretty damn nerdy.

[Private to Duck]

[One last thing to address here--]

Hey, bro, still up for alpha testing a text-adventure game for me?

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[ Curufin smiles. He sees that Chris gets it. ]

A wolf? Now you've got me curious! [ Wolves in Curufin's world are not, to say the least, good friends of his family. But he knows the rules are different in different universes, and he's willing to let bygones be bygones. ] Obviously, there's a story to be told here. [ Chuckle. ]

[ He leaves his house, grabs a stray moped, and sets out to find Chris's apartment. ]

{{ OOC: Curufin lives in Delight's Housing, which is just on the other side of the library and a couple of road-crossings from Spire 1. Okay if we handwave the giving of directions and skip to Curufin knocking at Chris's door? }}

There's definitely a weird story there.

[A really weird story, but hey. At least having a wolf now is kind of an upside?

And he'll just take a moment to straighten up the house a little bit, as well as get some coffee making, while he waits for Curufin to show up.]

[[ooc: Sounds good to me!]]

[ Curufin zips around the curves and parks in front of the First Spiral houses, and knocks at #1503. ]

Chris, it's me, Curufin!

[ He smells the coffee brewing. And he's very curious about this wolf. ]

[Chris is expecting the knock, of course, so he opens it pretty quickly. The wolf isn't visible just yet, but he's listening from the living room.]

Hey, Curufin, come in. Wolfie's uh, on the couch, but he'll probably come check you out pretty soon; just let him do his whole sniffing dog thing and then he'll be good to pet if you want.

[ Curufin enters the house, smiling. ]

Nice to meet you in person, Chris!

I used to have a good relationship with my brother Celegorm's wolfhound, Huan, who was the alpha dog of our hunting pack. He was at least as much wolf as dog! So perhaps Wolfie and I will not be strangers for long. I'll treat him with the respect he no doubt deserves.

[ And he won't mention Sauron's wolves, who, as we were saying, were creatures of another universe with other rules, and who were spiritually bound to their Dark Lord. Wolfie, presumably, is a natural wolf, and therefore more closely related to Huan than to Sauron's werewolves. ]

So. While we're waiting for Wolfie to get curious about the visitor, I should tell you what I wanted to discuss with you. In one of those communications with the Null, one of them seemed to be admitting that the Null aren't 100% synthetic. If I was not mistaken about what I read, and if that is actually true, then it sounds as if they still depend on that small percentage of organic material that their bodies contain. And what else could that be but a nervous system of some kind? At least, some brain tissue. They despise organic types so thoroughly that I think they'd have gotten rid of all organic parts of themselves, if they could. So if they can't, it's got to be brain.

And the synthetic parts of themselves have to be taking good care of that brain tissue, or it would die. Delivering nutrients to it, keeping it within the temperature range at which their type of organic matter has to be maintained, keeping it within the PH range it requires?

Now what if there were some way to throw a monkey wrench into at least one of these necessary functions?

When I was in the world in which I briefly sojourned before I came to Hadriel, I had a few conversations with people who had very general knowledge about computers and the modern world. They spoke of software, of how you software developers create code, one of whose purposes may be to run machines. They also spoke of computer viruses -- sometimes with rage and sometimes with laughing exasperation. Apparently, a virus is a malicious computer program that can migrate from one machine to another, particularly via the internet. Certainly, that would include our Hadriel network.

Chris, would you be capable of writing such a program? Assuming you had enough information about how the Null's bodies work? I would be surprised if they were not using software of their own to run their brain-maintaining systems. What if you could introduce a virus to corrupt their maintenance programs? For example, if it disabled their brain-compartment temperature controls and simply heated the compartment until the brain tissue cooked?

[Okay, good, if he's familiar with a wolf dog then he'll probably be fine with Wolfie; although as far as Chris can tell Wolfie is a full timber wolf, he's very used to people.

Too used to people, honestly; he's chewing on a very deflated soccer ball, which is far more interesting than Curufin at the moment. That gives Curufin time to explain his thinking, though, and for Chris to listen, and this is... Not what he was expecting, although also pretty familiar.]

You're uh, actually the second person to ask me about this idea, which is pretty awesome honestly; it's a really good idea.

[Chris feels kind of ridiculous for not thinking of it himself, actually.]

Potentially, yeah, I could write something really simple that would completely shut them down; I could overload their systems, forcefully set everything to true or false and completely screw up the flow of signals, or yeah fuck them up temperature-wise, though that'd be easier probably to do just by like... Sending too much current through them or something.

[But all of that said--]

The problem is that I don't know how they work. If they're on like, a true-false system like ones I'm familiar with, it'd be pretty easy to write; getting them to run it's another problem, but we could figure that out. But uh, if they're in some other weird coding system, especially something that has like... Nor correlation at all to what I'm familiar with, I'll have to have an example to look at.

[Although that makes him wonder if maybe the gods' network is based on technology they would've been familiar with, and if that familiar technology might be from the Null. If so, Chris already knows how to work with that code, but he's not going to bank on them all being that lucky.]

[ Curufin thinks he hears the sounds of lapping and chewing coming from the livingroom. He smiles a little. ]

I'm not surprised if others have suggested it, too! It seems a good approach to the problem. If there are, say, thousands or hundreds of thousands of these Null, then we are a bit outnumbered. But the virus approach, if it could be made to work, would even up the score.

And I'm sure there would be many ways to mess up their systems. Either by screwing up the Null bodies' code itself, so that nothing works, or making that code alter some physical parameter so that it is incompatible with life, or as you say. . . [ Chuckle ] . . . just electrocute them! Zap!

No, of course, none of us knows how they work. Hmm. But I wonder if the gods do? They may not be great technicians, but they did get the Door to work. I guess we'd need more information, and they'd be the place to start.

And also. . . I wonder about the possibility of luring some Null here and capturing them. Then you'd have an example to work from, all right! Or, the other possibility would be persuading the gods to send some of us out into the Void to do the capturing. [ Curufin would definitely volunteer for that last thing. ]

Having uh, an actual Null to work with would definitely be helpful, even if the whole thing's a little... Creepy when put that way? But I mean, if they don't feel emotions at all, then maybe it's okay.

[It's not like some Null being analyzed or experimented on would feel anything, right? It's still morally sketchy, though, and Chris isn't so sure about the whole thing, so--]

I think asking the gods first is uh, probably the way to go, at least until we know that option isn't going to work. I mean, I'm wondering if maybe the gods got the idea and way the network works from the Null? If so, that'd be like, really convenient.

I agree, it's creepy. But I myself want to live, and it's obvious the Null would just as soon kill us as the gods. They might even be planning to kill us first.

[ Curufin has a lot of experience with shutting off all feeling when the moral issues are raised. He was good at that in his own world. He isn't quite so apt now. But when it's the survival of those he cares about -- and there are plenty of them here in Hadriel -- he can't care about the Null. ]

I agree, we do have to consult the gods. I just hope the Null aren't able to eavesdrop on our private communications here. But I guess there is no other way to hold a conversation with the gods. [ A little bit sardonic. ] They don't seem very inclined to meet us in person.

It really would be convenient if the network technology comes from the Null.

I wouldn't be surprised.

[Fuck the Null, seriously. But as creeped as Chris is, he's also practical and not about to put the well-being of the Null in front of the safety of the people here or himself, so although he'd prefer another method he's not ruling that one out.

But he shakes his head a little at Curufin's next comment.]

I uh, haven't had any problem talking to the gods in person; I think Hope'll show up talk to me about this if I ask, and we don't have to worry about the Null listening in.

[He's pretty confident on that.]

He's the one who controls the network too, so he'll be the easiest one to ask anyway.

Edited 2017-09-17 01:25 (UTC)

[ Curufin's eyebrows shoot up. ] Really? You've spoken face-to-face with Hope??

Well, if you're willing to talk to him and bring up these questions, I think we might have a chance.

[ He didn't know the gods ever appeared in person. And another bit of info he didn't have before -- that Hope controls the network. He tucks that one away for future reference. ]

Edited 2017-09-17 02:13 (UTC)

Yeah, and Delight too; she used to hang out in person at the bar a lot. Hope and I normally talk on the network, but for the whole Null thing he showed up in person when I went to his Temple.

[He figures Hope would probably do the same for anyone else who wanted to talk privately, but still.]

I'm uh, actually getting kind of a whole list of stuff to ask him, at this point. So yeah, I definitely can see if he has any input on this.

It sounds as though you have some rapport with Hope. That's a good thing.

So, you have your list, and maybe you'll get some answers, and maybe he'll be amenable to some of these ideas. Meantime, I'll keep thinking.

I should clear out and let you get to it. And I'll be waiting to hear from you. Just call me or leave me a message about the drawings I supposedly brought over here, and I'll come see you.

{{OOC: Oops, I totally forgot that Delight used to hang out in her own bar. And Curufin was a regular, so he must have known that. }}

Edited 2017-09-18 06:10 (UTC)

Sound good; if you ever want to just like, drop by also, you're welcome to. And I mean, I've got the coffee cart over at Delight's temple too, so that's always a good place to find me.

[Meeting up in person with Chris isn't too hard already, but he'll make sure to be more available after all of this too.

And oh, hey, look who decided to join them; Wolfie has finally appeared, cautiously considering Curufin and sniffing at his shoes.]

[[ooc: No worries! We'll just handwave around that little bit. c:]]

Thank you, Chris, I'm sure I will take you up on that! [ He never spends any time in Delight's temple, but now he plans to start. He could start grabbing a cup of coffee as he heads out for his Guard shift. The temple is not far from Delight's Housing, where he lives. ]

[ And he grins as Wolfie comes in. He lets him sniff at his boots and speaks softly to him. ] Hey there, Wolfie, you came out to see what's happening?

[ And he extends a hand in case the wolf wants to sniff that, too, just to complete the inventory. ]

[ ooc: XD ]

[Wolfie does sniff his hand, looks up at him, and then decides he's apparently nothing to be concerned about. But he just keeps staring for a few seconds, until Chris translates--]

He's decided he wants to be pet now.

[Wolves, man. Demanding creatures.]

[ Curufin smiles. He reaches down and rubs the wolf's ruff with both hands, and then his back and sides. ] There you go, Wolfie! Hope you like the same kind of petting as my ferocious hunting dog Huan did. He was a wolf, too. Mostly wolf, anyway.

[ And rightly so! Huan would say. XD ]

[Wolfie definitely approves, fluffy tail doing a slow wag, although once the petting is over he gives Curufin a brief look of 'what, that's it?' before shaking as though he were wet. That done, he turns and stalks back toward the living room.

Chris laughs a little.]

That's uh, the wolf seal of approval there. Though man, Huan's a way cooler name than Wolfie.

[He's so blaming Mike for the lack of creativity there.]

[ Curufin laughs softly, too. He'll be sure to make it a more extended petting next time. Have to keep our wolvish friends happy! ]

I'm glad to be approved! But I think Wolfie is just fine. It is a name that acknowledges his noble heritage.

[Chris laughs again, glancing back at the disappearing wolf and then towards Curufin again.]

It's a name that acknowledges Mike shouldn't be allowed to name anything ever, but at least Wolfie doesn't care at all what you call him.

[ Curufin laughs too. ] Your friend Mike surely meant well. But Wolfie doubtless knows best.

I must go. Thank your for talking to me, particularly for making time to meet me in person. We'll talk again.

[Mike does usually mean well, which is the only way he can really be forgiven for what a jerk he often ends up being. It'd be nice to have him around here, actually, for all Chris has been poking fun at him.

He nods at the last comments.]

Yeah, no problem, any time. Talk to you later, and uh, be careful with the whole Null thing, okay?

[ We all have our not!friends who actually are friends, and we miss them when they are not here. Curufin is just lifting a hand in farewell and about to turn. At Chris's last words, he turns back. ]

Careful. . .? [ Of course, Chris is no idiot. He has antennae for people's intentions, and of course, he would have read any log that had anything to do with the Null. He's probably guessed that Curufin is up to something. As are many. ]

Ah, yes. Thank you, Chris. I'll be as careful as I can. [ Sincerely. ]

Great. I'm uh, holding you to that.

[And with a wave, he'll say goodbye.]

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