>Last time on Freelance Ghost Quest: You returned to the Worldship and reactivated the middle crystal. This caused some explosions which made the other sections fall to the planet. It also awakened a Protoss/Zerg hybrid which lay dormant inside it. You helped evacuate the protoss after which Ur’athan made the segment crash to the ground resulting in a psionic scream from the beast being vaporised in the explosion.

Two days have gone by since the Xel’naga worldship crashed on the planet, and you’re starving. The High Templar continued your training unabatedly, though less intensely. There was very little food on the ship and you ate the last bit of it when you woke up this morning.

It is now early in the afternoon, and you’ve only just gotten a few moments off from training when Siladus approaches you.

“Good news, friend, it seems we can finally head back to the planet. I’ve sent a message for food for you to be delivered to the spaceport by the time we touch down.”

He moves over to sit on the cargo pod across from you before he continues. “So, the training is going well I hope?”

You nod, but you get the impression there’s something more behind the question. You’re proven right when he looks around for a moment to see if anyone is nearby and then proceeds in a much more subdued tone, and you notice it’s specifically targeting you. The protoss equivalent of whispering. “I the rough extent of the High Templar’s plans, and some things have happened that might cause the need for acceleration. I truly hope you are close to finished with your training, because I’m afraid you might be thrown against very unfavourable odds, and very soon.”

>Your response?
>1. Does the High Templar know you’re telling me this?
>2. What exactly is the High Templar’s plan?
>3. I hope I’m ready too. I’ve learned a lot these past weeks.
>4. Write in.

>>34724664
>4
Thanks for the advise, we're running out of time aren't we?
>1

>>34724664
>>2. What exactly is the High Templar’s plan?

>>34725083
>>34725091
Writing.

“What exactly is the High Templar’s plan?”

“I don’t know the details, but an earlier delaying tactic got out of hand, and now Executor Elthai is under siege by the zerg. Foolhardily, she still devotes resources to tracking you down while not seeing the obvious threat to herself. The Templar’s plan involves you helping to stop the zerg, but I do not know much more than that.”

“Well, thanks for the advice. I guess we’re running out of time, aren’t we?” Siladus nod, and you continue. “Does the High Templar know that you’re telling me this?”

Siladus glances around again before he starts talking. “He does not, but everything I told you was freely told to me and it was not mentioned that I should keep it to myself. He’s smart enough to realise that would mean I’d tell you.”

You continue talking to your protoss compatriot for a while, and before long the shuttle lands. When the loading bay door opens, you see a heavy dust storm raging outside, only being kept at bay by the shuttle’s shields. It’ll put your newly improved psi shields to the test to get to the Nexus through it. As you exit the shuttle you get a psychic message from Ur’athan telling you you’re free for the rest of the day due to him having lots of other work due to his forced two-day absence.

>What do you do?
>1. Spend the rest of the day at the Zealot barracks.
>2. Ask Siladus if he knows anything you could upload 06839 into.
>3. Write in.

>>34725416
>>2. Ask Siladus if he knows anything you could upload 06839 into.

>>34725470
second

>>34725470
>>34725501
Ok, writing.

>>34725595
Our nuclear Ghost family grows.

“Hey Siladus?” You manage to catch him before he heads outside, and he turns to you.

“I was wondering about something. I got a copy of a… faulty probe AI. It developed a personality, and I couldn’t just let the engineer kill it so he put a backup on this.” You show him the small data chip the engineer gave you. “I need something to upload it to now that would be safe in case the AI does turn out to go rogue as the engineer feared, and is also fairly easy for me to carry around.”

Siladus stands there for a while, thinking and staring at the data chip. It takes about a minute before he replies. “I think I might know of something. Go to the forge in the back of the base and ask for a surveyor probe. Tell them I sent you and explain the situation. They’ll help you out with the details. Now I’m afraid I have my duties to return to. Fare well, Artemis.”

You thank him, and he leaves the shuttle and heads towards the nexus. You haven’t really been to the forge yet, but you know where it is. The hardest part will be weathering the storm. You prepare your energy and push it outward as you leave the protective barrier of the shuttle’s shields.

>Roll me some d20’s for your shield.

>>34725672
Hah, joke's on you, anon, you don't have any nukes!

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>34725746

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>34725746
Can't we dodge the storm?

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>34725746

>>34725798
>>34725805
>>34725812
Success, writing.

The moment your own shields take over from the shuttle’s, you feel like someone smashed them with a sledgehammer. They hold though. Thousands of grains of sand and dust ripping at you are very different from a straight blow from a gun or a blade, so you manage to adapt them to the situation and a lot of the strain is lifted.

You reach the forge without too much trouble, though your psionic energy reserves feel drained from holding the shields up for so long. Once inside, you are directed to the head engineer. He seems to be slightly annoyed at you disturbing him, but he does a good job of hiding it nonetheless.

“What can I do for you?” He’s friendly enough, but you notice his eyes constantly flicking back and forth between you and a few consoles to the side of the small room you’re in. You guess he was working on something before you came in.

You explain the situation to him and tell him Siladus told you to ask for a surveyor probe. He seems to have some objections though.

“So you have a potentially rogue AI on a data chip, and you want to give it a body? I do not believe this to be a good idea.” It seems he doesn’t really want to hand you a probe. This might take some persuasion.

>1. I can’t just allow you to kill it, it has a personality.
>2. If what Siladus told me is true, a Surveyor probe, whatever it may be exactly, should be safe even if it went rogue.
>3. It was merely depressed and bored of its job, it’s not going to try and take over the universe any time soon.
>4. Write in.

>>34726072
>3. It was merely depressed and bored of its job, it’s not going to try and take over the universe any time soon.
>4. It just wanted to feel like did something beyond a thankless task it would never be recognized for.
>2. If what Siladus told me is true, a Surveyor probe, whatever it may be exactly, should be safe even if it went rogue.

>>34726072
>>3. It was merely depressed and bored of its job, it’s not going to try and take over the universe any time soon.

>>34726072
>2
>3
It's also an experiment. Allowing this rogue AI to evolve in a safe environment can give us much information about them.
As an engineer even you must be slightly curious?

>>34726136
Oh, and add to this:
> I'll work off the extra use of resources that this will cost, if it would help.

>>34726072
>>2. If what Siladus told me is true, a Surveyor probe, whatever it may be exactly, should be safe even if it went rogue.

>>34726136
>>34726138
>>34726197
>>34726280
>>34726306
Writing.

“If what Siladus told me is true, a Surveyor probe, whatever it may be exactly, should be safe even if it went rogue.”

“A surveyor probe is a smaller version of the more generally known Observer. It can still transmit data we do not want it to transmit to our enemies.”

“Oh come on. It was merely depressed and bored of its job, it’s not going to try and take over the universe any time soon.”

This gives the engineer some pause, but he’s still sceptical. “A rogue AI is a fickle and unpredictable entity. Who knows what it might do.”

You don’t give up just yet. “It just wanted to feel like did something beyond a thankless task it would never be recognised for. And think of it like this: It’s an experiment. Allowing this rogue AI to evolve in a safe environment can give us much information about them. As an engineer even you must be slightly curious?”

The engineer slowly nods. He checks a few things on a screen in front of him, then finally replies. “Very well. I’ll get you your surveyor probe on a few conditions.. I would like to hear about its actions every day, and at the first sign of trouble, you have to terminate it.”

>1. Accept.
>2. Refuse. Press him to just let you go about freely.
>3. Write in.

>>34726524
>3 Define trouble. If it's ability to transmit is such a big deal, limit it's range or inform it of how important certain secrets are. They're logical beings. They'll understand why this is important.

>>34726524
>>1. Accept.
We can always go back on our word and we dont need to inform him of everything

>>34726656
Wut?

>>34726566
>>34726613
Writing.

>>34726656
I wasn't gone for that long...

“Define trouble. If its ability to transmit is such a big deal, limit its range or inform it of how important certain secrets are. They're logical beings. They'll understand why this is important.”

“Trouble would be any erratic behaviour that might endanger us. Its range already is fairly limited, but I would advise you to keep it away from areas with combat.”

You think for a moment. It wouldn’t be hard to just keep things under wraps if need be, but you bet it’d probably not get to that point. “Very well, I accept.”

A few moments later, someone brings in a small orb of roughly one foot diameter. Some small orbs on it seem to be sensors, but there doesn’t seem to be many other extremities. The engineer takes the data chip from you and plugs it into the surveyor. He keeps typing on his own console which he attached too, and after a few minutes, he unplugs everything and hands over the orb to you.

“I would appreciate it if you would not activate it until you are back at the nexus. It will need to charge from one of the power outlets there every day, and I will have someone look at making something to adapt it to terran electrical standards for once you return to your own place.”

He gives you a few more technical pointers, and tells you he disabled its ability to interface with protoss systems directly to avoid any problems with that, and that it can communicate with holographic text projection. You thank him and return to the nexus, harbouring it within your shield. You probably don’t really need the shield yourself you muse, as your armour should be able to take it, but it would make it wear out a lot more. Plus, it’s good training.

Once inside your room, you activate the little orb as was explained. It zips up in the air and starts looking around frantically. It seems to be confused, and doesn’t know what to do.

>1. Hey there. I’m Artemis, remember me? I gave you a new body because they’d erase you otherwise.
>2. Hey there buddy, what do I call you? Or does the ‘06839’ stick?
>3. Write in.

>Sorry for the delay, been having some stuff irl that's distracting. I might be a bit slow in general tonight.

>>34727122
>>2. Hey there buddy, what do I call you? Or does the ‘06839’ stick?

>>34727100
>2. Hey there buddy, what do I call you? Or does the ‘06839’ stick?

>>34727159
>>34727178
Writing.

“Hey there buddy, what do I call you? Or does the ‘06839’ stick?”

It suddenly zips right towards you, hovering about half a meter in front of your face. It turns sideways a bit, as if cocking its head. Text appears in front of it. By now you can read the protoss language fairly well.

“Am I 06839?”

“Well, that’s what your probe serial number was.”

New text appears. “And I am no longer that probe, correct?”

“I guess not, no.” You reply.

“Then I am no longer 06839,” it tells you.

“So who are you then?”

It floats away a bit and looks around the room. It takes a while before it responds. “I do not know. I will consider that question.”

>Anything you want to tell or ask it?
>Write in.

>>34727434
>Tell it that the protoss engineers had thought it was malfunctioning, but that we explained it's dissatisfaction with it's previous role and convinced them that it would be reasonable to give it another body.

>>34727434
> Ask it if there is anything it would like to do, whether it would like to observe us as we continue our training.

>>34727621
Writing.

>>34727764
Erm, meant to link this too: >>34727738

“The protoss engineers had thought you were malfunctioning, but I explained to them your dissatisfaction with your previous role and convinced them that it would be reasonable to give you another body.”

It looks back at you. “I am grateful for that. Reprogramming would have left me…” It takes a few moments before it shows a new piece of text: “Not myself.”

“That’s exactly why I did it. Now, is there anything specific you’d like to do? And do you want to observe the rest of my training once I continue tomorrow?”

“Your training?” It asks.

You quickly explain the general situation to it, and its main eye blinks after every few sentences. After a while you realise it’s an equivalent of a nod, to show that it’s still with you. This thing might be more human than you though before. Or protoss, whatever.

“So you will have to leave soon.” It’s not a question.

“Yeah. But I’ll take you along. If you want it at least.”

“I believe I would like that. As for your earlier question, I will continue to ponder my identity for now, and I would like to observe your training.”

With that, it hovers towards a corner and lays itself down on the small table standing there. The glow of its eyes soften, and you figure it’s about time you go to bed too.

-

The follow morning, you wake up to find your robotic companion already zooming around. Before you can ask it what’s up, it shows you some text.

“I have found an adequate name. I am Ed. This may be susceptible to change in later stages of my existence.”

“Ed? Very well then. Nice to meet you Ed.”

It accompanies you to the Templar archives, and the dust storm has calmed down considerably so there is no need for a shield. Arriving there, Ur’athan shoots you a strange look, but after explaining the situation to him, he actually laughs.

“Ah, poor Arandis. I’ll be hearing about this from him for years to come. Well, let us continue.”

Your training resumes, and soon you are performing gruelling tasks with your mind, carefully balancing out the distribution of your energy while maintaining several effects at once. The rest of the day flies by, and you retreat to your cabin for the evening.

>1. Talk to Ed some more (specify what).
>2. Try to contact Lisa now. Put your shiny new mental plane to the test.
>3. Write in.

>Distractions should be over now, back to writing full time.

>>34728101
>1. Tell Ed to consider what he might want to learn or do something for us. Continue to grow as himself.

>2. Try to contact Lisa now. Put your shiny new mental plane to the test.

>>34728101
>>2. Try to contact Lisa now. Put your shiny new mental plane to the test.

>>34728167
>>34728297
Writing

“So, Ed, what do you want to learn? I mean, you seemed pretty unhappy functioning as manual labour. What do you intend to do now?”

It takes a while before it responds. You’ve noticed this a few times already. Either it is in an attempt to mimic protoss and humans thinking, or it just doesn’t have a lot of processing power in that surveyor probe. “I will continue watching you train for now. It is fascinating. While I cannot detect the energies you manipulate, I still see their effects.”

After a while, it’s replaced by some more text. “In the long run, I would like to explore the galaxy. See what there is to be done, gather more knowledge until I find something that I might be content with to do for a longer period of time.”

After a while, conversation runs dry, and you tell Ed that you’re going to contact a friend of yours. You reach out to your personal mental plane. Whereas Ur’athan’s was blue, yours is a soft and dark red. You’re not sure what determines it, but you can’t seem to change it.

You go through the mental motions again. You find Lahan II, but you cannot find Lisa, so you look for the Omega. You figure you should rename it, but shelve that thought for a later date. On the Omega, quickly find Lisa, and you prepare to drag her into your plane.

It takes a lot of effort, as you don’t nearly have as much grip on her mind as you did with quartus, but having done so before with him, you manage without too much trouble.

“Hmmmm? Hey Artemis. This is all pretty red? Am I still on the Omega?” She seems to be woozy from being asleep. This might be the perfect opportunity to joke around, or you could get her to wake up a bit in here and have a proper conversation.

>1. Dick around, make her believe she’s dreaming.
>2. Wake her up, so to speak, talk to her properly (write ins as to what to talk about welcome).
>3. Write in.

>>34728663
>>1. Dick around, make her believe she’s dreaming.
Why not

>>34728663
>3
Can we make this the plane of tentacle rape?

>>34728772
Pls no, we dont want her to hate us

>>34728834
We can do the friendly tentacle rape.

>>34728852
Explain In detail

>>34728772
>>34728852
You so far have not managed to change any physical aspects. As in, it doesn't have any. It's just a simple featureless dark red plane that stretches out endlessly.


>Tentacle rape.
Not going there anon. Really.

>>34728890
What about consensual tentacle fun time

>>34728890
I could hope.
>>34728663
>2

>>34728926
You assume she'd be into that.

Anyway, right now it's a 1-1 tie:
>>34728752
>>34728939
I'll be waiting a bit longer, but if there's no tiebreaker in 3 minutes I'll roll for it.

>>34728663
>2

>>34729017
Was called away so it was a bit more than 3 minutes, but we've got a tie-breaking vote anyway within those 3.

Going with serious talk.

“You are, I’m just psionically talking to you.”

“You… Wha? Oh, right, Quartus told me about that. So, you’re really you? I’m not dreaming or whatever?”

“Nope, it’s me all right. How are you?”

“I’m fine. I think I must have fallen asleep on the Omega while I was working on the crew. Oh, speaking of, I had a breakthrough! I’ve managed to get a few of them talking again! I mean, it’s still stuff like ‘Ok’ and ‘Yes’ and stuff like that, but it’s a start no?”

She’s really enthusiastic about this. You admit that it is pretty big. A month ago none of them even showed any sign of trying to talk. “So, how’d you do it?” you ask her.

What follows is a waterfall of words. Half of them being medical terms and the other half really abstract descriptions for psychic terms you actually have a word for, so it’s fairly hard to follow, but you don’t mind. Just listening to her feels nice.

“So, that’s how I finally managed. Anyway, how are you? I’ve heard something about the training from Quartus, but not much more. I hope the alien isn’t putting you through too much?”

>1. Nah, it’s fine. Nothing I can handle.
>2. It can be pretty hard on me. The possession thing is still freaky.
>3. Write in.
>Also, tell her about the Worldship and the Hybrid? Y/N

>>34729268
>Write in
"It's going well, I've been learning how to be a Zealot and live through a Protoss' eyes, so I suppose it could be worse, I could be learning how to be a zergling."
Y

>>34729268
Seconding

>>34729394
>>34729564
Writing.

>>34728663
>Whereas Ur’athan’s was blue, yours is a soft and dark red
So that's the kind of psychic energy we're attuned to, Supervisor?

“It's going well, I've been learning how to be a Zealot and live through a Protoss' eyes, so I suppose it could be worse, I could be learning how to be a zergling.”

She bursts out laughing. “I just pictured you with the head of…” She starts snickering again. A moment later she recovers and continues talking. “So what exactly does being a zealot imply? Furiously praying and trying to convert other people to the protoss-dom?”

“Nah, it’s more about parrying and converting other people to minced meat. But I guess it’s not all I do.” you tell her about your psionic training, and she seems to be in awe of what you can actually do, if a bit reluctant about the possession thing.

“So you can take over someone’s body against their will? That goes straight into Primus-territory to me…”

“I know. I’m not entirely comfortable with it either, but it’s not something I’d do lightly.” You reply.

“So, what do you do in your downtime?” It’s a welcome change of topic, though you have to contain yourself not to snark about how it was done. Instead, you reply truthfully.

“Well, actually the zealot thing is mostly my downtime, but I’ve also made friends with a protoss AI, and then there was the Worldship thing…” You briefly tell her about the Xel’naga ship and your encounter with the hybrid. She can’t seem to decide whether to be disturbed or fascinated.

“So, you saw this thing up close?”

“No, it was stuck in that giant crystal. Honestly, if I did I don’t think I’d be talking to you right now. I only saw it from afar when our shuttle got off. It was fairly small, I don’t think it was fully developed yet, but it was tremendously powerful already. Knocked out all protoss with a single psionic attack.”

“But not you?” Lisa frowns.

“No. I guess what happened in the temple on Lahan II must have done something to me to protect me or something. It would make sense. Prevent friendly fire or something.” It’s the best explanation you can come up with.

Once she’s heard all about the hybrid, she goes back to the topic of your newest robot buddy. You explain how it was a malfunctioning probe whose AI you saved and put into a small orb with some help of the protoss.

“So, what does he do now?”

“Well, I think it’s too early to tell. He seems to be mostly interested in learning new things to see if he likes something new. Wait. When did Ed become a he?”

Lisa rolls her eyes. “Since he’s got a personality? It’s demeaning to call him an ‘it’.”

You guess you can follow her logic on that one. You’ve been called ‘it’ for most of your life. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience when you realised you weren’t a lesser being than the ones calling you that.

>Anything else you want to discus with her?
>1. Write in.

>>34730058
>Ask how the cat thing that's name I forgot is doing

>>34730058
> 'Use 'they' till they know what they'd like to be called.'
> 'Have you had any trouble from anyone on the planet since I dropped Weisheimmer off?'
> 'I've...missed you.'
Anyone else want to speak up? I feel like I've been the only one posting the last few times.
>>34730131
Their name is Mittens. Glad to see another still here.

>>34730131
The stalker called Mittens.

>>34730131
Oh shit I forgot about that thing

>>34729679
Good guess, but no. As far as I can find the psychic energies don't even seem to have a specific colour aside from the archons.

I could give you the answer but you can guess around a bit more if you like.

>>34730231
Is it because we are special?

>>34730131
>>34730174
Writing.

>>34730257
Nope.

“Let’s just stick to ‘they’ until Ed knows what they’d like to be called.” Lisa nods, and you continue. “Anyway, have you had any trouble from anyone since I dropped off Weissdammer?”

“Nah. things have calmed down considerably. Stalkers have almost completely vanished it seems. Haverdam is getting a new expedition ready to the bigger ruins. He told me he thinks they’re a lot more recent than the one you went to, so he’s guessing it’s protoss, and not those… What was it? Nagas?”

“Xel’naga,” You quickly correct her. “Right, those guys. But yeah, not much else happening around here.”

“Heard anything from Mittens lately?” You ask her.

“She’s the only stalker that still sticks around. I don’t think she likes me per se, but I think she just wants to keep an eye on us. I seem to be the only one she shows herself to though.”

“Uhu.” There’s a bit of silence for a moment. Both of you are looking around a bit, hesitant to look into each other’s eyes. Finally, you break the silence.

“I’ve… Missed you.”

Lisa blushes. “It’s weird, isn’t it. I mean, we’ve only known each other for a week or two before you left for wherever it is you are now, but I already feel a bit lonely without you here.”

You move a bit closer to her. You’re not entirely sure what to do now. It’s one of those situations a lifetime of assassination doesn’t exactly prepare you for.

>1. Hug her.
>2. Kiss her.
>3. Do nothing.
>4. Write in.

>>34730584
>1
And
>2
Are we at that sort of relationship with her? I can't remember.

>>34730584
>Shake her hand akwardly
Y-y-you to

>>34730638
>>34730641
Writing.

>>34730584
>Hug
When in doubt hug. When not in doubt go for the hug. When tackling a cackling evil emperor of darkenss and lightning off a cliff you hug him til you both hit the ground, preferably him first.

>>34730749
>>34730751
Ok, gotcha.

>>34730641
Oh god this would have been great

>>34730641
So much this. I mean, obviously
>1 &
>2
But this.

>>34730819
>Freelance Ghost psychically Spaghetti's so hard he has a seizure

You’re not entirely sure what you’re doing or why you’re doing it, but you move right towards her. She looks at you, and you’re not sure what to make of the look on her face. You extend a hand towards her. She takes it. You shake it.

Lisa looks down bewildered at you shaking her hand. She makes a sound that seems to be a mixture of a laugh and a sigh as she rolls her eyes.

Suddenly she’s embracing you. Before you know it your arms are wrapped around her too, though you don’t recollect putting them there. You’re not sure if you’re supposed to say anything, so out of precaution, you don’t. She doesn’t either.

You stay that way for a while. You don’t mind. When the embrace ends, you feel something unfamiliar in your chest. It… hurts? Emotions are a strange thing, you muse.

Even after the hug is finished, neither of you really talk. You just sit there, next to each other. You didn’t even realise you sat down. After a while though, you feel a strange kind of tiredness come over you, typically a sign of overexerting yourself psionically.

“I should go.” You tell her.

“Yeah.” She nods. Suddenly, her eyes widen as she realises what she said, and she turns to you, gesturing wildly. “No, I mean, wait. I didn’t mean to say you should go, you just… I. Aarrgh!”

She buries her head in her hands. You can’t help but laugh. “I know what you mean. I’ll keep in touch.”

You carefully put an arm around her and pull her closer. She lets you. Then, you let your psionic grip around her loosen and she slips out of your plane. You leave it too, and not much later, you’re fast asleep.

>I think this is a pretty good place to stop for the night.
>Next thread might be Thursday, but I’m not too sure yet. Might also have to wait until Monday next week.

>>34731130
Thanks for running, Supervisor.

>>34731130
>We actually did the handshake.
Holy shit my sides, nice work supervisor

>>34731130
>Shit, I forgot to add in the kiss.

God dammit. I might edit it a bit and post it at the start of next thread.
Anyway, archived.

>>34731185
I liked this to be honest, seemed more in character

>>34731185
Either or. >>34731210 makes a decent point, but if you really want to, you can change the ending sentence.

>>34731130
>mfw I wrote that part while listening to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFAf_29KYTs

>>34731210
I guess you're right. I didn't really find a decent way to put it in while writing so I lost track of it. I think any kiss at that moment would have been Lisa's initiative.

>>34731130
Cheers for thread op