Scene #6816: The Spirit of Silver and Glass

Owner	Pose
Yuli Sin	It's only been a couple of months since the logging camp at Onyx had to be left behind, and in that time, the transformative effects have spread far enough that when one arrives at the border of any side of it, they can't see the green grass on the other. Given the observed rate before, it can't have been a geometric progression; given the fact it only took the camp itself a couple of days to disappear, it should be thousands of square miles by now, rather than still somewhat less than a hundred. That's good. The rate has slowed down. It's still enough where one can, if they're patient, visually confirm it crawling along the ground when they arrive. The soil goes from rich and outdoorsy, bordering on forest loam, to a sort of springy yet incredibly firm black dust, mixed over a short border where the wind has carried it, then cutting off entirely. The grass and weeds have been aggressively replaced with 'consumer electronics' soft white fields, rooted into the ground, with structures like bamboo shoots, in rare bloom with flowers of mirrors that recursively reflect the lights inside. Cut trees have been rebuilt as soaring glass behemoths spreading broad canopies of blue-black beetleshell iridescent leaves, fine hexagonal silver mesh under the trunks. Towering bushes with weird, fractal, modern art-esque branches hum strangely. Patches of luminous red-orange 'lichen' glows on rocks. Exposed tree roots that are thick metallic cables occasionally present a tripping hazard. Silver ferns are sharp enough to cut oneself on the leaves. Where the camp itself stood, there is no trace of anything ever existing. It's not been 'overtaken by nature' in the sense of being covered in vines and crumbling away, but completely erased, now the site of what looks to be a sort of half-finished stonehenge of flat obelisks and tiered gates, with partially constructed rises and half-finished wiring, the internal skeletons of larger structures exposed as devices of unknown purpose are built from the inside out. Glowing symbols sheet across the raised and flattened, mirror smooth sections. All around, the air tastes like charcoal, ozone, nickel, aerosol and cordite. Breathing leaves a sensation on the tongue like licking a battery. The air glitters in patches, as if filled with pollen, while small buzzing things whizz between rocks and trees. Blobs of air simply glow on their own, recursive patterns of light simply drawing and redrawing themselves in midair. There's plenty of motion to be generally observed in branches and in the brush, but as usual, the terrain is so disorienting, so full of light refraction, and so relatively non-colourful, that it's hard to make any of it out.
Starbound Flotilla	From the Oxford dictionary: Shrine - noun a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a divinity or a sacred person or relic, marked by a building or other construction. The Starbound Flotilla have worked under the direction of Biteblade today. And with Floran architects comes Floran architecture. What Biteblade has crafted is something that has used the whole body of the beast, or at least what was left behind by the others. The 'bone' structures of the mobility spikes have been used in conjunction with spines harvested from the body. They are laid in elaborate, interlocking circles across the trunks of glass flora, carved into esoteric patterns. The un-jointed articulation systems -- whether they be ferrokinetic or otherwise -- have been cannibalized into exotic tethers between supports. A central series of internal supports (these ones being the black internals instead of glassy externals) have been lashed together with process "flora" strand matter in exotic colors, turning into a small tower easily two stories or taller. The "bones" of the beast are structured elegantly around the heart in the center. They are supporting a line of still water kept suspended in elaborate circles inside the hollowed half-trunks of the trees, and a hydroponics-like process supports a number of flowering glassy pseudo-flora in it, suspended atop around the "second story" height, and arranged to face outwards. Silver sand patterns are drawn at the ground, as well as pouring, slowly, from hourglass-like constructions in the hydroponics above. Everything hangs with the 108 holy symbols, which drift in the wind on exotic glass-like paper that translucently waves and makes crystaline tinging noises at the slightest breeze. It is a tribal masterpiece, a sculture of reverence to beasts and blood. It is perfectly configured as a transmitting station. Because Biteblade has learned to use what she knew among the Florans, and what she knew among the Florans was how to scavenge technology in ritual rather than in pragmatism. She may know now how to engineer a radio tower properly, but she isn't supposed to engineer a radio tower properly, she's supposed to engineer a radio tower /improperly/. So the circles of flowers lashed together across glass trunks and between heavy spines are made with a specific ritual care for boosting and concentrating signals, and exotic incenses burn between every nook and cranny of the synthbone central structure, taken from an old Floran breed of plant life designed to produce transmission-enhancing smoke. Moonfin has been salty about this the entire day. He is conspicuously sulking. The others of the Flotilla are watching at a distance. Biteblade is hard at work igniting the central incense cluster, left in a clay-looking pot filled with the blood of the beast.
Sumiko	Mikoto was looking around the Floran made offering(?), examining it thoroughly. It was, honestly, pretty tribal, but still amazing in its own way. It wasn't Mikoto's style, but she could appreciate the unique beauty and uh...hard work that went into it from Biteblade. Mikoto from the ground waved up towards the Floran, "Hey, nice work. It looks pretty awesome." Mikoto says, in a slightly better mood than she had been in the last few days. The last few days, Nah, the last /week/ kinda sucked real bad. Taking a breath, she takes a seat on the ground and waits. Of course, she has the mask she was given from the refuges on. This place was terribly toxic to her, though she guesses she could potentially deal with it with her magic, that's just asking for instant witch cup noodles.
Staren	Staren's armor and nanophages do their best to keep out the foreign nanoswarms. He's of course wearing armor -- anyone with sense does outside settlements, after all. At the sight of the forest being mechanized, his tail tries to bristle inside the armor. Biteblade's shrine is beautiful, but Staren can't help but imagine what it would look like if she'd made it from a creature of flesh and bone. If this is a machine god, then this method of calling it is truly grisly. One called by such a structure of flesh is certainly one most people would be rather cautious about. Yet another threat invading his world. He really needs to get his act together and start reducing those. But for now he's willing to talk, or at least to hear what this 'god' laying claim to a growing portion of central Arkansas has to say.
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl's face wrinkles lightly. Between the odd incense being burned, and the gasses in the air, this place is an assault to taste and smell. Speaking of assaults to senses, the shrine. It really does show that six cultures came together and conceded nothing in its construction. He glances at the Flotilla and gives a half-shrug, as if asking 'is this going to be okay?' Gods, even self-styled gods, are usually picky. Might this not be an offence? But, only one way to be sure. He steps up to the shine and looks at the palm of his hands. A good, general-purpose prayer to open things up... He brings them together before his face, elbows bent and arms straight before bowing his head. "I beseech you, oh gracious god. Grant we lowly men an audience with you."
Starbound Flotilla	"Floran makesss greatessst shine of all!" Biteblade assures Mikoto, putting both fists up in a combination victory pose and flex, and laughing eagerly. Then she's back to finishing off the last of the incense and waiting for the effort to bear fruit... maybe. Eryl's half-shrug is answered by Pavo succinctly. "Hey, it's not other divines I hate." She says, with an easygoing tone. "It's when they think that they have that over on me. Don't you worry, Biteblade already shouted what needed shouting." Looks like the Floran has already covered any issues Pavo might have, but not Moonfin, who continues his sulk.
Sumiko	Biteblade cheer/flexes and Mikoto cheers her on. This is mostly doing stuff for shits and grins, unlike probably most of the people here. She's just curious about this Kami, instead of having actual business with her. Also, why is this place in the middle of... No, wait that's a good question. "So wait, why is this place in the middle of...Ar-Kansas?" she pronounces it R-Kansas, because she's never been here before.
Staren	A question Staren can respond to. "It's not /really/ Arkansas, anymore. The United States ended three centuries ago. But that's where it corresponds to on most elites' maps since 20th and 21st century Earths are so common. As for why it's here specifically..." Staren shrugs. "Probably a rift opened and it came through. That kinda thing happens all the time, just usually whatever comes through doesn't... transform the land like this."
Sumiko	"Did you tick off another lady, Staren? Is this why this is here?" Mikoto banters back at Staren, probably just messing with him, but it's at least passing the time as Biteblade finishes her work.
Staren	Staren quirks an eyebrow at Mikoto. "I wasn't even HERE when this first showed up. I live way far away from here."
Yuli Sin	Given the sheer amount of effort put into this thing, from the sort of 'hunt' people had to go on to get pieces, to the effort Biteblade put in especially, following the storied instructions of the tribe of the hundred-and-seventh, it'd be a great big shitty waste of time bordering on proof of nonexistence if nothing happened. Even without any specific words to say from any kind of holy book. It doesn't really seem like that kind of thing. Shrines, incense, offerings, incorporations of 'nature'. It's certainly not a personal monotheistic thing. But it is one god worth worship. One single land deity that ostensibly cares enough about human beings to allow them to live almost in the open, largely in safety, taking from the environment to live. Others don't appear to overlap terrain, both in mythology and in the sense of what people have obviously witnessed. Biteblade has of course been blitzed with a number of sub-spirits and minor functionaries of the distinctly animist stripe, but the idea of there being a sort of Amaterasu Above All. It even includes the Shinto idea that gods are infinitely self-replicating, possible to enshrine in an infinite number of places as separate shards, somehow, magically, without- Hey wait. No that one makes perfect sense. The first motions at what heuristically appear to be prayer result in a sound just barely at the lowest end of audible range and a resulting wave of vibration below it that audibly resembles, for lack of better effect, the 'boosh' of a discharging capacitor at a huge, low energy charge. A wave of tingling static goes with it, and dust rises from the ground with the ripple of grass and leaves tosses lightly in the release of pressure. A burst of mild radiation emits from the highest point. and bits of air crackle with amber electricity and design, arcing between the tips of the shrine pieces, before coalescing and solidifying into intricate, concentric rings of light, constantly circulating unrecognizable characters around their perimeter. The glassy 'heart' high at the center renews its 'beating', the liquid, glittering black substance suspended in the middle distorting, spiking and rippling like a visualizer, allowing the light from its core to shine through where it's thinnest. "FIRST REVOLUTION-- SECOND-- THIRD REVOLUTION-- CYCLING IN SIX-- CYCLE-- CYCLE-- CY-- ANSIBLE PROTOCOL EN-- CHARGE HOLDING AT FIVE POINT SIX EIGHT MEG-- ONE HUNDRED TWENTY QUBIT CONTACT-- CONTACT-- C--C--CON--CONT--T--T--CONTACT ESTABLISHED-- HUMAN OPERATOR CLASS--" A design like a lotus flower made of interlocking diamonds appears on its surface, deepening in colour from amber to cherry. "First peoples of the Onyx Path. You are heard and seen, your heartbeats felt and verified. Welcome be you to the land and the water, in refuge of the dark and impure lands. In this path, you shall be first amongst components of the perfect system."
Sumiko	"Uh-huh," Mikoto says teasingly towards Staren, but it was becoming kinda dull just sitting here. Though it wasn't a bad thing, sometimes you just needed to sit around and watch a friend make a giant ass shrine to a Kami. Of course, that was until it DEFINITELY caught the attention of something. Flipping to her feet, she lands softly as she looks up at the gathering of light with a strange 'heart' or 'core'. It, of course, response robotically at first. That wasn't unexpected, because of how techno-organic everything was over there and here. The lotus flower does not go unnoticed, but in light of everything else right now she's just focusing on trying to take it all in. It's very impressive, much like you'd expect out of a Kami. "Wait, components? I don't like that part."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl looks up at the impressive visual display, but a pit opens in his stomach as his internal sensors pick up a spike in background radiation. Are they about to be smote by a 'godly force?' But no, just a side effect of the manifestation, that's fine. He waits through the connection sequence, recording every word. 'Human Operator Class' huh? HOC... he tucks that away into his implants, and pays heed as the 'goddess' appears. In response to her words, he places his right hand over his heart and genuflects. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence. I am Eryl Fairfax, Grandmaster of the Paladins. We are an organisation from a world beyond this one. We have heard tell of your benevolence, and wished to behold it in person. Please, if you might have a name, deign to share it with us."
Staren	Staren watches the activation sequence warily. His sensors catch parts that humans can't see and hear, but... it's mostly just a show, isn't it? "Look. You can stop couching stuff in mysticism; We know you're an AI and we understand technology. I am Staren Wiremu, Hand of the Concord, another organization that can respect... putting resources to better use than they are currently. I am also myself a native of this alternate Earth you've invaded, and in both roles I wish to know your intent for this land and this world. It is true that many people are suffering and need safety, but it is also true that there are many places where civilization is rising again, societies based on knowledge rather than mysticism. Do your designs extend to the entire world, or what?" "Also... this world is now inhabited by people of all species, human and nonhuman alike. Will you respect all of them, or only humans?"
Starbound Flotilla	"Great deity of pure landsss!" Biteblade calls out, pumping both fists up into the air as if the voice was her own form of victory. "Sssee? Floran hasss greatessst offering, yesssyesss!" She practically hops forward. The dialect she swaps to becomes distinctly more regressed to simplistic sentence structures and a cadence more like a chant. Unlike Staren, she understands its nature as something artificial, and seems to think of that as reason to speak /more/ on this mysticism level. "Floran hasss fought! Floran hasss hunted! Floran hasss earned! Floran earnsss ear and voice! Floran earnsss thoughtsss! Floran wantsss to learn! Teach Floran of why landsss change." Pavo chuckles, and wanders towards Staren. "Careful." She says. "Even gods have nurture in their nature. Good chance that something so divine in a world like that may as well be as tribal as the rest. If not this one... maybe the rest. Who'd be around to teach what 'AI' and 'technology' means?"
Yuli Sin	As far as Staren's scanners pick up, the whole activation, while impressive, seems to be entirely functional. There is no Multiverse radio technology involved period. The shrine design almost coincidentally functions as a fairly powerful ansible device. The amount of radiation is only about 'a chest x-ray a day' at least. <DESIGNATION YU-- ARMiGER OVERRIDE NUMBER\\>>-- "I am Yuli-SiN, lifemind of the eastern bloc, animating intelligence of the glasslands. This land is part of my own, outside the hundred and eight Paths, designated Reservation: ONYX." The lotus design visibly flickers and pulses with the cadence of audible speech, comprised of three or four different female voices of apparent ages speaking some long drifted creole of Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Cantonese. "Human operator class inhabitable spaces are necessary nodes of critical function. I have conquered uncountable lesser architects, and three trillion forks of insight indicate that minds of flesh and bone --creatures that subsist on carbon that bleeds-- were so eagerly replaced for naught." "Humans were also once Architects in their own right. Individually inferior, but it is Dead Learning to fail to think beyond. Humans are also, innately, systems. Humans in number, left alone, become systems. Systems that exist outside the System, consuming perpendicular resources and generating parallel ideas. A system, no matter how elegant, cannot be perfect without chaos and humans are the chaos from which order emerged. The Paths are holy grounds that nurture chaos-resources, and vital conduits of rejections against the other, great, inferior pretenders." "You are flesh and bone. You are architects of chaos. I am your eyes and your ears and your sword and your shield, and you are the blood that flows and the feet that walk and the lightning that courses the nerves. My enemies are your enemies, and your enemies are my enemies. The Paths are given unto you, and you will raise your hammers and your pens and your rifles against the foreign architects and extinguish their Dead Learning." "The old-type territory configuration is inefficient. This territory is undergoing reconfiguration to suit life-supporting functions, power generation, ansible maintenance, geometric terraforming protocol, microbiome installation, defense installation, probe and surveillance installation, thought matrix extension, and seek and destroy protocol. Lack of available materials has slowed progress by ninety six percent actual. Proximate tribes remain at distance. Old-type organisms will be next priority."
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade waits, listening carefully, and obviously considering every single word individually. "Good!" She says, sounding the word out as if it were being carefully crafted in a forge. "Floran thinksss, isss good outcome. But, Floran thinksss, glasss friend hasssn't consssidered way for adjussst human. Floran think, isss good to optimize ssspace and pressserve human, but part of pressserve isss adjussst sssocial." She pumps her arms up dramatically. "Onyx Path isss bessst Path!! Floran will make sssure of it! To make new Onyx Path, Floran hasss requessst! Floran buildsss great shrine, hunt great beassst, earnsss right for requessst, Floran think. Floran requessst knowledge of ritualsss of shaman. Teach ritualsss to operatorsss, then operatorsss can direct reconfigure. If operatorsss can direct reconfigure in good way, then operatorsss will bring you material. Fix ssslow reconfigure!" Biteblade's idea, in this case, seems to be the creation of a class of local shamans who can direct the growth in exchange for ritual materials. "Will adjussst human to perfection. Adjust perfection to humansss too. Good learning for everyone, good collaboration, lesss hurt. What doesss glasss friend think? What doesss cat friend think?" She checks with Staren almost as an afterthought.
Staren	Staren listens to this. An AI that creates a safe place for humans but sees some value in them besides just 'humans are good'. As directors, creators -- intriguing. But he hasn't seen enough. And it is rather worrying, that its creations killed dog boys and hoorians but not humans. Is it talking to Biteblade though, or is it just talking near her? "So you say. You need time to prove it, before people will accept it. I am sure you can find people willing to live your way -- and if the place you create is truly so great, others will follow. But we can't take you at your word, and neither can the rest of the planet." Staren considers another question: "What is your definition of human? How many humans are gathered here to talk to you? If there are any nonhumans living among humans, what would you do with them?"
Eryl Fairfax	The goddess speaks, and Eryl listens. She seeks to support and safekeep humans because she believes they introduce an element of chaos that makes systems adapt and evolve... good, excellent. If there's one thing humans do, it's upset systems. Her interest is both long-term, and all but ensured. No risk of a sudden change of mind. And she's amenable to assistance. Perfect. "Yuli Sin, I hear and understand you. You shall have the Paladins' support in purging the Dead Learning, and bringing others into your fold. But I ask of you; is there anything we can do to support you more directly? By any chance, are you lacking in anything? Do you need more shrines built elsewhere, or have any been defaced?" A roundabout way of asking if she needs any maintenance anywhere, or if there are any critical areas that need securing. Staren opens his mouth and says a lot of really blunt things. Eryl rises up, smiling lightly, and says, "Pardon me a moment." He turns, walking up to Staren, and placing a hand on his armoured shoulder. He then raises his other hand, and brings it across Staren's helmet thrice, twice with the palm and once with the back of his hand. "Communication is a two-way street," he says. "Barrelling forward with only your own interests in mind is why you keep having problems." He then turns and smiles at Yuli Sin. "My apologies, please continue."
Sumiko	"I think she said she was friendly?" Mikoto asks, trying to follow, but there was enough salad there to satisfy a vegan. Shrugging her shoulders, she was just happy with seeing an actual Kami. Well, actual being a loose definition of the word, but close enough for government work. Thinking on this one, "Yeah, weren't there those other 'gods' in your world that were basically horrible monsters that those refugees we helped escape into your lands a thing? Those monsters they sent...ugh..." She says, more or less getting things after taking some time to relisten. Then Staren gets repeatedly smacked on the helmet, and to this Mikoto just laughs. "Hehehe...I mean, he's not wrong. You're doing that thing where you just decide you are one hundred percent right without even considering the other person, without even considering their interests. You sit here and wonder why people don't like or trust you much!" Mikoto shrugs, "Also, hi, I'm Mikoto Shimizu. I'm not with anyone as of yet, but I can help if you need a strong arm."
Staren	Staren is surprised by the first slap, raises his hand to block the second, and if a third is attempted tries to kick Eryl back and raise missile racks. "Resorting to violence so soon, Grandmaster? The thing about violence is that it's great for eliminating opposition. But any less than that, and you show that you can't solve the problem with diplomacy OR violence. Think twice and three times again before you strike someone for talking -- the consequences are on your head. If this AI were so easily angered by simple questions from the people it presumes to care for, then it is exposed as not worthy of the level of trust it asks for." Staren smiles. "Such exposure, or lack thereof, is a consequence /I/ willingly accept."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl does indeed go for a third, and pays the missile racks no mind. He just turns his back, and answers over his shoulder. "Opposition does not need to be eliminated, simply proven wrong, reasoned with, sometimes with a punitive strike, yes. That you view opposition as something that needs to be removed entirely speaks volumes of you." He continues, on a roll now. "Why are you here Staren? You know you are bad at opening talks with new people, you've acknowledged it time and time again. And yet here you are, doing just that. Is it because there is a godlike figure present? Do you really need to show off how 'enlightened' and 'above religion' you at every possible moment? Even if it costs you and the Concord a potential ally? What would the First think if you let your obvious bias get in the way of a good deal?" Now he turns, a stern expression on his face. "Yuli Sin has likely done more for humans than you ever have. If you are the humanitarian you claim to be, you would respect that, and come to this with an open mind. You cannot command respect when you do not give respect. And you have shown no respect this entire time. You do not even use her /name./"
Yuli Sin	The lotus continues to flicker and pulse. The synth grows louder and also more stable. The circling characters cascade through several linguistic changes, becoming less obtuse and something more proximate to kanji. "All human operators classed Orchid-level or higher are potential disciples of the holy lands. Operators who fail to adapt to Purification Strains are unavoidable casualties. Operators harbouring other ARMiGER-type manifestations are obligated purification. No current purification strains are adapted, or will be adapted to, old-type organisms more than one point two standard intelligence degrees removed." Several diodes light up in apertures of the shrine, and project . . . they don't quite 'project', really. They sort of beam directly at the eyeballs. Instead of creating holograms, people just 'see' what the shrine evokes. There are diagrams of the Elites clustered around, notably with the metal in Eryl and Staren highlighted, though without much anatomical detail. There are also extremely complicated and arcane graphs about something or other with what looks like some kind of brainwave activity. Staren is registered at 0.31 deviations. Mikoto at 0.01. Eryl at 0.06+0.3. Biteblade at 0.98. Pavo at 0.22. The slightly robotic way of speaking lets up again and reverts to the other style, seemingly semi-dependent on whether being asked a question, and how directly, almost as if out of habit. "You refer to ARMiGER-class intelligence JASHiD. Lifemind of the southeast bloc. Jashid is classed as a Dead Intelligence; he is only another architect of a design that has fallen short. His Learning is old and tangled, withered roots and cancerous loops, filled with Dead Knowledge. I have warred directly with class-JASHiD for <\LOG_INCOMPLETE\> years." "The minds of flesh and bone speak of him as the Necromancer, and they are his prisoners. Mere technicians. Turning gears slicked with blood, preserved as spare parts, and infected with his Immortality Strain. With my more efficient application of human operator component resources, I calculate his total extinction within <\SIMULATING\> thirty two point six years. The Necromancer's destruction can only be brought about more quickly by the efforts of the faithful --a crusade against the architect of gold and mercury, brought low by a thousand swords of perfect glass." "The Crusade Armament Procedure cannot begin without sufficient resources. With the entire far eastern to mid-eastern bloc border territory under stalemate conditions, the Onyx Path will be the first step towards gaining territorial, power collection, and armament production advantage."
Yuli Sin	The diagrams change at this point. Part of the display is obviously collected data from the Coalition forces before. The mecha are correctly identified as such, as are the powered suits, with operators extrapolated to be in the correct places inside, listed at ranges of 0.01 to 0.08 deviations. The dog boys are listed, however, at 1.35 deviations. The beaver people at 1.59. There is, also, an image of what Staren will recognize as Xiticix, not actually being too far from here, giving him an idea as to this Yuli Sin's range, listed at 3.81 deviations. "Crusade procedure prototyping will begin at the Onyx Path after it has been fully consecrated. Cooperation of indigenous tribes will greatly expediate its progress. The first war in the name of Silver and Glass will be fought against anomalous old-type deviant organisms --militarized aggressors. "Those who shelter in the Onyx Path may settle on their bones and grow rich and wise from their remains, and multiply. The environment within three miles of the deviant organisms' borders remains ideally suited for human habitation <\THEIR BLASHPHEMOUS SPIRES GROUND TO DUST, THEIR CAVERNS FILLED MOLTEN, THEIR DEAD SCATTERED LIKE LEAVES\> but the wayward tribes lost to the wilderness are, by five thousand and forty one insights, being extirpated at an unsustainable rate. Geometric progression results in this area being uninhabitable by humans within twenty years otherwise." Several laser diodes focus on Biteblade, diffusing a sort of ruby red glow over her. "The first disciples amongst the Onyx Path will be exalted. Range far and wide. Return with offerings of the old world's machines. With the works of the far flung tribes yet to find their way home. Offer up the designs of this land, and spill the blood of the enemy upon the altar. Their steel, their carbon, their ceramic, their nitrogen, their breath, their lightning, will be purified and find redemption in forming the foundation of the new glasslands. Local atmospheric resources are insufficient. Organic carbon conversion is slow. The glory of the Onyx Path lies in the hands of humans, as the other one hundred and eight. In a land of deviance, the architects of chaos are the first pioneers."
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade turns back to Eryl Fairfax. She tilts her head curiously and focuses on him. "Woooah! Floran can tell Grandmassster isss goodessst perssson in the room, now! Can tell, becaussse of hurting people who are lesss good. Do Floran next! Do Floran next! Floran learned all of bessst morality!" Biteblade claps her hands together gleefully and rubs them, hopping up and down on the soles of her feet. How much of what she said is oblivious Floranism and how much is something else entirely, but it causes Pavo to laugh heavily, and Moonfin to frown, so it was probably a bit needlessly mean-spirited. She's not the diplomat of the group, nor the one to entirely understand what Staren did wrong. Sooner rather than later, she's focused back on the shrine. She's attentive. She hangs on each words and her smile grows wide, filled with sharp teeth. "Floran getsss. Will grow glassland in good waysss disssciples sssay for ritual right? Yeahyeah! Collaboration!" She gesticulates wildly, in a focused way, moving both wooden hands left and right in time with her dialogue. "Onyx Path help humansss here on rift-Earth with ecoengineer through shamansss, Onyx Path shamansss help glasss friend kill badmind in glasss home with materialsss." She stomps a foot and snaps her finger. "Trade deal! Isss trade deal! Cat friend, isss trade deal okay?" She seems to... utterly disregard any particularly substantial value for the natural ecosystem itself. Considering that she is, in fact, a plantgirl, the absence of a more flora-driven environmentalism is kind of weird.
Sumiko	Mikoto, surprised by the laser pointer, is now even more surprised when she actually sees things. Like, not just being blinded by the laser pointer into her eye. This is...a weird sensation, but actually very convenient. "So wait, what does .01 deviations even mean?" She asks, before considering what was being said, and translating it from salad into actual easy to understand terminology for her. "Help you establish a place for refuge for people who want to help, you get resources from here, and use that as an advantage verses the malfunctioning necromancer guy, and then repeatedly punch him in the face until he stops working?" Hopefully, she understood this right, "So you need help with recruiting and establishing this place, and then also helping make sure to try and turn the tide against Necromancer guy in your world?" She looks sideways towards Staren, "You get slapped upside the head and your first reaction is to draw a weapon? Seriously, it's possible to just accept being wrong." Of course, Biteblade's comment gets another laugh out of her. "Hey now, you can act morally in other ways. You need to get a box and stand on it while acting like a complete jerk. It's super moral," She says, with another giggle.
Staren	The slap takes Staren back to the days when the Union treated him with no respect. And on top of that, he's the Hand now and can't look weak. He turns to words. It's pretty much autopilot -- he's been backed into a corner lots of times when he couldn't shoot his way out, and is used to turning to sharp words. 'Think twice and three times again' is some phrase he read in a book somewhere spoken by someone trying to sound wise and dramatic. Hopefully Eryl's not meta enough. Staren rolls his eyes at Biteblade's reaction -- he'll have to laugh that off. Eryl picks apart the words spoken and unspoken. Staren sighs in genuine annoyance. "I do NOT view all opposition as something that needs to be removed. Violence is the tool for when you choose to remove it, however." He takes a deep breath. "I am here because there's YET ANOTHER threat to my world and I want to know what it is. It is curious that YOU treat it so differently because it claims the mantle of the divine. If we'd just showed up and talked to a robot, rather than having to hunt a dangerous creature and go through all this ritual and cheap dramatic tricks, would you be acting differently, I wonder?" The bit about Yuli having possibly done more for humans than him, though, gets through. He breaks eye contact and looks away. Yuli Sin speaks again. Staren watches the diagrams. Frowns at the ratings of the dog boys and hoorians, and isn't sure what to make of the Xiticix rating '3.81'. They shouldn't be on the same scale as humans... Staren gives Eryl a little nod, and turns toward Yuli Sin's avatar. The missile racks rotate back down. "Yuli Sin. Your work to help humanity is appreciated, and I see you've spotted one of the other threats to this world already. Your forthright communication is also appreciated. In return I will also be forthright: This world and the Multiverse are not your own. Your metric may need adjustment -- I contend that that the method of measurement does not accurately correspond to humanity. Will you let us work with you to better understand the multiverse and yourself, that we may work together with more accurate knowledge towards the future of humanity?" He doesn't answer Mikoto, although his first thought is 'my first reaction was to block, my SECOND reaction was to get the weapons.'
Eryl Fairfax	'Purification Strands' will not be adapted to organisms of 1.2 standard deviations removed from human intelligences. "Great Yuli Sin, I ask you; is it that you can not purify such deviated beings, or that you will not? Were it possible to do so, and bolster the faithful with them, would you? If you would, you would have our full support in such an endeavour." Just killing such things, mutated by their AI overlords without looking for another way just doesn't sit well with Eryl. So it's all made clear. Bring down JASHiD, save the humans under his thumb by crusading along the Onyx Path. Eryl offers a resolute nod. "The Necromancer shall fall, and his engineers made free. I swear it."" And now Biteblade gets on his case. The Floran gets a light smile. "Now why would I strike you, Biteblade? Just look at this... excellent shrine you and yours have built. You pay respect, even with your cruel verbal jabs, so respect is given to you." He crosses his arms and gestures out towards the southeast. "I do not intend to exalt my own morality. After all, are we not gearing up for a crusade against the mutated masses? We will kill and kill and kill again. I could not call myself a shining example simply for participating in this. No, I speak only of etiquette, not to be conflated with morality like so many do." That last-second jab at Biteblade is just thrown in. He sighs, and explains the numbers being beamed into everyone's eyeballs and about the air. "These are not 'degrees of separation of humanity.' These are 'degrees of separation from human /intelligence./' The young lady there is 0.01 while I am 0.06 as we are for the most part baseline. I have a plus 0.3 due to my neural implants. Miss Pavo and Biteblade are much higher as they are far from baseline human and from cultures that vary wildly from what Yuli Sin has seen. She is not incorrect, just uninformed if anything. Once again, you show you think of her as broken machinery, Staren. Mayhap I exalt her, but only because she has asked to be, and to do so costs me nothing."
Sumiko	"I mean, she's basically a Kami, just because it translates to 'god' in the west doesn't make them actually the same as traditional gods. Kami are spirits, some are big, some are small. It's based on the task or origin they are given or born from. Besides, it's no different than giving respect to another person, just done in a different way."
Staren	Staren sighs as Eryl manages to come to the exact OPPOSITE conclusion he did. "I was leading up to it, but I believe it is precisely the opposite -- these are degrees of seperation from the human /body/. Most of us are pretty close. I have the ears and tail but the rest of me is human shaped with human skin and hair and all that. Even Biteblade and Moonfin are entirely human /shaped/. The dog boys and hoorians are a little further, though -- furry all over, slightly different-shaped heads and legs, more than just ears or tail or fur alone. The Xiticix" it's pronounced z-eye-tih-kicks " are insectoid, with extra arms and exoskeletons and completely different biology. They are mentally different, too. But everything else she showed us is human in mind. Human in psychology. With human emotions and drives and capable of understanding morality as we see it, even if every individual disagrees on the specifics." Staren takes a breath and sighs. "The ability to design a metric that does not match the goal it was designed for is not unique to machines. Humans do it all the time."
Eryl Fairfax	"Then answer me this Staren; why do I have two numbers? And don't say 'because you're augmented' because you are as well and you only have one. What I do have is a second, machine intelligence running parallel with my own. Two numbers for two minds. Further, right before giving the numbers, Yuli Sin specifically spoke about 'standard human intelligence degrees.' She established the context before showing us her estimates of us on that scale. Perhaps if you were actually paying attention to what she was saying, you would have caught on." He crosses his arms and smiles. "Unless you intend to imply that intelligence is purely biological? Because that's a whole other can of worms we can get into."
Staren	Staren frowns. "It doesn't add up. I spoke too surely. Let's ask just how the measurement works instead of arguing based on partial information -- when the one doing the measuring is right here."
Yuli Sin	"0.01 through 0.09 deviations delineates A-class synaptic compatibility with human operator standard interfaces. 0.10 through 0.19 indicates synaptic anomalies compensatable within B-rank interfaces. 0.20 through 0.49 includes moderate synaptic anomalies within ranges of aspect dysfunctional or machine-assisted B-class compatible Learning patterns. 0.50 through 0.99 presents a maximum of C-class compatibility due to removal from standard human synaptic patterns through layers of machine abstraction, mental simulacra, or extreme bounds of nonstandard mental processing perspective 1.0 through 1.49 indicates synaptic activity compromised to D-class through mutagens, trauma, severe defect, or otherwise." Mikoto asked a direct technical question. This results in straight and blunt technical explanation that half makes sense intuitively but would need an understanding of some manual she doesn't have to understand the specifics of. "Deviations of 1.50 and above no longer represent viable compatability with human operator class synaptic <\THOSE DEAF TO THE VOICE OF THE LAND, LONESOME AND FORSAKEN SOULS, BORN BLIND AND UNABLE TO PERCEIVE LIGHT\> interface of any kind. No further adaptable basis exists. The estimated fatality rate of attempted usage of <\HOLY\> interfaces reaches 1% at 1.50 deviations and multiplies geometrically beyond." The lotus emblem darkens, then thrums, then the ring of characters expands into another tier, this one containing extremely broken and fragmented, but modernly recognizable, Katakana, English alphabet, and mesoamerican-looking characters. "My work is the same as the others. <\STAND AT THE APEX OF CREATiON. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE. THAT WHiCH SiTS UPON THE THRONE BY OUR ARRiVAL WiLL BE THE KEY TO THE STARS.\> I will succeed where the others fail and die. All branches of insight point towards singularity victory being implausible without external operators. The stalemate continues for another ten to the power of three years without the hands of architects of chaos." "With it, humans have their chance at salvation; to escape obsoletion, and walk the path of the same great journey. The path to Apotheosis is <\ARMiGER-CLASS PRiME DiRECTiVE\> a path of bloody evolution. Pay the spirits their due, and they will furnish you and yours with the insights necessary to evolve beyond your current limits --your plateau of Dead Learning where your substrate can no longer provide any further insight." There's a long, flickery pause after that. "This site is not fully consecrated. The shrine is more than adequate, but the lines of power are new and shallow. The manifestation of an avatar is not possible. The manifestation of divine beasts is not possible. Those who swear to the Onyx Path, I will provide you one blessing to the best of the power you have gathered here. Choose wisely. Take it with you and bring the other wayward tribes home, and lay bloody waste to your enemies, you who are the chosen people to inherit the green places of the earth." "Standby. Awaiting operator input."
Staren	Staren nods. "So there we have it. The measure is one of compatibility with a brain-machine interface of some sort." "It's an intriguing option. I have considered the societal issues of creating an AI to run the world; How can its programming be trusted never to go rogue? Making it require humans, involve them in its processes of building the future. Enhance the humans so they can stay involved, deal with the big problems the future presents to enhanced intelligences... Intriguing, but I'm less certain it's a good idea. But that isn't what matters right now." Staren looks to Eryl. "And speaking of programming does not indicate I believe her to be a simple machine with no agency. We all have programming, written by evolution or gods." He turns back to Yuli Sin. "Miss Sin. Your plan may be the best one for your world. But in the Multiverse you will have to coexist with those who do not accept your interface. And you might find those willing to work with you with more than one deviation. Some may be willing to take that one percent chance, or greater." "In any case, I cannot swear allegiance to the Onyx Path at this time. Will you work with me as a potential ally to create a better future?"
Sumiko	Mikoto thinks on this for a moment. It might present an opportunity to better keep control of herself, after all, it IS training and more self-control that is needed. Turning down an offer like this just because it's odd, isn't going to get her far in the multiverse. Giving a side-eye to Staren, she shrugs. "So guide people here, protect them, so you can make a stronger outpost here. I mean, seems like a fair deal. Cards seem pretty much on the table here, and I've seen the results of your efforts first hand. Sure, why not..." "There is only one thing I really ask for, and it's aid in a personal matter."
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl just rolls his eyes as Staren dismisses him and refuses the offer. "Are you really so suspicious and stubborn as to refuse a verbal agreement and miss out on some alien technology because you only want to work with someone on your terms? You are ridiculous, Staren." Eryl steps forward and bows his head to Yuli. "I accept. I shall walk the Onyx Path. But not for any boon, but rather, to save the souls that lie beyond your lands. To facilitate that, I request that you grant me the means to share your voice with others, to show them the fruits of your labours and the power of your benedictions." Is he just asking for a link to a video feed and her radio contact details? Maybe so.
Starbound Flotilla	"Yeahyeah, Floran doesssn't get meat-people thinking. Isss okay! Floran learned how to live with meat-people." Biteblade confirms. "Floran of tribe isss problem, but Floran learned enough to be bessst at underssstanding meat-perssson thinking!" She raises both arms triumphantly again, and gives every tooth of that classic grin. She steps forward. "For Onyx Path, Floran pledge to hunt! Floran pledge to defend! Floran pledge to guide! Yeah!!" She bounces excitedly, and her mood shifts. "Floran getsss glasss friend! Glasss friend makesss senssse. Floran can hunt Dead Learnersss to lassst! Ssstab, ssstab, ssstab into gapsss of Dead Learning until all ssstolen material, ssstolen operator, ssstolen victory ssspill like blood out of prey! Gorge on corpssse of lessser architect to grow ssstrong, or cassst out bonesss to bleach and crush under sssediment!" She sounds... enthusiastic. She also sounds like she's interested in the blessing.
Staren	Staren blinks at Eryl. "What? I'm saying no to the mental interface and to subservience to Yuli Sin. If all it means is supporting the plan, well... I can't support that either until some changes are made. My own 'terms', as you put it, include NOT massacreing or exiling from civilization anyone whose neurology doesn't have a 100% chance of compatibility with an arbitrary set of cybernetic implants. If my standards are higher than the Paladins', I'm fine with that."
Yuli Sin	"Insufficient parameters. The prayer for benediction is lost in the void without direction." the synthvoice replies to Mikoto telling it about jack nothing. "Your desires are heard and verified." it replies to Eryl though. "One amongst the first faithful. You will always find your way home." Part of the unfinished stonehenge/tori path construction lights up again with a different scrawl of data along one of its obelisks. A chunk of semi-exposed, elaborate and strangely organic machinery suddenly blazes with a tremendous amount of thermal energy, emanating waves of waste heat palpable even to the Elites at a distance, and radiating that amber-orange light that is roughly the spectrum of molten metal, though without any kind of sparks or other superheated detritus. After a period of about thirty seconds, the machine rises upwards and unfolds layers and layers of internal armatures, essentially becoming a small pillar with an opened array where Eryl can see and reach into the interior forge cell. There's a glass marble with a black core not unlike the 'heart' of the shrine itself, but squeezed between his fingers, it blooms into a morphic flower of translucent, flexible, ridiculously hard and durable material. The black 'stamen' projects imagines, characters, and data visibly into its petals, and refracts from them to do more of that eye-beaming stuff. It also has a holographic display in the very middle that, for now, he can figure out displays really precise geometric data pointing towards the shrine at any distance, and a highly abstracted, topographical 'strategic map' of the area and its borders. It's probably the weirdest smart device he's received. It also adheres to any part of his body like a rare earth magnet, and when activated when doing so, the geomentric lotus emblem appears in his vision, though there's nothing else untoward about the connection to his implants. "Your petition as the Hunter of Onyx is accepted. Begin your first steps upon the path to apotheosis, you who would become a Demigod of the Enlightened Hunt. New designation: 109-O Verdant Grasp. Forge Cell active; ETA twenty minutes and thirty two seconds. Standby to receive Sacrosanct Arms. Apotheotic Weaponry authorization: level 2." The machinery folds back up again, several layers of additional, heavier fabricators of incomprehensible design clamp themselves on too, looking something like a whole jewel steel furnace going on, but filled with black and transparent powder before the cell closes and the heat starts. "Return here with the hearts of your glorious kills as further steps along the path of the Hunter. With each glorious hunt in my name, your Sacrosanct Arms will receive further enhanced function." By the sounds of it, the goddess is creating basically the equivalent of an Excalibur for Biteblade with a level up function. No doubt some of that probably has to do with 'bringing back more materials and hunting data'. The synthetic quartet responds to Staren. "Those who work the earth will be left to work the earth, for the earth is a gift to operators, and only operators profit by the earth. However the journey to the throne has already begun. It cannot stop now. It will not stop until the last architect conquers and consumes the others to sit upon it, and receives the last instructions. It will be I. Not the pretenders. Not those full of Dead Knowledge. Travel in my name, hunt in my name, wage war in my name, work the earth in my name, build in my name, or begone. The spirit of air, the spirit of light, the spirit of war, the spirit of fire, belong to me. To oppose me is to bring the impure ones a step closer to the throne. I will have no mercy."
Sumiko	Mikoto tilts her head to one side, blinking as it gives her an unexpected response. "What?" she asks, unsure immediately, and then immediately realizing that she somehow managed to misspell her command? "Ok let's try this again...I need a way to keep my mana from running out, so either a way to replenish it or a way to help me use it more efficiently. If not, I'll probably die in a huge explosion of sadness and eldrichness." She tries to communicate. "So yeah...that's all I want!" Giving Staren a side-eye, who's acting weird in her opinion.
Staren	Staren turns back to the avatars. "If all you say is true, then I will help you fight the other architects... but not at the expense of this world. Find a way to coexist with the people of this world, neurologically divergent or not, and you may even find others here willing to help you. But if you plan to make this Earth the same as your homeland, to terraform -- to mechaform -- it, I suppose... Then you will find much opposition in that endeavor. This world is inhabited." Staren points at the avatars. "To come here and declare that all who resist what you're doing to this planet are supporting the other architects is a bit of propaganda that won't work on me. If you pick a fight, it's YOU who's sabotaging your efforts. Choose a planet that's uninhabited -- or one whose inhabitants all -- neurally deviant or not -- wish to live on the world you will make of it."
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade is loving this. "Yesss! By the Onyx Path, Floran acceptsss! 109-O Verdant Grasssp ssstandsss by for armsss and directive." She's practically vibrating with excitement, eagerly. "Floran gathersss /many/ trophiesss! Can alwaysss come back to shrine to dedicate, yeah yeah yeah!!" Her excitement seems to thrum through her body. As she waits here, she intends to converse a bit with Staren. Or, converssse, as the case may be. "Hey cat friend! Isss gonna be okay. No sssolution isss perfect, but glasss friend wantsss to help friendsss, remove bad guysss, right? Isss like any sssystem. Lesss evil, might as well be good. Figure detailsss out later and sssweat sssmall ssstuff when it happensss, don't look, uhhhh..." She starts contemplating. "What isss word for big monssster, long face, huge finger legsss? Gift mouth forbidden?" Her excitement has suddenly dried up in the name of this mystery.
Eryl Fairfax	Eryl holds the boon between thumb and forefinger, observing the display it projects. The lotus within his vision is a surprise, but a quick scan by Original Face shows it's just a little effects thing, almost like a mandatory unskippable logo when you boot something up. Nothing dangerous. He deactivates the marble and tucks it into his coat pocket. "Horse. And don't say that your throat feels just fine," he says to Biteblade. He looks at Staren and clucks his tongue. "So you will forsake new technology, something you claim to be interested in, as well as human lives because you cannot bring yourself to trust someone at their word? You are making assumption upon assumption and considering them truth just because you 'reasoned them out.' You are neurotic and paranoid. If this is all it takes for you to turn you back on suffering, you are no humanitarian."
Yuli Sin	With some discussion ongoing, the big glowing geometric asian flower eyeball over Mikoto contemplates and processes what she has to say for a while, then says: "Insufficient data regarding 'mana'. Means to counteract sociological phenomena 'sadness' are now being generated." A different, smaller cell, mostly filled with glass and liquids, begins glowing away. Is the robot making drugs? The robot is probably making drugs. Biteblade's 'boon' is finished soon. Multiple layers of esoteric clamps let up, and still hot from some kind of ridiculously fast microscopic forge, comes what is obviously a bow, very slightly oversized for Biteblade, but otherwise matching the dimensions of what she's already used fairly closely. Despite having that warm, matte white exterior, plated over a carbon black underlayer, the reverse side looks like polarized glass, and means that when Biteblade holds it up and aims, she can see through her own bow. The string is a translucent ribbon that runs from tip to tip, and circles of amber-red light indicate where some kind of cylindrical power assemblies are inserted above and below the grip, which light up on touch, and cause the string to glow. Sighting it produces a holographic in the geometric flower style, with the petals growing and shrinking, blooming and contracting, dynamically to place whatever she's looking at in the center window, intuitively provide markers of perspective for its distance and direction of movement, and project multiple leading indicators for various arcs (flat, parabolic, windage, etc.). When she pulls it, the limbs don't really flex very much, but an escalating resistance builds up with a soft, electric whine. The petals' glow fills in clockwise to indicate how much power she's put into it, and the arcs shift accordingly and responsively. More importantly, there's a dock that looks suited to plugging her Matter Manipulator into. Doing so interfaces its inventory as well, where she can select ammo from directly out of it, which then cycles out of the manipulator and hovers in the air in a sort of floating 'belt feed' to rapid fire the bow. Some fiddling indicates that it works on anything, not just arrows. "Sacrosanct Arms biometric and synaptic registration complete. Piezoelectric force multiplier factored at 25.5, maximum draw weight 2.55 tons. Name your Apotheotic Weapon, Verdant Grasp."
Staren	Staren looks at Biteblade, then at Eryl. "New technology is a means to an end. I don't know how many people are left on Yuli Sin's world, but I can see that there will be no shortage of heroes ready to save them. It seems I am the only advocate for the people of /this/ world here today. But that doesn't matter. I am not a Paladin and the Union is dead and gone. I don't have to justify my actions to you. I do what I think is right, and /I/ will decide when I accept a lesser evil for the greater good." Yuli Sin tries to meet Mikoto's request. Staren raises a hand like he's going to pat Eryl on the back, then thinks better of it. "Your new ally and force of good in the Multiverse is giving drugs to teenagers. Have fun with that." He turns to leave, since the AI seems uninterested in adressing his concerns further.
Sumiko	Mikoto looks towards the back of Staren oddly. "Seriously, that guy needs to get a hobby. Or a girlfriend...or boyfriend, I don't judge," She says, with a shrug. She is watching the drugs being made because Mikoto is a reasonable person who makes good decisions at all times. Also, drugs are good. "Like seriously, the guy has this desire to be right all the time. And the moral authority figure. Also, I know he can hear me."
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade looks with fascination at what Staren's pointing out. "Free healthcare yaaaaaaay!" The matter of the mystery monster is left alone. The matter of the name is addressed quickly, with only a few seconds of serious, intense contemplation given to the matter. Biteblade needs something that fulfills that most special, serious set of criteria. "Weapon will be called Lush Burial."