⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴ You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors. ► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described. ► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help. ► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

Comments

9S

[dressedtothe]

Life Hacking
9S had aquired some magic from the Ringmaster recently. Magic isn't something he can natively use, but really, this was more just a way to convert his usual functions into something that can actually be used on non-mechanical beings. In a way, the magic is merely an extention of what he normally can do.

But seeing the less than thrilled response over the radios about the mind control has him thinking twice about just testing his newfound magic that would allow him to hack non-mechanical living beings. Still, he needs to test it and there's no other way to do so without using his abilities.

If you're a Nightrunner or someone who has been mind-controlled in recent memory, then 9S will be approaching with a, "Hey, do you have a moment?"

Unless your name is Strange. Then he's just trying to find the best way to sneak up on the guy.

[ooc: tl;dr this is a prompt for testing his mindhacking powers. Details here]

Wildcard
[ooc: Want to do something else? Drop me a line at jesii! Aside from what's mentioned above, 9S will be fishing (the android way, which is mostly sitting and making his box bot fish for him) and sharing a tent with Rita and just generally poking around the campgrounds. As an android, he won't be dreaming.]

[kingsroads]

As it turns out? It's damn easy to sneak up on Strange. He's sitting in front of the lake, deep in thought, not really looking at anything. A family of Loch Ness Monsters frolic in a way that would be absolutely adorable if Strange was paying them the slightest bit of attention. But he's lost in thought, looking vaguely off to the edge of the lake as he thinks about something.

Occasionally he's making scratches in the earth with a stick. It looks vaguely like a football plan, with lots of x's and a large o. But there's also a few spirals and stars, like Strange was doing the drawing in the dirt equivalent of doodling.

Unless 9S completely bungles his stealth, it's pretty easy to sneak up on him.

[dressedtothe]

Fortunately, 9S is at least somewhat competent at sneaking. Especially since Strange is hardly paying any attention to his surroundings. This will be too easy!

Grinning from his place behind a tree, 9S reaches out with his hand, a faintly glowing ring of light encircling his wrist, before what appears to be a beam of energy gets fired at Strange.

He knows that a forced entry like this -- even when caught unawares -- will typically result in a glimpse of the things currently bothering the target. He won't do anything that will make apparent his intrusion just yet; he just wants to observe the shape of his hacking will take; he doesn't know how well the conversation from hacking mechanical to organic will work, but here goes nothing!!

[kingsroads]

9S gets a glimpse of a whole lot of worry. Strange's thoughts are a jumble of things, conversations overlapping and scattered all over the place. "--being a sword for you--" "I trusted you because--" "--kill me yourself--" "--Had Zangetsu waited a few more seconds--" "--to choose how you wanted me to die." "It's tactics, Lambert." "He changed you." Strange's worries may be a jumble, but that last thought rings through his mind as clear as day. The whole process lasts a moment or two before his thoughts cut off as Strange's slight magical sensitivity twigs him onto something weird.

Something magical is happening and he has no idea what the hell it is. Strange gets to his feet, frowning slightly, as he calls forth his third eye. Three small burn scars on Strange's forehead, hand, and forearm light themselves up with magical fire. And Strange squints at...something. He's looking around, trying to find the source of the magic and conveniently not noticing 9S.

The biggest problem is that the third eye is best at identifying magic that Strange is familiar with. And, aside from the appearance of carnival magic, he's got no idea what the hell is going on or what (if anything) he should do about it. He's obviously slightly irritated about the whole thing.

[dressedtothe]

Hm... What's up with that? It has to be something important if those words are sitting in Strange's brainspace like that. It's got to be about his capture and rescue. Was it really that bad...?

He isn't here to rifle through Strange's memories, though, as interesting as they are.

The hacking space is a little different from what he's used to, which he expected. It's not so surprising for an organic being to be different from a mechanical one.

Alright, let's see if we can get you to do something simple.

"Hug the nearest tree," he commands Strange.

[kingsroads]

Strange has a big fat weakness and that's called his inability to deal with any sort of mental attack. He can't stop himself as he starts walking towards a tree. But he can continue to try and figure out what the hell this magic is.

He's keeping his third eye going as he walks. Whatever this is, it isn't fae—that's good! So logically speaking, it's probably a carnival member fucking with him, which means that Strange is already planning revenge of some sort.

By the time he's gotten to a tree and is wrapping his arms around it, Strange decides that this is dumb. He changes tactics and starts murmuring a spell of disenchantment. Because his spellbreaking works best via dumb kisses and the closest thing to Strange's mouth is a tree, he's just continuing to mutter the disenchantment invocation, hoping that's enough power to push through whatever the hell this is.

[dressedtothe]

The spell of disenchantment to 9S is much like seeing Strange's mental defences coming online. Defences that are attempting to eject him out. Well, that makes this a bit harder now that Strange has twigged onto his presence. If he can just shut that down...

But humans aren't quite like a machine. He can't quite dismantle them in the same way.

"Stop using magic."

It's a command that directly opposes Strange's current plans, so it's a matter of the power behind Strange's invocation plus Strange's will pitted 9S' own will.

[kingsroads]

The problem here is that 9S is telling Jonathan Strange to stop using magic. And considering that Strange has built his entire identity and entire life around magic, not using it doesn't make any sense. The command doesn't really take.

His will falters for a moment but Strange continues to cast the disenchantment spell on himself. At the same time, he's attempting to let go of the tree because yeah, that's stupid.

[dressedtothe]

Unfortunately for 9S, Strange's disenchantment spell takes. Without magic to allow him entry into Strange's mind, 9S' consciousness is unceremoniously dumped back into his body, a sharp lance of pain briefly causing static in his vision.

"Damn," he mutters under his breath. Hacking humans is certainly more involved and slower than hacking machines. Maybe he just needs more practice.

He's still hidden behind a different tree to the one Strange is hugging -- being behind him -- but he's not making any further effort of hiding.

[kingsroads]

His third eye is still going and his magical eyes are on fire. And now that he's actively dispelled the magic, it's easy to view it and trace it to it's source. He walks over to where the magic came from, only to find it's 9S.

Well. Strange is a bit surprised by that. He looks confused for a moment before the expression shifts to a raised eyebrow and a wry smile. Yeah, you're busted, he knows it was you, Nines.

"Do you mind explaining just what the hell that magic was?"

Strange isn't angry at being mind-controlled. If anything, there's a hint of interest in his voice. Because seriously, what the hell was that? And when did 9S learn to do it?

[dressedtothe]

Busted. Oh well. 9S steps out from behind the tree.

"It's from the Ringmaster." Which doesn't explain anything at all. "All it does is translate my functions that are normally only usable on mechanical beings for use on the organic." He brings his hand to his chin as he mentally reviews his short stint in Strange's head. "Though hacking a human is really different from dealing with a machine."

And he's yet to try the details mentioned in the book he'd gotten from the library. He could start with something simple, like breaking Lambert's mind control magic on someone else...

[kingsroads]

Strange doesn't understand much of what 9S is talking about. Hacking machines? He's got a vague idea, thanks to a visit to a digital world, but that still doesn't explain much. Strange frowns, obviously confused.

"My world doesn't have anything remotely close to the machines you know to begin with," he reminds 9S. "What exactly is hacking?"

somewhere in d64-d66?

[spaghettimonster]

When 9S finds Papyrus, the skeleton is pacing around a campsite, scuffing his feet to draw a meandering path in the dirt. A silent, slightly cadaverous mouse follows a few feet behind him, pausing to sniff at the various objects placed along the scuffed trail - which twists around a tent, under a table, and through a carefully positioned tunnel of branches stuck in the ground.

He's been at this a while, and Trajan is still no more interested in the little woodland adventure trail than before. Zombie mice are difficult to entertain.

So when 9S speaks, Papyrus looks up with a slightly too bright smile, enthusiastic for a break.

"I have so many minutes! Do you want a few?"

works for me!

[dressedtothe]

9S can't help but smile back in return, even if Papyrus is still kind of weird! He's really nice... which made it all the more unsettling when he'd faced the skeleton -- 9S still doesn't quite understand how he moves when he has no muscle or muscle substitute! -- back in Wismuth.

And really, that's part of the reason why he's approaching the guy now.

"Yeah, I could use a few." Weird way of saying he has time, but he supposes it gets the point across. "The Ringmaster gave me some magic I want to test out. Basically, it extends my hacking ability so it can be used on living," is Papyrus living?? He's certainly animate, at least, "beings instead of just mechanical beings."

[spaghettimonster]

"Hacking... living things," Papyrus echoes. He's already willing to offer to help with whatever this is, and now they're just discussing the details. "Not like with an axe, you're not carrying one... that I can see..."

Even if it turns out to be an actual literal axe, and 9S is secretly carrying one in an magically-induced hammerspace, that's probably okay. Papyrus can handle a few hits, and 9S is the sort to try to help people - and only hurt them in order to help in more roundabout ways. Like keeping them from making mistakes that hurt others.

"Do you mean like getting through firewalls?" Leading to the inevitably stage=whispered question, "do people have firewalls...?"

oh papyrus you sweet summer child...

[dressedtothe]

Whoa! He wasn't expecting Papyrus to get it, especially after his initial tangent. Papyrus has never struck him as particularly intelligent, though the skeleton is certainly well meaning enough.

"Yeah, actually. Hacking lets me get through firewalls. People don't have firewalls in the digital sense." 9S waves a hand as he continues. "But people have wills, the capacity for autonomy. So for you biological beings, your will serves as one component of your firewall. If you don't have any other defences, " like Strange and his spellbreaking, "then that's the only protection you have."

And it isn't enough.

he'll connect the dots . . . eventually

[spaghettimonster]

Admittedly, what Papyrus knows about hacking is haphazard and full of television inaccuracies. The literal walls of fire used in MTT productions were inspiring, and the carnival's time in the Matrix and and the Mainframe only gave him a scattering of information past the general knowledge from growing up with computers.

"'Hacking' living people, to get through their firewills," he repeats, amused with his own turn of phrase. "What do you when you're in? Isn't hacking for turning things off?"

If it's just a power for turning people to sleep, there's lots of ways to make that happen... but, extending 9S' current powers to do it is probably easier than a whole new thing.

fireWILLs LMAO

[dressedtothe]

Hmm, well Papyrus isn't wrong, per se.

"That's one way of putting it. Let's say one of us gets mind controlled," because that sure happens a lot!! "and is trying to hurt members of the Carnival."

He hadn't been too bothered by coming up against Papyrus, not having much personal connection to him. But what if it's Rita again? He killed her that time, but if this is the way to bring her back, then he has to master this.

"Theoretically, I should be able to hack them and take back control. Or if that doesn't work, I could disable some of their ability to fight while the rest of us capture them. That's the intention, anyway." In a rare moment of empathy, 9S adds, "If you'd rather not go through this after what happened in Wismuths... that's okay."

[spaghettimonster]

Oh boy it sure does. They both know it. So it's a relief when 9S pushes forward with hypotheticals... instead of too-familiar particulars...

But less of a relief when those elaborations come out.

"S-So, you learned a little mind control, yourself?" It does sound like what happened in Wismuth. Forcing through somebody's will, into peoples' minds, and... changing them. He shudders, and focuses on the bottom line here. "And... You could stop people from hurting anybody?"

[dressedtothe]

"I didn't learn 'mind control'," 9S corrects primly. "This was something I was always able to do... to mechanical beings."

And the number of mechanical beings they encounter in any of the places they go to is a big zero, so of course he's never been able to use the very functions that define his entire model. So really, the only reason he hadn't used his hacking to solve more of their problems is because he couldn't.

"But... yeah, that's the plan. If I can't break someone else's mind control," though that would be the ideal outcome, "then I can at least make them less dangerous."

[spaghettimonster]

"Ohhh," Papyrus draws out, giving himself time to think with the sound.

A misfortune of timing, with their visits lately so focused on fae and the acquisition of knowledge and power. Though it's funny that 9S could do that kind of thing to mechanical beings, being a mechanical being himself... Could he hack himself? And would that be any different than just really stubbornly deciding something?

"Well! I commend your choice. Hurting each other is terrible, and nobody wants it. What you're offering... is leagues ahead. Friendship, and love," the main tools people tried using in Wismuth to rescue the Harbingers, "...Well, they help, but they only do so much, against this stuff."

[dressedtothe]

9S can indeed hack himself; it's a necessary part of his maintenance, especially when there's no other androids about to do it for him.

"Well, yeah," 9S says, rolling his eyes. Not that Papyrus can see it while his eyes are covered by his visor. "Friendship and love doesn't stop a sword coming at you."

They're nice and all, but in battle, they have no practical use. On the battlefield, things like the morality of mind control have no place. Use the tools at your disposal, that's the way he's always seen it.

"...So, will you let me practice?"

Technically, he doesn't need permission, but he supposes the Carnival members aren't machines so they should at least have the choice. Except for Strange; he needs to get back at that guy.

[spaghettimonster]

An eyeroll is as much in the turning of one's head and the tone of one's voice, plenty of clues to be had, but Papyrus still doesn't catch it. He's not super perceptive to others' feelings at the best of times, and there's a lot of other things on his mind.

"Not without them diving in front of the sword... which would be terrible," which should really go without saying. Nobody wants someone they care about to protect them by getting hurt instead. "But, they can convince people to put the sword down, sometimes."

Sometimes, but not often enough. Not nearly often or quickly enough.

"For all those other times... I accept! Please practice, and become a master of mind-hackery."

He doesn't want to hurt his brother again.

LIFE HAX

[mylastchance]

"What for?" Lauren asks, looking the shorter boy over. Was he even a boy though? He was a robot right? How did that even work? He keeps those questions to himself, thankfully.

[dressedtothe]

He hasn't really interacted with Lauren in a really meaningful way, but Susan thinks he's cool and Lauren didn't join in on chewing Rita out over the radio, so maybe...

"The Ringmaster gave me some magic to extend my hacking abilities so they can be used on living beings."

He's hoping it shouldn't be much different from normal, but he wouldn't be surprised if it is; biological beings are very different from mechanical, after all.

"I need to test it out, so... If you don't mind?"