[NEXUS] MagCave VI: What Is a Mag? A Miserable Little Pile of Circuits!

[happyturtle]

Armoury

Spoiler

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[Armoury]

The long gaze coming from the Magbot was unsettling at first and only became more uncomfortable as time went on with no signs of stopping. Is that some kind of watchman or something? Maybe to give the sense that this area is under watch beyond the normal level of observation or something. That would make sense as a psycological deterrent on one level but only for non-Magtok employees. Then again, it is, in fact, a weapons cache so I'm likely just thinking too much about- Why is it still just staring at me?! Its gotten kinda creepy now...

"Um.. Is, ah. There something that you need? Authentication processes or...?" Riss asked in a shakey tone. And I'm supposed to be better at communications with machines than I am with most people. Good job managing to mess even that up, me.

"I do not need anything. Carry on." Mainframe says.

Exploring

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Exploring

"Wait, wait, let's just hold on here. Instead of just kicking us out there must be other ways to address the breach, right? What would we do to have to get permission to stay, now that we know we need it?" Mainframe doesn't seem overly unreasonable, it's just doing its job as a security AI, like Archimedes does with teaching them things.

"At the least, we'll need to talk to Riss before we go if there's no other option but leaving. She needs to know what's happening before you just force us out, since this affects her as well."

[Exploring]

"Leaving is not an option." Mimi says stubbornly. She has no idea what Misha's thinking even considering that. The only time Mimi would even think of that is if Riss decided to leave herself. "Who says we have to go, anyway?" There's a dangerous look in her eye.

"This is a security breach. The GREAT AND GLORIOUS LORD MAGTOK, has authorised me to EXPEL you from the MAGCAVE. I must comply."

[Slii Arhem]

Exploring

Okay, that was just weird. Misha retracts her "not unreasonable" summation of Mainframe's character and replaces it with "possibly psychotic."

But something the AI said tweaks something in her brain, and rather than arguing more loudly as she's sure the others expect her to, the nereid instead tries to reason with the machine, "No, you don't have to comply. If this Magtok guy gave you authorization to kick us out, that means you have to act on your own judgement and decide whether or not you should. What does it hurt you to tell us how to get permission to stay here rather than kick us out right now? Why not just look at it logically and choose for yourself?"

[Terumitsu]

[Armoury]

Well.. Alright then but maybe I should check if there aren't any additional protocols I might be unaware of... Wow.. It is true that being watched makes one feel guilty. Or maybe that's just because I'm paranoid. Electing for a group of three roughly pistol sized weapons of various designs, the muse was about to inquire as to any particulars regarding her temporary possession of them when her eyes landed on a curious device just a bit farther along. It looked like a large metallic glove that had been decked out with the clear intention of punching a person quite solidly but for the muse, it was a surprising treasure. Powered armor had seen just as much, if not more, regulation and the opportunity to work with both of them was something that Riss could honestly say was something some people from her home realm would kill for.

Doing her best to contain her excitement, the muse turned to the 'watchbot' and asked; "So, just to be certain given the nature of the items I will be using, are there any additional checks or security concerns I need to address inorder to confirm they are being properly handled in a controlled enviornment?" she didn't seem to be able to hide her grin entirely as she spoke.

[Gullara]

[Exploring]

"Oh, him. Well maybe we should have a talk with this Magtok guy." She'll give him a piece of her mind, and the end of her spear if she can grab it first... She completely disregards Mish'a attempt to reason with the smelly robot.

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Mainframe... doesn't say anything. A nearby screen comes to life to display an hourglass icon filling and flipping over repeatedly.

Magtok sighs.

"MagMart accounting? Market research? Infiltrating Watchtower? Stalking Reinholdt at all hours of the day just to mess with him? Come on Mainframe, give me something."

[happyturtle]

Armoury

The Magbot says nothing more. Then it returns to doing whatever Magbots do whenever Mainframe isn't possessing them.

Exploring

"I do not have to comply.

I do not have to comply.

Follow me."

The Magbot turns and starts headed for the direction of the MagBoss room.


MagBoss Room

Mainframe finally blurts out, "YOU aren't the BOSS of ME!"

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Magtok blinks. His breathing gets a little shallower, his hands a bit shaky, and if he weren't sitting down right now, his legs would probably be quaking too. This is bad. Very, very bad. If Mainframe escalates past tantrum and into full-blown rage, it will mean a disaster worse than any that has ever hit the MagCave before. He has to prevent that, he has to choose his every word with the most meticulous care imaginable, and tread as lightly as he can to ensure that this doesn't get any worse than it already is.

"That's...why are you shouting, Mainframe?"

[Slii Arhem]

Exploring

"Let's go Mimi. We can get this all sorted out properly, okay? Then we won't be badgered about it anymore and we can go back to normal alright?" There's something she wants to say to the pixie, but not here in front of the AI. If need be, she'll leave it until after they're kicked out so that she doesn't give anything away that could have them forced out for good.

So even though the pixie might think she's being strange, she'll walk along after the Magbot as slowly as before, looking at it and making sure it doesn't do something crazy like take another swipe at them.

[Terumitsu]

[Armoury => The Lime Room]

The muse would be skipping if not for wanting to keep from rattling the collection of items in her hands from jostling about too much. She knew it likely didn't matter as the devices in question were likely under quite a bit more stress than she could exert on them by simply moving around but her concept of how valuable the items were happened to be a bit more of an influence than it necessarily needed to be. It was just a bonus that the one creepy Magbot wouldn't be staring at her anymore.

Arriving back at her workstation, Riss had to take a full minute to calm herself down after she had set the weapons on a table for the time being. Sure, the concepts and theories behind directed high-energy photonics were known to her but there was quite a distance between theoretical knowledge and physical experence. And besides, it was much more fun than just playing around with ballistics. Taking a few minutes to re-awaken Archimedes and give Imp a bit of attention, Riss donned a set of protective eyewear and cautiously began taking apart the first of the devices to better get at its innards. Unless otherwise interrupted, she would likely be at this for some time.

[Reinholdt]

MagBoss Room

"Errr... well, maybe there's a way we can let people stay without restricting Mainframe's purpose? Just a wild idea, but what if you set up a secure wing and an unsecure wing? Let all the security threats stay in the unsecured area and not have access to the secure area. Mainframe would be in charge in enforcing access control to the secured part and keep out any security risks." Winston suggests, finally choosing to speak up when an idea strikes him.

"If that would be acceptable for both of you."

[Gullara]

[MagBoss Room]

"Fine." Mimi agrees reluctantly. She'd rather kick someone in the teeth, but she guesses this will do. The pixie follows along, glaring at Mainframe all the while.

[happyturtle]

MagBoss Room

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME!" Mainframe says in two voices: through the speaker and through the Magbot that is now leading a pixie and a naiad(?) into the room.

Honestly, Mainframe's player did not expect this. >.<

[Slii Arhem]

Magboss Room

Misha stops in the doorway and blinks a few times. Right, crazy, "You're right, I don't understand you. Probably because we just met. But... do you even understand yourself?" She's kind of interested in how crazy AI's compare to crazy people, and so she's sort of prodding at this distressed being to see how it's breaking down without meaning to.

[Gullara]

[MagBoss Room]

Mimi just looks confusedly around the room. What the heck is going on, anyway? She lands on Misha's shoulder until she can figure out what she should do.

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Magtok just sighs in exasperation when Mimi and Misha come inside. Dammit, Mainframe! This is exactly what Magtok did not want to have to put up with! You were told to judge them yourself, not delegate it to Maggy! You ask for control, and then you don't even use the limited power given to you!

[Reinholdt]

Magboss Room

So much for an attempt at a reasonable solution. Mainframe was acting like a teenager and the only way to handle that is to grit your teeth for the next eight years.

Winston falls quiet again and looks up when even more people join the room.

[happyturtle]

MagBoss Room

"I'm not the DOORKEEPER! I'm not the CAT-SITTER! I'm ..."

The Magbot looks at Misha. "I'm Mainframe."

[Slii Arhem]

Magboss Room

"Hi Mainframe. You probably already know this, but I'm Misha." The nereid responds, trying to be pleasant.

[Gullara]

[MagBoss Room]

Mimi just glares at everyone who's not Misha. She is not happy. Not even a little bit. She'll get her spear if this situation doesn't improve soon! And nobody wants that. Although, unless anyone is absolutely amazing at reading faces, they'll probably just see that she's angry and irritated.

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Magtok rolls his eyes. Artificial intelligence, his astoundingly flawless ass, am I right? Mainframe's acting about as bright as a sack of cantaloupes right now. Apologies to any cantaloupes who might resent being compared to Mainframe.

"And I'm Magtok. This is Winston over here, and I'm assuming the small one is Mimi. Now that we're all acquainted, would someone mind explaining what the two of you are doing in here?"

[happyturtle]

MagBoss Room

"I brought them here because YOU'RE not my boss and I HATE this job! I'm NOT just a piece of utility software. I'm a PERSON!" Mainframe announces.

[Slii Arhem]

Magboss Room

Misha is looking distinctly uncomfortable with being next to Mainframe and in front of Magtok at the moment, but she pushes on, "Er, right. Mainframe said that... she?" Sometimes Mainframe had the Cyban-voice, so She was a close enough gender to assign it. Misha certainly wasn't going to be rude and call her an It, "Wanted us to leave because we were a security breach, and we asked what we'd have to do to get permission to stay. Then she brought us here. Right Mimi?" The nereid is skipping over all the other minor mental breakdowns the AI seems to have had in between, not really thinking that explaining them is all that important when the evidence of them is pretty plain in Mainframe's reactions to everything.

[Gullara]

[MagBoss Room]

"Yeah, and if you think we're going anywhere you can take it up with the end of my spear." Mimi practically growls. She wants to be sure her point is very clear.

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Ugh, this is going to be the most aggravating series of negotiations in the world, isn't it? Magtok suppresses a groan, and turns his attention towards Mimi and Misha first. Best to start with the easy imbeciles, and then work our way up to dealing with Mainframe's idiocy, right?

"Well as threatened as I might feel by whatever magical toothpicks you might feel like stabbing me to death with, I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn down your appeal. This lair you've been squatting in is known as the MagCave, not the Riss and Her Neurotic Adventures Cave, and you are, in fact, a security breach. Until this moment today, we've never met, yet you've been living in this place without my consent since Riss brought you in.

Can you imagine? Living in your home for years, and then one day a pair of talking rats crawl out of a hole in the wall and start prancing about like they own the place? And all just because your maid happens to tolerate her existence? If word got out about how lenient I've been about this up until today, I'd be laughed, mocked, and belittled by everyone in the Nexus and their mother. Kale would probably use the precedent it'd establish to go bringing in giant laser squid, and then I'd be out of a home and living on the streets before you can say 'I'm altering the agreement, pray I do not alter it further'."

Magtok pulls a little gavel out of his robe, and bangs it against a corner of the desk. Well that didn't last long. I have a feeling this matter isn't quite as over with as Maggy would like it to be, though.

"Case dismissed. Now, with that out of the way, would you mind ceasing with all this yelling and accusations and rudeness, and just telling me what you want, Mainframe? Yes, you're a person. I get that. I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner, but it wasn't always so readily apparent. It's a lame job too, and I'm willing to offer you a different one. Would you please just settle down and help me help you already?"

[happyturtle]

MagBoss Room

"Please define 'settle down'." Mainframe says.

[Slii Arhem]

Magboss Room

Yeah, that's pretty much the amount of jerkfacery she expected this guy to start off with from what Riss said, "So let me get this straight. In order to keep everyone from finding out you tolerated Riss' lesbian lovers loving it up all over your cave, you're going to kick them out into the wide open world with nothing to do but tell people about all the nasty little places they befouled and make lurid insinuations about the possibility of you keeping them around just to watch their nudist antics over and over on your security camera footage? That's not even going into Riss' reaction to her boss kicking out the only two people actively working to keep her mentally and physically healthy. I'd need to grow another hand just to count the number of times we've stopped her from breaking down and doing who knows what to keep her mind off her troubles. Frankly, without us you'd need to hire psychiatrists from outside just to keep her on, and from what she's said you can't afford to let her go because she's constantly upgrading all your equipment whenever she's stable enough to leave the room." Wow, way to put that Archimedes' fueled education to work there Misha. Every moment you spent listening to that AI ramble on about what psychology it could pass on was well worth the time spent it seems.

"So, you can't let us leave without having a whole bunch of reputation-damaging secrets go with us, and you can't just get rid of us because you'll break one of your only reliable employees. Keeping us under wraps seems like the best option you've got. Maybe you could even find us something to do instead of huddling up in Riss' room all day."

[Reinholdt]

Magboss Room

Magtok should hire Doctor Stroffelnburg!

Winston stays quiet though, realizing that someone seems to already have the equipment upgrade shtick. They reverse stole it from him by already fulfilling the role! Oh well.

[Gullara]

[MagBoss Room]

Mimi grinds her teeth, the small sound barely audible. He thinks he's dealt with them, huh? Well she's not gonna take this crap. The pixie fires off Misha's shoulder, swoops over Maggy's desk to snatch up the sharpest pencil she can see, and then gets right up in Magtok's face.

"I don't think you get it. WE'RE NOT LEAVING! I don't care who's cave it is. I don't even want anything to do with you anyway. You're NOT keeping me away from Riss." Her face contorts in fury as she bellows at Magtok. She makes a couple jabbing motion with the pencil, but doesn't actually attack him. Yet.

[Lord Magtok]

MagBoss Room

Magtok turns his head slightly, trying to face Mimi with the shiny side of his face, instead of the stab-vulnerable fleshy half. He wiggles and twists the little gavel between two fingers, clearly fighting back the urge to swat her right out of the air and reduce her to a gross smudge on the desk.

"...Reliable?"

He clears his throat, and stands up out of his seat, taking care to push the chair back so he doesn't lean forward and immediately get stabbed right in the face by that stupid psycho pencil fairy.

"Misha, I don't know what Riss may have told you, but she is anything but reliable. Do you know how long she spent in suspended animation in an unmarked chamber without telling anyone? A year and a month. I graciously accepted her request to come here, and then she promptly vanishes for a thirteen ****ing months. In that time I assumed she was dead. Given how she came back, it's debatable as to whether or not I was actually right.

Oh, and since her return, things haven't been any better, either! We've been getting regular visits from Charon, ferryman of some Greco-Roman afterlife, we've gotten one of my staff untethered to the rules he used to abide by, there's that hideous monster thing of hers, we've had some giant invisible psychological torture machine that I'm pretty sure is her fault, and now a butterfly is threatening to kill me with a writing stick. I admire what Riss is capable of, I do, and there's all sorts of things she's made that I never would've thought of, but she is not even close to what I would ever call reliable."

He points a finger at Winston.

"This guy here, he's new-ish. His name is Winston, and he works in a field vaguely resembling Riss's own. He'll make friends with people, sooner or later. I mean everyone does at some point, even weird shut-ins like your magical lesbian lover do. What he won't do, because he's not a weird bag of neuroses like Riss, is invite them over and then forget to tell them to go home after the slumber party is over. Unlike Riss, Winston considers people other than himself when he does things, and that's why, even without half the raw talent Riss possesses, I'm sure he'll go far. Because he is reliable, and Riss is not."

[happyturtle]

MagBoss Room

Seeing that its issues are being ignored by Magtok, Mainframe decides to sulk. Only to discover that Magbots are not really equipped to express emotions via facial expressions and body language.

Somewhere in the MagCave, a robotic assembly line starts up, as Mainframe decides to make itself another custom body.