synopsychic | Yet another psychic post with your local AI [text]

Hi, it's *Hyun-ae again, sorry if I'm using this too often. I just got kind of used to communicating via text while I was just an AI, you know?

Anyway, the things I've been seeing during this - pseudo-Jaunt? Whatever it is that's going on with all these memories and illusions and stuff - have gotten me really thinking about my future. I've spent the last few hundred years obsessed with my past and trying to recover from it, and it's sort of kept me from thinking enough about where I want to go now that I *am* free from that ship. My dad said I could be anything I wanted to be, so it's about time I started becoming something.

The short version is, I want to help. The last Jaunt kind of blew by while I was still getting my bearings, but even if I had been more involved, I don't really think there would have been anything I could do. I don't really have much in the way of useful skills - I can't fight, I don't really know much about politics or investigating stuff... I missed out on my chance to get a proper education while I was alive, so sometimes it feels like I'm basically dead weight. But then again, just because I don't have any skills doesn't mean I can't learn new ones, right? I've been thinking about psychic powers in particular. Like, a couple months ago I didn't even think that kind of thing was real, but now I can create portals, change my clothes, store objects in pocket space... I'm capable of things I couldn't even imagine, and I'm learning them faster than I possibly could have expected.

So, that's what I want to focus on. I want to learn some more special abilities that I can use to make some kind of more concrete contribution next time there's a real Jaunt. Maybe some more ways to access important information, or protect people... I'm honestly even willing to learn how to fight, although I don't think this frame was really built for it physically. I'm open to ideas, and if you have some kind of skill to teach, I'm willing to learn, and I swear I'll figure out something I can to do make it up to you later.

Thanks for listening! Can you let me know if you have any ideas? I'm at a pretty crazy crossroads in my life right now, so I'm willing to consider just about anything. I'm an AI, so I'm good at processing lots of information really quickly, but that also might mean I'm not any good at magic and stuff, I honestly don't know.

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It's not as if a small or light frame is useless in a fight. There's plenty of ways to train to redirect an attack without being bulky or even having a great deal of muscle strength. If you're an AI, that might mean you're even better at it, since you can process the input and make a tactical decision quickly. You just have to know your options.

I hadn't thought about it that way! I really know how much stress I can take before I'd break something, and to be honest I'm a little worried about the prospect of getting repairs done without access to 50th-century tech, but if I was careful... I mean, they wouldn't make an expensive hardframe that wasn't able to handle at least a little mishandling, right?

I'm no psychic expert, dear, but if you want to know how to manipulate Liminal Space, I'm your girl.

Well, one of your girls. I haven't been here long enough to be the ultimate master, but I do enjoy teaching.

Likely not, but I have a healing spell. And if that doesn't work on someone like you, I know plenty about computers as well. Not that it's the same as 50th century technology, but I'm willing to be guided through a little teaching.

I'm pretty good with the psychic network. Not the very best, but I know many tricks so I could definitely give you a start on your psychic skills.

I also have weapons that work if you're fast. I think with a light and small frame, they'd be even more useful than they are for me. Ever heard of kunai?

The computing side I'm not worried about (I wouldn't want someone else messing around in my code anyway...), I'm more worried about the fact that I literally don't know how my physical body actually works or was built. If magic doesn't work on it, a broken arm might just have to stay broken indefinitely.

Have other people had to deal with really serious injuries? I've seen someone with a pretty bad scar, but I don't know how we usually deal with stuff without access to a real hospital...

I saw you messing with something I couldn't follow when we were talking back in the tea room. Was that Liminal stuff? I'm not sure what's that and what's just your powers as a witch.

That's, what, some kind of dagger? [She's never seen one in real life, but she watched a lot of anime as a kid.]

Yeah, pretty much. They're good for when you're fast and can get close to someone easily.

Ahaha, truthfully, Liminal Skills are very, very close to the magic I used at home, to the point where learning them is more about learning how to manipulate a different context for me than learning the skills from scratch. I had my own Liminal realm adjacent to the version of Earth I hail from, even if I didn't call it that, and most of my Witchcraft involved the Liminal nature of that realm and the remote island that formed my physical territory.

Generally speaking, if you see someone retrieve or create something from 'nothing', that's a Liminal Skill. Redefining boundaries to create portals or summon beings from other locations is also Liminal. And those are also specializations of Witches, you see?

I could at least teach you basic self-defense we learned in military. Otherwise, I'm more of a Liminal guy than a Psychic one.

I see you have disregarded my advice to leave jaunts to the experts and not mess with them. That’s fine, honestly. I was in a bad place when I said that.

You can do portals, right? Wanna learn to teleport?

Hmm... honestly, I don't even know if you could call me fast, either. This hardframe was mainly designed for sitting on the veranda elegantly drinking tea with your beloved, so whether it's speed or power, any physical fighting I do is gonna be struggling against its design.

Maybe some kind of knife throwing stuff would be a good fit, though... that's more about precision than speed or power, right? I bet I could get pretty good at something like that.

I'm not sure... but it's not like I'm going to go all out on a beginner anyway. I won't take it easy on you, but I'm not about to make you try to compete at the same level as someone who's trained. That's just stupid.

Ah, yeah that might make it a bit challenging then.

I do have some skills on throwing things too. Someone else might be a better teacher, but basics I can deal with.

That or, I can just focus on teaching the secrets of network.

So there's a lot of overlap between Liminal stuff and Witch stuff... heh, I wonder if that means I have an advantage? Probably not.

Things I've figured out, either through Malin's training or sort of on my own:
* Creating portals between Liminal Space and Jaunt Space
* Storing and retrieving objects from 'nothing'
* Updating my outfit (this is the best one so far)
* I can sense where certain other people are relative to me (not sure what the pattern is?)
* I think something else with my senses, but I need to do some testing to be sure on this one

Yeah... I couldn't really sit still and let other people do everything for me, it just didn't feel right.

How different is teleporting from portals? It's already long-distance transportation, sort of.

Right, okay. I guess even if I never get actually good at fighting, it would be good to be able to handle myself well enough to get away and find help, or whatever.

So, what kind of network secrets are we talking about here?

I was wondering about something related to that earlier... people have gotten into some pretty serious fights and danger in past Jaunts, right? What happens to people who get really serious injuries? It's not like we have a hospital we can take someone to for medical treatment. Or in my case, a robotics facility for repairs.

It’s too slow. I mean short range, nearly instantaneous, and without really stepping foot in liminal space. Just pure “I wanna be over there now.”

Exactly. There's plenty of spots even someone untrained can hit an attacker to disable them enough to give them space.

Edited 2017-12-12 16:43 (UTC)

Oh! That could be really handy in a pinch. On the other hand, I don't know if I want to focus entirely on escape-based powers...

Can you teleport other people, or only yourself?

All right! I'm looking into a few possible options, but I'll keep your offer in mind! Thank you!

Many of us have learned ways to heal. Spells, jaunt skills... even Liminal, if I recall right. I'm sure some of us would know how to help you, too.

In jaunts it's not our real bodies, even if sometimes we come back with the same injuries.

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Yet another psychic post with your local AI [text]

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