Scene #3621: To Talk to a Myr

Owner	Pose
Ainsley	Ainsley has sent an invitation to Theo to check out an old overgrown library. It's just a small adventure to poke around some ancient ruin. It was also sent over the phone through text messaging. A: pls come down to here, we can play card games A: i also want to cast magic on your beak robot for an experiment Getting there was easy enough. It's not far off from a local warpgate, and there are plenty of roads to follow to get there. The weather is clear and warm, and it's mid-day. There's no critters to worry about besides, maybe, a few territorial beetles. And the library itself doesn't look that old. It looks like it just got covered in thick bark-covered vines and promptly abandoned. There's a fold-up aluminium table set up under an overhang, to make sure they don't suddenly get rained on by the more temperamental weather patterns of the area. There's also a big bottle of soda, a few plastic cups, a plate with cookies and a couple sandwiches. And Ainsley is seen in a more skeletonized section of the building, floating around and moving debris to check for intact books. She's singing to herself in Spanish.
Theo Morrison	T: You know you can just ask to hang out, it's ok T: Hold on asking kickotron ... ... T: He didn't voice any objections, omw Theo shows up not long after Ainsley invites him over, dressed in his usual comfortable, mostly-bulletproof (thanks Staren) clothes. Kickotron is in tow, equipped with backpack and carrying a tupperware bin full of multiple somethings or others. Theo has earbuds in, and is humming along to whatever he's listening to. When he spots Ainsley floating around, he tugs the earbuds out, whistling into the distance. He says something to Kicktron, and the myr hops to, moving ahead of him to put the bin down on the table. Theo goes over to see what Ainsley's messing with instead, stepping carefully on collapsed stonework. "This place is neat. You get reception out here?" The wire from his headphones is probably going to his phone. Or his ecto, which is like a phone but better in every conceivable way.
Ainsley	Ainsley finds a book and tucks it away in the book bag, carefully folding the bag's cover over again when she hears Theo approaching. She turns to look at him, her song stopping. The way she pivots in the air is graceful, her tail following at a small delay to look a little like a stray ribbon. Then she lands and her tail dips, and her mouth curls into a subtle smile. "Hey, Theo." Then she raises her hand like she's taking a pledge, and bends her ring finger. She says, "I get reception almost everywhere, thanks to the Multiversal broadband." Her hand glows, and then magic circles manifest around it briefly, crackling and buzzing like radio static. She twists her hand. Then another message would pop up on Theo's phone after a pulse from the circles, and she lowers her hand, the spell complete: A: :P "How've you been?" she asks, walking over the rubble with weightless toe stepping to return to the table she set up.
Theo Morrison	Theo doesn't move nearly as gracefully as Ainsley does on rocks and things. He has to brace himself against stuff when he isn't on something mostly flat. He's moving more easily than he ever did before, though. Actually saving the day a few times has done wonders for his physical health, balance, and running-from-things ability. There's a subtle buzz, and Theo reaches into his pocket, pulling out a slim rectangular object. He stretches it out with two fingers, glancing at the ecto's display. The flexibility is awesome for pretending it isn't super advanced back home. "Har har. Should've guessed that in the first place." Theo follows along, a little slower than Ainsley. Longer strides, but more weight to deal with. "Pretty well. Busy, then holiday-busy, starting to get busy again. Work keeps me occupied. Did you know that sometimes the whole 'there's a whole world in books' thing isn't just a metaphor? True story." Kickotron is waiting patiently at the table. The tupperware bin appears to have something foody in it. Close examination will reveal bacon-wrapped dates in decent amounts. "How 'bout you? Solved any ancient mysteries lately?"
Ainsley	Ainsley investigates the container full of bacon-covered dates, and decides not to have any just yet. Instead she moves over toward Kickotron and kneels near the metallic creature. She reaches out to rest a hand on the humanoid servant robot's beak, and then her eyes begin to glow brightly as she scans Kickotron with her Sight. It's just her way of discovering how connected to the concept of Communication that Kickotron is. It's the easiest way to determine whether or not he even understands what's being told to him on a deeper level, which indicates a deeper intelligence than simple observation would. "No. It's winter, so I spend most of my time indoors, away from the horrors of the Multiverse. I have been painting. You should've received one of the paintings I made, a Christmas present." She speaks in a distracted tone of voice while she works. "Hello, Kickotron," she then speaks up, to prompt Kickotron's magical concept to respond to make it easier to read, "Can you nod for me?"
Theo Morrison	Kickotron heavily embodies the concepts of Order and Obedience, along with a surprising connection to Power... although besides the last one, it's hard to tell how much of those is the connection to Theo's own spellcasting ability which sustains it, and how much is intrinsic to a myr in general. Communication is there, but it isn't the same kind of strength Ainsley would expect from something that communicates verbally on a regular basis. "You say 'horrors,' I say 'snowdrifts,'" Theo says a touch teasingly. "I did; thanks for that, it's really cool." Theo kind of clams up when he sees Ainsley is going into Investigation Lizard mode, though. It's probably for the best he doesn't distract her, but... "What're you planning to do, anyway?" Kickotron (who is currently wearing a plumed helmet that is somehow sized to fit) looks up, and then nods, once, with a precise movement of the head.
Ainsley	Once she's 'tuned into' Kickotron's magical concept -- she can only see the parts vaguely connected to Communication, particularly Obedience, Power just isn't in her spectrum unless it has some relation to spell circles or words or the cards themselves -- she focuses on the part that allowed it to understand and speak to her. Then she carefully tries to speak to the myr... which wouldn't look like anything to Theo. She'd remove her hand from Kickotron's face and stared at him. Ainsley's eyes widen and she holds that stare unblinkingly. Hoping that, perhaps, it comprehends it as the common, soundless myr communication, as if two myr are exchanging information down the chain. It's the first time she's tried this, though, so the magic crackles around her while she tries to shape a spell for properly 'speaking' myr. "I want to see if myr can talk," she tells Theo. "These beings are obedient, like worker ants, but what happens when there's dozens of them having to work together? In theory, they would have to be able to communicate to cooperate on a task, because there are few beings in the Multiverse that can naturally cooperate without needing to convey information when the variables change."
Theo Morrison	Power is actually related to the spell keeping him there in the first place. Actually, it /does/ have a relation to the cards themselves, but Ainsley would have to examine those at about the same time before she could figure out what sort. Kickotron stares back at Ainsley, unblinking, as per usual. She gets the impression there's some kind of communication there, but her spell isn't quite properly tuned for it. It's difficult to tell if it's picking up local static from something else or if the myr speak more strangely than she suspected. Kickotron is /focused/, at least. "Huh. I guess I've never heard of them talking. A couple of them have kind of seemed like they were communicating, but I couldn't tell how." Theo scratches his chin a little. "Nothing in the flavor text, either... maybe they go through a 'queen ant'?"
Ainsley	"Huh. Maybe I'm approaching the spell wrong, then." She kneels more properly, settling back against her feet. She curls her tail around herself and stares at Kickotron. Ainsley draws up several concepts and tries to piece together a spell from various ideas she's collected over time: The pheromonal instinct of ants, the mechanical, digitized communication of robotics, the primal essence of communication from Scion... She crafts it together, and then she tries to tune it as a sort of receiver. The idea is that it's a faux 'Dominant Myr' antennae to try to pick up the signal from Kickotron. And then she gives the little robot creature a simple command using this spell to transmit. It creates a strange warp in the air around her, as her inexperience and the improvisation twist her aura about like tissue paper, threatening to lash against her. She knows the line, so she doesn't go overboard. SIT. DESIGNATION? "They understand English, for some reason. It could just be because of how Kickotron is summoned. Maybe the mana itself attunes to the 'master.' But..." "I hear something. It's like static. Alien. Maybe he does talk." Her feathers poof up and her face brightens with positive excitement.
Theo Morrison	Kickotron seems to respond a little better to the spell when Ainsley changes it up some. The myr continues to sit stock-still, staring apparently blankly. Once Ainsley gets her new, twistier version of the spell going, she starts to make some progress. Kickotron is basically constantly broadcasting, pinging nearby surfaces with some kind of signal. It isn't quite like sonar, but more like an active sensor scan. There's a low 'noise' that follows it, like the myr was doing some kind of quasi-electronic version of muttering to itself. Ainsley's spell is picking up the 'muttering,' but more as a concise and focused information transfer than an actual spoken language would be. "It wouldn't make much sense of the summoned creatures I pull out couldn't understand what I wanted them to do," Theo says, reasonably. He crouches, peering at the myr. There's a blurt of 'static.' The spell awkwardly translates it as an acknowledgement of status, and something about a superior (it doesn't translate directly as that, but it's the closest word that makes any sense) in the vicinity giving contradictory instructions. Ainsley is, however, getting a super-precise description of the surrounding environment, including both her and Theo, which the spell is struggling to keep up with. It's a /lot/ of information in a short amount of time. Kickotron looks at Theo. Theo blinks once, and then shrugs. "She's the one doing the experiment," Theo says to it. Kickotron looks back at Ainsley, and promptly sits down.
Ainsley	The flood of information is quite a lot, but because it comes from a single being and Ains is quite prepared for the digitized flood similar to robotic beings, she doesn't recoil away from it. Instead, she carefully examines the information as it's relayed back to her, using her Sight to examine each detail as it is given. The being does seem to have some perception of its environment, which it pings around it pretty consistently. She may have a headache after this, but it does tell her how these creatures perceive the world quite well. "Well." She pauses for a beat. "They do function like worker ants. It's a good thing so much can be conveyed just by looking at you." She then nods at the myr, to convey that she's finished with her experiment -- somehow, that gets through as well, as the spell tapers off. "When you summon a myr," she explains, "You function as the hive leader. The uh... the royal? And I just made a falsified signal, to see if the myr are simplistic enough that they acknowledge orders on a more instinctual level. Instead, Kickotron acknowledged us as different, separate individuals, and then looked at you for confirmation, because you were the priority leader and would be the one to veto orders from foreign sources." And then she puts her hands on her hips. "Neat. Not very surprising. I'd love to see the world these creatures come from, just to see what a group of myr in their natural habitat look like." "Ah... they also... communicate in a kind of vague sensory data? Not in any format I'm familiar with, I would need to meet this theoretical queen to really piece together what I was hearing."
Theo Morrison	Kickotron stands back up. Theo does too, stretching his legs individually afterwards. It's not terribly comfortable being crouched like that for long. He doesn't know how ninjas do it. "Huh. So it isn't just a matter of the spell saying 'I summoned you, do what I say,' it's actually how they work? Or... seem to work?" Theo is thoughtful. "I guess I don't need to worry /too/ much about having them around the real kind, then... though..." He trails off for a second. Then, back on track. "Mirrodin's really nice. It's totally artificial; everything that isn't some kind of metal is really... deliberate. Biome-y? Kind of like one of those crafting-and-mining games that're all over the internet. On my world, I mean," he adds a little embarrassedly. Theo is still occasionally tripped up by the Multiverse being the Multiverse. "They're kind of like global janitors and stuff. Not sure what else they're for, though." Kickotron looks back up at Theo. Theo looks down, and then to Ainsley. "I read something about them transmitting information to a central source, kind of like a big database or something, but I dunno if that's true in this case. Maybe it's formatted like that so they can all see what the others see, or whatever."
Ainsley	"A central source..." Ainsley repeats thoughtfully, rubbing the feathers atop her head. "Well, I'll visit Mirrodin eventually, if it's possible to summon them the way you have been then it's possible to go there." Then she turns to find a seat at the table she set up. She retrieves some cookies for herself and pours a cup of soda into a red plastic cup. "Worker drone or not, I think he's cute. Not that this would matter to him beyond the utility of someone approving of his presence." Then she would lean over to rub the beak-y myr's face affectionately, just for a second. "Bear in mind, /you/ count as the central source for that, so if you had the capacity to understand the myr, you'd constantly be getting information from this one. He's pinging it all the time. I might put together something just so you can experience it, but it'll take a lot of work. Maybe it'll help you strategize with them better. Understand the 'myr perspective.'" "Anyways. Enough of that. Let's play," she says, reaching under the table to grab her box of cards and get them all out. She's never been very good at this game, but she's always enjoyed it despite that. More like she enjoys having someone to play with, by the bright smile she shows to Theo while hoping he's excited to probably defeat her again.
Theo Morrison	"Yeah, totally. I mean --" Theo goes and has a seat, miming Ainsley's snack-gatherig motions to a greater or lesser extent. He can always go back for more. With a gesture from Theo, Kickotron puts down his pack, letting Theo root through it for one of his numerous wide-and-narrow boxes. They each hold a few individual deck-boxes, labeled with masking tape and markers when he hasn't permanently considered one 'done.' Theo has a thing for clever names for decks. "-- it was the first place I ever went that wasn't my own Earth. I could take you there pretty easily." He pulls the lid off and examines the interior. Theo fishes out a box that looks like it's got a cog-and-gear motif to it. The tape-label on it reads, in block letters, 'ARMYRGEDDON.' "Well, easy my way, I guess. You... probably wouldn't like it. Kind of an uncomfortable ride." Staren and Psyber both decided it was better to go the long way after their last trek through the Aether. "If you can figure that out, though, I'd love to try that out. Maybe we can find some kinda neat magitech bridge and plug it into my ecto. Get a sort of area map going, courtesy of Kickotron." Kickotron, of course, does not react to the beak-rubbings, except to look at Ainsley. It looks a little silly in its plumed helmet. Theo fishes out cards and starts shuffling. "Sure. I've got a couple new ones to show you." He doesn't really enjoy beating up on new or less-experienced players, but when he's doing something outrageous, he always explains it until he's sure Ainsley has what he's done down. He teaches in a very hands-on kind of way. "Themely for the experiment, too."