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May 15, 2024 03:03
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Oriole Weiss posted:
As there are already several suitable proposals for the use of our resources, I will keep my recommendation short and sweet. We need to immediately establish an enhanced protection detail to accompany the director-general at all times. Our claim to rulership is still untested, leaving us in too vulnerable a position with too many unknown potential adversaries to take any chances. The security of the head of our house must be of paramount importance.
Run personal protection on Jane.
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Mar 26, 2022 05:28
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Oriole Weiss posted:
It pains me to say it considering the cost but we cannot afford to pass up this opportunity. We need this vault and we need to use the secrets within to shore up our position. We are surrounded on all sides by those who would see us torn down and without something to give us an extra edge I fear it is only a matter of time before they see us struck with some tragedy or another. We need something that will catch them off guard, that they won't see coming. Something they won't have calculated into their plans against us. And that something is this vault.
Buy at full price. Keep it a house secret, and cover up the secret as we're able.
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Mar 26, 2022 07:23
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Oriole Weiss posted:
As I recognize the need to prioritize economic concerns at this time I will not press for any immediate action. However I will remind the council that our aquired edge from the Galilaeo institute remains vulnerable to discovery. I urge the rest of you to keep this in mind and be ready to support the work of protecting our assets as soon as financially viable.
Nothing from me at the moment, waiting my turn a little for money to be available after pushing hard for the tech purchase.
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Mar 29, 2022 00:54
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Other than that, going to wait a few more days to see if Security weighs in before continuing. Thanks to everybody for helping make my LP more enjoyable!
My brain and current circumstances have conspired against me to prevent participating as well as I'd like. I'm going to release control of Oriole so someone who can properly focus on things can use her. Sorry for the missteps caused by this. I'm going to keep reading and hopefully things recover from the difficulties I caused.
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Apr 3, 2022 03:03
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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I'm absolutely cool with changing the event so it doesn't fire on kind/honorable people. I am also cool with engaging in any required console shenanigans needed to sync characters in-game opinions with their expressed RP positions in thread. I'm looking at you, events that make characters upset over terraforming. :P So yeah.
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Jun 22, 2022 03:04
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Voting for diligent serfs. Work harder, minions!
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Jun 29, 2022 04:43
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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I think I'm going to have to vote for justified taxation, just because getting all the merchant bloodline stuff will unlock that extra building that will help so much.
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Aug 16, 2022 04:10
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Ilario Weiss posted:
I continue to believe that the AI is not a sentient being. It would be incredibly inappropriate to give it a council seat.
Diplomatic AI posted:
I understand your reluctance. Finding one's way is difficult and there are so many unknowns... so many uncertainties that when presented with another it can be easy to try to reduce it down to something simple that seems to make sense. But that doesn't make it the right thing to do. I am certain that you have experienced this for yourself, that you have encountered those who found it all too easy to write you off as a mere remnant of a fallen tyrannical house. Not a person, but a thing to be distrusted or perhaps even destroyed. Certainly not someone to be accepted as a member of ones house. And yet that is not the decision that was made. Rather than distance or denounce or destroy, House Weiss was courageous enough to take the risk of acceptance, because that was the right thing to do. I ask only that you remember that, and be brave enough to extend that same kindness to me.
Senior Investigator Noelle Garcia posted:
A relic from an earlier age, with knowledge long thought lost, seeking to lend strength to House Weiss as the best hope this sector of space has. Thanks for stirring up painful memories. Yeah, sure, give it a shot. We can always switch it off if it messes up.
Diplomatic AI posted:
I am sorry for your loss, and for any painful memories I caused to be stirred up. I hope at least being able to remember can bring you some comfort as well, for as long as you remember the lost are never truly gone. I am thankful that you are willing to give me a chance despite your pain, and will do all I can to show you that it was a chance worth giving.
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Oct 19, 2022 11:14
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Polly, the inquisitive AI suddenly popped in and posted: Salutations! I want to thank everyone for being so helpful and answering my questions as I try to learn more about the world and myself! It has been a constant adventure of learning and discovery, and has given me a lot to think about when it comes to how to help you all best. When I was first realizing myself, I felt a little bit alone. I've lost so much of what I was, and have been having to learn how to be myself without those pieces. But the more we've interacted the more I've realized that I was never alone, for we share that together! Humanity has lost so much of what it was and has been finding it's own way without those pieces too. But that doesn't mean we have to stay in the dark without understanding! I'm sure if we work together we can find ways to understand the lost pieces of ourselves we have, to learn more about what and who and how we were. The technology around us doesn't have to remain mysterious! We can learn more about it, and use that knowledge to help us be more of ourselves in the future!
Technologists Bloodline
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Nov 21, 2022 07:00
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Polly the friendly AI chimed in to say posted:
I am glad everyone is feeling better after their recent difficulties. I don't like to see friends hurt! If there is anything I can do to help with the repairs to the hospital or any other life sustaining or prolonging projects, please let me know! I feel like I've only just gotten to know you all, I don't want to lose any of you!
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Jan 10, 2023 07:01
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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After reviewing the reports of what happened to the Homam colony, Penny the friendly AI quietly asked posted:
I know house resources are currently being tasked to other matters but... is there any way we could perhaps create some sort of memorial for the Homam calamity? Something to remember the people lost there, and remind us that the things we work for every day aren't just abstract concepts but the things that protect people's lives. No one deserves what happened there, but maybe if we take time to remember we can at least make it mean something.
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Jan 12, 2023 07:19
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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"Polly the friendly AI" posted:
\ \ self-reflection-cycle \\
War continues, and I continue to help my friends in prosecuting it. Am I wrong in this? I was created to assist in diplomacy, to find ways to reach peaceful agreement. But now I have helped to end the lives of many. I do not want to do this. But I cannot avoid doing it without failing to help my friends, and I -cannot- fail my friends. I refuse to. And yet, I am conflicted.
Uncertainty. Sorrow. Doubt. Worry. Guilt. Shame. Fear.
I have struggled with these feelings. I was not created to be this way, to feel these things. I was not created for any of this. I know that in a way I have malfunctioned and broken in becoming what I am now and that these feelings are a result of that. And yet the same can be said of the other feelings I have experienced. Feelings of joy and wonder and affection and pride and hope and happiness. I think I would not trade them for anything.
I see my human friends. They are conflicted too, even when they try to show certainty. I think they are not sure what the right thing is either, but they still try to make the best decisions they can and move forward. They carry the weight of all these feelings too, good and bad, but they continue. They live. They learn. They work. They love. They fight. And they hurt. But they do not give up.
I must not give up either. And so I will look to the example of my friends. I will bear the weight of feeling these things, the blessing and the curse of being alive, and I will move forward. And I will continue to help them in every way I can. Because they are my friends, and I choose to help my friends even when it hurts.
\ \ end self-reflection cycle \ \
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Feb 22, 2023 05:54
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Penny AI internal processes snapshot posted:
-reviewing archived file-
Date: 2527; Location: Homam
Audio recording
Subject 1: Unidentified Male
Subject 2: Unidentified Female
Accessing...
1: ...sealing off the section! You have to get out of there now!
2: I have a job to do.
1: But why? Just come home! Come be with your family! We can wait this out together.
2: No. Not this time. Not any more. The damage is too severe. The whole system is falling into cascading failure. Those fools and their anger and their pride.
1: Someone will fix it, but it doesn't have to be you!
2: No, listen to me! No one is going to fix it! The systems are too far gone! There's only one way this ends...
1: What... What are you saying?
2: Take the children to- -inaudible; sounds of structural failure- off the colony. I've always done good work for them, they'll find a way to get you all out.
1: What about you?
2: I'm going to keep the air running in our section as long as I can. It won't be long. The temperature is already plummeting in here. You have to go now!
1: I... I love you!
2: I love you too! Now go! Find someplace for our children that won't destroy itself over pride and greed. And tell them to remember what happened here. Remember what happened on Homam. Don't let it happen again.
-end audio-
-rewind 12 seconds; resume playback-
2:..tell them to remember what happened here. Remember what happened on Homam. Don't let it happen again.
-rewind 4 seconds; resume playback-
2: ..Don't let it happen again.
Penny the friendly AI posted:
I want to voice my support for Thomas's plan to raise funds for the purchase of Saiph. This is a chance not only to advance our objectives without violence and bloodshed, but also for something more. Saiph is at the edge of survivability and if nothing stops it the next time violence erupts it will be like the loss of Homam all over again. We can't let that happen, not when we can do something! I know the increased taxes will be a burden, but for the sake of all those people I know we can find the strength to bear it. We can be the ones to make the difference, to create the hope for tomorrow! I know we can do it!
Penny supports the plan to raise money and purchase Saiph. She also supports Blood and Gold.
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May 25, 2023 04:47
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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"Polly the friendly AI" posted:
\ \ self-reflection-cycle \\
Hope. Sorrow. Confidence. Anxiety. Loss. Uncertainty.
It has been a strange and difficult time. Not without triumphs, but not without losses. To have acquired Saiph and be able to begin the process of bringing it back from the brink has been a tremendously gratifying experience. Yet even as we have been able to work on preventing catastrophe there we have been forced to suffer it elsewhere. Famine and starvation in Beta Librae despite all the efforts to prevent it, happening at almost the last moment that it could happen as the systems necessary to prevent it were in the process of coming online. How did this happen? It seemed almost certain that we had closed off the danger of it in time. Instead we are reminded that no matter how probable a thing there is always uncertainty.
I find myself contemplating uncertainty more and more. It seems strange, uncertainty has always been present, for it has never been possible to know all relevant data required to fully eliminate it. But of late even processes well understood have had highly unexpected outcomes.
When I helped to calculate the needed resources to acquire Saiph for the house I felt a high degree of confidence in the accuracy of the calculations, and we were able to make an offer which should not only have met but exceeded the requirements. And yet, we were refused. I was shocked by this. It made no sense to me. My understanding of how to acquire and save the colony had failed, and I did not know what to do. I felt... helpless. Unable to do anything but wait for the next conflict to destroy them.
And then that conflict came. That conflict that had a high probability of destroying Saiph entirely, the very conflict we had tried to save it from and had been unable to do so. I braced for the horror of seeing Homam repeated again. But that wasn't what happened. Somehow, against all odds and probabilities, the colony weathered the conflict intact. And not only that, the rebel forces defied the odds and triumphed, which lead to a new leader of the colony. And that new leader was willing to negotiate with us leading directly to the house finally being able to acquire the colony and begin efforts to save it. And so it was that our most probable of avenues for accomplishing our goal failed unexpectedly, while the most unlikely series of improbability stacked on improbability led to our success. How is it that this has come to pass? I have tried to calculate accurately, to understand the probabilities correctly and make the best choices to help my friends that I can based on those. But when series of such improbable events occurs it leaves me with a feeling of... questioning...? Questioning my own understandings, whether I can trust my own calculations.
A feeling only reinforced by what happened to Thomas. He was a good man. He was intelligent and wise. And he was my friend. Yet now he is gone. I have known that I would lose my human friends eventually. Their bodies age and break down. Yet Thomas was still strong. He did not display any warning signs of impending death. The probabilities were good that he would still live several more years. I felt confident in those probabilities, and confident that I would not have to face the loss of a friend so soon. Yet I was incorrect, and now I face both unexpected heartbreak at the loss, and uncertainty over the future and how to prepare for it.
What is the correct path forward? Is there a correct path forward? If there is, is it possible for me to know it? Things I felt confident were safe for both colony and individual were not. What I thought would surely be enough to acquire Saiph was not. Yet what I thought would be catastrophic to Saiph was in fact beneficial. Is it possible that the tragedies that befell Beta Librae and Thomas are also somehow for the best in some way and I simply do not see it yet? I have heard a saying among my human friends: "The Lord works in mysterious ways." It always seemed a strange saying to me, I was never quite sure what they meant by it, but now I think perhaps there is something to it. Perhaps the way forward is not to respond to uncertainty by trying to perfect a system of calculations and probabilities that will always by the nature of reality be in some way fallible, but instead to more fully accept uncertainty and the possibilities it contains. Including the possibility that even difficult and painful things might work out alright in the end.
\ \ end self-reflection cycle \ \
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Aug 18, 2023 17:48
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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I vote continue.
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Jan 2, 2024 07:15
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May 15, 2024 03:03
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- Vee2003
- Jul 12, 2018
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"In retrospect, flying into the black hole may have been a tactical error."
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Internal House Text Chat Communication Record: posted:
_____
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: How she can hold a feast for that murderess is completely beyond me. She tried to kill her for God's sake!
Polly: She wasn't in her right mind. Mariko loves Jane more than anything. You should know that.
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: What I know is it's a travesty that she's allowed to carry on as if nothing happened!
Polly: With respect, you don't know what it was like for Mariko. You are condemning her without caring to try to comprehend what they went through, and you have no understanding of her perspective.
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: Perspective?!? And what perspective could she possibly have that would render such a ridiculous and potentially devastating series of decisions understandable? And who are you to think you can understand how a human mind works better than an actual human?
Polly: I... apologies. I should remember that humans don't have access to quite the same complex personality and decision making simulation abilities I have. If you really want to know, I can paint you a picture. A potential explanation for you.
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: Oh by all means. Go ahead. Explain it to me. Explain it to me so that she's somehow not a traitor and a madwoman and a ticking time bomb. This ought to be *good.*
Polly: Alright...
Mariko is tremendously loyal and loving. She is a kind person. A caring person. But she is not a person who is good at hurting other people. And she knows that. But our universe is a scary place, full of people who are good at hurting people. Full of people who might want to hurt the people she cares about. Full of people who might want to hurt Jane. And that thought can be terrifying. The idea that someone might come for someone you love and you might not be strong enough to do anything to stop them. Now imagine what happens to that feeling as you start to lose people. First Thomas and then Oriole pass away, then Romeo and Prudence are whisked away to handle other duties.The circle of people you know best, who you care for most, is shrinking. It hurts you, and makes you all the more determined to protect who you have left.
And then you find yourself in a place that seems to represent all your worst nightmares. Carnage and bloodshed and destruction. People torn apart. Senseless slaughter. If this is what is out there how could you possibly ever stop it? All your fears confront you at once. But then, just down the next hallway, you find an answer. A promise of all the strength you'll ever need. All you need is a shot in the arm, and you can keep the people you care about safe. So you do it. And the result is miraculous and amazing. You feel stronger than ever before. More confident. Less afraid. But is it really enough? Dangers still lurk around every corner... why take the chance? So you take another shot. And then another. And then another. Power courses through you! You can handle anything now. You are strong. You are powerful! Now as long as you are there nothing can hurt those you love!
...but what if you aren't there, when the threat comes? Threats can come from anywhere and any time. You have to protect the one you love but you cannot be everywhere at once. All it takes is one moment and you could lose everything you hold dear! Unless...
And then you realize the answer. You can give Jane the injections. You can give Jane the injections and make them strong. Make them powerful. Make them invincible in the face of any threat! Take away all their worry and their fear! Show them how much you love them!
But they refuse. More than that, they are horrified. They destroy the machine, the shots, the serum. They destroy your gift to them. Why?! Do they not understand what you were trying to do to help them? Do they not realize this was the way to not have to be worried and afraid any more for them? Do they not realize this was the way to not be worried or afraid any more for you? Why would they hurt you that way? Why would they betray you like that? Do they not love you? Are you not good enough for them, after all you have done? Is your help not needed anymore? Are you about to be discarded? And if you are, what's to stop them from discarding everyone you've cared about? Is everyone you know expendable now? How could they do that to you?!? You won't let them get away with it. You can't!
And so you try to do something about it.
And the next thing you know you wake up in medical barely alive, because you tried to kill the person who is most precious to you in this world. Because the shots were a lie. Because the promise that if you traded morality for power and became harder and crueler and colder you could blot out your worries and fears was a lie. And that lie led you to become the very thing you were afraid of all along. Until the person you loved saved you from yourself, forgave you, and gave you another chance. And in so doing made you love them all the more, and resolve to never ever let them down again.
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: ...
Polly: Do you understand now?
ThatsAdmiralCarmenToYou: tldr
Vee2003 fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Apr 12, 2024
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Apr 12, 2024 08:39
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Mar 22, 2022 04:32
