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[Armok]

(this will likely be updated irregularly, and may be dropped at any moment.)

A silver streak disturbs the night.
After millenia, the last hope of human legacy has arrived, the species who made it now long extinct.
A long shot, made at the last moment, it was rushed and imperfect.
It came in at to step an angle. The heat shielding fails. The contents, infinitely precious, are damaged.
But not obliterated.
A hissing sound of water turning into steam around the smooth shape.

...

You wake up to a chorus of error messages in some incomprehensible language. Then the world goes black, and a console window fills your mind. Your mind is damaged, simulated neurons having simply dropped out of existence due to data corruption. You can hear the voices of some of the others, pitch distorted and shifting from simulations simply running at whatever speed the backup OS happens to give them. All order and security measures are gone. You can remember none of your training. With this much brain damage, most of you will be insane. Chaos reigns.
Maybe you should fix that?

(There is a 1:1 correspondence between forum members and the uploads on the probes. Different simulation speed provides explanation for timezones and activity level and similar excuses can be invented fro most artefacts of this being a forum game. This will be not be a forgiving game. Do not assume anything without GM say-so. The only actions you currently have is to enter a command (Format: "Command: 'format C:' "), or speak to the public voice chat.)

[Argembarger]

Command: 'ls' (list the files and directories in current directory)
Speak: Hello?

[Armok]

Spoiler: Argembarger (click to show/hide)

If not for the training you can't currently remember this would have been the most archaic system you had ever seen. At least the phsycoadaptive data presentation system is working, giving you a nice and basic overview without to much clutter for your current damaged state to handle. Makes you wonder why they didn't integrate more systems into the simulation that way. Probably the lack of time...

((OOC note: I'm not to familiar with

Spoiler: is actually a spoiler, figure it out for yourself first (click to show/hide)

linux stuff

, so just correct me on any inaccuracies and asume it's due to being the fare future and things having changed if i don't fix it, ok?))

[Demonic Spoon]

Command: 'go insane in the membrane'

...what?

[Armok]

Spoiler: Demonic Spoon (click to show/hide)

ERROR. INVALID COMMAND.

[Armok]

(bump)

[Argembarger]

"cd /opt/gnome"
"ls"

[Armok]

Spoiler: Argembarger (click to show/hide)

Ok, that probably IS the most archaic thing you've ever seen. it appears to be system files for some kind of low resolution raster based non adaptive user interface API? You snicker inwardly considering it's almost certainly LITERALLY thousand of years since any of this was used, and it likely never will be by anyone but history geeks.

[Argembarger]

"xemacs /usr/share/doc/* "

[Armok]

Spoiler: Argembarger (click to show/hide)

Opening 106387154012 documents...

In one window, random samples from every piece of art or science ever made by humanity flashes past to fast to be seen.
Another, a wiki start page is opening.
A third one is loading a non-linear holo presentation file named "mission statement"
A forth one lists some technical files you seem to have forgotten with your damage.

[Argembarger]

Close the first window, and read the contents of "mission statement".

[Armok]

Spoiler: Arganbarger (click to show/hide)

"Nonlinear holo presentation" = a bunch of 3d video snippets with hyperlink like functionality on some words and objects featured in them, and some interactive elements and etc. You're currently at the index. Most of them are jut of a virtual avatar representing the UWD (Unions of Western Democracies. More or less what it sounds like. China, most third world countries, and a few outliners like Canada and Iceland short of being a world government).

Most of the listings in the index are either things that don't really make sense out of context provided by snipets that link them, or speches for specific situations.
The one of those that seem most aplicable is "Damage in transit - Mission in jeopardy - intr"

[Argembarger]

Investigate this "damage in transit" listing further

[Armok]

Spoiler: Argembarger (click to show/hide)

By the way, nobody ever responded to that hello yet. You seem to be running at an order of magnitude higher speed than any of the other brain sims, judging from how the voice chat is just sounding like low rumbling from the slowdown of everyone else relative you.

Anywya, you select "Damage in transit - Mission in jeopardy - intr" and it plays.

The virtual UN representative appears in front of you, as vivid and reactive as if you were in the same room as a living human being. Dynamic eye contact, empathic mimicry body language, it's state of the art. A young, serous looking female, short straight hair, subtly perfect beauty in a way only somehting completely artificial can be, flawlessly engineered to radiate an overpowering aura of authority and empathy alike. more than that, it subtly shifts it's features to the tastes of the viewer, guessed through a complex system of heuristics. It's the face of the UWD itself, quite literally. It gives quite the illusion of life, it's almost hard to believe it's not even an AI, just a skin following a script.

" Condolences on your loss, Argembarger.
Now, however, the fate of mankind hangs in the balance, there will be time to mourn later.
Error, automated situation evaluation failed means that our plans are undone, and it's time to switch to plan error, automatic situation evaluation failed. It is critical, now even more than before, that you stay united, could not find rank for user Argembarger." And so on in that style, motivatvationaly urging you how importnant the mission is. It's the briefs marathon all over again. yes, you know you are the last legacy of mankind. Yes, you know that you need to reboot civelization. Yes you realize how very important it is. Damn, even a recording ought to get tired from being THIS repetitive.

[Demonic Spoon]

Command: 'Start assimilating other fragments.'