Powder Miner

"Made by a company called Echelon Systems to help provide tactical support to those in military, security, or command positions. Did that for two years, Echelon Systems made a contract with a company called Nanotrasen that researches things and hires terrible employees, which meant that the station Exodus became one of the places I was usually downloaded to. Four years of that now, I've gotten used to the continual torrential tide of bullshit there, so naturally the universe decided to throw me and Low here, the one who was holding me at the time--" "Hi." "--into wherever the hell we are now. Normally I'd have access to a thing called the Tactical Uplink where a bunch of AI like me share data, but I'm cut off from that here, which is shit." "I mean, we are kinda cut off from just about everything here, it's... uh, well, it's a lot to take in..."

"If you wanted to change the world, why did you make a fucking gang? Nothing says "world progress" like shooting people and taking their shit I guess."

"Getting information sounds good to me. I'm even more lost than you are, and comsidering that I'm a tactical AI that doesn't sit real well with me." "I guess that means I'll come listen too. 'cuz I'm holding LOTUS and all." LOTUS looks at Kyle. "Truly my electronic loins just tingle."

"Calm down. When you're being as much of a manchild as the average Exodus medical staffer you know you've reached the point where you just need to stop." Isobel looks down at the pAI talking from her pocket, then shrugs apologetically at Kyle.

"Programming is basically just telling those little switches inside of us what to do. AI, at least ones like me, can write our own programming and do so really really fast, so we can react and think for ourselves. You use senary transistors, Alexandria? That's interesting."

"Er... you just have to eat it. The tricord will work its way into your system."

"It's absurdly complex, it would take me a very long time to explain the specifics." Isobel walks over to Kyle and timidly offers him one of the poppies. "Here... it really looks like you need this."

Isobel digs out a flower from her pocket. "Uh... I've got this poppy. I bred these specially myself, they contain tricordrazine and should be able to help out with your wound if you eat one," "And before you ask, no you won't get high."

"Can... you make things from electromagnetic radiation like light? That's so bizarre, even by my standards."

"This was literally just the topic of conversation, I am too. Also I can text."

"Oh wow, so we are talking about at least some of us being from backwards worlds then. Alright, a radio is a device that transmits information, and it transmits it in waves -- modulations of energy -- because what it transmits with is... more or less a kind of light far beyond the visible spectrum. As for AI, if you look veeeery very closely at my card, you will notice I am not in fact human, or an organic creature at all. Essentially, I'm a created device that can think." "LOTUS... no need to be rude..."

"I was thinking of using binary radio bursts should long-range communication at some point be necessary, unless any of the rest of you actually have radios. It's efficient and with a little bit of encryption secure, and the benefits of communication like that can't be overstated."

"I like that plan." Isobel sighs in relief, whereas LOTUS' pixel eyes change position again, "looking" at Alexandria. "Another AI, huh? Do you have radio capability?"

LOTUS chimed in. "No. Shooting completely unpredictable magic in a fight is bad. Don't do that. If you do that and you strenghten an opponent at some point I am going to shout at the top of my speakers." Isobel sighed. "I... ah, um, I'm going to admit I'm not totally comfortable with the thought of horrible mutating magic being thrown around in here even...?"

"Funnily enough, that's a marked tendency of pillars of fire, isn't it?"

"Funny, they've still got swords where I come from but as a rule they're either made of energy or made of cult magic and also terrible. Also, there have got to be better places to play with pillars of fire than in the room with everyone in it?"

The nearest woman to Kenta would probably be Isobel, who looks away more awkwardly than anything else, before answering Argent's question. "Uhhh, I can help out here and there, try to make things a bit smoother for you guys...? Let's see..." She riffles through her pockets and comes up with a poppy flower. "Oh, I've still got my tricofd poppies! I can help out with healing a bit, I guess." LOTUS speaks up too, more confidently. "Neither of us are actually direct combatants, but I should be able to greatly increase our efficiency in combat with tactical analysis and advice. It's literally what I was made to do after all."

Isobel turns from the kid (whose presence still seems to disturb her a bit), and instead addresses this new voice. "Ah, hello...? It's funny, I really don't think any of us were introduced to each other... what's your name?" LOTUS silently observes this other newcomer, for now, though given his track record it is perhaps not too likely that he will stay silent for long.

"Wh-what? You're ten?!" Isobel's eyebrows shoot right up at that, and she silently gapes in surprise at that little bombshell. Even LOTUS is briefly dumbfounded. "Alright, I take it back, whoever brought us here has worse hiring standards than Nanotrasen. At least Nanotrasen waits until the slightly-less-tender age of 16 before putting people into putting people into stupidly deadly roles. Well, maybe not worse. Are any of you secretly serial killers, or pyromaniacs given positions researching highly explosive compounds? Maybe actually secret cannibals? That's the bar that's been set by the company we came from. I saw a chef about to turn a dead person into burgers once."

Isobel frowns and looks over to Argent with some level of concern apparent on her eyes when he says that. "Ah... exactly how old are you?" LOTUS' raised eyebrow does not disappear.

Isobel looks rather uncomfortable when Kyle reveals himself to be a ganger, but LOTUS just regains that raised eyebrow. "Looks like whatever brought us here has the same hiring standards as Nanotrasen, then. I have not heard of Los Santos, though. Is it a colony, or what? Or is it a city, and on what planet? I don't have access to most of my database wherever we are, unfortunately."

A brown-haired woman stood in the corner, one of the strangers brought into the group after the battle. She wore a green and blue jumpsuit and a thick blue botanist's apron, as well as a bandanna over the top of her head. Clipped to her belt was a hatchet, whereas clipped to her apron pocket was a little electronic device, the screen just big enough to display a simple little electronic face, two dots and a line signifying a neutral expression. When the castle started moving, it drew two different reactions -- the woman startled and yelped a bit in surprise, whereas the device's face simply gained a line representing a raised eyebrow. A voice emanated from the device, a halfway point between natural and artificial; the voice was that of a dry, sarcastic male but electronic modulation and crackle made it clear that the device was some sort of AI. "So now it's a MOVING castle. I can't figure this place out at all. Is it backwards? Is it not backwards? Is it some backwater rock planet or what?" Its electronic eyes changed position, giving the effect that it was looking at Kyle. "Well, due to absence of any dark, world shattering secrets on my part, how about a simple introduction? Low, you can start." The woman, still looking rather nervous, spoke, in a voice tinged with a Scottish accent. "Ah, uh, right, I can do that. I'm Isobel Low, and I work for a company called Nanotrasen -- do... do you have NT out here? Uh, anyway, I'm a botanist and I work on the station the NSS Exodus." "I'm the Logistical Operational and Tactical Uplink System, or LOTUS. I'm a tactical pocket AI. I believe I was technically the one supposed to be summoned to wherever I am, but since Low was holding me at the time, she tagged along. This works for me because I just so happen to not have any limbs."

Well, I'm another Bay12er coming from the Trespassers game that was run over there; I'll be making a sheet probably tomorrow or in a couple days. The character will be primarily support based and will have an init boost ability since I've been told in the Discord that's what's needed.