citylogs | [open mingle] I do my crosswords in pen

WHO: Constantine (

keepgodwaiting) & you!

WHAT: Metaplot deciphering!

WHERE: The Welcome Diner

WHEN: Early December

WARNINGS: Probable discussion of human experimentation

Another month, another weird new building, and Johanna has been thinking. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then they ought to try some new things, right?

Trying to stay away from the dorms at Halloween didn't work. Trying to escape the mall had mixed results. So maybe it's time to abandon the avoidant strategy and see what happens if they approach things a bit more head-on. Starting, in her case, with investigating every open door she could find in the Science Center until she found the director's office.

(Yes, she did just get told off by several friends for running into potentially dangerous situations with no backup; no, she did not alert anybody that she was going to do this; but hey, it was completely uneventful and therefore she has not broken any promises to anyone!)

The most interesting thing in there, by far, is the unlocked computer, and with a little digging she found a very interesting email. More carefully redacted notes. And she wonders ...

So one evening -- around dinner time, after sunset, in the hopes of being available to the most residents -- Johanna posts up in the welcome diner with a stack of notebooks, pens, and her phone. She's hand-copying the redacted file from her phone onto paper, with XXXXXs to indicate the number of characters in the redacted words. It's an arduous process, and every so often she straightens up from the work with a groan to crack her back. After she gets the whole thing copied down, she picks up her phone to make a network post:

Anyone good at crossword puzzles? I've got a doozy of one I'm working on in the diner and could use some help.

Anyone who cares to join her and try to decipher the redacted words, or make additional hard copies of the file to share out, is more than welcome to do so. Or just grab a cup of coffee and share theories with each other.

[ ooc: Feel free to treat this like an open mingle, converse with other characters, hop around, etc! I'll be making a top level with the text of the two redacted files from the newsletter, in which we can crowdsource guesses about what the missing words might be!

ETA: Feel free to put guesses in this document! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What we have is almost certain confirmation that this is an artificial simulation, and we're test subjects of an experiment. That isn't a theory we need to try and prove anymore, so now we can turn our attention to actually using our knowledge of the reality we're in to escape it.

We're more expendable than their own people, but we're still a precious enough resource they clearly try to avoid a dissolution until it's beyond salvageable. There's an opportunity for some of us to push the boundaries of this place without setting off a termination of the entire iteration.

[ Pushing the boundaries, huh. He's quiet, but... ]

Good luck finding that. [ It's not specifically directed at Alhaitham, his gaze on the table and the papers, and his tone not disbelieving or incredulous.

Just a sincere Good luck to the idea. Whoever can achieve it. ]

[ Alhaitham sounds confident that such an opportunity exists — it's worth attempting. Ideally, it won't result in similar consequences as the experiment to defy the Halloween event at the university, but even these might be mitigated, with the knowledge gained through that experiment. ]

Presumably we would be able to ensure that they won't interpret it as disruptive factions forming, rather than an example of community-minded cooperation?

[ Yesod glances at Alhaitham, curious. ]

There's no way to ensure how they interpret our behavior, especially since they have some capability of reading intent when it comes to distributing punishments. We'd simply be toeing the line to avoid a complete dissolution of this iteration before we can achieve anything.

[ He nods after a moment. ]

I'm not opposed to the idea. If you have a starting point in mind, I'd simply prefer not to endanger others with my actions.

[ Maybe this time, that might be an achievable goal. ]

Putting together a group willing to take the risk would be the starting point. Then we can compare what we're capable of, and what we know of our environment to strain it. Junpei, the guy who found Dr. Sumalee's personnel files, should also be interested.

How familiar are you with the level of technology we've seen in this city?

[ Junpei with his efforts to clip through the fog... That seems likely. Briefly, Yesod casts a look around for him before turning back to Alhaitham. ]

Nothing has struck me as unusual or especially advanced, thus far, in terms of the technology in use here. Of course, that may not be the case for whatever Dr. Sumalee's team has at its disposal.

Right, what we have here isn't reflective of what our kidnappers are actually working with. [But that doesn't mean what they're faced with is useless. It can create a baseline.]

Is this level of technology something that you think would be capable of a large scale simulation, or does there have to be something more at play? Such as thousands of years of advancements, or the power of a god.

I believe that the former is possible, despite appearances.

[ At least, in his experience, certain technologies can be unobtrusive on the surface, but effectively defy the laws of nature. That could apply to anything that they interact with here as well.

Yesod's gaze wanders to the papers being circulated. ]

Even methods such as relying on the ventilation system appear to be sufficient, after all, if the aim is to cause specific widespread effects.

[Alhaitham hums, thoughtful. He wishes he knew more about the computers here. He's learning but starting from zero means he needs more time.]

Then perhaps we can use what's around us to reverse-engineer how the simulation functions so we can break it.

[ Yesod's attention returns to Alhaitham as he nods once more in agreement, albeit after another moment's hesitation. It's pointless to think it right now, but if they succeed, what lies on the other side of escaping from this city? What can they guarantee will remain intact of their time in this simulation? ]

Our devices and other accessible interfaces, for example, or aspects of the environment itself?

Those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, if you consider breaking an interface to the point it causes an error that reveals more of this simulation's operation. But you'll get more people capable of breaking the environment itself, so that's what I would focus on.

[open mingle] I do my crosswords in pen

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