You scoot up to the door as quietly as you can, pressing an ear up to it. The wood of the door is thick and heavy, making it a little hard to hear through. You look around for something that could help, but there's little you can use. Instead, you crouch down and try to listen under the door instead, finding a decent spot that seems to give the clearest quality. You can hear your brother speaking somewhat, apparently his usual gruff, stalwart refusal to let someone near you without your direct say-so. The other voice is...oddly hard to pin down. Muffled? Distorted? Whatever it is, it's nothing normal...

Please roll 1d100. Best of 3.

Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>1153921
Hey there AM.

>>1153954
Hello! Welcome back!

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>1153921
Doubt I'll beat 88 but I'll give it a bash.

Please don't be a Nat 1.

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>1153890

>>1154069
Not a 1, but not far off!

Writing.

You get in a good spot, requiring a rather unladylike, awkward position on the floor, but it works for what you need. The reason then becomes clear as to why the other voice was difficult to understand. It is, indeed, muffled somewhat, possibly by a face mask. But that's not all; it's two voices at the same time. Hydra? Why is she here? It's tricky, but you pick up a few words and phrases here and there.

"...promise to see..."

"...just a peek..."

"...it'll be fun..."

All the while Ares is having none of it. He sounds like he's getting madder by the second, but hasn't resorted to physical violence or anything yet.

"Get off me." you hear Ares growl.

"...object perfection..."

"...engineering masterpiece..."

"...artful craftsmanship I..."

Hydra's being creepy again...
>Open the door and see what's going on
>Keep it shut and wait for her to leave
>Other (write in)

>>1154423
>Open the door and see what's going on

>>1154423
>Open the door and see what's going on

>>1154518
Breach and clear it is!

Writing!

Your curiosity gets the better of you again and you decide to find out what the fuss is all about. You stand up, brush off your dress a little and open the door. Before you stands a very irritated Ares being clung to by a very handsy, very curious Hydra. She's basically doing what she did to you, but with much more fervor. She seems very interested in his parts, poking and prodding at joints and digits. Her tail-like lower body is twitching like mad.

"Had I the capacity, I would love to make my own one of you." Hydra says, examining his forearm closely, "An army even. I imagine that's what you're...oh."

Hydra notices you, releasing her grip and slithering past Ares so fast he nearly falls flat. She's a good five or so inches from your face now. "There you are. Your guardian is very unwilling to let me in. I have quite a bit to speak to you about...not to mention you're clearly overdue for a checkup, I'm sure. How good could the Broken Circle's mechanics be?" Hydra giggles in what can only be described as both one of the most lovely and painful laughs you've ever heard. One voice has a gentle, tittering giggle that reminds you somewhat of Babsy. The other sounds like it could be dying or in pain, with a sort of "kkkhhhk, keeekh, hheekkh" sound to it.

"So, may I come in? I brought my bag." Hydra raises a small duffel bag bulging with tools and spare parts and marked with more of those red crosses done in spraypaint.
>Allow Hydra in
>Bar her entry, she's fine right where she is
>Other (write in)

>>1154620
>Allow Hydra in, ask her to sing for us after she's done

So, can you tell me how long you've lived here?

>>1154620
>Allow Hydra in

>>1154620
>>Bar her entry, she's fine right where she is

>>1154641
The doctor is in.

Writing!

>>1154688
I wish we could've gone with that but I've been pretty slow on the draw these past couple threads.

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>>1154789
also why do I get the feeling hydra might be all... Prometheus-y.
But maybe that's a red herring

Also holy hell sorry its been so LONG
work has been miserable. and i've been working on some of my own projects lately haven't had much chance to catch up.

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>>1154817
(i haven't caught up yet so I have no idea if this image is at all accurate.)

Ares is frantically shaking his head no. You ignore him. "Sure, I guess." you say, stepping aside and letting her through. Without a second word, she practically flings herself into the room, center eye nearly spinning in circles with how fast it's moving around. She gives Linus half a glance, apparently finding him uninteresting. Perhaps she's already creeped on him enough to sate her curiosity. Aph, however, is holding her third eye's attention very much. Several of her hands are twitching. You make a mental note to keep her away from her.

She manages to compose herself long enough to speak to you. "So, you look fine, but let's get a real good diagnostic, 'kay? Don't worry, I'm kind of a doctor."

Without any say so from you, you are whisked onto your bed/cradle and your dress removed. Had you the concept of violation, you would be feeling it a little bit right now. She checks joints, lifts plates, holds up weird instruments to various parts, all while smiling broadly. You get the feeling a lot of the residents here dread a visit to her workshop for this reason. She's a little too enthusiastic. But then she begins talking in a very tiny, barely whisper voice...while also speaking loudly with her other. The louder voice is going on about your design, complimenting the aesthetic and function, making notes of different pieces and their use. The other, quieter whisper, however, is far more interesting...

"Minos doesn't know I'm here. He doesn't want anyone bothering you, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, will it? Still, eyes and ears everywhere, hmmm? Khhk kekhh kehhh...you and me have a lot in common, you see. Curiosity, mainly, but also a yearning. A need to find someone. I can't go into the details, mm, too many details...do you know what cascading hardware failure means? Mmm, no, probably not..."

"Hey, uh..." Ares speaks up in an attempt to figure out what's going on once the initial shock wore off, but her loud voice promises he'll get his turn, and to give the lady some privacy. Oddly enough, he backs off.

"Boys. Mmm, kkkheh keh..." Hydra winks at you with her one normal eye, "Anyway, I'm dying. Shutting down, part by part. Nasty business, mm? Nobody around here can do much about it, even I'm basically just guessing half the time. I was a medical android. I worked on people, not machines, so I'm out of my element. But better than most. Anyway, the humans that made you, they could fix me. Better than just tearing parts off and replacing them with whatever's handy, anyway. So, you finding them is helpful to me. So, I would like to help. But shh, that's a secret..." Hydra places a single finger on your mouth and winks again.

(cont...)

"They were here. The humans, I mean. When you woke up, they made a mad dash to get rid of them. Hide them away somewhere. I wasn't even supposed to know about them, but Minos underestimates my curiosity. I found them after some snooping. Never spoke, but I knew they were there. So, hmm, you find them, we both benefit, yes? Now, what I'm going to need from you is a little trust for the good doctor. Me, that's me. Think you can do that? If you can, if we can be the best of buddies, we can both get out of here and do as we please. What do you say? Work with me? I promise it'll be fun. I promise it'll be dangerous! I promise there will be quite a bit of mayhem! But most of all, I promise we'll find them."

The look on her face is...well, the first time you've seen her have any semblance of seriousness since you met her...
>Agree to trust her
>Refuse, you can't trust her
>Other (write in)

>>1154923
>Agree to trust her
Mayhem doesn't sound very nice though.

>>1154845
The Iris embraces you...
Looks pretty great, but she only has one head. It's just made of several parts mashed together. So merge those three heads together and you'd be pretty spot-on. Also she has patchy, random hair also stuck together from various bits.

>>1154923
>Agree to trust her
I know someone who might know how to help, or might now where to look. I just hope you won't mind if she's a human.

>>1154943
With a name like Hydra I was drawing inspiration from pinwheel and that one monster from 9.

>>1154923
We need a reason to trust you.. Getting mad scientist about ares isn't comfy but yeah. We know a human who can help.
and maybe she can be an ally against Prometheus.

>>1154961
I got a very "Pinwheel" feel from her! What a delightfully fucked up (but pathetically easy) boss that was. Excellent pictures, though.

Writing!

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>>1154969
multiple faces in one reminds me of some obscure bionicle lore. thank you.

so shouldn't we take her to Mouse right now?

"Alright." you say quietly, though still unsure why you're whispering, "I...guess I'll trust you? Though I don't really like the idea of mayhem..."

"Very much a necessity." Hydra responds, "But good. Very good, mm. Now, here's the fun part where the carnage comes in. You see, I need you to find a way to get me to those humans. And obviously we need to find them first, yes? So, I know that Arachne is a stickler for keeping records. Can't stand it when something isn't logged or noted somewhere. Odds are, she has info on where they took your human friends. So, I have two...mm, three plans to find it. First plan: during the celebration tomorrow, my little song recital is near the end. They have hours of little talent show performances they're going to make you sit through. Plenty of time for me to disappear. I look through her stuff, find information, then get back in time for my song. Easy, little risk to you, plenty of risk to me. Might have to off some androids, but that's how these things are. Second plan: during my performance, you send someone else to snoop. I'm pretty popular, if I do say so mysef. Khhe keehk. All eyes will be on me, so less likely to meet resistance. Linus is out, little boy is too scared of Minos and the others, won't do it. So, either your guardian here or the fleshy one over there." She points to Aph. "But if she gets caught, the'll probably tear her apart and re-purpose her into a couch. Him, he'll probably end up shooting up the place. Who knows? Lastly...we raze this place with your...fit fellow with all his shiny weapons. Everything burns, we walk in, take what we need and make our way to them. Most of them won't be missed..."

Those are some...plans...
>Tell her you could take her to Mouse instead
>Tell her to find the info herself during the celebration
>Ask Aph to do it
>Ask Ares to do it
>Other (write in)

>>1155132
Whew, sorry about the delay. Man, that messed my writing up something fierce... Had to deal with some stuff on my end.

>>1155132
>Tell her to find the info herself during the celebration

>>1155132
>>Tell her to find the info herself during the celebration
Should we have a fall back plan in case things go tits up, like making a break to the Broken Circle?

>>1155132
>>Tell her you could take her to Mouse instead
mouse is a human.

I had no idea that... Hydra would be so. Unhinged. Mortality would do that to you I guess...

>>1155168
Doin' it yourself!

Writing!

"I...guess the first one?" you say, not liking the idea of her having to hurt anyone. "But what if it doesn't wo-"
"Then I die." Hydra says flatly, "Either by Minos or by running out of time. Either way, if this plan fails, that's the end for me." Hydra has a strange expression on her face...s. It's like varying degrees of sadness, fear and maybe even a little acceptance.

"But...what about then?" you try to console her, "We could leave. What if we took you to the Broken-"

"They would never accept me." Hydra interrupts again, "I am a member of the Church. A critical part, in fact. Minos would never let me fall into their hands and they would never trust me. And once I left, I'd never be able to go back. If I knew where their camp is, they'd make me tell them. Then probably toss me into Tartarus with the rest of the freaks..." Her hands are trembling now and she's stopped moving completely.

"So if this fails, no one will take me. I know you trust them, but the Broken Circle are little better than the Church. Both sides have blood on their hands. Literal and figurative. I will be left alone to die an eclectic jumble of junk and incompatible scrap. Nothing so elegant as a chimera. Nothing so fearsome or respected. Just a monster clinging to life by chopping parts off and replacing them with new ones until I run out of spares or it gets too fast for me to keep up."

This is...she's dropped an act. The eccentric, oddball she pretended to be was all a lie. This is the real Hydra; scared, desperate and angry at herself as much as everyone else. You can't even begin to imagine how hard this must be for her.
>Hug
>Tell her about Mouse, swear to make sure she'll have a place to stay
>Stay silent, don't break the act
>Other (write in)

>>1155257
>Hug

>>1155257
>>Hug
>>Tell her about Mouse, swear to make sure she'll have a place to stay

>>1155264
>>1155267
We will continue this tomorrow (for real this time) around the same time as when we started today, but feel free to keep discussing and voting!

>>1155257
>>Tell her about Mouse
>Tell her that she works quite well. Not as good as the doctor in the Broken Circle, but SHE was someone who knew Pandora since she was born.
>Although there's only so much that someone can do with so little stuff and without the other doctors.

>>1155257
>Hug
>Tell her about Mouse, swear to make sure she'll have a place to stay

>>1155264
>>1155267
>>1155434
>>1155680
Kindly roll 1d100, best of 3.

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>1157600
This can only go well.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>1157600
Oh Christ...

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>1157600
ok

>>1157636
You guys seem to forget that 99% of the time Pandora is an unstoppable juggernaut of hugs.

Writing!

>>1157656
That's because the dice gods are cruel and capricious beings, willing to smite a player's roll for their amusement, with little to no provocation...

>>1157656
AKA a Huggernaut.

You reach up and embrace the miserable android, clinging tightly to her and patting her messy, miscellaneous hair in an effort to soothe her like your father would do for you. She says or does nothing for a moment, but then her multitude of arms return the hug in silence, but she still remains silent. Ares is a little confused by this, but assumes you have your reasons. Apparently he couldn't hear your discussion, so thankfully nobody outside did either.

You quietly speak to Hydra in as comforting tone as you can. "I...I know someone who could help you. A human, I mean. She was from where I was from. One of the people who worked on me. She's really smart and knows a lot about things...but..."

"...But." Hydra says flatly, knowing there's something that will get in the way.

"She's with the Broken Circle." you say, "She's their doctor, I guess. She fixes everybody there. Maybe she can do it?"

"Say they let me in..." Hydra replies slowly, "Say through some miracle, they allow me passage into their camp, wherever it is, and they fix me. What's to stop them from doing the same thing the Church would do? What's to stop them from forcing me to give up everything I know on them? From fueling their war? Their leader, Jason, doesn't care for the Church or it's people at all. He only looks out for his own people. I've seen the results of their raids first-hand. They are not kind people. They do not shoot to maim. They have taken androids apart and stolen, wiped or even retooled memories to get what they want. I do not want to be part of that. I just want to get better so I can live."

You tighten your hug, not sure what to say really. "I...I don't know about that. Maybe you're wrong about them? Or...maybe I am. But, either way, I promise no matter what happens, I'm going to make sure you get better and have somewhere to belong. Ares is strong, he can protect you. And I have friends there. People who I trust. So..." You slowly trail off, realizing you're just kind of babbling at this point.

"...You really haven't known the suffering others here have, have you?" Hydra says, her body relaxing somewhat, "Alright...alright, fine...you said you'd trust me, I would only be a hypocrite if I didn't do the same for you. And your guardian over there is pretty...formidable." Her central eye swirls over to stare at him once again. He flinches.

"But if we're going to do it, leave here, I mean, we're going to need to do it sooner than later...like, now, sooner. They've got more people working on that giant stage than guarding exits, so if you want to slip out, now would be the time...I have a feeling you'd prefer to not kill anybody, right?"

You frown and nod.

"So, leave now, yes?" Hydra sits up, releasing you, "We'd have the best shot leaving right now, but if there's anything else you need to do..."

>No, not yet, there's something I need to do (write in)
>I'm ready, let's go
>Other (write in)

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>1157822
Well shit. I can't decide if we should get Hydra out as soon as possible or stay and find out where the humans are. I'll leave it up to the Dice Gods.

1 - Get out of here.
2 - Stay and find the humans.

>>1157822
>I'm ready, let's go
>Promise me, no matter what happens tonight, don't ever call yourself a monster again. You're more then that. Better then that.

>>1157822
I can't decide between satyingfor the show tommorow and getting the data, or taking Hydra out now.
So, idk.

>>1158035
Roll for it then Anon, leave it up to chance.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>1158076
Ok then
1. Be a nice android and stay for the show and stuff
2. Be a big meanie and ruin everyone's day by running away

>>1158094
Looks like staying to find info on where the humans are it is.

Writing!

"I can't go yet." you say, sitting up, "I still need to find everyone. I still need information. They're important to me..."

Hydra crosses two of her arms. "The likelihood of them being alive is-"

"We're finding them whether you help or not." Ares chimes in, "You can help repay her kindness or you can go wait outside until we find it ourselves."

Hydra stares a bit, then leans in to quietly speak to you. "He's kinda cute when he's being pushy."

Are you the only one who finds him irritating or something?

"Alright, fine." Hydra straightens out her coat, "We'll find your information, going with the original plan. But I warned you that we'll be dealing with more security come tomorrow, so things will be harder."

"Nothing I can't handle." Ares says indignantly.

Hydra chuckles. "I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow. After my performance, sneak out to the front gates. Don't worry, there'll be a distraction to help you get away." She grins toothily before slithering back out the door. Ares visibly relaxes after she's gone.

You prepare the charging cradle again, looking over to Ares. He's leaning against the wall, possibly deep in thought. After catching your eye, he straightens out. "It...it's nothing. We'll talk tomorrow. Promise."

>Pressure him to tell you
>Accept it and go to sleep

>>1158281
>Accept it and go to sleep

>>1158281
>Pressure him to tell you
Better to get everything out the way before we go through with the plan.

>>1158281
>>Pressure him to tell you

>>1158347
>>1158367
All the cool kids are doing it.

Writing!

"No, tell me." you say, scooting closer to him.

"It's nothing." Ares insists, "Just thinking, that's all. Go t-"

"No, tell me." you repeat, hugging your knees and staring at him.

"Pandora, it's-" Ares begins, frowning.

"Tell me."

This continues for a good 5 minutes before Ares finally gives in, your pestering sister act winning out over the single most advanced piece of military technology ever created.

"Fine, fine!" Ares throws his hands up in defeat, "Fine. I was just...thinking about Selene. After...what happened, she went quiet...and she probably hates me now. But still...I wanted to...say goodbye. Or...or maybe see if she would come with us...or something...I don't know."

"Take her with us?" you cock your head to the side slightly, something you picked up from Lucky.

"Yeah, back to...I don't know, the Broken Circle or...wherever we end up when we find father and the others." Ares averts his eyes from you as he speaks, "Maybe she'd like to meet him...or maybe she'd be happier with us than these people. And things could get dangerous. What if she gets hurt? We could...keep...safe...what?"

You've been staring at him incredulously the entire time he's been speaking. Is this really what he's like now? He was some...hapless doofus back home. Now he's a surly, overbearing doofus with way too much interest in this Selene girl.

>Well, maybe we can find her before we leave
>I don't think she'll want to, Ares, she seems pretty upset about what happened
>Other (write in)

>>1158486
>I don't think she'll want to, Ares, she seems pretty upset about what happened
Got to look out for our little bro.

>>1158486
>I don't think she'll want to, Ares, she seems pretty upset about what happened

>>1158486
>Other (write in)
Well, I don't know if you should convince her to come over, but you should at least try to apologize for what happened. Actually, there's someone else you should apologize to: Nike. The poor girl is interested in you, and you're too bullheaded to notice, what with thinking she's a threat to me. Even if you don't see her that way, the least you should do is talk to her about how she feels about you.

Gotta pack it in for tonight, guys, but we'll finish this tomorrow! Keep on discussing and voting for what you should do! Things are gonna go down soon!

>>1158486
>Our best bet to convince her would be proof that Minos is hiding things. If we can convince her that Minos doesn't care about human life, maybe YOU can get through to her.
>BUT. She's going to ask you if you care about robot life, too.

"I don't think she'll want to, Ares, she seems pretty upset about what happened." you say, leveling with him, "She seems like a pretty delicate girl. If anything, you should apologize to her for what happened."

Ares slumps his shoulders some, staring at his feet. "Yeah..."

"I mean, I don't exactly have any experience in this stuff, but, maybe she wasn't for you?" you shrug, "Maybe there's another girl who you could fawn over? Like, mayb-"

"I am not interested in Hydra." Ares says flatly.

"What? No, I meant...wait, Hydra?" you tilt your head again.

Ares nods, "Was saying some...weird things before you found us. Really weird. I'm not an expert either, but she left little to the imagination."

"Huh..." you say, folding your arms. You still don't know what all these girls see in him.

You make a little small talk with Ares, nothing of real note, before deciding to get back into the charging cradle and finish your sleep cycle. Besides Mouse, he's the only other person here you still have any ties to, so it's still nice to have someone to speak to that you know for sure won't try to backstab you or anything.

Hours later you awaken, fully charged and ready to face the day. Aph and Linus have already been woken and are looking through a box of what looks like clothes that must've been delivered while you were gone. Linus is simply trying on things that fit and Aph is looking angrily at the things they delivered for her to wear. Very...modest. Not exactly her style.

"Can you believe this shit?" Aph says, holding up a high-necked blouse and ankle-length skirt. Something more Arachne's speed. "Do I look like some kinda choir girl? They cannot expect me to put any of this on.

Ares is currently caught in a shirt that's a bit too small for him.

There's also an obscenely opulent, extravagant ballroom gown, white with gold trim and embroidery, laid out on the end of the bed for you, with moderately-sized heels next to it. It's...certainly fancier than anything you've ever worn. Not ugly, just...a bit much. But maybe that's what they're hoping for? Doesn't look like moving in it will be quite as simple as it is in your current outfit.

>Wear the dress, gotta keep up appearances
>Don't wear it, when it's time to escape, it'll only get in the way
>Other (write in)

>>1160630
>Don't wear it, when it's time to escape, it'll only get in the way
If we get questioned about why we're not wearing the dress we can just say something about how it makes us seem superficial and distances us from the people we're meant to be leading.

>>1160630
>Don't wear it, when it's time to escape, it'll only get in the way
There might be some nice looking accessories somewhere though.

>>1160630
>>Other (write in)
Request a simple white sundress and some flats.

>>1160660
You are a simple girl with simple tastes.

Writing!

You toss the dress back onto the bed, not really feeling it. You like what you have on now. You then go over to Ares and yank the shirt off him, noting that it's now pretty torn up and worse for wear. Thankfully they sent several sizes.

Aph finally agreed to wear part of one of the outfits sent to her, though with some "alterations" that basically involved her removing a large amount of fabric from them, staying about as revealing as her previous outfit, if not moreso. You're sure Arachne will hate it.

Before long there's a knock at your door. Speak of the devil, it's Arachne and she is immediately disappointed. "I...see my clothes were not to your liking." She almost looks hurt, but then more angry when she sees Aph.

"It uh...made me seem...too superficial?" you quickly explain, "It would distance me from the people I'm meant to lead."

Arachne nods. "As always, your wisdom is sound, my lady. I'm here to escort you to the stage. We will be beginning the festivities shortly, and your speech is to begin them. I trust you're ready for that, of course."

"Y...yes..." you say nervously, avoiding eye contact.

"Excellent. You and your entourage can follow me." Arachne says, turning to Linus, "Linus, I'm sure you know where you should be."

Linus nods and bows to you deeply before hurrying off.

You are led to a very fancy, ornate box suspended over a large expanse of chairs facing the stage with quite possibly hundreds of AI filing in to fill them It gives you a good vantage point of everything. There are a series of, for lack of a better word, thrones, yours being the most gaudy and covered in visages of yourself. Aph is offered a folding steel chair. She chooses to stand.

"Minos should be here soon," Arachne says while going through a large amount of text on a PDA, "But before we begin, is there any last minute questions you might have? We wish to ensure this celebration goes as smoothly as possible for you."

You catch Hydra peeking out from behind the curtain on the stage. She waves up at you, but quickly pulls herself back in. Looks like she'll be getting ready to sneak off soon.

>Ask question(s) (write in)
>No, I'll give my speech now (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>1160786
>Ask question
Anything I shouldn't talk about in my speech?

>>1160786
>No, I'll give my speech now
>It's a write in
Oh boy.

Well I have no idea how to string it all together, but we should try to get the crowd more accepting of of the Broken Circle and any surviving humans. Maybe mention how they're not any different from the other machines since we're all made of 0's and 1's, and that joining with humans is a good idea, because while the machines can take multiple forms to get a job done humans have one fixed form that forces them to think outside the box to solve problems, so combining forces could make everyone's lives better.

Or we could just bullshit our way through the speech so Hydra has enough time to snoop.

>>1160786
>>Ask question(s) (write in)
Because I really suck at writing speeches, I'll just go with questions for now.

So, is this celebration a yearly thing?
Do you mind if I dance myself?
Why exactly do you feel the need to intimidate my manservant on a near daily basis? (do not use this question)
Do the Arms have any way of seeing the ceremony?

>>1160835
>>1160839
>>1160860
You are fully qualified to be doing this!

Writing!

"Uh, anything I shouldn't talk about?" you ask.

"Shouldn't...?" Arachne seems confused, "No, I...don't believe so...maybe...maybe avoid discussing your...visit to the Broken Circle too much..."

"Is this, like, a yearly thing, or...?" you ask.

"No," Arachne shakes her head, "we have several holidays that we recognize, but this is being held specifically for you, my lady."

"Oh...well...can the...arms see it? The ones in the factory?" you ask, looking out to see everyone taking their seats.

"Oh, of course, Progenitor." Arachne smiles proudly at this, "Everyone can, even those that cannot physically be here. It will be televised and broadcast across every home and building in our territory. Rest assured, they will see."

"Oh, that's good." you nod, "I'm glad, I hope they like it...uhh...one more thing..." you fidget some. "Would...would it be possible for me to dance out there? I've...I've never been able to do it in front of this big of a crowd, and...um..."

"You wish to dance?" Arachne seems a little taken aback by this.

You nod.

"Out there?"

You nod again.

"In front of everyone?"

You nod for a third time, feeling a little shyer now.

"I...I don't see why not, but...are you sure that's wise, my lady? What if they decide to rush you again? I would hate to see more needless deaths..."

"Our security team is more than qualified to handle anything thrown at them." a voice comes from behind you. It's Minos with Orion following. "If the Progenitor wishes it, I don't see why not. Orion will see to it that she's well looked-after. It is his job, after all." Minos laughs lightly. Orion just grunts and folds his arms.

Arachne begins quickly tapping on her PDA, which is rather impressive. With how sharp her fingers are, to not just scratch or puncture the touch screen must require impressive amount of accuracy and control. "Very well, I shall make the arrangements for you. We can add you in after Hydra and Selene's singing."

"Excellent." Minos smiles, "Now then, I believe now would be a good time to begin your opening speech, yes? Don't worry about nerves, you've nothing to concern yourself with. Simply speak from the heart."

You try to swallow your fear and approach the ledge. It doesn't work and you're terrified, but you begin anyway after Arachne hands you a microphone.

"P...people of...the Church...uhh...I want to...to thank you for your welcome. You have been very kind to me, and I appreciate it. I am...um...I am honored to be here with you. Your home is very pretty...and I've met some very good people here. I'd like to especially thank the, uh, arms in the factory. They were very fun." You swear you can actually hear a very faint, distant cheering somewhere, but it could just be the wind or something. "I'm glad that I made it here. I...I do want to say, though...about the Broken Circle..."

(cont...)

You are met with a sea of booing, angry shouts and yelled obscenities, but they are quickly quieted down by Minos. He motions for you to continue. "Uh, well, I went there for a while and...they are really nice people when you get to know them. They have more in common with you than you think. They are AI, just like everyone here. They work together, they make friends, mourn losses, fall in love...I want everyone to get along. Everyone in Erebus. The Church, the Broken Circle...even the humans, wherever they might be. We can all work together to do great things. To build, to improve, to...to be friends. There are some things humans can't do that we can, but also the opposite. We share much with them, and owe much to them. They built this world we're in, so we have no reason not to share it..."

There is a dull murmur among the crowd. Some are watching you unwavering, others seem concerned or unhappy with your words or sentiment. You fidget, but continue.

"I have, I have family out there somewhere. People who I love. Humans. Who I'm sure you would like. Caring, loving humans who didn't see me as just a machine, but as family too. I know some humans are...have been hateful, violent, but...there are others out there that don't feel that way at all. With enough time and patience, we could move past the problems and fears and be stronger than ever before...uh...y...yeah...th-thank you all. I...I hope everyone stays happy and well."

You shift quietly as the AI below applaud, though you can tell some are a little wary of your words. Minos pats you on the shoulder, then steps forward, taking the microphone from you. "What loving, wise words from our Progenitor indeed! A message of forgiveness and brotherhood, to be sure! Thank you, my lady, for that! In celebration of her and all she has given us, I would like to begin the celebration of the Progenitor's return!"

The applause become cheers and a cacophony of fireworks and music raises, sending waves of excitement through the crowd, who seem to have already overlooked your nervous words. You take a seat on your throne and put your head in your hands. You are embarrassed to be sure, but the show does at least look fun...but over the noise, over the cheers, over the music and explosions, you can hear something. A static-y chattering sound. You peek behind you and see Orion quietly speaking into a radio. He whispers into Minos' ear, who then nods at him, and the immense security chief takes off running, pushing his way past anyone in his path.

That's not a good sign.

Going to call it a thread for now. Thanks everyone for playing, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please vote on the archive and follow me on Twitter to get future updates! If you have any questions, let me know and I'll answer them! If not, have a good night and thank you!

>>1161070
Thanks for running AM!
When will Pandora get a boyfriend?

>>1161091
I mean, if you guys want to pursue romance, feel free. Doesn't necessarily have to be a boy, either.
Who do you ship?
Is it PandoraxAn Arm?

>>1161093
PandoraxLucky
Is it beastiality if it's an android girl and an adroid dog? Do the androids cancel out?

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>>1161096

>>1161097
Pandora is such a nerd.

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>>1161172
The artificial apple doesn't fall far from the tree.