synopsychic | Open to All Investigators-Beginning of Digital Frontier Jaunt

Entry tags:

Open to All Investigators-Beginning of Digital Frontier Jaunt

For those who are experiencing this for the first time, don't worry. Just keep calm and listen to this message.

If you're hearing this, you're what we call an investigator: someone who retains their memories from their home and other worlds if they have them while in a Jaunt. Some of us have blended in with the setting and are called Infiltrators; don't try and jog their memory back otherwise we'll be in a lot of trouble. They also cannot use the network we're on right now.

What we need to know now is who's not thinking they're a program and what they have noticed so far. Anything will help us try and figure out a way to solve this next issue.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Excuse me. They keep using that term to refer to themselves: program. What does that mean exactly? Do you know the definition in this context? I'm fairly certain mine is not correct.

[Sorry on two fronts; this is his first time to attempt this strange mental-talk thing and he's a literal Renaissance man so what the heck is a computer much less a computer program.]

[Thankfully, this is an open broadcast, so have a computer geek with memories of the Victorian era attempt to explain it for you, man....]

They're a kind of construct, in this place, with set parameters and purpose, created by... well, I'll admit, I don't know who they're created by, but I've overheard a couple mention Users, so there must be creators outside this Grid place. Think a golem or an automaton, only with self-awareness and a kind of... circuit-made construction. Very advanced, here.

[Golem and automation were in his vocabulary, at least, even if they were far-flung whimsy at best. However, that still left much to be desired in fully understanding, unfortunately.]

Then they're not living beings? They're tools? They certainly seem human enough... they act as people, more or less. I don't believe I follow your explanation very well. [Or rather, it didn't sit very well with him if his two questions were any indicator.] And what do you mean by "circuit"? These are common words and yet their meanings here differ so greatly.

They would have originally been created as tools, yes, but somewhere along they way they either developed self-awareness, or else they are far more detailed in their protocols than any other program I've come across. They aren't scripted in any way, that I can tell.

[He pauses to think a moment, then asks,]

Where and when are you from, sir? That might help me explaining things properly.

Hmm.

[An interesting concept if he were interpreting it correctly. It was something to think upon, perhaps. He tried not to dwell too long on it at the moment though and eventually got back to the conversation at hand.]

Italia, 1476.

Oh my, that is a ways back, isn't it? I would compare these, then, more to spirits than to tools. They are not made of matter-- at the moment, neither are we-- but of information. They are created, but by something that simply doesn't exist in your time period.

But since we are also currently made of the same stuff, we can interact with them. You've heard them mention "users" I presume? Those would be people on the outside of the system we've been transported into. The creators, I assume, or at least the people meant to make use of these spirit-programs.

I would not know. [Deadpan. Truly though, he does not know what time period most other people are from, only his family (who are also from the future but only by a decade or so). Perhaps he should look into that.]

This...system. A computer? [He's been talking to other people as well. Maybe he's starting to get a better picture over-all but its still all very....technical and futuristic. Perhaps he would be better off not asking. He seems to be doing better understanding the "human nature" of things here better than the technical jargon.] And...humans create that in the future, from my date in time. There was some in the last...world. [Jaunt. He'll learn to use that word eventually.] I think.

Indeed they do. The year I'm from is 2015, in fact, which is quite a bit beyond 1476. I also have some memories scattered about between the late fifteen hundreds and mid eighteen hundreds, but it's quite patchy, I'm afraid. It's... complicated, but I am at least familiar with a pre-computer age.

It is. Quite.

[...all right. That seems unusual.]

I won't ask then. It sounds complicated. And I know being here only makes it more so. [Time shenanigans. Damn them.] Thank you for the information. I think I shall stick with what I know best and try to simply blend in, learn from the crowd, and not answer too many unwanted questions.

That's what I'm going to try to do, to be honest. Ask a few questions and try to look harmless.

[As long as there's no full moon here, really, he is pretty harmless.]

At least now I know a little bit. Hopefully I can manage not to make a fool of myself with the terminology now--and, if not, well, even fools have their place.

Oh, I'm swallowing my pride and asking as many questions as they'll let me, here. I may have some understanding of this place, just by virtue of my childhood, but I still feel pretty lost.

I do not mind asking questions where appropriate but I do find it easier to use other means to procure information when available. It keeps me from sticking out too much.

(no subject)

professorwolf - 2015-04-19 19:52 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

betrayedblade - 2015-04-19 21:37 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

professorwolf - 2015-04-21 04:59 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

betrayedblade - 2015-04-24 04:50 (UTC) - Expand

.. well, I suppose that means at least I am not the only one out of the loop here.

[ Renaissance, meet medieval times.. Inigo has been able to at least understand what computers are because of the Jaunts he's been on, but programs? All this.. digital stuff? It might as well all be Chinese to him. ]

I am sorry it is so confusing to you as well.

It is not your fault, do not apologize. However, I am grateful for your sympathies and I extend mine as well.

This whole experience is quite overwhelming. [Except, he doesn't seem all that overwhelmed at all. His mental voice is calm and controlled, and gives an impression of confidence backed by skill and wisdom.]

[ It doesn't go over Inigo's head, honestly. It's almost a little admirable. Even if Inigo is capable of projecting a more calm attitude (.. at times, anyway) than he might feel at any given time, it's never that convincing and he knows it.

Can this guy really feel so calm throughout all of this..? ]

Are you perhaps new to all of this, milord? It grows a little easier over time, but I have to admit the most difficult part is alwasy the beginning.

[He has had a lot of practice over the years at dealing with difficult and unexpected situations. Perhaps not quite like this but. Besides, any anxiety he might have had at first has long since faded; he was taught to adjust and adapt quickly in his line of work and so he does, and became quite good at it.

That.. is all besides the point.]

It is my second experience on one of these ...alternate worlds. [Jaunts.] And my first was as an ... alternate ego, shall we say. To tell the truth, this is quite a bit easier to handle after knowing the ...alternative.

[That's a lot of "alternates," apologies.]

Are you saying you were an Infiltrator last time around?

[ That's how he's interpreting it, anyway.. this whole alternate ego sounds a lot more complicated than what he's used to otherwise, so he slowly blinks as he thinks about it. ]

[Got it in one!]

Ah, yes. I believe that is the term.

Ah.. my apologies, milord. It must be difficult to be stuck in that sort of position right off the bat. [ Not that he hasn't been an Infiltrator before - far from it, he intensely remembers his own experiences as one, which is exactly what colored his image of them Not Being Fun to begin with. But at least he didn't get thrown into that role straight away.. ]

It is easier to take things as they come while being yourself. .. er, aside from the time we get attacked by huge monsters, that is.

It made one thing clear: I have no power here.

Or at least that is what they would have me to believe. And it is certainly how it felt.

[However, that's a bit dark, isn't it? Let's move on.]

At least Investigating is something I am intimately more familiar with. [beat] Huge monsters, you said?

[ It's a bit dark, but it's also a familiar sort of feeling. Realising you don't really have control over anything, feeling useless.. it's a kind of feeling you get from this place that Inigo understands very well too. But if the other isn't bringing up more of it, then he sure isn't going to do so either. ]

Yes, I have heard that our group has had to fight dragons before I arrived here. [ Not that he hasn't done that back home as well.. ] And I was personally part of the fight against a rather large sea creature during one Jaunt.

Dragons...

[The tone is 'airy', perhaps wistful just a tad. It's not something he has ever thought to encounter. Dragons were just myth where he came from. But they were fantastic creatures that appeared in wondrous tales of knights and heroism. Even keeping in mind that fairy tales were always more gruesome than they sometimes appeared from a simple story-telling perspective, what would it be like to live through one? To meet a creature as that? To battle one for glory and honor.

It was hard to imagine. Yet. It came with a certain thrill.]

I've never had experience with situations such as those. I am not sure whether it is more exciting to hear or dread-filling. Though I suppose when the next time comes I will, I'm sure, lean more towards the latter. [Still. Dragons and sea creatures.. It sounded exciting...up until the point you actually faced one.]

Do not worry, even if such a time were to pass again.

[ Sure, Inigo knows it's not that easy. He knows they almost lost all those battles, he knows how close they got to it with that huge sea monster. But even so, he wants to at least outwardly project his usual optimism like they really can do this. ]

I am a skilled fighter, and many more among our group are. Even back home, I had to fight many of these things. So we will protect anyone who needs it during those times-- feel free to call upon my help at any time. [ Says the kid who cries at just about any social interaction ever. ]

[Giovanni was amused but it did not filter through to his mental voice. He left the cause for the amusement to himself as well.]

I thank you for the offer, amico. It is good to know that there are those of us that would look after our fellow Travelers.

(no subject)

flatteries - 2015-04-26 17:32 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only