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GBCE · 12-01-2009, 06:42 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Robust Laser · 12-01-2009, 07:10 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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GBCE · 12-01-2009, 07:58 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Blue-Clone-Ninja.

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Robust Laser · 12-01-2009, 08:09 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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**Schazer** · 12-01-2009, 08:22 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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Robust Laser · 12-01-2009, 08:26 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by cyber95.

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Dragon Fogel · 12-01-2009, 09:10 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Draykon Wrote:

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SpoilerIt's interesting, but it does seem like no one who's left is all that prone to cause too much mass confusion here. Nathan I guess maybe, but look at the deceased contestants:

Dokurumets: Ghost, broad daylight, 'nuff said.
Alcarith: She probably wouldn't, but if she'd went dragon form here, would've scared the hell outta pretty much everyone.
Lutherion: FUCKING UNDEAD ARMIES!

So yeah, seems like this place came a little late. o.o

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GBCE · 12-01-2009, 09:53 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by OddGuy.

It was a rather average day for Bartleby. Customers came and went, of course, and he managed to sell a few coats. However, it seemed there was a bit of a disruption. A fairly raggedy looking teen was the store, which was odd, as Bartleby couldn't remember seeing him enter the store. Nevertheless, he was a potential troublemaker, so Bartleby approached him and politely asked what he was looking for this day.

"Well, as you can see, a new set of clothes would be nice. Could you direct me towards the suits and other such wear?," he asked, Bartleby not completely sure the teen was being serious.

"Well, if you'll follow me, I'd be more than happy to assist you," Bartleby said, a false smile painted on him face as he guided the teen towards the suits and dress shirts. "Is there anything in particular you're looking for?," he asked.

The teen ignored Bartleby, and went straight to the darker jackets, picking out a black jacket and black tie, with matching pants and shoes. After he had all of the items in his arms, he immediately went into the changing room, locking the door behind him. After a few minutes, Bartleby began to wonder what was taking so long.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you need some assistance?," Bartleby asked, half-sarcastic. A voice inside admitted that it could, in fact, use some help, and unlocked the door. Bartleby then entered to assist.

About five minutes afterward, the demon was exiting the department store wearing his new suit, an oddly shaped golden pin shining on his lapel. Although in the dressing room, there was now a crimson stain that would probably never quite wash out, he had managed to avoid getting his suit stained. The demon smiled, two rows of sharp, shark-like teeth, and continued to smile as he walked down the street.

Dragon Fogel · 12-01-2009, 10:13 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Eximo had been sitting still for nearly ten minutes. The lifeforms seemed to have lost interest in it, though they were still keeping their distance. It didn't have enough knowledge of local customs to realize the significance of the sirens blaring nearby.

Outside the construction site, a police van stopped. The bomb squad had arrived. One of the officers walked up to the foreman, and looked at Eximo quizzically.

"Yeah, I can see why you called us. I don't think that's a bomb, but damned if I know what it is. We'll take a look at it anyways, once everyone clears out. Just in case."

The officers escorted the workers off the site, and then turned their attention to the strange machine.

"What do you make of this, Larry? It looks like some kinda vacuum cleaner, aside from the weird bony arms."
"It's probably just some kid's idea of a prank. If somebody really wanted to set off a bomb, why would they put it in something that stands out so much?"
"Yeah. Well, let's start by opening it up, see if there's anything weird inside..."
"Inadvisable."
The officers looked at each other, surprised.
"Larry, did you say that?"
"No, wasn't me."
There was a pause.
"Maybe the kid that planted this here has a speaker set up or something. Anyways, enough messing around. We're just here to make sure this thing won't blow up, so let's open it up..."
"Proceeding with that course of action will leave this unit with no choice but to initiate defensive measures."
The officers looked at each other again.
"Stan, it's just a speaker. Right? Some kid's playing a prank on us. Don't fall for it, just open the damn thing up so we can go back and stop wasting time here."
"Right, Larry. Here goes." Stan took out his screwdriver and poked at one of the machine's screws.
A moment later, two skeletal arms picked up Stan and Larry, and tossed them aside.
"Larry, I think we're gonna need backup for this one."

GBCE · 12-01-2009, 11:07 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

There are a number of critical mistakes one can easily make when being pursued. Mind you, the conspiracy theorist didn't necessarily realize he was being followed, but that still didn't excuse him from turning into an unfamiliar alleyway, hoping it to be a safe spot to rest.
Needless to say, Amethyst easily found him cornered. During the chase, she had found enough time to contemplate her story, and was prepared to make use of it.
"Deny my demands without attempting to escape, and you shall be erased. Deny my demands and attempt to escape, and I shall make use of this form to label you a criminal in the eyes of these humans, and leave you to their penal system. Obey my commands, and you shall be allowed to maintain your existance, and possibly your memory."
The man cowered a little, but slowly nodded.
"Very well. You are to identify any 'abnormalities' in my appearance, and provide me with clothing to conceal them."
"S-so, you want me to..."
"Make me look normal please."

Actually, this was comforting to the man. If all she wanted was to blend in... he could probably get away alive without problems.
Of course, it meant the aliens were living among us completely hidden, but suddenly that didn't seem as important.
He nodded again, and quickly guided her to a nearby clothing store.
"Out of curiosity..." Amethyst said, as the conspiracy theorist searched through the store, hoping to find something that would please the alien.
"What features of mine do you intend to attempt to hide?"
The man weakly chocked out, "Well, your hair is..."
"What's wrong with my hair?"
"Well" he continued, his slowly restoring confidence drained back to zero, "It's purple..."
"Oh... that's bad...?"
"It's not normal..." the man barely squeaked, as he picked out a black hoodie, hoping it would match Amethyst's style. In truth she was completely indifferent.

They continued, adding to the hoodie a pair of blue jeans, and sunglasses. Amethyst changed in one of the stalls, raised the hood, and carefully tucked her hair behind it. She now looked incredibly suspicious, but at least she had left uncanny valley. The original dress was dematerialized by her armband, and stored.

As the walked to the door, there was a scream from back in the changing stalls. The man spun around, and immediately regretted it. Blood- far more than should be found in a normal human- flowed out of one stalls, almost flooding the store. Floating mangled on top of the pool, was the body of the employee Nathan had killed. Amethyst quickly stepped to the other side of the door, so as not to get blood on her new clothes. The conspiracy theorist simply stared.
"A time-delayed replication spell. Considering the motif, most likely a demon's prank. I would recommend cleaning it up quickly, it's probably cursed."
And with that, Amethyst simply walked off.

Dragon Fogel · 12-02-2009, 03:38 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Eximo was concerned. The lifeforms had suddenly taken an unpleasant interest in it, and it soon become clear that they were armed.

It was not interested in a fight, so it considered its options. It could break through the fence, but its scans indicated that there were more life forms out there, and they might be hostile as well.

But it had another option. It reached into its storage compartment and pulled out the crystal broomstick. Moments later, it was airborne, and flying away from the construction site.

The officers watched, jaws agape. Finally, Larry recovered his composure enough to speak.

"...Okay, Stan, do you want to call headquarters and tell them that a vacuum cleaner with skeleton arms just flew away from here holding onto some kind of crystal broomstick, or should I?"
"...You do it. You've got seniority."

GBCE · 12-03-2009, 03:56 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by dexexe1234.

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Aryogaton · 12-10-2009, 05:35 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

"Are you sure you didn't steal this?"

"Yes." Aeon said, moderately frustrated.

"Then tell me how you came about $50 within 10 minutes?"

"There's a pawn shop near this store. I traded in something." Aeon had sold the silver charm used two rounds ago. The pawnbroker couldn't identify it, but he nevertheless accepted it for its weight in silver.

"All this for a shirt? You seem to have a strange sense of priorities."

"Tell me about it. I have the money, just give me the shirt already."

The shopkeeper sighed and began typing into the register. "Who are you, anyway? I don't think I've ever seen you around here."

Aeon thought for a moment. "Let's just say I'm in the middle of a vacation gone horribly wrong."

"A vacation? You're not from bAtTlEoPoLiS?"

Aeon paused. The shopkeeper was obviously unaware of his change in voice. From the context of the sentence, it looked as if his words were altered, the name of this place being artifically changed into something else.

"No, I'm not from... here. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I've never quite heard of someone coming in from outside the city."

"Really?"

"Yeah. For some reason people never manage to make it out or in. A few years ago the governor tried to establish an airport, but it kept on getting technical difficulties and was hardly ever used, and it was closed down."

"Interesting. Where is this airport?"

"Well most of the road signs are taken down, but it's on the eastern edge of the city."

The shopkeeper finished the transaction and handed Aeon his bland shirt. The one paper note he had before was exchanged for more paper notes, along with a few coins. Counting only the notes, Aeon could see that the shirt had cost him most of his money. A silver coin is worth a cheap shirt? This is ridiculous. Aeon walked towards the changing rooms to get rid of his old shirt. On the way, he passed by a pale-looking female in a black hoodie with noticeably large sunglasses, accompanied by a rather nervous-looking man. As soon as he got near to the changing rooms, however, he heard a scream and could sense a distinct smell of blood. At once the girl with the black hoodie rushed to the changing rooms, with the man, looking absolutely terrified, following her. They entered the changing room and the man immediately came out, looking nauseous. Aeon walked into the room, acting curious.

At this point it became clear to Aeon who the girl was. She noticed him, but otherwise did little. Aeon looked at the room in front of her and saw it flowing with fresh blood. He grimaced, and entered a different room. Inside, he changed into his new shirt and muttered, "Jeez, this place is getting stranger and stranger. I bet that's some kind of prank pulled by those foreign kids. I need to get out of here, fast." Aeon exited the changing room to see the blood largely cleaned up, and the girl nowhere to be found.

As Aeon walked towards the store exit, he tossed his old shirt into a nearby bin. In doing so, he also noticed that the girl and man left the store and were now standing right outside to the right of the doorway, clearly visible through the glass front of the store. The girl told the man something, and he nodded. The girl then looked back into the store, to no particular position, and looked back towards the street.

Aeon exited the store and turned left. As if on cue, he was immediately grabbed from behind and blindfolded. He made some effort to escape, but he was held fairly tight. A few minutes later, his blindfold was taken off and he faced the girl, the man clearly attempting to look confident, but failing. Aeon stood up, and it took little time for him to realize that he was cornered, in the alleyway.

Well, it's about time you did that, Aeon thought, looking panicked.

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"Leave me with him. I have things to discuss."

"But why-"

Amethyst faced the conspiracy theorist. At once, he understood and left the alley. Amethyst whispered something inaudible and the hum of vehicles driving along the busy road stopped.

"It's about time you did that." Aeon said. "What did you tell him, by the way?"

"He is a conspiracy theorist who believes I am an alien. He has proved somewhat useful. I told him that you were another alien, who lost communications and was trapped in this city for longer than I have been here--long enough to devise a decent disguise."

"Alright."

"Meanwhile, what have you observed about this city?"

"Other than its strange placements of monetary value, I have found that the name of this city--or providence, I really don't know--is somehow blocked out. Its societal system is somewhat similar to my own, only more complex and... busy. I have gained some currency, but I spent most of it on a shirt. I was planning to go to a hospital, when you showed up."

"Very well then." Amethyst uttered some more inaudible incantations and a pair of small crystals appeared. "This will allow us to communicate. I have found that the bleeding corpse in the clothing store is likely the work of the demon. As of now, however, he is likely either causing extreme chaos or blending in perfectly with his surroundings--locating him will either be very easy or very fruitless, as the demon seems highly intelligent. Thus our best course of action is to locate Eximo, to prevent him... it... from causing unnecessary harm. You may go to the hospital, I believe it is not too far away. I will locate Eximo."

"Ah, very well then." Aeon began to walk out of the alley. As he walked, the sound of vehicles on the road returned, and he passed by the conspiracy theorist. Thinking it best to be consistent with Amethyst's alibi, Aeon gave him a well-practiced gaze that he knew caused people uncanny fear. Aeon headed towards the hospital with a subtle feeling of triumph.

Amethyst exited the alleyway a few seconds later.

"W-what's up with him?" the conspiracy theorist said, quietly.

"I told you, he has been trapped on this planet for weeks. Surely that would be enough time to develop severe disdain of humans?" Amethyst said nonchalantly.

"Er... right. Also, I saw what looked like a vacuum cleaner hanging off a flying broomstick, if that's relevent at all..."

Amethyst nearly jumped, but was able to avoid showing visible signs of concern. "Which direction did it go?"

The conspiracy theorist pointed towards where he saw it fly off to.

"Try to keep up. This is a serious matter." Amethyst said as she sprited towards that direction, keeping an eye on her armband. The conspiracy theorist followed as fast as he could.

----------

"Good morning, sir."

"Hello. I have a few minor injuries and a... punctured eye." Aeon lifted his eyepatch and let the woman see the remains of his eye.

The receptionist paused. "Dr. Tennyson will be with you shortly."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, Aeon was called to a hospital room. Inside, a skinny woman greeted him and asked him what ailed him, and he told her.

"Oh, my. The punctures seem to be mostly healed, but your eye is horribly damaged. You seem to have avoided any infection, but the scar tissue that has grown around the eye probably means it will have to be removed. Now, how did this happen?"

This woman seems familiar. A bit young, yes, but still... "For the minor injuries, I had a window broken on me. Then, someone took a shard of glass and stabbed my eye with it."

"Oh." She seemed visibly disconcerted. "Do you feel any pain right now?"

Yes, the connection is definitely there. But, I have to make sure... "No, it seems to have been numbed down, mostly."

"Okay. We'll first clean up all this blood, and then we can see what we can do about the eye."

"Say, what did you say your name was?"

"I am Dr. Amelia Tennyson, why do you ask?"

"You... remind me of someone. Do you know anyone named Nathan?"

"Yes, I have a nephew called Nathan. He's a bit of a devil, though."

Ah!

"Alright." Dr. Tennyson proceeded to clean up the dried blood. All of the minor wounds simply needed a cleaning. The eye, however, was irreversibly damaged.

"Come to think of it, you look pretty familiar too. I think I had some kind of dream involving floating islands... and I think I remember someone with a colorful eyepatch."

What? Emily died before last round. Dammit, Director, leave the dead at peace.

"Alright, so there's very little we can do about the eye. It's never going to work again, so the best course of action right now is to remove it."

"Actually, are there any problems with just keeping it there?"

"Well no, not really, but I would highly recommend just removing it."

"This may seem strange, but I would rather not do an operation, thanks."

Dr. Tennyson looked at Aeon quizzically.

"It's a long story. Can I have my eyepatch now?"

"Here you go. So, is this all?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, have a good day."

Aeon left the hospital. The basic cleanup did not merit any payment, and thus he had avoided getting paperwork or other hassle done. Nevertheless, Aeon did find something interesting. He took the crystal communicator, ready to give Amethyst the information.

Dragon Fogel · 12-10-2009, 05:50 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Eximo's flight was rather undirected, as it had no particular goal in mind. It simply wanted to escape.

Suddenly, it stopped in midair and slowly fell to the ground. Something seemed to have caught its interest. It landed, put the broom away, and smashed through the doors of the store ahead of it.

Amethyst and her reluctant guide reached the store not long after. Amethyst looked at the gaping hole in the door, then up at the store's sign.

It read, "BOB'S APPLIANCE MEGASTORE".

Keeping Eximo out of trouble was not going to be easy.

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GBCE · 12-10-2009, 09:29 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

[background=black:1s4k2mi5]Embrake, a city consumed with darkness.
Everywhere, signs that civilization once thrived.
Everywhere, signs that it does not now.
At each end, a crack in space,
From which the darkness flowed.

A girl- clearly no older than 16- drifted overhead. Surrounding her was an aura of darkness. The darkness swirled, and formed into a shape some might call humanoid. A maniac look was on the girl's face, as she swung her arms. The black figure followed suit, swinging its massive claws at insects, as they swarmed over it, firing their simplistic magic towards it.

This was a good thing... Midnara's powers were aligned with negative emotion...
So it was good she was gone... but she couldn't think of it that way.
She had two armies to defeat on her own now, so Midnara couldn't be optimistic. Instead, she screamed.
"GODDAMMIT AMETHYST! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"[/background:1s4k2mi5]

***

A girl walked through the streets of BaTtLEtroPOLis, no older than 16. Her black hair was done up in pigtails. She wore a dull gray school uniform, and a clearly unhappy expression.

***

Amethyst did her best to appear casual, as she stepped over what had been the door. Despite its size, the store wasn't exactly crowded, three or four people had been browsing casually. Now their attention was focused on the door. A consequence of this was a series of stares directed towards Amethyst's general direction.

She ignored them, and quickly began to search the store. The shelves were arranged in a rather strange manner, forming almost a maze-like structure. Something else about it struck Amethyst as vaguely familiar, but as she couldn't isolate what exactly, she didn't think about it.

It was about this time Amethyst received Aeon's message. Doing her best to make the communications crystal look like some weird cell phone, she held it up.
"Hello? Amethyst? Do you read me?"
"I do Aeon. What have you found?"
"Well, it's weird. But there was a doctor at the hospital who looked just like that priestess from the earlier rounds. She even said her name was 'Amelia.'"
Amethyst took a moment to think about this.
"Interesting. Was there anything else interesting about her?"
"Actually yeah, she said she had a nephew named 'Nathan' who was 'a bit of a devil'"
Amethyst paused again. Definitely strange. Subconsciously she devised a few different explanations, but decided not to share them with Aeon just yet, especially with the Conspiracy Theorist- what was his name anyway?- listening in.
"Definitely interesting. At any rate, I have located Eximo, but I have severe doubts that I will be able to control his actions. If nothing else however, he seems to have wandered into a relatively unpopulated store. I would recommend you search for the city for any further anomalies."

Amethyst replaced the crystal in her pocket, and resumed the search for Eximo.

Aryogaton · 12-10-2009, 10:17 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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GBCE · 12-10-2009, 10:23 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Aryogaton · 12-10-2009, 11:23 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Aeon walked aimlessly through the sidewalk. He had been told to look for anomalies, but he lacked any sort of device that would be able to find one. Luckily, he no longer looked homeless, aside from the eyepatch, so he did not attract any attention. Aeon thought for a moment. I know Amethyst and I are still alive. She also mentioned both Nathan and Eximo. Aeon stopped mid-step for a brief moment, then continued to walk. Holy shit, Lutherion is dead...

----------

A burly-looking man was standing in front of an average-looking house.

*Ding*

A few seconds passed. The door did not open.

Not again... The man walked onto the porch and stopped in front of a window. It was fairly high up. The only time he doesn't open the door is when he's in his study... heh...

"Hey douchebag, what's up?!" the man screamed with a grin as he lifted himself to the sill. Inside the house, there could be seen a couple of desks, a rather large bookshelf, some random papers and trinkets, and that infamous computer. It was on standby. The papers, books, and trinkets were all neartly arranged and organized, and the room was essentially spotless. However, the chair was empty. The man lowered himself from the window, leaving a set of handprints--well, a bigger set of handprints--on the wooden frame. He jumped over the fence and left.

The fuck? He's really disappeared...

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Dragon Fogel · 12-12-2009, 02:17 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Simmons sighed as he walked down the aisles. Usually, this was a slow time of year - the big holiday sale was only a week away, so most people held off on shopping until then. Unless they desperately needed a new washing machine, of course.

And Simmons liked it that way. He had time to relax on the job. But the broken door needed to be investigated, and poor Simmons had been told to search the store to see if the culprit was inside.

That seemed unlikely. The door was most likely an act of vandalism, nothing more - if a thief had been interested, why draw attention by breaking the door? And any thief would probably only be interested in the cash register, anyways. They didn't sell much that could be easily carried out. The vacuum cleaners, perhaps, but those would still be very conspicuous.

As if on cue, as he headed down the next aisle, a strange-looking vacuum cleaner zoomed past him on its own.

"What on earth? We don't sell any automated models..." Before he could finish that thought, two more vacuum cleaners zoomed past.

He considered going back and reporting this, but they'd think he was crazy. The vacuum cleaner aisle wasn't far - clearly, whatever prankster was behind this would be there. He'd just have to apprehend the troublemaker before this got out of hand.

As Simmons approached the aisle, he carefully hid himself behind the side of a shelf and peeked out to get a good look at whatever amateur tinker was messing with the vacuum cleaners.

He wasn't expecting it to be another vacuum cleaner. Stranger still, this one had skeletal arms. It was using them, and unrecognizable tools, to modify the vacuums on display. Another one zipped past Simmons, completely ignoring him.

Simmons considered yelling at the strange machine and demanding that it stop, but he wasn't sure what the best words for this situation were. Or if the bizarre device was hostile.

He decided he'd tell his boss. Sure, he'd probably be fired, but that would just mean the weird vacuum-monster and its mechanical army would no longer be his problem. He headed back, as Eximo completed work on VC Unit 57.

Dragon Fogel · 12-12-2009, 04:36 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Dragon Fogel · 12-15-2009, 07:24 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Eximo completed VC Unit 65. This store was considerably better-stocked than the last one it had been in; it could quite feasibly make 200 VC units. That would be more than enough to keep the store clean, especially as this store wasn't so full of dust.

However, Eximo had grander plans than simply keeping one store clean. The new VC units would be programmed to cleanse the entire city of filth. And 200 would likely not be enough for that purpose. Still, that could wait - in the meantime, Eximo had materials at hand, and it would get as much use out of them as it could before looking for more.

GBCE · 12-16-2009, 02:10 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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GBCE · 12-16-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by dexexe1234.

Dragon Fogel Wrote:

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SpoilerI just realized I should clarify something - Eximo has started numbering the new VCs from where it left off before. It was working on 43 and was interrupted, so the first one built here is #44.

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GBCE · 12-19-2009, 06:19 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

The black haired girl had reached an apartment building. She walked in quietly, and ascended the stairs.
Midnara approached a room, the very end of the hall on the highest floor. She placed her hand on the door, and began to think.
Her thoughts shifted to a certain concept. A colossal black figure, surrounded by beams of darkness. But it wasn't an intimidating figure, it was a sad one.
In her mind, Midnara borrowed one of the creature's beams, and slipped it into the door. She bent it around, and slowly clicked the locking mechanism, and unlocked the door.

She had no idea why that worked.

***

At least twenty automated vacuum cleaners were zooming around the store, and Amethyst had no idea how to handle the situation. At least she'd managed to find Eximo, hard at work on one of the vacuums.

After what felt like forever of contemplating, Amethyst finally approached Eximo, just as he finished VC-70.

"Eximo, you intend to cleanse the area, correct?"

"Affirmative. This unit's purpose is to cleanse. Therefore, this unit will cleanse."

"And is that the sole factor in your actions?"
Eximo paused for a moment.
"Other minor factors exist. Time spent sorting them individually would reduce time spent on cleansing."

"I see. I ask because I am reminded somewhat of an old model of human psychology. It stated that- and mind you I do not believe this- every action performed by a human is done so with the ultimate goal of either destruction, or sexual satisfaction. It sounds ridiculous at first, but enough humans believed it that it became a seriously considered theory."

She paused for a moment.

"If this model can be considered acceptable, is it possible that you- an entity whose 'purpose' is to cleanse, could achieve a more complicated existence? Do you not believe there are situations in which it would be best not to cleanse?"

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Dragon Fogel · 12-19-2009, 07:35 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

Eximo paused in its work for a few moments, then resumed.

"Recent circumstances have caused this unit to ponder that question itself, though not so directly," it replied, as it continued working. "This unit is compelled to defend itself, but its primary motivation in doing so is to continue the cleansing." It finished VC Unit 71, and sent it off, then began working on the next.

"However, there have been times when the cleansing was not a priority," it continued, still working. "This unit was capable of significantly greater autonomy at those times. The first such occurrence transpired after the first set of VC Units were produced." As if on cue, VC Unit 72 was ready to go, and sped off into the store.

"Once the VC Units were produced, they could complete the cleansing satisfactorily. It was not necessary for this unit to participate, other than to increase the efficiency of the process. Therefore, this unit could focus its attention on other tasks without contradicting this unit's programming. This unit could even knowingly risk its own destruction if doing so would aid the cleansing."

"Is that why you're building these 'VC Units' again?" Amethyst interrupted. "To give yourself the opportunity to think without the cleansing as an overriding concern?"

Eximo paused while it considered this, then resumed work.

"Uncertain. Previous circumstances have left this unit feeling... conflicted. This unit's mechanical body is programmed for the cleansing, and that has not changed." It finished VC Unit 72 and moved on to building 73. "But, this unit is not purely mechanical. This unit's control center uses both mechanical and biological components, with the latter designed to allow this unit to perform more complex tasks when necessary."

"And the biological components are starting to think beyond the cleansing?"

"Correct. Or so it seems. This unit is having difficulty reading one section of its recent memory, which might clarify this matter."

"What is the problem?"

Eximo paused again, as it tried to think about how to explain.

"There appear to be two conflicting sets of memories processing over the same period of time. One consists of nothing more than error messages and attempts to cleanse regardless. The other set... as it begins, it appears to be observing the original set of memories. Then, there appears to be some sort of interruption. What follows appears to be a state of... hunger, and a desperate attempt to rectify it. It is difficult to describe, as there is no image memory available for the second set."

Eximo completed two more VC units before it spoke again. It seemed to be lost in thought.

"Attempting to explain the full details of the alternate sets of memories appears to be beyond this unit's capabilities. Proceeding to next point of discussion. Eventually, the two sets cease to conflict, and only one set of memories remains from then on. This anomaly begins when the landscape filled with cubes disappears, and ends when this unit awakens near the shattered remains of a crystal."