[The look Altius shoots Octavian will hopefully be plenty, but—]
Do I really strike you as the sort of man capable of being whimsical? [A half huff, half sigh.] But nutritious, no. Flavored with anything at all is what it should be.
Perhaps you should try new things. [Like whimsy!] Is that why you brought in all of those other trays? You could ask your myriad dates about their favorite flavorings.
[He's under the impression his entire everything would collapse if he stopped being so unfailingly nice and generous all the time, so, yeah, that's not going to happen.
He rests his cheek against one hand.]
I've been to plenty of parties, and I promise this isn't typical. Between the mediocre atmosphere and their enthusiastic attempts to drag us into it... they're as inconsistent as ever.
[Altius raises his eyebrows to display his doubt without voicing it. You, sir, at parties? Even without the ghostliness, he struggles to envision it.]
A punishment for what, poor dreaming habits? [Hmph. But he acknowledges:] Anything is possible. Maybe we've been too quiet, do you think?
[It's a little bit of sarcasm, but he wouldn't be surprised if that were actually the case. Their captors may very well be bored and want to inflict that on the Chosen as well.]
[He had a very social brother and a business partner enamored with rubbing elbows, so. Parties did happen.]
If that were the case I would expect this to be more sinister in some way. Instead this is... somewhat dull.
[He leans over to look at the dating questions again. Hmm, no, the plant one is still the best one, everything else is either total schlock or the same vague nothingness that that bimonthly app spits out at them. Sad.]
[Whenever Altius was dragged anywhere he tried very hard to ignore the situation entirely until he escaped, so perhaps his idea of knowing about parties one doesn't want to be at is skewed.]
Mmh. [A mild agreement. He's grateful for it being dull, rather than sinister. He can improve upon dull with minimal effort. He glances to the questions when Octavian brings his attention back to them.] They're something to work with. A way to find out what interests someone and what doesn't without having to think too long.
[He turns his eyes and his upper half to the ghost in his vessel with his cheap cookie.] I've learned that you have some interest in ridiculous hypotheticals, for instance. Maybe an appreciation for double entendre?
[Something to work with, is it... Octavian looks over the questions again, like, well, if he says so. He doesn't think he could work with these, and least of all because they're kind of boring.]
Double... oh. [Wait, let him reread, he earnestly just thought the plant thing was funny, where is it sexual--] "Water"? Really. This is all it takes.
[He gives Altius a Look as if to convey that very young people must have written these questions, if that's both clever and also somehow erotic. Good gracious.]
That aside. I would not have expected to find you here in the first place. We are both learning new things.
[ Altius shrugs with a gesture of one hand. When he's presented a list of suggestive questions, he's inclined to see them for what they are. But see? Absurd. ]
You're not the first person to have that impression. [ The first here, perhaps, to be determined, but the first in the past several years, whenever he's gone out looking for dates? Absolutely not. ]
I suppose you must think me too boring to be interested?
Thank you, I suppose. [He says it with a chuckle.] I'm not as busy as I'm used to.
[Because yes, even with Two Whole Businesses to juggle, it's on such a smaller scale that even if the work load might be considered... difficult by anyone else, for him it's almost natural. And that's not counting his, ahem, extra-curriculars back home,
so he has? time? for something resembling relaxation.]
It's not only "riffraff" among our number, not to mention I've seen a few new faces. [But none he recognizes, which is... something he has complicated feelings about. Those feelings do not surface physically in any form or fashion.] Are you only here for the novelty?
[Once again Octavian pauses like he's only just realized something, and casts a cursory glance around for some of those new faces. He really does not expect anyone familiar, after such a lengthy stretch of time, but— just in case. After the dream, well.
Just in case.] If you see anyone who claims to know me: no they do not. Unless the face is the same.
[Anyway, novelty! Of course,] The novelty is always compelling. At least a little. But also...
[He looks around again, this time for Viktor, since they're trading off robot watching duty and it's Octavian's turn to muck around and collect cookies. He points when he spots him, and then points lower, to the attending robot. Look, look at him. He's so rotund.]
[Same face...? Doppelganger, twin, some sort of intentional copy? There is a set of two clones here. Who knows with all these different worlds and their conventions...]
Noted.
[He doesn't end up having the chance to ask with the change in topic, and to be frank, it doesn't really matter to him. When Octavian points, his brow furrows mildly at the sight of the man with the crutch, but his attention is turned quickly enough to the miniature construct—
project, is it.
He buries the thought, raising his eyebrows at Octavian.]
You've been busy, I see. Anything in particular you're hoping to see from it?
[The little robot is a much better topic, Octavian agrees. He brightens slightly just from Altius looking at it, obviously very pleased with himself.]
Independent navigation while completing tasks. [A beat.] Including not falling over.
[Balance is very tricky, especially when in a much more crowded place than Octavian's workspace with its conveniently cleared floor for walking practice. The robot isn't doing much of anything right now, but watch it long enough and it will toddle off to deliver someone, well, whatever it happens to pick up. Paper heart. Cup. Cookie.
The commands are very basic for this particular field test.]
[Altius notices that shift; the inventor is easier to read now that he has to worry less about dispersing, he supposes.
He wonders if this is the sort of satisfaction that drives Octavian. At the same time, he finds himself needing to put more effort than usual into pretending he's interested. Such is the choice he's made for himself, alas.]
Building a machine within a machine. [He shrugs one shoulder as he adds:] Supposedly. Are you a programmer as well?
[He's not even considering magic might be involved; given things like balance and responding to certain inputs are important to some of the prostheses his company engineers, his mind automatically goes to technology as the explanation.]
[Altius digging his own grave (having to have conversations): Who put this hole here?
Octavian neither notices nor cares, though, so it's going great. He's too enamored with his robot to pay attention to others' responses to it, unless they start trying to knock it around, or something.]
As in with a computer? No. Runework powers this project.
[And Viktor stuck a hex crystal in there, but that's not something he's going to go around advertising.]
I am unsure how a programmed construct would function here. Even a simple AI within an AI's domain seems... [he waves his hands a little,] antithetical.
[He turns a newly critical-slash-intrigued eye towards the bot, letting out a hm of something like realization. Runework... magic that works as a set of instructions. He wonders... could the magic of his world be utilized in such a sense? He's only ever given direct commands to his constructs and let them go about it, rather than establishing sets of conditions and behavior...
Now that he's actively looking, he does sense something magical within the thing. For nothing more than a toddling errand-runner it seems like a rather strong signal, so to speak, but he doesn't know what Octavian's true intent is with his creation.
Ah, well. It seems the ghost is rather proud of it, so he'd be surprised to not hear more of it later. He'll file that away in memory as something that might be of use after all...]
Do you think it can emulate biological and magical processes but not electronic? Or rather that it wouldn't?
[He shrugs lightly; he doesn't claim to know much, but since these AIs running their little world here do seem to have... emotions of a sort, it stands to reason one would want to protect its own existence from another AI and what it could do. Probably.]
The previous iteration was prone to corruption. One of us creating an intelligence capable of the same things as our AI overseer might make it nervous.
[But again, not his area of expertise.]
No doubt it would be possible. However I doubt it would be allowed to remain for very long.
[It's a neutral reply, largely, though he personally leans in the opposite direction of that opinion. How different are any of them from a truly advanced AI capable of emotion, really? Especially when he knows there's now an android among the Chosen...
Hmm. As he considers further...]
Do you think that's what's happened to the copies?
[Illicit copies of a version of this program that was prone to nearly collapsing in on itself and also never seemed to manage to actually "save" any of its prior groups of alleged criminals? Hmm.]
I have yet to hear anyone has succeeded in accessing any of said copies. So. Perhaps.
[...But he doesn't really want to get corrupted into a lizard person or whatever, so,] I have zero desire to live in that unstable world again.
[That's a stronger sentiment than most he's heard from Octavian, even worded obliquely as it is. He sits back, arms folded over his chest, and raises his eyebrows with some surprised curiosity.]
Was it that awful for you?
[Part of him wonders how that "glitching" he's heard of could even affect the ghost, given his apparent ability to become all but immune to danger. The other part recognizes that this place no doubt has its way of directly affecting anyone it's brought here, regardless of their current state—and is curious as to the particulars.]
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expiationlogs2025-02-10 12:12 pm
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[You know, like him. He's whimsical. Somehow. He twirls the cookie between his fingers, idly.]
Is it supposed to be particularly nutritious? I did not think so.
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Do I really strike you as the sort of man capable of being whimsical? [A half huff, half sigh.] But nutritious, no. Flavored with anything at all is what it should be.
[But isn't!]
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Perhaps you should try new things. [Like whimsy!] Is that why you brought in all of those other trays? You could ask your myriad dates about their favorite flavorings.
[All those dates... How are your dates going.]
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[There's even the slightest hint of a drawl in it. You're a bad influence, Octavian.]
I don't know if it's actually helped.
[He... has had worse dates, he thinks. So there's that.]
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He's amused, though, so it's working.]
I would not know. I have never attended a party quite like this. With so many... paper streamers. And pushy hosts.
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He rests his cheek against one hand.]
I've been to plenty of parties, and I promise this isn't typical. Between the mediocre atmosphere and their enthusiastic attempts to drag us into it... they're as inconsistent as ever.
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I have been to parties. [Please; did he behave any more appropriately at those parties, no, but that's not the point. They weren't this cheap.]
It makes one wonder. The AI must be able to research the applicable holidays. Is this a punishment perhaps? Have we not earned a finer celebration?
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A punishment for what, poor dreaming habits? [Hmph. But he acknowledges:] Anything is possible. Maybe we've been too quiet, do you think?
[It's a little bit of sarcasm, but he wouldn't be surprised if that were actually the case. Their captors may very well be bored and want to inflict that on the Chosen as well.]
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If that were the case I would expect this to be more sinister in some way. Instead this is... somewhat dull.
[He leans over to look at the dating questions again. Hmm, no, the plant one is still the best one, everything else is either total schlock or the same vague nothingness that that bimonthly app spits out at them. Sad.]
Are these helping your romantic ventures?
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Mmh. [A mild agreement. He's grateful for it being dull, rather than sinister. He can improve upon dull with minimal effort. He glances to the questions when Octavian brings his attention back to them.] They're something to work with. A way to find out what interests someone and what doesn't without having to think too long.
[He turns his eyes and his upper half to the ghost in his vessel with his cheap cookie.] I've learned that you have some interest in ridiculous hypotheticals, for instance. Maybe an appreciation for double entendre?
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Double... oh. [Wait, let him reread, he earnestly just thought the plant thing was funny, where is it sexual--] "Water"? Really. This is all it takes.
[He gives Altius a Look as if to convey that very young people must have written these questions, if that's both clever and also somehow erotic. Good gracious.]
That aside. I would not have expected to find you here in the first place. We are both learning new things.
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You're not the first person to have that impression. [ The first here, perhaps,
to be determined,but the first in the past several years, whenever he's gone out looking for dates? Absolutely not. ]I suppose you must think me too boring to be interested?
[ He doesn't sound remotely offended. ]
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[Although he did bring his own food... If he'd brought an entirely fresh party setup, maybe Octavian could be convinced.]
And I do not consider you boring. For the record.
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[Because yes, even with Two Whole Businesses to juggle, it's on such a smaller scale that even if the work load might be considered... difficult by anyone else, for him it's almost natural. And that's not counting his, ahem, extra-curriculars back home,
so he has? time? for something resembling relaxation.]
It's not only "riffraff" among our number, not to mention I've seen a few new faces. [But none he recognizes, which is... something he has complicated feelings about. Those feelings do not surface physically in any form or fashion.] Are you only here for the novelty?
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Just in case.] If you see anyone who claims to know me: no they do not. Unless the face is the same.
[Anyway, novelty! Of course,] The novelty is always compelling. At least a little. But also...
[He looks around again, this time for Viktor, since they're trading off robot watching duty and it's Octavian's turn to muck around and collect cookies. He points when he spots him, and then points lower, to the attending robot. Look, look at him. He's so rotund.]
Field testing. For our project.
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Noted.
[He doesn't end up having the chance to ask with the change in topic, and to be frank, it doesn't really matter to him. When Octavian points, his brow furrows mildly at the sight of the man with the crutch, but his attention is turned quickly enough to the miniature construct—
project, is it.
He buries the thought, raising his eyebrows at Octavian.]
You've been busy, I see. Anything in particular you're hoping to see from it?
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Independent navigation while completing tasks. [A beat.] Including not falling over.
[Balance is very tricky, especially when in a much more crowded place than Octavian's workspace with its conveniently cleared floor for walking practice. The robot isn't doing much of anything right now, but watch it long enough and it will toddle off to deliver someone, well, whatever it happens to pick up. Paper heart. Cup. Cookie.
The commands are very basic for this particular field test.]
Ultimately: running some simple errands.
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He wonders if this is the sort of satisfaction that drives Octavian. At the same time, he finds himself needing to put more effort than usual into pretending he's interested. Such is the choice he's made for himself, alas.]
Building a machine within a machine. [He shrugs one shoulder as he adds:] Supposedly. Are you a programmer as well?
[He's not even considering magic might be involved; given things like balance and responding to certain inputs are important to some of the prostheses his company engineers, his mind automatically goes to technology as the explanation.]
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Octavian neither notices nor cares, though, so it's going great. He's too enamored with his robot to pay attention to others' responses to it, unless they start trying to knock it around, or something.]
As in with a computer? No. Runework powers this project.
[And Viktor stuck a hex crystal in there, but that's not something he's going to go around advertising.]
I am unsure how a programmed construct would function here. Even a simple AI within an AI's domain seems... [he waves his hands a little,] antithetical.
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Now that he's actively looking, he does sense something magical within the thing. For nothing more than a toddling errand-runner it seems like a rather strong signal, so to speak, but he doesn't know what Octavian's true intent is with his creation.
Ah, well. It seems the ghost is rather proud of it, so he'd be surprised to not hear more of it later. He'll file that away in memory as something that might be of use after all...]
Do you think it can emulate biological and magical processes but not electronic? Or rather that it wouldn't?
[can you play doom on expiation?]
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[He shrugs lightly; he doesn't claim to know much, but since these AIs running their little world here do seem to have... emotions of a sort, it stands to reason one would want to protect its own existence from another AI and what it could do. Probably.]
The previous iteration was prone to corruption. One of us creating an intelligence capable of the same things as our AI overseer might make it nervous.
[But again, not his area of expertise.]
No doubt it would be possible. However I doubt it would be allowed to remain for very long.
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[It's a neutral reply, largely, though he personally leans in the opposite direction of that opinion. How different are any of them from a truly advanced AI capable of emotion, really? Especially when he knows there's now an android among the Chosen...
Hmm. As he considers further...]
Do you think that's what's happened to the copies?
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[Illicit copies of a version of this program that was prone to nearly collapsing in on itself and also never seemed to manage to actually "save" any of its prior groups of alleged criminals? Hmm.]
I have yet to hear anyone has succeeded in accessing any of said copies. So. Perhaps.
[...But he doesn't really want to get corrupted into a lizard person or whatever, so,] I have zero desire to live in that unstable world again.
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Was it that awful for you?
[Part of him wonders how that "glitching" he's heard of could even affect the ghost, given his apparent ability to become all but immune to danger. The other part recognizes that this place no doubt has its way of directly affecting anyone it's brought here, regardless of their current state—and is curious as to the particulars.]
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[He gestures to himself; this thing, the body, but also his usual ghostly form, so,]
...sustainability. I cannot be cavalier about "changes."
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