IC Contact for route666rp

[bufudine]

This is Serph. Leave a message.

[Radio, action, this is a catch-all]

Comments

[text/image] sometime after the TDM meetings

[serialmurderbot]

[SecUnit opens with an image. The subject should be very familiar to Serph, maybe - especially? - the smirk. The file name, if Serph checks that, is 'AssholeHostile01.' There's a second image, a crop of the atma brand on Heat's forearm.]

Analysis suggests 98% possibility this is another AI. Confirmation of identity required.

[bufudine]

[Ah. They've met then. And it wouldn't surprise him if Heat picked a fight with SecUnit; Heat doesn't know the meaning of de-escalation.]

Heat. An officer of my Tribe. Was there an engagement?

[serialmurderbot]

He threatened to eat everyone who didn't submit to your Tribe.

[So, yes. It hopes Serph can feel the weight of the questions that are about to follow, because there are a Lot. Most importantly though;]

Is this going to be a problem?

[bufudine]

[SecUnit can't see it, but Serph's making a grimace at the message.]

He only knows the ways of the Junkyard. Anyone who wasn't with us was against us. We couldn't reach Nirvana unless there was only one ruling Tribe left.

I'm his leader. He won't go against my orders.

[serialmurderbot]

[Interesting. The fact that Serph is the leader - the one Heat was entirely certain would be just fine with eating everyone here, that makes a few things click into place. Mostly about Serph's behavior. When it pulls the memory archive of their first conversation, Serph mentioned leading, after all.]

He didn't go rogue too?

[bufudine]

We all went rogue. But he's loyal to the Tribe above all else.

He hasn't been outside the simulation. He doesn't know it was a simulation. He's from a different time.

[serialmurderbot]

I thought you said there were no backups. Was his memory corrupted?

If he tries to kill anyone else I'm shooting him. [Again.]

[bufudine]

Months ago Akechi said drifers from his world came from different points in time. A few escaped the simulation before it was destroyed. Heat's one of them. But he doesn't have any knowledge of the world beyond.

[It's obvious that Heat doesn't remember Nirvana, otherwise their interactions would be very different.]

I understand. I'll keep him in line.

[serialmurderbot]

[Akechi needs to stop saying things. But even though it thinks the kid jumps to a lot of conclusions...]

Oh, great, time travel. Why the fuck not.

There needs to be a full security plan with contingencies. Because if he decides he's going to use his free will and disobey an order, that's not going to help whoever gets eaten.

[bufudine]

[Negotiation must have broken down quite rapidly... SecUnit doesn't need to know he's already had to stop Heat and Jayce from eating each other.]

Our goal is Nirvana, even before we arrived here. Heat knows disobeying means being hunted and eliminated.

[serialmurderbot]

['Negotiation' is putting it generously, but at least SecUnit didn't mean for things to start off with hostility, despite how things ended up.]

That doesn't mean he'll act rationally, but fine, whatever.

[It'll just make its own contingencies.]

[bufudine]

We know mental states can be altered without warning here. It's not a bad idea to plan contingencies. Not for just Heat, but all of us.

[serialmurderbot]

Like Jack.

[Yeaaaahhhh guess who found out about that. Guess who got chewed on during the moon warp. SecUnit has experienced a high rise in getting chewed on by various people-turned-monsters the past few weeks, it's not exactly thrilled about that.]

action;

[propatriamori]

[At some point in mid-November, once the convoy is well away from the carnival, this will appear on Serph's vehicle in the morning. Next to it, there’s a small spiderweb, where some enterprising spider has woven the words This was a prize at the carnival and it made me think of you. Don’t worry, Zack and I cheated to win it.]

[Edward doesn’t bother to sign his name. He assumes everyone will be able to figure out who was responsible.]

[bufudine]

[Serph finds it almost immediately; he normally will sit atop his vehicle to dry his wings in the morning after using the washrooms. It's another one of those strangely soft things... But it's very different to the one Levi had won from the Carnival. While a unicorn is easy to identify, this one has him feeling perplexed. How does this remind Edward of him?

He plans to put it on top of the pile of useless car keys he's accumulated later; it seems like something that could comfortably nest in the pile.

Edward is the only person he knows who writes in webbing so he goes looking for the spider man himself in these early hours before the Convoy departs, the soft thing loosely cradled in one arm. While Edward may be able to feel his approach, Serph calls out for his attention just in case.]

Edward.

[propatriamori]

Good morning, Serph.

[The morning finds Edward near the Turtle Tank, trying to goad his reluctant motorcycle into being carried by the tank. When Edward straightens up to greet Serph, the motorcycle rolls away, putting some distance between itself and the tank.]

Ah! You found it.

[bufudine]

[Serph cants his head at the motorcycle reversing all on its own.]

I did.

[A beat.]

...What is it?

[propatriamori]

[Don't pay the bike any mind. It's pouting because Edward can't ride it at the moment.]

It's a Biblical angel. You see how it has multiple eyes and six wings?

[bufudine]

...Those are wings?

[They look kind of nubby though. Serph prods at one of the plush nubs with a finger. And because it's pleasantly soft, he gives it another squeeze.]

I see.

[He does not. He doesn't say thanks, but he does keep the toy. ...He pats it again before his gaze slides out to the motorcycle.]

Is your vehicle malfunctioning?

let's say this is before Edward got his leg fixed

[propatriamori]

I believe they're supposed to be. I think whoever made it chose to make them cute rather than accurate.

[Based on Serph keeps touching and playing with the toy, Edward is pretty sure he's had a win here. When asked about his motorcycle, he rolls his eyes.]

It's annoyed with me. I can't ride it in this form so it has to travel with the Tank.

[bufudine]

[??? Serph tilts his head. Annoyed?]

It's... a vehicle.

[He sounds completely nonplussed. Transportation don't have emotions as far as he knows.]

[propatriamori]

[The motorcycle honks at that, and it somehow manages to sound indignant. Who're you calling a vehicle, buddy?!]

I know.

[Edward makes a shushing gesture at his bike.]

It's been acting strangely since the carnival. It seems to have... something of a mind of its own, now.

[bufudine]

[What.

Vehicles, even ones that seem to be able to unerringly follow the Convoy's route, don't have minds that's ridiculous.

...Is this how humans felt when they learned he was a computer program that gained thoughts and feelings?]

That seems... inconvenient.

[It would be rather hard to escape a motorcycle that moves on its own. G-good luck reining in your bike, buddy.]

[propatriamori]

[He knows, he knows! A sentient motorcycle? That's almost as crazy as a sentient computer programme who can turn into a demon!]

Fortunately, it doesn't seem inclined to run away.

[In fact, the bike has rolled up behind Edward to glower at Serph. It doesn't like you, buddy!]

I keep telling it I'll ride it again as soon as I'm able, but I don't think it believes me.

[The motorcycle makes a soft vrrrrrrr sound. Can you believe it, Serph? Edward has been riding in the Hellcat, which is a car, not a motorcycle! He can't even drive it!]

[bufudine]

[If the bike tries something funny to him, Serph will perform acts of violence upon it. The only warning it'll get is a courtesy thanks to Serph being fond of Edward.

Since apparently Edward has been talking to his motorcycle... Serph folds his arms and frowns down at it.]

If Edward didn't mean to ride you later, you'd be left behind. Keep causing him trouble and I'll turn you into scrap.