⇨ 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

[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?"

[dressedtothe]

"Er. Right."

Get with the times, Strange!

"Hacking is the process of gaining access to or control over mechanical systems through exploiting weaknesses in their programming. Machines are completely mechanical, so it means I can do things like access their memory data for information. Orrr seize control of them."

[kingsroads]

Strange is slowly starting to see some of the applications of how hacking could work for people. Because obviously 9S was able to seize control of him. But access memory data for information? On the one hand, that sounds useful. On the other hand, he's not entirely sure how he feels about this accessing memory data part.

"You'll need to do that to Lambert one day," Strange idly muses. "Give him a taste of his own medicine."

That's how it feels when you use Axii on people, you jerk! But there's still a few things about this process that Strange has a billion questions about. "Through that hacking, could you access my memories?"

[dressedtothe]

9S was already planning to, but Strange doesn't need to know that.

I've already seen some of them...

But he keeps his expression impassive, grateful his visor hides his eyes from view. "Theoretically, yes. Buuut... humans aren't exactly the same as machines so there are some things I can't do."

Anyway...

"I was planning on using this to break enemy mind control over people. But I need more practice."

9S admitting practice could actually improve his skill in something? Say it isn't so!

[kingsroads]

Strange is taking 9S's statement at face value. After all, he'd know the most about this hacking thing. If he says he can't do that, then Strange will accept that he can't do that.

But the idea of practice is enough to make Strange start to think. He can't enthrall people, thank God. But he wants to help 9S practice and get better at this somehow. Because anything that could help break enemy mind control is a good idea in his book.

"I can't help with the breaking mind control part of this," he muses, "but I was able to break your hold on me. If you try to control me and I try to break it, then that should help both of us." And Strange really needs to boost up his spellbreaking anyway.

[dressedtothe]

9S puts his hand to his chin as he considers Strange's suggestion.

"I was going to ask Lambert to use his spell on y-" he catches himself, "one of us so I can try breaking his enchantment while someone is controlled."

His life hacking is significantly slower than hacking anything else with circuitry. If he wants to make use of this, he'll need to learn how to apply it while there could be countless other things happening. Like, say, combat.

"But we can start with your idea." 9S' expression turns grim. "If you can break through my hacking so easily, then it's useless."

[kingsroads]

Thankfully for 9S, Strange doesn't notice that brief change of words. He's far too focused on the idea of life hacking and the applications 9S's magic might hold.

"I need more experience breaking enchantments on myself anyway," Strange responds, with a little nod. Every time something like this happens, people bring up Strange's lack of mental defenses. And in his mind, the best way to deal with mental attacks or enthrallments is simply to be better than whatever's trying to enthrall you in the first place.

Strange takes a few steps away from 9S, just to put a bit of distance between the two of them. "I'm ready whenever you are."

[dressedtothe]

Well, Strange clearly has his guard up right now, which is always harder to deal with. Sure, the aim might be to improve their respective magics, but that doesn't mean 9S has to play fair.

9S half turns in a shrug -- which also gives Strange a glipse of the bone 'tongue' poking out the back of his head -- as he says, "Actually, nevermind. I've changed my mind."

[kingsroads]

Strange is about to protest and complain that dude, you were the one who said that you wanted to do this...when 9S turns around and Strange gets a glimpse of something poking out of his head. Something really gross looking.

There's an awkward pause as Strange moves to try and get a better view of the back of 9S's head.

"Stay put," he orders, before activating his third eye and lighting himself on fire again. "You've got something odd in the back of your head."

A little part of him wants to pull on it but the rational part of Strange is pointing out that you don't yank on something that's stuck in someone's head.

[dressedtothe]

He's already been made well aware of the thing at the back of his head. And what the hell, Strange? He's on fire!? strange r u ok buddy

But he's not... screaming in pain or anything so...

9S isn't going to say no to such an obvious opportunity. A circle of light around his wrist glows once more and the lightning fast beam of energy leaves 9S' hand for Strange again, attempting to hack Strange with the intent of getting Strange to turn around and walk the other way while he's distracted.

[kingsroads]

Specifically, it's his forehead, arm, and forearm that are kind of on fire, as well as his hair. Strange really doesn't seem to notice or care about the fact that he's kind of on fire, though. And his third eye isn't really telling him anything about that thing on the back of 9S's head.

But he's distracted enough that the beam of energy hits and 9S's command takes. Strange turns around and starts to walk away from 9S. But as he does so, he starts trying to cast his spellbreaking magic in response.

[dressedtothe]

Last time, he wasn't able to counter the spellbreaking because the internal reaction at his command was so violent. Strange is all about magic, so maybe that's why; it'd be as if someone tried to convince him that he wasn't an android. Magic is so core to who Strange is that any attempt to breach his defenses with that sort of command is bound to fail.

So... if the problem is that his command ran against Strange's, well, core programming, then maybe he can find a way to stop the spellbreaking another way...

Tell me the latest gossip you have

If Strange is talking about something else, he can't say his spell, can he? And he knows Strange is an awful gossip.

[kingsroads]

Strange is one of the biggest gossips in the carnival. So, he stops muttering the counterspell to blurt out, "Lambert and Childermass are courting each other. But they're both idiots who wanted to keep it secret, so keep that in mind if you want to talk about it."

Hmm. New goal, try and make his magic a bit less verbal. Normally Strange doesn't care about gossip and shittalking someone but he does look a little bit guilty after that admission. He starts muttering again, but this time Strange brings his hand up to his mouth and gives it a little kiss. His spellbreaking is dumb and for whatever stupid magical reason, kissing helps break things better. This should help give his spellbreaking a bit of a boost.

[dressedtothe]

"Dammit!" 9S swears as his hack is broken once more.

But it's good to know that indirect methods can win out if he's not able to directly beat out someone's will. Or he could use it as a method of disabling certain functions... He's still getting a feel for living beings' neurological pathways and for a second attempt it isn't bad.

Still, he has to get better.

"Is that really the latest you have? That's old news already!"

[kingsroads]

"I was dead for a week," Strange points out, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Forgive me if I'm behind on the gossip."

He can't help but feel a little annoyed at 9S criticizing his choice of dirt. It's not that Strange prides himself on being a gossip, it's just that he hates to be considered out of the loop. So he frowns a little bit, trying to scrounge up some better gossip than what he gave 9S.

"Here we go. According to West, the Ringmaster seemed embarrassed about the whole 'eating Ignatius as a dragon' business. I don't know why, but I suspect the matter is a bit sensitive for her."

[dressedtothe]

Come on, Strange! A week isn't enough to be behind on gossip!

But Strange comes up with the goods! 9S considers the implications of what Strange just said. "Huh. Why would she be bothered by that?"

The Ringmaster never really struck him as someone who'd be embarrassed. Is West really that good at judging character? 9S doesn't really know the guy -- it's not like he has a reason to get checked up on by the medical team -- so he can't say.

Just because they're talking doesn't mean 9S won't try to nail Strange again with hacking though. This time, his intent is to command Strange cast some kind of earth magic without defining the specifics. Yet again, it's to try and control Strange's actions while simultaneously preventing him from breaking the hack.

[kingsroads]

Mollified that 9S considers that good gossip, Strange can't help but smile a bit as he continues talking. And really, did nobody in this carnival know how to speak to girls? First West was confused, now 9S, this is a bit ridiculous.

"Because she might be embarrassed," Strange points out, like it's obvious. "I imagine holding someone in your stomach is indelicate at best, uncomfortable at worst. I'm certain if she could plan for this then she'd have a fancy little jail all set up, but thanks to Lambert's stupidity, this business was all short notice."

The hacking takes hold as they talk. Idly, without really thinking about it, Strange gestures to the ground near 9S's feet. A tiny little faultline splits, like he's trying to knock 9S over.

[dressedtothe]

The answer is no, no one in the Carnival knows how to speak to girls. Not even 9S, whose interactions prior to the Carnival were 99% with female androids.

Though his consciousness is primarily poking around Strange's head, 9S still does have some level of control over his own body; hacking would be rather useless in combat against the machines if he couldn't split his processing power between controlling his body while hacking. But nevertheless, dedicating some of his processors to hacking does mean that less is available to process combat inputs. So while he nimbly jumps away from the faultline, the reaction is marginally slower than usual.

Okay, so attacking him with magic is kind of the opposite of what he wanted. Sooo, what if he got Strange to cast his stupid magic under himself instead?

[kingsroads]

While Strange does have worryingly low self-preservation instincts, he's got enough self-preservation to not attack himself. He still casts earth magic under himself but it's a different type. With a wave of his hand and a quick muttered incantation, the ground under Strange's feet rises a few inches, making a tiny little plateau instead of a baby earthquake.

Thankfully, Strange figures out that 9S is doing some hacking. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what the point is.

"I know you want to test out this hacking, but what even are you having me do to begin with?"

And then, under his own will, Strange makes another tremor underneath 9S's feet.

[dressedtothe]

He's still not as adept at hacking human brains; it takes so long in comparison to machines. And... he's more used to being partnered up with 2B, who would cover him while he hacks the machines with more complicated attack barriers. The thought of 2B is enough to distact him just long enough for his reaction to the the ground tremour to be delayed, getting caught wrong-footed.

Stumbling, he finds himself getting kicked out of Strange's head once more. Damn it! As he quickly regains his footing, 9S folds his arms and explains in a peevish tone, "You can't focus on breaking the spell when you're busy casting something else, can you? If I can't directly stop someone from attacking us, I can probably redirect their efforts."

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help it: as 9S wipes out and hits the floor, he gives the android a smug little smile. The smile continues as 9S explains his methodology. Which okay, that's true. He can't cast two spells at once.

"The problem here is that other people might be able to do magic and something else at once," Strange points out, as he mulls things over. "What's to stop me from trying to break the spell while also...I don't know, throwing something at you or getting into physical combat or something like that."

Well, the thing that's stopping him is Strange's lack of physical prowess itself. But these are hypotheticals, 9S!

[dressedtothe]

Jerk!

"Actually, what you're describing is standard for machines. Their attack barriers are independent functions that are automatically activated upon intrusion."

It's actually something of a weakness if Strange can't do the two things at once, but that's just because his spellbreaking uses the same function as his other spells and he's not capable of running the two in parallel. At least, that's what it seems like. It's these kinds of flaws in programming that 9S is designed to exploit. If Strange didn't have that weakness, he'd have to find something else. There's always a weakness.

"So I'm used to trying to hack while a machine's trying to sever me in two, but..." His expression falls, briefly, "...it was a lot easier when I was partnered with 2B."

[kingsroads]

"Then partner up with someone else when you're trying to hack someone," Strange points out, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. If 9S is used to working with a partner, then work with a partner.

"You're a nightrunner. We work in a group to begin with. I'd happily distract someone while you're trying to hack them and I'm certain Rita would as well."

[dressedtothe]

9S huffs and turns away. "I know that!""

He knows... and knowing that he's part of the Nightrunners, that he isn't alone, that he has people who would look out for him if he ever was in trouble, his chest hurts with an emotion he can't quite place thinking about it.

He's not alone. He's not alone. He's not alone.

"But we're not always together. If there's a situation where I'm caught alone with a mind controlled you," just taking an example! "then I need to be able to deal with that without backup."

He does have that shiny sword hovering at his back, but how often has he had the chance to actually use that?

[kingsroads]

Considering that Strange gets mind controlled a lot, he's not even questioning that example. And 9S's worries make sense. There's been so many times that it's been one on one or the carnival's been separated or something dumb's happened that it would be best for 9S to be able to do these things on his own.

The big question remains, how. How's he going to do this on his own?

Strange eyes the sword for a moment before looking back at 9S. "If you had a shield spell or something of that nature, you could cast it and keep you safe while you started to hack someone." It's a vague idea, but still counts.