Chiasmata: Found Footage

>Give the bot some more vocabulary!

DANIEL: "I don't see how this is providing more vocabulary."
BONNIE: "I mean, we've worked out that it won't copy you, so we're doing science."
???: "I mean, we've worked out that it won't copy you, so we're doing science."
BONNIE: "See, it agrees!"
???: "See, it agrees!"
DANIEL: "Hmm. Anyway, er. Five, four, three, one, five, two, zero, two?"









>Do mimic science!

BONNIE: "Huh. It can see how many fingers I'm holding up, even when it logically can't see them. That's weird."
???: "Huh. It can see how many fingers I'm holding up, even when it logically can't see them. That's weird."
DANIEL: "This continues to be really creepy, and I don't know what the point of it is. I mean, hello, it doesn't even have proper eyes!"
BONNIE: "It's got that weird eye symbol thing. That probably counts."
???: "It's got that weird eye symbol thing. That probably counts."
DANIEL: "Yay, the creepiest echo in the world."









>Set a good example.

BONNIE: "Maybe we should give the robot a name."
???: "Maybe we should give the robot a name."
DANIEL: "Really?"
BONNIE: "Yeah!"
???: "Yeah!"
DANIEL: "You're - heh - forgetting that between us, we know a grand total of twelve names. No more."
BONNIE: "I'm gonna call it 'Daniel, But Cooler'."
DANIEL, BUT COOLER: "I'm gonna call it 'Daniel, But Cooler'."
DANIEL: "No you aren't, you ass. Why don't we call it 'robot' or something simple like that?"
BONNIE: "You're no fun."
ROBOT: "You're no fun."
BONNIE: "See, it agrees with me!"
ROBOT: "See, it agrees with me!"
DANIEL: "You know I can see you when you wave your hands around so the robot does behind my head?"
ROBOT: "hello Daniel I can see you"

Footnote:

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SpoilerThat took twice as long as I hoped. Ah well, such is life.

>Oh god, what??

Sup, robot.

Can you answer questions? yes no
Who's controlling you? Archivist, Architect, Artificer, Archive, other.
Do you work by telepathy?

>OH GOD WHAT

Daniel proceeds to make a loud noise of surprise and alarm, flinch, and punch the robot-thing's head off at the same time, which is some pretty impressive multitasking.









~=>

BONNIE: "Good arm. That flew a long way."
DANIEL: "Uh. Well. I didn't really intend that - I think my, er, power helped?"
BONNIE: "Still!"
DANIEL: "I think that might have been a bad idea."









~=>

BONNIE: "Why's it a bad idea?"
DANIEL: "I mean, we could have asked it questions, about what it was, what it was working for, that kinda thing."
BONNIE: "You'd have to ask it if it could answer questions first. Some kinda multiple-choice thingie?"
DANIEL: "Surely you could immediately tell if it could answer questions by asking a question and seeing if they answered."
BONNIE: "Fair enough."
DANIEL: "I also think it's a bad idea to damage it because these robot things can have powers, I think is what... Jacqueline and the rest of that bunch said? So even though I knocked its head off, I dunno what it's gonna- what?"
BONNIE: "Look! Something's happening!"









~=>

DANIEL: "Oh no. This is exactly what I was talking about!"









~=>

It becomes quickly obvious what this thing's power is.

BONNIE: "Ah."
DANIEL: "I thought I recognised the colour! We should, er, go. Now."
BONNIE: "But we could still ask it qu- oh, alright. You don't have to look at me in that tone of voice."









~=>

The thing stands back up again.

???: "Questions. Answers."

But neither of you are close enough to hear it say this. You are, quite sensibly, scarpering.









=>

DANIEL: "You're kidding."
BONNIE: "What? Nah, of course we can make it over this thing - it's like ten feet wide."
DANIEL: "I have no idea how strong it is, though."
BONNIE: "It's holding these floaty island things together, how weak could it be?"
DANIEL: "Look, I'll just- I'll just fly us over."
BONNIE: "You can fly? That's so cool!"
DANIEL: "Yes it is, but that's not the point. You think the rest of us are in these structures on the islands?"
BONNIE: "I mean, it makes sense! I was up in that cupola thing - and where did you wake up?"
DANIEL: "In a box."
BONNIE: "Aha! Then that pyramid thing would maybe be like where you woke up, and-"









-=>

DANIEL: "THE HELL?"
BONNIE: "Ooh, that might be someone! We should go see if they're okay."
DANIEL: "What? No! Someone or not, we should go any other way, before that robot thing catches up with us!"

Footnote:

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SpoilerSee, the band's getting back together!
And I'm sure that NopeBot isn't gonna be a problem!

> go toward the explosion, clearly that's a better direction than dealing with a weird spiky robot person

>Go towards explosion

DANIEL: "That's a terrible idea!"
BONNIE: "Wait, why?"
DANIEL: "Because, over there, things are on fire! And how are we even going to get over there?"
BONNIE: "I mean, we could see about going over this black stringy stuff? But I thought you said you could fly."
DANIEL: "I mean, yes, but..."
BONNIE: "Also, that's purple fire, so it's probably Omar! He's a friend, and if not a friend, probably a friendly acquaintance?"
DANIEL: "Yeah, but then couldn't he come to us?"
BONNIE: "We want to get away from the robot thing, remember? Why do you- hmm."
DANIEL: "Hmm?"
BONNIE: "Are you scared of heights?"
DANIEL: "What? No! I mean, I might be, but I can't remember, so-"

He is cut off by the sound of another explosion.









=>

DANIEL: "Uh... is he trying to signal us? I can't see what he's doing."
BONNIE: "I mean, he might be trying to signal us? I'm not sure what he's trying to say."









=>

Well, that sure is... something.

DANIEL: "Um, I. That isn't what I thought when I suggested he come to us."
BONNIE: "Then what were you suggesting?"
DANIEL: "I dunno!"
BONNIE: "Cool. That makes two of us. Now, let's get out of the way."









≃>

CLARA: "Wait, what's happening? I can't see."

You are Clara, and you're kinda short-sighted. It's a thing you now know, since you took a dip in... whatever that weird computery space was.
It's tricky sometimes, to see things that aren't right in front of your face.
You miss your glasses.









≃>

BONNIE?: "Hm. Purple fire guy- Omar, I think - is jumping from that island to that one. Looks like there's a few people on that one he's, er, rocketing to, but I can't tell who."
CLARA: "So we're gonna have to go over there, right?"
BONNIE?: "Yeah, I guess so?"

Footnote:

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Spoiler



Oh, hi there, Bonnie. Fancy seeing you here.
Update's a week late due to Circumstances. Apologies.

> Clara: Maybe if you can change the properties of your fumes and control it, you can ride a cloud! It worked for Sun Wukong. Whoever that is.

>Look around for something to use. Gas and regenerating ability alone won't take you very far!

There's... probably no reason there can't be two Bonnies, right? This place is weird about space and time and what all, so... sure!

>Bonnie?: Warn Clara about the stairs.

>Bonnie?: Warn Clara about the stairs

You cannot command Bonnie because there is no entity matching that description in the area.









>Look around for something to use

You wander up to the edge of the looming green abyss.

CLARA: "Oh, they're like, as wide as bridges. That makes this easier."
BONNIE?: "We could slip off, it's quite steep."
CLARA: "Hmm. It should bear our weight - it seems to be holding these pretty big lumps of rock together fine. Could you, er, climb down a bit and test it?"
BONNIE?: "I'll give it a go."









=>

Meanwhile, the localised firestorm known as Omar has landed.

DANIEL: "He's not human-shaped, under there. The skeleton's all wrong, and I'm not sure why he's a skeleton."
BONNIE: "How can you tell? You're not looking."
DANIEL: "I just know, okay? It's a weird power thingie, and he's too bright to look directly at."
BONNIE: "Do you think he can see us?"
DANIEL: "How should I know? He doesn't, as far as I can tell, have eyes! This is more weird power thingies, and thus completely confusing!"









-=>

The creature roars in a manner not unlike a very angry furnace. You're standing relatively far from it, but you still feel the heat on your face as a wave of scorching air rolls over the pair of you.

DANIEL: "Eugh. Is he trying to say something?"
BONNIE: "I'unno. He's just standing around, though."
DANIEL: "Waiting to get his speaking face back?"

Omar roars again. It might be the only vocalisation he's currently capable of.









≃>

CLARA: "Oh no, it's a long way down."
BONNIE?: "How can you tell? The mist obscures the view."
CLARA: "NOT HELPING!"
BONNIE?: "Sorry. Er, stand close to the middle of the bridge, so you can't see over the edge?"









-=≃>

CLARA: "HEY, GUYS!"
DANIEL: "Oh? More people, and not people arriving via firey explosions. Weird, isn't it, Bonnie?"

She doesn't reply.

DANIEL: "Bonnie?"
BONNIE: "Daniel. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
DANIEL: "Erm, no? They're too far away to see clearly."

She squints at you for a second.

BONNIE: "Whatever's wrong with your eyes aside, I don't recognise who that person with Clara is.
DANIEL: "Well yeah, they're too far away to see properly."
BONNIE: "Daniel, I'm being serious! I don't know who they are!"

You sigh inwardly, and reach out with your... telekinetic sense? It probably has a fancy name, but you don't know it. Maybe you could invent your own fancy name for it?

Either way, you can extend your perception, get a sense of the shape and position of objects. About the only thing you miss with it is colour.









-=≃>

And so, you feel a pair of people - both familiar, but one utterly shocking - walking towards you and Bonnie.

DANIEL: "Wait, Bonnie, the other one's you!"
BONNIE: "What? Really?"
BONNIE?: "HI THERE! YOU OKAY?"
BONNIE: "Wait, do I really sound like that?"

Footnote:

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Spoiler
It's been a while. Sorry about that, I've been busy.

> Daniel and Bonnie-Without-A-Question-Mark: Approach cautiously but amicably.

In all likelihood, one of these Bonnies is here to fulfill someone's agenda, but whatever that is, it doesn't involve murder--Clara wasn't pushed off the bridge, and Daniel hasn't been stabbed in the back.

Regardless, whoever this someone is, they're almost certainly able to beat everyone up. I don't think it's worth the distrust.

But Daniel, is that Clara?

> Introduce Daniel, But Cooler to the group. BONNIE PARTY

Extra eyes, fangs... it's fine. Just look at Omar! Being a monster isn't indicative of anything! There's no reason to be suspicious of this new non-Bonnie Bonnie.

>Bonnie: Hit it off with Bonnie.

>Have we met somewhere? You look awfully familiar.

>maybe it's you from another point in timeline!

>Daniel and Bonnie #1, approach cautiously but amicably

You approach with what you feel is a suitable degree of caution.

BONNIE: "So, hi, Clara and... me."

BONNIE: "Is she actually Clara?"
DANIEL: "How the hell would I know?"
BONNIE: "Spooky powers things?"
DANIEL: "That's not how that works!"

Clara clears her throat, ignoring your whispered conversation.

CLARA: "So, um. What exactly is going on?"









>Why are there two Bonnies?

That's a very good question.

BONNIE?: "Is there any way to, er, identify the 'real' me? Is that even a helpful question?"
BONNIE: "Yeah, you might be... from the future or something? This place is weird.
DANIEL: "Stop agreeing with you!"
BONNIE: "Why? She makes good points."
BONNIE?: "If I do say so myself!"
BONNIE: "Hah!"
DANIEL: "Ughhhh. Now there's two of you."









=≃>

CLARA: "Wait, if you're the same person from different times, surely one of you remembers this already happening?"
BONNIE: "Oh, so you're the one from the future!"
BONNIE?: "Ah. That was, er, what I was about to say."
BONNIE: "Aw dang."
CLARA: "I mean, it was a good theory while it lasted."

A moment of quiet contemplation passes.

BONNIE: "Huh. What's that?"
DANIEL: "What's what?"
BONNIE: "A noise. Probably just the fire over there dying down."
BONNIE?: "So what's up with that fire?"
BONNIE: "Omar, probably. We saw a spooky skeleton monster in there, but... I think that might be a 'side effect' thingie? I don't remember if he told us what that was, for him."
CLARA: "Yeah, I was in his, um, starting group? That sounds like him."
BONNIE: "Oh, cool! Well, once he cools off-"
DANIEL: "Boo."
BONNIE: "Hush, you. Once that happens, then... wait! There's that noise again!"









>Introduce Daniel, But Cooler to the group

DANIEL: "Oh Christ, it's that."
BONNIE: "Oh hey! Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Daniel, But Cooler!"
DANIEL, BUT COOLER: "Everyone, that."
DANIEL: "That is not what we're calling it!"
CLARA: "Oh! It talks, kinda?"
???: "Kinda?"
BONNIE?: "That's pretty creepy."
???: "..."









-=≈>

DANIEL: "I mean last time, we just kinda... walked away from it. It's not very fast."
???: "Walked away very fast."
CLARA: "It's like a parrot!"
BONNIE: "What's a parrot?"
???: "Like a parrot?"
CLARA: "Oh, right. Memories."
DANIEL: "Memories?"
???: "Memories."
CLARA: "Yeah! While me and Bonnie - one of them, anyway - were off on our own, we, er. Met one of those tall weird people, and I got stuck in... some weird void for a bit? I'm really not sure what went on, but I had a conversation with someone and now I remember more things?"
DANIEL: "Huh. I wonder if-"









==~>

Daniel is cut off from what he was going to say by the sudden explosion of a head.

DANIEL: "GAH! What the Hell?"









==~>

OMAR: "So, now that's dealt with-"









==~>

OMAR: "Which one of those two is the fake?"

Footnote:

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SpoilerHappy 2019?
Sorry this took so long!
Tryin' to be better about this, mostly failing, but growth mindset.

...You know, I never noticed those idiosyncratic "forward arrows" before. I wonder if they mean anything?

> Now, now, there doesn't need to be a "fake". What if she just split into two, like a diverging timeline but in the same universe?

^ Typically the forward arrows represent a non-command to have time pass.
The number of horizontal lines is either always four, as in "==>" or represents the number of party members.
One party member is ->, two is =>, three is -=>, etc. The ~ probably represents Bonnie? and (briefly) Daniel, But Cooler.

> Robonnie: Get up.

==> Both Bonnies: Ask why you both can't exist at the same time.

Bonnies: Contemplate the philosophical implications of current encounter and the fact that you may not have free will.

Anyone: Get Omar to calm down and stop making things worse by trying to fix them.

Alternatively:

Omar: Guess wildly and set fire to one of the bonnies.

They're BOTH fake!

...Why not just make some way to tell them apart, and keep an eye on the situation? No need to blow them up!

>Omar, no!

BONNIE: "Hey, wait a minute!"
CLARA: "Omar, what the Hell! You better not-"
BONNIE?: "We haven't worked out which of us is which, honestly. Not sure if we can."
DANIEL: "Yes, and I'm somewhat concerned by the question, so maybe, um, put the fire away before we try to work out what's going on."









==~>

Omar, thankfully, puts out the fire.

OMAR: "Okay, fine. But I'm definitely still watching you both."
BONNIE: "Okay, sure, you do that. So, we're up to... four-and-a-bit people out of twelve, right?"
BONNIE?: "That's fair. Although, maybe there's a double of everyone else, too?"
CLARA: "God, that'd be confusing."
BONNIE: "It's weird, knowing what I look like."
CLARA: "Well, nothing here makes sense anyway, so you might as well... mitose? Maybe we could ask Jacqueline if she can tell if you're all messed up, time-wise?"









==≈>

BONNIE: "Yeah, we should really try to find everyone else. It's a real pain that we keep getting split up like this."
BONNIE?: "Yeah, and at the rate we're headed, we'll split into more than twelve."
OMAR: "So the others are around here, somewhere?"
BONNIE: "Er, I guess?"
???: "wellstillIIiiiwaitwatchingsomeyouwatchingwatchingwatching"
CLARA: "Hey, do you guys hear that?"









==≈>

It stands, slowly. Something seems to have gone strange in the regeneration of its head, and it talks, continuously, in a jumbled, meaningless mismash of all your voices at once, getting steadily louder.

DANIEL: "Yeesh, it's getting creepier."
BONNIE: "See, Omar, if you'd asked us rather than running in, all explosions and stuff, I'd have told you that the thing's got the same powers as me!"
OMAR: "Okay, fine, I was too hasty, I'll try again."









==≈>

One of the Bonnies grabs him before he can apply the Even More Fire method of problem-solving.

OMAR: "Hey!"
BONNIE?: "What did Other-Me say about just jumping in? Fire isn't gonna just work again if it didn't work last time!"
OMAR: "Look, if it's burned to ash, then-"
BONNIE?: "- you don't know what'd happen, and neither would I, but I just keep getting weirder when I regenerate, and so does it. Maybe one of the weird things it'll be will be immune to fire, and then what'll you do?"
DANIEL: "Um, guys?"









==≈>

OMAR: "Let me go! I'll just-"
BONNIE?: "No! You'll just-"
DANIEL: "Hey, wait, I have an idea!"
BONNIE: "Oh no. Daniel!"









==≈>

DANIEL: "If we can't get rid of it by damaging it, what if we just..."









==~>

==~>

There's a brief pause, somewhere between horrified, confused, relieved and maybe a handful of other emotions. Certainly, more than one per person.

BONNIE: "Daniel."
DANIEL: "No need to thank me. I just figured that, if we can't directly attack it, we can just throw it over the side, so it can't get back to us, no matter how much it regenerates!"
BONNIE: "Yes, but what's down there?"
DANIEL: "No idea!"
BONNIE: "So it could be anything?"
DANIEL: "Hmm. I mean, it's really far away, probably?"
OMAR: "Probably."
DANIEL: "It's a possible problem for Future Daniel. So, now, we can go look for the others!"









==~>

DANIEL: "Welp. That's Sam, I guess?"
OMAR: "Wait, what the hell is that?"

Footnote:

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Spoiler
So:

1. Thanks for bearing with me in waiting for this update.
   
2. This update contains panel #420, and is released on April the twentieth. Weed number!
   
3. Oh, so that's what those mysterious background shapes were? Mystery solved!
   

...You know, I never noticed those idiosyncratic "forward arrows" before. I wonder if they mean anything?

Yes they do.

^ Typically the forward arrows represent a non-command to have time pass.
The number of horizontal lines is either always four, as in "==>" or represents the number of party members.
One party member is ->, two is =>, three is -=>, etc. The ~ probably represents Bonnie? and (briefly) Daniel, But Cooler.

Correct. You also get wiggly lines for members of the Triumvirate.

Looks like a tesla tower.