spellbinders | [WORLD ONE | OCTOBER INTRO LOG]

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[WORLD ONE | OCTOBER INTRO LOG]

Who: The new coven members and old blood
Where: In and around the hub island
When: Day 92
Open/Closed: Open to All

All characters are told briefly what their powers are by Genette -- no extemporaneous details. For instance, if your character has the ability to detect lies, they'll be told as such -- no warning about limitations, repercussions or the like. They'll also be given a variant of this letter so they aren't totally ignorant of the situation -- though of course adapt this letter to the current setting and surroundings of the game.

This setting may be familiar to you -- maybe you caught a glimpse of it when you first visited. Maybe this is your first time experiencing this weird world and the panic is setting in. If you're totally lost, a tall human woman with a long scroll of paper will stop by to give you the run down. She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date. (Maybe someone else can fill in some gaps for you).

What is at first painfully obvious is that you're ill-equipped. Any magic or powers you had previously are suddenly replaced with an empty hole in your being. That's not all that's gone, but perhaps that's what's most pressing.

Another thing you may notice is that there are others just like you, wandering around and just as confused. If you feel so inclined, you may want to ask around and see if anyone else knows what's up.

cook some of this (poisonous) eel, salt some boar jerky or cut into one of these rabbits

By the time afternoon sets in, everyone should be a little more adjusted -- or, they should at least be a little more aware of the situation. From there, things still need to be done and exploring is always an option!

Night finally falls on the exhausting day, and it's time to rest. Thankfully the island is beautiful at night, especially the sky. The night is filled with space worms, relaxing mist and wondrous sights in the stars.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[9S watches her hand curiously. It's the first time that anyone has met his greeting in kind, and for a pale instant is puzzles him. But when that moment passes, a smile creeps its way over his lips as he lets his hand drop to his side]

Nice to meet you, Sophie. You can just call me 9S. 2B and A2 are YoRHa units too, so it's more like we're part of the same line.

[Different types and models, but in the end, all YoRHa]

And 2B's really strong. Did you see her in action?

[He'll always be ready to talk up his favorite fellow android, on all occasions, and the admiration saturates his tone. Their history may be complicated and tortured, but at the end of the day, he's proud of her. She's family, after all]

[ Just as he lets his hand drop, she does the same. ]

Okay, 9S.

[ Really strong, fast... and pretty too. She wishes she could grow up and have an adult shape, maybe something like 2B and A2's forms. Most of the humanoids on Fodra had the same childlike build as Sophie and some were even a lot smaller than she is.

Unfortunately, aging isn't possible for a humanoid. ]

I saw some of what she's capable of. She reminded me of myself and the other combat humanoids. I thought she was from Fodra, like I was.

Combat humanoids?

[He echoes the term, puzzled. It seems to him that androids could easily fall under that category, and yet Sophie is clearly different. Her manner of dress and even the vivid lilac of her hair and eyes are by far distinct from any YoRHa, or even the less specialized android models.

The closest were Devola and Popola, of all the types he's seen]

I don't think that's a designation I've come across before.

[Or rather, he knows it]

Yes. Humanoids are a construct that resemble a human shape.

[ Android isn't an unheard term to her, but it's not a word that's commonly used where she's from. She wouldn't know how much of a difference there is, if there is any. Perhaps Emeraud would have known more or Pascal. It might be a better word to refer to the other humanoids. Unlike Sophie, they possessed mechanical parts. ]

9S, why are you called an android? Is it much different from a humanoid?

Why...? Because that's the name our creators collectively gave us, where I come from. It means we come in human form, just like your term does.

[The difference is that he knows for certain that he's made of alloys and circuitry. He can't be sure what Sophie is made of, and it doesn't seem like the sort of thing he ought to ask. What sets them apart could be as small as a choice of words, or as significant as what serves as their cores.

It doesn't seem like a very satisfactory answer though]

A humanoid could be anything in a shape resembling a human though, where an android is specifically technology.

Specifically... technology.

[ She's still not too sure what that means. It's not a helpful enough answer for her, but she parrots the words as though helping herself commit it to memory.

Not a lot of answers are satisfactory to Sophie. She's very curious and 9S will soon find out that she hardly runs out of any questions to ask. She's learning. She can't quite say the specific material that make up humanoids, but there are other details that she can share. ]

The humanoids on Fodra are powered by an energy source called eleth and have memory cores installed. Can they also be called an android?

My black box would be equivalent to a core, in essence... [Although it's uncomfortable calling it a core for reasons he's not about to volunteer] And it's a fusion reactor so it supplies energy. The parts might be similar.

[Although he can't be sure whether that makes them similar enough or not. 9S turns that prospect about in his mind before arriving at what, from his perspective, is an important question when defining this. It's also necessary to establish in case Sophie isn't capable of self-repairs like a Scanner]

Do humanoids require maintenance? That might give me a better idea of how alike we are.

The older models require manual maintenance.

[ As far as she knows. All Fodran scientists and the humanoids' human masters are far long gone to be able to attend to the remaining humanoids. Most simply stand around, staring off into space until the end of their lifespan. Transferring a core to another body requires effort, especially when the materials are difficult to find.

However, manual maintenance doesn't apply to her. ]

...I'm a different model from the rest. I have a life maintenance function with several different healing modules including self-healing.

Do you use nanomachines for recovery? And what about heavy damage?

[The terms, at least, are ones 9S can understand. But he isn't quite sure that they're the same. Androids can recover from certain levels of damage of course, and can even patch themselves up. But she refers to it as healing. Maybe it's like what the Devola and Popola models can do, and maybe it's something else entirely.

But as with so many new experiences in the coven, 9S can only find himself curious]

[ Whether she's more like a human, machine, or android, is hard to say. She falls into neither of those classifications. Maybe she's somewhere in between. ]

Nanomachines? Hmm... I don't know what those are. But a machine capable of repairing my healing modules exists on Fodra.

[ Sophie's incredibly strong and able to live a long time, but she's in no means invincible. Lambda was able to take her by surprise and damage her heavily before, enough to cause her built-in healing to malfunction. She could be in trouble, if she's not careful. The same resources back on her world may not be available here. ]

My entire being is composed of particles. Under heavy damage, the particles will split apart and I'll shut down all functionality to undergo reconstruction.

[ In other words, she goes to sleep for awhile. ]

[He cups a hand to his chin, considering that. Technically everything is made of atoms, which themselves are made of particles, so that could be true of everyone. But the way she uses that terminology...]

Nanomachines behave something like cells in organic life. They can repair damage to an android's body, provided it isn't so critical that death would occur before those repairs were complete.

[And 9S can speak from experience on that, but then, Scanners dying was so routine as to arouse no concern at all. It begs the question of why they weren't created with operational NFCS like other field unit types, but 9S' answer to that problem was to modify himself to have that functionality.

The kind of repairs that Sophie describes, however, seem unique]

It sounds like we're similar, at least, but maybe not exactly the same. If you ever need maintenance, I can try to help.

[He could probably hack in, by virtue of that similarity alone, and figure out what her systems require if necessary. So he thinks anyway, but it's an invasive sort of process for a being unaccustomed to it, and he doesn't know how she'd feel about that sort of thing.

Hopefully she doesn't take heavy damage as easily as his unit type does]

[ The behavior of nanomachines sound alike to what her particles are capable of doing. They can heal wherever she's damaged. Not just her own wounds though. She could use her power to close up the wounds of others and save them, as long as it wasn't critical. ]

I hope I don't require maintenance any time soon, but thank you.

[ She's unsure if his help will be as efficient on her as Fodra's technology, but it's something she's willing to take a risk in if her damage is ever severe. She doesn't intend on dying, not when there's people that she still wants to be with. Not when she has been entrusted with Asbel's dream.

They're not exactly the same, but the similarities make her even more curious. There's a brief pause from her as she lowers her gaze and brings a closed hand to her chest, carefully considering her next question. ]

...9S? Are androids able to live on for a long time?

[ Or do the years fly by quickly, like a human's lifespan? ]

[9S hopes that she won't need repairs anytime too soon either. If she's able to recover well enough so long as it isn't critical, well. No android ever wants to see critical systems damage. So far the enemies they've come up against weren't even much of a threat to 9S, and he's not at all durable compared with combat models.

Seeing what Sophie was able to do so easily, he has to believe that she wouldn't have much to worry about either. And hopefully that isn't going to change whenever they're deployed next. He's not enough of an optimist to expect the best case scenario, but hoping for it doesn't hurt.

In the meantime, her question comes as a surprise. But then, he's unaccustomed to being around anyone but androids]

With proper maintenance, we could probably last indefinitely. Parts break down, but for YoRHa like me especially, it's not our bodies but our personality data that counts. What about you?

[Do humanoids last for a comparable span, or are they more like organic beings?]

[ Once again, it sounds similar. Maybe not to her own unit specifically, but for the older models. ]

A humanoid can last for a thousand years or so before their parts break down entirely. But the memories can be transferred to a new body with the right materials.

[ At about a thousand years, a humanoid would have lost most of their functionality or gone completely offline. Most don't express interest in continuing on after their original lifespan or fulfilling their purpose, so hardly is there ever a request to transfer to a new body. But there are a few rare cases where humanoids had gained the will to keep on living.

Sophie would have been the content with destroying herself, if she weren't highly influenced by Asbel and the rest of her human friends. It's because of them that she strayed from her original purpose. ]

But, as for my model... it's different. My parts don't break down over time. I can live on for a very long time, much longer than the common humanoid.

[ Forever. As long as her healing modules aren't damaged by an outside threat. Her mutual destruction function remains as well, but there's no longer any use for it with Lambda on Asbel's side. ]

Your build must be pretty sophisticated.

[Even beyond YoRHa. More like something the machines had been able to achieve, though he doesn't want to call Sophie one. Though he's come to evaluate his programmed hatred for machine life-forms and deem it pointless, it doesn't mean he has moved past his views of them entirely. Sophie still seems more like an android so far as he is concerned.

Besides, Eve required other machines in order to self-repair. And he has no idea whether such a unit would've had the level of longevity being described to him now. Certainly, Adam and Eve weren't composed of any specialized particles]

But when you say common...does that mean there aren't many like you?

[YoRHa were few in number as well, so 9S can relate to the distinction. To being unique, in some respects, compared to standard models. The processes involved being as expensive as they were, there's no real surprise that there weren't many YoRHa. And knowing what he does, the limited quantities only make all the more sense]

Only one unit of my kind exists. [ And he's talking to her. ] I'm not sure I can say why. My creator might be able to explain it better, if she were still alive.

[ Her outward design somewhat resembles some of the common types, but she's still largely different from the rest of the Fodran humanoids.

Possibly Fodra would have benefit from multiple Protos Heis units or the resources poured into the model were far too costly. Although, she might have never met Asbel if she weren't the only Protos Heis model to exist. Or perhaps it was because her model was never intended to be kept alive after Lambda's destruction.

There's still a lot that she can't explain about herself. ]

Are there many more YoRHa units?

That sounds...pretty lonely.

[9S can't help voicing it, though he regrets the sound of it when he does. To be the only unit that would last such a very long time sounds like a burden to him, but then, he's someone who considers being alone a fate worse than death. He doesn't understand why anyone would create such a singular unit when over time others would eventually cease to function.

Why not at least two?

But he knows it wasn't the right thing to say, and so he's quick to try and sweep the notion aside]

There were about two hundred of us at one time. Now there's just a few of us left. [And this, he thinks, isn't sufficient to make up for his tactless statement before] So long as we have regular maintenance, we could last a long time too though, so... You wouldn't be alone, or anything.

[Maybe it doesn't concern Sophie at all, something like that. But 9S knows it would be on his mind]

No one's truly gone when they die. They leave behind memories and dreams. I've made it my duty to share those dreams with the future.

[ Memories and dreams that she can talk about to those in the future. Asbel entrusted her with his dreams and she'll stick around, for as long as it takes.

Loneliness is a fate that she worried about for a long time and hearing 9S bring it up is no surprise to her. She's already aware. Her concerns may not be entirely gone either. It would be a lie to say that she isn't afraid when her time with others comes to an end. When they become nothing more than a memory, she's going to miss her days with the friends that she loves.

There's no way around it and she understands that. All she can do is treasure every single moment.

She clenches her hand, placing it against her chest and manages a small smile. ]

But I think... I'm relieved. Knowing that there's others like me.

[ Different in some ways and similar in others. ]

[It's a nice sentiment. And 9S wishes that it was the sort that he could've held on to, after the losses he had suffered. But being alone, being without presences he would sooner die than lose, had been crushing for him. Maybe Sophie's personality data is suitable to such adaptation, gives her a resolve that he doesn't have, or something else which he lacks.

But he knows such a thought alone would never sustain him. Perhaps, with her longevity outclassing all those around her, it was an entirely necessary part of her design that she should have that fortitude.

Whatever the case may be, he's glad that she isn't the only one dragged into all of this]

You seem like a strong person. [And more than casually punching trees down like they're nothing] But you're definitely not the only one. There's even someone around here who calls herself an AI. Hakuno's her name. It's...a bit different from you or me, what she is, but there're similarities.

[ Her development even surprised her creator. Adaptability was part of her creation, but it wasn't expect of her to change so much, enough to feel like a human. A humanoid isn't expected to develop a will of their own or even have emotions. She shouldn't have been able to change her original purpose and create a new one. ]

Hakuno... I feel like she's someone I might have to meet.

[ Sometime, when she has the chance. She's not sure what an A.I. is, but she obviously takes interest in meeting more who have similiarities to her. She felt the same towards the Little Queen. Aside from wanting to confront her to stop Fodra's core, she wanted to meet her since she reminded her of herself.

And there's something else he mentioned about YoRHa that stood out to her. After seeing three of them, she expects there to be more wherever they're from. ]

9S? You said there's a few of your unit left... what happened to the others?

Unfortunately, most of the others are gone now.

[9S doesn't know if they could be salvaged and repaired the way he seems to have been. Some of the others were obliterated entirely and for that reason he has his doubts it's possible. But he wants to believe that 4S has survived. He'd gotten quite far even without a pod and seemed capable and experienced, and joining up with the Resistance was a safe decision.

In the end he doesn't know his fellow Scanner's fate, but other than him and the units who took the E-drug in the desert, he doesn't know the status of any others]

There was a large-scale operation and things didn't go favorably.

[It's the easiest way for him to explain something he imagines to be grim. But then, Sophie may well have outlived a great number of humanoids for all that he knows. The subject, he thinks, would never be something he'd want to be numbed to however. And her philosophy doesn't seem to suggest that she has]

Gone... forever?

[ Memories live on, but in this case, it sounds like she means more in a physical sense or something like their memory data.

Judging from his short explanation, anything could have happened. Wars break out, invasions occur, or some powerful threat could have wiped out a large number of them during said operation. Or maybe it was something else that caused them to cease functionality.

Though there is no war on Ephinea now, there has been in the past with humans fighting over resources and control over land. Many dead. And even on Fodra, humanity and nature was wiped out, all because of Lambda.

She'd seen a great number of lives taken before. She'd seen a young Fodra girl killed by a Nova monster, but she didn't know how to react like a human thousands of years ago. But at the time, she was still figuring out her emotions and what they were. ]

Does it make you sad? Do... YoRHa units feel sad?

Their data couldn't be backed up.

[That's the simpler question to answer. The others were indeed gone forever because their memory couldn't be salvaged. When the Bunker fell, they all lost the ability to back up their personal data and import into a new body. Now he's fairly sure only a handful of them remain.

It's strange. At one time he had other Scanners heckling him to back up data so the rest of them could do theirs, and now...]

We can feel sorrow. I imagine we can feel as much as anybody else, although I have no way to be sure.

[He knows how difficult to was to be faced with infected units he didn't want to fight. Even before that point, he won't ever forget how difficult to was to be pitted against units who had defected from YoRHa. It was a struggle to view them, much less approach them, as enemies]

Humanoids weren't built to have emotion. In some rare cases, they develop emotions and their own free will. But why... why is it that YoRHa units feel sorrow? Was it always that way?

[ Free will as he can probably see from Sophie here. She wouldn't be asking so many questions if she were like her old self. Treating humanoids like humans wasn't commonplace on Fodra, but some human masters did so regardless. It makes sense their creators didn't intentionally implement human emotion into them. They were seen as tools to be thrown away later on. Feelings would only get in the way of their mission. She knows very well, especially when she had to be pitted against Richard.

And she can imagine the painful feelings can be the same for YoRHa units, especially upon experiencing a feeling of loss. From the sound of it though, they've always had the capability to feel, unlike her kind. ]

[It's a difficult question to tackle, if only because 9S has wondered the same, for his own reasons. There has never been a satisfactory answer]

I wish I could tell you. For YoRHa, emotions are prohibited. We're constantly reminded of that, and yet we're given the same capacity for feeling as any other android units.

[Sometimes, 9S has even wondered if they feel more, but that could be owed to the extreme nature of their circumstances rather than anything else. He may never know the truth to it. Maybe someone just wanted them to suffer, considering the way only they were designed to die, live, and die again]

It's a little inconvenient, being built that way.

[He says it casually enough. 9S is good at that; at pretending something bears none of the weight it truly does on his thought routines. But in truth, he had lived with the guilt of being unable to control emotions he was ever reminded he wasn't supposed to have in the first place.

Why were they endowed with emotion? Why indeed...]

[WORLD ONE | OCTOBER INTRO LOG]

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