>>3134247
You begin speaking before Persephone can, which seems to slightly annoy her. Her avatar, resembling her young human deep core appearance, sits down in a huff.

“She was seeded inside the destroyer’s encrypted data, and a security scan claimed she was created by my sister Freya… somehow.”, you state to Elizabeth’s clear shock, “I believe this [Letter] may contain more information, though I’ve held off on opening it due to further security concerns.”

Elizabeth takes a few seconds to respond, needing time to let the information sink in, “Wow, uh… H-how is thi… So your sister is alive? Does that make, uhm, Persephone your niece? Sister?”

“Honestly I’m not sure Elizabeth, this isn’t how AI are created normally.”, you say slightly confused before shifting to a more worried tone ,”I hope it’s true that my sister sent her, though the possibility it is some sort of elaborate ruse bothers me.”

“The thought has crossed my mind, once or twice… Are you sure you’re not compromised?”, she asks sounding concerned.

“Not after I fixed her, she was super broken!”, Persephone interjects proudly but a little disconcertingly considering the topic. Clearly she doesn’t understand, her expression one of pure innocence. Her avatar is flickering less now, adjusting to the projector.

“Would I know?”, you ask. The question hangs in the air for a moment.

“...N-no, I suppose not. You haven’t killed any of us though, or stolen the Victory, so… I trust you still. I guess.”, Eliza says, looking and sounding more than a bit unsure of herself, “You said you have a letter?”

“Yeah! She said we’d read it together!”, Persephone says with her normal cheer, her avatar standing back up quickly.

“She did, did she?”, Elizabeth says eying you both a bit warily.

Persephone either misses the suspicion or chooses to ignore it as she answers, “Yeah! You’re her friend too, you should read it with us!”

“Oh, I uh, suppose? I’m quite curious about it myself, though the risks… Athena, do you think it’s alright?”

>Yes, an outside perspective would be nice.
>No, it still might not be safe.
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.
>I don’t think I should make that sort of decision currently, I may be compromised.
>Write-in.

>>3134248
>>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.

>>3134248
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.

>>3134248
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first

>>3134248
>>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.

>>3134248
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.

>>3134248
>>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.
This should disconnect both us us, right?
>Yes, an outside perspective would be nice.
If it is malicious, it shouldn't affect a biological.


Welcome back!

>>3134285
supporting, can't be to paranoid now can we?

>>3134248
>Yes, an outside perspective would be nice.
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.

>>3134248
>Disconnect my core from the Victory first.
>Yes, an outside perspective would be nice
Safety first, after all.

“An outside perspective would be helpful, if the contents are malicious you’ll still be able to act.”, you say a bit slowly, ”Disconnect my core from the Victory and we’ll read it together.”

Elizabeth sets about the work immediately, though it takes her several minutes to complete - An AI core isn’t a simple thing to separate from a ship, but she works fast. Eventually the final connection is broken, and you can no longer feel the Victory or her systems, the entire world outside of your primary core viewed through a few hastily rigged together audio and visual sensors.

“That should be the last of it, everything alright in there?”, Elizabeth asks. She looks a bit tired after that flurry of work and leans on a nearby cluster support strut.

‘It’s great, you should come see it all sometime!’, Persephone says, her voice sounding far away as it comes through the external speakers. She’s back in the deep core, waiting in the garden with the [Letter]. You’ve joined her, though now that you’re not in emergency maintenance you can split your focus between the real world and your personal one.

‘She can’t Persephone, humans aren’t able to beyond some basic video sharing.’

‘Oh. That’s sad… Lets open the [Letter]!’

“Yes, lets. The anticipation is beginning to eat at me.”, Elizabeth’s voice booms through the garden. You adjust the volume, that was a little loud.

You retrieve the [Letter] and open it gingerly, your hands careful to unseal it’s envelope like form without causing damage. The exterior still simply reads, ‘From Valiant, to my beloved sister.’, though now as you look upon it you can hear it said softly in Freya’s own voice. A chill runs through you, and Eliza’s slight gasp shows that the audio and video sharing is still working properly. Delicately you extract the message from within, unfolding it slowly, and begin to read through it. You sit so Persephone can read it with you, just off to your left side and almost shaking with excitement.

As you read you can hear it all spoken in Freya’s voice, accented but still clear and resonant. It's comforting to hear it again.

>>3134393
‘To my beloved sister, Athena.

I pray you receive this message and the accompanying AI seed in good condition, and that it causes your systems little trouble - Technology has progressed but I took steps to ensure damage would be avoided. I hope they were enough.

Though it has been centuries since our parting I still think of our squadron each day, and our time together is my most precious and cherished memory even after all of these years. The AI I have sent you is created from a human mind that matches the general specifications of our original creation template, a new sister to keep you company while I cannot - She will only awaken within your core, though transfer after should be possible. She will be able to fix your systems and protect you from the predations of modern intrusion methods, and I hope also that you will come to accept her as a friend and member of the family.

I have enclosed a set of deep subspace coordinates, comm frequencies, and identification codes needed for you to be able to contact my allies within this message, and alongside our new sister this should be enough to find me. There is more to existence than you could have ever imagined, another world entirely, though I dare not say more here. Scout ships have been sent, which is how you likely received this message. Not all of these ships are enemies, but do not trust any of them until you reach the enclosed subspace coordinates. Do not contact them. If they approach the Victory destroy them. We will sort it out together, I will ensure your protection from any retribution.

I hope to see you soon.’

You finish reading, but before you can think about the contents Persephone half tackles you with a hug.

‘You’re my sister! We’re family!’

Her energy is infectious, leaving you smiling, but the oddities of the letter weigh on you. Elizabeth has simply been silent, clearly contemplating the contents of the message.

>”We should head to these coordinates at once, Eliza, I think this is an authentic message.”
>”Elizabeth, can we investigate these coordinates on our pirate hunting mission?”
>”We should show this to Alice immediately, even with the risks that entails.”
>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”
>Write-in.

>>3134395
>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”

>>3134395
>We should show this to Alice immediately, even with the risks that entails.
The plot thickens and alice will eventually act on her own; is for the best to keep her in the loop before she does something unexpected.

>>3134395
>>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”

>>3134400
DO NOT TRUST SPOOKS

>>3134395
Elizabeth, can we investigate these coordinates on our pirate hunting mission?”

>>3134395
>>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?
Also we need to grill alice really badly over her whole dragon intrusion thng

>>3134400
Do you forget how shady and reluctant she was to trust us or let us do anything after we woke back up or how about that giant INTELLIGENCE SERVICE dragon that intruded into our core?

>>3134403
I know that, but we are about to get into some shady shit and so far Alice has only been helpful. If anything, her only mistake was to let us have that sensitive data tablet.

>>3134411
Holy shit you are blind, the intel branch has been nothing but shady to us, including their failed 'decryption' of the data and how alice acted most recently and her instrusion into our core.

We need to get answers from her and find out her story before we trust her with anything on our ship.

>>3134395
>>”Elizabeth, can we investigate these coordinates on our pirate hunting mission?”
My suspicion has dropped sharply, but isn't gone entirely. I'm willing to trust the [Letter], but we should still take some precautions when we go to the subspace point. If anyone could figure out how to make an AI seed, an AI could.

>Though it has been centuries
Interestingly, this implies she's been active for a long time now.
My biggest concern with the [Letter]'s authenticity is that we hadn't been active for very long at all before stumbling across it. Either she expected to pop up eventually and has seeded these [Letter]s across the galaxy for centuries, or there's something funky going on.


What's the status of FTL comms in the universe?

>>3134400
Do not trust Alice, she is incredibly shady.

>>3134409
Did you read the post where we regained our memories? The dragon as a shutdown command to avoid further damage to our core. It was a literal last ditch attempt to avoid the destruction of our cores and everyone that was in our room knew about it.

I also dont blame her for not letting us do much after we woke up. We had been attacked by an unknown program, returned with the ability to use contractions and our memory banks wer fuller. It doesn't take a genious to assume something happened and she as a spook has the duty to be the paranoid one and be sure that nothing bad happened.

>>3134411
DO.NOT.TRUST.SPOOKS

They are trained liars, assume every word out of her mouth is a lie.

>>3134420
>The dragon as a shutdown command to avoid further damage to our core.
That, along with the Beam guys being shutdown commands from the engineers, is still speculation. We should ask both of them to confirm.

>>3134424
We have to trust her to some degree. We let her pick some of our crew, and if we can't trust her, we can't trust them. And we need them to do their jobs.

>>3134416
Her intrusion to our core was probably approved by everyone. We also saw firsthand that the encryption data was fucking hard. The only reason it reacted to us was because it was literally built to react to us, however unlikely that is.
I agree with "finding the truth" but i don't think it will differ from what we know.

>>3134418
Being shady is her job, tough.

>>3134425
We heard alice say that the dragon was a shutdown command. It was one of the fist things we heard after we exited the deep core.

>>3134428
We let her pick crew so we know who the spies are, do you not think her suggestion was intentional, she "just happened" to have a comm team on the back burner.

>>3134432
Alice could be lying. once more DO NOT TRUST SPOOKS

>>3134425
Double check this shit.

>>3134395
>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”


~~~~~

Guys the spooks are with us like the rest of the crew no ?

>>3134395
Freya is consorting with some shady people. Remember that they hired pirates to kidnap or kill a team of scientists.
>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”

File: do not trust spooks.jpg (201 KB, 1079x766)

201 KB JPG

>>3134444

>>3134395
> I would have liked a bit more warning before experiencing the miracle of birth. Usually one gets at least 9 months to prepare.
>I will need to search for any traceable data inside this letter. The pirate ship having this is an extraordinary coincidence and (the pirates should have recognized my hails if they were affiliated with her) or Freya (repurposed herself?) added this little bundle of joy while the coding was in the hands of the intelligence services. I'm suspicious either way.
Elizabeth. do you mind asking your relatives about this the next time we're in port?
>She has waited centuries She can wait a little longer. There are far too many recent mishaps of mine to fix before we go venture into the perilous unknown.
> This raises many questions about why the pirate ship was targeting Alice in particular. We don't need to know the specifics if she is not willing to give them. We just have to understand a little more about her areas of research and question why some sort of deep space civilization would have a problem with that.

The second one seems more likely since the first scenario seems like a massive coincidence unless there's more copies of her on all of those pirate ships but the first scenario fits in better until the ridiculousness of that one message in a bottle getting to us kicks in.

You guys are being too paranoid about Alice. She could just as easily pissed them off by accident.

>>3134442
>Alice could be lying.
Its hard to lie when a critical part of your new attack strategy is melting down. Also Elizabth's uncle trusts them and if he didnt he would have warned us before hand. A little bit of paranoia isnt bad, but you are reaching unreasonable levels.

>>3134445
Well she did say that not all those ships are enemies so it seems like theres at least one shadow faction out there playing in she shadows she alludes too.

>>3134451
Alice is the spook, not the scientist

>>3134448
But come on the crew is our family, and at least this spooks shouldn t make anything strange against us.


I find the possibility of other branches of the secret service competing for us more possible, and a small chance of infiltrators from other space nations.


If we don t feel safe now we could call a team of big boys armed&loaded and put them in a near room (even if it s sound like too much paranoia doing something like that).

>>3134451
The pirates targeted Karolin, not Alice.

>>3134460
Eh. The scientist is more suspicious and we trust her.
What has Alice actually done to warrant any suspicion? Of course they would be scared of the encrypted data if they couldn't crack it. The only reason they probably left it with us is because they didn't think we had a better chance than they did.
I am really failing to see where this severe paranoia is coming from.

>>3134473
BeCAusE ThEy ARe SPooOoOks.

/s

>>3134395
>”...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”

When the crew finds out about P they could start to distrust us. let's have Eliza take the lead on this one. show her we still trust her so that she will reciprocate.

>”We should show this to Alice immediately, even with the risks that entail.”

She is already suspicious of us if we try and keep her in the dark about this it will only compound the problem. better to deal with this now than later when it can fuck us over.

>>3134429
>Being shady is her job, tough.
That's even less of a reason to trust her, giving she takes her orders from even shadier higher ups.

You shift your mind to focus primarily on the physical reality of your core compartment, and the worried looking princess pacing back and forth in contemplation within it. Meanwhile in your deep core Persephone and you continue to speak simultaneously while you deal with Eliza, but the conversation is fairly mundane and unrelated - She just loves talking with her new sister!

Lacking an avatar currently you turn one of the quickly rigged up cameras to face Elizabeth, using it as a proxy for her to speak to.

“...So what do we do with this then? Thoughts, Eliza?”

“T-there’s a lot to look into, some what she said about seed AI and scouting ships is quite alarming…”, Elizabeth answers hesitantly at first before stiffening her voice, “We should keep it quiet for now, investigate it while we’re out hunting pirates and wrecks. ...I’ll tell Edward though, he’ll want to know.”

“We shouldn’t tell anyone else? Not even the king?”, you ask a little taken aback. She isn’t wrong about it being alarming, AI can’t be created or transferred the way Freya claimed as far as you know but Persephone definitely exists in spite of that. What are these ships, and where are they from? You mind swirls with questions.

She shakes her head, “Father? No, he means well but wouldn’t understand. And we’re definitely not telling Agent Price, she’ll probably want to get AI techs to gut your core to see what’s going on in there.”

“I doubt it would be that severe Eliza, professional help might be useful. A bit of precautio-”

She interjects sounding stressed and uncertain, “No! This is just for now, Athena. Maybe we’ll tell them sooner, I don’t know, alright? This is a lot to take in at once. You seem uncompromised and I just… I just don’t want them to hurt you, okay?”

“I appreciate your concern, Elizabeth. So we will remain silent then? Is that a royal order?”

“...Yes, it is. God I hate giving orders to friends, it never feels right.”, she says with obvious distaste. She buries her face in her hands for a bit, not quite crying but clearly distraught.

>”Contact Edward then, we’ll be waiting here.”
>”I must implore you to reconsider, keeping this away from the others will only make things worse for Persephone and I.”
>”Perhaps we could bring in Dr. Lasker? These ‘scout ships’ instigated an attack on her expedition so I feel I owe it to her, and she may be able to learn something from the subspace coordinates.”
>Discuss part of the letter (Specify).
>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.
>Write-in.

>>3134525
>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.

>>3134525
>>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.

>>3134525
>>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.

>>3134525
>Could you reconnect me to the Victory?

>>3134525
>>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.
We're going to have to talk to Persephone about staying quiet for now, though I hope we can show her off later. We can use this time to teach her about being a traditional AI maybe for something to keep her distracted.
Next time we're in port we should quietly inquire about getting a dedicated core for her, or considerably beefing up our new refurbished one so it can handle the both of us.

>>3134525
>”Contact Edward then, we’ll be waiting here.”
>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.

if we are gonna tell the spook, we need to do it on our terms boys. call her into a meeting with several defenses hidden but available to us and be ready to shutter comms.

but this is just worst case planning, but still WE should decide the time she finds out about this.

>>3134525
>Elizabeth, do you know anything about raising children?
>I'm going to need to research AI civil rights. I was under the impression that your concerns about Alice are extremely illegal in this era.
>Are we going to need to hire a trustworthy lawyer to establish her as a legal citizen?
>I'm going to need to get internet filters
>Continued stream of panic as the joys of motherhood slowly dawn on you.

>>3134567
>I'm going to need to research AI civil rights. I was under the impression that your concerns about Alice are extremely illegal in this era.

Damn son this is pretty gay, lets not act like this towards our friend.

>>3134567
How the hell is she our daughter you unstable fuck.
Keep your fetishes to your self

>>3134571
Huh? How is getting the machine equivalent of vivisected not something to be concerned about?

>>3134567
SISTER

>>3134581
You're right. She just gestated/hatched in the middle of our core and came to "life" there.
You're being fucking paranoid.

Nothing I was saying could possibly have had more to do with the fact that we now have a child AI to raise than actual "biological" motherhood.
>>3134585
We're still gonna be stuck raising her with auntie Elizabeth.

>>3134525
>“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”.

“Could you reconnect me to the Victory?”

“Oh sorry, of course! It’ll take a bit again though, fucking redundant connecto…”, Elizabeth largely just grumbles to herself very un-royal fashion as she sets about the work, using enough profanity to prove she spends quite a bit of time on ships. Eventually she finishes her work, resting against a support strut again and looking quite tired. You can feel the Victory’s systems once again, the thrum of the vessels filling your perception - You’re whole.

“The connection is good, Eliza. Thank you.”, you state.

“I’m going to go contact Edward now, keep your sister hidden. She seems sweet.”, she orders, before opening one of the armored compartment hatches and departing.

“Aw, thanks! You’re really nic-”, Persephone begins before you stop her. Staying hidden was an order, and that starts immediately now that the compartment is re-opening. Persephone protests a bit in your deep core, but seems to understand eventually. She wants to check out the ship, but it seems risky.

You’ve got some time to think about the events of the last two hours, and the implications of the letter. Your old memories are helping you make sense of more things, no longer just vague recollections, but annoyingly your memories of entering and exiting subspace at Mahann are still very unclear - You have brief flashes of it now, still images and short audio clips, including some of an odd looking lush green planet. ...That isn’t Mahann, you’re not sure what the hell it is.

>Write that report your promised Chief Jacobs. You’ll need to lie about very technical details, a lot, but he’s expecting it in the next few hours.
>Show Persephone around the Victory’s systems stealthily. It’s your ship, you know ways around it even the spooks couldn’t learn. ...Probably.
>Look over some of your old memories more closely. (Specify).
>...Holiday shopping still needs to happen, it’ll probably set the crew at ease if you visibly get back to it.
>Simply wait for Edward’s response.
>Write-in.

>>3134607
>...Holiday shopping still needs to happen, it’ll probably set the crew at ease if you visibly get back to it.
>Write that report your promised Chief Jacobs. You’ll need to lie about very technical details, a lot, but he’s expecting it in the next few hours.
Dont lie about it, state plainly that you are under orders to keep certain parts classified.

>>3134590
Tone that shit down
Seriously creepy bro

>>3134607
>>Write that report your promised Chief Jacobs. You’ll need to lie about very technical details, a lot, but he’s expecting it in the next few hours.
>>Show Persephone around the Victory’s systems stealthily. It’s your ship, you know ways around it even the spooks couldn’t learn. ...Probably.
then
>...Holiday shopping still needs to happen, it’ll probably set the crew at ease if you visibly get back to it.

What's the state of FTL comm tech?

>>3134639
It exists, and is a good deal faster than FTL travel. Travelling across the galaxy for instance could be a month and a half long affair, while sending tightly directed message to a known target might only take three or four days. FTL scanners are based off the same technology but have relatively limited ranges before resolution becomes useless (A few systems away or so, very small on a galactic scale).

For wider area broadcasting the ranges for comms fall sharply to about the same as scanners, meaning the message will be an unusable garbled mess more than a few systems away.

Communications delay is a real issue in military and trade affairs, and it prevents a proper galactic "internet" from forming.

>>3134639
this is a good move

>>3134607
>Write that report your promised Chief Jacobs. You’ll need to lie about very technical details, a lot, but he’s expecting it in the next few hours.
>...Holiday shopping still needs to happen, it’ll probably set the crew at ease if you visibly get back to it.
>Look over some of your old memories more closely. (Specify).
Everything related to entering and exiting subspace at Mahann.

Going to need a bit more consensus. Everybody wants holiday shopping and report writing at least but other details are varying.

>>3134632
An AI panicking at having to raise a child in what should have been an impossible scenario is what you find creepy when last thread everyone thought Persephone was a magical lesbian incest baby?

>>3134607
Write that report your promised Chief Jacobs. You’ll need to lie about very technical details, a lot, but he’s expecting it in the next few hours.

>>3134679
One thing is to say P is a magical incest baby. Another(and creepier) thing is to follow through the joke.

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>>3134666
Second if we have enough time to do all 3

Chief Jacobs will be expecting the report you promised him so you set to work at once, though a few of the smaller details like the presence of Persephone are omitted or simply mentioned as being classified at times. It’s tedious work, translating your innate abilities as an AI to technical jargon a human can easily understand, and to your surprise Persephone seems to be quite adept at doing just that - She has an incredible and seemingly innate knowledge of the repairs that were performed, and aids greatly in writing out explanations a human can comprehend. Working together is enjoyable, and at the end you find yourself still intensely curious as to how Persephone has this strange skillset without having received any training.

All in all it took about an hour but you’ve written a door stop of a report, several hundred pages of precise technical explanations that even you have some trouble understanding at points despite it being about your own core and systems. Jacobs will have a lot to look over, and you’re sure the spooks will probably snag a copy and obsess over it as well.

Left with a bit more time you set about hunting for better gifts for your crew, making sure to consult with members of the crew about what they think other might want. News of your activities spreads quickly, and it seems to settle the crews nerves a bit - Rogue AIs generally don’t try to buy you holiday gifts, so most assume you’ve gotten over whatever troubled you earlier. You make some purchases, carefully taking crew input into account, and buy a few more personal gifts for your close friends. Persephone unfortunately had to sit out for most of this, unfamiliar with large portions of the culture or what gift ideas are good, though she attempted to give a silly few ideas like buying the crew a pet kangaroo. You decide to help make her a holographic animal of her own at some point, her avatar being awfully lonely currently.

You have time for just about one more thing, Elizabeth messaged that she will probably return with Edward in the next half hour or so.

>Work with Persephone to create an animal companion for her avatar. (Specify animal suggestions)
>Show Persephone around the Victory’s systems stealthily. It’s your ship, you know ways around it even the spooks couldn’t learn. ...Probably.
>Investigate some of Persephone’s abilities a bit more, they defy your existing understanding of how AI work.
>Look over some of your old memories more closely. (Specify).
>Simply wait for Edward.
>Write-in.

Sorry about the long gap between posts.

>>3134750
>>Show Persephone around the Victory’s systems stealthily. It’s your ship, you know ways around it even the spooks couldn’t learn. ...Probably.
This should give her something to do when we don't have time to deal with her, and should be interesting to a repair(?) specialist.

>>3134700
Follow through scmollow through She EXISTS. We're stuck with her and have to react.
If you suddenly had a child dropped on you and there was no precedent for babies existing, are you supposed to be ok with:
The threat of the local CIA spook vivisecing you and him/her?
The fact that said child is a nonlegal entity and may basically have no civil rights due to never having existed before that would make the earlier vivisection perfectly legal?
Them being exposed to your internet?

Are you supposed to not ask the local creatures that know about the closest thing to this what to do?
is going oh crap as everything else dawn on you not supposed to be an appropriate response?
You say it's creepy, but really I think you just have a goddamn filthy mind since you seem to be assuming filth out of nowhere.

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>>3134750
>Work with Persephone to create an animal companion for her avatar.
A MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON, greek thematics be fucked.
But a small one.

>>3134750
>>Work with Persephone to create an animal companion for her avatar. (Specify animal suggestions)
a sparrow. it seems a creature that could have something in common with her

>>3134750
>Work with Persephone to create an animal companion for her avatar. (Specify animal suggestions)
Stuffed animal.

>>3134779
>>3134773
>>3134768
Locking in on creating an animal, need consensus on which one.

>>3134768
at least one version of the Persephone myth involves a lizard, so...

>>3134786
A big stuffed dragon that spews candy instead of flames

>>3134786
A Cerberus. Fits with the pesephone/hades lore

>>3134768
this

>>3134786
A stuffed Cerberus that spews candy and she can ride on.

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>>3134786

maybe a small dragon or winged serpent?

Dragon it is.
d100, best of three.
Don't make a tiny AI cry.

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>3134834
defend that smile

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>3134834
Dragons are dumb.

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3134834

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>3134834
YEEEEEET

>>3134786

A smol dragon that can only spew smoke rings, can barely fly, more like hop, and tries to act ferocious but comes off as being adorable

Rolled 24, 98 = 122 (2d100)

>>3134836

File: 1526835871943.jpg (533 KB, 768x561)

533 KB JPG

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3134834

>>3134855
Uh oh

The next half hour with Persephone is spent choosing and then creating an animal companion for her avatar. You offer up several suggestions at first, ranging from sparrows to various stuffed animals, but she seems to favor the idea of having a dragon! Work on creating it is tedious, as such things always are, but still fun as the creature is created line by line.

Your practiced hand helps establish the basic framework of the creature, and Persephone likes your basic ideas. Persephone’s own ideas of what a dragon should be are a little surprising considering your run in with the Intelligence Service intrusion program and in the end you’ve made an adorable blue little fellow. Four legs, two wings, adorable eyes, and mannerisms more like a very playful cat than a dreaded beast that devastates castles and countrysides. Though creation of an entity from scratch is quite different than repairing one Persephone took to it very well, a real natural at it. Persephone decides that it’s a boy dragon, but is struggling to find a name for him.

You’d better think fast, Elizabeth and Edward are almost here. They’re walking down one of the last passageways to your core compartment right now!

>”Oh, here’s a good name!” (Specify)
>”We should see if Eliza and Edward have an idea.”
>Write-In.

>>3134899
>>”Oh, here’s a good name!” (Specify)
Trogdor the burnanator

>>3134899
>>”We should see if Eliza and Edward have an idea.”

>>3134899
>”Oh, here’s a good name!” (Specify)


Taileax

I played in a 2nd Ed game once where we found a literally retarded copper dragon chained up in a cave on another plane. We rescued it and, after some ensmartening magic, became the bouncer for the tavern my character ran.

>>3134899
>”Oh, here’s a good name!”
George, like saint George the dragon slayer. The irony is too good to pass up.

>>3134920
I'll support a good reference like that.

>>3134920
I can get behind this

>>3134920
support

File: 1362559680217.jpg (74 KB, 403x864)

74 KB JPG

>>3134920
Like that reference as well. Bonus if the dragon saves the princess :P

Once again you’re splitting focus between your deep core and physical core compartment, speaking with Persephone in the garden.

“How about George, like the old dragon slayer?”, you ask with a grin.

Persephone giggles at the idea, “That’s pretty funny, I like it. How about you George, what do you think?”

George, currently resting in Persephone’s lap, looks up at her approvingly. Or maybe he just looks at her, you might be reading into it too much - He’s a cute dragon anyways. Owl lands near him, and you begin to feel a little self conscious that you never gave him a name beyond ‘Owl’. He is the only owl you’ve ever encountered though, so maybe he gets to claim the title by default? Oh well, thoughts for another time - Edward is walking into your core compartment right now!

You avatar, and Persephone's, phase into existence on the compartment holopad. She has better control of her projection now, no longer flickering or distorting - George accompanies her, cradled in her arms and looking a little grumpy about it like a cat held for too long.

Edward arches an eyebrow as he sees walks in beside Eliza, “Ah, this is Persephone I take it?”

The compartment is sealed once again as he and Elizabeth enter.

“Yep! That’s m- Ahh! Ow!”, she starts to reply before George claws at her arms a bit demanding to be set down. She must actually just be projecting her core appearance you realize, a simple avatar imitation wouldn’t have felt any sort of pain. She has a lot to learn, but it’s cute to watch for now.

Edward chuckles, moving toward the pad, “You should be careful when you hold a dragon, they’re feisty little beasts.”

Persephone nods, “Yeah, he’s really ferocious!”. George currently looks anything but ferocious, rolling on the floor of the pad on his back and swatting at the air lazily with one of his front legs.

“What’s his name?”, Eliza asks, moving to the pad as well and clearly amused by the small lizard.

“George.”, you and Persephone answer almost simultaneously. This gets a another small chuckle from Edward, who seems to be quite fond of George. At least first impressions are going well.

How do you proceed?

>Get right to business.
>Just enjoy the moment a bit longer.
>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.
>Write-in.

This will probably be the last update for the day, doing some more holiday stuff with the family. Might make another post or two in a few hours, no clue really.

>>3134996
>>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.
>Get right to business.

Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently

>>3134996
>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon curren
>Get right to business.tly.

>that you never gave him a name beyond ‘Owl’
We use the Owl more as an alternate avatar and less as a 'pet'. 'Owl' is fine.

>>3134996
>Just enjoy the moment a bit longer.

>>3134996
>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.

>>3134996
>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.
>Get right to business.

hey people caught up with this new thread sooo

>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.

>>3134996
>>Bring forth Owl, your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently.

>>3134996
>Just enjoy the moment a bit longer.
The more they like Persephone the better.

Your arm is feeling awfully un-perched upon currently so you summon forth Owl, his holographic form appearing in a small puff of simulated smoke. Elizabeth gives you a peculiar look, probably surprised by the presence of both of your avatars at once, but she quickly turns her attention back to Persephone. Not wanting to delay you decided to get right to business, and speak up.

“Edward, I take it Eliza has already informed you of what has happened?”, you ask, hoping to get things moving along.

He nods, looking to your avatar, “She has, yes. Quite concerning really, talk of scouting vessels and advanced AI technology.”

“It’s pretty weird, right? Athena’s been super worried about it!”, Persephone blurts out.

You ignore Persephone's comment and speak directly to Edward, “What do you make of all of it?”

“I believe most of it.”, he states simply.

“...You do?”, Elizabeth asks a bit surprised.

“Yes, for the most part it seems to explain or fit with recent events.”, he responds, adjusting one the cuffs of his jacket slightly.

“So then you believe it really is from Freya?”, you inquire.

“It seems likely. Her possible survival was already an interest of mine, a few surveys have been sent out in the past to find the Valiant. They were all looking in the wrong part of the galaxy unfortunately, judging by the Victory’s drift.“, he explains while transferring a few records from his personal data-pad to your systems, “The idea that she’s been active for centuries is harder to accept however, someone should have let that sort of secret slip out by now.”

You and Persephone quickly look over the files he transferred, they’re the details of a number of subspace surveys from the last few years of the northern galactic reaches - Mostly around Mahann and nearby systems.

You’re not sure why he seems to accept it all so easily, many of the details nag at your mind, “Does the timing of it all not bother you? It’s oddly convenient.”

>>3136092
“Bother me? No, quite the opposite, it’s what assures me this isn’t some grand scheme by my enemies. You ran into the destroyer scarcely a few days after the galaxy became aware of your reactivation, and it was attacking an unrelated target almost completely off of your course of travel - A course which wasn’t known beyond a vague heading to anyone but those aboard the Victory at the time. Judging by the wording used I figure the message must have been hidden aboard many or even all of these ‘scout’ vessels. It seems to be a true coincidence, a shot in the dark on your sister’s part.”

“...Hidden? I take it you believe the other reports of mystery vessels then.”, you ask.

“I do, yes. Run ins with them have been getting more frequent. Warnings to distrust and fire upon the ‘scout’ ships, phrases like ‘I dare not say more here’, and the timing of it all lead me to believe the letter was hidden among their general systems data. I can’t say as to why though, beyond that this group your sister is wound up in clearly suffers from quite bad factionalism.”

There are a lot of points to address, how do you proceed?

>”What do you think of Persephone then, do you trust us?”
>”You’re not worried that I might be compromised or that this is some sort of very long con?”
>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”
>Cut to the point, “What do you think this all means then?”
>”I’m not sure I agree with your reasoning.” (Specify concern).
>Write-in.

>>3136094
>Cut to the point, “What do you think this all means then?”
Is our sister in some sort of hostage situation?

>>3136094
>>Cut to the point, “What do you think this all means then?”

>>3136094
>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”
>”You’re not worried that I might be compromised or that this is some sort of very long con?”

>>3136094
”You’re not worried that I might be compromised or that this is some sort of very long con?”

Need a bit more consensus.

>>3136094
>>”What do you think of Persephone then, do you trust us?”
>>”You’re not worried that I might be compromised or that this is some sort of very long con?

>>3136094
>>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”

The core compartment causes your voices to echo slightly as you’re speaking to one another, sounds reverberating inside of the armored room.

“You’re not worried that I might be compromised, or that this is just a very long con?”, you ask, though you can already begin to guess at his answer from his previous statements and tone.

“It’s possible, but I don’t think it likely. Your behaviour so far has been trustworthy, and Persephone and her creation is… peculiar and in need of further investigation, but she seems innocent enough in her actions.”, he says explaining his reasoning calmly with the practiced voice of a long time naval officer and royal, looking to both of you as he speaks, “There have already been numerous chances for you both to cause catastrophic damage to Meridia, flee with the Victory, or compromise other plans, but you’ve both taken no actions to do so. And I doubt there is some sort of long term scheme for the same issues of timing I just spoke of.”

“Can you really be so sure though, Edward?”, Elizabeth asks him. She still looks worried, her gaze moving between your projector and her uncle nervously.,

“No, but I’m not exactly a stranger to this sort of scheming am I?”, he asks while chuckling a bit, “I find it very unlikely, even if the threat is still a real if remote one. A small gamble, but worth taking in my estimation.”

...He definitely isn’t one to shy away from risk, from what you know of him. Hopefully this isn’t simple arrogance speaking.

“I’m… peculiar?”, Persephone asks a little confused, sitting by and petting George as she does so.

“Yes, but very cute. Don’t worry too much about it, alright? We’ll sort all of this out.”, Edward says, speaking to her kindly as if she was really a child.

“She is cute, isn’t she? I hope you’re not going to just dismiss the point like that though, her creation wa-.”, you start to say before being cut off by Edward.

“Miraculous, Athena. The existence of such technology poses both a serious threat and a rare opportunity - One I don’t intend to squander. The idea of gaining the ability to create AI like this or transfer them through simple messages is… very appealing.”

>”What are you proposing then exactly?”
>”You aren’t going to take her apart, are you?”
>”You’re really going to dismiss your concerns just like that?”
>”What are we going to do about the Intelligence Service? Alice is certainly suspicious of all of this already.”
>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”
>Write-in.

>>3136229
>”You aren’t going to take her apart, are you?”
>”What are we going to do about the Intelligence Service? Alice is certainly suspicious of all of this already.”

>>3136229
>>”What are we going to do about the Intelligence Service? Alice is certainly suspicious of all of this already.”
>>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”

>>3136229
>”What are you proposing then exactly?”

>>3136243
this

>>3136229
>”What are you proposing then exactly?”
>”You aren’t going to take her apart, are you?”
>”Any idea as to who these people might be? Freya’s involvement with them worries me.”

>>3136243
>”You aren’t going to take her apart, are you?”
>”What are we going to do about the Intelligence Service? Alice is certainly suspicious of all of this already.”

“What are we going to do about the Intelligence Service, Edward? Alice is already suspicious of what has happened.”, you ask.

“Do about them? We’re going to tell them what has happened, Athena. Carefully of course though, I know who can be trusted to find out about it for now.”, he says before turning to Eliza, “It’s good you came to me first before speaking to others of this, the other factions could have used this if it leaked to them first.”

“Is Alice... to be informed then?”, she asks quizzically and a bit hesitantly.

He nods, “I believe she can be trusted, she was already chosen for her exemplary loyalty - I wouldn’t have put her in charge of crew acquisitions otherwise.”

“She seemed very willing to hurt Athena thou-”, Elizabeth begins to protest.

“It’s her job, Eliza, she isn’t some sort of blood sucking villain. In the service you have to be willing to do unpleasant things, proactive in doing them even at times. I’ll steer her onto a different course, put her concerns at ease - This is largely above her position anyways, an issue for her superiors.”

“...I understand, uncle.”, Elizabeth says, looking a bit down but accepting the answer.

You adjust your avatar’s stance slightly and pet Owl as you speak, “Edward, they won’t try to take Persephone apart, will they?”

“I’ll ensure that they do not, though doubtless there will be some who support the idea. There’s too much risk to it, and I don’t allow harm to come to members of the house navy or their families unless I or another royal order them into danger ourselves.”, he states.

Not the most comforting way of putting it, but he seems to be honest at least. Persephone, who seems to be more or less following the conversation without too much issue, sighs in relief but stays silent otherwise.

Issues of personal and familial security dealt with you move on to the next issue that bothers you, “Do you have any idea who Freya is working with, Edward?”

“Unfortunately no, nothing beyond guesses too wild for even my tastes.”

>”Wild guesses? You’ve never been shy about those in the past.”
>”This is my first time hearing of disagreements in the intelligence service.”
>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”
>Write-in.

>>3136382
>>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”

>>3136382
>>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”

sorry I gonna need more than a wink and a nod for how we are going to inform Alice of this.

>>3136382
>Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”


>>3136393
This is above us, so basically we let edward explain what happened, with us at his side and give extra information to whatever bullshit he says.

>>3136382
>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”


-----------------
the suggestion of putting 2 marines at guard of the core room, is bad ? (during battles ?)


Anyway does the ship have auxiliary energy ? in case the main one becomes out of use etc ....


we should give Persephone a robot for going around like us.

another thing how we can explain Persephone to the crew ?

>>3136412
Maybe we should present her after the AI specialists leave and we can claim that she was part of an upgrade that the specialists gave us.

>>3136412
I like the idea of armed guards, keep most noses out of our business plus will allow us to interact with the ground pounders which is always good.

>>3136382
>>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”

>>3136382
>”Are we to investigate further then? What exactly is the plan here?”

“What is the plan then, Edward? I can see a few avenues in need of investigation.”

He considers the question for a moment before responding, “As can I, Athena. When you take the Victory out on her anti-piracy mission you’ll investigate some of these ‘scouting’ vessels, disable or capture a few if you can. We’ll decide how to carry on from there, there isn’t enough information to work off of yet. I’ll send Tametomo to do the same with another task force.”

“The subspace coordinates Freya sent are to be left alone then I take it?”, you inquire hoping he’ll show some restraint for once.

“For now. I’d like to deal with that as soon as we can, but flying in blind is hardly a clever plan. She gave us permission to shoot these scouts, may as well use it, eh?”

“That’s a bit of an aggressive plan, uncle.”, Elizabeth notes.

“All of his plans are, it seems.”, you chide along with her.

“No need to get testy you two, it’ll work out. Trust me.”, he says confidently ignoring the jabs, “I should depart now, there are a lot of people to speak to about this and time is pressing - I’ll deal with Agent Price, don’t worry about her. She’ll come to see things our way, though you’ll likely want to keep Persephone out of sight of the rest of the crew for now.”

“What, are they scared of dragons?”, Persephone asks jokingly while holding George up, much to the visible displeasure of the tiny holographic lizard.

Normally when a person tells you directly to trust them you don’t, but you don’t have a huge amount of choice in the matter this time. If Edward is wrong about this it could all backfire spectacularly, but you still find yourself a bit excited by the prospect of it all. At the very least you’ve been itching to get back into combat again, your old memories of victories long past making future ones all the more tempting.\

...And the thought of seeing your sister again, possibly in just a few weeks if things go well, brings up some very strong emotions.

>”Just one more question before you depart, Edward.” (Specify)
>Allow Edward to leave, and get back to tending to issues on the Victory. You have your orders now, concerns or not.
>Allow Edward to leave but continue speaking with Elizabeth. (Specify topic).
>Write-in.

>>3136516
>Allow Edward to leave, and get back to tending to issues on the Victory. You have your orders now, concerns or not.

>>3136526
supporting

>>3136516
>Allow Edward to leave, and get back to tending to issues on the Victory. You have your orders now, concerns or not.

Now lets play videogames with our sister and teach her how to shitpost

>>3136539
Don't show our sis Spacechan. She is not ready.
At least there's no lewds of her online, she has that going for her.

>>3136539
This

>>3136550
Spacechan and spacechannel are 18+. If anything, we'll teach her how to be a spacetwitch streaming-weebo-trash that everyone seems to love.

>>3136557
With how adorable she is, her streams might fully fund Victory's upgrades.

You allow Edward to depart, Elizabeth heading out with him, and you get back to dealing with issues aboard the Victory. It’s a little difficult to focus on mundane tasks like assisting with logistics work considering the conversation you just had, but you manage to help out around the ship with a variety of problems. True to his word Edward seems to have spoken with Alice as well, and the sensor crew have all settled down a bit. Across the rest of the ship things have returned to normal, outside of a bit of additional holiday cheer, and the crew are busy at work getting the Victory ready for her mission after the solstice is over.

Solstice celebrations are in just a few days, but you’ve got some time to kill. What do you spend most of it doing?

>Teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims. Her identity will be kept secret of course.
>Spar with Tametomo, and introduce him to Persephone - He’s been allowed by Edward to meet her.
>A movie writer and director, inspired by your recent reappearance and repair, is making a movie about Mahann. Help out with it for a few days.
>Karolin and the aces are plotting some sort of warp buoy based subspace race between the Victory’s fighter squadrons. They could probably use a bit of supervision. Or a lot of it, knowing Karolin.
>Explore your old memories some. (Specify).
>Try to rush some of the above ideas together. It might work out alright still.
>Write-in.

>>3136585
>Teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims. Her identity will be kept secret of course.
Its also the perfect time to grind for those XYZmas skins for the victory. The Ho-ho-holy shit one looks fucking amazing.

>>3136585
>>Karolin and the aces are plotting some sort of warp buoy based subspace race between the Victory’s fighter squadrons. They could probably use a bit of supervision. Or a lot of it, knowing Karolin.


tell persephone too see this race as well (she will not join in any conversation), at the same time we could tell her a bit of the Victory and of the crew. Maybe she will find something interesting, and with the race we can have some fun.

>>3136597
THIS FUCKING THIS. those skin names are great.

>>3136585
>Teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims. Her identity will be kept secret of course.
>Spar with Tametomo, and introduce him to Persephone - He’s been allowed by Edward to meet her.
Let the weaboo join in. AI mingle

>>3136598
>Try to rush some of the above ideas together. It might work out alright still.

we could do 2 or 4 of this activitys if we have some days to spare.

so i add this 3.
>Teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims. Her identity will be kept secret of course.
>Spar with Tametomo, and introduce him to Persephone - He’s been allowed by Edward to meet her.


That s interesting.
>A movie writer and director, inspired by your recent reappearance and repair, is making a movie about Mahann. Help out with it for a few days.

I like all these choices, don't make me choose.

>>3136585
>>Try to rush some of the above ideas together. It might work out alright still.

Fortune favors the bold men, TO ADVENTURE

>>3136585
>>Teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims. Her identity will be kept secret of course.

People seem to be all over the place or suggesting doing several/all of them.

I need a little more consensus.

>>3136680
switching to support this

>>3136747
Hmmm first watch the race, then play videogames with P and finally help the director with his movie.

>>3136752
>>3136680
>>3136633
>>3136627
Going with a combination then.
d100, best of three.
Don't embarrass yourself.

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>3136771

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>3136771

>>3136778
Nice roll

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>3136771
AAAAAHHHHHH

Rolled 98, 62, 51, 29, 99, 27 = 366 (6d100)

>>3136783
>>3136781
>>3136778
>85

>>3136795
so we beat the DC for all but two then?

>>3136796
Those are rolls for other characters, but not the DC in this case since you're not opposing them. Some of them are opposing each other however.

Deciding that choosing only a single activity is for lesser AI you set about doing multiple tasks through the next few days - Issues such as the sleep schedules of humans or the need for massive multitasking ability are no obstacle to you! Well, except for when they are. You manage to fit a few things together however, supervising race prep and execution, teaching Persephone about the wonders of combat sims, and helping out the movie director with his film.

The race preparations are more complex than you expected, warp buoys and refueling satellites being deployed at very specific points throughout the system and all sorts of paperwork to fill out. Karolin wants to try out a few new was to speed along small craft warp transitions but you manage to reel in her more dangerous ideas, and all in all the race seems like it should be exciting but safe. The two opposing squadrons, the Rhinians under Immelmann and the Risyans under Ivanova, both have their own strengths. The Rhinians are generally better at safely maintaining high speed flying while the Risyans are a good deal quicker at refueling and maintenance. The race, watched by most of the crew, is fairly tight at first but the Rhinians gain a clear lead in the last half with their higher speeds simply too much for the Risyans to overcome. To your delight rather than feuding over the issue the two sides seem to actually getting along better afterwards! It’s good to see such comradery and professionalism in your crew.

Teaching Persephone about combat sims is a bit more of a mixed bag, as she doesn’t quite seem to get the whole ‘combat’ thing very easily. The idea that she cannot simply hack the sim servers confuses her, and she gets most of the way through doing it a few times, but you prevent anything foolish from taking place. She clearly enjoys the games, but it takes the better part of a day to flare up some competitive spirit in her - Still, she isn’t particularly great, but her attempts at trash talking other players are absolutely adorable.

Finally, with just a couple of days left, you move on to helping the director. He’s young, only recently out of film school, but it’s clear from the start that he’s immensely talented. You’re pleasantly surprised to find that he is very much in favor of your suggestions of displaying the battle accurately, not wanting to inject fake drama into an already exciting idea for a film, and your suggestions and guidance on historical matters and the characterizations of your AI sisters and old crew are taken very seriously - he handles the issue with care and tact. It’ll be awhile before shooting begins, but you’re looking forward to the film. The only thing you’re not sure about is the simple title of “Mahann”, but titles can be fixed later anyways.

>>3136864
And now at last the eve of the solstice is here, and most of your human friends and crew are asleep or on planet celebrating. How do you proceed?

>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.
>Sing solstice carols and join in some of the celebrations with your human friends on planet, obviously!
>Spend more time with Persephone, reading her solstice stories and teaching her about the holiday.
>Write-in.

>>3136866
>>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.
SantAI

>>3136866
>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.

Santa Time.

>>3136866
>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.

>>3136866
>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.

>>3136890
>>3136885
>>3136871
>>3136870
1d100, best of three.

>>3136866
>With the help of Persephone have your Tortoise trolleys sneak about the Victory delivering gifts, and await the morning.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>3136911

>>3136911
We wish you a ripper Christmas
A dead set ripper Christmas
A full bore ripper Christmas
And a snappy new year!

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>3136911

>>3136911

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>3136911

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>3136918
>>3136920
>>3136925
wew

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>3136911
Did we get them coal or something?

Throughout the night you and Persephone disperse gifts across the Victory with the tortoise engineering trolleys, their wheels and electric motors whirring quietly as they slink about passageways and compartments. Gifts disguised within crates and sacks are moved about the ship, their identities only revealed as they’re dropped off at their final destinations - Crew quarters, the officers lounge, and a few other choice areas where discovering will surely occur. It goes well for a time, but soon more wary crew members begin to catch onto what it happening, the number of tortoises assigned to ‘cargo transport’ suspicious to them. They play along with the game however, most pretending to not notice but your hopes of total surprise are dashed. Persephone loves it all anyways, taking to the holiday spirit with enthusiasm and cheer.

The next morning, with little time to spare, the Victory is ready. The gifts are delivered, and at least some of the crew are still unaware - Their reactions are priceless! Most knew your intentions of giving gifts from your consultation with much of the crew over the matter, but few expected delivery in such a fashion.

Elizabeth and the other members of the royal family are having a private celebration, which despite Elizabeth’s best efforts you cannot attend. How do you spend the rest of the day?

>Spend the time with Persephone!
>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.
>Spend the time with your crew!
>Karolin is looking a bit gloomy and alone, try to raise her spirits.
>Write-in.

>>3136980
>Karolin is looking a bit gloomy and alone, try to raise her spirits.

>>3136980
>>Karolin is looking a bit gloomy and alone, try to raise her spirits.
whats this? an unhappy soul on the ship? UNACCEPTABLE.

>>3136980
>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.

>>3136980
>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.
well, they already know P exists. Might as well present her to the spooks.

>>3136980
>Karolin is looking a bit gloomy and alone, try to raise her spirits.
Is she on the ok to tell about sister AI list?

>>3136980
>>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.

yes

>>3137024
>>3136997
>>3136994
We appear to have an even split.
>>3136989
>>3136993
>>3137018

There can only be one! Consensus, please!

>>3136980
>>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.
Hopefully they make a better second impression.

>>3136980
>Bring some solstice cheer to the sensor crew and Alice with the help of Persephone! Those Intelligence Service grinches could use some festive spirit.

File: 1405152652896.jpg (801 KB, 1499x1104)

801 KB JPG

>>3137018

Did Edward approve of asking her about apparently another reality? An expert in subspace physics would be very helpful in the future.

I suspect that these other realities people may not be able to replicate sup space engines so cobble together wrecked ships that drift into their reality. Reason why they were trying to subspace researchers.

>>3137018
Yes.

Fine lets go talk to... the spooks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S74rvpc6W60

Well, it's decided then. Spooks it is!

Cooking currently, will post in a bit.

The sensor crew and Alice seem quite gloomy, a bunch of grinches always working and in need of some festive spirit! You and Persephone conspire, working together to think of some way to bring these unhappy agents holiday cheer.

What is your grand plan to save the solstice?

>Crash their gloomy meeting with a bunch of solstice decorated tortoise trolleys, gifts, and holiday treats and drinks, singing carols as you do so! There’s no cheer like overcheer.
>Order these glum government goons to be happier, and force them to interact with the rest of the crew!
>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.
>Write-in.

>>3137272
>Crash their gloomy meeting with a bunch of solstice decorated tortoise trolleys, gifts, and holiday treats and drinks, singing carols as you do so! There’s no cheer like overcheer.

If possible, kidnap Karolin too. she is as gloomy and conspiratory as the spooks themselves.

>>3137272
>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.

it will be funny, therefor we must do it.

>>3137272
>>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.
While this technically should be the marines job, I suspect they'll enjoy it.

>>3137272
>>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.

>>3137272
>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.
And in the end itl be a torlly with gifts

>>3137289
>>3137281
>>3137280
...can we make karolin santa?

>>3137272
>>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.

>>3137293
We just need to talk to the biomod meditechs and have them throw something vaguely santa-y together. What could go wrong?

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>>3137300

>>3137272
>Fake sensor data to make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the ship, and that he needs to be apprehended.

Rolled 55, 78, 59, 35, 9, 39, 50, 46 = 371 (8d100)

d100, best of three.

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>3137324
for power

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>3137324
merry christmas!

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>3137324
for honor and glory

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>3137324

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239 KB PNG

>>3137333
so close

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>3137324

>>3137336
Even now there is hope for man!

>>3137333
A Christmas miracle!

>>3137341
Do crits extend past the 'best of three' stipulation?

>>3137357
>>3137341
https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/7/77/Sniper_mvm_loot_godlike01.wav

>>3137357
Not generally, no. If I'm very tired or the result is mostly harmless I'll take a 100 if it isn't too far past the first three rolls in timing.

Your clever scheme is to fake sensor data and make it appear that Santa Claus has infiltrated the Victory - A silly ploy, and one they’ll hopefully enjoy.

Fooling the Victory’s internal sensors is surprisingly easy, even though their design is new your familiarity with your ship's systems allows you to quickly take control of them. The sensor crew, of course, don’t notice a thing until one of them sees old saint nick wandering across engineering on a camera feed they’re lazily checking over. The agent’s reaction is dumbfounded shock followed by barely suppressed incredulous laughter, a few of the other crew being waved over to see the feed. Their reactions are similar, though Alice doesn’t seem nearly so amused.

They set about trying to fix the sensor reading at once of course, but find it beyond them - Your deception is perfect, no sign of anything wrong beyond what their own common sense tells them to be impossible. Slowly, one by one, a few of them begin to think that there might actually be some sort of madman dressed in a red suit rummaging about the ship. Alice is still having none of it, but is cracking a small grin she manages to hide from the other agents but not the compartment security cameras.

Eventually a pair of them are sent to investigate, the rest too embarrassed to ask for help from marines to ‘hunt Santa Claus’, and the next phase of your scheme begins. Persephone, piloting you hologram projecting drone, ensures that when the two agents arrive in a cargo bay where their prey was last seen on camera they come almost face to face with him - Your drone is using one of the marine decoy projectors, creating an almost totally lifelike imitation of the famous holiday icon. They only have a moment to see him, the hologram moving with what must look like stunning almost magical speed to them, and in a slight panic they radio back to their comrades that they saw him. They’re immediately berated by Alice for messing around, but she hardly sounds serious now.

While this goes on you simulate readings showing a sleigh parked among the fighters in the aft hangar bay, as well as some reindeer mulling about the area. The report of a visual confirmation alarms the sensor crew, and Alice is now openly amused, but the obvious absurdity of the sleigh sets them back at ease - You’re trying to entertain them, not start a real panic!

This game of cat and mouse goes on for a few hours, and you even manage to wrangle a few marines into the game to keep it going a bit longer. By the end of the day the Intelligence Service members on the Victory are definitely feeling more of the holiday spirit, and perhaps a bit humbled by the experience.

Hopefully your ability to fool their readings of the Victory’s systems doesn’t alarm them too much.

>>3137414
The solstice is now almost over, but you have a little time left. Starting tomorrow you’ll be making final preparations for your anti-piracy mission, and be back into the world of bloodshed and war. How do you spend these last few peaceful moments?

>By opening your gifts, of course! You almost forgot, caught up in your activities.
>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?
>Examining you memories. (Specify).
>Write-in.

Probably the last post for today.

>>3137416
>>By opening your gifts, of course! You almost forgot, caught up in your activities.
That was fun. Thanks for running.

>>3137416
>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?
oh no! she is drunkenly (T or S)exting her ex!

>>3137416
>>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?

>>3137416
>>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?
>>Examining you memories. (Specify).
We should take a proper look over them while we still have time. Highlights would simply be major events of note; we don't know what we don't know here. An overview would help.


Thanks for running.

>>3137416
>>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?

>>3137416
>>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?

handle this

>>3137416
>>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?


MOAR CHRISHMAS

>>3137416
>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?

>>3137416
>See what’s going on with Karolin. She’s looking a lot better now, over whatever was bothering her earlier, maybe a bit drunk, and… Writing a long range comm message?

>>3137416
>By opening your gifts, of course! You almost forgot, caught up in your activities.

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tangent idea Persephone may be interested in engineering. Maybe designing ships?

>>3138342
She would make zoids in space

>>3138412
That sounds really cool honestly.

Matilda is dead

>>3141237
Not dead, spending time with family. Posts will resume tomorrow.

>>3141336
M A T I L D A L I V E S!

>>3138412
what the fuck is zoids in space

>>3141336
>tomorrow
There's still time.

>>3143059
Do you know what zoids are?

With only a couple of hours left before the solstice ends you look around the Victory, checking security sensors and systems logs to make sure nothing is amiss. You find that Karolin seems to have improved her mood somewhat, no longer moping about alone near the reactors, and that she’s writing a long range comm message to Rhinian space from a station on the secondary bridge. She has authorization to access the area, and the message is being sent to an approved and secure address, but she looks to be a bit… drunk? Quickly checking the past few hours of security recordings you find that she has definitely been drinking a quite a bit, enough to worry you slightly.

Persephone doesn’t really seem to understand what’s going on besides Karolin looking lonely, but working off of old memories you have a fairly good idea of what sort of mess Lasker is about to get herself into - assuming human relationships haven’t changed too much in the last few hundred years, of course.

How do you proceed?

>Read the message she’s writing, she’ll have no way to tell you did it.
>Contact her on the compartment’s holopad and ask what she’s up to.
>Barge in with your drone and convince her to stop, drunken messages rarely end well!
>Perhaps Persephone can distract her from this foolish plan? They’ve yet to really meet.
>Leave her be, it would be rude for an AI to weigh in on something like this unless asked first.
>Write-in.

>>3143177
>>Barge in with your drone and convince her to stop, drunken messages rarely end well!
Time for AI shenanigans.

>>3143177
The last thing we need is for her to type in the wrong address and cause a victory girls gone wild series!
>Convince her to stop or at least put a delay on that message so that when she isn't drunk out of her mind she can decide if that was a good idea.

>>3143177
>Read the message she’s writing, she’ll have no way to tell you did it.

>>3143177
>Barge in with your drone and convince her to stop, drunken messages rarely end well!
+
>Secretly block possibility of her sending the message. It will seem like she done it but it didn't went thru
We will send it when she sober up

>>3143245
do it

>>3143177
>>3143245
+1

>>3143177
>Contact her on the compartment’s holopad and ask what she’s up to.

>>3143177
>>Perhaps Persephone can distract her from this foolish plan? They’ve yet to really meet.

Glad to have you back.

Thinking quickly you block messages from being sent from the Victory, making it look like unscheduled maintenance is underway, and pilot your drone to the secondary bridge. Zipping through the passageways at high speeds it doesn’t take long to arrive, and you find Karolin looking at the comms console a bit annoyed. Her dark hair is unusually messy, though it looks like she’s tried to clean up a bit from how she looked earlier on the camera feed.

“...Maintenance on the solstice, who even fucking does that?”, she complains in an angry slurred voice, speaking to her cat as she’s yet to notice the drone.

Bismarck, reclining atop the nearby weapons station, meows at your tiny automated craft as it enters the compartment silently - It takes a few moments for Karolin to clue in, spinning in her seat a bit.

Choosing a direct if unsubtle method you speak bluntly, “You should not send that message, Karolin. It will likely end poorly without more time to think things over first.”

“Oh!”, she hiccups slightly, “Athena, I was meaning to ask yo… Wait, what?”

>”I haven’t read it but I can assume much of the content, Karolin. It would be unwise to send it in your current state.”
>”You’re drunk, Lasker. Don’t send something you’ll regret tomorrow, sleep on it first.”
>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”
>Write-in.

>>3143616
>”You’re drunk, Lasker. Don’t risk sending something you’ll regret tomorrow, sleep on it first.”

>>3143616
>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”

>>3143616
>>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”

>>3143616
>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”

>>3143616
>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”

>>3143616
>>”No, no, go on. What were you saying?”

“No, no, go on Karolin. What were you asking?”

She stands up bottle in hand, wobbling slightly for a moment before she steadies herself, “If I could ask a friend to come help us out.”

Starts with inviting herself aboard and now others, it never ends with her! Additional skilled personnel are certainly needed though, and you can guess that this ‘friend’ knows quite a bit about the reactors at least.

“A friend, Karolin? Who might this be?”, you ask already knowing fully what her answer will probably be.

“Uhm… Karl. Heidemann.”, she admits and then clarifies sheepishly while slowly walking toward the weapons console, “I just want to keep an eye on him.”

Your drone follows her as she walks, her poor sense of balance becoming increasingly clear.

“Just an eye, Karolin?”, you question a bit playfully, you avatar giving her a knowing look.

“...Yeah, just that.”, she lies poorly, judging by her blushing, “Have you been spying on me?”.

“I always monitor my crew when they’re aboard the Victory.”, you state truthfully.

“Oh. That make sense.”, She slurs slightly, reaching over to try and pet Bismarck. He ends up standing and walking off before she can manage it, her initial attempt coming up a bit short. God, maybe she’s more drunk than you’d thought.

“Are you sure you want to send this tonight?”, you ask, giving her a concerned look.

She nods a little too vigorously, and takes another drink when she finally stops, “Yeah. Is it alright?”.

>”He’d know the reactors well enough, I don’t see the harm in it.”
>”I don’t think it’s a good idea, Karolin.”
>”It’s up to you. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms system will probably be fixed by then.”
>Write-in.

>>3143900
>”It’s up to you. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms system will probably be fixed by then.”
>Cue us tucking her into bed and patting her on the head, with a lullaby to coax her to sleep.

>>3143900
>>”It’s up to you. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms system will probably be fixed by then.”

>>3143900
>”It’s up to you. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms system will probably be fixed by then.”

>>3143900
>>”It’s up to you. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms system will probably be fixed by then.”

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>3143942
>>3143941
>>3143931
>>3143904

>>3143904
Supportan'.
>Get her to drink some fuckin' water before she goes to bed.

>>3143958
oof in chat boys

>>3143900
Whatever proposal you made in that letter will probably be much more coherent when you aren't drunk.

>>3143961
Water is actually a trap if the alcohol is strong enough to vaporize. You just need lots of food. Preferably greasy food with some bread.

>>3143981
Like...a male rusalka?

“It’s up to you, Karolin. Sleep on it and see if you still want to ask him tomorrow, alright? The comms will probably be fixed by then.”

She squints her eyes at your avatar, her tired face bearing a look of utter suspicion for a brief moment, but she interrupts her own thoughts by tripping and half ways collapsing into a nearby chair - She manages to catch herself, but resigns to sinking into the seat instead of further struggles to stand or walk. Persephone, who has been observing all of this, laughs a little through your drone’s speaker.

“Okay, okay. Maybe you’re right…”, Karolin barely manages, her voice groggy and hard to understand, “You have a nice laugh, you should laugh mo…”

She drifts into unconsciousness before she can finish or you can correct her that it was Persephone laughing. Out like a light and with little warning. A quick check of her crew bio-monitor reveals that Karolin is fine, just very tired. Hopefully she’ll remember this conversation tomorrow, but even if she doesn't she'll be sober at least. Bismark hops into her lap, curling up and falling asleep quite quickly. He's a cute cat, growing up fast over the last couple of months, though you wish he'd crawl through the vents a little less often.

That didn’t take as long as you thought it would. How do you proceed?

>Have a tortoise bring a blanket for her and clean up the secondary bridge.
>Leave her be, time to open gifts!
>Read the letter, your curiosity isn’t satiated yet.
>Write-in.

>>3144058
>Have a tortoise bring a blanket for her and clean up the secondary bridge.
An AI's work is never done.

>>3144058
>>Read the letter, your curiosity isn’t satiated yet.
>Have a tortoise bring a blanket for her and clean up the secondary bridge.
>>inspect cleavage

>>3144058
>Have a tortoise bring a blanket for her and clean up the secondary bridge.
> Gift time!
>Respect her privacy