001 | display name: leprechaun

[alaspooryork]

WHO: Delta and you
WHERE: Network
WHAT: Text broadcast
WHEN: Now
WARNINGS: None at the moment

Good afternoon to all. My name is Delta, and as no one else has stepped up to do so, I will volunteer to be your network administrator. If you have any questions or difficulty regarding your device or how to post with it, please feel free to contact me.

It seems several of you have been in a situation like this before. In my case, I was taken to a city called Proles where we were expected to help the residents hold off biologically modified "zombies". We were fitted with spinal ports said to help us resist the infection, but often these ports would "glitch", causing us to hallucinate, act strangely, modify our memories, experience physical changes, or fall into a deep sleep. We took them at their word, as we had little other choice. However, since coming here, my ports have not glitched. I have been in full control of myself for the first time in a very long while.

Until I visited the caves.

There is a strong electromagnetic interference there that immediately caused a minor glitch in my ports. If anyone else has biomodifications or metallic implants, I strongly recommend caution around the caves. Alternately, if anyone has discovered an effective type of shielding, I would be most interested.

Thank you.

Comments

Text from GHIDORAH

[complicatedliar]

No gods no masters! I didn't vote for you! DOWN WITH THE MAN.

[alaspooryork]

[This post has been flagged for deletion.]

[complicatedliar]

NOW WE SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM

[alaspooryork]

[This post has been flagged for abusive content.]

[complicatedliar]

HELP HELP I'M BEING REPRESSED

Previously on As Agra 10 Turns [backdated action]

[complicatedliar]

As soon as the glowing ponies--regarding which Loki is considering the feasability of capturing one as a pet--clear the path to the ocean, he and Delta decide to do a bit of exploring. The beach itself is quite lovely, and a pleasant walk for lovers to take as long as they avoid the more aggressive lobsters.

There's something odd in the air that Loki can't quite characterize, a scent that is not a scent, and nothing to do with the ocean. It's got him a bit distracted and looking around, which is perhaps why he notices what looks like a cave entrance first. "Oh, that's interesting." He points to it.

[alaspooryork]

Delta is also fascinated by the glownies - mostly regarding the action of their bioluminescence and wondering if they're engineered or naturally occurring, but to the point that he'd be willing to entertain Loki having one as a pet. Especially if they're only a few steps away from domestication and can be trained to pull cargo or take riders.

"Indeed. Shall we?" The caves look somewhere between natural and modified, and there might be some more interesting pieces of technology or clues to their captors here. Letting Loki take the lead, he follows cautiously. Something does indeed feel...different, but he's having a hard time quantifying what until they're inside the caves themselves.

And Delta blacks out.

It's only for long enough to make him lose his balance, but when he comes to he's on the ground and there's a distinct pain coming from one of the ports along his spine. "Ah-!"

[complicatedliar]

Loki doesn't notice anything amiss at first, because he's trying to grasp the odd energies in the air, finding a way to relate to them as if they're magic. It doesn't quite fit, like a lock where his key is a few pins off.

Then Delta falls over.

Loki's first instinct is to look for a source of attack. He's only got a crude stone knife to his name at the moment, but he still draws that. Then he sees the expression on Delta's face, the way he seems to be squirming.

As gently as he can while still being fast, he picks up Delta and carries him out of the cave.

[alaspooryork]

It's weird and it only lasts for a brief moment, but somehow Delta's not surprised that Loki's reacted quickly. He presses a hand to his temple (which doesn't hurt, but somehow he thinks it should) and makes an affirmative sound once they're out.

"Thank you. I do not know what occurred." Only he does, doesn't he? Delta frowns, thinking, as he sets his feet down and stands up, steady again. "It felt as though it were affecting my ports. What did you sense?"

Because Loki had obviously been 'seeing' something there.

[complicatedliar]

Loki grimaces at the mention of the ports, but they're undeniably there. He tugs down the back of Delta's shirt to take a look, just in case, but it isn't spurting blood or anything equally disturbing. "A glitch apparently occured. Which... it ought not. They ought to be inert, yes?"

He hums under his breath. "Energy. Not quite free-flowing. I'd need to spend more time to try to quantify it."

Text

[wearingthestars]

The caves also seem to affect powers. They made me and Tommy all glowy, and both our powers went kind of weird. I haven't figured out a way to shield from it yet, but if anyone comes up with anything, will you let me know?

Text

[alaspooryork]

Certainly. It would be advantageous to share such information.

Do you have a quantification for "weird"? Was your glowing in a similar fashion to the animals we recently encountered, or unique?

Text

[wearingthestars]

Well, I usually glow, but just my hands, it was kind of full body version of that for me. Blue. But Tommy doesn't, and he was glowing the same, but sort of a minty green. His speed was turned up to like 11. And my electrokinesis was going haywire like it was allergy season in there, I couldn't stop sneezing.

Text

[alaspooryork]

[Tommy's green? Delta's interest perks up. (Look, he has a thing for green.)]

Hmm. Electrical interference would corroborate the interference I experienced. Did it feel amplified, or as though the 'frequency' had changed? Apologies if it is an insufficient metaphor; we lack magic in my timeline.

Text

[wearingthestars]

[Tommy's all about green.]

I'm not the most versed in proper magic technique myself, I kind of break most of the established rules. But...yeah? I think so. It's not a bad way of describing it. It felt stronger.

Text

[doubled_speed]

[Urge to call the guy a nerd? High. Realization that someone who is clearly good with computers might be able to shut him out of texting with his father? Also high. Dammit. You get a pass this time, Delta. You also get a very lengthy message within milliseconds of posting. Fun, right?]

I'm not electromagwhatever or shit, but it was like my skin was itching and i had serious fucking energy
and I was sorta glow which isn't a family trait I normally have
but that's not really the same thing I guess
it does seem to make my whole molecular destabilization thing work when I'm fully charged
is fully charged the right term for it?
who cares
basically it means I can make things go boom
rather than just cracking or shattering
which I used to be able to do
the making things go boom
not the shattering
though I guess I could have done that too if I wanted to
anyway basically the caves are fucked up weird man

Text

[alaspooryork]

[...Fascinating. His response isn't as fast as the Vision's would be, but it's still awfully quick for a human.]

I hope you did not hurt yourself when you made an explosion. Is it correct that you had been able to do so before arriving here, but had found it suppressed before entering the caves?

Did the energy persist after you had left the caves, or was it dependent on the location?

Re: Text

[doubled_speed]

[He's only this slow because he can't interface directly with the device. There is an upper limit on character input speeds. Tommy runs into them and sometimes has to double back and fix things.]

well stickingg close enough to the explosion would have been stupid, so yeah, I was fun
and molecular acceleration or whatever was a thing I always did back home
and now this place or whatever makes it weird makes my weird
so yeah that's a pain

it lingered for a while
like I was charged up like a battery
and glowing
stupid shade of minty green too

Text

[alaspooryork]

[Delta's got the direct interface, but lacks his prior processing speed. Tradeoffs.]

Understood. Thank you for the clarification.

I am beginning to suspect it is an excess of energy; you were indeed charged like a battery. Fascinating that it was in a form you were compatible with. I am disinclined to try again unless I can shield my implants.

Admittedly, I prefer a Kelly green myself. Minty would be acceptable in a pinch.

[video] - she has no idea how to text

[tingmoonshadowpowers]

What is a - net-work-add-min-nist-traitor?

[She had a little trouble with that mouthful to begin with, but add the light Scottish brogue, and it might sound pretty funny to someone more used to the term.]

[video]

[alaspooryork]

[In response, Delta swaps over to video himself. He's a lanky, human-looking guy with a pleasantly soothing voice: American accent with a slight hint of Southern in there.]

Hello, and thank you for asking. Our communication devices connect to each other to send messages. Because each is connected to every other, it is called a network. As a self-appointed administrator, I can answer questions and provide help with the networking functions, as well as keep an eye on any potential abuse or suspicious activity. For example, if someone was sending repeated unwanted messages, I could assist you in temporarily blocking them until you could find them in person and give them a piece of your mind.

Re: [video]

[tingmoonshadowpowers]

[Rayla frowned a bit at the term 'self-appointed'. Self-appointed anything usually worked out bad.]

And why d'ya thin' you're the one who should be doin' this, Mr Self-Appointed?

[Did she sound wary? Did she sound suspicious? That was because she was.]

[video]

[alaspooryork]

[Delta runs a hand through his hair, and his expression is somewhere between longing and frustration.]

Primarily because an unsecured network can be dangerous, and I have both practical and theoretical experience managing systems of this nature. It is not my primary function, but unless we gain someone who has that specialization it is better than nothing. In the place I was previously located, malicious users would release damaging programs onto the network that could erase or modify personal data - it could change your words to say the opposite of what you had actually said at that time, for instance, so that anyone looking back would doubt their own memory or accuse you of a crime you had not committed.

If Callsign Foxtrot or another similarly qualified person were here, I would gladly relinquish the responsibility to them.

[reconstitution]

Your situation sounds like something I've heard before, and I know Proles sounds familiar...

[alaspooryork]

[He perks up a bit.]

It is a domed city on the planet called Zeus. The dome exists due to an airborne virus called "dysthrophe", which infects humans and causes a zombie-like transformation. The technology level is generally high, but they lack faster-than-light travel since their gate was destroyed and their grasp of AI is less than that of my own timeline. Still, they are extensively skilled at body modification, cloning, cybernetic enhancements, and ways to generally adapt to being suddenly sealed off from a planet they had before been able to move about freely in.

Does that help?