etrayalogs | OCTOBER MINGLE

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OCTOBER MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: October 25th - Early November
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, and some holiday fun!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Supernatural elements, temporary physical alterations, mild horror and jump scares, spooky scary skeleton robots, mild suggestion of compulsion or loss of control, mild body horror.

⏵ arrival ⏴
Welcome to Etraya! Everything is fine now. 😊

Arrival goes expected - or it does for the most part. Aurora greets newcomers in the hospital as they awaken, offers a brief explanation and gives them their earpiece so they can communicate with one another.

Around the hospital and outside of it, Companion Bots are hard at work decorating the city for Halloween—complete with festive touches like pumpkins, cobwebs, and glowing ghost decorations. The atmosphere is fun, light-hearted, and maybe just a little spooky. 🎃👻

Some carry buckets of candy, and offer those they come across a trick or treat. Except both options are, in fact, treats. 🍬 Tricks are treats specifically wrapped in a green wrapper that very clearly declares that they are tricks. Treats are wrapped in orange, and labeled with treat! Companion bots will recommend that those who do want to take a trick take them when they're beside their friends. There won't be any permanent effects from these, nor will they be terrible tricks - just fun ones! All effects last roughly 24 hours.

Giggle Drops cause uncontrollable giggling that bubbles up randomly, even during serious conversations.
Beasty Bites cause characters to grow small fangs, and they will begin craving red foods - apples, cherries, etc.
Bat Gummies cause small, bat-like shadows to follow characters around wherever they wander. These shadows are harmless, and super cute.
Pumpkin Puff is a cotton-candy-like treat, that causes their voices to change dramatically. Either becoming significantly deeper or perhaps very high-pitched, as if they've recently inhaled helium.
Floating Fudge gives characters the ability to float in the air! Just a few feet off the ground, but it's still fun. Right?

⏵ getting spooky! ⏴
Etraya is embracing the season - and maybe even going a little overboard.

Around the hospital, a few small pop-up shops are manned by festively dressed companion bots. They offer samples to everyone - although sampling isn't really necessary. After all, everything here is free!

Candy Shops: Perfect for stocking up on sweets and treats for the upcoming trick-or-treating event. These will not stock the tricks the companion bots offer around Etraya, but instead only carry harmless sweets. They do take custom requests, too, and are happy to create the treats others want!

Costume Shops: Find the perfect costume for Halloween! But beware... rumor has it, if you wear a costume, you might become whatever you dressed up as for a few hours. Those who put on vampire costumes may find themselves suddenly craving blood and growing fangs - those with werewolf costumes may find themselves feeling a little wolfish. These effects may last a few hours, up to a few days.

⏵ masquerade ⏴

In the spirit of mystery, Etraya will be hosting a Masquerade Ball outside the hospital through the nights of October 26th and 27th. Dance anonymously with other attendees and make new friends under the cover of your disguise. Everyone receives a single rose they can exchange with someone else throughout the evening. At the stroke of midnight, the roses will reveal the true identities of your masked dance partners. 🌹

⏵ all hallow's eve ⏴

On October 31st, multiple companion bots set up shop along one of the walkways through the larger island towards the center. With chairs and small booths set up, they offer candies out to trick-or-treaters who wander around through the first part of the night. Some of them will request trick-or-treaters to do a trick for them, to earn a bigger treat! They may ask characters to dance, sing, or show a talent unique to them. Can your character bend themselves into a pretzel? They want to see it, and will offer them a nice bracelet in exchange! Can they whistle super loud? Maybe they'll get a nice piece of kevlar armor after showing off. This can be anything within reason - bike parts, small weaponry, armor pieces, toys, canvases for painting. Please request these items HERE.

Not everything is as light-hearted as it seems, however. Aurora issues a warning to the citizens of Etraya: Do not stay outside after midnight. Strange happenings have been reported, and those who disobey may start seeing visions of past loved ones. The visions are compelling—guiding people away from the safety of the buildings and into the mysterious mist surrounding the outskirts.

But be careful, these spirits may not be as friendly as they seem.

If you come into contact with these ghosts, you’ll feel a chilling cold, leading to hypothermia-like symptoms. The longer you’re exposed, the worse it gets. Treatment? You’ll need to be warmed up quickly.

⏵ skellys! ⏴

The Companion Bots wanted to join in on the fun, so they painted themselves with glow-in-the-dark paint to look like skeletons. But in the dead of night, for those already suffering from the chilling touch of the ghosts, seeing glowing skeletons approach from the darkness might not be the most comforting sight. 🤖💀

Stay safe, warm up, and enjoy the festivities!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Harold Finch. That can be spelt a couple of ways even in Common, but Gorgug will tap that out into his phone, the other name too (John Reese--why did he think it was James? He needs to focus, listen). Check the network contact list later, and sound it out loud to find the right one.

If he remembers. But he looks up from the crystal phone, does catch Harold's eye and where it's going to (this time), and ducks his head in an abashed manner, where he doesn't know how to read its meaning entirely, and decides not to try. Like an awkward teen. ]

Some... some stuff happened recently, and I don't know how good I'll be... I can look, [ he tries to assert, despite the hesitant beginnings--to even tell himself, because maybe it's okay? If he's around a gun, a weapon--that it's not like he's going to go mad and try to take it for himself. It's fine. It's okay. ]

One of my friend uses a gun, so I'm familiar... at least with our guns, where we're from. But they're cool. Guns.

[ And that's also said in that half-hearted teen way, a one-shouldered shrug given. Where there's some aspects of them that he likes (big boom), but he's not considered them that deeply (because other stuff is cooler, and can make big booms). ]

[ He feels uncomfortably like he's unintentionally coerced him a bit, but Harold isn't going to try to dissuade him. He's in far too precarious a position here to turn away any help whatsoever. But he will try to be sensitive to how much help he accepts. Normally, he's the one helping the awkward teens, and the role reversal is unpleasant. Harold abhors feeling like he's taking advantage. ]

I would call them a necessary evil, [ he responds, with a hint of distaste. Harold is emphatically not a gun person. ] Under the circumstances I see the sense in ensuring he's adequately armed, but I typically prefer not to be involved in their acquisition or production. I suppose the real solution is for me to learn how to produce ammo myself.

[ His lips purse. He really doesn't like that thought.

A moment later, deliberately, trying to invite Gorgug into a more casual exchange of interests, as he's hardly missed the rest of what's in this workshop-- ] I'm decent at physical mechanics, it's just not my favorite pursuit.

[ Gorgug wonders how necessary ammo can be here, wants to suggest that it's not that big of a priority, but it's probably not the best thing to reassure: they don't know when dangers can show up, and it isn't as if a weapon hasn't been useful since Gorgug's been here. Would a gun have helped against those weird shadowy monsters? But a gun helped to take Gorgug down (if filled with tranquillisers).

A necessary evil. Gorgug doesn't question the morality of their existence or even his own actions too deeply, but it's not the first time he's come face to face with a particular distance to the necessity of weaponry.

He accepts it without question, or feeling guilty about that--of calling them cool. Doesn't need to as Harold continues on, and, ah- ]

You like programming. [ He said that--that's why he came. Gorgug looks about the work space himself, wrapping his arms in front of his stomach. Doesn't keep his eyes on Harold as he speaks to the floor. ] I like the physical engineering better. I can program magic into stones okay, but I'm not good at-- I'm still working on code and making stuff like the companion bots. The circuitboards... they're different from what we have. I don't make good brains yet.

[ He looks at Harold then, a pause before he says: ] I'm an artificer. If that means anything.

[ But he doesn't expect it to. It usually doesn't. ]

[ Harold would like to believe there won't be much call for bullets, but for all he's a staunch humanitarian he's also abysmally cynical. He's certain there will be at some point and he's equally certain he'll want John, a person he trusts with not just his own life but everyone else's, to be as armed as he can be. ]

A skilled craftsman? [ he guesses, based on the actual definition of the word. Harold is openly fascinated as he repeats Gorgug's words: ] Program magic into stones...? Why do you want to make something like the companion bots?

[ He has about a hundred more questions he wants to ask; those are just the start. Harold tries not to let on that he is, in fact, very good at making artificial brains, but his intellectual curiosity gets the better of him. His interest is bright even though his habitual guardedness. Whether or not he'd actually program something like an A.I. again, even a rudimentary one-- well. He won't say never, but the idea makes him feel like retreating to live out the rest of his life in a cave. ]

[ Does 'a skilled craftsman' actually work for explaining it? Maybe yes, maybe no, but Gorgug's in the same place he always in when he talks about artificing: fumbling. His brain is already trying to determine the best way to explain artificing (he still hasn't figured it out), but there's at least the other questions in the way first, which means he can put a pin on that.

Rather, he's questioning how the guy's asking why Gorgug wants to make something like the companion bots, and so he asks back: ]

You wouldn't?

[ Gorgug's got reasons for wanting to, and though they're about as complicated to explain as anything else is for him, he's more interested in this man's point of view. Doesn't he like the companion bots, maybe? He wouldn't be the first. ]

[ Not again. Not here. No. ]

It seems like a large undertaking, [ he says instead, sounding carefully neutral. ] I'm only wondering what the purpose is, given the level of effort. So far I've only had positive interactions with the companion bots, though I've heard they can turn violent.

[ A fact Harold has many feelings about, but he is not going to express any of them. He's mostly reciting this to give the impression that he's curious about the companion bots specifically, rather than his real, broader curiosity about anyone's motives in robotics and artificial intelligence.

He's not the authority on it, but, well. He doesn't actually trust anyone else with it, either. Not even poor dear old Arthur. ]

[ He's looking at Harold up until a point. When he finishes, the last of his words, and it may seem like Gorgug looks away because he comes to that stop. But there is something quick in it, how his eyes dart down guiltily, quiet. ]

...anyone here can turn violent. A bunch of us turned violent with the last mission. There was another one before where people turned violent, too.

You can't control it, [ he adds, after a pause; after he realises that the violence might sound characteristic to the individual, but no. ] That's the kind of stuff that can happen to you. They can mess with your head.

[ Harold has strong things to say about something that is programmable ever turning violent, but that would be far too telling, unfortunately. And it seems he's struck a nerve again unintentionally with that comment. He's starting to get unnerved himself, truthfully; they can mess with your head is an alarming statement on its own, but the implication that John could attack someone without his conscious intent to is devastating. Harold is afraid that he would find him trying to swallow a bullet shortly thereafter.

This also does not seem like the time for philosophical musings about the innate capacity for violence that exists within anyone and everyone. ]

I'm sorry to hear that, [ he says quietly, with complete and troubled sincerity. ] That seems... unnecessarily cruel. Much like the apparitions outside in the woods on Halloween night.

[ A beat, before he tries to return them to the previous topic. ] Nonetheless, as a programmer, I would not include a capacity for violence in anything I created. So I was surprised to hear that about the companion bots.

[ There's something that Gorgug could say to that, about intentions and programming, but he thinks first to ask, gaze flickering back over to Harold briefly. ]

Moorecroft?

[ That's probably what he heard about, right? Then again, Gorgug isn't sure how much this new guy does know about the missions. Best to check first before he says more. ]

I believe so. I haven't yet managed to put together all the details of what went on before my arrival, but I heard about Eos.

[ Not having all the details is very annoying to him, as Harold usually operates from a position of having all the information, but he won't express that here. ]

[ He gives a short, small nod. ] Yeah, they... there was something out there in their town. Something strong--something related to reality itself. Seemed it only came out at night, and the companion bots over there--they're not like the ones here. They're just there to do their job. If you didn't go back when they warned you, they'd kill you. [ He shrugs here, his gaze again lowering down. ]

Theory was it was better than running into whatever that entity was. I don't know if it had something to do with what was here... My friend said it had the same energy, but...

[ But it wasn't exactly doing anything to reality. Gorgug knows what it was doing, intimately, and so he trails, not knowing how to finish that thought, picking at the side of a thumb nail. ]

That's how that place was run, [ he finally decides on, if leaving the subject of the entity, the thing. ] You follow the rules. Wasn't really any fun.

[ Something related to reality itself? What? Harold blinks several times listening to this, expression doing a complicated progression from incredulity to dour acceptance to thoughtfulness. Once again, he's forced to simply accept what he's told; until he's been here long enough to have his own firsthand knowledge and opinions (ugh, what a thought) he's at the mercy of believing what others tell him.

His hands tighten on the strap of his messenger bag as he takes in the concept of a totalitarian, ruthless overlord. It smacks of Decima's plans for Samaritan... ]

I can't say I've ever been very good at following the rules, [ Harold says with an air of dissatisfaction. He looks like he's following rules, which is how he gets away with breaking so many. ]

You had that experience, yet you're interested in making your own -- or something similar?

[ He can't help continuing to pry on that point; he hasn't gotten a real answer yet, and Harold feels a certain proprietary interest in any development of functioning A.I. It's horribly egotistical of him, but, well. That's sort of how he got here in the first place. ]

[ Gorgug does notice the interest--even that Harold's coming back to the subject, since it's...confusing, at least for the half-orc. Wouldn't someone care more about Etraya and what's been going on? He isn't sure if this is some sort of cultural difference, but he blinks, his brows dipping in puzzlement. ]

My vice-principal tried killing me and my friends, and he was like that. [ ...this is not a normal situation, but still. ] I just think they're cool.

[ Truly...that's his entire answer. They're cool. Is that weird? Nothing he said was weird, right. ]

Your vice-principal--

[ Congrats, that does get a reaction out of Harold. He sounds completely aghast. ]

He was a robot? And he tried to kill you?

[ He'll get back to the building robots thing in a second. ]

Yeah. [ He sounds a little embarrassed, mainly because of the obvious sound of concern. ] He was programmed too strict-- but it was okay. We destroyed him. I don't think he got to kill anyone.

[ Probably? Maybe?? ]

[ Harold splutters silently for a moment, mouth opening and closing a couple times as he suppresses several possible things he could say. ]

Goodness. Well-- in that case. If it's just for interest-- [ Just a kid with a hobby, despite all the bad experiences. Harold can understand that on a very personal level. ]

I'd be happy to help, should you want my assistance.

[ He's a little blank on the offer, mainly because...he doesn't know where it's coming from. Since he came here looking to make trades, and there seems to be something in particular about these kinds of creations that has the man's interest. ]

Sure... [ He says at first, slow; but then figures, the best way to find out something is: ] Do you... make them... [ No, that's not right-- ] Are people afraid of that kinda thing where you're from?

[ Really, both of the questions are valid, though Gorgug can figure that's a yes on the first if he's offering to help. But he's not over the concern he had about their ability to harm, and Gorgug's indifference to it. ]

Not in some time, though I have done it before, [ Harold allows. Any student at MIT could have plausibly gone through a robotics phase. Not that he's offering those kind of personal details, and not that Gorgug would know what MIT was, but-- maintaining his secrecy and his current cover is fully automatic for him by now. ]

It's not a widespread fear, but as technological capabilities advance and use of A.I. and robotics are spreading, some have reasonable cautions. I've always been of the opinion that there should be some human-- or rather, sentient-- [ he corrects himself in deference to Gorgug ] element in any decision-making that includes potential for violence.

[ It's making Gorgug think, since there seems to be differences in the relationship between AI in this man's world, and Gorgug's own. It's making him fumble trying to understand it, get his head around what Harold might be saying. ]

You mean... how violent they are, or what we do when they turn violent? How we treat them?

[ What rights or place they have in day to day life? ]

[ He didn't mean to be so opaque, Harold just gets easily lost in his thoughts on these things. There's a reason the Machine thought his natural long-term cover would be a professor of computer ethics. ]

More the decision for when they do use violence. [ He wrestles his many-layered thoughts into some kind of sensible order. ]

It's easy, too easy, to sanction violence when you are removed from it. And the further removed you are, the easier it is. I don't like the idea of my creations being used as a tool to provide that distance.

[ That's, you know, a bit of an understatement, but Harold is too reserved to let on. ]

[ The field of artificial intelligence is vast, even where Gorgug is from, and the question of ethics has come up in schoolwork, but it was never something that he paid much attention in, admittedly. Anything involving discussions like these weren't the parts that he was ever interested in, more of a hands on type of guy, focusing on what he found, truthfully, the more fun parts of artificing. The building.

This might not be the best time for him to be having such a thought-provoking conversation, but in a way--it's a distraction. It's decent, in that way. A distraction into a line of thinking that he would fumble with even if he wasn't still reeling from the last mission, and so the slowness that he works with possibly wouldn't be that different as it is now. A little better, maybe, but. ]

Well, I guess... if you make robotics that get turned into doing violence and you didn't program them for that, it sucks. [ That he can agree with. ] And, sometimes, your creations can lose control and get violent in a way you didn't mean it to. No one's building most of their projects to get broken, unless that's the point.

[ Whatever that is. ]

But violence is a... it's something you have to program as well as anything about its brain you want it to be good at. So it doesn't screw up and try to kill students in the school it's meant to be running or hurt the wrong people.

[ He pauses, trying to consider the line of thinking more, before admitting: ]

We have a lot of different people fighting and killing in my world, so I guess I don't think that hard about a robot killing. They can do a lot of other stuff, too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OCTOBER MINGLE

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cw: suicidal imagery

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