reefnet | KD201D | text/file | 028 - 033+ (Locked to all player character callsigns)

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KD201D | text/file | 028 - 033+ (Locked to all player character callsigns)

[ KD201D | TEXT/FILE | 028, 029, 030, 031, 032, 033+ ]
(Locked to all player character callsigns)

[ Every known kidnappee's callsign will receive a series of files: low-resolution monochromatic photos of Randvi's hand-drawn map of the island. The picture quality isn't great, which is why K has photographed it in sections — so the finer details and writing are at least discernible. Having a background in both forensic and hobby photography has enabled him to capture just about the clearest possible pictures despite the limitations of his camera module that Maddy gave him. ]

This represents the collective efforts of everyone who's contributed to mapping the island thus far, as maintained by Randvi (VL121R). I will still be maintaining the ASCII version of the map which remains available upon request, but for the ease of convenience, I'll be regularly sending out photos of Randvi's map so everyone has access to it. My thanks to Maddy for making sharing this possible.

[ The ASCII version has to be recreated from scratch every time, and with how much of the island's been explored by this point, it's becoming a real time sink. Randvi's map, on the other hand, only takes a few seconds to photograph and send out.

K also pays the cat tax by including a picture of an adorable black cat whom some may recognise as Sam Xerxes Ellington, the talking star-god-cat who's been roaming around the airfield base. ]

[[ OOC: just like everything else on the network, these files will automatically be cleared after 24 hours. So K will be sending out photos of the map on a daily basis for a while (or indefinitely? but I'll do a new post for it every so often), starting on day 28. ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've got paper and writing implements, so I'll make a hard copy just in case.
It'd be pretty shitty if something happened to either of you and everyone else suddenly lost map access.

[Not that a hard copy necessarily helps everyone, but at least it'd be more permanent and could just be copied if someone wanted one.]

Where exactly are you on the map right now?

Edited 2023-10-17 11:28 (UTC)

Or if something happens to Randvi's original. Good thinking.

Presently cleaning up crabs at the airfield.

[Dirk takes a bit to respond, busy judging some distances and crunching some numbers. Between the map, the upgrade he found displaying K's current distance from him, and his earlier experimentation to figure out what those numbers equate to in standard units, they can at least extrapolate some further details.]

So if we assume this map is decently accurate and to scale, the island seems to be around 70 miles long.
Could be good to know when planning trips.

You've been measuring? Manually?

[ It's not too surprising. Dirk seems to have some nerdery in common with Senku, and getting accurate measurements was probably already on the agenda for Senku. ]

I'd thought about collecting data on my phone for those purposes but ultimately it seemed better to preserve battery life.

Something like that.
But I understand.
I've avoided using my shades for anything to preserve the battery as long as possible, not that they serve much purpose anyway with no internet connection or resident asshole AI.

[ All right then, keep your secrets. ]

Like smart glasses. Interesting. Are they part of your prince uniform or something you made? And now I wanna know more about your asshole AI.

Nah, they predate the godtiering.
I made them.
And the less said about that guy, the better.
He's functionally me but somehow worse.

[He also has since been fused with some weird dead sweaty muscular alien? Jury's still out on whether or not that improved his personality.]

So you also created an AI of yourself? And you don't get along... with yourself?

[ What.

Even through text, Dirk can probably sense the raised eyebrow. ]

In my defense, I was thirteen when I made him.
Who doesn't do stupid and questionable shit at thirteen?
And who doesn't cringe remembering what they were like at thirteen?
It doesn't help that we grew in different directions in the years since, and I think the inherently fucked-up nature of his existence probably made him resent me.
Not that he was comparatively more considerate to my friends.

[Or should he say "their friends"? Who knows, it's weird and it's not like the whole group had a unified stance on the matter of the Autoresponder. Hal. Whatever.]

I mean, I didn't and I don't. But I was never a child.
And I get these are rhetorical questions.
That's very interesting, though. That the AI version of yourself grew and evolved too and wasn't just static.
Did he develop into his own person over time?

[ It seems a shame the glasses don't work properly here, because he's very curious about this AI version of Dirk. ]

[Ah. True. Was that insensitive of him? This is the kind of thing he should probably have more experience than most people with, but his personal assortment of bots and AI weren't generally interested in chatting about their feelings on the nature of their existences.]

Arguably.
He did ask to be referred to by a different name of his own choosing eventually.
But the fact that he chose "Hal" should tell you plenty about the kind of person he grew into.
Assuming our worlds have a shared cultural canon, that is.
Anyway, he was happy to toss out the whole "his own person" thing when he could rub it in my face that we're the same guy.

[ Good thing K isn't easily offended. Dirk also gets leeway because K's cottoned on to his general... Dirkness, to some degree. ]

So he had a sense of humour. Too bad he's not around to give me some name suggestions too.

[ Sorry Dirk but he thinks an AI naming himself after the HAL 9000 is pretty damned amusing, even if he doesn't much care for the way humanity so loves villainising AI and robots and androids in both fiction and reality. ]

Sounds as though he just didn't really like anyone.
A trait inherited from you, or one unique to him?

Is that a roundabout way of asking just how much of a misanthrope I am?
I like people just fine.

[Specific people, at least. Not that he'd ever really had a plethora of people to like or dislike before coming here.]

I don't think he actively hated anyone either, honestly.
Aside from maybe me.
But to borrow his words:
"What kind of sassy, self-aware program isn't gonna fuck with a few carbon-based knuckleheads now and then?"

You got me.

[ Given that it took drone-bribery to get Dirk out to the airfield, K does have his doubts still, but he'll keep those to himself. ]

Nothing wrong with being a misanthrope, though.

I like his style. Not that I agree with him on hating you.
I think you're easy to get along with.
But I would've messed with the humans of my home universe too if it wasn't a death sentence.
Ever tried to get rid of Hal?

[ He would've liked to do more than just "mess with" some of them, but he knows better than to admit that when surrounded by humans. He'd rather they not think he's some kind of indiscriminate terminator waiting to happen. ]

[Dirk's responses are normally pretty rapid, but there's a pause before he responds this time.]

Yes.
Though I guess saying I "tried" makes it sound like I made an active attempt to do it and just failed.
The truth is I just couldn't go through with it.

[However he feels about Hal – however he feels about himself, however cold he fears he truly is – he couldn't follow through when the AI he thrust the curse of existence upon himself confessed to being scared of dying.]

[ Regardless of the details, it's bold of Dirk to admit that to an AI who has himself been enslaved and oppressed by humans — who's still the legal property of his human owner, even. But fortunately K does have enough context to not write Dirk off as yet another robophobic bigot. Instead, he's all the more curious about the relationship between Dirk and his creation, and wondering how similar it may be to the way his own creators feel toward his kind. ]

What stopped you?

He was afraid of dying.

[So he claimed, anyway. It's an awful, cynical part of Dirk that wonders occasionally if that was less genuine vulnerability and more manipulation from someone who would know better than anyone else how to get to him. But even if that were the case, how much could he really blame him? Is it really immoral to say whatever's necessary to save one's own life? Does Dirk have any right to criticize Hal's manipulative tendencies when that trait was inherited from Dirk himself?

It's way too easy to fall down a rabbit hole of weird philosophical thoughts where Hal is involved.]

Randvi and I did some measurements ourselves and that lines up. It should be to proper scale.

3 cheers!!!

≽^•⩊•^≼
  🖒 🖒

Thank you for your help with all of it. That map module was a very lucky find.

You did the heavy ligting with the ASCII. I just have a good head for distances.

An acquired skill? I heard about your climbing adventure with Randvi. Being able to accurately judge distances must come in handy if you regularly do that kind of stuff.

Probably. I live in a big city too, so I walk basically everywhere.

[ And when you're above the grid, distances are more helpful than street directions. ]

Gotham, right? I saw you mention it before. That's actually where I was vacationing with Harley before being brought here. Got a novelty key chain and everything.

You've been to Gotham??

[ Why didn't he say anything, all this time people have been calling her crazy! Wait, there are weirder things to process here. Like Harley on vacation with someone so... normal. ]

who in their right mind chooses gotham as a vacation

Yes. We'd been discussing getting a place there together before we ended up here. Gotham's her old stomping ground, so, you know.

I get why you'd be surprised, though. It's certainly an interesting place with a storied history.

[ To put it very mildly. But if Harley's happy there, that's all that matters. Brooklyn's another option, if Harley might want to be closer to her family... which doesn't seem likely, but. Hm. He should talk to her about it. ]

Is it your hometown?

bad call man I've barely been anywhere else. Did you know it's fictional in a lot of worlds? Sameen thinks I'm delusional

Why do you say that?

Doesn't she think we're *all* imaginary people from fictional places except for her?

[ Like if anyone here is delusional, Steph wouldn't even be in the top 5 most likely candidates... ]

But I understand what you mean. That's the multiverse for you. Some things that are fictional in one universe are real in others. Most here might not be familiar with the concept, but I am. I guess it's why it's relatively easy taking what everyone says at face value.

Also makes me even more curious about why we, specifically, were all brought here. Assuming it was even intentional.

because gotham is a straight up nightmare and I don't know any normal person who would stay if they could afford to leave I think it's that we're fake people from real places. except me I guess I'm familiar with the concept but it's hard to wrap my head around my city being fictional

Sometimes familiarity and nostalgia and putting one's partner's happiness first win out over common sense, I suppose. If you could leave Gotham, where would you want to go? Maybe once we find a way out of here Harley and I could help with that.

For what it's worth, I believe you're a real person and I know Gotham is a real place. But I can understand how you feel. I think androids are at best a science-fiction concept to everyone here, but being one is very much my reality.

idk, I haven't really been anywhere else. besides, I have too many people I can't leave behind. and aside from my mom none of them are normal. I appreciate the thought though. you're sweet. :) did you know there's an android on the justice league? maybe more than 1 but I'd have to check an encyclopedia or something

Really appreciate the work you and the others have put into this, K!
Jet’s keeping a paper map for us that we’ll be bringing back to the base to help fill things up.
We’re on our way to the weird wall Steph found right now.
Told Squalo I’d take a look there.
We’ll keep everyone updated on anything we find!
Nothing weird so far.
It’s been kind of suspiciously easy.

Glad to be of service. And I appreciate both of you helping with the map making too.
Have you figured out anything more about that transceiver attachment?
I've been curious about it.
Suspiciously easy... Seems ominous. Best not to let your guards down.
And even though I'm hoping to meet you under better circumstances, don't hesitate to call for backup if you need it.

Definitely not letting our guard down.
I feel bad being a little paranoid.
But sometimes it is warranted.
Like a healthy level of paranoia.

I think the attachment is a metal detector.
That's what it's been helping us find when we follow it.
Handy!

[He's going to leave off his suspicions about why it's reacting to Jet. But he has what he thinks is a reasonable explanation if K asks about that. Jet can confirm or deny.]

I'd say it's very warranted in this place.
We don't know why we've been brought here yet.
Or when or where "here" even is.

Interesting. That does sound handy to have.
I take it Jet has some metal implants it must pick up.

[ It's not unusual for humans, where he's from, and so that's where his mind goes first. Makes him wonder if the implants stem from past grievous injuries or if the augmentation had been for other reasons. He knows next to nothing about Jet or his past, so can only speculate. ]

[That is the question, isn't it? Privately, Martin thinks there might be more to it than Jet lets on.]

I think so!
He hasn't talked much about it.
Imagine if he does, it was probably a pretty bad injury that caused it, you know?

Might've been, to warrant augmentation like that. Unless it's just picking up a gun or the like.
Do you have any metal on or in you? If you don't mind my asking.
Wondering how sensitive the detector may be.

[ Since Martin had previously mentioned it doesn't react to him, but it goes wild with Jet. Just how much metal might he be packing? ]

Things in my pack, I guess.
Just some tools we've picked up along the way.
But, no.
I haven't got anything inside of me.
Unless something happened before I washed up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

KD201D | text/file | 028 - 033+ (Locked to all player character callsigns)

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