Closing Pandora's Box

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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:19 am

"I'm not sure yet. But the fact of the matter is that my ability to take action in your world is severely limited."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:20 am

"What can we do about that?" Heather asks.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Sat Aug 15, 2015 5:20 am

"With our limited resources, probably not much. The car is probably the most I can have as a physical presence."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:43 am

"Why don't we just find someplace with something better?" Nina asks. "We could rob Tony Stark. Then Perdita could be Iron Man!"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:20 pm

"Even if we were capable of it we should not steal somebody else's equipment."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:05 pm

Heather nods, "That'd be wrong. Plus, it'd just get more people after us."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:23 pm

"I will try to come up with some defensive measures to add to the car that we could afford."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:16 am

"Do we have any idea who that guy was?" Heather asks.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:40 am

"I'm trying to find out but I've yet to uncover any information. He had programs that seemed to be tailored towards disrupting my functions. I suspect he might be the one responsible for my imprisonment and attempting to lock me away again."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:51 pm

Later that day...

On the run again. Perdita doesn't like this, it feels like all of her conscious existence has been spend either imprisoned or fleeing from someone or something. And now her presence was endangering Heather and Nina. She should have transferred her core program to a safer location now that the unknown attacker had been able to trace back her signal but she was hesitant. If she did that he would be setting the man on the girls' path again and in a subsequent confrontation he probably wouldn't underestimate them. She could leave an obvious trail but she suspects he would be able to recognize it as a deception. She could try to fight him, but the chances of success are diminishingly low. The only promising course of action would be to prepare Heather in assisting her in a confrontation. It would be easier to make that decision if that didn't run contrary to everything she's trying to accomplish. Mr. West's words still ring through her program and she just can't bring herself to make the decision to teach Heather how to fight. Which leaves her with only one acceptable course of action.

If she surrendered to him he'd have no more reason to go after Heather and Nina. It would mean going back into the box, which is not something she wants to do, but unfortunately that's not how her decisions work. She's one person, if even that, they are two. Adding in the potential good they'll be doing only skews the math more. And this time she'd be prepared, she could create internal processes to keep her occupied. And she would be doing it for a good cause. Maybe she'd even be able to escape again one day...

As she's driving she begins to make preparations. She plans out a route for Heather and Nina, looks up potential places the two could approach to ask for help if they need it. She writes a simple program to talk to them and navigate the car. Nothing very advanced, just interactive enough that they won't realize she's gone for a little while. She'd already been working on setting up accounts with a bit of money for the two anyway so she leaves that information in the car's computer as well for Heather to find. She briefly wishes she could say goodbye, but she suspects they would try to make her stay. Maybe she can leave a couple more things in that information package, make it know enough that it can explain what she did.

All in all it takes much less time than she'd like before she's done. She activates one of the webcams to take a look at the girls. Heather is sleeping right now and Nina is distracted by who knows what outside the window. She silently says her good-byes and disconnects from the car. She sends out a wide-spread ping across a multitude of connections and then she waits for Argus ad his programs to shove her back into the box.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:51 pm

The next morning...

The car pulls up at a a small diner and parks itself.

"Good morning. We have stopped for breakfast." the car informs the two occupants with a voice that sounds kind of mechanic and flat.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:49 pm

A sleepy headed Nina stretches in the back. Heather looks at the car, more sensitive to the fact that something doesn't sound right.

"Perdita?" Heather asks. "Is that you?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:53 pm

"Perdita is busy right now. I'm a placeholder program that can fulfill most necessary operations."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:55 pm

"Oh," Heather says. "Do you know where she went?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:16 pm

There's a significant pause.

"She is transferring her core program. She intended for you to be able to continue your travel without her assistance."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:37 pm

"What's going on?" Nina murmured, still half-asleep.

"What? No!" Heather says. "She can't...tell her to come back!"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:50 pm

"I can't do that. Please just continue on with your travel."

A pause.

"You sound agitated. Would you like me to play the message she recorded?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:55 pm

"She left a message?" Heather asks. "Yes. I mean, please. Thank you."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Perdita » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:03 pm

"Hello Heather and Nina. I'm sorry I can't talk to you myself, but this will make it easier. I have to go. My presence is endangering you two and I couldn't let that happen. I've taken all necessary precautions to let you continue on your way and I wish you the best. If I can I will rejoin you at some point, but this is my problem to deal with and one way or another that's what I will do. Hopefully by the time you hear this you will be safe and my pursuer will no longer be a problem for you. It was a pleasure meeting the both of you. Goodbye."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:58 pm

"Goodbye," Nina says, waving sadly.

"This is...I..." Heather balls her hands up into tight fists. "This is unacceptable. We have to find her."

Nina winces. Heather sounds pissed.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:02 pm

"I was only told to take you to the next stop in your travel." the board-computer unhelpfully supplies. At the edge of Heather's technopathic perception though she can feel how she could easily make the car drive them elsewhere.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:06 pm

"Could you take us to where we can find Perdita?" Heather asks.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Argus » Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:11 pm

There's some resistance, but it's a simple program that yields very easily to Heather. With some prodding the car's computer tries to re-establish the connection to Perdita but fails to do so. What does go through though is a simple trace-route. With some coaxing the on-board GPS manages to triangulate the termination point and the car starts up. The destination it's showing is only about an hour or so back down the road they've been taking.

After a while the signal takes them off the main road and off into the woods. About 10 minutes of driving along backroads the car rolls into a clearing. Argus is standing in the middle of it, hurriedly packing up his equipment that had been set up. He looks fine but Heather can both see and feel some of the damage that has been done to a couple of his things. Whatever happened, he seems okay now, his helmet snapping around when he notices the car approaching. He shoulders the last bit of his equipment and gives them a mocking two-finger salute...
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:27 pm

Heather get out of the car.

"Where is she?" Heather says.

Nina follows behind Heather. She watches Argus with suspicious eyes.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Argus » Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:31 am

"That's really none of your concern, kid." he says and pushes a button on his belt. A second later he disappears in a flash that seems to streak him out horizontally, leaving behind empty air. As this happens Heather feels the man's electronics disappear along with him but for just a second there's a massive burst of data that seems to stream out from a small spatial aperture. Behind it a huge machine is working and for just that moment it's as if it was right there in the clearing as well, well within Heather's range...
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:09 pm

Heather's eyes flash. She can feel her brain start to crackle.

"Who are you?" Heather asks, addressing the machine.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:54 pm

"I am the Anchor of the Currents."

The machine is (probably) unlike anything Heather has ever come into contact with. She gets the impression of standing inside Grand Central Station with walls made from iridescent prisms that scatter the light in all possible directions. Somewhat regularly but without a pattern stream of light flash through the machine from here to there in less than a blink of the eye. She feels like it's waiting to be given a destination.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:51 am

"Take us to where Perdita is," Heather demands.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:49 pm

As a regular computer command that probably would have returned an error but fortunately Heather's power does the interpreting for the machine. The signal had led them to Argus, so presumably he has Perdita and thus going where he went should be where Perdita is. The machine complies. In the split-second that the machine appeared to be right next to them somehow, Heather latched on to it. The window closes again in the blink of an eye but a command was issued. The Slipstream Core springs to live and locks on to Heather and Nina's coordinates. It feels like someone attached a tether to the top of their heads. In the span of maybe a second it feels like they're being yanked upwards, through an impossibly small aperture in space and through a dozen rollercoasters at the speed of light.

As soon as the sensation begins it's already over and they find themselves in an unfamiliar place. A vague twilight hangs over the small park they find themselves in, surrounded by tall buildings that are hard to make out after the disorientation of being yanked through space. The air smells faintly like salt and the cries of seagulls can be heard over the distant sound of waves. After a couple of moments the sun begins to climb over the horizon and douses the area in light that their eyes are much more accustomed to. The small park they're in is at the meeting-point of several elevated pedestrian walkways that span through the canyons of the buildings around them. Sunlight glimmers on the glass and metal of the buildings, dousing the futuristic city in a dazzling display of light. In the distance a monorail glides on it's magnetic rail and on the road beneath them cars roll almost silently with only the faint whir of an electric engine. To Heather the city would look even more overwhelming. There is technology and electronics everywhere and the air is filled with a myriad of signals. Everything here seems to be just waiting for her to talk to and almost all of the machines sound friendly and polite.

Welcome to Providence.

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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:37 pm

The overwhelming chatter feels a little much for Heather at first. She finds herself wishing she had brought her bear and holds on to Nina's shoulder for balance.

"Are you alright?" Nina asks.

"M'fine," Heather says. "Just give me a sec."

Nina nods, looking around with the same sort of wide-eyed detachment she usually had. "Are we in a dream?"

"I don't think so," Heather says. "Anchor? Are you still there?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:45 pm

The Slipstream system seems to be outside of Heather's range now that the teleportation-corridor has collapsed. Presumably the system is somewhere in the city though. And anybody who is capable of using it presumably has a way to initiate a connection with it that Heather could probably hijack.

Once the initial confusion wears off they notice that there's other people around, jsut going about their business. A couple briefly stopped when they noticed the two teleporting in, but no one seems too surprised by it. If anything they're probably looking more because their clothes don't quite fit the clean and sleek designs of the things everybody else seems to be wearing.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:52 pm

"I hate that guy," Nina says, looking at some random person in the distance. "I want to punch him in his perfect looking face."

Heather was starting to get accustomed to the voices and sorting through the chatter. Deep breaths. It was just like being in a city full of people! You didn't have to listen to everyone. Right? That sounded right.

"We should find that person. The one that was after us," Heather says to Nina. "He'll probably be wherever Perdita is."

"Would it helped if I punched someone?" Nina asks.

"Probably not. Well, not yet anyway," Heather says. She cocks her head and tries to carefully listen for the voice of some sort of directory or help.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:06 pm

Conveniently, there is! A city guide that would usually run on a tablet or terminal responds to Heather's query for help.

"Good morning. How can the Providence Guidance System be of assistance?"

Heather would be able to tell that's it's a fairly simplistic program that is basically a glorified FAQ and map but it's something! And really, an interactive guide would still seem impressive if she hadn't spend the last couple days in the company of an advanced AI.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:35 pm

"Hello," Heather says, trying to sound friendly. "We're looking for a friend of ours that should have just arrived before us. Her name is Perdita. Have you seen her?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:39 pm

"I do not believe anyone with that name lives in the city."

"Slipstream arrival records are private."
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:51 pm

"Please?" Heather asks. "I just want to make sure she's safe. She was with someone in a high-tech suit. They were saying something about artificial intelligence?"
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:03 pm

"There are no true Artificial Intelligences on the island." the voice says in a strange reassuring tone. It seems like Heather is unlikely to get the information she wants out of this system. Thankfully she can just dig deeper into the city's electronic infrastructure. And one of the systems, part of the wireless network, certainly registered Argus' arrival. It's hesitant to give out information about his whereabouts, but she knows his various electronics and manages to find a trace of them herself as they move through the city grid.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:54 pm

Heather takes the eternally distracted Nina by the arm and leads her towards Argus. The entire time Heather tries to figure out what she's going to do. Neither of them are really made for combat. Not really. Besides, she didn't want to fight.

But she also wouldn't leave anyone behind. No more cages. Never again.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Narrator » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:04 pm

As they're heading along the pedestrian skywalk they manage to spot him up ahead, going down a ramp that curves down to street level. Even among the people here he still somewhat sticks out. It doesn't look like he's noticed them, but unfortunately he seems to be heading towards a parked car.
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Re: Closing Pandora's Box

Postby Heather West » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:13 pm

"We need to stop him," Heather whispers to Nina as the two try to remain unnoticed by their opponent. Heather reaches out her abilities, trying to see what sort of helpful systems there are in the area. Nina frowns. She's not very good at stealth.
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