Earth Escape

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Author's Note Sorry that took so long, redrawing everything took a while.

>Let's not be too hasty and judge the situation before the facts are all in place. This could be a terrifying lab of horribly painful and amoral experiments, OR it could be that you've stumbled onto a harmless movie studio between filming sessions. Honestly, this could be your big break into showbiz.

God you're such a downer Jaque can't you see this is in fact wicked fucking sick and also rad as hell

Jaque:
Yeah. Right. It might be okay. It might be fine. Not gonna freak out. I’m good. Tooootally good.

>Look at those monitors! Someone or something has been keeping tabs on your situation. That means they still might be nearby, recording this all like some sort of twisted game!

MICROCHIP G-45:
Jaque snaps their attention to the screens in the far back of the room. One of them appears to have been monitoring us. Another camera is watching a hallway while the screen beside it is either turned off or completely broken. The last screen shows...



...some ungodly monstrosity. Needless to say, this isn’t doing wonders for Jaque’s stress-level.

Jaque:
Oh great cosmic entity what is that… that thing?

MC-G45:
Steady there, Skibber, you’re going to need to put a cap on that anxiety. We can’t afford a panic attack. Oh and, this should have been obvious, keep your voice down. We don't know what's in here.

Jaque:
R-right… Right. Sorry.

>Quickly and quietly check for threats/enemies. If none are found, perhaps popping out an ally or two would be helpful?

MICROCHIP-G45:
Threat level really depends on where we actually are. At first glance, nothing seems to be attacking us. There's a distinct temperature drop in here from the room despite the warm lighting. Enough to be noticeable but not enough to make you shiver. We can hear a faint buzzing from the monitors, some low and steady beeping from machines, the faint wisp of air being filtered through vents and some soft dripping from...somewhere we can't see.

Unless this is an extremely elaborate charade, everything in here feels very real. Severed alien heads hooked up to machines, bodies held in stasis, steel tables with binds, overhanging metal claws… It would make an amazing movie set if it was one, but I doubt it.

My system is still fried from the hit we took earlier, but my scans are showing, not including us, two signs of sentient life in the immediate area. The rest are either no longer with us, or held in deep stasis. Other than general warning signs, I detect no threats in the room just yet.

Jaque:
So... we’re safe?

MC-G45:
For now, yes. It looks like we’re in here with other off-worlders. We should look for an ally. We’ll have a better chance of survival if we’re not alone. Especially if they know the area.

Jaque:
Yeah. Yeah, okay.

~Jaque steadies themself~

>knock on the bunny boi's glass enclosure. Be annoyingly loud too while repeating "what's up doc?" like a broken record.

Jaque:
Hmm. I wonder...

Bunny:
Excuse me.

~Jaque jumps in surprise at the sudden voice~

Jaque:
Oh! H-hello! I was just about to--

Bunny:
‘This bunny’ is female, and if you're thinking of taking that Graveyard suggestion to heart, there’s a human scientist here who asks me that every day. Do you really want to know ‘what’s up’, or do you have some more substantial questions in mind?

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NOTE You may talk to the rabbit directly, or continue to suggest dialogue and actions for Jaque and their microchip.

NEXT

>"WOAH YOU CAN READ MINDS?"

,> why are you in that tank?

We are a Graveyard?
Where are we?

>Ask if she needs help getting out, or if she's comfy in there. Who knows, it might just as well be some sort of life support thing as a prison.

>Do you want out?

also

>What's your favorite color?

Hello and sorry for the wait. We're on crunch time at work and it's taking up a lot of my free time as well. Will get this on a more consistent schedule once work has cooled down.

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Spoilerdo your cool and rude mind-reading powers give you the power to open spoilers, loser

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Spoilerdo your cool and rude mind-reading powers give you the power to open spoilers, loser

Speaking of those who can't open boxes, "great cosmic entity" is a really lameass name for a god to swear by. Maybe go with something like "Apollo" or "Helios" instead.
this is what the refrance

>"WOAH YOU CAN READ MINDS?"

Bunny:
Kind of.

MICROCHIP G-45:
The rabbit's piercing blank gaze bores into us. A little intimidating, but she doesn't give an air of ill-intent. She seems to be studying us, deciding what kind of person and artificial person we are. Whether or not she can trust us perhaps.

On closer inspection I can tell what she means by 'kind of' reading our minds.

MC-G45:
She has a microchip.

Bunny:
Yep. Gen 27. The generation of minimal privacy and just a ton of hacking. I’ve tapped my way into your system. So you could say I can see your thoughts, but only things that pass through you, Gen 45.

We are a Graveyard?

Where are we?

Bunny:
Oh… that’s a bit of a heavy question.



Jaque:
Waitwaitwait--Graveyard? THAT’S who you’ve been talking to?

MC-G45:
Er…

Bunny:
You didn’t tell your host?

Jaque:
Of course not! Why would the thing living in my head tell me anything important ever?

MC-G45:
Look, I was going to but I knew you’d freak out.

Bunny:
Well, sit tight then. It’s exposition time.

Bunny:
‘The Graveyard’, for those of you poor souls out there who don’t know, is a network of microchip AIs whose hosts have passed on but were not deactivated upon death. It’s speculated that there is a physical location for this Graveyard but we have no idea where it could be or why anyone would bother to keep these AIs active.




A Host’s passing can be extremely disorienting for older microchip models who lack the auto-shut off modification newer gens possess. Nobody wants to be alone for eternity. Microchips in this position often try to reach out to anyone and anything that might hear them. This many voices trying to connect to each other all at once creates a pool. AIs leaking into each other’s systems, bleeding into each other’s memories. Many become disoriented and lost in the sea of voices. Some forget who they were and what they were a part of before their host’s death. A few may not even realize they’re dead at all. Like some of you. Sorry.




Active AIs in dead hosts are sometimes referred to as ‘ghosts’ by so-called 'insane theorists'. Any reported activity of Graveyard ghosts trying to contact the ‘living’ is quickly shut down by ICP authorities tracking chips through the Infonet. So the conspiracies go. And as if that wasn’t enough, there should also be hidden firewalls in a microchip’s system to stop ghosts from getting there in the first place.




A microchip's job is to help their host along their journey. So ghosts trying to make 'suggestions' or ask questions like they would with their own host is just natural behaviour. If we can call anything about embedded microchip technology 'natural'.

Jaque:
But … that’s a myth!

Bunny:
It’s a buried secret disguised as a myth. It looks like some of the Graveyard voices have reached out to you because, for whatever reason, your firewalls are down and you're disconnected from the Infonet. Nothing should be able to override those, they’re completely and flawlessly embedded in your systems. Even I couldn't do that. You, my friend, are entirely off-grid. Impressive.

Jaque:
That’s not… wholly our doing.



Bunny:
So I figured. Absolutely none of these settings are regulation, especially not for, what are you, a medical officer? A junior medical officer? You’re in deep, friend. You seem like you have a good story, though. I like that.



Jaque:
Oh uh. Thanks. I guess.

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Spoilerdo your cool and rude mind-reading powers give you the power to open spoilers, loser

Jaque:
Hey, uh, what’s a ‘spoiler’?

MC-G45:
Slang for an encrypted message.

Jaque:
Can she read those?



Bunny:
I cannot. Encrypted messages can only be opened by those intended to receive.

Jaque:
So you can see Graveyard stuff sent normally but an encrypted message sent to G45 can only be seen by me and it?

Bunny:
Correct.

MC-G45:
Hm. Good to know.

"Great cosmic entity" is a really lameass name for a god to swear by. Maybe go with something like "Apollo" or "Helios" instead.

Jaque:
Hey that’s just what it’s called.

MC-G45:
I wasn’t going to say anything… but it is a mouthful.



Jaque:
Fine, okay, listen, if you Graveyard people...chips…ghosts... whatever, have some better alternate names for the entity, go nuts. I’m sure it wouldn’t mind. But is now really the time?

MC-G45:
Probably not. But when the time does come, ask for some new swear words too.

> why are you in that tank?

Bunny:
Er. Well. I got caught.

Jaque:
Caught doing what?

~The rabbit shifts uneasily, looking away from Jaque~

Bunny:
Just… caught. Its not important right now, I can explain later.

MC-G45:
How informative.

>Ask if she needs help getting out, or if she's comfy in there. Who knows, it might just as well be some sort of life support thing as a prison.

Jaque:
So, do yo--

Bunny:
Yes.

Jaque:
Yes… you want out?

Bunny:
No, yes I’m comfy in this gelatinous stasis with my head hooked up to nonsense.

MC-G45:
Oh, well if that’s the case, Jaque and I will just--



Bunny:
No! That was sarcasm! Of course I want out! I've been held captive here for months! I hate this!

~Jaque holds their hands up defensively. They're not sure if they can trust her, but she doesn't seem hostile and that G27 microchip could prove useful.~

Jaque:
Okay! Okay, I don't doubt you.

Bunny:
The scientist who maintains this lab will be back in ten minutes, assuming she takes her full lunch break. We have to hurry.
NEXT

>Bunny, we're scared of hurting you by accident, what's the proper procedure for shutting down one of these tanks and not frying you in the process

We could just..... kill the scientist. Give us some more time to really ＰＵＺＺＬＥ this out

>Kick the glass like one of those ninja people you were into when you were smaller.

>Punch the vat with your hand. You're strong enough, don't worry.

I don't think you can break the glass with force, otherwise the bunny would have already done that. Ask her which console the scientist uses to control it, and see if you can do something about it.

I don't think you can break the glass with force, otherwise the bunny would have already done that. Ask her which console the scientist uses to control it, and see if you can do something about it.

I mean, bunno is inside a liquid. Trying to break something with force under liquid is gonna be pretty hard.

Code:

$set CUR_STATE_POINTER (void *) (rand() 2<<32)

Faced with the sudden, crippling realization of my previous host's death, I inject a stream of random garbage data into my current host's head, unable to function properly.

>Bunny, we're scared of hurting you by accident, what's the proper procedure for shutting down one of these tanks and not frying you in the process

Bunny:
Well, you would need to use the console in the back and type a command that I can feed you. That will unlock the tubes connecting to the wall. Pull them out. Once they’re disconnected, the fluid in the tank is going to drain out of them so… expect goo. The wall-tubes filter the excess fluid, without them there’s too much pressure so the cycle will shut off and the tank will drain. An alarm will sound as soon as they’re pulled, alerting security. Don’t worry about the glass, it’ll depressurize when the fluid is gone so all you have to do is push a button on the base and viola. I’m free.

Jaque:
How fast until security reaches us?

Bunny:
...Pretty fast.

Jaque:
Any way to override the alarms? Or deactivate the tank without spilling goo everywhere?

Bunny:
Probably, but I don’t know how. I only know what I do from listening in on conversations. It’s like they forget I’m here sometimes, I swear.

We could just..... kill the scientist. Give us some more time to really ＰＵＺＺＬＥ this out

Jaque:
We can’t do that! It would be wrong!

MC-G45:
Well why not? Isn’t she evil? We'd be doing the universe a favour. One less terrible person around.



Bunny:
To be honest, I’m not opposed.



Jaque:
Are you kidding me? I’m not going to kill someone! I study medicine!



Bunny:
Hey! She didn’t do anything to you yet, but she’s the one responsible for most of the horrors in this room. Like the suspended heads and bodies in the back there. Does the phrase ‘alien autopsy’ mean anything to you?



Jaque:
I’m not saying she’s not awful, I’m saying I don’t want to resort to murder where I can avoid it.



Bunny:
Hmph. You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen her in action. But I’ll respect your pacifism for now.

MC-G45:
Both of you will regret that. But don't listen to the microchip. Whose job is to help you.

Jaque:
Shut up. Anyway, is there any other way to get you out or is the alarm-causing process the only one?

Bunny:
Not that I know of. Anyone else have anything?

>Kick the glass like one of those ninja people you were into when you were smaller.

>Punch the vat with your hand. You're strong enough, don't worry.

Bunny:
No! Don’t do that, you’re going to break something!



Jaque:
Could that something be the glass?



Bunny:
Your bones, Jaque.

I don't think you can break the glass with force, otherwise the bunny would have already done that. Ask her which console the scientist uses to control it, and see if you can do something about it.

Bunny:
This one gets it. For the record, it’s the one by that scrapped robot back there. This is probably our best option right now.

Jaque:
I guess I’ll get ready to run, then.

Bunny:
We might get lucky. Most people are still out for lunch, there could be a window of time before anyone realizes.

~Jaque nods to themself and tries to remain calm. They're starting to burn out a little from earlier. Best to just keep moving.~

Jaque:
Right. Well, it’s worth a shot.

MC-G45:
I'd feel better about this if our mods would work.

Jaque:
Yeah...

Bunny:
We'll be fine, just get me out first! I will be useful, I promise.

Jaque:
On it.

MICROCHIP G-45:
Jaque heads over to the console, their footsteps echoing on the cold, metal floor. The distance feels longer than it is. The air feels heavier than it is. Jaque hopes this feeling is just their own anxious fear from being in this strange place, and not some deadly foreshadowing.



As they approach the monitor, they can hear gurgling sounds from the locked door near the dead robot. They try to ignore it. It's not important.





Jaque presses the obvious ‘on’ button and the screen flickers to life. The monitor whirrs and the lights buzz ever so slightly. Jaque gets ready.

Jaque:
Okay. Let's do this. You got the password?

Bunny:
Yes, it’s--

Code:

$set CUR_STATE_POINTER (void *) (rand() 2<<32)

Faced with the sudden, crippling realization of my previous host's death, I inject a stream of random garbage data into my current host's head, unable to function properly.

MICROCHIP G-45:
A sudden stream of incomprehensible code floods into my--///sys--t**em++ I]] a-an==d--

Jaque:
ARRGH! What are you doing!??



Bunny:
It’s not me! One of the ghosts is having some kind of crisis!

MC-G45:
It’ s mes si ng with m y--$47 @ can’t--++//true Set: 77--

Jaque:
G45? Are you-- Ahh! Forget it, Bunny! Or um, I don't know your real name-- the password! We’ll deal with this stuff later!

Bunny:
Right! It's 10-15-3-5-12-25-14-LGM-1 to get in, then type 476 899 004 632 into ‘main vat access, rear pipes’!

Jaque:
Okay! It was hard to hear you but I think I’ve got it, just give me a--

KiCk thE LADY like one of those ninja people you were into when you were smaller.

the glasses are the source of her power. this is some glass you actually can break with your bare hands

Why do i have a feeling that she's going to tear us a new one.

>Try and convince her that you're the new janitor. What have you got to lose at this point?

or

>You've got sharp teeth, that means your species is carnivorous. Threaten to bite her with your primal rage and feral ravenousness.

>Scientist: Have a disdain for physical effort, instead use a remote control to chase the alien with the robot arm.
>Comedic chase sequence with exaggerated cartoon physics: Ensue.

Hey y'all. So next update is gonna have some ~animation~ which means it's gonna take a while. Never really done something like this for an adventure before so we'll see how it goes.

Hey y'all. So next update is gonna have some ~animation~ which means it's gonna take a while. Never really done something like this for an adventure before so we'll see how it goes.

Awesome. I can't wait.