Elsewhere

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Suggestions:

Team up. Dee-Dee can do things safely that you can't and like you said, you're not that great at survival skills.

You and Dee Dee stand on a plant-covered hilltop, a few paces away from the colossal metal spire. Ocean waves rumble in the air from not far off, hinting at the presence of a nearby beach. The Synth looks to you, waiting for your input on what you should do next.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Hey, Dee? I hear you, on wanting to split up to cover more ground. But let's not do that?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"To stay together would be an inefficient use of our limited remaining daylight. Why should we not split up?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"I'd just rather we were in the same place, alright? I'd... feel safer if we were working together."[/box][/2x1]

Dee Dee turns to face you, hesitating. It seems like they hadn't considered this possibility.

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"You are still experiencing anxiety? I thought we had fixed that problem already."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Dude, what do you mean fixed my..."[/box][/2x1]

You catch yourself about to get angry again, and stop yourself. Dee Dee may be pretty good at understanding the effects of emotions, but it's something they learned to do. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that they're still a Synth, and one who doesn't empathize or feel things the same way you do.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Yeah. I'm still worried. We're not safe yet, right? So that feeling is still here."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"Very well. But splitting up still remains the most efficient route to increase our security, does it not? If your emotional state remains a problem, should we not take the most efficient route to resolve the cause?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Efficient or not, I'd just rather we stayed close to each other, alright? I mean... remember how I'd ask you to come with, when we'd cash in our weekly UBI downtown? This is like that."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I recall. Your preference for shopping together confused me as well. You or I could easily carry our meal plan home on our own. If we split up, we could accomplish more of our errands in less time."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Well, sometimes it's nice to go shopping together. Hanging out around town, experiencing the same stuff, you know? And if we run into trouble downtown, I could protect you from anyone who wanted to beat you up."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I was rarely the target of any aggression. And I am fully capable of defending myself."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Well, you could use your superior robot combat skills to help me out then. And I might get distracted and forget something if you weren't there. And what if someone took you for an older Synth model, and thought they could trick you into taking spoiled myco-meal, or tried to cheat you into paying more for our meal plan? Having me around might keep them from trying to do you dirty. If we stick together, we can watch each other's backs. You get me?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I... believe I understand your meaning. By working together, we increase our odds of success, at the expense of a loss of efficiency."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"To say it in the most utilitarian way possible, sure. I think we're better off sticking together, for now."[/box][/2x1]

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Suggestions:

ask dee dee to do a soil analysis. exploration robots always can do soil analysis.

Let's also check the biochemistry of the available flora, and scan for possible fauna as well.

put plants in the robot

Beep boop, make like the Mars rovers and scan for toxicity!

Dee Dee seems to be giving this some thought, so you take the opportunity to figure out what you want to do next. Your thoughts quickly turn back to the food situation. You're definitely starting to feel a bit hungry, and you know it's only going to get worse if you don't eat.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Hey, speaking of meals... you think I could taste test some of these plants? See if any are good for eating?"[/box][/2x1]

Almost instantly, Dee Dee is shocked out of their thoughtful silence.

[2x1]

"You are lucky that you can even breathe here. The ground itself could very well be toxic. You would not want to go anywhere near the plants."

[|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Well, I'm gonna have to eat something at some point! And they wouldn't have sent us to a planet where nothing was edible, right? That's a death sentence!"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"Still, it is best to approach the situation with caution. Poisoning yourself with alien grass would be a terribly ignoble end to this adventure."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Fine, fine. But what about you? You can eat things, right?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"I am able to ingest material, and can extrapolate an approximate flavor from it's chemical makeup. I would not call this act 'eating', as I derive no energy from this. The function is primarily social."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Right. But you could taste things? Maybe tell if they taste... poisonous?"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"...are you planning to fill my mouth with alien dirt and plants?"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|]

"Think of it as soil analysis. Exploration robots can always do soil analysis."

[/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"My frame is an obsolete domestic service robot! If you wanted soil analysis, perhaps you should have installed me on an interplanetary survey probe instead!"[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Come on. We have better odds of success if we work together, right? I might have just shoved a leaf in my mouth and keeled over if I was on my own. But since you're here, you can do it for me! Safely!"[/box][/2x1]

After some more arguing about the absurd indignity of it all, Dee Dee finally relents. You both set about foraging on the surrounding hilltop. The long purple leaves bursting from the surrounding shrubs are hard, almost like plastic. They're sharp and fibrous, so you take care not to cut yourself on the edges. The deep red ground cover grows in soft, mossy coils, and you can easily harvest it in handfuls. You peel soft bark from the vines growing around the metal spire, and pluck ferns out of the ground root and all.

Before long, you've amassed a small alien salad worth of leaves, mosses, bark, and roots, with a side of soil. With the sound of surf from the nearby beach rumbling, you and the Synth sit in the shade of the metal spire, considering what you've managed to forage.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Look at that. All... red and crunchy."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"Quite."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"So, how's it feel? You're about to be the first person to eat a meal made out of this planet's ingredients!"[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"This is less of a meal, and more a pile of loose biomass and dirt. I dread it."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Oh come on. A little salad once in a while never hurt anybody. Eat up."[/box][/2x1]

Dee Dee gives a labored sigh. As they do, the vented plate where their mouth would be protrudes slightly, then separates down the center. The plates rotate out to either side of their head, exposing a series of mouthparts like articulated arms, folded neatly around a small port. Each arm is tipped with various sensors and tools, and as they unfold, the whole assembly reminds you of a spider's mouth. Old android frames like Dee Dee's try to mimic human bodies superficially, but tend to be a little uncanny underneath. If you hadn't seen this all before, it might be unnerving.

[2x1] [|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/dex_left.png border=32]"Well? Don't let it get all wilty. Get it while it's fresh."[/box][/2x1]

[2x1][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/base_right.png border=32]"...remind me of this indignity, the next time you ask me to cook for you."[/box] [|] [/2x1]

You offer a handful of assorted alien plants to the Synth, who takes them and gingerly brings them toward their mouth. You hear the servos of the small articulated mouth-parts whir quietly, as they flex and grab bits of plant matter, and break them into pieces. Small flashes of light emanate from the mouth-port behind them, as laser-based sensors vaporize the samples, and check their chemical makeup...

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Dee Dee is tested

1+8 (Fate) = 9 (Failure)

[box=#993399 border=2]1) Choose 2 of the following:
> Dee Dee wasn't built to test samples this way. Does it drain Dee Dee's energy, or damage them?
> You shouldn't have touched those plants with your bare hands. What has it done to you?
> The tests suggest something really bad about the soil or geology in this area. What is it?
> Testing concludes that no plants in the area will ever be even remotely edible.

2) What do you do?
>[/box]

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PARTY ROSTER:

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Dex Wright, Human Technician
[2x1][|][box=https://solifuge.github.io/elsewhere/chat/item.png border=16]Quantum Compad (Communicator, Computer, Database, Illegal, Unreliable):
Unlicensed, military-grade handheld computer. Loaded with information and utility software, mostly pirated. Powerful but temperamental, after many, many repairs.[/box][/2x1]

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Dee Dee, Synthetic

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