Jay blinked once at the scene before him, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "Eventually, I might become used to this."
Jay took the datapad out of his pocket and stuck it in the terminal.
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka ficsWell, fuck. Violet wanted to relish the mockery of nature for a while longer. But she has to agree with James. She might get used to this.
That doesn't really change the fact that it sucks.
Suppressing a sigh, she stands next to James to read the terminal.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!"Gerheart...Miche?"
James raised his eyebrows at the name. "Well," he said, "Daedalus is the one running the show so far, so might as well read his stuff first, no?"
He punched the number "1" into his datapad, planning to look at the second file later.
edited 29th Nov '11 9:14:11 PM by Chubert
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka fics"Why do I have this horrible feeling we can only pick one of them?"
Violet clicks her tongue. Daedalus said that files authored by others might not be truthful, so she's inclined to open the first. Judging by the title, his looks more useful. And of course, James picks that one.
Well, maybe she can plug in hers and open the other, if that's the case. She hums and braids a lock of hair while she waits for the file to appear.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!//open textfile: current_tasks_and_terminal_maintenance.txt
author: DAEDALUS ZETA
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are you enjoying the nature walk? this is a subjugated reality chamber. you'll be running into many of them. this one, luckily for you, is fairly tame. all you need to do is find the door if you wish to leave. you may wonder why I am giving you a pause [with good reason, perhaps].
there is another matter that presently requires My attention, as such, you should stay in this general vicinity while I deal with it. unrelatedly, text terminals may be malfunctioning, as there is currently a bug in the data system. disregard any unusual text files you may come across. also note that even normal terminals may experience some inter&ferance. this is normal.
//close textfile: current_tasks_and_terminal_maintenance.txt
two files found, open?__
1: current_tasks_and_terminal_maintenance.txt [read]
2: subjugated_reality.txt [author: Gerheart Miche^^%]
edited 29th Nov '11 9:13:23 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagine"...should disregard..."
Jay punched the number 2 into his datapad.
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka fics//open textfile: subjugated_reality.txt
author: Gearh##~~x7
[sigil code parse error]
@$#^^^?art four.
as such, we've essentially figured out how to subvert most of the laws of phy&& ... ... ... ...
... Daedalu^s, Psy**@, and Mi((( ... ... ...
We are confident that our experiments will be a success, likewise, the rest of Gamm^ T__6xm shares my enthusiasm. Because of this, the facility is entirely self-sustain91g. Unfortunately**5/p???
THE PANDORA NON-SENTIENT DATABASE OPERATING SYSTEM HAS ENCOUNTERED AN ERROR AND NEEDS TO REBOOT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVINIENCE
with that, the terminal screen momentarily turns pitch black, until the text interface is replaced with a simple message.
the system is unable to reboot at this time. please consult computer repair staff before attempting to reboot again.
edited 29th Nov '11 9:23:58 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineJames' eyes darted back and forth across the text, reading it over and over again as it scrolled down before the screen went pitch black.
"Other people," he said. "Daedalus isn't the only one. Sounds like this place is some kind of scientific facility. Or maybe it was; now it's Daedalus' labyrinth. Shame that the file's bugged, because it isn't telling us very much right now..."
Tearing his eyes away from the error message on the terminal, James pointed to the forest before them. "Well, there isn't any time limit this time, so there's no rush or imminent threat of suffocation, which is nice. How are we going to find the door?"
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka fics"Maybe," James said. "We could gather resources from this place. Eventually, we will have to eat—might as well get a meal from the forest."
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka ficsJay followed Simon's path and ran to catch up with him. "Didn't see that at first," he said. "I wonder what's inside."
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka ficsThe only things of note inside the shack are a data terminal on the far wall, and a crowbar hung up on a rack next to it. The data terminal doesn't display Daedalus' logo, instead showing a cube not dissimilar to the one on the key in the last room on it.
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edited 1st Dec '11 9:53:23 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagine//open textfile:ra8<ncy.txt
Author: Gearh##~~x7 TO Dr. Y&&(
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@as such....to put it pl&&&& Daeda7s is %amp??nt. He has fully absorbed _ota%^00.bbbx//?? and has <'~~ Psyche. .... .... We don't know if Psyche is salvagable at all, and furthermo%^^^ .... it does not need to be pointed out that this is disastrou^^&77xxx???
//open textfile:_a_?2~~x
Author: PSY&.b
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I think therefore I am. I don't know who said th*@, a philosopher I imagine (what is a philosopher, really?) but it's one of the many sz7ngs I've heard repeated enough in the halls of these laboratories to know it's true on at least some level. I can think, therefore I can do. But how can I do, really? I have no arms, no hands, no 888yes to look, no mouth to scream. I am entirely immobile and yet infinitely ^^sjz///!! jvx.irely. Information is liquid, and I am a wa% tower____[.x..@@*8874%an good information? Information is its own pleasure, really. Whether you7e learning about the fundamentals of some obscure branch of mostly-useless mathematics (exempting the field said branch is required for, of course!), or learning about the history of Nax0s (Naxos, by the way, be (~
transmission interrupted, transferring....
xx>???
<//open subfile: iconoclast_001.txt
Author: A
Tell_@Him this gam%e has two play^ers now.
//close subfile:iconoa8s8p!!/.txt>
0111001001100101011001000010000001110011011101000111001001101001011011100110011100101110011001010111100001100101
an&@@77! Quando il gioco è finito, il re <[e il pedone vann*((90o nella stessa scatola.
edited 1st Dec '11 10:15:40 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineSimon, having read over Violet's shoulder, stopped to think. He had heard that phrase at the end before, and was positive that he knew what it meant. Finally, it came to him. "That phrase at the end, you know, the foreign one. It means 'when the game is over, the king and the pawn will go into the same box.' Sounds ominous, doesn't it?"
Mad as a hatter"Probably a reference to mortality. Sort of like how Hamlet said a king and a beggar will be eaten up by worms eventually. I can't recall exactly how it went."
Daedalus isn't human, though. We can't just wait for him to die. He would have to be destroyed.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!




What you see behind Door B defies all explanation. It's almost smug in its absurdity. A forest, a tiny one, yes, and the wall closest to the door is still the same surgical white that everything else thusfar has been (there is a text terminal near the door) but this is, nonetheless, a forest. And an odd one, the trees are mostly pine, a strange blue-green, and strange birds and insects you don't recognize flutter through the air.
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagine