TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[space_aces]

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

Your journey only happened because of your benefactor, so it begets that it starts at your benefactor as well. SUPERBIA, which is as much of a location as it is an entity, is where everyone's search for Fortuna begins.

There's not much of a welcome party: shortly after their fateful encounter with SUPERBIA, in which they swore to join the quest to find Fortuna, the new Privateers will find themselves afflicted by a sudden change in perspective. See, teleportation is a tricky process, so from SUPERBIA's point of view, why not make the target destination none other than itself? One highly disconcerting moment later, and the Privateers find themselves inside the belly of the beast.

The vast mega-structure is shockingly lonely, void of anyone other than the Privateers. Those who look off the metal satellite and to The Network for intelligence (or take a skim at the Space Wikipedia article) will find out that the surrounding space is clear for lightyears; rumors have it that the place is cursed. It won't take long to understand why.

1

Overclocked

The innards of SUPERBIA are that of an impossibly scaled up computer, and the Privateers start right in the middle of it. You are the spider living in the dusty PS4. Literal rivers of coolant, transistors the size of mountains, landscapes made entirely of circuitry. The sky, bounded by a distant metal ceiling, is constantly alight with coursing electricity that cracks the sky with lightning storms. It can be assumed that the Privateers are the first living things to set foot here, because such a place is not ever meant to be traversed by delicate, organic, mortals that worry about things such as "temperature" or "voltage". SUPERBIA needs not lifeforms to continue its operations; why design for them? Traversal itself is difficult: unscalable walls and perilous drops are common to encounter. The only company the Privateers will find are oddly adorable maintenance robots, which sadly seem too occupied by their directives of maintaining the massive machine to offer any assistance (or even acknowledgement of their new guests).

It is immediately clear that the most urgent priority is to get the hell out of here. Before your adventure ends at the starting line.

2

Skeletons In The Closet

If one stays inside SUPERBIA, either by getting horribly lost or losing all common sense, one will notice a peculiar pattern emerge as one gets deeper into the bowels of the mega-structure. Passages shrink and become more level, and the incredible hostility and danger of the surroundings fade away, until one comes across areas which were definitely intended for humanoid organisms to use at one point.

The construction of these areas is cramped, unfurnished, and dreary; they are reminiscent of artificial environments meant to handle harsh external conditions like a submarine or bunker, but they are entirely livable. One can eventually find distinct rooms, but everything in them has crumbled to dust and their original purpose is nigh impossible to discern. Deeper investigation may reveal the few items that have stood the test of time. While it is more plausible for life to have existed here, that doesn't seem to be the case now. What happened here?

3

The Shipyard

In the opposite direction, when one finally reaches the outer edges of SUPERBIA, they will be rewarded with the place to pick up a spaceship and a stunningly beautiful view of outer space. The outside of SUPERBIA has no atmosphere to get between you and the stars, and they shine brightly, like a beacon calling one out into the first steps of adventure.

The shipyard is already filled with countless space ships of every size, form, and function, all autonomously constructed by SUPERBIA's factories over the countless years. What's the harm in taking one or twenty out for a spin? Even if one has no intentions of permanent ownership of the vehicle, it's not like SUPERBIA will miss it. For a Privateer with a more specific vision, however, there are kiosks around the yard which will allow one to design their very own space ship down to their exact specifications. When the process is done SUPERBIA's matter printers will have it out and space-ready right before your very eyes.

If a Privateer has a ship, vehicle, or large item that they intended to bring with them, they will also find them here, neatly parked in the Shipyard. Why didn't SUPERBIA extend this courtesy to the pilot's themselves? The answer is revealed as soon as the owner makes a closer inspection: the inner contents have been rearranged, like a whirlwind was unleashed inside and assorted loose items thrown around. Now aren't you glad your transportation was given special attention, and the same didn't happen to your innards?

4

Hot Crewmates in Your Area

But how will a single Privateer man an entire space ship? No worries: when one steps into a ship, the strangely endearing maintenance robots will suddenly take acute interest. The robots will follow inside and immediately start assuming the duties of a spacefarer, eliminating the need for extra hands on deck.

Even still, there's just no eliminating the want for a human touch, though. Thankfully even that dilemma has a contingency plotted by SUPERBIA.

Communication devices are easily available on every space ship. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from huge stationary consoles to portable smartphone-like screens. But whenever a Privateer attempts to access the Network, a pop-up will appear, obscuring the whole screen.

Tell me a little about yourself. Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER? What is your best feature?
The device will be rendered unusable until one relents to the pop-up's demands and provides answers to its questions. What will these be used for? The mystery will be solved when a social media app mysteriously installs itself on the same device, with profiles preemptively made for every Privateer. Each Privateer's profile consists of their given answers, paired with embarrassingly candid photographs. SUPERBIA has eyes in many places it seems.

Comments

Hermes v1 | Fortuna

[somuchshipping]

Where Angels Fear To Tread

[One moment, Hermes was in his computer game. The next, talking to someone apparently from the real world. The next, he's in the actual real world. Hermes looks around in wonder... which quickly dissolves into an expression of mundanity. Huh. Hermes didn't realize that the real world could actually look as mundane as a location within his computer game. He quickly shakes off his disappointment and bounds up to the nearest person.]

SoAreYou ARealPerson!? I'veNeverMetA RealPersonBefore! I'm Hermes. Who are you?

Overclocked

[You, Hermes, and the small group you've formed have been progressing slowly but surely. When you come to a bridgeless chasm above a river of coolant, Hermes wastes no time bursting forth and easily jumping over it with ease. Little four-legged robot can be very speedy it seems. Another person attempts to humpo over, but doesn't quite make it, only managing to grup using their hands. They're struggling, and Hermes can easily help them up, but he seems to be only opting to watch the person struggle with an amused exression on his TV screen of a face.]

The Shipyard

[When you and your group, including Hermes, manages to make it to the outer edges, everyone stares in awe of the scenery and ships. Suddenly Hermes gasps and bolts towards a particular ship.]

Wow! It's my ship!

[Hermes blinks, the implications finally reaching him.]

Wait... does this mean I agreed to get myself pirated?

Crewmates

[Tell me a little about yourself.]

I'm Hermes v1! An AI taken from a computer game. It's called... FORTUNA! What a coincidence, right?

[Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER?]

I'm happy to follow the orders of others. I've never really lead anything before. I don't think I will.

[What is your best feature?]

My speed! And my ability to ship! And my skill at giving out tutorials! And how cool I am!

where angels fear

[heeroics]

[ Unfortunately, a coversation with Heero Yuy is of questionable value in the 'talk to a real person' department. If one even gets enough words out of him to rate as a conversation at all.

The young man's drawn scowl and severe eyes are softened somewhat by his surprise and confusion at seeing a sentient TV screen? monitor? some kind of robot? bounding up to him with great enthusiasm. It's different enough to pull his attention away from the crackling metallic skies of their new home base.

Is he a real person? Who is he? These are all excellent philosophical questions. Maybe this is a test? Heero stares. ]

I don't know.

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes blinks, being a little antsy and sort of walking in place.]

What do you mean you don't know if you're real or not? I mean you weren't made by any developers, right?

[heeroics]

[ Heero thinks on that a second - but no. He wouldn't describe any of them as 'developers.' Not Odin Lowe, nor J, nor the Barton Foundation. ]

No.

[ He turns his eyes away from the strange TV person towards a river of coolant. He's lived on spacebound megastructures, but none of them ever looked like this, or had anyone who looks like Hermes on them. ]

This place may not be real.

[ And then it would follow that Heero isn't real anymore, either. ]

[somuchshipping]

Oh no, this place is the real world, all right! I should know. I was taken from my computer game. And since we're not in it, I can't do this...!

[Hermes lifts one of his clawfeet into the air and just slashes it downward. It creates a rip in space to a few feet away. Once Hermes notices this, which is nigh-instantly, he does a double take, just staring at it, baffled.]

[heeroics]

[ Wow.

This is a lot of information to take in at once, and not very much of it is helping to convince Heero that this place aligns with the traditional concept of reality, as he knows it. First of all: video game, what?

Heero, too, stares at the... rip. ]

What did you do?

[ Does this mean they're in a video game! Heero did not train for that. ]

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes glances at Heero briefly before turning his attention back to the hole in space, swiftly sealing it back up. He then looks above Heero's head and- huh? That works, too!? Huh...]

Huh... I was kind of under the impression that since my game runs on code and the real world doesn't, none of my abilities would work. You know, since they've all been programmed to work within Fortuna. That- that's my computer game.

And that's just from one of my traits, [Space Ripper].

[heeroics]

[ Of course Heero follows the screen's electronic gaze and looks up too - he has no idea what to expect from a video game. He's never so much as seen one played, let alone played one himself.

Better remain vigilant. ]

Reality can be simulated with enough processing power...

[somuchshipping]

[It was more looking a little directly up over Heero than at the ceiling above him. Heero sees nothing whilst Hermes saw a countdown. Don't worry about it. Heero has PLENTY of time. =] ]

Okay, but I don't actually believe we're in a computer anymore. SUPERBIA said the real world, so this is the real world. We just have to find a way out of here to see the rest of it.

[heeroics]

[ Seeing nothing is far more discomfiting than seeing something, somehow. ]

Do you have reason to trust SUPERBIA?

[ SUPERBIA, after all, is the entity that dumped them in this treacherous place. This leads Heero to believe the AI is concerned solely with the fate of Fortuna, not them. There are any number of mortals who would volunteer their very souls for the opportunity to find such a legend, an endless supply of Privateers. If shoving all of their minds into a simulation of the universe is the most efficient way to find Fortuna, Heero has no doubt that SUPERBIA would do it.

But then... Occam's razor demands some amount of restraint. Heero can't explain why a video game robot character is talking to him right now and can also rip space, but the practical thing to do is assume that this all is real and they should do exactly as Hermes has said. ]

Hm... you're right.

[ Heero doesn't specify about what. He just starts walking in any ol' direction. ]

[somuchshipping]

Think of it this way: If we're in a simulation, wouldn't my code be incompatible with their code? I wouldn't think SUPERBIA is coded using C++.

[Hermes will follow Heero. The AI isn't much one to lead.]

[heeroics]

[ Following Heero is maybe not the best option, but right now for poor Hermes it's Heero or nothing. Of course Heero's got no idea where he's going, but if they can get to one of the far walls, perhaps there will be some way to interface with the... whatever this is.

This place SUPERBIA has brought them to may be completely alien to him, but he can recognize some of the bits and pieces of circuitry that make up the innards of a computer, and that gives Heero some confidence.

If only this metal landscape weren't so hot. Heero wipes the sweat from his brow. ]

No. If the AI wanted us to be fooled, we would be fooled. An intelligence capable of simulating reality in realtime could easily make that reality appear to run on C++.

[somuchshipping]

Hmmm...

[Well... considering that SUPERBIA managed to have a 3D model in the game...]

Well... SUPERBIA did manage to hack itself into Fortuna... But if this is a simulation, wouldn't it already know where the not-game Fortuna is?

angels!

[riproduzione]

[ Abbacchio is quietly creeping around a corner when Hermes startles him, enough that there's a glow of green around him and a figure — a purple robot-looking thing — seems to emerge from his back and hovers behind slightly. The two of them turn to stare at the source of the voice. ]

Uh… [ And the two continue to stare, Abbacchio blinking a few times while the purple figure's featureless face remains impassive. ] Yes? Though, I guess that would depend on your definition of a real person?

[ He has no idea the sorts of beings he will meet in this place, but by his standards and in his world, he most definitely was real. ]

[somuchshipping]

[Abbacchio better be prepared because Hermes is going to talk a million miles per hour.]

IMeanNot FromAComputerGame. FromTheRealWorld! AlsoWhatIsThatAI? HowDidYou MakeItAppear LikeThat? AreYouAHuman? GodsI'veNever SeenAHumanBefore! What'sItLike BeingAHuman?

[riproduzione]

[ Oh, oh no. There's something almost charming about the barrage of questions, in a way it reminds him of Narancia. Which is also why he's kind of wishing he could pull his headphones on — as rude as it would be. He's having trouble keeping up. ]

Okay, okay. [ He holds up a hand, as if to say 'please stop'. ] How about we slow down, one question at a time: no, I'm not from a computer game.

[ Does that mean this bizarre fellow is? Abbacchio's been forced to accept a lot of things he thought impossible to be oh so possible over the past couple of years, but there's a line, you know. How is something like this even remotely possible? Behind him, Moody leans over Abbacchio's shoulder and makes a few small beeping noises. Abbacchio heaves out a sigh, and in the most deadpan voice asks his own question. ]

… Are you from a video game?

[somuchshipping]

Yep, I am! It's a roguelite space sim where the player can generate custom planets, species, and even people! You hop around from planet to planet in order to reach a certain planet in order to get to the treasure chest on it for rewards for your player characters! Both the planet with the chest and game are called...

Fortuna! Isn't that a coincidence?

[riproduzione]

Huh. That's a fairly large coincidence.

[ Abbacchio understood maybe half of those words in the order they were presented… roguelite space sim, what? Still, it confirms one thing: this AI? Is that what it is? They are from a video game, which is kind of weird, but sure, why not. Jabbing a thumb over his shoulder towards Moody Blues, he answers Hermes' second question. The Stand follows the motion of Abbacchio's hand before turning its head back to Hermes. ]

They're not an AI. You could say they're like a part of me.

[ He's never had to explain the concept of Stands to someone before, it was usually someone else that handled that particular conversation. ]

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes giggles a little at this human's lack of understanding of video game terminology before turning his attention back to this... part-of-him thing.]

Huh... I didn't know humans were capable of doing something like this. Weird that none of the people that played my save file said stuff about this, but it's actually kinda cool!

Also I miiiiight have something like that. Technically. I'm also my spaceship.

[riproduzione]

[ The most advanced video game Abbacchio has played is Snake. ]

Well, that's probably because none of the people who can do this played your game. Not everyone has this power.

[ The number of Stand users can't be that large when compared to the entire human population, surely, and the process of acquiring a Stand is unpleasant at best, fatal at worst, at least in his experience. That's not something that Abbacchio is going to get in to though, and it seems the other is more than happy to continue revealing increasingly strange information about themself. ]

You're both from a video game and a spaceship?

[somuchshipping]

[Oh. That makes sense. Besides, who would want to reveal personal information to the NPCs of a video game?]

Yeah. All AIs in Fortuna have a spaceship. The lore is that Prometheus gave the Notails the ability to put all of us AI in shells, then the Notails went on to create more and more generations of AI based off of us.

do lmk if the appearance is off o7

[riproduzione]

[ Abbacchio nods in understanding, while Moody's blank stare watches the AI, makes a low beep that fades with a click. ]

I see, so you could say that you're the AI of a ship, in the same way they're part of me. Did this Prometheus thing or the uh, the "No Tails" give you a name like they would a ship?

[ If he's going to see them around, he really would like something to address them by. Being able to put a name to the AI might make it easier to deal with the fact he's having a conversation with a computer screen on legs. ]

You can find a picture of Hermes in his journal proper, but p much, you got it

[somuchshipping]

[Right now, Hermes is feeling very comfortable. While they're not really a knowledge god with access to the database, he's still very much the AI that gives the tutorial.]

No, no, Prometheus is another AI like me! We all game our own names to ourselves. There's many gen ones, or first-generation AIs, but only one of each. I'm a Hermes unit, also gen one. But let's just call me Hermes.

What's your name by the way, human?

thumbs up!!

[riproduzione]

Well, Hermes… [ and Prometheus, like in Greek myth? With a glance to his Stand, he nods shortly and dismisses them. Some whirring, and they fade back towards Abbacchio in the same way they'd appeared. ] You can call me Abbacchio.

[ In the same way he omits his first name, for now Moody Blues' also name remains a mystery. Abbacchio is not in the habit of freely handing out information regarding his Stand, and the fact that Hermes could see them at all is partially troubling, though he wonders if that has more to do with this place that they're in rather than any inherent ability Hermes may have. ]

Don't suppose you know how to get out of here?

[somuchshipping]

[Well... not... exactly... Hermes glances around, then back to Abbacchio.]

We can walk out of here. You'd think SUPERBIA would give us a map or something.