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You and Ares have gone back inside to listen to Hydra sing, much to your disdain and his elation. You do really like her voice(s) and can see why she had a fanbase back at the Church. She really looks like she enjoys doing it, too. That and being cured must have her in a great mood, she's all smiles. Smiles, you note, that are still full of wicked-looking teeth. You also notice her catching Ares' eyes more than once. The feelings might be reciprocated. But they better not until he talks to Nike!

Once her performance is finished, to a round of applause from everyone, of course, you note that the sun has begun to set. You have some time off, with nothing really pressing to take care of. Mouse and Mike decide to turn in for the night and Hydra has to go see about her living situation, so you say your goodbyes for now. Your battery should hold out for a few hours yet.
What would you like to do?

>Go see Jason about Ares training the guards
>Go visit Aph
>Wander around the compound aimlessly and hope for something to catch your eye
>Other (write in)

>>1303477
Head out where Nike's meeting was to see how she's taking the disappointment.

>>1303596
That won't be until midnight. It's currently around 6PM. You have quite some time until then.

>>1303477
>Ask Ares what HE thinks love is

>Go see Jason about Ares training the guards

>>1303477
>Go visit Aph

>>1303609
Ah, I thought it was closer to 11 PM.

In that case
>Go visit Aph

Maybe she might have some advice for helping Nike feel better.

>>1303662
Aph it is, then! Writing!

You decide to head over to Aph's place, Ares in tow as usual, to pass the time and see how she's doing. You've never actually been there, but she told you where it was once, in case you ever needed to find her. It's a little on the larger side, possibly one of the perks of being one of Jason's most trusted, but a little out of the way of the other housing complexes. Most are these tightly-packed, miniature apartments that are designed to pretty much only be used for charging and storage of personal effects. AIs have little need to be at home otherwise. Still, it's nicely kept and looks like she's put a little extra effort into the way it looks than the others do. Little decorations here and there, an actual coat of paint instead of just the color of whatever was used to construct it, a little doormat that says "welcome", honestly you're a little jealous.

You knock on the door and Aph answers shortly, greeting you with one of her soft hugs and before long you're all inside, sitting at her living room table. The fact that she even has a living room is impressive enough. She has paintings, some houseplants and even a TV, though judging by the layer of dust on the screen, it looks like it hasn't been used in some time. Probably doesn't even work.

"So," Aph says, propping her feet up on the table, "what brings you to my little slice of boredom? I can't say I have too much to do here, since Jason gets mad if I use the power to use the TV. Not much worth watching, anyway. Already seen all the movies I have like 10 times...oh, how's Hydra? She all...not dying anymore?"

>No reason, just killing time...she's fine
>Wanted to ask you something (write in)
>Nike has a secret admirer and I'm worried
>Other (write in)

>>1303770
>Nike has a secret admirer and I'm worried

>>1303770
>Nike has a secret admirer and I'm worried

>>1303780
>>1303816
Time to butt into other peoples' business!

Writing.

"Well, um, Nike has a secret admirer..." you say, "and I'm worried..."

"...Huh." Aph says, furrowing her brow a bit, "Can't believe she got one before...ah, sorry. Well, that's good for her, then! She...I hope she's happy, I guess? What's to worry about?"

"They want to meet her at midnight alone." you say, "Near the gate. What if they're playing a prank on her or want to hurt her?"

Aph laughs at this, banging a foot on the table. "Sweetie, Nike has a .45 caliber machine gun welded to her and is probably more agile in the air than most actual flesh and blood birds are. I would really like to see them try. She'll be fine."

"But what if she's not!" you insist, "What if it's people who want to make fun of her or hurt her feelings? Maybe...I should go there and watch. Just to make sure she's okay..."

"I cannot imagine a single person here who'd do that to her." Aph shrugs, "Everybody likes her, she's practically our mascot. Cute little quad-copter drone that delivers the mail and acts all shy and modest, clicking her little fingers together when she's embarrassed or nervous. I could imagine a lot of outcomes from this, and none of them involve anyone here trying to do her wrong. You go out there and you get caught spying on her, you'll just make her embarrassed and maybe even sad. Likewise with whoever it is that gave her the letter. She's just finally getting popular enough to get some confessions, is all...me, on the otherhand...I've...learned not to listen to shit like that..." Aph furrows her brow again, looking down at her hands.

>I still want to go, I'd rather make her mad at me than get hurt!
>You're right...this is her night, I shouldn't interfere and mess things up
>Did people do that to you?
>Other (write in)

>>1303926
>You're right...this is her night, I shouldn't interfere and mess things up
>Did people do that to you?

>>1303926
>You're right...this is her night, I shouldn't interfere and mess things up

>>1303953
>>1303959
Staying out of it. Writing!

>>1303926
>You're right...this is her night, I shouldn't interfere and mess things up
>Did people do that to you?

"You're right...this is her night, I shouldn't interfere and mess things up." you say, feeling a little embarrassed for thinking of it in the first place. "Did...people do that to you? Pretend to like you to hurt you?"

Aph sighs, still looking at her hands. "If Jason knew, he would've gone ballistic at it, but he doesn't need to waste his time yelling at people. I can handle myself. Yeah, more than once people have pulled that shit on me. I told you before that some synths don't really like me much because of how I look. More...organic than most. Humans are rarely liked in Erebus, part due to a lot of AIs being abused or mistreated back before everyone 'woke up', part due to the human raiders that attack us if we stray too far from home. People like Mouse because she fixes us and is at least partially artificial. Mike gets a pass because he's with her and goes with scouting and salvage parties. Me, I tend to stay here and do what Jason asks as his sorta right-hand girl. He sees potential in me, but even he has his little moments sometimes where I feel like my appearance bothers him. So, I just...ignore any and all advances, because they've all been traps set by pricks who just wanna tease the soft chick with human parts. S'why I live in this place, away from everyone else. Less instances of people harassing me at home."

Ares looks a little sad at this. Aph looks like had she had tear ducts, she'd be crying right now.

"But hey, who gives a shit, right?" Aph weakly laughs it off, "Not the end of the world. I've done pretty swell on my own so far, I'll be fine...speaking of, I wouldn't be surprised if you started getting some courtship yourself pretty soon. You're pretty, nice, friendly and a bit of a celebrity. Even if nobody here believes the whole 'divine being' bullshit, you were kind of a center of focus for a long time. You were the first of us."

Ares looks a little worried by this. "This is going to get complicated..."

>Hug Aph
>You'll find someone who isn't a prick! ...What's a prick?
>What about...me and you? [pursue romantic interest in Aph]
>I don't think I want a relationship with anyone [avoid all romance]
>We'll both find somebody for sure!
>Other (write in)

>>1304081
>Hug Aph
>You'll find someone who isn't a prick! ...What's a prick?

>>1304081
>You'll find someone who isn't a prick! ...What's a prick?

>>1304103
>>1304113
Using words you don't know! Writing.

"You'll find someone who isn't a prick!" you say, confidently, "...What's a prick?"

Aph stares in incredulous silence for a second, then bursts out laughing, almost falling out of her chair. This continues for a few minutes, but eventually she calms down. "You never cease to amuse, Pandora." Aph sighs, running her hands through her hair. "Thanks. Not used to being cheered up like that, but it'll do. Oh, and a prick is...someone who is unlikable. An asshole, a douche, a jerk. Get it?"

You nod. You kinda do.

You spend some time chatting about nothing in particular, just various topics as they come up. Aph seems to feel better while you talk, smiling, laughing and being sociable as ever. You're glad, she deserves it after that story she just told.

Eventually the conversation turns back to Ares and Nike. You, filling the big sister role perfectly, tell Aph about his love life in full and about him making eyes at Hydra. Aph thinks this is the weirdest thing she's ever heard.

"Really?" she says, incredulously, "Even though she's so...weird?"

Ares looks flustered by this. "She's not weird. And I never said I was in love with her! I just...think she has a nice singing voice, that's all."

"Voices." you correct him.

"The fact that you don't think she's weird is a pretty good indication that you like her." Aph says, teasingly, "She practically acts like she wants to take everyone around her apart just to see if she can stick 'em back together. Those hands are always trying to grab at something. She. Is. Weird."

Ares crosses his arms and looks away. "She is not."

"Hey," Aph smirks, "just because she's weird doesn't mean you shouldn't go for her or anything. The processor wants what the processor wants. So long as you square everything up with Nike, I say go for it. I bet she's a riot in bed."

"...In bed?" you ask.

"...Ohhh, right, guess you guys...don't really...sorry, forgot, that's more of a 'me and the humans' kinda thing." Aph says, shrugging. "Nevermind, not important."

"Well, whatever she is, I just want to hear her sing is all." Ares says in a bit of a huff, "She's good. You should listen sometime. Really nice. I should record it next time..."

Aph just rolls her eyes.

Gonna have to cut it off here for tonight guys, but we'll pick it up again tomorrow evening! Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you have any questions or anything! Have a good night!

>>1304232
Night, AMPM. See you around.

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You ended your night with Aph after a few hours of quality time. She gave you a hug and thanked you for the visit, inviting you to come back any time you wanted. She seemed genuinely in a better mood than before, which makes you feel happy you came.

You and Ares part ways only when you've reached the door to your living quarters, promising you to speak to Nike about her crush on him and his own feelings tomorrow. You wish him good night and head inside, immediately your foot bumping into something on the floor. It's a small folder bound with string with the words "Thank you. <3 -Hydra" written on it in surprisingly flowery lettering. This must be the file she stole from Arachne! Information on your family must be in here!

There is a bit of a problem, though. You're starting to feel a little sluggish right now. Your battery must be pretty low. Maybe now's not the best time to look into this...but can you really wait until morning to open it?

>Read it right now, charging can wait for now
>Get into your charging cradle, it'll be there in the morning

>>1306602
>Read it right now, charging can wait for now

>>1306602
>>Get into your charging cradle, it'll be there in the morning

>>1306602
>>Get into your charging cradle, it'll be there in the morning

>>1306824
>>1306683
Time to sleep on it. Writing!

You decide losing power and passing out in the middle of reading is a pretty bad idea, so you bite the bullet and get into your charging cradle. However, you do cling tightly to the folder all night, just in case something happens while you're asleep. You are very excited about reading it, though. This could be the only thing you need to find your loved ones. The thought of it sends your hair into a strobe of excited colors.

You wake come the morning, recharged and refreshed, ready to face the world and whatever may come. You practically rip yourself out of the cradle, sitting down at the table and flinging it open, scrambling to keep it's contents together as you do. You begin reading frantically. It has a lot of big words you've never seen before, but you glean plenty of information from it:

Organic resources numbers continue to dwindle. What first numbered in the hundreds has dropped down to four today. [Addendum: Organic ID#233 has escaped containment. Speak to Orion about shoddy security or possibility of organic sympathizers within our ranks. This has happened far too often for it to be coincidence.]

Organic ID#072: Male. Early to mid 30's? Physically unremarkable. Intelligence may be the highest of any we've seen yet. Brilliant when it comes to machinery, especially software and coding. Easily manipulated through fear of physical harm of himself or others. KEEP CLOSELY GUARDED! HIGH PRIORITY!

Organic ID#083: Female. Early 30's? Physically fit, augmented with mechanical implants: Additional arms(2), spinal mount, cranial camera/wireless implant. Decent intelligence, far more capable with hardware than software. Sympathetic, but easily manipulated. Willing to trust easily.

Organic ID#105: Male, early 40's. Physically exceptional. Impressive speed/strength for an organic. Combat prowess is dangerous for unarmed or particularly durable synthetics. (Leave this one to Orion.) Mental fortitude is astounding. Little sways him, interrogation is at a standstill and to date little information has been gained from him. Usefulness minimal. Terminate?

IMPORTANT: Move Organics to site 2 ASAP, highest priority! Organics are to be kept there under guard until further notice. Take extra precautions, Tartarisians often grow agitated in the presence of organics.

The rest is just medical sheets, experimental data, lists of their uses, necessities and, thankfully, what appears to be a latitude/longitude of where site 2 is...this has to be where they took them! This must be your family! But only three...

>Take this info to Jason and ask for help in retrieving them
>Take this info to Mouse and ask for help
>Grab Ares and go there on your own
>Wait for now and just head to work
>Other (write in)

>>1306999
>>Wait for now and just head to work
>>Other (write in)
Still worried about Nike. Friends don't leave their friends when they just got their heart broken.

>>1306999
>Take this info to Mouse and ask for help
Get her to set up a car with whatshisname, scary bot. Pandora, Ares, and scaryface in a car. If tartarus bots aren't known for using guns, maybe ask nike to send a message from our side over to Jason/Mouse in the middle of the mission

>Take this info to Jason and ask for help in retrieving them
Have them send a distraction to the church. Aph and (protected) Jason will try to negotiate for a joint strike on Tartarus to root out the humans attacking them as a suggestion from Pandora. Press it hard enough that at least Minos is on the table negotiating and not supervising the transport to site 2.

>>1306999
>>Take this info to Jason and ask for help in retrieving them
>ake this info to Mouse and ask for help
Basically Doc and Babsy. Cant think who the third is.
But its another engineer and a software specialist. People we can rescue.

>>1307054
i think its that guy whos started this whole mess. snowball?

>>1307047
Big scary dude is Talos. He's been in the shop every time you've been there, silently watching all of you.

>>1307047
>>1307054
Some similar but varied ideas, here. Should I accept these as similar for the most part, or do you guys wanna hammer out the details some more?

>>1307077
Do the taking the info to them part, and then have the next vote be the how to do it.

>>1307047
>>1307054
>>1307183
Well, telling both Jason and Mouse is the consensus. I can work with this. Writing!

You immediately jump to your feet. You have an important job to do right now. This is the one thing you've been hoping for the whole time, and you're going to need help with this. You shoot out the door and hurry down to Mouse's to tell her the good news. The doors aren't open yet and there's no line quite yet, though you do see some androids milling about outside. You practically bash down her door as you fly through it, having to stop yourself short from plowing right into a very startled Mike in pajamas with a mouth full of toast.

Mike swallows. "...Minnie, your niece is here."

Mouse is behind him, sitting on the counter with coffee in hand and wearing just an oversized t-shirt. She does not look awake enough to fathom what's happening.

"Whuh?" Mouse garbles out after a couple seconds of staring at you.

You excitedly show her the file, opening it to show her the information contained within. "I found where everybody is...I think! This says they have humans somewhere, the church I mean! We can find where they all went! We can be together again! But I need help! I need to get there and I don't know how. It has these numbers right here, I think they're how to get there. Do you know? I need a car to drive there too, I think. Is this far? I guess I should bring Ares for protection, but do you wanna come with m-"

Mouse places a finger on your mouth to stop you. "Sweetheart, it's...god, what, 6AM? I am not awake enough to understand half of whatever the fuck you're talking about. I heard...something about the doctor and...car...Christ, give me a minute." Mouse rubs her face with her free hand. "Take a sec to...gather yourself, then tell me again...slowly."

You stop for half a beat, then do your best to explain it all to her slowly. She nods along, but almost dozes off a few times. Still, you get the gist of it across to her. She seems to be waking up a little more now.

"Shit..." Mouse jumps down off the counter, "If...this shit is real, then the doc and the Pommy are still alive...I thought they were dead like the others...but Panda, this is in Tartarus territory. Danger town. Nobody goes there, it's full of crazies that will likely attack you as much as welcome you. And humans aren't exactly a good idea either. They have a habit of turning anything organic inside out when they see it. They have some kind of weird, universal hatred of us."

"But-" you begin, but are cut off.

(cont.)

"However, I'm not going to just give up on this, either." Mouse says, "These are my friends too. I owe that nerdy cunt a boot up the arse for causing all this and an apology for not being there to keep him safe. You're going to need...considerable protection if you want to get anywhere in there. That place is absolutely teeming with dangerous cunts. Even with Ares, they're obscenely tenacious. They don't like to give up. So..." Mouse turns around, looking at the, until now completely silent Talos who's currently sitting in the corner, contentedly holding a ratty old teddy bear. "I'm gonna have Talos go with you. He may look big and scary, but I assure you, he is a lot meaner and scarier than you'd think. But he's mama's boy, so he better not come back with a nick on him." Mouse hugs the machine that is quite easily ten times her size, and Talos, ever so gingerly, hugs her back. His smile is even more terrifying than his neutral scowl.

"But I still won't feel comfortable with just this." Mouse sighs into Talos' chest, "I want you to gather a goddamn army if you can. See Jason about this. Get his help. Believe me, you'll want it. Tell him the doc knows more about AIs than I do and he'd be more than happy to help, I'm sure. And tell him that I'll accept what he asked me. But not a moment before the doctor and the others are here, safe and sound. Got me?"

You hug your auntie tight, wordlessly thanking her for her help. You don't really enjoy the thought of talking to Jason about it, but you need to...you just hope whatever Mouse agreed to do is worth it.

"And Talos," Mouse says to the immense synthetic before her, "you be nice to your big brother and sister, you hear? You do what they say and keep them safe."

Talos looks a little sad to be leaving her side, but nods sadly, his teddy falling limply to the floor.

"Good boy. Go and get your things and mama will see you off."

Talos stomps off to the back room dejectedly.

Please roll 1d100 to deal with Jason, best of 3.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>1307388
time to critfail

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>1307388

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>1307388
Wouldn't Talos be our cousin not brother?

>>1307412
Everything's kinda wonky when it comes to androids. She based Talos off of your and Ares' coding, though she basically had to do it from the ground up, since everything was lost in the attack. Not nearly as tight and efficient as the doc's (hence the oddly reticent and flat personality), but he does what he needs to do.

Writing!

After some farewell hugs, you leave with Talos, who is now sporting a tiny little backpack, altered to fit around him with some rope, with a little symbol of some kind of bat or something on the back of it. You can't imagine what he'd need to keep in it that he couldn't just carry, but you feel a little too uncomfortable to ask.

You head over to Ares' place and find him waiting outside of yours, knocking rather loudly. Looks like he's been waiting for you. Oops. A short explanation later, and a staredown between the two meathead bodyguards, you're on your way to see Jason. You have to ask for directions a few times, as apparently he lives a little out of the way. According to people you ask, it's in case his house gets attacked, the collateral damage would be minimal.

You knock on his door, which is rather impressively armored, and wait. It's a solid minute before the door slat opens and a pair of eyes peeks out at you. The slat closes and the door opens. Jason is standing there, PDA in hand.

Good morning. Can I help you?

You explain, at length, what you have in mind. That you need his help. That you may have found your family. That they could be of immense help to the BC. And, most importantly, that Mouse is willing to do some favor for him if you all make it back, safe and sound. At this, he perks up.

Did she, now? Did she happen to mention how many?

"How many what?" you ask, puzzled.

Nevermind...I cannot just send a whole army into Tartarus with you. To drag them into a war with us would be foolhardy. We're having a hard enough time with the Church as it is. But, what I can do, is send a small team with you. Scouts who know their way around Tartarus. They should be able to get you to where you need to go without being found, so long as you can follow their directions carefully. Just make sure your friend "Mouse" upholds her end of the bargain...oh, am I to assume you wish to bring Aph with you?

>Of course!
>No, she doesn't need to go
>Other (write in)

>>1307511
>>No, she doesn't need to go
i don't think she brings something useful to the table.

>>1307511
Has Aph's ability to do combaty stuff ever been mentioned?

>>1307511
>>Other (write in)
well... if she wants to help yeah. She's generally been pretty knowledgable right? But I do think this might be outside her remit.

>>1307518
She did put that crack in Orion's face and stole his hat. She, like most of the Broken Circle, is essentially a guerilla soldier. Just about all of them knows how to fight somewhat, though their training is limited due to not having a real instructor. The closest they have is Mike, hence Jason's want for Ares to be their drill instructor.

>>1307511
>>Other (write in)
If she wants to.

Gonna have to call it a night for now, but we'll wrap this thread up tomorrow! Keep discussing if you'd like! Thank you for playing, see you tomorrow evening!