WEEK 3

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 3



[The week begins as last week began. But there's is a great difference-murder. It has happened. Blood has been drawn; it cannot be undone. The Game has made itself known. The Game is paramount. The Game simply is.

As morning dawns, those who were not present with the DEAD lock will find that the doors that were locked are now gone-and a whole new area has finally opened up to them. They will also find that they remember something they had not been able to recall beforehand. The question is, was it worth it?

And-is it you, or is the ship getting...colder as the hours go by? No, it's not just you. By the end of Sunday, the ship has started to dip into freezing temperatures. It might be difficult for people to bundle up-unless you're Brain, who will find his closet inundated with winter clothing that fit him perfectly.

Yup. This is going to be a long week, as if last week wasn't bad enough.



There are currently 16 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[yesorwoof]

Heeeeeeei.

[Makima takes in this android spectacle. Almost immediately, she draws back enough that Brain can fidget nervously with his glasses as he likes again. This is requiring her to genuflect on the floor for the moment. It's slippery with all the steam, after all.]

I wonder what exactly it is you're supposed to be useful to him in doing. Does it have to do with the evolution of emotions? Perhaps something good can come out of this. You can show that your obligation to be useful is separate from the human relations that drive madness.

[lovedthemost]

[Brain's eyes narrow at that, glancing up at Makima, watching her all through that]

I've already achieved my evolution. So have no more use of human relations. [he's watching her closely, now, suddenly more wary, because, well]

I have no idea what you're talking about. And neither, I think, do you.

[yesorwoof]

No, I don't know anything about the Roidmude project. That's why I wonder.

[Makima turns around, thinking perhaps she'll slide her legs directly back into the pool after all.]

But I suppose that just shows how little it has to do with me.

[lovedthemost]

It would have done you better to ask than assume. It's not as though it is a secret I am keeping.

[it's a rebuke, though not necessarily a harsh one, as he pushes those glasses back up on his nose]

But you're right. It doesn't have anything to do with you.

[yesorwoof]

I apologize. I got carried away. I don't like to let emotions rule me, but I do experience them. There's a lot on my mind right now all of a sudden.

[So she sits in the pool thoughtfully with her elbow on the floor.]

Will you tell me about Roidmudes? What would be the correct way to conceive of the group? [Could be a lot of things - a large free-roaming group that is practically like a species, a single manufacturer, anything in between...]

[lovedthemost]

[Brain seems fairly molified by the apology, settling back, resting his hands in his lap, one leg crossed over the other. He's considering that question, briefly, before he answers]

Roidmude are a spiecies of 108 artificial life forms with the ability to evolve when capturing and integrating powerful negative emotions from humans. We copy their data, and then use it to become stronger and more powerful. We are greater than them, because unlike them, we have the ability to evolve beyond our limits, and when the Promised Number is reached and the Second Global Freeze comes, we shall rule over humanity to ensure a safe and bright future for us all.

[yesorwoof]

Hm.

[Ohhhhhhhhh goodness Brain is literally from some kind of children's show. If Hermes is from a video game and Alastor is from a movie, then Brain is from a children's TV show where every week there's a different victim of negative emotions but some kind of hero foils him every time. No, no, this is real life, don't be silly, but, wow, either way, it really confirms her assumptions. Makima maintains her interested poker face and doesn't really fidget.]

That's an interesting goal. How do you Roidmudes evolve? Evolution is often associated with human beings pretty closely for reasons like the ability to artificially create tools.

[You know. Probably a human (group) created Roidmudes.]

[lovedthemost]

[that's Not Quite Right on the plot of said tv show but

Brain hasn't really considered this subject, nor has any intention of doing so

what he does consider, once more, is Makima's question. Though he does snort a bit at the part about tools]

That is an incredibly basic measurement for evolution and one that hardly matters here.

At current, Roidmude can evolve to become incredibly powerful by syncing a particularly strong emotion of theirs with that of a very strong similar emotion in a human. That then amplifies that specific emotion of ours and causes us to evolve. They can also theoretically achieve this if they experience that emotion themselves to an extreme degree, however the former is difficult enough on its own.

[yesorwoof]

[Yeah Makima is specifically speculating it's the Pretty Cure genre where one day someone didn't do his homework and gets his negative emotions taken, one day someone scraped his knee and got his negative emotions taken, and so on. But oh well. Makima tilts her head, which impressively still does not immerse her braid in the pool.]

But what kind of power is that? A physical power? It sounds like something that can't be replicated with a mere tool.

[lovedthemost]

Something like that, and no, it cannot.

There are two stages to our evolution. We start at our Plain Form, and then, either with a Viral Core or by copying a human, we enter an Evolved State. This is where our abilities and powers become more unique to us, as is whatever negative emotion was strongest when we copied that human. Or, in some cases, if we were installed with a specific emotion originally, that is what becomes stronger. However, that's only a few of us.

To reach an Over-Evolved state is even more difficult. For that, a Roidmude must either experience that very powerful unique emotion, or temporarily meld with a human that has that emotion. Doing so allows us to reach our Over-Evolved form, which is even more powerful. There are at least four that need to reach their Over-Evolved form. There have been a few of us so far that have done it--most of them have been killed.

Except me.

[yesorwoof]

I'm very sorry to hear that so many of your comrades have been killed.

[He says it with so little emotion, and Makima's in a glass house on that front, but it's bleak.]

So when four of you are over-evolved, will you be able to watch over and protect the four corners of the earth?

[She still thinks that he's describing a physical power that is simplistic...]

[lovedthemost]

[Brain looks a bit to the side when Makima expresses that about the other Roidmude that have been killed. There's an odd discomfort at that that he doesn't expect.

It...doesn't hurt him the way it does Heart. In fact, he doesn't feel anything about it at all. Except, of course, fear when Freeze was destroyed. Or frustration, anger when others of his projects have failed. Or annoyance, even relief, when it was one of the bothersome ones]

We are less worried about the four corners of the Earth than we are other Roidmude.

[theoretically]

[yesorwoof]

I suppose that's fair when you've been treated so horrendously.

[Dislikes: Being Shot At.]

But how will less than 108 of you defend yourselves when so many have fallen already? Is the weapon too scary to reveal before the moment comes to use it?

[She's not so much smug or malicious about this as matter-of-factly waiting for an answer. Surely Brain is intelligent enough to fill in what she's missing.]

[lovedthemost]

[stares blankly at Kamen Rider Drive in Lore That Was Never Made Clear so Here's the Best Guess From What We Know]

The Promised Number is required to be able to overthrow humanity and bring about the Second Global Freeze. Without it, we cannot access it.

[yesorwoof]

Brrrrrrrrrrr.

[Get it, because it's the global freeze.]

I suppose I'd have to see it for myself to fully understand. [She's trying so hard to visualize all of this and just failing.] Do you hope for those capabilities to be restored automatically when we're freed, or through equipment that you Roidmudes keep among yourselves?

[lovedthemost]

[He huffs as she makes that 'brrr' sound, almost a chuckle]

Freeze as in freezing time. Not cold.

[as for that other question--]

I hope my capabilities will be restored, yes. If we had such equipment ourselves, we would've reached the Promised Number by now.

[yesorwoof]

Oh.

[Makima finally understands, raising her eyebrows.]

With the ability to freeze time, you really could remake the world in your image. Now I understand why you'd continue fighting through great losses.