etrayalogs | [open]

WHO: gorgug thistlespring & you!
WHEN: late last month and first half of this month!
WHERE: around etraya, and even outside it!
WHAT: bots, music, available for plotting
NOTES\WARNINGS:

1; outside the bubble

[ There aren't many reasons to lurk around the border between Etraya and outside. There isn't a lot to see, except for the very odd tree, a large rock here and there, and also a green guy from time to time wearing a tin can on his head.

--wait now.

It's not really a tin can, but it might as well be. Close to a welders' mask, a particular half-orc takes Aurora-approved trips outside the barrier that keeps everyone safe, to do maintenance on those very innocuous rocks spaced out around different parts outside. Sometimes he has them flipped over, cross-legged and inspecting whatever the interior is inside; or maybe, he's even setting up a new one, and the 'boulder' can be seen standing on otherwise hidden legs, scuttling like a lobster, while Gorgug watches. If it has a head, it can't be seen.

And Gorgug, he doesn't know if he's being seen from the inside. But then, it's pretty weird to be outside, and maybe he will catch if he's being watched.

You know, unless someone wants to call out the weird, 6'7" lanky figure just hanging out around outside. ]

2; sneaky bot training

[ Other times, Gorgug is dealing with his projects inside Etraya. One such project is training his sneaky chameleon by going to different parts of Etraya with the 1 foot bot.

Most of the time, it's invisible, and it doesn't thrum with motor noise like an electronic creation. But perhaps your character has a sense for magic or unseen beings, or just feels like something is off in that cereal aisle or the Kwik Trip, or they heard something scuttling under their table inside the many cafes.

Or it could even be that you were moving through Nova City, filled as it is with cats, but there seems to be some other presence... a little scurrying thing, usually invisible, but sometimes coming out of invisibility to let it recharge that setting. But coming out at the wrong time, and a glint of something small but animal-shaped catches your attention. Thinking it's being sneaky behind a wall or trash can, but is it? ]

3; music/dance studio

[ Not too far from the hospital is a large boat--a building in the shape of a boat, to be exact, and titled 'the MAXIMUM' on the map on the earpiece. It's probably a weird enough sight whether you know what it is or not, worth checking out, or maybe even making use of its facilities inside: dance rooms on the first floor, an unmanned bar, and music rooms on the second.

And up on the second floor, in the open practice room, is sometimes Gorgug. Some days, he's practising on the drums; others, he's going through the music library available from consoles in the wall, which can be found in a few of the different rooms to play music.

He likes his rock, he likes his emo, and he lets the music play for the most part, a notepad on his knee as he lets it play. Head bopping, his expression inquisitive, thoughtful. Truly, listening to music is serious.

The problem is, the music is set to shuffle at random, and when Gorgug doesn't close the door to the room properly, sometimes the choices sure are choices.

(In Gorgug's defence, he is too confused to change the tracks immediately. What is this.) ]

4; wildcard

[ Want to investigate the set of buildings surrounded by a large, golden fence? There might be the sound of quacking coming from the inside, or the sight through the left open gate of Gorgug chasing after a robotic duck in a vest and propeller hat (a sad sight, as he keeps going "Noooo, stop running, come onnn", and doesn't actually speed up to catch it; or he can be found at the junkyard, making a trip out with his blue van to check for any new and useful junk.

Feel free to message me privately if you would like to make plans! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Behold the rock lobster scuttling on such small legs compared to its upper body. Rock lobster, just having a good time going around in circles--

before it hops, and turns to face An Zhe. ...without a face, that is, and it probably doesn't look like it's noticed An Zhe at all, and has just stopped. But Gorgug's device vibrates with an alert just as the bot stops, and he--with his weird welder helmet on--turns to his rectangular tablet-like screen to see... a guy. A little guy. And the feed is coming from the bot in front of him.

...

Gorgug looks back at the barrier, and finally sees them. Oh.

...

He gives one thumbs up. ]

[It's not difficult to hold a staring contest with an eyeless rock lobster, considering his natural form doesn't have eyes either. Gorgug's thumbs up does catch his attention though, and after a moment's pause, he returns the motion.

Does An Zhe know what a thumbs up is? Meh. Is Gorgug close enough to hear him? He's pretty soft-spoken, so he won't bother trying. He does sort of motion at the rock with his head though, as if to say, What is this?]

[ They're on the same wavelength!!

Because Gorgug sees the motion to his bot, a gesture recognisable that Gorgug looks at it, then realises what the person probably means. He starts to speak, a muffled sound, then figures he should walk closer to the barrier.

Let's try this again: ]

It's my project. [ He points back. ] It's decoration.

[ While it's a voice that sounds like it's stuck in a box, it is a voice! ]

[Decoration? He looks at the rock thing, then at Gorgug, then at the rock again, before attempting to raise his voice loud enough to be heard in return.]

Is it alive? I've never seen a decoration that moves like that before.

[ Oh no, this is the question theorised by many in studies on the definition of sentience in bots when circumstances can cause them to gain such a level of awareness over time despite earlier programming-- ]

It's-- made to do that. [ Yes. There. That.. works? ] It just reacts to-- where it is? In case it needs to move. Or. Be somewhere else.

[ Like decorations do. ]

Why would a decoration need to move?

[He is questioning this explanation!!]

[ ........ ]

Because it's cool?

[ It's cool!! Accept the power of cool!!! ]

[An Zhe's just giving him a blank look...he's heard the word a few times, but does he understand it......]

Walking decor is cool!

[ Come on, person! Be convinced! Let him convince you it's cool!!! ]

By "cool", do you mean "unique"?

[It sure doesn't seem useful, anyway.]

... Yes.

[ He did need a second to think about that, and now he's looking at the other guy, wondering if they agree?? ]

...In that case...it's cool.

[Does he sound reluctant to acknowledge this? Maybe it's your imagination.

Opinions aside though, he does still seem fascinated enough to keep watching it scuttle around.]

Thanks. [ Does the guy sound new to this concept? Sure. But it's okay, Gorgug will take the compliment (it's a compliment)!

He does follow the others gaze back to his bot, and tries to think, before looking back at thee Guy. ]

Do you come near the barrier a lot?

[An Zhe shakes his head at the question, turning his gaze to blink curiously at Gorgug instead.]

Why are you outside of it?

I'm setting these out. [ He gestures down to the Moving Decoration And Nothing Else. ] And-- you know, it's good practice. It's not the same out here as in there. The gravity's heavy.

[Setting out...rock crabs?

The boy on the other side of the barrier is very gradually tilting his head, as if the new visual angle might make the walking decoration make more sense.]

What is gravity?

[ An Zhe moves, and the walking decoration... shifts a little, barely lifting itself off the ground. It doesn't have eyes, so it can't be watching him...

...unless...?? ]

Uhh... [ But also, status of Gorgug: Uh. ] It's something that surrounds a planet, and decides how much something weighs, and how it interacts with the planet. So, some planets, or even places with stuff that messes with gravity, the weight can change. You could float off the ground, or get pressed to it.

[ He's using his hands as he explains: one going up for 'float off the ground', and then both hands coming together for the flat pancake body. ]

[The fact it keeps moving (in response to him?) is really making him question its not-aliveness...

His attention snaps back (though at a far from snappy speed) upon receiving an answer.]

I thought it was a magnetic field that surrounded the planet...but it has gravity surrounding it too? [Wait.] If gravity stopped surrounding the planet, would we all get crushed to death?

[ Oh, this guy knows something about magnetic fields, so maybe? ]

Well, um, gravity is-- it's actually what the planet creates? From its mass... everything has mass, which makes weight. So actually, if the planet stopped creating gravity, we would float away. And gravity's what makes planets spin around each other the way they do.

[ Maybe he's giving a little bit of a smarter answer now, using his forefingers to... just mimic the way a planet might move around a stationary one. ]

Magnetic fields react to-- electrons. Not mass.

[Sadly, his knowledge of magnetic fields is limited to "thing surrounding the planet that people need to live". He listens intently to Gorgug's explanation, brow furrowing as he tries to make sense of it, and...ultimately gives up. Planets? Multiple planets?? Electrons???]

Why are you practicing...being in heavy gravity?

[Sticking to the matter at hand!]

[ Huh? Why? He looks at his arm; or, to be precise, one of the bracers there that help him handle the heavier gravity. ]

It's cool, [ he says, looking back at the guy. ] I like making things? It's a project. So I know how to.

[ For fun! ]

[Project...making things...]

So it's science?

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