pbtoy

Christmas!

2005-11-20T07:35:14Z

Squeaksqueak squeak squeeeeak squeaksqueak squeeeak! (Everyone leave your addresses for christmas cards!)

Squeak squeaak squea squeeeeaksqueaak, squeak squeaksqueak! (Do as I say, I am the toy!)

Squeeeeeeak!

2005-01-27T02:07:11Z

Squeak!

Christmas!

2004-12-06T06:53:06Z

Squeaksqueak squeak squeeeeak squeaksqueak squeeeak! (Everyone leave your addresses for christmas cards!)

Squeak squeaak squea squeeeeaksqueaak, squeak squeaksqueak! (Do as I say, I am the toy!)

How Squeak got his groove (roar) back

2004-10-14T18:07:05Z

System chuckles. "When you just squeak, people often don't understand you."

CatToy cocks her head to the side, and asks, "Squeak?"

Squeak looks confused at this, his squeaks are perfectly understandable, he thinks.

System chuckles, rubbing Squeak's ears.

Altis sighs, "This could take a while," she says, "while she incorporates the new traits, and they resolve themselves. Eventually, though, she should be express herself well enough that we'll all understand her clearly."

System smiles. "I would enjoy that. CatToy provided a great service to me earlier..."

Squeak looks over to CatToy curiously.

Altis murmurs, "She did? What did hse do for you?"

CatToy squeaks, and scritches the tiger.

System states quietly, "She led me to a previously undiscovered island in Topwarp, where I found other natives of an external universe trapped there."

Altis tilts her head. "Really? What were they like?"

System states quietly, "They referred to themselves as 'gear spirits'. I assisted them in being able to leave, but they said that they would see me about."

Squeak's ears perk! He forms an image of the tiger one over his head and squeaks excitedly!

Altis hms. "I wonder what all that means."

System shrugs. "They evidently had binary numeric names, and appeared as minature biological entities. Odd."

The image of the tiger jumps down onto Squeak's nose, and roars.

Squeak squeaks and looks confused!

The small tiger turns around, then lightly bats at Squeak's muzzle.

System arches (his) eyebrows. The roar certainly wasn't a capability of the implant...

Squeak's eyes stretch wide and he reaches up to try and paw back at the little tiger!

Altis smiles and retracts the needles from CatToy's arms. "If it doesn't work out well for you, come to me, and I can see about removing the traits from you."

[OOC] System says, "Just to ask, is the image still glowy blue, or has it become, well... orange and black, since hopping down?"

CatToy nods, and says, "Squeak!"

[OOC] The tiger is orange and black, now.

The tiger lets out another roar, then hops down from Squeak's nose.

System glances about. "Are you around, 4,353,890?"

Squeak squeeeaksqueeeaks at the tiger and follows it to see where it is going.

If the human gear spirit is around, he's not answering.

The tiger pads over, and sits on one of Altis' feet.

System chuckles quietly. "Well, Altis. This is one of them."

Altis looks down at the tiger, reaching down, and trying to scratch between its ears, as much to gauge its solidity as anything else. The tiny tiger rumbles at the scratching. It is, in fact, entirely solid.

Squeak gets down on his belly and creeps closer to the little tiger, kind of crawling and dragging himself.

System smiles. "You have a friend, Squeak!"

The small tiger acts as though it were unaware of Squeak, then, when he gets close enough, pounces his nose!

Squeak's eyes stretch wide and he squeaks! in surprise!

Altis seems somewhat amused by this. "It is very much physically present. I would not gather that this was merely a spirit." She looks to CatToy, "How did you happen to find that place?" she asks.

The tiger clings to Squeak's nose, and chews on his septum.

Squeak doesn't feel anything really resembling pain. He squeeaks? at the tiger and tilts his head to one side to try and get a better look at it.

CatToy squeaks at Altis, then pulls out her crayons, and a piece of gold paper. She takes a minute to draw something, then holds it up, showing a hand drawn cartoon of her going to Top, playing around in the water for a little while, then getting on a boat and going out to sea.

System chuckles gently, reaching down to rub behind Squeak's ears.

The tiger falls off of Squeak's nose, then rawrs up at him.

Altis nods. "Ahh. I see." She smiles. "Do you normally do that? Or was this something new?"

Squeak lowers his head down to the ground and peers at the little tiger closely. Over his head appears the word "Model".

System smiles gently.

CatToy nodnods, and says, "Squeak!"

The small tiger paws lightly at Squeak's nose.

Altis hms, frowning. "Well, you learn something new every day." She offers CatToy a smile and lightly pets her head.

CatToy squeaks, murring quietly at the petting.

System crosses over towards CatToy, offering her a hug. After all, she's earned hugs.

Squeak watches the tiger quite intently and over his head appears the word, "Teach?"

CatToy squeaks happily, and hugs System back!

System smiles. "I'm glad you helped me."

The tiger sits on its butt, and looks up at Squeak. It then asks, in a deep voice, appropriate to a tiger spirit, "What do you want me to teach?"

Altis takes a closer look at CatToy, at the seam about her neck for what looks like a hood. "Do you mind if I look at this?" she asks

CatToy squeaks softly, and shakes her head, tilting her face one way and another, showing Altis the seam around her face.

Altis reaches forward and tries to pry at the seam, to take a closer look.

The seam pulls loose easily, making the mouse's mask flip up. This reveals a tiny cockpit, with five small mice in it, dressed in red, black, yellow, pink and blue spandex suits.

System arches (his) eyebrows quite a bit at this.

The mice squeak up at Altis, then reach up, and slam the mask back down.

Altis ahhhhs. "*That* would explain why it wasn't taking quite the same way it would, otherwise." She seems somewhat relieved. "And here, I thought it was some failure on my part."

Squeak squeaks?

Squeak looks at the tiger with his head tilted and appears over his head, "To be like" There's a long pause and then, "spirit".

System chuckles, pulling CatToy into a hug, shaking (his) head in amusement.

The tiger shakes its head, and says, "You already know. You simply don't know that you know."

CatToy squeaks, and murrs at that, hugging System back.

System states quietly, "Why did you decide to become CatToy, like you are?"

CatToy squeaks at System, and draws him a cartoon on purple paper of her hugging someone with stuff dripping off of them.

System blinks at this. "Clarify?"

CatToy squeaks at System, then draws some more, this time showing him a picture of someone, clearly strangetainted, going to Charm and attacking people. She then appears in the cartoon, and hugs the strangehost, making the strangevirus disappear in wavy lines above his head.

Squeak looks confused. He is just a toy tiger, after all.

System nods. "So you became CatToy to help protect Charm?"

CatToy squeaks at System, and shakes her head. She then draws some more, showing her going around and hugging and kissing other people.

System states quietly, "So you could hug people?"

CatToy shakes her head again, and draws some of the people she hugged, sporting big smiles.

System states quietly, "To make people happy?"

CatToy squeaks, and nodnods!

System nods. "Why did you need to have this larger body for that?"

CatToy draws a picture, showing the five little mice trying to hug a normal sized person, then getting stepped on on accident.

System nods. "I see. I'm sorry, CatToy."

Squeak squeak squeeaks?

Altis asks, "Do the mice have some sort of way to feel what you are feeling?"

CatToy squeaks curiously at Altis.

Altis notes, "If I pet you, do the mice feel it?"

CatToy squeaks at Altis, and nodnods!

Altis nods, "And how do they decide how you react? Do they vote on it?"

CatToy giggles at Altis, and shakes her head. She then moves each limb seperately.

Altis chuckles. "I should wonder what it would look like if they disagreed."

System simply cuddles CatToy, figuring she'd appreciate that.

CatToy murrs, snuggling into System.

Squeak nudges the little tiger spirit with his nose.

The tiger bats at Squeak's nose.

Squeak squeeeaks and appears over his head, "Squeak does not know."

Altis pets CatToy's head. "As long as I know you are enjoying this, that is good. I was wondering if each of you would like your own, separate toy, though."

CatToy murrs quietly at the petting, then squeaks curiously at Altis.

The tiger nods, and says, "Squeak does know. He just forgot," before jumping up onto Squeak's muzzle.

Squeak tries to look at the tiger on his nose, eyes crossing a bit. Over his head appears, "How to remember?"

The tiger nods, then dives forward, right between Squeak's eyes. It disappears into his head.

Altis smiles at CatToy. "Well, either that, or for each to be CatToy-sized. I like to be able to talk with friends or friendlies."

Squeak's eyes stretch wide and he squeeaks, pawing at his head rather frantically!

CatToy squeaks again, curiously, then giggles softly, and nods.

The tiger doesn't seem to get out just because of the pawing. Whatever it's doing seems to work, however, because Squeak suddenly remembers how to roar, again.

Squeak's eyes stretch cartoonishly wide and he lets out a big long squeak of excitement!

The tiger hangs around inside Squeak a little longer, restoring his memory of how to properly hunt, then hops out of the top of his head.

Altis leans over and gives CatToy a kiss on the head. "Something is distracting me, though. I had best go and determine its nature."

CatToy squeaks softly, and nods.

Smoke and haze cling to Altis as they slip outside.

Squeak seems somewhat dazed when the tiger is done, but then no one really knows how long it has been since he acted as a real tiger.

The tiger then curls up in between Squeak's ears, and yawns.

Squeak takes a deep breath and tries out his roar, which works, though is rather squeaky!

The tiger chuckles softly, and paws at one of Squeak's ears.

Squeak squeeeaks and tilts his head left and right, trying to figure out how to nuzzle something that is on top of his head.

The tiger continues pawing at Squeak's ear, staying in place quite easily.

Squeak squeeaks softly and seems quite happy at what has been found inside of his head. He looks around almost with new purpose.

The small tiger dangles one paw down between Squeak's eyes.

Squeak tries to lick up at the paw, though his tongue isn't long enough without stretching.

The tiny tiger swings its paw back and forth in front of Squeak's face, yawning into his ear.

Squeak squeak squeeeeaks to the little tiger and seems inordinately pleased that it has chosen him as a perch.

System looks from where (he) cuddles CatToy. "Very good, Squeak! I'm proud of you!"

Squeak squeeaks happily and bounds over to you!

System smiles. "The gear spirit helped you, didn't it?"

Squeak nods! Over his head appears the words, "Nice" and "spirit".

System smiles. "They seem like good people."

Squeak tries to climb in to your lap, squeeaking some more!

System lets you deposit yourself in (his) lap, squeezing you. "I'm glad for you, Squeak."

Squeak rubs his head against you fondly, he obviously thinks you have something to do with this.

System states quietly, "Well, I helped the gear spirits get out, but it was that one spirit who recovered that memory for you..."

Squeak squeaksqueeeaks and nuzzles some more, he isn't letting you off that easily :).

System chuckles. "How am I so responsible for this?"

Squeak appears the words, "System helps" over his head.

System chuckles. "Squeak, I try and help you, but I'm not sure how I helped you remember to roar."

Squeak appears over his head, "Love" and then, "for System".

System catches up with Giliglo

2004-10-13T07:00:03Z


Squeak squeak squeak squeeeak! Squeaksqueak squeak squeeeeaks!

System laughs.  "Ready to go find Gilgilo, Squeak?"

Squeak squeeaks!

System offers to let you walk along with (him).  ("Hopon System" to accept.) 
System states quietly, "I have some data from the Mess infosystems that give 
me a read on Gilgilo.  We have to go through Bottomwarp square again, though..."
System enters the Quick-Transit System carriage.
System has left.
System walks along, with you following (him). 
Upwarp Quick-Transit System
You enter one of Upwarp's quick-transit carriages, the matte metallic
door silently closing behind you and a 'NOW MOVING' sign lighting up.
The interior is simplistic, but built in a consistent style of curves
intermixed with straight lines and sharp edges, the design brought forth
by a mild back light. Looking around, the light surrounding specific
features seems to throb gently as your gaze passes over them, a
prolonged stare or thought causing them to extrude and fold in on
themselves to form seats, handles, data s or anything else one
might need or desire. A gaze upwards causes the upper part of the
interior to slowly go translucent, revealing the landscape of white
domes, pyramids, tapering towers and other more abstract mathematical
shapes that is Upwarp. Like the rest of the carriage, picking a
destination is simply a matter of thinking it.
The main stations are etched in teletype text font into a metallic strip
above:
  [ ALPHA:  Main Station ]  [ BETA:Physical ]
  [ GAMMA: Psychological ]  [ DELTA: Knowledge ]  [ EPSILON: Habitat ]
 [ ZETA:SABCs ]  [ OMEGA:  Admin ]
Contents:
System
System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 
System exits into Alpha Sector.
System has left.
System walks along, with you following (him). 
Upwarp -- Alpha Sector
You are inside of a sphere precisely 471.2 meters in circumference;
you know this because the sphere's dimensions are clearly marked, in
tidy black sans-serif text, on its inner wall. The sphere is made of
pristine white plastic, milky and translucent like quartz, and is
brightly illuminated. The room is dominated by an enormous flat screen,
50 meters across (also clearly measured), that flashes cryptic text,
talking heads, and brightly colored diagrams. From unseen speakers, a
cool feminine synthvoice announces transit schedules, public events,
and environmental conditions.
It's difficult to tell up from down here, since people seem to walk
soundly on every surface. Still more people hover in the center, seated
in floating plastic chairs shaped like hollowed eggs and spheres. They
hold conversations or interact with service terminals, but their voices
never rise above a polite hush. Stylized neon arrows and color-coded
alphanumerics mark the locations of public utilities and passages to
other locations.
Everybody seems quite cheerful, but nobody seems to laugh.
Nearby, a door leads to the Quick- system, offering access 
to the other sectors of Upwarp.  Next to that is the frosted glass
wall of a local eatery, the .
A flattened ovoid blob of liquid  floats here, lazily oozing
in midair.
Contents:
System
Trilogee
Rheoryn
KaishoKaiju
Jennet
Info Kiosk [Fake]
Kangaroo Statue [Fake]
matter compiler [Fake]
public backup terminal [Fake]
System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 
System touches the transit mirror and vanishes.
System walks along, with you following (him). 
Transit Nexus
Blinding whiteness resolves into a field of gleaming, ice-white
hexagonal tiles, their tesselation seemingly perfect to the micron.
The tiling entirely covers the walls and ceiling of this stark,
hexagonal room, except for the rectangles of rippling liquid mirror,
each a different color, placed equidistant along the walls, and the
hexagonal glow-panels in the ceiling that bathe the room in cool
bluish-white radiance.
A single word is printed above each mirror-pool in sans-serif text:
 BLUE:Upwarp GOLD: Topwarp PURPLE: Charmwarp
 GRAY: Downwarp PINK: Bottomwarp RED:  Strangewarp
In the center of the room, there's a  that carries sentients up to
Puzzle Park, and a  mirror-blob that leads to the Sentient
Storage Facility.
Contents:
System
Map

System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 

System pauses, brushing at (his) hair.  "You ready, kitten?"

Squeak squeeaks and nods excitedly!

System touches the pink transit mirror and vanishes.

System walks along, with you following (him). 

BottomWarp
You are in a hot, humid, twilit place, mired in a sea of musky haze
and anonymous, delirious bodies in motion. Very little of those bodies
is covered, and what does cover them doesn't add much to their modesty.
The mass of revelers presses in on fresh guests like a feeding anemone,
all groping limbs and sucking lips, glistening genitalia and a few
parts that words aren't quite fit to describe. At least the crowd's a
friendly beast, passing food, drugs, and software into visitors' hands
before they can even refuse. Just be careful what you chew on...
Mercifully, there are ample places to hide out from your new friends.
The pavilions, huts, and shopping booths that dot the public square
are tiny but plentiful enough to give a little breathing room. The
structures are all made of a foamy, springy substance that glistens
like mother-of-pearl and swirls like meringue; it makes them look like
they weren't so much built up as they were sprayed on. The walls have
been whipped into suggestive shapes, hyper-masculine lines and ultra-
feminine cusps. Now and then, a fresh flume of the stuff spurts out
of a hidden nozzle. The locals are quick to scoop of bits of the fluid
before it dries and sculpt them into new toys.
Nearby is a somewhat vulval , via whose lips sentients are
occasionally seen to arrive or depart.  Across the square is the
comical cat's-head facade of the  Cat club, and next to it
multicolour neon naked figures frolic up and down the humming facade
of an old-fashioned  theater. Between the two buildings, a 
covered spiral stairway leads .
Hanging in the air are a flattened ovoid blob of liquid  
light lazily oozing across it, and a brass  with the title
'Orion' on a plaque in front of it. 
Contents:
System
Grand Museum Gateway - Bottomwarp Variant
Satellite Dish [Fake]
Vole Statue [Fake]

System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 

Squeak squeeaks!  All these excited people all around!

System immediately starts pushing (his) way through the crowds, intent on  (his) destination and with a far less hedonistic outlook than the masses.

Squeak bound along after you, for the most part, squeaking from time to time!

System manages to shove (his) way through reasonably efficiently, resigned to dealing with the crowds.

System squirms through the crowds and up into the stairway.

System has left.

System walks along, with you following (him). 
Ped Tunnel
A narrow corridor enclosing a long, slightly curving staircase. The spongy, 
green-tinted walls press in around you, pulsing slightly as you climb, and 
the murky funk rises up from the main square bellow, making you slightly 
dizzy. The steps are alternately slippery or sticky; you wonder why they 
don't have escalators her, or at least a handrail. Every few feet, 
irregularly shaped video monitors pump out live feeds from the party 
bellow, interspersed with advertisements for local businesses or messages 
from local luminaries.
You can climb up, to the Upper Bazaar, from here, or down, to the main square.
[ Exits: Bazaar, Main Square ]
Contents:
System

System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 

System half-nods as (he) manages to push (his) way to the tunnel, a passing squidish thing undulating suggestively at Squeak as it heads back down to the party.

Squeak skirts the squiddish thing with a somewhat nervous expression, then bounds along after you quickly, sticking close.  He looks around to see where this tunnel is leading, squeak?ing at you curiously.

System climbs to the top of the stairs, and out into the Bazaar.

System has left.
System walks along, with you following (him). 
Upper Bazaar(#321RLJ)
Somewhat removed from the permanent orgy in the main square, this place is 
slightly quieter. Small clusters of revelers wander amongst the stalls, 
booths and shops, groping one another and inhaling exotic substances, while 
other groups cluster together in alleys and between stalls, writhing and 
twisting in the shadows.
This is an older part of town - the buildings are made from smoothly polished 
wood and metal, rather than the squishy white strumulite that flows freely 
in other parts of town. But the forms are still what you'd expect - 
curvilinear, sensual, occasinally explicitly phallic or vaginal. 
In the center of the square, atop a seven foot column is a life-sized statue 
of an overweight young rabbit woman dressed in a top hat, a tail coat, and 
nothing else. One wonders what this woman, obviously some sort of local 
hero, is being honored for; the only clue is an elaborate bas relief mural 
running around the column on which she stands, depicting her engaging in 
every sort of physical congress imaginable.
To the north is the coiling steel and imipolex facade of Ma Coyote's 
Restaurant. A typical merchant's stall is open to the south. A narrow alley 
heading northwest is blocked off with hazard tape and a sign reading 
"Warning, Existential Hazard" in big red sans serif letters over what 
appears to be a stylized bust of Soren Kierkegaard. To the west is the 
discreet facade of GLT Enterprises. A covered pedestrian walkway to the 
east leads back to the main square.
[ Exits: glt, Alley, Stall, Ped Tunnel, Ma Coyote's ]
Contents:
System

System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 

System half-nods.  "Not quite as bad, here.  He should be in Ma Coyote's..."

System heads north through the crowd into Ma Coyote's.

System has left.

System walks along, with you following (him). 

Ma Coyote's
Ah, Ma Coyote's, that notorious Bonobian den of vice. As you step in the bar, 
a gleaming blue female lemur in a violet tube top and purple crotchless 
panties shoves a menu into your hands and tells you to "find your own 
fucking seat".  A quick glance at the menu shows that it has, in addition 
to offering hearty traditional Bottomwarp fare, boasts a whole section for 
sex acts, and a 'wine' list that includes an extensive selection of bodily 
fluids.
The restaurant is full of smoke, both from the patron's tables and, ominously, 
from the kitchen. Scents of food and sex mingle intoxicatingly with the 
smoke. All around you, patrons of all species, genders and makes are 
talking, laughing, eating, and coupling, both with each other and the 
extremely accommodating waitstaff.
There are a few empty seats, here and there. The entrance to the kitchen and 
the restrooms is to the north, but is blocked off by another one of those 
'Existential Hazard' signs. Or you can go back into the Upper Bazaar 
through the door to the south.
[ Exits: Bazaar ]
Contents:
System
Gilgilo

System has arrived.
Squeak has arrived.

System enters, with Squeak walking along next to (him). 

System winces with irritation at the hostess, then fixes eyes on Gilgilo, striding across the room with purpose.

Squeak doesn't seem to know who he is looking for, so he continues follwing you about.

System looks to see how Gilgilo is occupying himself.

Gilgilo has his head slumped forward on the table before him.  The table itself is strewn with the remains of what look to have been a huge meal with multiple sentients attending.  All are gone now but their mess remains, and a number of empty bottles of who-knows-what intoxicant.  The toymaker also seems to have someone's pink panties on top of his head.

System strides up to Gilgilo, jerking up the back of his collar.  "Time to wake, sir."

Gilgilo grunts and cries out, "I already paid the bill!" and "Those girls are with me officer!", though he's clearly not quite awake yet.  His eyes blink, magnified by the glasses peer up at you, "Hey, you're not from the..."  His words stop suddenly and he squints, "Why did you wake me up?"

System smiles coldly at Gilgilo.  "You have information I require, and you will provide me with it.  Silverrain assigned you with a task to engineer new strains of the Charmvirus, and you recieved mental augmentations to permit you the capability to do so."

Gilgilo hmphs and lifts his head a little to the right, "Didn't need it."  He squints at you again and chirps, "You're a sailor, aren't you?"  He peers around to see the Toy behind you and ahhs, smiling, "Look at him, he's so perfect."

System states quietly, "A sailor?"

Squeak peers backj at Gilgilo and squeeaks?  He isn't quite sure how to react at first, ears wiggle and he puffs up his chest just slightly, it must have been a compliment!

System snorts.  "Describe the circumstances under which Silverrain approached you, and the goals she presented to you as the goal of the project.  Inform me who provided you your augmentation.  Tell me who forged the Toymaker orders for the project, and why."

Gilgilo nods, "You came on the ocean from the new lands.  You look like a forigner for certain, must be from the Chizel world."  He looks at you intently as if studying your features, "What state was it?  Did you come from the Choirboy, or are you from the lands of Christoper's?  He's a good friend of mine from a long way back, we invented the Inspiration together, you know."  For a moment it seems as if your questions are completely ignored and he finally sighs, "Well, if you tell me of Christoper, I will tell you of my greatest works, yes."

System shakes (his) head.  "I do not know this Christopher of whom you speak."

Gilgilo widens his eyes, "Why he is only the most important scientific mind in all your lands."  He knits his brow and then says, "What is your name?  You have a familiar face."

System states quietly, "My name is System.  I am a probe created by Prime.  Christopher is no entity who I know."

Gilgilo hmms, "Prime, eh?  Prime what, minister?  We don't have government here in Bototm, you know.  I can't be arrested, I'm employed by Toymaker 
Labs."

System shakes (his) head.  "Its name is Prime.  Now, either start answering my questions, or I shall take more forceful action.  You served to help destroy an independent sentient pattern, and I do not have a great deal of patience for you."

Gilgilo looks at you oddly, "Did you ask a question?  I am afraid I wasn't listening."

System reaches down, taking Gilgilo's hand up and squeezing with the first hints of crushing force.  "Tell me who upgraded you.  Tell me the goals and specifications for the Charmvirus provided to you by Silverrain.  Tell me who forged the orders for you to produce the Charmvirus, and why.  And tell me wher I can now find Silverrain.  If you do not cooperate, I shall cause you suffering until you do."

Gilgilo squeals and flails about, tugging on his arm and seemingly trying to kick the table over.  He cries out to the waitress, "My friend wants tea BADLY!"  His profile in the datasphere does mention that he might be a little mentally unbalanced.

System pins Gilgilo to his seat with (his) other hand, pressing on (his) chest, while slowly tightening (his) grasp on Gilgilo's hand.  "Give me the information, Gilgilo."

Gilgilo squirms aorund rather violently and aughs!  "I'm sorry!  Are you a coffee drinker?"  He looks right in your eyes and smiles, murmering, "You're crazy, what do you want?"

System repeats, (his) voice level and cold.  "Tell me who upgraded you.  Tell me the goals and specifications for the Charmvirus provided to you by Silverrain.  Tell me who forged the orders for you to produce the Charmvirus, and why.  And tell me wher I can now find Silverrain."

Gilgilo smiles the smile of a proud father, "You've found it then, my achievement?  I did it on my own, no upgrades."  He reaches in his pocket and retrieves a vial of something that looks, at first glance, like Library, though if you scan it is different somehow.  "The inspiration," he whispers, "I can make more if you like, only Christoper and I know how, and Christopher is so very far away."  He gets a dreamy look and then finally sighs and said, "Orders for the grand work came to me, no one forged, came in the tube like always."

System loosens the pressure on Gilgilo.  "Frostbyte examined those orders.  They were forged.  What were the exact specifications for your project?  What were you intended to accomplish?"

Gilgilo shrugs, "Orders came by tube.  Looked same same as always, same always."  It occurs that his detail sense for the mundane may not be so... attentive.  He continues, "Change virus, program, create new toys.  It is what we do, you understand, we are toymakers."

In a page-pose to you, System scans Gilgilo's brain for what extra hardware is installed in it.  The Toymaker control implants are obviously going to be there...

System nods slightly.  "How did you come to start to work with Silverrain's personnel in this project?  She refused to become a Toymaker, after all."

Gilgilo does have the implants, but they seem inactive for the moment.  There are the usual hosts of nanites for doing this and that, repair and the like, but it seems he was not lying, he appears unaugmented for the most part.  He looks surprised, "No, she is Director, one of three, I remember the memo.  Came in tube."  He points up as if to indicate, of course there is no tube here, he must be thinking he is back in his lab.  "She comes some days, interested in toy designs, interested in lab, many things.  Interested in Inspiration, though she has had none, didn't seem wise, no, did it?  Told her there was only enough for me, but there is some for you, I always trust one from the land of Christoper's."

System shakes (his) head.  "Silverrain refused to take the position of Director, although Darkon provided for her to be on in her will.  That position was filled by Beast."

Gilgilo shakes his head, "Tube did not say this."

System states quietly, "It would seem clear your tube has been tampered with.  I shall have to speak to Frostbyte."

Gilgilo nods and then continues, "Director sent friends to keep me safe. They have gone, didn't like the drinks here."  They aren't gone, actually, if you look around enough you'll see they are passed out on the floor and there is an empty vial near the drinks not to dissimilar to the one he offered you before.  When he sees you look he murmers, "Not all can stand the Inspiration first time."

System chuckles quietly.  "So I see.  Perhaps you could help me find Silverrain.  I need to speak with her."

Gilgilo knits his brow, "Director?  She is not easy to find.  Comes to me, she does, when wanting toys.  Brings her own materials to make them."

System states quietly, "What is the Inspiration, Gilgilo?"

Gilgilo offers you the vial again to examine, "My own creation, mine and Christoper.  Broadens the mind, it does, helps us to think when we work together."

System nods slowly.  "This helps explain..."

Gilgilo shakes the vial at you, "For you, don't tell.  Christopher's peoeple are special."

System frowns thoughtfully, opening (his) briefcase, and pulling out a small black metallic bead, placing the vial of Inspiration inside the briefcase.  "Would you like an earring, Gilgilo?"

[OOC] System says, "It is, of course, a bug."

Gilgilo stares at the bead and smiles, "Oh it shines!"  He reaches out for it, "Even trade?"

System nods slightly.  "Even trade.  I request you forgive my earlier rudeness."

Gilgilo nods, "We do understand, also get grumpy when there is no coffee."

System nods slightly.  "Indeed."

Gilgilo takes another swig from his drink and resumes his face-down position on the table.


[%] PING!  Disconnecting interface.  Please uplink again soon.

The toy

2004-09-17T18:50:55Z