Nikola's Journal ("Data Log A")

[MF99K]

Cycle 94: Things seem to be surprisingly normal today. Perhaps this is simply because I spent last night in my bed for the first time in several days and feel much better rested than I have been. Not being locked in a room with someone possessed by a giant, predatory worm is also a nice change, especially since I don't have to worry about getting locked in there again either. While I suppose I am still worried about Eya (and Nisbet, though to a much lesser extent considering what she's put me and so many other colonists through), not being in imminent danger myself has been a nice change. A few colonists are certainly uneasy, especially Ellie, who has alternated between punching random things and cowering under furniture, but the colony as a whole is still running perfectly fine.

Cycle 95: Someone at lunch today said they discovered a system of pneumatic tubing that started at the edge of the colony and extended far beyond. They insisted it hadn't been there last cycle, and was much too large to have been built that quickly. No one else seemed to recall working on it either, but they insisted the pipes looked brand new and didn't look like any part of the ruins.

A couple colonists decided to find out where exactly all the tubes led. Ada came back first after exploring the tubes on the eastern side. She said that things seemed much more metallic than she had expected. At the end of the pipe there was a small room with a door-sized hole in the wall, though the hole was blocked by something cold and fluffy that she wasn't able to get through. It took much longer for Frankie to return, and many of the other colonists seem to think he hit his head somewhere on the way, as nothing of what he had claimed to see made any real logical sense. He claimed to see a giant kitchen with a huge beast of a dragon that would stand taller than if everyone in the colony tried standing as a straight line on top of each other's heads. 

We're on an asteroid, not in the walls of some giant fantasy castle. Some of the colonists do seem to think there is some truth in the story, what with Ellie's insistence that a giant clawed hand came from the wall and took Nisbet, and that Frankie brought "floor scraps" from the supposed kitchen that admittedly tasted much better than the food we had at the colony.

Cycle 96: The odd dupe is back. I asked her about Eya, and she admitted she had taken her somewhere safe. Eya had been pretty terrified at first, especially since she hadn't recognised Pink's "true form" initially (I needed a simpler way to refer to the odd dupe, so I decided to call her "Pink" due to the unusual color of her uniform. It's a bit silly, but much better than calling her "the odd dupe" all the time). Pink said that Eya had gotten used to the situation pretty quickly, especially since she wasn't being forced to eat her peers anymore and realized that Pink's "true form" wasn't a threat. I tried to get Pink to clarify more on what she meant by her "true form," but she remained vague in her explanations. She did finally make a major slip-up as I asked about Nisbet (whose abduction I was starting to think was also related to Pink somehow since she said she was going to "take care of Nisbet" shortly before she had been taken away). She said her dog had tried to eat Nisbet several times, but that Nisbet was otherwise doing fine asides from continuous aggressive fear responses. She trailed off when she noticed my knowing glare. I told her Ellie's account of the clawed hand, and the rumor about a large dragon. She laughed in a way that seemed both genuine and nervous before giving in.

Spoiler

Pink: I'm not a dragon. I don't know where you guys got that from. There's some weird creatures around here for sure though. Might'a seen one of them.

Nikola: What are you then? My best guess from what I know is that you must be what captured Nisbet, or at the very least you know what did.

Pink: Claws... I mean, I haven't cut my nails in a while, they're probably long enough to look like claws at a glance, especially from the perspective of something small.

Nikola: And how... large are you? Or I suppose, how small are we?

Pink: I can't really give you an exact measurement cause all our units of measurement have the same names and mean totally different things. But like, three inches, I guess? Small enough that I could hold Nisbet in one hand. You things are like chubby lilliputians.

Nikola: And what do you look like, exactly?

Pink:(gesturing to herself) Like a bigger, less-chubby version of this? With normal clothes.

Nikola: and how do you make yourself the way you currently are?

Pink: Me and one of my friends do all this crazy high-tech VR stuff. He reverse-engineered the organic printer you guys have but nothing we tried printing with ours would actually be alive unless we put in this little remote-control microchip thing on them and controlled the things ourselves. Whenever I feel like it I just print one out, put the little chip in it, and put the headset on. Sometimes I have to get carried over to where your colony is if I don't move it over there before I plug in. Makes me feel small and squishy. Which is kinda fun and cute I guess. I went snooping around the colony and Nisbet caught me being suspicious and problematic and threw me in with Eya which is how I got involved with all this mess. Decided it would be better for me to handle Eya and Nisbet myself and get the colony moved to a better location.

Nikola: You moved the entire colony!?

Pink: Not all at once. It was kinda this big process but we sedated everyone so we could work without anyone noticing.

Whatever Pink is, it is most certainly a much larger creature than any of us. If she and whoever she worked with moved the entire colony, it would explain the gap of time between finding Ellie and waking up in bed, and also the odd warping and changes to the colony as a whole. I still don't know what Frankie meant when he said he saw a "dragon," but his story seems more plausible now if Pink is really as large of a creature as she says she is. Pink went off somewhere while I was writing this, so I suppose I will have to find things out on my own until I see her again.

 

[MF99K]

Cycle 97: Frankie's convinced a few other colonists to go on expeditions with him to acquire more bits of food from the "dragon's kitchen." Most of what usually gets brought back are stale and/or burnt tidbits that don't really taste much better than our normal fare, though Frankie insists that he knows how to get to the "good stuff" now.

Every once in a while the colony will lightly shake as if something large is moving nearby. It makes me think. Are we not on the asteroid anymore? Or is it much larger than we thought? Or are we much smaller than we thought? Even though I feel some security knowing that whatever is out there is separated from us by a thick metal wall, something makes me uneasy just knowing we are "small."

Frankie's expedition has returned early, in horrific shape. Only one member of the party was able to speak, with two others coughing uncontrollably and Frankie twitching in a concerning manner. All four of them had red or blistered skin. The one who could talk said that the "dragon" had seen them and attacked them. At first I thought the skin damage might be from getting singed by fire, but I quickly noticed everyone's hair and clothing was still intact and did not appear singed in the slightest. I then realized that their skin was indeed burned, but it had not been burned by fire.

These were chemical burns.

I instructed everyone who had been exposed to take a thorough shower as I tended to Frankie. I tried to wash him as well as I could before placing him in the nearest med bed. I treated him as best I could for what I suspected to be inhalation of an aerosol toxin of some form and managed to stabilize him. He is still unconscious, but the twitching has stopped and his breathing has gotten more regular. The other three duplicants regained their ability to speak and explained to me that they had tried to get into what seemed like a huge pantry and attempted to collect food from it, but were seen by the large dragon-like creature. It grabbed a large cylindrical object that one of the dupes confided "looked like a big can of roach-spray," and the four of them were quickly engulfed by a burning mist. Frankie had been hit directly and hadn't had time to react so ended up incapacitated fairly quickly. No one seemed to know exactly what had happened next, partially due to blurred vision, partially to adrenaline, but they had managed to grab Frankie and rush back to the tube system before any further harm could occur.

Roach spray. I suppose from the perspective of giants we'd look nothing more than odd-looking vermin trying to steal bits of their food.

I need to find Pink. I don't care if she's my size or not. I need to talk with her and get to the bottom of this.

I'm going to go through the tubes and see what I can find.

I spent a while trying to figure out where each pipe led. Nothing of what I saw makes me think it is possible for us to be on an asteroid, at least not anymore. I ended up following a pipe that led to a room similar to what Ada had described, though the hole no longer seemed to be blocked by anything, fluffy or otherwise. I gingerly stepped through the hole and found myself standing on a very large, very cluttered work desk. Several notes had been handwritten, with a couple bearing handwriting similar to the note I had found on the door to Eya's room. Misc objects and papers covered in sketches were scattered on the remaining space on the desk.

While wandering the desk to see what bits of information I could glean from the strewn papers, I heard a faint thud from somewhere across the room. There was a cabinet stocked with giant-sized glass implements, notably beakers and other chemistry-related tools. Something was moving about in a beaker on the lower shelf. I had to squint for a moment to make out what it was, and realized it was another duplicant. Though I could barely make anything out, I could see enough to recognise that it was Nisbet. She seemed to be periodically ramming herself into the side of the beaker closest to me, making the thudding noise I had heard. She hadn't seen me, however, and this seemed to be an attempt to knock the beaker over so that she could escape, though neither the cabinet nor the table I was currently standing on had anything around to safely climb down from them with. As I was looking for a way down, I heard another thud, followed by what must've been a yelp from Nisbet and a large crashing noise. I spun around to see her trying to pull herself out of a pile of glass, on an outcropped shelf several shelves below where she had been a moment before. Clearly something else had also heard the noise, as loud footsteps began coming our direction, heavy enough to gently shake what I was standing on. A section of the wall slid away as a large humanoid, much like a duplicant though with more complex and elongated features, burst into the room and rushed over to Nisbet and what remained of the beaker. It delicately removed Nisbet from the glass rubble and turned my direction. I hid as best I could behind an oversized plastic bottle several times my height as the creature cleared a space on the desk and placed Nisbet firmly but gently onto the table, pinning her down with two clawed fingers. Was this creature Pink?

It began to make vocalizations that were very clearly some sort of speech, though I couldn't make out any words. I could at least tell that it was trying to ask Nisbet to keep still, as she was still kicking and pushing against the fingers. The two adjacent fingers managed to pin her hands down, effectively immobilizing her arms, as the free hand reached for a pair of tweezers about as long as I was tall. It continued trying to persuade Nisbet to relax in its deep hum of a voice, as Nisbet began making her own, much less calm vocalizations, yelling at the creature to let her go. I heard a quiver of pain in her voice, and realized she must have been injured by the glass. I creeped out from my hiding spot to try to get a better view. Sure enough, the tweezer held a reddened shard of glass and dropped it on the table. I had a clear view of the gash in Nisbet's sleeve. She tried to squirm again after the creature tried to put a large puff of gauze on the wound. I yelled at Nisbet to stay still, quite a bit louder than I intended, and got the attention of both Nisbet, who was silent but breathing heavily, and the creature trying to treat her wound. I stared frozen as I made eye contact with the large figure. I could see now that it was definitely female, and it did bear some resemblance to Pink, even with the unusual facial features. She smiled at me sadly, then glanced back down to Nisbet, slowly lifting her hand away from the injured duplicant.

I rushed towards Nisbet and got her to sit up as I examined the injury more closely. The giant abruptly sat up and rushed towards a different part of the room, though I was too preoccupied in my examination to see where she went. The cut was not as deep as I had expected, which was good, but Nisbet was still clearly in a lot of pain and I needed something better to clean the area with to prevent any sort of infection. The giant thumped back into a chair next to the desk holding two bottles and a plastic purse about as large as I was. She placed the bag where we were sitting and unscrewed both of the bottles, placing the caps alongside the bag and filling them with their corresponding liquid. The second liquid had a strong, familiar odor that indicated it was isopropyl alcohol. The first liquid had come from an opaque bottle, leading me to believe it was likely hydrogen peroxide, which, while I understood why it had been brought, would not be usable for such a deep wound. I tried to use gestures to ask the large creature for clean water, which took a moment to communicate clearly, but soon enough a capful of water sat alongside the others. As I flushed the wound with water, Nisbet winced, but managed to finally speak to me through clenched teeth.

Spoiler

Nisbet: Why. are you helping me? I left you for worm-food. Twice. Don't think that helping me is gonna make me change my mind about anything. 

Nikola: I was assigned to do medical work. I am doing medical work. It may not be in my best interest to tend to someone who's imprisoned me twice, but I am going to do my job regardless because it's the right thing to do.

Nisbet: Shut up. Not everything's a black-and-white moral question of right and wrong. If those duplicants hadn't been...removed.. from the colony, we could've all starved. You know this. Survival doesn't care about sentimentality. 

Nikola: I know that you didn't initially mean to get rid of them when you put all the binge eaters together. It just... happened. But after the first two died you should've at least tried to do something about it.

Nisbet: Can't exactly go back and fix that. *wince* Besides, if we need to reduce the population to survive again? No one's gonna volunteer for that willingly.

Nikola: The pink duplicant did.

Nisbet: In case you hadn't noticed, the pink duplicant is just a little homunculus this creature towering over us right now likes to parade around as whenever she feels like, and just prints out a new one whenever she feels inclined. The pink dupe knows she's immortal *wince* in an expendable way and has nothing to lose by sacrificing herself like that.

Nikola: Stay still. I'm almost done with this suture. 

I finished dressing the wound as Nisbet talked. She ranted about Pink and how she had been treated like some sort of small pet after being captured. Though she clearly felt offended by this, I truly couldn't think of any other way a creature as large as Pink would treat a creature as small as us that would be more optimal. Heck, she could have easily made a meal of us had she felt like it, or tried to exterminate us like the "dragon" had. I helped Nisbet stand up after the procedure was done and she immediately tried moving her bandaged arm, causing her to wince and stagger back. I explained that she would need to keep it as still as possible until it healed. As we walked back towards the hole I had come through, we were almost immediately blocked by Pink's large hand. We looked back to see her shake her head and point down at Nisbet. Nisbet stays. Both of us frowned. Nisbet started to protest but I put a hand on her shoulder and walked towards Pink.

I explained as best I could that I would need to come back and tend to the injury regularly if Nisbet was to stay with her. I suggested some other way to keep her contained besides any glass container again, as that was what had caused the injury to begin with. Pink seemed to understand, and cleared off another space on her desk next to the hole. She grabbed a pencil and drew a rectangle on the desk and the wall, then motioned as if she was going to put a box there and mimed like she was using a multitool towards the invisible box. I assumed she was asking for duplicants to construct an area where she could still keep tabs on Nisbet but that it would be easier for me to visit and tend to the injury. Nisbet didn't approve of this plan and tried making a break for the exit, but Pink quickly grabbed her by her collar and pulled her back. Pink motioned that I was free to leave, and I glanced back at Nisbet before slipping back into the wall.

I'm not sure how Pink expects the colonists to build something on her desk without panicking about her size or Nisbet's confinement but I suppose it's a workable solution.

[minespatch]

On 1/13/2019 at 5:45 AM, MF99K said:

Me and one of my friends do all this crazy high-tech VR stuff.

Is this a reference to your huge project?

Have you done art on Pink's design?

 

[MF99K]

4 hours ago, minespatch said:

Is this a reference to your huge project?

Have you done art on Pink's design?

 

1. partially and

2. Pink is Warper she just never told anyone her name.

[MF99K]

Cycle 98:

Realized last night that the whole incident with Nisbet had completely distracted me from the entire reason I had gone through the tubes to find Pink in the first place. I still had not seen or gotten any concrete information on what the "dragon" is. Frankie is still recovering from exposure to the chemical, but everyone else is back to normal, save for some persistent itching and swelling.

I plan to go through the tubes to find Pink later so I can finally ask for more information on things, not just about the dragon but about what she's been doing with Nisbet and Eya and where we are and what she even is.

There were a lot of people in the tubes today, which surprised me at first, but I realized that at least some of the activity must be due to construction on Nisbet's cell. Not exactly sure how the command was issued, but it was issued nonetheless. By the time I got to Pink's desk, the room was nearly complete, but no one had noticed the size of the desk they were standing on because the view had been obscured by what was probably a large cardboard box. Unfortunately there was no way to actually get around this barrier, so I'll have to come back once construction is completely finished.

 

Cycle 100:

Construction is finished and the barrier is finally gone. I figured I would check on Nisbet's arm before anything, especially since it would give me something to do if Pink wasn't around. Interestingly enough, part of the cell wall is glass, probably by Pink's request so she can observe Nisbet.

Nisbet's arm is doing much better. Still no sign of Pink so I've been having some small talk with Nisbet, though she's mostly been giving one-word answers. Apparently Eya's on the desk somewhere, and Pink had almost tried to force Nisbet and Eya to be roommates in the cell, then quickly changed her mind when Nisbet pulled her gun multitool in Eya's face. I went to search the desktop for Eya, and found that it had been cleared off.  

Eya was asleep in a plastic tray lined with cloth like a nest. Though I wanted to talk to her, I didn't want to interrupt her rest and figured I would wait until Pink showed up. 

It took a bit of waiting for Pink to show up, nearly pushed through what must've been the door to the room by a large, furry beast large enough to make even Pink seem small. I thought she might be in danger at first, then realized the creature was pushing her in a sort of rough-but-playful way. She got knocked into the table hard enough to wake Eya up and yelled at the animal to leave her alone and it finally slinked back out of the room, but not before slapping her in the face with its long tail. She came back towards the table, smiled, and gave Eya and I a small scratch on the head, which was somewhat startling. We tried to talk to each other, but the most we could get was Pink repeating back what I said instead of talking in her deep vibrating hum. Pink gave up and went into the other room to do something. When she came back she had a bunch of strange equipment and a large pair of black goggles that seemed heavy and impossible to see through. After she had set the equipment up, she placed something the size of a duplicant on the table and put the goggles on. It took me a moment to realize that the object on the desk was indeed a duplicant, and that it was Pink's duplicant form. She twitched a bit and stood up, stretching as if waking up from a long nap, though her larger self barely moved in her chair. She opened her eyes and smiled at me.

Spoiler

Pink: Yeah, hey, sorry about that. Easier to talk when we're the same size cause it's hard to understand those cute squeaking noises.

Nikola: Pardon?

Pink: For some reason you guys sound different depending on how big I am. I think it's something about how sound travels or whatever.

Nikola: I had noticed that you make a sort of low, vibrating hum when you try to talk.

Pink: Is it kinda like when you're underwater or you have your ears muffled and someone tries talking to you?

Nikola: I suppose it's like that, yes. I assume you sound the same to yourself then?

Pink: Yeah. But when I'm not small you guys sound like this.

Pink proceeds to make squeaking noises by biting her lower lip and humming.

Nikola: I can understand how that would, uh... make communication difficult. 

Eya gets out of her bed and approaches them.

Eya: Hi Nikola, hey Warper.

Nikola: Hm?

Pink: Oh yeah I uh, guess I never properly introduced myself. It's not my real name but everyone calls me Warper, and you can too, if you want.

Nikola: (muttering) Here I've gotten used to referring to you as "Pink."

Warper: Why, because my shirt's fuchsia?

Nikola: I, yes...

Warper: anyway, you wanted to talk about something?

Nikola: I have quite the list of questions right now, though I suppose a couple just got answered. A simple one would be a good start. Where are we right now?

Warper: It's called the LUDUS, it's basically this really big space ship thing. I guess I don't have a whole lot to compare to it size-wise, but it's pretty big regardless, especially for you guys. As to how you guys got here, I really don't know. Lambert does maintenance stuff and found you guys in the wall. We had to relocate the colony eventually cause it was at risk of causing structural damage, so I went snooping to learn more about you things and figure out the best way to relocate the colony without hurting anyone. We attached it to the wall in the other room. The actual process of moving you guys was a little complicated but I think we talked about that a little already. 

Nikola: Indeed. Now, this dragon I mentioned before, it attacked and injured several colonists a few cycles ago. I personally did not see it, so I'm only calling it a dragon because that's what the others have been calling it. That creature bothering you on your way in here didn't seem to match the description, but do you have any ideas on this?

Warper: Did it eat or try to eat any of them?

Nikola: No, I don't believe so.

Warper: Yeah, then it's not him. Entropy doesn't really hurt things, he just likes shoving things in his mouth.

Nikola: Is he the "dog" you said tried to eat Nisbet?

Warper: Dog is a much easier word to say than trying to describe him, yeah. He looks like one from the front at least.

Nikola: The only other information I have on the encounter was that it was some sort of chemical weapon, likely an aerosol pesticide considering the circumstances, and that it was in some room that looked like a large kitchen.

Warper: So someone sprayed toxic stuff near the food, in the food preparation area, in a circulating air system. In other words, someone's a giant idiot and is going to be hearing from me and probably the director as soon as I figure out who it is.

Nikola: So I guess you'll take care of that then. I was going to ask how Eya is doing, but I suppose she can tell me herself now that she's here.

Eya: I haven't been hungry at all, and the worm part of me hasn't taken over and tried to eat anyone, either. Warper lets me eat almost whatever I ask her to bring, and even the little scraps she gives me taste a-maze-ing. Better than what we had at the colony at least.

Nikola: The colony's food certainly hasn't gotten better. Especially since you uh, ate our main chef...

Eya looks down guiltily.

Eya: (softly) I know.

Nikola: Now, Warper, was it? What do you plan to do with Nisbet? How long are you keeping her here?

Warper shrugs

Warper: At least until the arm heals. I didn't want her to cause any more problems with the colony, but I guess it won't really matter as long as Eya's with me.

Nikola: So you're keeping Eya then.

Warper: For the time being.

Eya: That's ok. 

Nikola: I suppose the only things left to ask about is what you are and how you were able to reverse engineer a printing pod to make a version of yourself at our size.

Warper: I'm human, and you guys are, at least from what I understand, genetically modified mini-humans.

Nikola: Duplicants.

Warper: As for the reverse engineered bioprinter, which Lambert shortened to "3DOP" for "3D Organic Printer," I wasn't directly involved in the process, so I'm not completely sure what he did to make it. I've had to use something similar before, but the one I used is big enough to clone me, albeit a dead version of me, and I had to use it to escape from a bunch of evil scientists who wanted to mess with my stuff and experiment on me. Long story, anyway. I think he cross-referenced a blueprint for one of the bigger scale printers with your printer and then used what he had to make his own version. The small one I used to make mini-me here was a prototype, but I think he wants to make a bigger one when he has the chance.

Nikola: May I see the prototype?

Warper: Sure, but I'm gonna have to switch back to get it.

It was much easier for us to communicate at the same size, and we went over a few details on where we were, what Pink is (it turns out her name is 'Warper'), what she plans to do with NIsbet and Eya, and how she printed herself as a duplicant. In order for her to show me their printing device ("3DOP"), she had to switch back, which caused her duplicant form to ragdoll onto the desk surface. The device is much the same size as the printing pod, though more rectangular in shape. She plugged it into a computer and let me look at the interface. Unlike our printer, which is doubtlessly damaged and probably corrupted, the 3DOP has a much wider selection of what can be printed. Not only are there more genetic blueprints, both for duplicants and creatures, there is a feature that alters specific traits for individual blueprints. There was even a catalogue of all the duplicant templates. The buttons were just the right size for Warper and I to be able to use them, so she allowed me to browse a little once I figured out the controls. My heart sank a little as I browsed through rows of familiar and unfamiliar faces. I already knew this was how it worked, of course, but actually seeing your face and name up on a screen like a recipe ready to be made was just unsettling. Next to my blueprint was one for Nisbet, and to the left there was an entry that looked very much like Eya.

I called Eya over and showed her the image, and asked if she had been printed with the name Eya. She shook her head and said that that was just the first sound someone had made when they realized she was half worm. The blueprint had the girl's name listed as "Moon." I wondered if this was supposed to be Eya's real name.

Warper had to leave for some reason and took her stuff and her duplicant with her. She said something that was probably a rushed apology before putting it all away and leaving the room.

I suppose I'll have to come back yet again tomorrow and see if I can glean any more information from any of this. I certainly have enough to work my head around in the meantime

[minespatch]

So the plot moves on with speed. Mew's been theorizing a while back about a spaceship from the entire planet, so nice job exploring that.

[I_Link_I]

In one of the trailer we can See (what looks like)a destroyer earth.So technicaly ALL OF THIS IS POSSIBLE!Gravitas sending the Dupes out to save the achievements of humanity and some other research/battel /survival or whatever type of spacecraft stil beeing around.I love this story. Stop studying and become an author!

[MF99K]

Cycle 101:

Warper spent some time creating a device that will allow us to communicate at different sizes. It's basically a microphone and speaker she had collected from scrapped electronic parts and hooked up to work with her computer. She said that the hardware was easier to set up than the algorithm used to change the pitch and tone of the sounds to be understandable, but her friend Lambert (who I believe was the same one who built the 3DOP) had helped her set everything up.  

It seems that one problem with the 3DOP is that the organisms it prints remain in a vegetative (if not dead) state unless implanted with a microchip that allows them to be "remote controlled," effectively meaning they have no real consciousness or cognitive function on their own. At first I considered that perhaps we were remotely controlled as well, but Warper assured me that this was a flaw with their printer and not something inherited from copying from ours. She showed me her duplicant and parted the hair on its scalp so that I could see the antennae protruding from her skull. I hadn't seen anything of this sort on me or any other duplicants, so I asked Warper what made her certain the colony's dupes were independent beings. She said she had "multiple reasons" for being certain, partially based on the blueprints they had recovered from the printing pod, partially from an X-ray she did of Eya. She added that like the gloves and belt buckle, Eya wouldn't have been able to digest any sort of computer chip, so if there had been any, they would have been found. 

I offered to go back to the printing pod and see if I could find some way to fix the problem and spent the greater half of the day going back and forth between the Pod and the 3DOP, troubleshooting, cross referencing my notes, Warper's data, and the information found in the abandoned colony, as well as lots and lots of trial and error. The solution ended up being somewhat more simple than we had expected: if the printing surface is electrified at just the right voltage, the printed organism will become autonomous. We spent most of our tests trying to print lightbugs, as they were smaller and simpler than some of the other printing options. Many of our initial voltage tests ended up frying the things instead of giving them life, so the whole work area smelled of burnt insect. We finally got a living lightbug out of the process, but both of us were too tired at this point to continue further with trying to print other animals, much less try to print a duplicant. We agreed to reconvene in a couple days (Warper had other things to attend to) and try finishing our tests then.

[I_Link_I]

Are you going to implement the new mechanic of printig objects other than duplicants into the story?It would fit realy nice since they are working on the printer right now.

[MF99K]

Cycle 102: Nisbet's arm has healed enough that I removed the sutures and replaced them with fresh bandages. Nisbet's comments were much the same as before, primarily defending herself from what she did to Eya and the binge eaters, as well as complaining about her situation and insisting Warper was a danger to the colony.

Cycle 103: I saw Banhi at lunch again today. She let me sit next to her and we ate silently for a bit. I considered telling Banhi about the device we were working on and how perhaps it could be used to print another Bubbles, but decided to keep silent since I didn't want to bring up any bad memories and wasn't sure how to explain that I was collaborating with a giant. Finally Banhi broke the silence.

Spoiler

Banhi: I miss her. It's not even so much the dying part, but thinking about stories of things we did, things that used to make me happy, and now I just feel empty instead. Does that make sense?

Nikola: I suppose it does. 

Banhi: Now that Nisbet's not around, I thought maybe we could print binge eaters again since no one's enforcing that rule but... I've been checking the printer every day, and none of the options have ever been Bubbles. I know that if we brought her back it still wouldn't be the same, since she wouldn't remember but... I just want to see her again so I can pretend she was never gone. You've done stuff with the printer before. Can it be forced to print? Is that possible?

Nikola: Maybe not with ours, but there is something we can try, though we haven't fully finished testing it.

Banhi: We?

Nikola: Warper, the pink duplicant. Remember how Nisbet went on about how she wasn't really a duplicant, just something pretending to be one. Well, she was right, but the creature that Warper really is...is very large. She was what scared Ellie so much, the thing that grabbed Nisbet and took her away. She won't hurt you, but I don't know how comfortable you are with working with a creature with hands as large as you are.

Banhi: If it means getting Bubbles back...I'm ok with that, I can handle it. And Warper, she has a way to print a new Bubbles?

Nikola: It's a bit complicated but I can explain a bit on our way over there.

Banhi seemed desperate to get her friend back, and practically read my mind with the printer idea. She was willing to visit Warper and try to use the 3DOP, though I realized I wasn't sure if Warper wanted to keep herself secret or not.

Warper wasn't there when we reached the printer, but I had enough time to explain and go through all the details on what we could try to do with it. Warper came in and stopped when she saw Banhi, and approached slowly, perhaps to try not to startle her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect by giving Banhi's jaw more time to drop towards the floor. Banhi made a sound that could only be described as a combination between fear and excitement, and finally drew up the courage to go closer to Warper and touched her outspread hand. Banhi grinned nervously and came back towards me as Warper set up the communication device and the 3DOP. Once everything was put together I explained to Warper what Banhi wanted to do. She said that she still wasn't sure if the device was capable of reliably printing living organisms, but that Banhi was free to try. We told Banhi how to use the 3DOP and navigate the DNA catalog. I considered going to check on Eya or Nisbet, and noticed that Nisbet had been watching us through the windows of her cell. Eya was asleep again, and I decided that I was probably more needed where I already was. Banhi wanted Bubbles' clone to be as much like the original as possible, and insisted on spending extra time selecting the traits she knew her friend had, even the bad ones.

Finally she was satisfied and had a blueprint selected to print. Fortunately the print worked perfectly, though it took a bit longer to calibrate and print compared to the colony's printer. Banhi ran to her printed friend and hugged her. Bubbles blinked before hugging back, though she looked somewhat puzzled. They stood awkwardly for a moment before Banhi decided to talk her friend back into existence.

Spoiler

Banhi: Bubbles. It's me. I know you probably...don't...remember me, but you're back now,  and I missed you, and-

Bubbles: We were friends. Something happened...

Banhi: But it's all ok now. I can tell you about all the things we did together, and then you can remember all of it. And everything will be normal.

Bubbles: But where are we, and who are you, and... what happened to me? Why can't I remember anything.

Eya gets up and pulls herself out of her small, nest-like bed and comes towards them. Banhi stares directly at her and Bubbles turns around to look.

Eya: Bubbles, you were braver than Ashkan was. Even when you knew you weren't going to make it out. All you wanted was for Banhi to know the whole story. And I guess now you need to know the story too.

Banhi: (somewhat nervously) No, we don't need to get into that. 

Nikola: Banhi, she needs to know. You can't just keep it from her even though it's something you don't want to think about. It'll be better for both of you to get it out now.

Banhi sits down and sighs.

Banhi: Okay, but I'm not going to be the one to say it.

Eya: We were locked in a room together. There were five of us. There was a food shortage and we were suspected of eating the food supply. I was the only one who made it out. You were the last of the others. I- you died, and-

Banhi: I missed you. You were my best friend. I wanted to bring you back somehow.

Bubbles: I don't understand. Who took the food supply? Did we starve?

Eya: N-no. And I don't know who took the food, I think it was multiple people but- it never really mattered. I couldn't control it. I don't want people to be scared. I don't want to be scared. Turner attacked me, Devon didn't put up a fight. You and Ashkan wouldn't come near me. You realized I didn't do it on purpose, but it was too late by then.

Bubbles: You killed them? Or..?

Nikola: To put it simply, Eya was accidentally merged into a giant predatory worm that takes over her consciousness when it needs to feed and it consumed everyone else who had been confined.

Eya: After Nisbet made it clear she wasn't gonna let the rest of us out, we realized that without a way out, Ashkan and Bubbles were probably going to be eaten as well, especially after Nisbet forced me to eat a corpse in front of them.

Nikola: I nearly forgot about Burt. That must've been what happened to his body.

Eya: Ashkan discovered that the gloves and buckles were left over after he was... *mumbling* and Bubbles decided she would take off her gloves and buckle and write a note for Banhi so that she would at least know what happened to her in the likely event she didn't make it. After it was her turn she talked to me a little bit about how she hoped Banhi would be ok without her. 

Bubbles: But Banhi missed me and wanted me back. And didn't want to think about what happened... so she cloned me to try to put things back to normal?

Banhi: I didn't want you to know because I thought it would be easier to go back to normal that way. I ...wanted to pretend nothing had ever happened in the first place, that you'd just gotten amnesia or something.

Eya: I didn't want to hurt anyone.

Bubbles: Nisbet doesn't seem very nice. What happened to her?

Nikola: Well, the giant behind... did Warper leave? Didn't think something that big could be so quiet.

Bubbles: Is this a giant desk?

Nikola: That bit of the story's a bit more complicated. But Nisbet's being kept in the cell over there. She certainly doesn't like being stuck in there too much but I don't think she's quite learned her lesson yet.

After Eya recalled more of her side of the story, Bubbles decided to talk with Nisbet. Banhi went with her, but I stayed behind with Eya and tried to figure out where Warper went off to. Eya continued to mutter and apologise for things, and added some anecdote about how Ashkan said several times that he was the one who makes the food, not becomes the food, and how it was kind of sad and ironic at the same time. I wish I could find a way to make Eya feel better about all this, but I don't know if this is the kind of thing people can get over that easily.

[minespatch]

That explains more about what's happening. Thanks for explaining about Eya's creation and whatnot. I'm getting elements of Cronenberg's Fly with this story.

[MF99K]

Cycle 105:

Banhi and the new Bubbles have been getting along well enough, and Banhi's been catching her up on what they did together before. Nisbet's arm's completely healed at this point so I removed the bandages. There wasn't even a scar left over, which surprised me, but I suppose it's possible that we have some sort of regenerative property I was not aware of since that type of wound is not very common. Nisbet was in a better mood than usual, so I suppose she had been extra grumpy due to discomfort, though I still feel she is simply pretending to be more cheerful to convince us to let her out now. I guess Warper did say she might let her out after the arm heals, but that's still up to her to decide.

As soon as I saw Warper again, I mentioned that Nisbet's arm was healed completely and asked if she had decided on how long to keep her. Warper gave me an odd look and said she still intended on keeping her there for the foreseeable future since she didn't trust her not to cause more morally questionable problems. We did more tests on the 3DOP capabilities, but it ran out of ooze more quickly than anticipated. Warper insisted that the 3DOP had had enough material to print out at least twice what we had, so we tried to figure out what could account for the disappearance. Warper insisted that the only way it could have gone missing was if someone had used it to print without permission. She seemed ready to blame Nisbet, but I reminded her that Nisbet was still confined and couldn't have been able to do it. She narrowed her eyes and muttered something too far away from the translation device for me to understand. The only people who know about the printer besides Warper and I who could have used it are Banhi, Bubbles, and Eya, but I don't know what motive any of them would possibly have, and Eya doesn't seem the type to use something like that without permission. I suppose Warper's friend "Lambert" could be responsible, but if it is him it isn't much to be worried about since he's the one who created the 3DOP in the first place.

Warper was about to leave, but stopped and turned back to tell me one last thing: she had noticed that one of the cafeteria staff looked very much like a dragon, and she was very much going to tell them off at the next opportunity.

[MF99K]

Cycle 106: 

Even though my patient's arm has healed, I still figured I'd stop by the giant's desk regularly since it seems somewhat routine for me at this point. After all, we are still testing the 3DOP, and maybe Warper needs my help making more "ooze" since so much of it since there seemed to be a shortage.

Warper had asked her friend if he had used the printer by any chance, which he hadn't. She still seems to be convinced Nisbet has something to do with it, which I still don't quite follow, but she immediately switched back to a freshly-printed duplicant form (the one she had been using before degraded apparently, though she didn't elaborate) once she had gotten more "ink" into the machine. Almost as soon as she was off the printer, she explained to me that she was going to interrogate Nisbet, and that she had asked Lambert to install more translation/communication devices around the colony so it would be easier to get in touch in the future. Eya was curious as to what was going on and followed us to Nisbet's cell. She stayed outside as Warper and I entered Nisbet's room.

Spoiler

Warper: Do you know why I'm here?

Nisbet: No.

Warper: (pointing towards the 3DOP) Did you see anyone use the machine outside over there?

Nisbet: I saw you come out of it just now.

Warper: And before then?

Nisbet: You guys did something with it the other day.

Warper: (gesturing towards Nikola) Switch places with Eya. I wanna try something.

Warper asked Nisbet a few general questions, but made me switch places with Eya before continuing her interrogation. I wasn't exactly sure why, and Eya seemed confused as well. 

Spoiler

Eya: What's going on?

Warper: Just figured you two should have a chat.

Eya: ...why?

Nisbet: Why don't you have legs?

Eya: Because...I...wait.

Warper: (muttering) Called it.

Warper: (to Nisbet) Can I see your arm?

She pulls apart the tear in Nisbet's sleeve to see no sign of injury.

Warper: Nikola...

Nikola: Yes?

Warper: You said the wound healed, not that it stopped existing.

Nikola: I assumed it was-

Warper: Do you realize what's happening here? This Nisbet did not show any sort of fear response towards Eya, and didn't seem to know about her either. She also does not have a scar. Injuries are not genetic, and printed duplicants will not have scars, nor will they have any shared memories. The amount of ooze missing from the 3DOP is approximately the amount that would be needed to make a duplicant.

Nikola: If you're saying Nisbet printed herself and used her as a replacement, that still doesn't explain how she got out.

Warper: Duplicants do not handle stress well. Some go off and cry in a corner, some eat way too much. This specimen (sarcastically, gesturing to herself) has the lovely ability of emitting gastric fluids over everything, and I believe you and Nisbet are both.... very good at breaking things. I'm sure being imprisoned wouldn't be the most calming thing, and as soon as there isn't an injured arm to account for, it would be very easy to break down a door or through a glass window.

Nikola: But there's no sign of damage.

Warper: Easy. Anything that gets damaged is automatically set up for repairs, right?

Nikola: Indeed.

Warper: Then whoever was closest at the time probably got assigned to repair it and went ahead and did it. Probably even the fresh Nisbet.

Nikola: Do you have any way to deduce the original Nisbet's whereabouts?

Warper: That I do not. The best I can say is keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Also another reason it would be good to have some communication devices inside the colony.

Seems Warper was right in her suspicions about Nisbet having something to do with the 3DOP. We agreed to keep the second Nisbet where she'd been, but since neither of us could think of where she might be, our best plan for now is to see if we can find the original Nisbet before she causes any more problems.

[DragonMage156]

Ooh, the plot thickens 0u0

[I_Link_I]

I don't know how much  you have to do right now but we would realy like the story to continue. :]

[MF99K]

2 minutes ago, I_Link_I said:

I don't know how much  you have to do right now but we would realy like the story to continue. :]

unfortunately I've been super busy and also have a little bit of writer's block. I hope to get back to it as soon as I have a chance

[I_Link_I]

OK

Take your time.

[Maxposting]

Tried to read randomly, started at dupes becoming canibals for some reason...

10 outta 10

[MF99K]

9 minutes ago, __IvoCZE__ said:

Tried to read randomly, started at dupes becoming canibals for some reason...

10 outta 10

good synopsis thank

[DragonMage156]

Take your time MF and don't stress it. I'm bad with staying updated with fanfics anyay >u<;

[MF99K]

Cycle 108:

Warper decided to keep Nisbet's clone in the same cell she had kept Nisbet, and has started doing different examinations on Eya to see if theres any way Eya can keep her worm side under control, even when she's unconscious or feeling hungry. It seems that the proboscis-like organ that functions as the worm's mouth is attached to her neck in such a way that when it extends it puts pressure on the veins and arteries in her neck, thus restricting bloodflow to her brain and likely the reason behind her falling unconscious as the worm becomes active. Since it is nearly biologically impossible for her to regain control once unconscious, she can only try preventing it from extending before she faints, and cannot retract it on her own. Warper tried getting Eya to fast to see how well she could retain control while hungry, which no one else seemed to think was a good idea. Warper decided instead to try to make a better version of the neck snare that would be more comfortable for Eya. Eya agreed to wear it even though she still has difficulty eating with it on, probably since her lack of a lower mandible makes it harder to chew already.

Cycle 109:

Ellie's been acting odd the past couple days, I have a feeling she's been in contact with Nisbet, which would mean she's still around the colony somewhere. She seems to be rallying other colonists similar to how Nisbet had and seems to be taking on a sort of leadership role as well, though she hasn't outright declared herself a leader like Nisbet had. Some of the colonists have been giving me nervous glances, while Ellie herself has been shooting me suspicious glares. If Nisbet has indeed been talking with Ellie, I'm sure she hasn't told her anything good, and it's highly likely Nisbet is planning something even less good.

I had second thoughts but I decided to approach Ellie about it (though I said nothing about Nisbet). She certainly had been talking with Nisbet since she rambled about a few things she wouldn't have known about unless someone had told her (and there's a good chance that her skewed account of Nisbet's biased account of what's been happening has been spread around the colony as well, which gives good explanation as to why colonists have been treating me differently.). Ellie offered to have an arranged colony-wide meeting tomorrow to give me a chance to tell my side of the story, but that I would have to bring Eya with me. Though I have a bad feeling about this, I suppose it's the best option I have for now.

 

 

[minespatch]

Kind of creepy you're giving me these visuals in my head over a simple designed game.

[MF99K]

6 hours ago, minespatch said:

Kind of creepy you're giving me these visuals in my head over a simple designed game.

what do you mean?

[minespatch]

17 minutes ago, MF99K said:

what do you mean?

 

On 4/18/2019 at 6:08 AM, MF99K said:

. It seems that the proboscis-like organ that functions as the worm's mouth is attached to her neck in such a way that when it extends it puts pressure on the veins and arteries in her neck, thus restricting bloodflow to her brain and likely the reason behind her falling unconscious as the worm becomes active.

Just creepy imagining this in the artstyle of the game.

[MF99K]

54 minutes ago, minespatch said:

 

Just creepy imagining this in the artstyle of the game.

y e a h uh