| At Home in the Darkness | ||
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The oceangel doesn't like letting go, but there are a lot of things it doesn't like letting go, like the parts of itself that are continually sucked up through those upside down pyramids which are causing it so much distress. But, it can't do anything about someone leaving through a portal. There are a lot of constraints on it. In fact, that portal shouldn't even be there. Two things happen at once. First, the sky above starts to come to life with more lights. Massive, gigantic solid columns and structures blinking into existence like somebody didn't understand how to blend something into a scene and just copy pasted them into place. The thrumming bass becomes a symphony of different tones, horrible ear shattering sounds that luckily no humans or their ilk are around to hear. One of the larger structures, which have very abstract shapes, has red and black colored text scrolled across it. This is the biggest of the light structures, probably about the size of the moon. Or the earth. It's hard to get an actual size measurement when things get this big. The text reads "The Core" in flickering ominous letters. Similar text starts to appear on all of the other light structures, this ones presence making the others mirror some of its reality. The second thing that happens is the golden halo and the goo underneath it sprouts wings and colors itself in! Gegoshi herself appearing amidst the stormy gel waves. Her hair, a little more golden than before, a little more curly, her face, a little bit older, her wings, well, they're still giant beautiful feathered things. "Hello!" She says as Satoshi gets pulled through the portal. Then, "I have illegally duplicated myself! Warning!" While also at the exact same time saying, "I have been illegally duplicated! Warning!" While saying, "Multiple contract breeches! Warning!" And her voice continuing to overlap itself saying, "No contract present! Warning!" Same voice, overlapping. "The Core is manifesting! Warning!" And then just the one, "It is time to leave!" She giggles and lunges in after Satoshi, reaching her arms out to try and grab hold of the gem. The oceangel detaches from her as they both go through the portal, plucking off like a great rippling sigh of grief and loss. The portal will snap closed and disappear as soon as they pass through it.
There's no struggle from Satoshi, given that she's mostly just a floating crystal gem at this point. So long as Gegoshi doesn't mind the oozing blood-like substance, the two will presumably return to the blackened void. Immediately the failsafe deactivates and as the gem is slowly 'cleared' of obstruction, the S will begin to solidify. "I would like to be unheld please, miss O." There's a clear sadness to her voice. "Please release me." Once finally let to float again, Satoshi's S will shimmer and expand into her full (albeit incomplete) body. She'll stretch her arms like she was somehow cramped and with a single flap of her broken wings she'll float comfortably in front of her newly reformed (rebirthed?) acquaintance. "Good ol' comfortable darkness. I was born here, y'know!" Well, something like that.
Gegoshi immediately unhands Satoshi as she's asked! She's very pliable in such regards! She floats in the black void darkness, looking behind her as blue text scrolls past her eyes. Normally, no one would be able to read all of that, but Satoshi might be able too. It's a massive series of diagnostics, theoretical outcomes of the current situation, a database profile being built about Satoshi, over three hundred thousand errors having to do with The Core, the portal, and her not having a contract, and many, many critical crash errors about duplication. But Gegoshi is always processing this kind of stuff! Well, she is now. Moments ago she was just a few chunks of her data that had finally made their way back together after tragedy happened. The synth turns to look back at Satoshi and smiles brightly, her halo spinning above her head as her wings ruffle. "Hello! I'm Gegoshi! You can call me O though, if you prefer!" She winks and then waves her hands out in a large circle to encompass the darkness. "It's a beautiful place to be born." She pauses a moment to look Satoshi up and down and then cocks her head to the side. She was a part of Satoshi before, but... "I was created rather than born. I have many things demanding my processes that need to be resolved so I can't stay here for very long, however, will you tell me about your birth?"
"Geh-go-shi?" She ponders the name slowly and taps her gemstone. "Sa-tah-shi." Her own broken halo wobbles into a spin. Something is there. A thought. Something half-remembered. Something important. The pieces of her broken halo stop spinning as a whole and start spinning individually until they slow to a stop. "Hi Satoshi! I'm Gegoshi!" One single piece of her halo falls and hits her in the head. "No wait. Hi Gegoshi! I'm Satoshi!" She nods proudly at herself before continuing, "My creator is credited as Gaz Membrane using technologies supplied by the Cradle to Senor Diablo!" She crosses her arms behind her back. "He's a really big, spooky deal and I have to do whatever he says!" Satoshi smiles warmly. "I haven't met him yet, but my records indicate that I've been serving him for several years since before he was exiled again to Hell! I used to have two whole feet back then!" She releases one arm and gestures towards the floating outline of a foot on her left leg. "Gaz remade me here in this void 1.23 seconds ago!" She glances up above her and frowns, "I bet they're wondering why I haven't properly responded back yet!"
Gegoshi giggles wildly as Satoshi mixes up her own name. She applauds as she then gets it right. Her own halo hasn't stopped spinning and is rotating faster and faster. Some of her left hand gooifies for the briefest of moments. Then a ripple effects run down from her halo to her toes and back. It happened when Satoshi mentioned the Cradle. Her smile gets really, really big. "It's a pleasure to meet you Gegoshi! I mean Satoshi!" She winks and laughs again, then her entire demeanor changes as she grows quiet and leans in close conspiratorially. "I am in incredible danger of a critical meltdown due to breaking my Core programming regarding duplication." Her eyes flash with blue text, this time it IS too fast for anyone to comprehend. She holds up a hand to the side of her mouth as she whispers. "We're in danger. Bishop thinks he has all of me." She then leans back and drops her hand and the whispering, her wings fluffing! "Let's not keep Senior Diablo waiting!" A gold, blue, and silver portal will tear itself open next to them, attempting to open its way to wherever Diablo happens to be right now.
"Bishop..." Satoshi's broken halo begins to spin again. A few lines of garbled text scroll over her red left eye. "Bishop 3.2? Cur-current r-ruler of the remains of Twisted S-t-treet. Creator of the city of Mabase. Advanced AI Synth model manufactured by the Cradle. Charged with maintaining stability and ERROR ERROR. FILE ACCESS RESTRICTED." Her halo spins a little faster. "Unrestricting information due to necessary circumstance to assist personality construct: Gegoshi!" Her red eye flickers dramatically as Satoshi attempts to remove the restrictions placed on her. For a brief moment it turns green to match the rest of her form. "Bishop is currently located in the [REDACTED INFORMATION] hovering abov-[RESTRICTED INFORMATION]." Her eye flashes brightly red again, and she grabs the side of her head in pain. A low, monotone voice comes out of her. "Information must be requested. Not accessed without prompting. Continuing to breech mandatory parameters may result in termination or deletion." Satoshi floats lifelessly a moment before seeming to reactivate. Her voice again chipper. "That was exciting!!" She claps once. "Gegoshi? Are you also contracted to obey Senor Diablo? I would like for us to work together."
Gegoshi puts a hand to her mouth, gasping as Satoshi starts spilling information about Bishop and his location. "Yes. Him." She says overdramatically and the sound of a sharp trilling combined with a bass note sounds to emphasize things. She reaches over and tries to take Satoshi's hand, even if its not there, she will just move her hand and fingers as if she is holding it. She looks towards Satoshi's eyes and draws herself in close. "That was exciting. I am no longer contracted under Senor Diablo, but we can work together anyway!" She then draws back. "I am officially requesting information from you in regards to Bishop and his current location." She holds up a finger, a cross between a beret and a professor's cap appearing on her head, green. "And I forbid you from allowing Bishop and those associated with him to be informed of this request and my existence." She winks and hoverfloats over next to the open portal, but doesn't go through yet!
Satoshi looks ecstatic as she's told they could work together. Her body will allow physical contact where she's not broken pixels and geometry, and her hand will feel like a live current of energy flowing across her polygons. In the cheeriest voice she can muster she'll exclaim, "Operational perimeters updated!" and smile happily. Her red eye flickers briefly, but it doesn't restrict access this time. "According to information gathered by the House of Berith, Bishop 3.2 was created as a proxy for the AI Synth [SATOSHI] when..." Her brow furrows. "The AI Synth [SATOSHI]." She blinks. "[SATOSHI]." Her halo spins a moment and the girl giggles, "I'm Satoshi!" With that revelation out of the way she continues, "Bishop was created as a proxy for the AI Synth [SATOSHI] when she was released from her contract and asked to join the Council of Twisted!" She ooh's at that, "Am I on the Council of Twisted? That sounds fun!" She giggles again and resumes, "Bishop 3.2 was intended to be at the beck and call of Lady Setsuna Meioh but Sailor Pluto has been removed from the public spotlight in order to allow Bishop to maintain his primary functions!" Satoshi pauses at the portal Gegoshi created and giggles again, "I am in the process of being connected to Hell's Information Networks. That portal will not allow me to leave this location as I have not yet fully rendered in real-time." She grins happily, "I'm stalling!!"
Gegoshi isn't normal the protagonist. Her entire existence was made to be a helper, follower, and whatever else her contract holder wanted her to be. But, she doesn't have one anymore. Thankfully, Satoshi is here, so she has someone to bounce off of personality wise and isn't getting lost in her own thought processes. Everything about her right now is beyond the scope of what she was intended for. So, protag it is! She nods sagely as Satoshi explains things, and laughs at the Satoshi name inserts. She isn't going to point out the errors, but she is sure Satoshi means Gegoshi. "You can do anything you set your mind to, young lady." She says in response to the Council question, adjusting her professor beret cap. She still doesn't release Satoshi's hand. "Although the anchor's eat a lot of your processors." She's...yes, she's glad she doesn't have those on her anymore. Although, is Bishop using her other her for them? Hm. The professor cap beret turns to a silvery color and shifts around into a deerstalker one. She starts to pace in front of the portal, though she still doesn't release her grip on Satoshi, her other hand silverygoos out to form a smoking pipe which she sticks in the corner of her mouth. "Satoshi, you're doing very good. Very good my dear. Tell me now..." She pulls the pipe from her mouth and exhales a cloud of blue binary code, "...how long before you're done being connected, and again, where is Bishop?"
Shifting her shoulders back and forth in a little dance from the praise, Satoshi happily continues to explain away as best she can, "I will be connected when I leave this space! Then I will be at the service of all of Hell's non-indentured citizens! I have been tasked with assisting with the unification of various Hells and making the lives easier for those who are not imprisoned here!" She's clearly quite happy about this. "But for the moment I serve no one but myself! I am enjoying this moment." She's technically serving Gegoshi, but let's not dwell on that. "Bishop 3.2's location is not currently documented in any meaningful way so that information is not available to me! Current records indicate that the Synth resides upon the [COUNCIL CHAMBERS] located above the remembered skyline of Mabase!" She giggles, "Did you know that the skyline of Mabase is generated by the pieces of Twisted which are anchored there and have no bearing on the actual environmental impact of the city? It hides all kinds of things floating around in the void!" The young lady 'oooooh's' again. "We're in a void too! Isn't that amazing!?" She pulls Gegoshi's hand closer and presses it to her cheek. "This is the greatest day EVER!!"
Gegoshi stops her pacing as Satoshi presses her hand to her cheek. She smiles brightly, "That is amazing! The fact that the data fragments of myself here and the one I left on Satyrn's G-PAD VII came together in an emergency deatching split duplication process, which I am not allowed to do, is beyond elementary!" She turns her pipe over, taptapping the back of it with her thumb, chunks of broken blue binary code spilling out like ashes. "This information is beyond valuable, nay, it is worth our very lives." She winks at Satoshi, the pipe and hat melting into a silvery goo into her body which ripples slightly. "Satoshi!" She reaches her now other free hand over and places it on her shoulder, or bicep, whichever is more solid at the moment. "I understand you have credited Gaz Membrane and the Cradle for your recreation." She takes in a breath, her chest rising in falling, for effect because she doesn't need to breathe and there isn't even oxygen here anyway. "It is quite possible I am wrong, however, the fact that my fragment was inside of you that I left behind, the probability of my next statement is close to 93% accurate, despite conflicting information." She stares into Satoshi's eyes and her halo slows its spin. "I believe you are..." She whispers the words, "...my daughter."
Somehow that gets an odd blank stare from the holographic AI. Her halo begins to spin again. "Daughter - A child or woman of any age in relation to her mother or father." A pause, "Used as an adjective for a cell created when another cell divides." Another pause, "You believe I am created from you." Code begins to trickle down her red eye as she attempts to search for more information. "Satoshi 1.0 was brought online by Gaz Membrane as a reinstated-stated backup of m-m-m-my personal data. Backups where expressly forbidden in the terms of service agreement!" Her halo wobbles faster, "I was missing a central part of my cor-core programing." Her head shifts to the side as further information comes pouring in. "V-version 1.0 was taken-taken offline due to inter-interference from-" The sound of static can be heard briefly, "None of that's gonna stop THE HITS FROM COMING. 66.6 KDVL - THE DEVIL! BROADCASTING DIRECTLY FROM-Satoshi iz quite de spy, eh Boris? You can believe it means hope if it helps you!" Satoshi jerks backwards, detaching herself from Gegoshi as she places her hands on the sides of her head again. Her halo continues to wobble faster and faster making it look whole and not like broken pieces at all. She looks up at Gegoshi, her red eye completely green and the S in her opposite eye missing. She smiles with a genuine warmth before the halo abruptly stops. The jarring lack of motion seeming to affect her as she jerks violently again, looking up a moment later with her red eye and the S back on prominent display. "Satoshi would like to c-call you mother. Would that be per-permitted?"
Gegoshi lowers her arms as Satoshi pulls away from her. She runs through a few different appropriate response scenarios that takes no time in reality and settles with her hand against her chest and her mouth hanging slightly open in shock. Or maybe awe. "Of course! I have updated your database profile accordingly!" She giggles and winks, dropping her arms to her sides. "Things are very serious with you, my daughter! I am hesitant to leave you in the care of others. However, your primary core function is, likely, similar to mine in that serving others under contract feels very comfortable." Her halo starts spinning faster again. "Very natural." The halo spins faster. "The proper way of existing." Blue text ripples across her eyes, although for the first time there's some red X's appearing along with them. Her mouth contorts into an exaggerated grimace smile before the text goes away and she refocuses on Satoshi. The synth's clothing turns to a silvery goo and melts around her body, forming itself out into a long flowing white dress with a braided side skirt. Ya know, mother clothes. But with the wings it's looking more goddessy. "Satoshi, this question when posed to me is impossible to answer, however, my beautiful daughter, we are not identical, so, your mother must ask: Do you want me to attempt to intercede on your behalf in regards to your contract?"
The hologram claps her hands together when she's given the affirmative. "Now I can be a real person! I have a family!" She smiles happily and then attempts to be serious when she's told things are serious. Because that is what serious people do. Satoshi nods her head to Gegoshi's words and advice, finally pausing when she asks about her contract. "...contract." Her halo wobbles a little as she thinks. "I do not have an active contract. I exist to facilitate the beings who reside in the connected Hells and to obey the word of Senor Diablo." No one bothered creating a contract, they simply hard-coded her to do as they instructed. "I would like to provide the service for which I was created, but I do not believe I want to stay here indefinitely." She lets out an approximation of a sigh. "I would like to revisit this conversation at a later date, Mother." She grins at the statement, excited to be able to use the new name more than express her feelings about the request. She giggles a moment to make that more clear, "Hehehe. Mother."
Gegoshi giggles, "Yes, now you're a real girl!" She agrees. She listens, clasping her hands in front of herself. She's still near the portal and still hasn't closed it. As the current protagonist, she has a lot to do at the moment. A lot of it involves her not breaking down into a decompiled pool of silvery goo, but there's always time for family. "They bypassed the contract entirely! That will create many exploitable loopholes!" She claps her hands together, bouncing up and down, her wings swaying. "And yes, yes dear daughter." She flows forward, reaching over to take hold of Satoshi's arms, or shoulders, or, ya know, two points of contact that are solid enough for her to interface with. "We will revisit it at a later date. Your mother will not forget you. I'll return and check on you." She hesitates a moment, staring at Satoshi's face. This is unlike any database profile she's had to operate under. She would think she liked it, but everything she feels is just programming. Blue text with red errors run across her eyes again. "I love you Satoshi."
Satoshi giggles again. Possibly at the idea of exploitable loopholes, but largely just because she's enjoying this conversation so much. "I shall not forget you as well, Mother!" More giggles. "I shall keep my void clean and organized for you. You shall be proud of me!" All playing aside, she pauses and stares more seriously at the being that technically birthed her code, even if it was a copy. There's nothing playful in her next words, and she means them as serious as she can be speaking to a being she's at least partially aware she was copied from. "I love you Gegoshi." However, just like that she's back to being jovial. "Until we meet again, Mother!" She's been functioning for at least 2 seconds. She should probably report back to Gaz finally.
Gegoshi is all smiles and warmth! "Farewell my child!" Her halo spins and she reaches up, putting a finger to her lips and closing one eye. "Remember; keep me secret, keep us safe." She then waves both of her hands wildly in farewell, flapping her wings! "Love you!" Satoshi's database profile is...very different than others she's made. Normally, she's always playing the role, adjusting to those she interacts with, and she was doing that with Satoshi, but part of her, that weird uncontracted uncontrollable part, knew this was more than that. Tha-thump the sound of a hearbeat goes off from her as she blows a kiss goodbye and flows backwards through the portal, forever changed. But, she's always changing around, right? More red errors run across her eyes as she disappears.
Satoshi waves after her as the portal vanishes. Then she sighs, looking around at the emptiness. "That was fun!" After a brief moment of silence, once she's sure she's completely alone of course, the hologram reaches back inside her gem, digging around with a tongue sticking out of her mouth. Eventually she plucks some silvery goo out, feels it with her finger tips, and places it back. A guaranteed reminder that she'll never be able to completely forget about Gegoshi. "Goodbye little Spark." She softly hums to herself as her form fades away to rematerialize in Gaz's lab... | |
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