the sickness ends.the temple.The Temple, shortly after Astoria's burst of energy, is in a constant state of growth. Trees are bursting into existence from seeds in mere seconds, flowers are growing wherever magic lands . . . and the Temple is abruptly a-buzz with energy, magic crackling throughout the air. You may find a tree in your house, or flowers suddenly growing along the walls, or plants wiggling their way through the stone walls of the buildings of the Temple. All of a sudden, the place looks very overgrown.
The Forest of the Fey seems to be responding in kind, too. Sprites are exceptionally active, darting out of the Forest and into the Temple with increasingly regularity, playing basic little tricks on the members of the Circle they can find. Flower crowns are made at an alarming rate, and there might be a few fruit-food fights that break out with the sudden abundance of peaches and apples that appear on the grounds. Learn how to duck!
With the magic comes the sudden fluctuation of energy: canon powers flicker on and off, as do the powers granted by Astoria. You feel more like yourself, you suddenly have access to energies you did not have previously in the Temple However, it's a double-edged sword -- it is not constant, and it may be more trouble than its worth.
And, remember: the Sickness is not fading immediately. If you make it to Stage 3, then you're stuck with sensory deprivation for at least another week or two. Sorry, friends.  lake dona.Lake Dona is a massive body of water, stretching outward for so far that it almost seems like an ocean until you see that the water is fresh. It is surrounded by long, leafy trees that dip into the water and has a variety of ancient ruins scattered around it -- weathered stones set into circles at seemingly even intervals, old buildings that seem to mirror the Temple in construct.
In addition to the ruins, there are a network of caverns tucked along the water’s edge, just underneath the surface on the western side of Lake Dona, that appear to go underground into murky darkness. The actual entrance to these caverns seem to be underwater, seemingly guarded by merfolk, but poking around may seem to be more trouble than its worth.
There is plenty of wildlife to be found within the lake itself, ranging from freshwater mermaids who would rather you stay the hell out of their backyard to a rather large and suspiciously friendly plesiosaurus-like creature (some would say that she prefers to be called Nessie) that seems intent on checking out who you are. The lake teems with odd-looking fish, most of which seem to be okay to eat, and plenty of plant life! But who knows what lurks in the depths below . . . that giant sea-monster looking thing has to be eating something.PROMPT IDEAS: Here are some prompt ideas for this new area! However, don't feel limited to such ideas! Feel free to fish, to explore, to swim, to poke around . . . it's always possible Astoria may check in on your character, too, once she is feeling better! ;)
1.) The Great Pumpkin The overgrowth of plants have caused a massive growth spurt in a lot of the trees, including the fruit trees that sprinkle themselves throughout the Temple. However, the fruit themselves seems to be growing at a rather . . . alarming rate, resulting in a few pumpkin-looking squash growing to the size of small boulders in the fields. Hope you have a lot of spare time on your hands to make a hell of a lot of Temple-pie, because these squash aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
2.) Food Fight!: Those damn sprites are at it again, and are collecting fruit off the ground and throwing it at people. Fight back, organize, and conquer! Or not. It's probably better to just not.
3.) Part Of Your World: The mermaids within Lake Dona are a suspicious lot, and they don't take kindly to strangers stomping through their territory. However, they are receptive to music, so if you are so musically inclined, they will definitely be more inclined to be a little more playful than territorial. If you aren't? Have fun getting tossed into the lake head-first by a bunch of pissed off mermaids who want you to get the hell of their lawn. They don't take kindly to your type around here.
4.) Nessie: Within Lake Dona is a massive plesiosaurus-type creature which seems to be . . . oddly friendly? It seems to pop up at the most inconvenient of times. Are you sitting on the edge of the lake enjoying the water? Enjoy a massive ass dinosaur sticking its impressively long neck out of the lake to check you out and also scare the bejesus out of you. That being said, Nessie is an extraordinarily friendly being, and will even give you laps around the lake if you ask nicely!
5.) Caverns: The caverns within the lake are dark, deep, and menacing The merfolk inform you that you cannot go there -- no one can, but the merfolk sure seem to be keeping a careful eye out on it. Testing the boundaries indicates a weird magical field around the entrance of the cave, that works like a bit of a forcefield. Weird, right? |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-09-19 08:25 pm
no subject
[Attack humans. Kill humans, as had been the case more than once.
He keeps his eyes on her Pod at the distance, and the way the breeze flirts with the surface of the water, causing faint ripples that have nothing to do with movement beneath. The question makes his LED flicker at his temple, and while the answer is simple, requiring no real thought, Connor has strangely always left out the specifics unless someone asks -- like 2B is doing, currently.]
...Tracking deviant androids is actually what I was specifically designed for, in tandem with working with the police. To find out why they're increasing in number, and to put a stop to their continued growth. To return the ones we find back to CyberLife for inspection and disassembly.
[He supposes that leads to another question of what exactly causes an android to deviate, which Connor anticipates. Therefore, he continues.]
They're overrun by errors that cause them to misinterpret said errors as emotion. It leaves them in a disoriented state, and these glitches have a tendency to become prevalent in high-stress situations. As you can probably assume, this is often a recipe for disaster when a human is involved.
no subject
Our functions aren't that different.
[ she won't say more than that on that topic. There's a pause as she hesitates before continuing. ]
So... you don't feel emotions, then.
[ will it cause him undue stress, to ask him that? He doesn't seem much less sophisticated than she is in terms of intelligence; he mimics a human almost exactly. But 2B knows that the closer to that dividing line they come, the harder it is to cope. If he does feel emotions but doesn't feel allowed to process them - if he considers them punishable by death - then she'll only be causing him trouble. ]
no subject
Right.]
No. I don’t. Not beyond extenuating circumstances, which have involved other androids interfacing with me at inconvenient times, or my friend using his powers on me by accident.
[So technically not his own emotions or anything. So technically a lie of omission.
But he’s quick to latch onto something that she’s said instead. He looks at her, interest sparking clearly on his face.]
What do you mean, our functions aren’t that different?
no subject
Maybe this problem is just an unavoidable part of life for all androids.
The other topic, unfortunately, is not much more pleasant for her to discuss. She sighs, quietly, and shakes her head, looking back out at Pod 042. ]
... I mean that executing traitorous androids or androids who went against their programming was part of my duty back when I was on Earth. [ she hesitates; she hopes that didn't sound like a threat. ] There weren't any humans left for them to endanger directly. But by going against YoRHa, they were endangering humanity's last hope of retaking the planet.
[ supposedly. ]
no subject
But her admission makes the line of his jaw go tight. Makes his fingers flex, his gaze casting back out into the water as if pulled by a magnet. What she says is more than just a parallel to his own functions; it's a stark similarity, an objective shared in broad strokes, even if the details may be different.
Connor's still, and doesn't say much. Not at first. And then-]
And did you abide by what it was you were designed to do?
[Maybe that's an odd question. Maybe he's asking her if she was fine with it.]
no subject
[ for three long years, until she was freed from it - and then summarily brought to another dimension afterwards. It would be convenient if they'd kidnapped her the way Astoria had; that would absolve her of any guilt. But that wasn't the case - they'd asked her, broken as she was, if she would turn her back on the planet for another chance at existence, and she'd agreed. She's as traitorous as A2 now. The worst part is that it no longer matters, and she knows it doesn't - yet the guilt continues to dog her, persistent and poisonous.
But the fact is that she had obeyed her duty all that time. It was painful. She passed the point where she'd rather die than continue serving her purpose a long time ago. Still, she obeyed. Not for duty, but to protect a promise. 2B doesn't share as much; still, there's a clear note of regret and bitterness in her quiet answer that speaks for her. ]
It's what I was made for. It was... an honor, to fight for mankind. [ her own feelings on it shouldn't have mattered, and probably shouldn't even have existed in the first place. It shouldn't make a difference that she wasn't fine with it. ] ... But we lost. YoRHa was destroyed. If I hadn't been brought here, I would have been destroyed, too.
[ none of it mattered. ]
no subject
An honor, to fight for mankind.
Maybe she was just better-built than he. Stronger. Less inclined to doubt her own goals.]
YoRHa... was destroyed?
[That's news to him. He hasn't heard that much from any of the other androids from her universe so far.]
I'm- I'm sorry, 2B. [Mission failure. Somehow the idea of it applied to her cuts something deep within himself.] What happened?
no subject
She's slightly taken aback by the apology. For whatever reason, she wasn't expecting it. ]
... The enemy was able to hack into our main servers and infect all connected units with a virus that caused fatal errors. Our last orbital base was destroyed, as were our remaining troops and resources.
[ a beat. She adds, with some muted wonder: ]
You don't have to apologize.
no subject
[That wasn't expected, on his end. To be told not to apologize. He supposes logically he doesn't have to, but it's a sense of-
(empathy)
-trying to portray to her that can imagine what a shattering experience it might be, to have lost a war. To fail in a mission.]
You're right. But what you're explaining to me is a tragedy. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
no subject
But his kindness is appreciated. His empathy - she recognizes it for what it is, because she always feels it, too. It's merely a novel experience to have it shown to her by another android - especially a foreign one, regarding this topic from the outside. It's... strange. She'll have to parse it later. For now, she just nods, unsure how to respond. ]
... Thanks, [ she decides on, quietly, after a few seconds. A few more stretch on before she decides to change the topic. It's getting a little bit too close to something personal. ] What's Detroit like?
[ it's hard for her to imagine living side-by-side with humans, outside of the extraordinary circumstances she's currently in... ]
no subject
In regards to my own experiences?
[He has limited ones, admittedly, restricted to CyberLife and where his missions took him. Recently, all of it pivoting around the DPD, as the investigation behind deviancy and its uptick in the city progressed.]
Or maybe you mean what life is like in Detroit as a whole?
no subject
[ although she wonders if he'd actually be open to talking about his experiences. That would certainly be a big difference between the two of them. ]
Humans haven't lived on Earth in thousands of years. Until I was recruited, I'd never met one. [ ... ] I don't know what it's like for androids and humans to live together.