May Event: Lost in Translation

[lifeaftr_mods]

MAY EVENT: LOST IN TRANSLATION

Who: Everyone!
What: Crash.
When: May 21st to May 30th
Where: Everywhere!
Warnings: Mark as needed!

I Have No Words
Feel free to use this post as an event catch-all for any misfires, island-wide broadcasts, or glitching Stone shenanigans you'd like your characters to get up to! Remember that the Stones of Farspeech do not currently have a texting feature...but that doesn't mean the screen they use to display Caller I.D. can't display text, on occasion. Bear in mind that this screen is small and therefore has limited display options.

If you have any questions, feel free to look over our OOC event post here, and ask any questions as needed!

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[hyperlit]

You shouldn't be.

There are no dues owed to the dead. Even fewer owed to the dying.

[forwearemany]

(The whispers become louder, more numerous.

In any other situation, understanding would be impossible. But fortunately, the stone accentuates what is relevant.

Error: we are also dead.

The Drifter does not apply the same standards to themselves as others.

Well, that's a relief. Legion doesn't mind having their thoughts and perspective broadcast on the network: such is the natural state of the Geth.

Our perspective is shared.

Our perspective is shared.

Ally: Drifter can hear our perspective.

Alert: Response necessary.

Response?

Applying separate standards to oneself in this situation is illogical.

It is possible that this statement is not entirely about ally: Drifter's eventual death due to terminsl illness.

Response?)

You are our ally.

[hyperlit]

[Low, dark words, bubbling out like froth on the sand.]

Your dying one. Your dead one.

Dead one thousand times over, and more.

[forwearemany]

(Ally: Drifter has previously mentioned multiple deaths.

Death is not relevant to value as an ally.

A singular death is highly traumatic.

Death is not relevant to value as an ally.

This quantity of deaths is likely to cause lasting trauma.

...It's possible Drifter can guess the next bit, except this time it's spoken instead of thought.)

Death is not relevant to value as an ally.

[hyperlit]

What value is there in a corpse?

[What value is there in a dying thing that will, inevitably, be dead? They are already dead. And then, in the future - they will be dead again. For good.]

[No further revive.]

[forwearemany]

(Ally: Drifter does not value themself.

Ally: Drifter does not understand their value to others.)

You are not currently a corpse.

[hyperlit]

I am. And I am not. I am dead and not dead, simultaneously.

[Schrödinger's corpse.]

At any moment, it could all be over.

At any moment, I may cease to be here. Return to where I was.

What I was.

[forwearemany]

It is the same for us.

(The whispering continues.

They are showing signs of distress.

Prior interactions suggest distress relating to this topic.)

Is the other you mentioned deceased in their universe of origin?

[hyperlit]

They are me.

Dead for the final time, on a hope. On a prayer to a god who may not even be listening.

[forwearemany]

(The whispering becomes a confused, incomprehensible jumble.)

Clarify.

(Meanwhile, they're going to get up and see if they can actually find the Drifter... wherever they are.

They'll keep talking while they look.)

[hyperlit]

I have died many times. Many hundreds of times. Cumulating to well over a thousand deaths. Each time, the jackal revived me. My work was unfinished.

I slew the Cell, and the abyss crumbled behind me.

[forwearemany]

This was when you were allowed to die?

(Resentment?

Likely location: Enso.

They travel from a mana pool on the islets to the one near the temple, and begin to search, holding their stone in their hands.)

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter...where are they, exactly? It's not clear. Probably wandering. Assuming they're even actively using their stone at all.]

"Allowed."

As if I ever wished it.

[forwearemany]

(Well, wherever they are, Legion is going to wander Enso looking for them until they either find them, this situation resolves, or circumstances force them to give up.)

Acknowledged.

(More whispering.)

Are you afraid of death?

[hyperlit]

No.

But what living creature does not fight with everything they are to ensure they will not die?

[forwearemany]

(Behavior is uncharacteristic.

Fear of death is instinctual.

Farspeech stones are currently malfunctioning.

Instinct does not prevent self destruction in organics.

It is unlikely Ally: Drifter would use an obviously malfunctioning device.

Possibility: It is not the Drifter to whom we speak.

Possibility: The Drifter is unaware of the malfunction.)

Location?

(It seems unlikely they would give it, but they are already divulging more information than is typical, and Legion is growing increasingly concerned.)

[hyperlit]

Asleep in the waves.

[This is not a true answer, obviously - the Drifter's Stone would not be functioning if its owner were dead. But the real Drifter is on the continuous move, as always, wandering about Io as they attempt to map a place that doesn't really need to be mapped at all.]

[Legion is correct. They're currently unaware of their stone's malfunction.]

[forwearemany]

(Legion knows that they cannot be dead.

Sleeping?

Thus, their own assumption as to the meaning of this statement is much more benign, if entirely incorrect.

Io, unfortunately, remains second on their list of islands to search, and they will only try there once they have searched the less hazardous areas of Enso. But they're not low on charge and also kind of a stubborn dumbass and thus could conceivably keep the search up for multiple days.

In the interest of finding them faster, they will attempt to press for additional information.)

Clarify.

[hyperlit]

Why should I?

[That's a bit more characteristic of the oozing, snarling Shadow that once haunted these shores, now, isn't it?]

[forwearemany]

Error: Mannerisms uncharacteristic of the Drifter.

(Shadow? They have recognized the similarities, though there is little evidence to suggest shadows have returned.

No similar entities encountered.

Uncertain.

Uncertain.

Location of Drifter necessary for certainty.)

We are trying to help you.

(Possibility: If shadows return, harm may have come to Ally: Drifter.

The shadow destroyed us.

Preparations recommended.)

[hyperlit]

One cannot help the dead.

[Bitterness, concentrated and slithered out like a drop of oil in water, thick and clouding.]

One can only pick over the bones, and bury what remains.

[forwearemany]

(Again, the whispers dissolve into a jumble; this time, the preveiling emotion is frustration.)

Perhaps. However, you are currently alive.

(Ally: Drifter has been shown to enjoy the exploration of new places.

Io.

Error! Search of Enso not complete!

But in that frustration lies ingenuity.)

You have stated this previously, and our response has not changed. You will not dissuade us.

(Search of Io likely faster than search of Enso.

Search of Enso incomplete.

It is more efficient to search Io first.

Io

Io

Consensus: we will seek Ally: Drifter on Io.

And so, finally, Legion abandons their fruitless search to actually look for the Drifter on the correct island.)

[hyperlit]

Am I? Or am I only in denial of the fact that I am, in all other respects, dead?

[Dead and in denial. Dying, but in slow motion. Refusing to accept it. Enduring it, despite all else, because what else are they good for?]

[The Drifter is, at least, on Io. This much is correctly inferred.]

[forwearemany]

(They search efficiently: briefly checking the temple and largely ignoring the nearby bathhouses, which they doubt would hold much interest for an individual who is both constantly covered in as much clothing as possible and also rejects the idea of self care.

Instead, unless they encounter the Drifter before then, they head for the tea gardens. The honeycomb is also promising, but likely to be difficult to search.)

Irrelevant: you are dead or you are not. Currently, you are not.

Your current attitude indicates not a denial of death but a denial of life.

(They have shunned attachment, ignored enjoyment, refused self care on the grounds that they are dying. They speak as though their existence holds no value.

They are wrong.)

[hyperlit]

An elementary understanding of death. I have died more times than should be possible, and yet, have woken to walk again. Does that truly make me living, or delaying what will one day come to collect?

[The Drifter is at the temple, currently, though doing what is unclear. Likely documenting the place as thoroughly as possible.]