The Twenty-Third Trial

[advisories]

Who: trialgoers etc!
When: Day 50, morning
Where: the ~trial zone~

[Another morning, another Trial! Ugh.

At least this one seems normal, starting out with a shake and the Hermit’s booming voice:]

"Good morning, Heroes. You can guess why you're being called, but before we begin I have an official statement. The Prince of Stars and associates were not responsible for yesterday's Trial. It appears the system was copied by a Malicious entity -- we apologize for any confusion and are doing our best to locate this entity and find a way to prevent any such incidents in the future.

In the meantime, we've scheduled a low-stress Trial for today to lift your spirits. With teamwork and a little silliness, let's search for unity and peace within ourselves."

[The Hermit's tent is in the clearing, awaiting your arrival.]

rules | sign-in | mingle | rooms | winners & endgame

Comments

[malignstar]

I would have to wake him up from my side. It would be a shock to the system. Since he is presently unaware.

[ He knows the truth. If he wants to establish any meaningful communication without badly messing Felix up, he will have to relinquish his control and reach out. And the idea of backing down still puts him on edge right now. ]

Why should you have experience with it?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Shared my head with another person once. May have had a tumultuous relationship and everything.

Shock as in emotional or shock as in weird head things?

[malignstar]

Shock as in damage. The mind has its limits on what it can process and what it will accept.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[....does it though?]

[Sounds fake, but okay.]

He knows there's another side of him. Is this really that much of a shock?

[malignstar]

I am not his other side.

[schrodingerscockroach]

There's still an acknowledgement of another consciousness in the mix.

Just more....other soul versus psychological trauma.

[malignstar]

Would you react well to suddenly learning you have two souls when you are barely aware of yourself at the time?

[schrodingerscockroach]

...I literally signed up to have someone put into my head so I'm not sure I could give a fair answer to this.

[malignstar]

... Why would you volunteer for something so horrid?

[schrodingerscockroach]

That says a lot about your self view, huh.

Because it would make me a better soldier and again, extinction threat.

[malignstar]

Most people would not desire to share a body. And I do not see how having another within you would improve your own skills.

[schrodingerscockroach]

It was an AI.

The human mind is capable of a lot of speed and processing power, more than most computers, they just can't effectively use it. An AI, however, can. Faster reaction time, able to process information more thoroughly and near instantly, and capable of running specialized equipment without the delay of a neutral transmitter.

But an AI is a person. I've remembered a few other agents with theirs. There were problems, sure, but I know at least two pairs managed to maintain their connection for years. [He assumes Epsilon was meant to be with Carolina.] So if things went well, pros seemed to outweigh the cons.

[malignstar]

It sounds like an unnecessary mess just for a faster thought process.

[schrodingerscockroach]

There's this shield made of segments of hard light we had. Bubble shield, but it was two ways. Nothing could get in, but nothing could get out. Real nasty piece of work if you fired a gun in a Bubble Shield, that bullet would just ricochet and could end up killing yourself.

An AI jacked into a human can allow for the human to fire in precise timing to turn off segments of that shield to allow bullets to leave the shield and kill the enemy, and not let a single shot get through to hit them.

Could run like that for a few hours. In theory, they could kill hundreds of enemies all on their own without suffering a single injury.

[malignstar]

I see. To you, the value of union of the union was worth the perversion of the soul. But you had something different as well. A choice.

This does not feel voluntary.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Extinction or highly dangerous experiments, great choice, really.

Do you know why he's afraid of you?

[malignstar]

Because he believes I am some uncontrollable aspect of himself. Something that is wrong with him.

I may be a curse, but the only thing I care about is our protection.

[schrodingerscockroach]

The latter part is a fear of himself and self blame which is honestly a problem on this train.

And the first part is a fear of being 'uncontrollable.'

But that's the thing. You're not some wild, out of control thing.

[malignstar]

[ Well, most of the time... ]

Where is this going?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Obviously, Felix is forgiving. Stupidly forgiving in some cases, but if it's to help with inner peace, might as well go with it.

He's afraid of you because he thinks he's you and often people like him are a hundred times harsher on themselves over others. And he thinks he's you and that you're an uncontrollable urge for wanton destruction.

His fear is based entirely on a misunderstanding of the situation. If he understood, it would probably go a lot better than you think it will.

[malignstar]

It is not my intention for him to believe he is a monster. If I could share the truth, I would.

[schrodingerscockroach]

I'm not saying anything about your intention.

I'm saying you're judging his reaction to the situation based on his complete misunderstanding of what the situation is.

It's like trying to judge if someone likes chocolate when they've only eaten pinecones.

[malignstar]

I am judging based on precaution and not wanting to send this system into shock. If I am to attempt anything, it cannot be while I am in control.


[ And he's still not planning on giving that up for the near future. ]

[schrodingerscockroach]

So what are you planning to do?

Because I'm pretty sure missing days of time is also pretty shocking.

[malignstar]

As I said, I shall remain in control for now. Until proper precautions can be made.