[OPEN MINGLE]

[justscribing]

WHO: Everyone! It's a mingle!
WHAT: Discussing recent reveals about the simulation
WHERE: Pairidaeza Architectural Studio
WHEN: Feb 3rd morning to evening
WARNINGS: Potential existential crises, discussions of death, memory manipulation, basically everything to do with their actual situation in a simulated environment.




[The actual setup within the garage-turned-studio is away from all the actual workbenches.

On one folding table are copies of multiple documents available around the X: The main document is a summary of a resident from a prior iteration that's clearly been redacted via scanning copies with stuff blocked out. Additionally are copies of the most recent newsletter with the memo on the back and photos of the hotel journal printed in black and white.

Lined up on another folding table away from the one with the documents is an array of finger foods: hummus, chutneys, and yoghurt dips with a variety of sliced vegetables, cheeses, cold cuts, and fresh pita bread. cardamom cookies, panipuri, and both vegetable and chicken samosas take up the other side. Mint water and fresh juice are in pitchers to the center. It's actually a little crowded.

Chairs are set up in small grounds and around the document table. And finally, a whiteboard has been rolled in for people to make use of in group discussions.]



((This is a mingle, so everyone is encouraged to threadjack, make toplevels, etc prior plot mingles have been done. Alhaitham and Kaveh will be around and participating but not taking the lead beyond making sure people stay orderly in the studio and have enough papers.

If you character has discussed the simulation with either Kaveh or Alhaitham, you can also handwave they texted them directly about it.))

Comments

[fauned]

Mm..

( she's here. more out of curiosity than anything helpful, but she has a small pile of panipuri she's picking at alongside the papers everyone seems to be picking apart because she is just shameless like that.

there's some concerns, but, )

So they're just watching us like... Always? ( freaky, thinks the girl who's definitely watched her friends sleep. ) Could you imagine the things they've seen us all do at this point?

( And Then Write About It, )

ota

[wordchain]

[ There are several recognizable names in this file, but most of them are unfamiliar... Once Yesod has read through the document's remaining information, he's quiet for a while to revisit a few points noted down from past discussions for anything to add to the whiteboard. CE-41 came up then, too — Alhaitham mentioned it as the class featured in his dorm room. That iteration's dissolution was evidently the result of running out of supplies altogether.

Real people in real bodies, according to the newest memorandum file. A "decommissioning" procedure intended to erase iteration memories and allow test subjects to be reused repeatedly. ]

...This confirms that they have access to our bodies elsewhere, then.

OTA

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham has had a few days to review this information himself, of course. He doesn't really need to read it again, but it makes him look occupied as he chews through samosas. And when he's not pretending to be busy, he's at the whiteboard jotting down relevant information:

CE-09 - years 2692-2693
CE-41 - years 3021-3025
Dr. Sumalee becomes head researcher of the simulation experiment - year 3054


Residents that disappear during a simulation are "decommissioned" and have their memories erased. This is not infallible. SEE: Ishmael


Iterations of the same people have been reused. Uncertain if these are all potential alternate timelines or if they've somehow discovered how to break the time continuum.


Personal journal entries occurred during CE-47, the same iteration all other redacted memos have come from. Nothing past CE-47 has been found.


Previous iteration data and personal files are all being stored on the same servers as the actual simulation. This is amateur, but the information we've obtained from data crossover has been illuminating.


They're focused on our personal development within the iteration. Likely reason is that we're meant to be a stand-in for a variety of personalities without them experimenting on their own people.


We are not disconnected from our physical bodies.


And then, all the way to the left side a line drawing off the section:

WHAT'S ACTIONABLE:

- Since we're still connected to our physical bodies, is there a way to shield our minds so they can't receive a "neuron wipe" and lose our memories?

- There may still be people on the inside that don't agree with our treatment. See if we can get them to contact us.

- Stress the simulation itself to break further. Remove their control.]

Anything else?

[justscribing]

Isn't it creepy? [Says the guy who memorizes Kaveh's schedule.] But I've suspected that's the case for a while.

[justscribing]

That's right, though there's no clarity if we're experiencing time here the same way it's occurring in reality. [He looks aside to Yesod.] And they could have them in a sort of stasis to be able to use us for so long. What would you do if we returned to our home worlds and it turned out many decades had passed with your absence?

[fauned]

Oh, it's definitely a little weird. I don't mind an audience but like, now I'm a little self-conscious.

( these two.. handshake meme-ing over the worst aspects of being a freak fr. )

I guess that makes sense if they were studying us but like - I didn't think they'd be watching us so closely, y'know? Like, by ourselves? There's so many of us!

[featheradrift]

[ What if they were just virtual duplicates of themselves? That'd been something the Wanderer had worried about ever since learning the city was a simulated environment. With this latest memorandum though, a part of him relaxes knowing he doesn't have to entertain that theory anymore. ]

Wonderful. A bunch of idiotic researchers, free to do to us whatever they please. How reassuring.

[ But with this, now he has to wonder why Nahida hasn't contacted any of them yet. Perhaps it's just that difficult for even a god to reach them. That doesn't sound promising at all. ]

This shouldn't change any of our plans.

[featheradrift]

[ There are a few names he recognizes from the new documents Alhaitham has presented. Most notable is Hong Lu, who he thought was human, if not a little strange, and not all that old in appearance. CE-41 was at bare minimum twenty to thirty years in the past, so that meant... ]

They must have a way to keep people from aging. If they're reusing the same people between iterations that last several years, at some point, their physical body will no longer match their mental age unless they prevent them from changing.

[ But now it makes him wonder—how long have they been missing from Teyvat? What has Nahida been doing all this time? Were they truly outside even the grasp of the gods? What of the Heavenly Principles? Did it not care if another outsider encroached on its territory? He has far too many questions, and no one here would be able to answer them. ]

[limbical]

Yeah, they would've seen how hard you fucked up.

[He's definitely gonna pipe up and be a catty bitch about it okay]

[fauned]

( haha, catty, )

Oh please, everyone saw that.

( hey guy. get a snack. spike your juice. she'll even raise hers? cheers. )

But you're right. They noticed. And they definitely weren't happy about it.

( sip. )

[limbical]

Yeah, but they would've had a frame of reference. Watching everyone's shitty memories and rooms, that kind of thing. Then there's you.

[nah he's good]

[justscribing]

[Perhaps the city should have focused on teaching them shame.]

Either they have a very large team, or they focus primarily on their experiments and anything else that seems to cause significant waves through the city. Even if everything is recorded, it doesn't mean someone's looking closely at it.

[justscribing]

Unless they send us back completely and only retrieve us when there's an iteration they want to use us for. This person seems to have had a gap of seven, for example.

[... And also has some alternate timeline bullshit going on but quantum physics is a bit much for them to be parsing with the information they have right now.] Using a person for too long risks an actual death from the mental strain of the simulation. The body can fail if the mind does, just as it does in reverse.

[wordchain]

Yes... It's possible that the passage of time differs between worlds, and it seems likely that they have the means to preserve us in a relatively stable state.

[ But considering the data issues, the number of failed iterations, the conflict within those research teams, how sustainable is that? Yesod pauses, brow furrowed as he contemplates the implications of all of this. Admittedly, now he's very much wondering about the technology used to access the Library and its denizens' constructed bodies, but that probably isn't relevant to the majority of people here. Still, capturing copies of their consciousness to insert into a simulation seemed more plausible, less impractical — and not as unpleasant as the thought of physically being stored somewhere for any length of time, something apparently accomplished regardless of individual circumstances. ]

I suppose they need the findings that monitoring our physical bodies would provide, in addition to their observations of the enclosure.

[aceslow]

[ Kim arrives, as though he hasn't been missing for a full month, as though absolutely nothing has changed, and he looms over Fearne a little to read over her shoulder. He could get started on his own pile of papers, but if he's to take on the challenging undertaking of questioning existence itself, he's damn well not doing it alone. ]

Maybe that's the way to get back at them, [ he says wryly. ] Make them see something so unpleasant that they'd rather not watch us anymore. Not that I'm volunteering.

[wordchain]

[ Yesod glances over at "Hat Guy" to acknowledge his remarks with a nod. The methods being used may not come as a surprise by now — "the good of the many over the good of the few" is not an unfamiliar justification, either — but that doesn't make the extent of their control over every resident less uncomfortable. Erasing memories that the affected individuals might have wanted to retain, the removal of all autonomy. ]

To strain our current environment, I presume? No, I would imagine that everyone involved already intended to proceed with care.

[ If anything, that seems comparatively harmless then, unlike the possible impact of the researchers' experiments and various invasive procedures on the brain. ]

ota

[strongroots]

[ This is a Lot, huh.

Robby doesn't bother with the finger foods (what is with people serving a mini-buffet with these reports, wonders this uncultured swine), but he might later. Way later. A good portion is just him sitting with the copy of everything, from the report to the photos of the hotel journal. He sits with a heavy brow, reading through everything, quiet. Still.

Doesn't even turn to talk to his City Designated Adult (Daniel LaRusso) who, of course, has come along with him. He can be approached while in this quiet state, obviously brooding like a young teen about this information. It takes him a bit to process this information, even if it might confirm things they already figured was true: how closely they're being watched, that privacy was never an option. Well, fuck. Fuckity fuckity fuck.

But after a good sulk, Robby will go to the whiteboard and jot a few questions down. ]

Where was the report found?
Does the diary mean they're in here with us?
Make copies of any photos we find? Keep public? Watch out for faces

[ Robby's no Alhaitham here........really, he's chewing on his inner lip and started to bounce once of his feet as he stands there, staring at the board. Does he want to erase these?

He stands at the whiteboard for a good moment, reading what's been written too, but will eventually go back to sit, taking out a notebook and trying to jot things. Trying to get out of his own head.

But he's still bouncing one of his feet in a nervous tic. ]

[strongroots]

What the hell happened to the people in 41? [ Access to bodies, the mention of 41 in the diary. Robby looks at Yesod with concern, a tight mouth, looking back at the diary entry photo. ] You think something happened to them?

[ Just...!! Wondering what you think, pal!! Robby can't even remember how that iteration ended. ]

OTA!

[fanstheflames]

[ Tsuruno is... oddly quiet. Not that she's being completely antisocial, but she's definitely not as chipper or exuberant or even fiercely determined as she usually is. But she'll make the rounds, read the whiteboard and participate in discussions, grab some pita and hummus and gnaw on it like an anxious gerbil and finally be found hunkered down in an unoccupied corner.

She's twisting the ring on her finger, the only jewelry she's wearing, and looking simultaneously like she's deep in thought but also trying not to hyperventilate.

Very softly, under her breath: ]

You're fine, you're fine, you're fine...

[fanstheflames]

[ It's while his foot is bouncing that another foot lightly taps against it. And there's Tsuruno, giving him a more subdued smile. ]

It's a lot, huh?

[strongroots]

[ Oh, a Tsuruno......

Let him unwind some of that tension building in the back of his neck, if just a little. Familiarity and a friendly face brings comfort, after all. ]

Always is, [ he offers like a joke, a tug of a smile that's small. ] What do you think about it?

OTA

[nomoresharks]

[Ever wary of delving too deeply into something dangerous when other, far more capable individuals are perfectly ready and willing to do so, Hythlodaeus has avoided attending these meetings until recently. "Until recently" being the operative words.

He would have come regardless, considering his newfound desire to escape with all memories intact, but the information on the back of the newsletter (even redacted as it is) cannot be ignored.]

That these were simulated environs I suspected, but to think that even we were reused.

[A plate of samosas, taken to be polite, sits untouched beside him as he finishes jotting down another note to himself on the notepad he'd grabbed on his way out the door.]

I imagine they must use something similar to that device within the Science Discovery Center to recreate our bodies should anything happen to us or at the start of a new iteration. But to what end? Both the report and all previous actions taken if someone commits some sort of crime imply that the heads of this experiment seek cooperation above all else, but the pressures upon us seem designed to test the limits of this cooperation and trust.

It could be but simple curiosity. And yet there are fifty iterations.

[nomoresharks]

Alternatively, each person is remade at the start of each iteration. While none of us can say for certain whether or not they retrieve each subject when needed or store whatever data can be gleaned via soul and memory elsewhere, we do know that they have the ability to alter memories as part of this "neuron wipe."

In which case all one would need is a new "container" so to speak, and the experiment can begin anew with fresh-faced participants at the ready.

[nomoresharks]

Perhaps. It could be referring to our current bodies as well.

Unless I am mistaken, our bodies are, for the most part, composed of flesh and blood, are they not?

[limbical]

[While generally, Daan is being mostly introspective (or glaring at Fearne and verbally bothering her), he doesn't miss the way Tsuruno is being not her usual self. So, naturally, he does make his way over to her.]

Hey.

What's on your mind?