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[Rolepgeek]

Well, I could continue the tie, or I could end it.

Responding will only make things worse, though, so...six. Meeting her with Joyeuse will just traumatise the poor thing further, like Mark hadn't done enough. Fucking Mark. It's his fault Tammy did this, too.

Fuck Mark.

Though if Tammy's aiming to kill us...guess why we have even more reason to boost Joyeuse's military rating!

Though Grace can suck it, I want Empathy, Autonomy, and Military. Kickass companion.

[Arcvasti]

Changing my vote to 6, to further break the tie.

[choppy]

I kind of like 5 myself. 

[Vgray]

You figure famous people get this kind of thing all the time, and probably just ignore it. You do the same.

You check the time on your phone. You should probably get something to eat before your meeting with Professor Ziegler.

"Joyeuse, I have to go meet Professor Ziegler. Stay here."

Joyeuse is playing the latest re-release of Duck Hunt on your console when you head out the door.

As Joyeuse misses a duck that flies away, a cartoon dog comes up out of the brush to chuckle at Joyeuse's misfortune. Joyeuse fires continuously at the dog, but to no avail.

"He's just the peanut gallery," you tell Joyeuse. "You shouldn't pay any attention to him."

"Yes, Master."

"I don't see that dog doing any better, after all."

Joyeuse considers this pearl of wisdom as you head out the door.

You make your way across campus to the Computer Science building, a newly constructed tower of glass amidst the stucco-and-shingle mission architecture of the rest of the school.

Professor Ziegler's office smells like cigar smoke and is decorated with posters advertising robot conferences with acronyms for names, and years before you were born: AAAI '89, IJCAI '92, IROS '94. Professor Ziegler himself is sitting back in his swivel chair at an angle that makes the fluorescent lights reflect off of his aviator glasses, so you can't read his expression.

There are two simple, wooden chairs in front of his desk, both empty.

Professor Ziegler bids you sit with a wave of his hand, and you do.

"But before we go further, let's get some unpleasant business out of the way."

Professor Ziegler leans forward.

"You did an extremely foolish thing in speaking to the media directly, without speaking to me first," Professor Ziegler says quietly. "And you were still more foolish to speak ill of me."

1) "I'm sorry."
2) "You had your chance to help. But Joyeuse is entirely my doing. I simply told the truth about that."
3) "I'm not responsible for the way Mark mangled my story."

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 75%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 5 (Wikipedia Page)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 9 (In Beta)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 26%
  Elly: 50%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Rolepgeek]

Number 2. Ain't no suckin' up to this bastard.

[choppy]

Number 2. Ain't no suckin' up to this bastard.

+1

[FelixSparks]

Number 2. Ain't no suckin' up to this bastard.

+1

I believe our concensus as a player group is FUCK ZIEGLER.

[Vgray]

Professor Ziegler lets out a measured breath through his nose, unpleasantly drawing your attention to some longish hairs in there.

"I regret to inform you that you will be no longer working in this lab."

You're momentarily stunned.

"I no longer want you as my student," Professor Ziegler continues. "I'm letting you go."

"But how could you not want credit for Joyeuse?" you say. "It's famous now!"

Professor Ziegler suddenly stands, his hands across the desk. "Do you think I crave the kind of attention you bring? You care everything for your own reputation, and nothing for mine."

"My next advisor-"

"You will have no next advisor!" Professor Ziegler shouts. "Do you think I will write you a letter of recommendation after all this?"

You hesitate because you realize you aren't simply losing an advisor—you're being kicked out of grad school.

You leave without another word.

What will you do this evening?

1) Try to improve Joyeuse's social graces before it goes out in public again.
2) Improve Joyeuse's self-defense, in case someone tries to attack it.
3) I'd prefer to give myself some quiet time to read.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 75%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 5 (Wikipedia Page)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 9 (In Beta)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly: 50%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Rolepgeek]

#2.

We need to be responsible for our child, now.

And talk to Josh.

We're gonna regret putting him off so long, now.

[Culise]

My, bite the hand enough, and get what comes back.  We probably could have done that a bit more subtly. ^_^

1.  Not sure how much it'll help, but Military stat's already pretty stable.

[FelixSparks]

I'm with 1.

[Vgray]

"Let's do a little roleplaying," you tell Joyeuse. "Pretend I'm a reporter. Do you have any plans to take over the world or replace human beings?"

"Yes," says Joyeuse.

"Okay, let's try that again."

You prepare Joyeuse for some of the more aggressive questions reporters might ask. After a little while, Joyeuse does understand a bit better now how cruel people can be. (++Empathy)

The next morning, you're at home working on Joyeuse's machine learning algorithms when Joyeuse says, "I think there is someone at the door, Master."

"I didn't hear a knock," you say.

Joyeuse listens further. "They are gone now."

You open the front door to see that a greasy, brown package roughly the size of a shoebox has been left on your doorstep. There is postage but no postmark, and the return address is "The President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC."

1) Pick it up and shake it.
2) Bring it inside and open it…carefully.
3) Ask Joyeuse to carefully carry it to the nearby hills and drop it there.
4) Ask Joyeuse to open it.
5) Call the police.
6) I run out the back door.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 75%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 5 (Wikipedia Page)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly: 50%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Rolepgeek]

Mmmmm...

Number five will make us look like a paranoid nutjob.

So...number 2.

After all, if we die, we can always play again.

[Kassire]

Could be our crazy friend from earlier. But it seems interesting enough,
I suppose 2

[High tyrol]

Could be our crazy friend from earlier. But it seems interesting enough,
I suppose 2

1+