(IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Yeah, I'm intentionally misusing the word. There seems to have been a period in the 80s or 90s when it was thought that was how kids were going to be raised in the future. The term shows up in a few video games.

I recognized your usage fairly quickly, but as "creche = child care" is apparently a Britishism, Julian would have came at it from that angle. Anyway,

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Not forced, no. You will be pushed towards the job you train for though."

I worry I may already be hopelessly behind.

Originally Posted by ericthered

When he comes to, he's in what looks like an apartment living room, without any windows. The floor is slick but somehow soft. He's on the couch.

A Woman with full flowing robes and jet black hair in a pony tail says "he's waking up. You wanted to talk to him first, Royal?" She rubs something on his upper arm... it stings there for some reason, but the salve feels good.

A short but powerfully built man with dark skin and hair, wearing the athletic style of clothes stands nearby, keeping an eye on Julian.

[141] 23-04-21 20:57:03 CEST

Panic?

3d6 > 6
2 + 4 + 6 = 12 ... success

As I wake up in another strange place, surrounded by strange people, I stay somewhat calm, but wary. I jerk my arm away from the pony tail woman and try to shift away from her, while remaining on the couch.

"Who are you? Where's Orgel?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

A woman strides towards him, posture perfect, and addresses him standing:

"Julian. My name is Royal. I apologize for how we had to meet, but I think you can help us. We need an Astropic. Preferably one with no ties to the concordance. And you appear to be the perfect candidate. We can pay you enough to never have to worry about that system again. All you will have to do is be our intermediary with the starpus. Does that sound interesting to you?"

Julian let's her finish her piece before asking questions.

"How do you know my name? Did you bring me here, to Panogos?"

"Are you the one causing those screams? How are you doing that?"

"What happened to my arm?"

"So, why don't you want anyone with ties to the concordance."

"I'm sorry, I'm not the perfect candidate; I don't know anything about what an Astropic does."

"So, what if I said I wasn't interested?"

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Who are you? Where's Orgel?"

"As I said, I'm Royal, and this is my team. No one was injured when we took you. At least not permanently."

The powerfully built man with the dark skin says "The exercise we gave him probably weighed out any scrapes. Its important to move around a little. I was careful with him."

"How do you know my name? Did you bring me here, to Panogos?"

Royal: "No, we didn't bring you to the system. We saw your medical records come in, and Seven tracked you from there."

"Are you the one causing those screams? How are you doing that?"

Royal: "The 'screams' you heard are from the Koru screamer. Its a biological weapon that only works on Astropics and Starpus. Sorry for any trauma. It was the best way to be sure."

"What happened to my arm?"

Woman in robes: "I put a sedation patch there once the worm knocked you out. I'm Florence, by the way. I'm the one in charge of figuring out just what you are."

"So, why don't you want anyone with ties to the concordance."

Royal: "Because we plan to reveal their darkest secrets to the world. You can see how that would damper the enthusiasm of most candidates."

"I'm sorry, I'm not the perfect candidate; I don't know anything about what an Astropic does."

Royal: "All we want is for you to talk to starpus and tell them what we say, and relay the message back. That's all we need, and given that the screamer works on you, it looks like you have it."
Florence: "I mean, there's a lot more we'd like to do with you, but Royal's project is the most important thing."
Dark Man: "That was a little Creepy, Florence. We want the Kid to like you."
Florence rolls her eyes "Ok, Slam." she looks at Julian "You are an amazingly unique specimen of a human being with the potential to break a galactic monopoly and prove some very contentious theories on Astopics, including mine."

"So, what if I said I wasn't interested?"

Royal: "We'd stow you away for about a week while we found something else and erased our tracks, then leave you to your exciting prospects as a foreign orphan on Panogos being treated as a local clone. I think my proposal is a better deal. And if it isn't, I can make it so it is."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"As I said, I'm Royal, and this is my team. No one was injured when we took you. At least not permanently."

The powerfully built man with the dark skin says "The exercise we gave him probably weighed out any scrapes. Its important to move around a little. I was careful with him."

Well, if they haven't wasted him that's a good sign.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "No, we didn't bring you to the system. We saw your medical records come in, and Seven tracked you from there."

"And I take it the medical records had "Astropic" written on them?"

I assume the answer is likely to be 'no'.
"Then why you'd bother trying with me? The website said there's a test for Astropic, not hearing voices."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "The 'screams' you heard are from the Koru screamer. Its a biological weapon that only works on Astropics and Starpus. Sorry for any trauma. It was the best way to be sure."

"So why'd you bother with the screamer when I was still on the Concordance station?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Woman in robes: "I put a sedation patch there once the worm knocked you out.

"It's a worm and a weapon? Is this naturally from the wild or what?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

I'm Florence, by the way. I'm the one in charge of figuring out just what you are."

"I'm a person, that's what I am."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Because we plan to reveal their darkest secrets to the world. You can see how that would damper the enthusiasm of most candidates."

"The secrets of the Astropics you mean? What are they hiding?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "All we want is for you to talk to starpus and tell them what we say, and relay the message back. That's all we need, and given that the screamer works on you, it looks like you have it."

"But what if I can't speak, only hear? I should have tried something back in the tank room..."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "I mean, there's a lot more we'd like to do with you,

"E-Excuse me?!"

OK, at least she said "with", not "to".

Originally Posted by ericthered

but Royal's project is the most important thing."
Dark Man: "That was a little Creepy, Florence. We want the Kid to like you."
Florence rolls her eyes "Ok, Slam."

"Forgive me for asking, but aren't your names are kind of... Odd? Like Florence is just a bit uncommon, and I guess Royle could be a surname, but the others? Seven? Slam?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

she looks at Julian "You are an amazingly unique specimen of a human being with the potential to break a galactic monopoly and prove some very contentious theories on Astropics, including mine."

"The doctor mentioned some genetic abnormalities too."

"So... What is your theory?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "We'd stow you away for about a week while we found something else and erased our tracks, then leave you to your exciting prospects as a foreign orphan on Panogos being treated as a local clone. I think my proposal is a better deal. And if it isn't, I can make it so it is."

Well, she does make a good point there... And she is willing to actually give me an exit too.

"OK, I accept your terms."

"Where are you getting the money for all this? Are you expecting to turn a profit off this or what?"

""

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"And I take it the medical records had "Astropic" written on them?"

I assume the answer is likely to be 'no'.
"Then why you'd bother trying with me? The website said there's a test for Astropic, not hearing voices."

Florence: "They use a Genotypic test, not a Phenotypic. You have <stream of anatomy and technical terms that might be referring to Julian's head> and I thought <more technical speech> so we fired the worm at you and sure enough < you can't tell where one multisyllabic word ends and another begins>"


Royal: "Florence is more thorough than they are. And better informed on the topic."

"So why'd you bother with the screamer when I was still on the Concordance station?"

Royal: "That wasn't us".

"It's a worm and a weapon? Is this naturally from the wild or what?"

Royal: "Its a predator from Kuro. Originally from the wild, then bred as a weapon"

"I'm a person, that's what I am."

Slam: "If that's all you can call yourself, then you got issues, man."

"The secrets of the Astropics you mean? What are they hiding?"

Royal: "The secrets of FTL, and of how the Starpus are managed. They surely have others, but Starpus and FTL are at the center of all of it."

"But what if I can't speak, only hear? I should have tried something back in the tank room..."

Florence: "You should be able to speak. Your <incomprehensiable technical words>."
Royal: "Hold Up Florence. You say you've been to a tank room?"

"E-Excuse me?!"
OK, at least she said "with", not "to".

Florence: "Don't you want to know what makes you special?"

"Forgive me for asking, but aren't your names are kind of... Odd? Like Florence is just a bit uncommon, and I guess Royle could be a surname, but the others? Seven? Slam?"

Slam: "You mean why aren't we using our civilian identities? The ones that people can use to track us down and arrest us? The ones we might have to give up if things go wrong? I can always be Slam. I can't always use the name my mama gave me."

"The doctor mentioned some genetic abnormalities too."

Florence: "I've been looking at those. I'm not sure how you got them yet. 'abornalities' is a light word: you've got enough to turn you into a different species in some classification systems. I've mostly been focusing on the Astropic angle first."

"So... What is your theory?"

Florence: "Ummm.... how much anatomy do you know? I'm not sure I can properly explain it."
Royal: "She thinks she's figured out how to detect an astropic based on anatomy rather than genetics. Everything else is details, scanners, and hacking"

"OK, I accept your terms."

Royal: "Great! you can stay here until the job is done. We've got a few things to sort out before we act."

"Where are you getting the money for all this? Are you expecting to turn a profit off this or what?"

Royal: "This is most coveted item in the galaxy. We'll make out like Royalty. Launder the money right, and you can live in luxury for the rest of your life. We've already set aside a share for the Astropic. I've got some good-will funding from the planet, plus I've lined up a very robust client on Panogos. Florence says she can round up Hundreds of Millions in off-world money just by selling the data."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "They use a Genotypic test, not a Phenotypic. You have <stream of anatomy and technical terms that might be referring to Julian's head> and I thought <more technical speech> so we fired the worm at you and sure enough < you can't tell where one multisyllabic word ends and another begins>"

Well she seems to know what she's talking about. Or knows enough to pretend to know.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "That wasn't us".

"Do you think someone else may have been trying the same trick? Or is it probably just a coincidence?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Its a predator from Kuro. Originally from the wild, then bred as a weapon"

"And it preys on intelligent life? Odd."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "If that's all you can call yourself, then you got issues, man."

I consider other things I could call myself. Orphan, runaway, basket pusher, thief...

"Yeah, I do."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "The secrets of FTL, and of how the Starpus are managed. They surely have others, but Starpus and FTL are at the center of all of it."

"Do you think they're hiding something bad?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "You should be able to speak. Your <incomprehensiable technical words>."
Royal: "Hold Up Florence. You say you've been to a tank room?"

"Yeah, I woke up there. One exit is near a lobby of holo-game, place."

I'll bet you a point someone will want explanation building on 'woke up there'. Assuming so:

"I dunno, I just woke up there. My rope came loose, I passed out, and then I woke up there. Same as with Riask before that."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "Don't you want to know what makes you special?"

"I'm sorry, but saying you want to do things with me sounds, off. Like you want to take me out for dinner or the movies. We've just met and you're old enough to be my mother."

"But yeah, I kinda do. Maybe it'll stop complicating things if I get a handle on things."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "You mean why aren't we using our civilian identities? The ones that people can use to track us down and arrest us? The ones we might have to give up if things go wrong? I can always be Slam. I can't always use the name my mama gave me."

I nod. I think I understand now. "I take it that Seven rather remain completely anonymous."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "I've been looking at those. I'm not sure how you got them yet. 'abnormalities' is a light word: you've got enough to turn you into a different species in some classification systems. I've mostly been focusing on the Astropic angle first."

Tarbreth and Florence's words seem to ring in my ears... "What are you?"

I unthinkingly repeat, "A different species?" What was I doing on Earth? I look at my arm, and turn it to check the other side.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "Ummm.... how much anatomy do you know? I'm not sure I can properly explain it."
Royal: "She thinks she's figured out how to detect an astropic based on anatomy rather than genetics. Everything else is details, scanners, and hacking"

"Scanners? Like you had your own scanning done or is it all just interpretation?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "This is most coveted item in the galaxy. We'll make out like Royalty.

"So there's information and an item? What's the item?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Launder the money right, and you can live in luxury for the rest of your life.

"I take it you have somebody lined up to do that, cause I don't know anything about laundering."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Do you think someone else may have been trying the same trick? Or is it probably just a coincidence?"

Royal: "I couldn't say."

"And it preys on intelligent life? Odd."

Florence: "Koru ecology is fascinating, and we know so little about it. maybe they only rarely prey on starpus. Maybe they only lived around part of the civilization. so much to find out."

"Do you think they're hiding something bad?"

Royal: "Everyone is hiding something, and the powerful they are, the worse the secrets are. Yes, they're hiding something bad."

"Yeah, I woke up there. One exit is near a lobby of holo-game, place."

Royal pulls up some floor-plans on a computer that gets pulled out of a bag somewhere. "Show me!" she drills Julian for details of the location "See, you're good for more than just talking at Starpus!"

"I'm sorry, but saying you want to do things with me sounds, off. Like you want to take me out for dinner or the movies. We've just met and you're old enough to be my mother."

Slam: "Florence doesn't think like that. She'll assure me she's checked she's normal, but the fact that she checked tells me all I need to know. She wants to run scans, do tests, take a thousand blood samples, that sort of thing."
Florence: "I thought you were trying to help me, Slam."
Slam: "I am". He winks.

"But yeah, I kinda do. Maybe it'll stop complicating things if I get a handle on things."

Royal: "Exactly."

I nod. I think I understand now. "I take it that Seven rather remain completely anonymous."

Slam: "Nah, Seven's cool. He's just a little fond of hidey-holes."

Tarbreth and Florence's words seem to ring in my ears... "What are you?"

I unthinkingly repeat, "A different species?" What was I doing on Earth? I look at my arm, and turn it to check the other side.

Florence: "Maybe. Maybe not. but something special either way." She beams with pure joy.

"Scanners? Like you had your own scanning done or is it all just interpretation?"

Florence: "The Hospital ran a full <blah blah blah> and Seven hacked into those for me. He's got an automatic checker that tells if anyone is close to <blah blah blah>."

"So there's information and an item? What's the item?"

Royal: "Not an item, a person. A starpus. We're breaking one out. They're essentially kept locked up 24/7. We'll get a starpus who can tell the rest of galaxy how they're actually treated. And who can break the monopoly."

"I take it you have somebody lined up to do that, cause I don't know anything about laundering."

Slam: "Moneyface. Moneyface will line it all up for us. If you can get someone you trust more to do it, go head, but be careful."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "Koru ecology is fascinating, and we know so little about it. maybe they only rarely prey on starpus. Maybe they only lived around part of the civilization. so much to find out."

"Maybe everything on Kuru has the same sense as a Starpus..."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Everyone is hiding something, and the powerful they are, the worse the secrets are. Yes, they're hiding something bad."

I suppose there's some logic there, but I'm not sure that's true as a rule. Surely somethings are kept secret out of necessity. Though I don't know why this concordance would need to keep Starpus treatment secret.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal pulls up some floor-plans on a computer that gets pulled out of a bag somewhere. "Show me!" she drills Julian for details of the location "See, you're good for more than just talking at Starpus!"

I try to find the holo-game place on the map:

[142] 23-04-28 00:56:38 CEST
Area Knowledge Default (?) / IQ-4
3d6 <= 9
5 + 5 + 1 = 11 ... failure

I can't find the specific location. "They all look the same like this; I can't tell. But I remember the number on the train they took me to the hospital on. We took an elevator to get down to the train; not much walking to the elevator.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "Florence doesn't think like that. She'll assure me she's checked she's normal, but the fact that she checked tells me all I need to know. She wants to run scans, do tests, take a thousand blood samples, that sort of thing."
Florence: "I thought you were trying to help me, Slam."
Slam: "I am". He winks.

Well I guess it's good that it's not some kind of odd fixation. Not that I really like the idea of being poked and prodded like that. A thought creeps into my head: "And you wouldn't try to make a like a dozen clones of me, right?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: "Maybe. Maybe not. but something special either way." She beams with pure joy.
Florence: "The Hospital ran a full <blah blah blah> and Seven hacked into those for me. He's got an automatic checker that tells if anyone is close to <blah blah blah>."

I try to figure out which of these words are important and write the important ones down.

[143] 23-04-28 01:36:58 CEST
IQ
3d6 <= 13
6 + 4 + 4 = 14 ... failure

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Not an item, a person. A starpus. We're breaking one out. They're essentially kept locked up 24/7. We'll get a starpus who can tell the rest of galaxy how they're actually treated. And who can break the monopoly."

"It's not going to be easy to get in to the tanks; it seemed like it connected to other tanks above. Putting a hole in it would be disastrous."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "Moneyface. Moneyface will line it all up for us. If you can get someone you trust more to do it, go head, but be careful."

"Like the emoji?"

I draw it for them if they don't understand. (🤑).

If it is: Wow, the future is a strange place.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Maybe everything on Kuru has the same sense as a Starpus..."

Florence: "That is one of the possibilities I've considered."

I try to find the holo-game place on the map:

I can't find the specific location. "They all look the same like this; I can't tell. But I remember the number on the train they took me to the hospital on. We took an elevator to get down to the train; not much walking to the elevator.

Royal works with him about it for quite a while... she even suggests checking out each holo-game center.

Well I guess it's good that it's not some kind of odd fixation. Not that I really like the idea of being poked and prodded like that. A thought creeps into my head: "And you wouldn't try to make a like a dozen clones of me, right?"

Florence: " I'd prefer to figure out how to do it with any given genetic base, but just coping your genome might work as well. A dozen clones is a big commitment though: I'd need a sponsor, and a big one."

I try to figure out which of these words are important and write the important ones down.

Honestly, I don't intend for these terms to be legible. My Dad's a doctor, and he'll occasionally go into wildly technical language that's not comprehensible to someone who passed anatomy & physiology and considers biology a hobby. Florence is worse.

"It's not going to be easy to get in to the tanks; it seemed like it connected to other tanks above. Putting a hole in it would be disastrous."

Royal: "True. What you describe looks like a great place to talk with them, but a poor access point. But there will be an access point somewhere around there... Maybe Seven can find some blue-prints."

"Like the emoji?"

I draw it for them if they don't understand. (🤑).

Slam: "Emoji? What's an emoji? you mean an Icon? Moneyface got his name for being preoccupied with the cash and being easy to look at. I'd Guess someone was Jealous."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal works with him about it for quite a while... she even suggests checking out each holo-game center.

"Sure, but isn't [the other station's name] like a different country or something?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Florence: " I'd prefer to figure out how to do it with any given genetic base, but just coping your genome might work as well. A dozen clones is a big commitment though: I'd need a sponsor, and a big one."

I'm not entirely thrilled with the idea of being copied a bunch of times. "I'm not really comfortable with the idea of that. Having a bunch of children, at my age, only to abandon them? I don't know what that would really say about me."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Honestly, I don't intend for these terms to be legible. My Dad's a doctor, and he'll occasionally go into wildly technical language that's not comprehensible to someone who passed anatomy & physiology and considers biology a hobby. Florence is worse.

Oh, sure. I'm not actually expecting anything beyond [TECH], but I figured the note that says [TECH] could be sort of a subplot like:
Julian looks up [TECH], and gives himself a headache, and then he promptly forgets about the note. Later he ends up on some other technologically advanced world, where he runs into the same "what are you" question, and he mentions [TECH]. And that could give the local scientist there insight, or they might deem it wrong, or they might say "That's not even wrong, that's just nonsense!"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "Emoji? What's an emoji? you mean an Icon? Moneyface got his name for being preoccupied with the cash and being easy to look at. I'd Guess someone was Jealous."

"Well it's like an icon except it goes into text. You can type it out basically as easy as the letter 'A', and nobody needs to download a picture to see it."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"Sure, but isn't [the other station's name] like a different country or something?"

Royal: "Yes, but its a weak border, and we're professionals. Seven and Moneyface will take care of it."

I'm not entirely thrilled with the idea of being copied a bunch of times. "I'm not really comfortable with the idea of that. Having a bunch of children, at my age, only to abandon them? I don't know what that would really say about me."

Florence: "Clones are the ethical responsibility of the cloning entity, with the genetic donor possessing significant non-obligatory rights. You can't be placed in slavery because someone steals your DNA and is reckless with it. Those would be your siblings or gene-mates, not your children. The responsibility lies with the person or entity creating human life."

Oh, sure. I'm not actually expecting anything beyond [TECH], but I figured the note that says [TECH] could be sort of a subplot like:
Julian looks up [TECH], and gives himself a headache, and then he promptly forgets about the note. Later he ends up on some other technologically advanced world, where he runs into the same "what are you" question, and he mentions [TECH]. And that could give the local scientist there insight, or they might deem it wrong, or they might say "That's not even wrong, that's just nonsense!"

oh boy!

"Well it's like an icon except it goes into text. You can type it out basically as easy as the letter 'A', and nobody needs to download a picture to see it."

Slam:"So its an Icon, you just use a funny word for it."