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Post by Raven8 on Sept 8, 2021 14:35:07 GMT -8
The sky is gray, the grass is flashing multiple colors and growing upside down, and the birds are flying backwards in the sky. It's a beautiful day in Kotobuki; one of many places in the world that was hit by the recent cataclysm. And, yet, it's impossible to even tell because of just how broken this network is naturally. Ah, but all the same, the garbage dump has indeed been re-arranged, and the old man who lives here is not happy with this fact. A portal opens op to a surprisingly sterile environment, and out steps a Navi who is quite obviously a professor; a fact that is highlighted by his labcoat-like body armor and tremendous, bulbous head. He steps into the darkness of this broken network and looks around, his gasmask-like face displaying no emotion. Ah, but his voice..? That's where the emotion downright erupts.
Psyche: Zane! Rosso! Whatever the blazes your name is now; I know that you can hear me, so I demand that you get your half-assassin self over here immediately and explain to me why in one moment you and your group have done more to this world than Gate has in his decades of work!
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Post by Zane on Sept 10, 2021 18:55:59 GMT -8
As the Doctor would raise quite the ruckus, rightfully so with his state of affairs in disarray, something seemed to phase out of thin air in front of him and fully took form after. It was what appeared to be a woman from the physique with flowing red hair, a black binding over her eyes and mouth as she was wreathed in all black, her arms bound as well. One would be left to wonder how she could know his presence was here, but from her back lifted up what appeared to be moving chains, red symbols appearing on the various bindings that were on her. She did not act, nor did she say anything to alleviate his concerns. And for whatever reason despite this being a new face, Psyche couldn't help but feel something familiar about her still.
She had one of the chains move to then point at him, equating that she was about to address his concerns now at least. One of the cords moving to write very simple instructions in the air for him to see despite her silence.
'They are preoccupied, but I believe the answer would be that one of them could obtain results this way, while Gate did not intend to do the same this way.'
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 10, 2021 20:50:08 GMT -8
...Psyche just drops his head into his hand, rubs his temples, and begins to mumble under his breath at the sight of this new face... covered though it may be.
Psyche: Is this an opposing force or a swarm of locust? I've lost track of just the ones that we've seen, and now we have this one at my door...
Psyche takes his face from his hand, folds his arms behind his back. and looks to... her? directly, speaking somewhat forcefully and with authority, yet also with respect in his tone.
Psyche: Look... miss? I'm sure that you're very important in your own personal regard, and I do appreciate your coming to answer my issues, but I have a bit of a rapport with Zane and... well... the other Zanes, I suppose. No disrespect intended, but I'd rather simply wait until he... they... are free to have a word with me, if it's all the same to you.
Psyche's stance laxes slightly as his head rises in thought, continuing as he trails on a bit.
Psyche: Last time I had a stranger sent by a "friend", I ended up meeting with that cat-fellow that led Rosso to me. And while I can't call that meeting particularly unpleasant minus the initial threat on my life, it is rather unnerving to have an uninvited guest when even invited guests are rare at best. Especially when those uninvited guests make it clear that their entire goal in the meeting is to outright kill me.
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Post by Zane on Sept 10, 2021 21:06:57 GMT -8
It made sense that he was quite put off by this with his usual disposition. She had one of the chains move again to respond as he started his rambling, this in response to his mumbling.
'An opposing force of swarming locust.'
And displayed quite the amount of free speech all said since for all intents and purposes it was essentially a joke combined with a fact for his not-really-a question. But at his word she would give a nod, but would move them one more time to write another message as well.
'The cat-fellow hasn't run out of lives and jokes are abundant, so be leery of both.'
With this she would take a step back and as briefly as she arrived, she was gone. No doubt to either inform them to come and meet with their rapport or to let them do it at their timely leisure.
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 10, 2021 21:15:26 GMT -8
Psyche waits for a moment after the enigmatic figure leaves. Looking around, he's sparked to once again yell out into the abyss of Kotobuki.
Psyche: THANK YOU FOR NOT DIRECTLY THREATENING TO KILL ME AT LEAST
Psyche lets these words sink in before he turns back to the opening to his lab, grumbling and murmuring the entire time.
Psyche: And of course I'd be sent one with a sense of humor thinly veiling threats. Blasted locusts, I'm too old for this kind of thing...
Psyche closes the portal behind him and... it somehow sounds as if he slams the door as he does so.
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Post by Gaia on Sept 12, 2021 12:31:42 GMT -8
It was as Psyche returned to his lab, the door still open behind him, that a presence could be felt just beyond it. He got the sense that it was more than capable of intruding with or without his welcome, but it waited just outside of the threshold, and sent a simple message to him as he returned to his abode.
Greetings, Dr. Psyche. I wish to commune with you, if you would welcome me. I believe we would serve greatly to learn more from one another, and to cooperate on matters regarding the certain state of the world.
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 12, 2021 13:39:58 GMT -8
Psyche reads the message, sends a particularly nasty virus in reply, and then causes the pathway to his lab to entirely disappear from the network, offering no way for the would-be visitor to enter. Psyche then sits at his main computer system and puts his face in his hand again, obviously aggravated by the proceedings.
Psyche: I should really report whoever that was for breaking the Electopian do-not-solicit list...
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Post by Gaia on Sept 12, 2021 13:49:30 GMT -8
A most unfortunate response, but understandable. They were, as of yet, totally unestablished; especially in the Net. Still, the visitor knew what it wanted, and was tasked with getting results.
The virus was of no concern to them whatsoever, and so a new message was given. If communion alone would not open the door, then a bargaining chip, would. Nothing risked, nothing gained.
Dr. Psyche, perhaps you will reconsider the offer on the implications of getting to study Wave Signatures. Given a recent rise in popularity, you may serve to benefit from what my associates and I have been able to learn.
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 12, 2021 13:58:26 GMT -8
...another message. This was why he didn't like making his presence known outside of select circles. Psyche rolls his eyes and reads, prepared to send another virus in reply, but instead all that he can do is rear his head back and sigh. With his hands behind his back, he stands up, walks to his doorway, moves its exit-point back to where it had been, and opens it up. The intruder would see the professor with a bright light emanating behind him, looking down with pitch black eyes from his gasmask-like face; rather an intimidating sight to any on-lookers.
Psyche: Whoever it is out here harassing me; give me your research and make your proposal quickly. I've much to do and I'm not in the mood to play childish games right now.
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Post by Gaia on Sept 12, 2021 14:19:13 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/858178610224562196/886733241808191538/381~png
Before Psyche was what appeared to be a digital overlay; in much the same way the ONB had mastered showing Navis moving about their physical environment, the woman standing in front of him was little more than data strung together to look like a human from the other side.
It wasn't like other technologies that Psyche had seen like it; the woman standing at his doorway wasn't in any way or form a Navi, and was not transmitting anything more than her image into the Net. An almost hauntingly beautiful pair of pink eyes hide behind her frame of similarly synthetically colored hair, and a regal and elegant, yet professional suit of white that flowed into a black dress adorned her body as she met her gaze with Psyche's own foreboding stare.
"Good evening, Dr. Psyche," she said briskly, her tone polite yet to the point. The woman held up a tablet that Psyche would recognize as truly a part of the Net, the overlay carrying it about. Tapping her fingers to it, she maneuvered the device with expert ease, and three data windows appeared in front of Psyche, the woman moving forward to press her entrance into his office.
"I have been given permission to share the research surrounding three of our case studies with you. The first is an organically, naturally occurring EM being; an extraterrestrial that uses similar encoding to amplitude modulating to store its information.
"The second is one crafted via intelligent design, although not by humans; comparing it to other frequencies, we've ascertained it would fall within the spectrum of high radio frequencies. Parts of their data use amplitude modulation, and parts of their information are encoded via frequency modulation.
"The third one is crafted via human design, using a similar framework as the one mentioned before it, although its frequency range would fall within the ultra-high radio frequencies. Unoriginal, but a great breakthrough in any technology hoping to understand them better."
She rattles off this information quickly enough, making sure that Psyche recognizes that she means business. She looked up at him after going through this if he was still denying her access to his laboratory. "Do you have a place I might sit down to discuss this further? I'd like to discuss with you the implications of cross-media communication of analog and digital mediums, how Wave Beings are already evident throughout the Net, and how the basis of technology for creating more of them has already advanced enough that they may soon become as common as Navis. Does this interest you?"
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 12, 2021 15:08:18 GMT -8
Psyche: uh-huh...
Psyche stares on, stoic and apparently unimpressed at the technology and data that the woman has on-show, never wavering his position even slightly.
Psyche: To answer your first question: no, I do not have a place for you to sit, as I'd no sooner invite you into my laboratory than invite Gospel. Despite your supposed data, your distinct lack of manners and purveyed superior attitude is presumptuous at best, and egregious at worst. You didn't even bother to introduce yourself at the doorway to my home, and yet you still expect a Navi of my experience to roll out the red carpet for data that sounds like it hasn't been peer-reviewed at best, and is an outright farce at worst! While I'm sure that your unique assets offer you considerable leeway within your own circle with other humans, particularly of the male gender, nothing that you've done or said gives you even the smallest iota of credibility or allocated tolerance from me. So now I ask again; present your data and your proposal to me now in a civil fashion or get away from my home before I raise the power of Kotobuki's servers so high that you'll remotely contract every form of cancer that can inflict humanity as a direct result.
Psyche looks down to the woman with an extremely harsh and stern stare, obviously fed up and angered by the way that the net was going to pot, and unwilling to play cloak-and-dagger games with a stranger.
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Post by Gaia on Sept 12, 2021 15:31:03 GMT -8
#s://cdn~discordapp~com/attachments/858178610224562196/886733241808191538/381~png
She paused as Psyche began his outburst, her face not wavering before his rage, although she did lower her tablet to give him more of her attention. She nodded as he spoke, her eyes never leaving him, and once he was done, she clicked her tongue in frustration, although not at Psyche himself.
"Hmm. I am perhaps too accustomed to dealing with others 'in my circle,' as you put it. I have forgotten my manners, and for that, I apologize; your request sounded as though you wanted the information quickly, and I did not consider that you would want it alongside civility. I was trying to be prompt and succinct. I assure you, I recognize your value as a researcher of data of all kinds; no presumed superiority was intended. Just attempted efficiency." It is at this point that the woman lowers her tablet all together, keeping the data she had pulled off of it around her for Psyche's reference, but began to delve into his requests.
"I go by the name Heartless in my specific fold. If you would like, you can analyze the digital overlay I'm using to communicate with you, because it is using amplitude modulation encoding to encrypt the transmission; that should provide more reliability to the information I am giving you.
"As a note to you, the comment of my assets, as they relate to those of the male gender, was incredibly rude. I am a woman of science and I have children to care for. My assets include my intellect first, and in better times, hospitality second. Any other assets are presumptuous of you." She paused and made a point of saying assets each time, with a pause as though it was the end of her sentence, to make it clear that she was not amused by Psyche's implications.
"I've collected this data through mostly direct field analysis of the wave beings in question; the extraterrestrial is an ongoing case study and is as such incomplete, but if further reliability of my data is necessary after the analysis of my encryption feed, I can offer you direct analysis of a frequency modulated extraterrestrial in our services. You would just need to excuse her far less agreeable attitude."
"As for my proposal, it is impossible to notice your particular familiarity with Bugs. Waves have a similar interaction with a type of Wave we have referred to as Noise, that has begun permeating the Net and even the Real World in greater amounts since the progressive rise of prevalence of Wave Beings. Both Bugs and Noise pose a concern to the Net as a whole, given how Wave Beings are naturally capable of cross-media interaction, and so further research on just how similar the two are, and combining our expertise, may assist us in mitigating the concerns of the two working in concert, and even controlling them much as you have accomplished here in Kotubuki."
She kept her eyes on Psyche during her talk, this time, rather than focusing on her tablet the whole time. She seemed genuine in her attempt at improving her hospitality with the doctor, although she ended her proposal with a smile that matched her name. "Is that a better display of my proposal and information?"
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 12, 2021 15:42:28 GMT -8
...Psyche's imposing presence finally begins to break. His hand raises to his face and begins to rub his temple as he releases an audible groan.
Psyche: No, you're right; that entire tirade was nothing short of rude of me. My week has been comprised primarily of old friends attempting to kill me, watching my world virtually explode, and meeting with unexpected and uninvited guests. Add to this an admitted prejudice against mankind after years of serving in the OEL and the rather unscrupulous nature of humans working with me, and I was fully prepared to go on the offensive no matter how I made my cut. I assure you; it was not actually personal by any means, simply the unfocused outburst of an old man. If you'll extend the same decency to me that I just so very bluntly demanded of you, then I can definitely extend you the courtesy of a fellow scientist seeking knowledge, Ms. Heartless.
And, with this, Psyche invites Heartless into his laboratory, motioning to a small computational system completely disconnected from his main network as a means to display her work.
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Post by Genesis on Sept 20, 2021 18:47:32 GMT -8
"I'm back after a rather harrowing experience, Psyche. Not entirely alone either as things have gotten rough these days. I left her outside just in case you didn't want to let her in."
*The familiar black figure of Genesis would be the first to arrive, Faith outside rather than inside. He sent her a message to the exact reasons why and would send her one again presuming the coast was all clear with the Doctor instead. And to his surprise he would see unexpected company in the sort that he always expected the Doctor to never have in his company. He wasn't exactly one to judge but he knew Psyche was quite temperamental when it came to company in all regards, from personality to appearance and all. She looked the sort to not fit his mold and assuming she was also a scientist, her attitude probably would ultimately need work as well. They weren't exactly the polite sort of individuals.*
"...Well this is equally as unexpected as me keeping new company I imagine."
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Post by Raven8 on Sept 20, 2021 19:13:52 GMT -8
Psyche: Gene- ..what? When did..?
Psyche stops, rubs his temples, and motions to Heartless with his eyes closed.
Psyche: Forgive the further rudeness, Ms. Heartless, but I've no choice but to ask that that we postpone our conversation until a later date.
The bug data in Kotobuki surges, and soon Heartless would lose her connection to the network. This leaves Psyche, still rubbing his temples and obviously frustrated, alone with Genesis for the time being.
Psyche: Genesis... it's good to see you as always, but I suggest that you make haste and cover your tracks. You see, they've long since been keeping an eye on my home, so it's likely a matter of time before a force arrives now that you're here.
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