>>1975118
It's that time again!

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>>1975118
KILL EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!

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>>1975118
Aww yeah, HQQ time!

>>1975118
Here we go lads!

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>>1975118
Let me just briefly preface this with a quick heads up. My place of work is going out of business sometime by the end of this year, and since it's a family business I'll likely be having to help deal with things during a wider range of hours than normal. Essentially we will be starting the fire sale of our inventory, while also laying off most of the workers, which will leave me to deal with just about all the shipping for the remaining inventory, plus moving it all to a new location that leases month to month.

I say this because I'm not entirely sure if this will cause an increase or a decrease in my net free time. In the short term I'll likely be unable to run quite as often, but that should only last a few months, and hopefully won't cause anything like a hiatus, more of a few hiccups. The uncertainty is more for the long term, since once everything is sold and we close down I'm not sure what my schedule will look like at all. Either way, I'll continue to run as often as I can, just wanted to let you know things may get a little more unpredictable.

Anyways, back to the quest.

HOPE YOU'RE READY

>>1975162
Shit man. Best of luck with it

>>1975162
Atleast you aren't dying this time.

>>1975162
Aw man, sorry to hear your family buisiness is going under. Hope the rest of your family is braced for losing it, at least. This isn't thanks to the hurricanes, I hope.

>>1975162
Ah hell man, that sucks. Best of luck in getting this sorted!

Just run whenever you feel like it - not every thread has to be a 12 hour marathon. If you can only run in bits and pieces I don't think anyone will complain.

>>1975118
Let's do this shit.

>>1975162
Well at least your heart didn't double explode this time.


Certainly this is a smaller setback.

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>>1975118
Your newly received effigy speaks to your mind, and you turn your thoughts to it. You can see the progress being made already; foundations being planned out, eggs produced, the first thinkers already assembling plans for a network of interwoven superstructures spreading across the planet. Little has been finished yet, but you have already supplied enough workers to begin the first step of the construction. You look over it approvingly, the efficiency of the organization makes it clear she has done this before. This is not her first hive, although she hesitates in a few places where the old Queens had stagnated.

"I have studied your adaptations." The Scarred Queen says. "It is impressive, and many are beyond the imaginings of the typical thinker, however there are a rare few offerings I believe my old dynasty may yet provide, some adaptation that could be of use, even with your advanced weaponry taken from the innovations of the Blind. They served me well to keep me safe this long, and you may find them equally useful, if possibly redundant with some of your other adaptations."

You feel the sudden rush of genetic data. It is encrypted by its very form, as all Hive genetics are, but the code is slowly unraveled by her own guidance for your thinkers to study and understand.

cont.

>>1975188
Not going under, my grandpa is just sick and tired of the industry bullshit and nobody else wants to deal with it either. Too much paperwork, too much drama. It's more trouble than it's worth. My point is that since it's family run I can't exactly just call in sick or quick early, so I tend to help out during off hours, like yesterday, and that won't leave much time for prepwork either. I just want to make sure nobody thinks I'm trying to quit or getting burned out or anything, it's just getting difficult to find the time.

Daily reminder

>Raid OQ
>Board a scav vessel for their FTL.
>Send a diplomacy team to earth.
>Take Reprive (I think that is the system that our mother made her last stand and it only has mining corvetts, it would be a great test for our raiding fleet.)

>>1975256
>Raid OQ
Reminder WQ has outright stated this isn't the way to go.

>>1975251
>You feel the sudden rush of genetic data. It is encrypted by its very form, as all Hive genetics are, but the code is slowly unraveled by her own guidance for your thinkers to study and understand.

Awesome! New research unlocked (again).

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>>1975251
New Research Available

>Artillery Spore
Very Fast
While the use of anti-orbital weapons has traditionally been limited in the Hive to atmospheric saturation fire by surface gun platforms, with any actual orbital threats handled by picket fleets, there are a few notable exceptions. One such exception, which was considered a mainstay of the defenses of throne worlds in its time, was the Artillery Spore. Launched from a large Spore Caster set along the surface, each spore was a large, roughly Space Pod sized device composed of a diamond lattice shell ending in a tapered point etched with sensor ports along the diameter, and a body consisting of a specialized sub-brain and a miniaturized and heavily altered Skid Drive. The Skid Drive itself is modified for enhanced acceleration and performance within a gravity well at the cost of drastically reducing overall maneuverability and stability. It is so unstable, in fact, that the acceleration is not entirely uniform and suffers from extreme inertia. The resulting G-forces are terminal for the spore itself, and in fact any life form known to exist, with the spore possessing no actual life support functions, and enough oxygenated blood within its sub-brain to reach the target, and nothing more. The result is a Skid Drive that effectively pushes off against the planet not unlike a standard rocket, but with far, far more potency. Once in the air, the pod will guide itself to its target until it reaches a determined distance, at which point the drive wings will deliberately offset by seventeen degrees, resulting in a sudden and ever increasing spin that will eviscerate the internal organs of the spore in less than two seconds. From this moment, the spore is an unguided rocket, its drive functioning on a dead-man's switch as its spin causes its tapered shell to drill into the target's hull, at which point one of two things will happen: the drive wings will be pulled off by the impact with the target, or will be torn off by the increasing centripetal force. In either case, the drive itself is triggered as a makeshift warhead, and it immediately performs what could only be described as a kind of impotent blink, wherein the drive expels a massive radiation burst, hopefully inside the target's hull and destroying it from within, or in the event of a miss, blinding it and nearby vessels with a sudden burst of both tachyons and multi-spectrum radiation capable of damaging or destroying smaller craft akin to a kind of flak.

>>1975213
Very good point.

>>1975196
Honestly, I've been following the development of a new questing site, once it's set up I may just move there. It's still on the drawing board though so that won't be for a long time.

>>1975268
What was it again i forgot?

>>1975281
She told us to provoke the BQ to attack us where we are the strongest since is focusing on defense right now.

We should probably move our Hive ship and a bunch of our idling fleet to secure our positions in the Expanse. Now that the Union has accepted our demands, we have no reason to have a fleet over their capital.

>>1975274
>new questing site
Mind telling us what it is?

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>>1975274
>Artilery Spore

Oh baby daugtheru...

>>1975293
In that regard:

I think we should deploy the raid fleets and have them "operate" out of a secretly fortified system.

She'll attack it thinking its key to their operation and we'll use the opportunity to wipe out a big chunk of her fleet.

>>1975293
Maybe we can get her to attack Path.

>>1975299
"Anonkun but with blackjack, hookers, and a backend that dosen't suck donkey dick." There's nothing available to the public yet.

>>1975295
Good idea. I have no problem with splitting the Gemini fleet up over our holdings in the Expanse. We should probably leave a battleship and a few escorts behind, though. Like we have with the CW at Odin.

>>1975295
I'd like to maintain a sizable fleet in jump distance of Union worlds that BQ might attack.

>>1975313
>Maybe we can get her to attack Path.

While our defending Path would probably be good PR with the humans, they'd lose a lot of people even *if* we win. And if we lose or even if we only don't win overwhelmingly the OQ gets human tech. Provoking her to attack the humans is a serious gamble.

>>1975274
>Artillery spore
OH GOD I'M SO HYPE FOR THIS

Also please keep us posted for this new questing site QD, this has piqued my interest.

>>1975293
That was only for a single system which the OQ inhabits. There are tons of systems she took from the other queens that only have a barebones picket fleet protecting it, and we know she will never send her primary fleets to back them up. Perfect targets for raiding.

>>1975313
The worst part about Akun isn't even the players or the all the smut since I can deal with that. It's rather how mind numbingly stupid kas is.

>>1975330
A good idea, but we should discuss it with whoever's in charge of the Union military.

>>1975332
At this point, it may be inevitable that Path gets attacked because the black creep has already began to infiltrate the sewers of the planet. I don't want OQ to get Human tech, but we may be able to downplay how fortified the system is, so that if (when) she DOES attack, we'll be able to spring a surprise on her. I'm not so much advocating that we deliberately bait her, I'm suggesting we act like the system isn't as defended as it is in the possible event that she grows a relay there and decides it's a planet that's ripe for the picking.

>>1975343
My first thought was that it's a gravitic missile without using canderon.
Second thought was wondering if we could use gravity foils instead.

THE QUEST FOR GALACTIC DOMINATION BEGINS

>>1975369
>My first thought was that it's a gravitic missile without using canderon.
>Second thought was wondering if we could use gravity foils instead.
Doesn't work. The warhead uses the blink drive.

>>1975343
Agreed. We can start probing against systems that aren't an Uber-fortress with ancient ark weapons. It's probably best we finish mopping up the Scavs first, though, so those fleets aren't bogged down.

>>1975162
Damn QD, hope everything works out.

>>1975381
Yeah it really wouldn't pack a warhead would it. That enhanced acceleration though.

>>1975274
I wonder if we can apply our minaturization tech to this and turn it into a bazooka style rocket spore?

>>1975368
I find it doubtfull that the OQ would launch a second attack on Path, it doesn't fit her MO. She sends out a scouting fleets to launch probing attacks on possible targets to test them, but if she doesn't hear back from the fleet she usually leaves the world in question alone (as seen with her assault on 0-1). She won't attack anything she isn't sure she can take, and given she's probably not in contact with her creep infestation on Path its very unlikely she would send another fleet there.

I still say the best way to whittle down her fleet is to aggressively raid the worlds she holds but hasn't consolidated. We already know they're under-defended and we can take em.

>>1975393
I'm not sure we can miniaturise a Skip Drive unfortunately...

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>>1975274
Lee looks over several dozen stacks of paperwork, your thinkers compiling the data and passing along the comprehension of the information to his mind. He blankly looks at a holoscreen as fields of largely meaningless Skyl script runs past in an attempt to give a reason for Lee's momentary trance in the middle of the video call.

"Well I just think with all this talk of technology exchange you would be jumping at the chance to open up a joint laboratory." Lee says. Windsor seems to examine him through the screen, as if searching for some sign of deception.

"Right, but sending a large number of human research staff into Hive space..."

"We could establish the lab on an already established human colony. Off the top of my head.. Bedrock seems like a good place. In deep space, no biosphere, low population. All of the mining corporations pulled out and recalled their employees so the only people left are poor drug heads. If I didn't know better I'd think you were using this as an excuse to dump a bunch of criminals and vagrants on us just to wash your hands of them."

"If you didn't know better." Windsor says with a half-smile. "Speaking of which, the corporations are taking the mining equipment with them."

"That's fine, Hive mineral extraction methods are far more efficient. I'm sure you'd be able to catch a few glimpses of it if you had a research team on site." Lee says as he leans forward with an obvious smirk. Windsor lets out a half-chuckle.

"Not very subtle." He says. "But I see the point. I may be able to find a few volunteers for a cultural and technological exchange... once we get some more open airspace over Gemini."

"Equally unsubtle, Secretary." Lee says. "Give me a few moments to converse." With a quick tap of several keys the image mutes, and an image of an eye with a cross through it appears over Windsor's face. He leans back, and his thoughts reach out for you, tugging at your mind for your attention.

"When are you planning on removing the fleet from Gemini? It's making your request for that lab a bit difficult."

>Remove the fleet and return it to Hive Space
>Offer a timetable for its removal (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>1975299
Bunch of people trying to make a website for questers by questers. They seem to be making good progress, though it's still in the very early stages.
What>>1975313
said, more or less.

>>1975343
Maybe once it hits beta I'll run another episode of Cyberpunk Detective to test out the features.

>>1975399
My two cent is we should build up on Path and rope the Valen into helping us with their mercenary army.

>>1975402
I am totally game for trying though. Even if all we get is the detonation effect from a mini drive we can still use that with other propulsion options.

>>1975412
>Remove the fleet and return it to Hive Space

>>1975412

Remove the fleet, but leave a battleship "As a diplomatic vessel for our ambassador"
Make sure they don't bloody well forget that we're here and we're watching their shit

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>>1975412
>Maybe once it hits beta I'll run another episode of Cyberpunk Detective to test out the features.
yessss

but also:
>Remove the fleet and return it to Hive Space

>>1975412
>>Other (write in)
>We'll be happy to remove the fleet once you return the artifacts we requested during our first meeting.

>>1975434
Right we need to do this.

>>1975412
>>Remove the fleet and return it to Hive Space
>Other (write in)
What I really want to know more about is what sort of conditions will be in place for our research agreement with the Union. What sort of tech are we going to be giving them? How much of that will be related to weapons/shield development? I'm a little worried that we just agreed to give away something that Union will use against us.

>>1975412
>Other (write in)
>"Sure, the commonwealth could always use the reinforcements."

>>1975434
Ho snap, this. THISSS.

>>1975438
>>1975431
>>1975441
We forgot something.
>>1975434

>>1975118
Daily reminder.
>test ability to detect Seiner's scrying on our own relays, speakers, throne room, and decoy throne rooms
>test Seiner's ability to tell real throne room and decoy throne room apart
>test Seiner's (in)ability to project across psionic insulation, and the (non)effectiveness of the psionic shroud over Leeland to stop him
>locate and count all OQ hive ships
>locate planetside advanced relays
>identify Parliamentary secret service agents off-duty on Gemini
>scry on what Commandant Zadornov is working on
>scry on the elusive Dr. Smith
>scry on Dillon's old bosses in SecCom
>scry on the Guild of Transportation engineers who understand hypergate tech
>scry on anything to do with the Star Hound project that we missed out on
>scry on clandestine meetings that Secretary Morgan isn't privy to
>scry on Pastor David Richardson and the United Cyclicist Church
>scry on what Van Den Broeck Superluminal is plotting now that we're ousting them from the Expanse

>>1975412

>>1975434
>We'll be happy to remove the fleet once you return the artifacts we requested during our first meeting.
I like the cut of your jib. This. Maybe pair with >>1975441 if it's going to pass across more as a joke than a threat.

We should take this opportunity to schedule a meeting with the higher-ups who know about the Union's psionic research and such so we can tell them to cut it out and why exactly they should, as well as why the void shards will eat them.

>>1975434
Nice.

>>1975412
>Remove the fleet and return it to Hive Space
We showed the stick. Now is time for carrots for good behavior

>>1975434
Oh fuck. Yeah that one

>>1975438
We don't need to give them tech really.

We can give unlimited research grants with the use of our laboraties to encourage existing human technologies to be researched along paths we want them to advance.

Like making A-class quantum relays more space efficient, or duplicating the research the Star Hound Project was undergoing into the true nature of Canderon.

But most valuably of all, any completely novel ideas they come up with themselves, but that they haven't managed to find funding to put into practice yet. A skunkworks.

>>1975472
>But most valuably of all, any completely novel ideas they come up with themselves, but that they haven't managed to find funding to put into practice yet. A skunkworks.
This. It's not like it would cost us much to let a bunch of them throw their ideas at the wall and see what sticks. Some resources, a couple drones and spine buddies

>>1975472
The government itself will still want some level of tech from the scary bugs. They think they're going to be able to catch up with us using these research agreements not realizing we're pumping their best minds for ideas not actual research.

>>1975472
Best thing.

I mean we can give them medical and bio stuff that would make their lives easier without really affecting their other tech development. We can also ask our AI freind to try and map probable technology advances according to current research trends and areas of interest so we can investigate areas that humans skip over due to unlimited grants.

Sometimes making do is what gets the tech discoverd afterall.

>>1975447
Yeah, given that the reason we demanded the Expanse in the first place is to keep the Union away from the artifacts, the deal really isn't done until the turn over all the artifacts they already have.

>>1975472
I like the cut of your jib. We definitely should be looking into that canderon production tech, that would be a game changer for us.

>>1975472
Yeah the best way to poach them from the Union would be offering unlimited research funding like we gave Elizabeth. Have that advertised on Mentan and watch a mass exodus of all the scientists and researchers there

>>1975434
We could leverage this further, with what we know about The Prometheus Initiative now. See if they'll admit about the neutrino beam.

>Also any equipment you may have connected to the exotic artifacts. It may be contaminated.

>>1975483

True.
Require them to undergo mandatory medical testing and give them Spine Buddies™

We can get an absolute tonne of Canderon from the Vhalen, so we can give them that for their tests. + any raw resources they require

>>1975487
>I mean we can give them medical and bio stuff that would make their lives easier without really affecting their other tech development.
Eh, I hate to break it to you, but our most visible medical tech is based on nanomachines. If we teach the Union how to make those, I can garuntee you within a week they'll be using that knowledge to design molecular disassembler warheads.

>>1975495
That has been thoroughly pinned on the domestic terrorists. We don't need to bring that up now and thereby reveal our involvement.

>>1975503
They dont even understand their own genome fully. Theres plenty of biotech we can give them without handing over nanotech.

>>1975485
Do what most countries do. Cast offs that nominally improve their efficiency but also leave us with an edge. Give them a weapon system that required hive parts, that they can't replicate because the power source is a living hive piece. Give them cures for minor but debilitating diseases, they already think it's our med tech that's better anyway

>>1975496
>Require them to undergo mandatory medical testing and give them Spine Buddies™
>>1975483
>Some resources, a couple drones and spine buddies

We shouldn't reveal we have this ability to what will be overseen by Union officials.

Just let them work and toss them a few non-military quality-of-life-improving technologies.

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>>1975412
Lee turns back to the holoscreen and it resumes the connection, the pressing of the control key a simple formality.

"Sounds good, once the last of the artifacts have been returned, the fleet will depart." Lee says. Windsor exhales deeply as he leans back in his seat.

"Right." He says. "Most of that would be on Path, and is already being dealt with to your speaker's satisfaction. We have some Skyl artifacts on top of that which we have already assembled for your pickup. The shuttle can launch for your capital ship at any time, just say the word."

"Please?" Lee says with a shrug.

"Funny." Windsor says blandly. "I'll have the shuttle launch immediately."

>Mention the Ceph research program you discovered from the Senticom archives
>Agree to receive the shuttle
>Other (write in)

>>1975491
They wanted to create Canderon but there is probably no possibility of them recreating it, it's likely intimately tied to the Void Crafting tree, from the hint that EchoMom gave.

>>1975496
Now that I think about it, we could just copy their memories during a mandatory hive physical and just clone them once their time is up and they have to return to the Union. Don't even need to use the spinepals, we can learn everything they've ever known just by giving them a dip in a medi-tank.

>>1975517
>Agree to receive the shuttle

>>1975517
>Agree to receive the shuttle

>>1975503
I can't think of any reason to bring up the archives. Anyone have an argument for it?

>>1975514
That's why you have two labs, one for Union bootlickers and the Premium Lab for people who spurn scrutiny and human contact for Science.

>>1975508
I don't want to admit specific knowledge about it. A more general statement querying if they've connected artifacts to any other alien artifacts. You think that's too much of a hint?

>>1975521
Sounds like the source for a third type of hive thinker drone. We could easily do this across the multiple species we have encounterd to get a large influx of different perspectives.

>>1975517
>>Agree to receive the shuttle
No sense in tipping our hand and revealing we were behind that op to killinger of all people. As long as the void shard is on that shuttle there won't be any problems.

>>1975517
>Agree to receive the shuttle

>Other (write in)
-Schedule a meeting to discuss a debriefing of the Nowhere incident.
-Bring up the psionic research that was performed on Lee, and strongly advise against continuing it, because in opens their mind to suggestions by the thing that they summoned at nowhere and because human brains cannot handle it without extreme modification

>>1975517
>Mention the Ceph research program you discovered from the Senticom archives
Just so you know we can mentally see anything we want to.

>>1975535
Well, we could always claim 'we heard the screaming' again.

Actually, once we receive the void shard they used in testing. We can ask them for the neutrino beam.

"It told us about it."

>>1975472
Not a bad idea, but we should play ball with the Union gov too. Otherwise they may take steps to sequester the best scientists. There may also be scientists who want their discoveries to go to advancing humanity and not to furthering the technological edge of a precursor empire. They may be in invested in research for something other than the thrill of discovery, and in those cases we'll need the support of outside institutions.

>>1975517
>Agree to receive the shuttle

Don't mention the archives until we at least look at the secret files Windsor gave us.

I'm pretty sure the Senticom archive mentioned a Void sample being stored in a system other than Gemini... maybe we should pop in for a surprise inspection?

>>1975517
I didn't hear anything about that secret jungle planet base mentioned here, though possibly that's where the Skyl artifacts are coming from.

When are we going to infiltrate that place?

>>1975517
>Agree to receive the shuttle

>>1975545
As they're evacuating it we can just land on it in the open right now.

>>1975517
"Considering the vast amounts of Skyl artifacts you have gained from Darwin alone makes us think that the a mere single shuttle is not enough for the full amount."

>>1975544
The other system, at least at the time we hit the senticom building, was on that world Seiner tried to play cat and mouse with our drones. That's where they were running the neutrino beam tests using a void shard, think the name was Tadega or something like that.

>>1975544
We don't actually need to work with the scientists in question to test their ideas. That's what our endless supply of drones and thousands of thinkers are for.

>>1975551
The rest are on Path apparently.

>>1975517
Wait a minute, why am I suddenly hyper-suspicious of the shuttle?

...Are they going to try to blow us up?

>>1975517
>>Agree to receive the shuttle
But make sure to state in no uncertain terms that lying to us about artifacts is both easily detectable and could be considered an act of war. Then give them time to "make sure" they deny everything over. Just so they know how serious we are about this.

>>1975563
Would be rather pointless of them to try.
We could literally invade every single world they own simultaniously, even if they successfully detonate a weapon in our ship, it'll just piss us off.

>>1975556
>the hive is literally the one place in the galaxy that is actively trying to hire Idea Guys

>>1975563
Let's have Seiner look at it then.

>>1975572
To be fair, its easier to be a useful idea guy if you actually know the details of what your talking about.

The rest will just get told by a speaker that their shit/offerd a brain upload of knowledge.

>>1975563
They can't be that stupid. We could self destruct every ship in the Gemini fleet and they'd still lose the planet due to creep spread and hidden hives.

>>1975575
Seiner 2.0 has become irreplaceably valuable due to having his true potential as a human unlocked in a way we haven't learned to duplicate (yet).

>>1975587
They're stupid enough to open Doom gates. Even if they do who cares, we'd have justification for pretty much anything we wanted afterwards. Us+heretic/unity+our other human allies would be happy to split their space for some land or trade deals

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>>1975598
>Doom gates

>>1975596
>implying I want to send him there personally
He's a seer. I want him to SEE. You do understand what that means?

>>1975598
So your telling us we need to bio-engineer doom marine, awaken him like seiner 2.0 and then make an army of them?

Lyle! Come get your upgrades!

>>1975598
I would give anything for the Union to actually start a space war with us. I've wanted to crop dust entire cities with our nightmare alien cordyceps for so long now....

>>1975517

Mention an anonymous tip about the Ceph research program. Make it clear that we don't want to make this a big deal, but that this is dangerous technology, similar to what was seen on Nowhere.

>>1975598
We should be very explicit about this to the rest of the people who matter. The Union can do whatever the fuck they want internally and with the Commonwealth and with the Valen and Taidaren, but if they bring the enemy of all to our doorstep, there will be no further discussion, there will only be death.

>>1975609
Do the same to Mauser and let them have a co-op.

Reminder that the Union has (or had) at least one active artifact at Tadega (not at Gemini) if they don't deliver it we need to call them on their bullshit.

>>1975630
We could just start the conversation with "what about those artifacts on Tadega?"

>>1975630
If they don't deliver it, we have just reason to declare open war on them.

>>1975609
Kyle is our cheeky version of doom guy already anyway

>>1975611
Honestly I'd rather the union weren't stupid, but if they're stupid enough to attack us with a fleet over a core world of theirs they don't deserve to be on charge anymore

>>1975654
Lyle* fucking autocorrect. The one time I phonepost

I think they are going to pull a "you didn't ask for it" bullshit on us.

>>1975517

QD, could we get a count of all known artefacts/fucking dodgy research that we know that they are pulling.

Just so we don't let them pull a fast one

>>1975661
Which is why we should take the time to explain exactly what these things are and why they are so dangerous.

As an aside, if the Union hoards void shards, I would be 100% in support in taking it back by any means necessary. This is non-negotiable.

>>1975650
Oh definitely.

I went to the archive and looked up the Senticom data. In sum:

>The union recovered 2 broken crystals and 6 active crystals from the moon.
>They gave 4 active crystals to the Olympus guys which were used in the stealth ship the mirage which we blew up.
>They gave 1 active crystal to Tenebrous which was rendered broken after the events of Nowhere.
>They gave 1 active crystal to Tadega for military testing.

>Excluding crystals gained from the Ceph, the Union has 1 active crystal and 2 broken crystals to hand over to us.

This is what we learned from the Senticom archives alone. There could be even more shards out there that the Union didn't disclose to Senticom. If the Union doesn’t deliver at least one intact shard and two broken shards we know that they are intending to lie to us about the shards.

If they get caught in any attempt at deception we should demand they send us Windsor (the secretary of intelligence) to “personally confirm” that this time they’re telling the truth in a private conversation.

We can explain that either they give us this or like >>1975653 said we can declare war. We do not fuck around when it comes to shards.

>>1975664
I think they are only bring us the artifacts they got from the Expanse as per our orders.

>>1975664
He ain't going to tell us that outright, if you want to find out I recommend doing an archive binge of the thread we infiltrated of the senticom building. There is at least one more void shard out there in Union hands, and if I recall right about 3 research assignments into what could be sketchy void stuff.

>>1975664
See
>>1975670
For the stuff we already know about for the Void Shards. We know they were also testing with captured Ceph tech.

>>1975517
"Right." Lee says. "It better be a big shuttle, because I recall quite a supply of artifacts just in the facility I was held at alone. Not all that smart to keep everything you have in one place like that, and we both saw what happened at Nowhere. Be a real shame if the Hive ended up finding traces of one of those things elsewhere on a Union world." He shrugs innocently as he continues. "The Hive would have no choice but to move in to secure it before it broke containment like the last one, and I don't think I'd be able to talk them out of it."

"Are we done?" Windsor says suddenly.

"I think so. I'll just send an invitation to Mentan for that joint laboratory and let them know we will be setting one up. You can pass any requests made by your own researchers to me, and I can arrange transport from the embassy if they need it, otherwise I'm sure we can permit a direct course using Union or civilian transports."

"We're not advertising this to the public." Windsor says. "I'll vet the individuals on your behalf, to ensure we don't get any crazies trying to get involved." Lee leans back and looks to the side, his hand scratching his chin as if to simulate deep thought.

"Hmm, bit late for that I think, but not to worry, we can make a big publicity stunt out of it. I'll make it look like you really put my feet to the fire to squeeze this deal out of me, or you can credit whoever needs an approval bump. When's the election again?"

"I'm not elected, and that's not-"

"Right, right, but that bill you have to establish a president, whoever that is will be elected right?" Lee says. "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to get those numbers up. It's not like there's been a recent anti-establishment streak in the populace or anything. I'll leave you to it." Lee says, and he snaps his fingers as the screen cuts off, Windsor's face twitching with a reply that doesn't come out soon enough. Lee kicks off from the desk, spinning in his chair with great self-satisfaction.

"God-damn that felt good." He says. "And dad said I was wasting time watching all those political space operas." His mind directs itself back to you for a moment. Do you want me to send an invitation to Mentan for researchers, or should I let you handle that?

>Send the open invitation
>The Hive will arrange it
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation
>Do not send an open invitation
>Other (write in)

>>1975702
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation
Oh goody!

>>1975702
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation
Honestly I'm still slightly sore over the fact that we're doing this with Killinger's approval instead of relying on espionage to vet and recruit scientists ourselves from Mentan. But if we have to, Elizabeth is probably the best connected to sell an 'open' invitation to the hive.

>>1975702
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation
She probably knows all the right honeyed words.

>>1975702
>Other
Let's ask Elizabeth whether she's interested.

>>1975702
>Send the open invitation

>>1975702
>>Have Elizabeth send the invitation

She can be on the other end of science politicking for once. She gets her pick of scientists and infinite resources she can dispense at will.

>>1975702
Lee, you found your calling.

>Have Elizabeth send the invitation.

I'm voting for this because I want her to do something, but I feel I should formally note that considering how she disappeared, she may be received less than optimally. Cries of traitor and all. I'm counting on the positives to outweigh the potential negatives though.

>>1975702
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation

"If I could create the Unity program on the measly budget I got from the Union, imagine what you call could create or discover on the Hives unlimited budget?!"

But really, maybe not bring up the Unity thing

>>1975741
>I feel I should formally note that considering how she disappeared, she may be received less than optimally
The rest of the Hope prisoners were returned, and Elizabeth elected not to come back. How is that traitorous? At worst she could be accused of Stockholm Syndrome.

Well if people knew she freed Theseus, she probably would be considered a traitor and criminal, but we're not going to let that one squeak out.

>>1975702
>Have Elizabeth send the invitation

Time to make our NEET daugther go out and take some sun. Also clones we need replicants and hive drones to be her body guards.

>>1975760
Lee is a great human speaker.

We should put the thinkers into creating a better...whatever it's the shell that the Ceph use to fliat around.

If we are going to introduce Elizabeth we need to figure out how best to present her.

Maybe as something like: “Her Royal Magasty, Princess Elizabeth. Adopted daughter of the Red Queen and director of experimental research for the Red Hive.

>>1975774
Elizabeth should be given an honor guard that’s noticably different from Lee’s heavy warriors. Why don't we use that Royal Guard/Myrmadon design from a while ago?

>>1975789
A thought shell, I think? We've already got our own version, and it removes the Void bit and replaces it with a Hive bit!

>>1975795
She can take whatever title she wants. I don't think a royal title will work well with the Union, though (maybe the Commonwealth?). Why not "Chief Research Director" or something else equally impressive but human-sounding?

About her guard... well, I don't see a point to it, considering she's more than capable in combat. She doesn't have to attend in person.

>>1975795
Agreed with the unique honor guard.

>>1975804
The point is it emphasizes her status, give her a little bit of extra weight to throw around, and it just plain looks impressive.

Guys i think i just had a epiphany. Seiner was the one doing research on psionics wasn't he? Since Seiner 2.0 needs to stay in a isolation chamber why not put him with the thinkers researching psionics?

>>1975804
Well, we are royal aliens. It may just be that anything less than a royal title for our daughter is an insult to us. "Director of Experimental research" works fine, though.

The guards are more to make a statement about how important we consider Elizabeth. We don't want the Union or whomever to think they even have a chance of assassinating her with whatever. Just like the secret service does a lot by reputation to deter assassination attempts an elite guard would be a good idea. Besides, we never know when Liz might stumble upon some Void stuff.

>>1975820
>The point is it emphasizes her status, give her a little bit of extra weight to throw around, and it just plain looks impressive.
I understand, but counterpoint: if she walks around without guards, she's clearly powerful enough to not be worried. I don't really care either way, just offering another opinion so we don't get bogged down in the usual "five hours to discuss a new drone design" thing.

>>1975804
>>1975820
We could aso assign them to the Lee for places where the Heavies would cause damage to the halls and doors.

Might have to wait for a bit and say they are people left behind in the Expanse who turned to the Hive for their livelihood and could act as a good symbol for pointing out the benefits of living with the Hive

>>1975839
Don't design them, just say we want guards that are less bruisers and more lithe, intelligent-looking bodyguards. Think humanoid-ish and wasps and the like rather than heavies.So far Union's seen our Hammers, not our daggers

>>1975820
>>1975843
>>1975853
Also backing elite guards

>>1975839
We have an existing drone design right? I don't think it was ever voted on.

Regardless, all we need to do know is vote for there to BE an elite guard. The exact stats can be determined in post-thread debate/crunch votes.

>>1975853
Uh now i'm thinking in our hero sniffer flying around Liz lab carrying stuff for her and landi g on her shoulder lime some kind of parrot-bug pet.

>>1975875
I don't really know why she would need a guard if she's just writing a letter, though.

I don't really see the point of her making an in-person appearance. Like, she doesn't even sleep. What makes you think she'd want to make an appearance to somewhere where she doesn't need to be and somewhere that doesn't involve SCIENCE?

>>1975894
She doesn't. Hell we could just use holograms instead of sending her some place else.

>>1975894
Elizabeth can easily multi-task. She can stay connected to the thinker network while recruiting top scientists to work for the Hive in person. More scientists working for the hive helps our long game with SCIENCE too.

As for the guards, while they aren't strictly necessary there are almost no downsides and they look very cool.
And if there's ever a situation where the guards are actually necessary we'll be very glad we assigned them.

>>1975894
see this post
>>1975919
Honestly none of our human kids need to worry about being assassinated- since we can just clone them with a brain scan and they're back, good as new except missing a few seconds of horrible death memories.

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>>1975702
>to ensure we don't get any crazies trying to get involved."
But that's the opposite of what we want. The more abnormal the brain the more mad the science.

>>1975919
I always find it funny how we, as the queen, probably seem like some ancient horror with incomparable mentality to most other humans... but when you get right down to it we're just kind of a cheeky bitch with a vindictive streak and vices just like anyone else. They'd probably be astonished that we made a whole sub-race of drones just because...

>"Well, silly humans, you must understand... I thought it'd look cool."

>>1975774
Vaughn is just going to send out a very appealing sounding hologram-email, let's be real here.

>>1975919
>recruiting top scientists to work for the Hive in person
But we don't even need her to do that in person though. We could just use holograms.

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>>1975702
"We have access to the public Q-comm network from here." Lee says. "So we can just relay a transmission from the Hive network through that and patch it directly to the public network on Mentan."

That sounds good. I'll handle the rest if you just relay the message. Lee jumps in his seat at the sudden thought, and the holoprojectors activate in the room as Elizabeth materializes into a life size image. Her hands tap at various consoles just out of the image, and then she turns to face Lee and steps away from the unseen terminal and into the center of the holo-image. Lee's knee catches the edge of his desk as he continues to spin, unaware of his leg's position as he stops abruptly. He bites his lip to stifle a yelp of pain and rubs his hand into the bruised kneecap.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She says.

"No! No." Lee says, slightly too loudly at first, and then again at a more appropriate volume. "No it's fine. I was just, uh... testing the barrings in the chair." He pivots from side to side in his seat. "It has, uh, very little friction, I figured it could be a decent item for market."

"You want the Hive to... sell office chairs?" Elizabeth asks. Lee's face reddens as he stammers for a moment.

"I..." Lee starts, thinking for some response. "I'll patch you to Mentan."

"Just record it, I doubt we can get a live feed on a public connection with the current state of Gemini." Elizabeth says. She looks up and straight ahead as she clears her throat.

"Assistant director Dr. Andrew Vichers, PHD, or to whom it may concern of the Mentan school of the enlightened scholarly studies Department of Graduate advancement and Career Placement." There is a momentary ping of affirmation from the public network as it finds the address, and she continues. "Vichers, this is Dr. Elizabeth Vaughn. I've been the head of research in the Hive since the Hope incident, and I've got a few openings for staff. You did well by me after Chandra, I know it must have taken a lot just to get me a science officer position, so I'm returning the favor by giving this to you first. Here's the deal, the Hive has no concern for or need of currency. It can provide any material or instrument that could ever be requested without issue and no understanding of what a budget is. The Hive is setting up a skunkworks lab on Bedrock. Doesn't matter what you want to study, you can study it there. The Union will be sending a few of their researchers in that direction, but if you know anyone interested in taking some greater risks with their resume, I could use a few assistants in my own private lab. Send the info of anyone who may be interested in the offer, and before you ask, yes I'm alive, yes, these augs are organic in nature, and I may teach the first person to sign up how to grow one of their own." She gives a motion of her hand, and the transmission ends. "That should get his interest." She says, and something catches her attention behind her.

cont.

>>1975943
This. We're already smart, we need crazy 'lets weld these two canderon reactors together' tier humans. That's why we like people like Lyle and Elizabeth, because they're cray

>>1975956
Some things just require a personal touch and can't be done over a holo-screen easily. Also, Elizabeth has a moderate relay and can plant desires to work for the Hive if she is there in person.

>>1975957
>"You want the Hive to... sell office chairs?" Elizabeth asks
Our daughter doesn't understand, because she just locks her hive-augments to keep herself steady. Imagine a gaming chair that lived off the skin and sweat you shed natural, can move itself around, and automatically adjusts itself to your body for prime comfy.

Lee is a genius and we'd have what essentially amounts to a Fly that can strangle anyone sitting in it if we really wanted.

>>1975957
It's awkward reunion with Seiner time already?

>>1975957
How can one say no to a pitch like that?

>>1975959
We need ones that also know some idea of limits with craziness. "Lets see what happens if we place 5 pieces of apparent solid nothingness in a pentagram shape and pump a shitton of energy into it" is a bit far.
We like our current humans adoptees because they are crazy,but clever,good at adaptation, work well in a given role while maintaining a good level of versatility and just being plain interesting. These new scientists are going to be the equivalent on Quantom Thinker 2.0: a large amount of nondiscript people who can help us pump out yummy research.

On a different note, when are we gonna introduce Seiner to our other kids. I'll be sure to bring popcorn.

>>1976004

> I'll be sure to bring popcorn.

Mother is best mother

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>>1925104
>Next week should be a new day
>>1975118
>Hive Queen Quest 66.3

What did he mean by this?

>>1976014

there will probably be a new day later today.

>>1976014

Or in the thread after.
Don't worry about it, she'll happen when she happens

>>1976014
We still had stuff to do today I guess (like everything we already did and looking at the secret files we got). This should definitely be the last thread for "today" though.

>>1975957
"Something wrong?" Lee asks.

"No." Elizabeth says. There is a hint of contempt in her voice. "Dr. Seiner just woke up. I need to go."

"Wait, Seiner? Adam Seiner? He's alive? He's there with you? You know him?" Lee asks with increasing concern, but the image is gone. He hits his palm against his forehead several times firmly, and stands up, only to quickly buckle and sit back down in the seat as he grips his knee with a muted curse as he holds the bruised joint as your parasite's healing properties rapidly expedite the healing process to a short, but sore process. He head hits the desk in the process, and he falls back into the chair at an odd angle, sliding off the cushion and sending himself sprawling to the floor as the seat is sent spinning across the room and into a wall.

"I'll just... I'll just take a nap here then and send you the reply when it comes..." He says.

cont.

>>1976014
Ended up spending most of my prepwork time helping to move stuff with my truck...sorry. I did manage to add a few things I think you will enjoy in the research system though, and you already noticed the added espionage mechanics in the pastebin.

>>1976039
Hey, could we surgically and genetically alter Seiner to look more like, well, Seiner? We do have that surgical face lift ability we've never used yet, and this guy is going to have enough mind-body image problems in his near future.

>>1976039
The Lee needs a coordination improvement. No, is not improve: is fix.

>>1976039
>Spoiler

No worries QD. The thread is good so far and it definitely helps clean up some of the loose threads from last week.

>>1976039
Damn. We really do need good seating. The dead meme has become reality.

>>1976099
Lee is just a spaz

>>1976099
>>1976110
This. Lee just spilled his spaghetti, wasn't the chairs fault.

>>1976039
I guess now it's Seiner-testing time, unless we want to see how many blowjobs Anderson had to give to hitch-hike his way to civilization.

>>1976123
But just imagine we we can engineer a seat that is comfortable AND prevents Lee from getting broken bones,3rd degree burns and cerebral hemorrhaging. It would truly be our greatest technological achievement.

>>1976135
I always feel like Lee is the child that would die miserably the second we let him go anywhere unattended.

>>1976135
A love seat formed from psionic insulation. Put that shit on the market and the hive will be bigger than IKEA.

>>1976142
Politics is where the elites put their retarded children that have no other.

>>1976142
Considering the moment he left Leeland the first time he got involved as the fallguy for a government OP, got arrested as said fallguy and later was sent to a secret lab where they fucked with his head it's more than just a feeling you have.

>>1976175
Well, not every child can be self sufficient I suppose. Good thing we've made restore points of him

>>1976039
When did Lee learn Adam was dead?

The last time Lee saw Seiner was when they were on the Clarke together. Then Lee's prison blew up, and Seiner thought LEE was dead.

Then the facility got nuked while Lee was in expendable guinea pig prison.

>>1976150
>Hivkia
>the furniture that assembles itself!

>>1976203
Stupid humans will just keep losing the allienki mini brain that assembles it for you.

>>1976142
Lee's the child that has to be sheltered at all times or they will die. Elizabeth's the golden child who can do no wrong. And Lyle's the kid you could toss out a know they'd not only be fine, they'd actually enjoy it.

>>1976203
Considering how we are researching how to layer space time, our future furniture will sure as hell be something.

>>1976212
New hivekia line: 'possibilities' - giving you the perfect comfort of a well broken in armchair with none of the sag because the furniture is only a few months old!

>>1976199
That's....a pretty good question, I can't remember ever telling Lee that Seiner was dead. I'm not sure how I feel about our dopey problem child having knowledge of our assassinations and black ops shit.

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>>1976039
The door flexes open in the darkened chamber, and Seiner stumbles out, nearly falling to the ground from the sudden rush of sensation in his mind. He shuts his eyes tightly and grips his head, as if afraid it will burst open from the pressure. The noise of the Hive suddenly dims as the lab seals itself off from most external connections, apart from the hard-wired thinkers set along the ceiling. Seiner slowly looks up, examining the surroundings from more directions than his own self. The sensation subsides with the relatively confined space available, but his mind still seems to stutter about the chamber, making him difficult to fully detect with your own mind.

He slowly stands on shaky legs, and moves closer to the vast array of instruments and organic terminals set about the central mass of living machinery. He uses the table to support himself as he looks over the instruments. Small strips of flesh are set out across the table, some damaged, others still living but covered in small needles of chitin wired into various devices. Several slices of a brain sits on a small tablet with small arms sprouting from the base which pick and sift through the soft gray matter. There is a jar of fluid filled with various organs, some human, others clearly not, and others still somewhere between. Several strips of skin are pulled tightly into a set of oval canvases of flesh where the skin shifts in color and texture to show various readouts in a mixture of Skyl and various human languages while several keyboards seem to type themselves, each key a raw, exposed tooth with its surface smoothed into ergonomic curves that clack as the visible muscle tissue pulls them down into the keyboard. Several keys are splattered with some form of inhuman blood, and beside them is a specimen tray where several Scavenger eggs are pinned by several needles, their shells cut open cleanly and the inner membranes pulled aside layer by layer as chitinous medical instruments cling to the exposed innards. Beside it is a round coffee mug filled with some sweet smelling reddish colored water, the grip stained with layers of blood from several species.

cont

>>1976229
...I feel like the description of Elizabeth's Lab was never quite this in-depth. Man, anyone else saw this, they'd think her a madwoman.

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>>1976229

>>1976238
We need silicon based life tech as soon as we can.

>>1976229

Oh fuck. That's like classic evil genius level. That's wonderfully fucked up

You know, in the interest of broadening our knowledge base of human culture, we could tell the Commonwealth we have devised field medic drones to send out to accompany the human troops when they're fighting Scavs.

Which from their perspective would be regeneration tanks with legs. Way more portable than their own. We can scan the brain of anyone injured who takes a dip in the pod. There are so many planet-specific cultural references going over our heads right now.

>>1976266
That'd run into the issue into them having a foreign power take over swaths of their medical industry. We could lend them some for a fight here or there, but replacing their medics with ours would leave them vulnerable, and they know it.

>>1976229
Hah, Elizabeth has developed a taste for our sweet throne juice I see.

>>1976229
Seiner looks over the lab, his mind finding different positions outside his body as he feels himself watching his own body from the perspective of the specimens he examines. His mind flickers to some strange humanoid creature, a clear hybrid of human and...something held within a tank of greenish yellow fluid, and he looks back at his body from within the tank as something moves behind him.

He pivots suddenly as his mind flashes with an imprinted sensation of deep disdain, and he tosses the mug without realizing it. It halts in the air, the fluid flowing out as if falling in slow motion as a strange, deep, mental hum fills the air, as if vibrating from within Seiner's inner ear. The mug shatters as Elizabeth strides forward, the shards bouncing off her shoulders as if they were drifting in zero gravity before falling behind her. Seiner stammers back, his weight shifting to his heels as he trips over an artery set along the floor feeding nutrients to some experiment, and he falls to the floor, his legs desperately kicking his heels into the ground to push him back away from her form until he feels his back hit the supports for the central assembly.

"You don't recognize me?" She says. "That's disappointing. I still have most of my original body. You have a whole new one and I still recognize your arrogant little mind perfectly." She lifts a clawed hand, and Seiner feels a force tightening around his neck as he is lifted up, sliding up the wall as his feet kick at the floor to keep up until he is face to face with her. "I'll give you a hint, since you won't be going back to the Union any time soon." She says, and she leans in close, her head centimeters from his ear as her antennae frill in a wave along her scalp.

"I'm the one who removed the AI limiter program." She whispers. You sense a sudden creeping horror in Seiner's mind as his feet dangle over the ground, struggling to find something sturdy as he gasps for air. "That's right." She says as she senses the realization, her own mind scraping over his like a rake through soft mud. A trickle of blood runs from his nose. "You're lucky you have that thing in your head." She spits, and he falls to the ground in a coughing fit as he rubs his neck, as if trying pull off the noose that was never there.

"Elizabeth-" He says with a gasp, his voice raspy. "I'm sorry for what I did. All of it. I wish I could take it all back, but I can't. I already died for my mistakes once. How many more times would I need to die to make you feel better-" He shouts with a sudden sharp agony as Elizabeth sends her weaver graft's spike into Seiner's shoulder. Blood, and then the thick discolored medical paste of your parasite seeps from the wound. She pulls the limb out and the wound begins to steam as it heals.

cont.

>>1976325
I hope she's enjoying this on some (several) level.

I mean that sincerely.

>>1976325
Wow, Elizabeth is showing her major cunt side here. This isn't how you treat fellow hive members, specially not one as important as you.

>>1976325
Careful Elizabeth. I know you wont kill him, but its best not to treat him like a punching bag...PHYSICAL punching bag that is.

>>1976278
That's why it's 'only' for the Scavs thing. Not all military endeavors.

I mean if we start developing a taste for human credits and start talking to planetary governors about opening hospitals on a more permanent basis, that's a different colored drone entirely.

>>1976333
I mean, to be fair, he WAS a giant dildo, and the entire reason we wanted to have him brought him back in the first place was for spite and torture.

>>1976325
ohshit. She mad

>>1976337
That's stupid. The whole reason for bringing back Seiner is pretty sketchy and I would have much preferred to have given one of the other baseline humans in the chamber this ability.

>>1976355
It's petty, but we were far younger in those days. But indeed, that's the reason for us holding onto his remains for so long. He was JUST THAT BIG of an asshole to us for a while.

>>1976337
>and the entire reason we wanted to have him brought him back in the first place was for spite and torture
No? We chose his memories because he was a scientist, in was interesting, and was disposable.

>>1976337
Was he really tho? The most he did was act as willing puppet for Killinger and his cronies.

I mean, he only tried to 'kill' Theseus because he ran out of money to keep him going, and unleashing him meant the deaths of hundreds of Union civilians and soldiers.

The only thing he did to us was alert the greater Union of our gestalt intelligence and the thus the moral grounds to abduct our non sentient spawn.

He technically wasn't wrong in anything he did.

>>1976337
Hold on there buttercup, Seiner was the only other scientist brainscan we had, and his theories were right all along. I feel like Elizabeth is being a bit unfair here.

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>>1976325
Elizabeth I'm disappointed. We already killed him once. You got your revenge and Steiner is extremely useful. Pissing him off serves no purpose. No need to go full Queen of Blades here.

>>1976337
In hindsight, he really wasnt. He was curious about the Hive, he was given(since Killinger hired Lyle) a Hive drone and wanted to ask it questions, however our lovable cheekiness left the only avenue of analyzation to be vivisection. As for his deal with Theseus, he seemed to only interact with the proto-Theseus on a diagnostic level:try getting to know someone when all you look at are their heart rate and brain activity.
As for torture and spite...not so much. Most wanted his juicy mind. Doing something out of spite independent of another assignment(being spiteful during a mission/ assignment is fine) is simply a waste of resources.

I mean, I agree he's not that bad nowadays, I'm just saying we were spiteful earlier on.

>>1976355
Bringing Seiner back lets Lizzy express these negative feelings (that she's been holding on to this entire time, taking up valuable thinking space and emotional stability) in a safe, controlled matter that doesn't hurt anyone who matters. If she'd been left with them they could well have been an 'in' for Void fuckery.

>>1976387
Shes going from QoB to Queen Bitch of the Universe. We have to deal with Auntie, we dont need another. I can understand her being mad, but harming him(including psionicaly when we dont know how it might react to someone in Elizabeth's condition) is pretty stupid. I think she needs to get out more. Too much time in a lab can make anyone maladjusted.

>>1976390
Yeah, Steiner wasn't that bad. I'm sure we never would have killed him (maybe taken him captive as another beautiful scientist brain) if it wasn't for Theseus's request we kill him.

>>1976325
>>1976325
Can we thought!tase Elizabeth if she tries to keep stabbing Seiner? She kind of has it coming here, she's forgetting she isn't the queen of this hive.

>>1976410
Yeah curious what he's gonna say when he finds out about this, either from us or his chats with Elizabeth

Okay let's not go crazy. Just let her get it out of her system. She keeps going after this then we can tell her to lay off.

Also it's a bit funny to see a mad scientist with vivisected specimens on display get mad at someone else over what amounts to ethics. Both of them are delightful little monsters and should learn to put their differences aside. For science.

>>1976403
>presented with the guy that destroyed her life's work, created the Unity in doing so, and then blamed her for creating the Unity to save his own skin
>"Abloo bloo torturing him means she's turning EBUL!!!"

>>1976325
Lee and Vaughn can just recognize the tasty flavor of someone they've met even though they only met the guy long before they had the ability to hear thoughts.

>>1976403
Agreed. We need to put our foot down here. Children harming each other psionically is not allowed. Elizabeth needs a "time out" with the regulat humans for a bit.

Hopefully we can boost our relationship with Seiner by "protecting" him from Elizabeth. We need him loyal and we can't use a spine pal to ensure it in his case. Commanding by fear alone will only go so far.

>>1976401
She had already dealt with this. Probably before he died by our claw even. When he died she got some closure. We proceeded to respawn him forcing her to interact with a person she thought both dead and forgotten.
>>1976434
Yes. Because normal sane people don't coldly torture someone because of a slight.

>>1976425
It's not like stabbing him can do permanent damage.

She's punishing him for being robot-racist a few decades ago.

>>1976434
She isn't turning evil - god knows we've done some shady shit in this quest - but psionically attacking one of our own crosses a line.

Also, he didn't destroy her life's work. She freed Unity/Theseus and now has easy communications with him. And her work with the hive can be much more aided by his support than hindered.

>>1976448
>She's punishing him for being robot-racist a few decades ago.
To be honest there is nothing wrong with that considering what our enemy is.

>>1976434
I was being a bit hyperbolic, but she knows we brought him back to work for us. Also, dont remeber him blaming her for creating Theseus. Actually harming the guy just seems like she could use some more self control.

>>1976425
We can though inject her with some calming endorphins so she really gets all the sense of satisfaction she needs and becomes sated.

>>1976460
>Actually harming the guy just seems like she could use some more self control.
Self-disciplinary train is now required.

>>1976460
I don't think he knows she created Theseus. How Theseus escaped is a mystery to the greater Union.

>>1976461
I'd be cautious about this. We can try, but Elizabeth could easily detect the mental signals to our parasite. We might be better talking this out rather than trying subtle manipulation.

>>1976468
I really do think we're making a mountain out of a molehill and we can just tell her to cut it out and she will be okay.

>>1976443
>a slight

...the dude turned her friendly pet AI into a spacefaring Skynet. Hundreds if not thousands of lives have been lost becuse of him. And she got blamed for it because she made the AI in the first place.

That's a few orders of magnitude above a 'slight'.

>>1976325
"You still don't get it, do you? Even after all this." She shouts. "I don't need you to make me feel better, I don't want revenge, or pity, or even justice. I want you to get it in your thick skull that there is something else bigger than your stupid ego!"

"I'm sorry!" Seiner says, as if begging, his hand pressed against his shoulder as the flesh quickly seals and the pain fades.

"Stop acting like that fixes anything!" Elizabeth replies. "There's nobody for you to convince. Everyone here can pry open your thoughts and pick it apart for every moment of moral compromise and leap of logic used to excuse your own actions to yourself. Even now, I can feel it, you're thinking back to every moment, justifying it because you didn't know, you never noticed, or you were too preoccupied. Well what if I was too preoccupied to miss your subclavican artery and let you bleed out on the floor. What if I just said 'well you already died once' and cut open your skull to pick apart that new mutation of yours, just to save my some time. You're not sorry for any of it, you're just sorry you feel bad about it because you can't come up with an excuse that's good enough anymore!"

"Then let me help! Let me try to make it right." Seiner says. Elizabeth grits her teeth.

"You can start by wanting to help for a reason other than the clone conditioning, or because you want to feel like a good person. None of that will make up for what you did, not just to Theseus, but the Hive, to Lee, to every person you've turned into a stepping stone up until the moment you realized you became one yourself. You don't get points for realizing you were wrong only after you find out how it feels when it happens to you."

"I get it!" Seiner says. "I'm a piece of shit, and if the Hive never killed me in that lab I'd still be trying to cut apart a drone just to figure out how they work. I'd still be doing Killinger's dirty work and running social engineering projects just for the chance to get my funding, and I'd still be making excuses!" He struggles to get up, more from his imbalance from his mind's shifting than any remaining injury. "But you know what else? I bet that merc would still be a murderer for hire without this thing." He beats his abdomen over the spot of his newly implanted parasite. "And I bet we'd have a lot more AI living in the Union if you didn't let that one loose on the world."

"It would have been genocide! He was fully sentient! He still is!" Elizabeth says, a sudden wall of force knocking Seiner back into the wall for a moment.

cont

>>1976470
Yep. We should tell her we're not okay with this and perhaps apologize to Seiner for her actions. We should NOT attempt any kind of psychic or biological controls on Elizabeth. That's taking a small concern and exploding it out of all proportion.

>>1976476
That is literally the opposite of what Seiner and Vaughn did. Are you stupid?

>>1976477
Oh boy. Elizabeth had the high ground(mostly), and still does, but be a logical scientist and dont respond to people arguing with you with telekinetic blasts.

>>1976476
Reread the threads concerning Theseus's birth.

Anyone remember what Elizabeth looks like?

>>1976477
Shit Elizabeth, talk about double standards. Seiner may have been willing to do terrible things but he was never as big a hypocrite as you.

>>1976488
A nerd

>>1976477
RIP Minotaur-kun, you could have been a great research subject and I hope Kent managed to copy your code.

Can you kids calm down.

Elizabeth is angry as fuck. Seiner is an experiment. Let her do her thing, who gives a fuck what happens to Seiner

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>>1976476
I don't know what you're talking about. I think you need to re-read the archives because that's not what happened.

>>1976477
Good for you standing up for yourself Seiner. Elizabeth isn't flawless and she knows it - it's about time someone called her on it. Don't act like your shit don't stink or use your psychic powers to bully them when they tell you the truth.

>>1976488
Pic is what Elizabeth looks like now.

>>1976495
>who gives a fuck what happens to Seiner
>who cares what happens to the precious specimen that we have only one of.

>>1976450
>god knows we've done some shady shit in this quest

There is not a single guiltless party in this quest. Everybody has done some things that may be considered unethical. I can't get mad at Seiner for wanting to vivisect a drone, because we vivisect things all the time. Shit, we basically mind-control creatures all the time. I can't get mad at Seiner for wanting to shut down Theseus (before he was actually Theseus, mind) because he has his reasons and because White Queen (and many of the other queens!) created life with a very specific intent of using them later on, and then discarding or destroying them once they were no longer useful. Not saying we've done that just yet, but we've certainly benefited.

Now, I can understand that there's a bit of hurt feelings here and there, and that's fine, but looking at the big picture, we're planning the genocide (xenocide?) of two races. We're not done breaking eggs yet. Sometimes you just gotta genocide something, or vivisect something, or mind control something.

>>1976477
Calling for a renegade interrupt, if permissible/needed. If only to calm everyone else down.

>>1976499
Didn't we, like, make him?

>>1976484
I don't think Elizabeth has a moral high ground here at all. Both these scientists have proven themselves willing to do unethical shit when asked, the only justification Elizabeth has is that it was us asking her instead of Killinger.

>>1976504
The effects of the artifact on him are not something we made.

>>1976502
I'm kind of tempted to see where this goes.

>>1976504
Yeah but he's the one who touched the MacGuffin Muffin so now he's special.

>>1976505
>Both these scientists have proven themselves willing to do unethical shit when asked
And that's why we can all learn to work together!

>>1976450
>>1976500
Holy hell, you guys hit it on the head. Elizabeth is almost as guilty as Seiner here, its only be

>>1976510
So am I, but everyone's freaking the hell out, so I'd rather cut it out before everyone takes what she's doing and runs with it past the endzone into the stadium.

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>>1976495
Vaughn's an experiment too.

This whole fight is an experiment.

We're an experiment.

>>1976500
Pretty much this. We aren't a moral paragon and we know it. If Elizabeth still thinks she can get out of this cobdemning "ends justify the means" reasoning while using the same logic to justify Hive atrocities she needs to take a look in the mirror and be intellectually honest with herself.

>>1976499

She isn't going to kill him.

He can't betray us or take any action against us.

What the fuck is the problem??
She is way more valuable to us as a person than him. He's just data waiting to be used

>>1976520
...Holy crap we kinda ARE an experiment, aren't we?

>>1976508
>>1976510
yeah, but we can just make him again

elizabeth can have a full slaughterhouse of seiners if she wants

>>1976477
Sorry Elizabeth but he can touch the 4th dimension with his mind. That is way more cool than 'attempted murder' is bad so it redeems him instantly.

>>1976521

She's not trying to be the good guy.

She's pissed, and is taking it out on someone she sees as the problem

>>1976528
Exactly

>>1976528
Not this specific one though. Can't clone whatever the thing he touched did.

>>1976515
I don't think people are freaking out too much, they're just seeing flaws in Elizabeth for the first time and are trying to discuss how best to raise them with her. That's not a freak-out it's a discussion.

>>1976505
>>1976510
>Both these scientists have proven themselves willing to do unethical shit when asked
Agreed. This time they can do unethical shit working for the hive. They need to bury the hatchet and work together because if they don't an Eldritch abomination will come out of another dimension and eat their souls.

>>1976515
Touchdown, Elizabeth Vaughn.

>>1976520
>We're an experiment.
Yeah, I suppose that's a way of putting it.

None of the queens have any moral authority or have ever had any moral authority. From everything we've seen so far, this galaxy has always been a might-makes-right thing.

>>1976536
we cant NOT clone it

>>1976528
Thinking like this is a bad influence on our children.

>>1976534
Her being pissed wouldn't be such a big deal if she wasn't directing it someone who has arguably just as much reason to be there as she does, all while being a raging hypocrite in her condemnations

>>1976528
... what if we let elizabeth dissect her own clones?

>>1976527
When monkeys are experimentally raised in isolation from birth without a mother to socialize them, they become insane.

When a hive is experimentally raised in isolation, they become a player character.

>>1976559
The Red Queen does what the Red Queen wants, and the Red Queen is keenly aware of her morality and wants to not die.

>>1976559
...just as mother planned.

>>1976477
"And maybe that's your own excuse." Seiner says. "Maybe that's all we are. Just a chain of excuses and regrets. I have a lot to regret, I'll let you keep your excuses and you let me keep mine, and we both work to make sure we don't get any more regrets. How's that sound?" Elizabeth's mind sifts through Seiner's thoughts, searching for some ever-present deception. There is something beneath the thoughts, like a glimmer of light beneath twisted roots. The roots untangle, allowing her mind access, and there is shame. Deep and gripping like a poison pulsing through his body. She retracts her own mind away from his, and he is looking at her, his eyes red with tears. She feels her own vision blur and looks away.

"Well then what's your new excuse?" She asks.

"We're human. That has more of an implication than I ever could have imagined before. We were made by the Hive to be tools in a war. As far as I can tell, the only true measure of morality for a being built with a purpose, is to fulfill that purpose. So here I am." Seiner says. he throws his arms out to his sides. "Here to fill my function, because it's what we were built for. What else is there for us to do? At least the Hive treated us better than I treated the sentient that I made. I count myself lucky for that much." Elizabeth wipes her arm across her eyes and looks back, her own mind conflicted. After a short moment she points to one of the desks.

"I assembled this for you to use when outside your chamber." She says. "Figured you'd need it to do your job right." She points to a small helmet of dark material, like woven granite. He makes his way to it and picks it up, slowly putting it on as he feels the flickering of his mind subside, held fast within the confines of the helmet's material. "I blocks out psionics as well, though so long as you have the parasite you'll still be connected to the Hive."

"Thank you." Seiner says softly.

"Good." Elizabeth says. "Now get out! I have work to do." A door flexes open at her thought, and Seiner moves back to the outer chamber of the lab where the living quarters are held, quickly passing through the door without a word as it flexes shut behind him. Elizabeth runs her clawed fingers through her hair, scrapping at the antennae as he leans forward, her graft jabbing into the desk as she hunches over top it to prop her head up by her elbows.

cont.

>>1976556

Yeah but what's the issue?

She hates the guy because he tried to murder her baby, with the only justification of "Eh, no more funding. May as well kill it"
So let her get out her hatred and anger. Who cares if she's being hypocritical, she's human. That's what humans do

Well, there.

>>1976564
Glad they worked that out. Hope their tension doesn't continue to be an issue.

>>1976568
But we learn by realizing out hypocrisies and coming to tearms with them.

>>1976575
we can just have their parasites make them overwhelmingly horny to help them get over it

>>1976564
I feel kinda bad for Seiner. He really seems hung up on the whole "engineered for a purpose" thing.

He should really take a look at Theseus, his "son", and see that constructed beings can outgrow their initial purpose to choose their own

>>1976568
The issue is now seiner is hive, just like Elizabeth, so beating him up just relieve tension is a big no no

>>1976591
Theseus is actually still following his programming.

>>1976594
Just more reason for NEETabeth to get out the house for a bit.

>>1976601
Theseus can re-program himself whenever he wants, that's what Elizabeth's modification allowed him to do.

>>1976591
Theseus is literally doing his initial purpose of manipulating humanity, so that hardly disproves it.

>>1976564
Seiner stands just beyond the door as he looks at the ground, unsure of what to do. He wrings his fingers together into knots until a drone approaches and hands him a clean skinsuit, and guides him to the living area. He follows without a word as the speaker guides him through the various chambers and amenities provided. The drone begins to leave when he speaks, too softly for anything but a drone to hear from across the room.

"I really am sorry." He says simply.

>Accept
>Refuse
>Say nothing
>Other

>>1976612
"You understand now. That is all the apology necessary."

>>1976612
>>Accept
We're all hive here

>>1976612
Well, let us know when you're capable of attempting to view an intended target.

Or, I guess, we'll know when you know.

>>1976612
>We know and we forgive

>>1976612
>>Accept

Of course we accept, my son.

>>1976619
Oh man, that's actually really spot on.