Third Cycle [Video]
[Gem is sitting outside, holding an umbrella over herself as shade. She is attempting to get used to the sun; she still finds it strange, but it seems here to stay so she will adapt.
Looking at the journal, she purses her lips, and finally speaks]Many people seem curious or confused as to what I am. I thought perhaps I should explain to all; I am ( Read more... )
Looking at the journal, she purses her lips, and finally speaks]Many people seem curious or confused as to what I am. I thought perhaps I should explain to all; I am ( Read more... )
You are an absolutely remarkable example of a non-organic sapient. Most incredible...
I had not thought there were many here.
[Thoughtfully:] Your multiversion's computing systems seem much different from my own. Few programs on Terra are truly sapient in any way unless explicitly coded to be, and even fewer have any visible form like your own. If it is not presumptuous, may I ask as to whether you are holographic in nature?
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Thank you. I know of only one other here in Luceti.
I am not. But until I arrived here, I had never existed outside of The Grid. There is a City there, a sea. It is larger than you could imagine.
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[Robert pauses a little before asking his second question.]
The Grid? Is that the term that you use for a sort of massive database or network that is in your planet, or similar location?
And... a sea? The City itself is the sea? Or is located within it?
Your world sounds absolutely breathtaking. It would be such a wonderful thing to see technology on that scale again. [Robert's tone is wistful here. He misses the familiarity of Terran technology.]
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[She didn't expect this many questions, but she tries to process and answer them as best she can.]
The Grid is a...massive database. A network. It is within one particular Computer.
No. There is Tron City...if you travel past the city, you will find the Sea of Simulation, and past that, the Portal. The gateway between our world and the world of the Users.
It is beautiful. I miss it.
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[Robert always asks a lot of questions. It's a reflex for somebody as inquisitive and skeptical as him. Right now, though, it's genuine curiosity.]
Ah, so... an entire simulated world... [That's something that even Terra doesn't have, and Robert is really in awe.] And you can cross over into the worlds of Users - presumably human sapients? Or are there other non-human sapients who you would also call Users?
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[He may be confused, but Gem is not the one with the full answers. Perhaps Tron could answer but... she is at a loss.]
Yes. Yes that exactly. And they are human, as far as I know. I have only met two. Both looked human in form.
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[Robert makes a thoughtful sound.] Terra has mostly humans, but non-human sapients are also present, both on their own planets and other colonized areas, and as a few immigrants to Terra proper. But I suppose under your definition, they would also qualify as Users.
Is it possible for a Program to also be a User, in some circumstances? For example, what if you were to use a computer while here?
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[At his question, Gem tilts her head, shaking it after a moment]
I don't know. I...I would say not. We are always the Created.
[Iso's are around too, but if she adds them into the mix, the explinations will get more complicated; she won't be able to handle them.]
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[That's so disappointing.]
Ah... Well, at any rate, there are only a few computers here. I possess my nanocomputer only because the Malnosso saw fit to give it to me - one of the few good things they have done.
On the subject of the wings - I always wondered how exactly they affected peoples' bodies here. Especially unique bodies like your own - but any of them, really.
I intend to do some sort of experiment on them eventually...
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They only thing they have shown me to do is show my emotion when I wish them to stay still. [She shrugs.]
And make me cut holes in my suit.
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And... presumably they are somehow linked to our bodily systems, since manipulating them causes damage to our bodies. I have a few hypotheses as to why, but nothing I have been able to truly confirm. Now with my scientific tools I hope to make some actual progress on the matter.
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I don't think I would be much help in the deciphering of any of that.
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And that is alright; I am certain I will be able to ask some of my scientist friends for assistance should I require it.
... Oh, incidentally, is there anything that you might need assistance with yourself, then? Such as energy sources? The Malnosso can be grossly incompetent with providing for those who fall outside the usual sapient body plans, here.
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However...Programs do enjoy a form of pure energy...it's blue in color, and liquid. I don't believe I'll find it here.
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Barring that, you could request the Malnosso, but it is unlikely if they would actually listen...
[He muses slightly to himself.] But your ability to ingest liquids... does that mean you have a digestive system, of some kind? Or is it absorbed into your form in some other manner?
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Ah. Forgive me if my questions are somewhat... uncomfortable. I am... simply curious, as an astrobiologist. But if you resent my inquiries I will cease them.
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I can eat and drink like any normal User. It simply is; though we do not need much. We gain most of our life from energy.
It's fine. I opened myself to the questioning, and I should answer all inquiries.
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