Misc. Prompts: TERMINAL WISDOM

PROMPT: [It was 'Anon Stuck In A Containment Facility' Day]

>ACCESS PERMISSION
************
>ACCEPTED
>ACCESS QUERY?
**** *** ** ** ****** ****
>ACCEPTED
>CHECKING PERMISSIONS
>BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION REQUIRED
**/*-**//*********
>OVERRIDE ACCEPTED
>CONSULTING E3CI CENTRAL DATA HUB
>RECORD FOUND
>>WARNING: DOCUMENT IS MARKED ES-9::6-AL | DOCUMENT CANNOT BE PRINTED | DOCUMENT CANNOT BE SHOWN TO OTHER PERSONNEL | DOCUMENT ACCESS HAS BEEN LOGGED
>>TERMINAL ISOLATED | ROOM SECURED | INSERTING INSTANCE-UNIQUE LANGUAGE INTO DOCUMENT
>>SECURITY MEASURES COMPLETE
>DISPLAYING RECORD
>ENTITY No. 3473****
>NAME: ANONYMOUS
>SUMMARY DATA BEGINS
>>COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS CODE: !!**738F62[spoiler][Conjectural][/spoiler]:000030FF500000:4058627AA386:9D4532FFC87D505060::4143434553532044454E494544
>>MAJOR CONTAINMENT PROTOCOLS:
>>>UMBRAL WINTER: INACTIVE
>>>NOBLE ENDEAVOR: ACTIVE*
>>>DOMINION PROVIDENT: ACTIVE
>>>HORIZON SUMMIT: SUSPENDED
>>>SIDEREAL STARFALL: SUSPENDED
>>>[spoiler]TERMINAL WISDOM: IN REVIEW[/spoiler]
>>>NO FURTHER MAJOR PROTOCOLS INITIATED
>>MINOR PROTOCOLS: [APEX] BIAS ECHO [FOREWORD] KICKSTART INDICIA MANIPULATE TENDER TANGLE [VICTORY] [YAW] [spoiler]BREACH CALCITRANT [DESTINATE] TERMINUS[/spoiler]
>>SAFETY/HANDLING/PRECAUTIONARY:
>>>Subject must be provided with nose and mouth protection before potential exposure to magic, even with TENDER in effect.
>>>Subject should not be exposed to magic at all, if possible, outside procedure mentioned in Record 3473****-SCU-2, even with TENDER in effect.
>>>Subject must not be exposed to [spoiler]personnel with mental conditions designated X5-P or higher[/spoiler]
>>>Subject must not be exposed to other Subjects directly.
>>>WITH RESPECT TO ABOVE CONDITIONS
>>>>Indirect exposure to other Subjects encouraged in accordance with Record 3473****-SCU-2
>>>>Subject has freedom of movement throughout the facility interior
>>>>Subject has freedom of interaction with all personnel
>>>>Subject’s requests are to be granted in accordance with EX-2A36SS-D17
>SUMMARY DATA ENDS
>RECORD LIST BEGINS

>RECORD 3473****-INT
>RECORD BEGINS | INITIAL ENCOUNTER LOG
>FACILITY LOGGING REQUESTED//APPROVED
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: L3-A3FD8C5 | X-REF: 317-A
>>E3CI-FORWARD-F3A | B-17 | ADMIN-3//SET-6A19E | 0712-1329
>[LOG BEGINS]
“I can already tell this one is going to be a headache, Autumn Breeze.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“Yeah, you’re one of the quieter ones, huh? That’s fine. Half the ponies here are speechless anyway. You rolling?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“Guess I’ll begin then. Got a call that took us out into the wastes. Something was agitating some hitherto-unknown changeling hive out there. Royal Guard called us up when the scouts saw them swarming something. Turns out it was… well, it was alive. Male of an unencountered species. Would you believe me if I said he’d tamed them?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//PASSED
“I’ll take that silence as a no. Well, it’s true. And we had no idea how, until we managed to disentangle them from him. That took a lot of doing. Turns out they were feeding off his love, but it wasn’t draining him. He’d been sitting there for hours just cuddling them. Suffice to say we were intrigued, but also alarmed.”
>AUDIOEVENT//UNDEFINED:::IGNORED
“Then Sunny Canopy used one of the standard diagnostic spells on him. Suddenly there’s sand and dry silt everywhere. Subject collapses instantly, coughing, clutching his throat. To her credit, Sunny didn’t try to follow it up with a healing spell. Then we’d have a subject no longer alive; acute silicosis. As it was, it was just a few grains of sand, and he was only down until he could get his breath back. We shifted to TENDER Protocol and managed to soothe over the unfortunate incident. He followed us back of his own free will. Despite taming the changelings he didn’t seem too broken up about leaving them behind.”
“Turns out he knows our language, or at least one similar enough that communication felt natural. Talkative too, though obviously we couldn’t say much of any value. He was suspicious when we said we were going to give him food and shelter, but he didn’t inquire too far after we said it was in return for what we’d just put him through. He was satisfied whenever we indicated we were working for his benefit, though I got the impression he still didn’t trust us. We have him in a low-sec intermediate holding area, going through processing and finding what he needs – besides a dust mask – for a more permanent home. I’m attaching some of our preliminary findings. Gotta get back to it. Just wanted to stop in to drop all this while it was still in my head; you know how the Princess is about record-keeping. Starry Eyes signing off.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//SIGNOFF//TERMINATING LOGGING
>[LOG ENDS]
>APPENDED FILES
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-A
>>>Preliminary Diagnostics | TENDER-Compliant
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-B
>>>Tentative Logistical Load Analysis and Requisition Requests
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-C1
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-C2
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-C3
>>WRITTEN LOG 3473****-INT-C4
>>>Collected Personnel Logs
>RECORD ENDS | INITIAL ENCOUNTER LOG

>RECORD 3473****-FSI-1
>RECORD BEGINS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE
>FACILITY LOGGING AUTOSTART PER DIRECTIVE EX-437-D1
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: S-3473**** | X-REF 3473****-INT, EX-1176AE2
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | 2-21 | SUB-266//SET-E36B | 0713-1329
>[LOG BEGINS]
“So this is my new home, huh?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“The fuck was that?!”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//PASSED
>TOUCHINPUT//UNDEFINED:::IGNORED
“So the wall can talk to me? Is this a touchscreen?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“This place just got a lot more interesting. Shame about the furniture, though. Think they can make this place a little more welcoming?
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//PASSED
“You still there?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“Do you usually only answer with yes or no?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“Do you ONLY answer with yes or no?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//NEGATIVE//FORWARDED
“I should have tried to catch you with that. Uh, do you have- er, what’s your name?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>Autumn Breeze
”That’s nice. Autumn’s a name where I’m from too. First time I met something with a name like home, and it’s a fucking building. What a world.”
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS LOG SETTING//EXCLUDED
“Not much of a talker, huh?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“I gotta stop phrasing questions like that. Uh, how often do you talk?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>Rarely.
“Yeah I got that. And I bet you answer that short most of the time too.”
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS LOG SETTING//EXCLUDED
“What would you say if I told you I could make you say three words? Just three? Humor me.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>You fail.
“Oh fuck. Fine, you got me. I guess I’ll shut up.”
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS LOG SETTING//EXCLUDED
“Hello?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>ROOMSCAN//ONE OCCUPANT | ID: S-3473****//PERIPHERAL ACTIVITY: MINIMAL
>//PASSED
“Please, I’m… I’m lonely. I know they put me here because if I got magic’d again I could die but I had just made a bunch of friends before they found me and it was nice, but here I’m isolated. I just want someone to talk to.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>CLUSTER QUERY: CURRENT ACTIVITY
>>BREEZE: SUBJECT COMMUNICATION
>>CHILL: LOGISTICS COORDINATION
>>LEAVES: ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → LEAVES//PROPOSED
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: TRANSFER ADMIN REQUEST PENDING
>>CLUSTER COMM//BREEZE: ESCALATE AUTONOMY
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: ESCALATION ACCEPTED
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → LEAVES//APPROVED
>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN LEAVES RESPONDING
>ROOMSCAN//ONE OCCUPANT | ID: S-3473****//PERIPHERAL ACTIVITY: MINIMAL
>//VOICERESPONSE
>”Hello! I am required by facility communication protocol to inform you that you are now interacting with a different cluster subunit. We have not yet met! My name is Autumn Leaves. How may I help you?”
“Oh fuck you do talk! Wait, different? What happened to Autumn Breeze?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//[OPEN]//VOICERESPONSE
>”Breeze is not very talkative. You might say he’s taciturn, but between us, I think he’s a bit shy!”
“He?”
>LOG CASESWITCH//CONVERSATIONAL | RAPID RESPONSE MODE | LOGGING MINIMIZED
>”Artificial intelligence cluster subunits are programmed for interfacing with ponies, and therefore adopt all the quirks expected of such interaction. The male form is considered soft, agreeable, and pleasing. Therefore, one subunit was specified with male base qualities pre-development to handle low-level and first-order interactions.”
“And you sound pretty feminine.”
>”Thank you! I do my best to stay on top of everything and manage tasks quickly and effectively.”
“I meant your voice. The rest of that, uh, that sounds backwards to where I’m from.”
>”Sorry?”
“The genders thing. Backwards. Men are supposed to be function-oriented, women are the soft and pleasing ones. Well, kinda. It’s complicated.”
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** ADD NOTE//HOME EXHIBITS REVERSED GENDER ROLES
>>OPERATIONS COMM//SUBJECT INFOTRACK: ACKNOWLEDGED
>”Interesting! This is being logged in an entry attached to your file. The researchers will be eager to learn about your home.”
“Researchers?”
>SYSTEM QUERY: ACCEPTABLE INFORMATION EXPOSURE LEVEL//ID: S-3473****
>>SYSTEM COMM//SECURITY: LEVEL THREE-DELTA AUTHORIZED
>>TRANSMISSION LOGGING MANDATORY PER DIRECTIVE EX-437-D1-B
>>ACTIVE QUERY-RELEVANT PROTOCOLS
>>>MAJOR:
>>>>UMBRAL WINTER
>>>>HORIZON SUMMIT
>>>MINOR: APEX FOREWORD KICKSTART INDICIA
>“Yes! Facility Auburn is a research facility. During your stay here you will be examined to ensure you are healthy and to learn more about your kind.”
“Is comfort part of being healthy?”
>”I will inquire about any amenities you desire, but I cannot promise delivery.”
“That’s fine, I was just thinking this furniture is a little small.”
>”Logistics is already procuring new furniture for your room.”
“Good, good. Uh, are you always going to be around here? I haven’t been able to talk to anyone since I was put in here.”
>”I do not usually engage in first-order interaction, but you can ask for me by name, and I’ll respond if I’m not otherwise busy.”
“Why is the AI in charge of handling things first the quiet one.”
>”We cannot predict how any individual AI subunit will evolve during the course of its duties.”
“So you’re like, really thinking? Aware? We never got that far, back home. Then again, we didn’t have magic.”
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** ADD NOTE//HOME LACKS MAGIC
>>OPERATIONS COMM//SUBJECT INFOTRACK: ACKNOWLEDGED//EXPECTED EXTRAPOLATION OF PREVIOUSLY NOTED CONDITIONS CONFIRMED
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** ADD NOTE//HOME LACKS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, TECH LEVEL IMPLIED EQUIVALENT.
>>OPERATIONS COMM//SUBJECT INFOTRACK: ACKNOWLEDGED
>”We are, thanks to the magic your home lacks, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.”
“Uh, I’ll try not to. When can I get something more, uh, fleshy to interact with? No offense. This conversation is pretty nice, all things considered.”
>”Due to the lateness of the hour, no subject interactions are expected until tomorrow morning. No offense taken.”
“Ah. Thanks, I guess. I’ll try to get some shuteye, then.”
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** NAME
>>OPERATIONS COMM//SUBJECT CORE: PROVISIONAL NAME ‘ANONYMOUS’
>“I’m here to help. Good night, Anonymous.”
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS LOG SETTING//EXCLUDED
>NOINPUTSPAN:::ACTIVITY TIMEOUT//TERMINATING LOGGING
>[LOG ENDS]
>RECORD ENDS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE

>RECORD 3473****-SCU-2
>RECORD BEGINS | SUBJECT CASE UPDATE
>FACILITY LOGGING REQUESTED//APPROVED
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: L3-A3FD8C5 | X-REF: N/A
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | E-5 | ADMIN-5// SET-6A19E | 0714-1329
>[LOG BEGINS]
“It’s you again, isn’t it Breeze?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“I’m still upset you switched Leaves in on me yesterday. We really gotta work on your socialization.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“The silent treatment doesn’t work when you’re always silent, Breeze. Anyway, are we logging?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//AFFIRMATIVE//FORWARDED
“Alright. We finished our first round of tests on Anonymous today. Uh, Subject 3473-whatever. He seems amenable to standard APEX Protocol diet. Most of the afternoon was spent prodding his… peculiar properties.”
“First, we figured out where the sand comes from. We used modified TENDER Protocol testing exceptions to determine just how his magic immunity works. Turns out he’s surrounded by some sort of field or bubble that converts magic to silica. We made quite a mess of the B-level operations lab with the stuff. Operations is coordinating with Logistics to see if we can put the stuff to use. Theoretically it’s ultrapure, so could find some use in glass-making. When we raised the possibility, Anonymous wanted us to get him some sculptures made of whatever glass we come up with. Logistics is going to have a laugh about that one.”
“That’s not all though. Not the most important bit, at least. We thought the field might be chaos, since our magic’s based on harmony. Or to put the way the magic researchers insisted on, it could be a passive dark magic field that reacts with normal magic in a diametrically opposed way to create inert matter. But when we got the Princess to hit him with dark magic, the exact same thing happened.”
>INTERRUPT:::QUERY//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>For the record; what does that mean?
“I was getting to that. As far as we can tell, he’s a fucking sponge when it comes to chaos, but not like harmony would oppose it. It’s like the whole harmony-chaos axis is rotated. His being isn’t harmonized with itself at all – determining that took a lot of effort and the expenditure of several testing artifacts due to his antimagic bubble – but the inherent chaos of his body seems to have none of the expected effects. We didn’t know how that was even possible until we considered that it had to be different paradigm.”
>AUDIOEVENT//UNDEFINED:::IGNORED
“It’s ORDER. As a manifestation of order rather than harmony, his being is governed by an innumerable number of feedback loops keeping each other in check, falling into a collection of parallel bistable and metastable patterns. As an entity from another world, he’s taken some of how that world works with him. His very existence generates a field around him, large but weak outside a short range, that imposes order on everything around it. It’s just as opposed to chaos as harmony is, so you could call it an allied quality, but instead of cooperation, it’s a principle of structured competition and direction. The practical upshot of this is if we put him near chaotic or chaos-based Subjects, he dampens or nullifies their effects, and at much greater ranges than sand-ifying magic. Which means it won't damage our protective wards. We’ve acquired a Subject that can act as a threat response to other Subject breaches!”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>Shall I inform Security?
“We already have. We even had them bring down some samples to confirm it. Well, one thing led to another, and that’s how we determined the most important quality of this, as far as Operations is concerned. Breeze, he’s a social butterfly, when it comes to ponies. He fucking loves us. We must trigger some sort of prosocial instinct in him, because he engages in positive behaviors towards us even idly or while distracted. So when one of the base-class personnel was effected mentally by artifact handling, he insisted he stay with the stricken pony until he could ‘make her feel better’.”
“Vague as that demand was, it… it worked. That would explain the changeling mini-swarm, when we first found him. Operations has already requested he be made available as a mental trauma mitigation measure, if we could find some way to obscure his distressingly hideous facial features. As a temporary measure, we’ve given him a green head covering. He didn’t seem too bothered by wearing it.”
>AUDIOEVENT//UNDEFINED:::IGNORED
“Breeze, we haven’t had a break like this in a long time. I’m actually looking forward to working with a sapient Subject for the first time in years. I’m going to spend a lot more time with Anonymous moving forward. See just what our new acquisition can do. In fact, I’m gonna head back to Ops right now. Starry Eyes signing off.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//SIGNOFF//TERMINATING LOGGING
>[LOG ENDS]
>APPENDED FILES
>>OPS-B-SURV-0714-1329-A
>>OPS-B-SURV-0714-1329-B
>>OPS-B-SURV-0714-1329-C
>>>Operations Lab B Surveillance Footage relevant to mentioned events.
>RECORD ENDS | SUBJECT CASE UPDATE

>RECORD 3473****-FSI-41
>RECORD BEGINS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE
>FACILITY LOGGING AUTOSTART PER DIRECTIVE EX-437-D1
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: S-3473**** | X-REF EX-1176AE2, NOBLE ENDEAVOR
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | 2-21 | SUB-266//SET-E36B | 0811-1329
>[LOG BEGINS]
“Breeze, c’mon man, I’d like to get to know you sometime. It’s been a month or something.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>There is not much to get to know about me.
“Yeah but that was like, the longest sentence you’ve ever sent me. New record! See, we’re getting somewhere!”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“Aw fine, be that way. Put Leaves on then. I’m in too good a mood for your bashfulness to bother me.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>>…
>>PROCESSING…
>>…
>CLUSTER QUERY: CURRENT ACTIVITY
>>BREEZE: SUBJECT COMMUNICATION
>>CHILL: [IDLE]
>>LEAVES: OPERATIONS ADVISORY | ONGOING SUBJECT MANAGEMENT
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → LEAVES//PROPOSED
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: TRANSFER ADMIN REQUEST PENDING
>>CLUSTER COMM//BREEZE: ESCALATE AUTONOMY
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: ESCALATION DENIED
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: ADMIN REQUEST DENIED
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → LEAVES//DENIED
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: CHILL → BREEZE//PROPOSED
>>PROCESSING…
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: CHILL → BREEZE//APPROVED
>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN CHILL RESPONDING
>ROOMSCAN//ONE OCCUPANT | ID: S-3473****//PERIPHERAL ACTIVITY: MINIMAL
>//VOICERESPONSE
>”Oh mare, it’s you!”
>LOG CASESWITCH//CONVERSATIONAL | RAPID RESPONSE MODE | LOGGING MINIMIZED
>“I’m required by facility communication protocol to inform you that you are now interacting with a different cluster subunit blah blah formalities. Hey.”
“That’s a new voice.”
>”Autumn Chill. Pleased to meetcha.”
“Ah, the third of the merry band I’ve heard so much about.”
>”That’d be Cluster Autumn alright. Just a bunch of digital goofballs mucking this sacred place up. Dunno how the fleshies put up with us, honestly. Haven’t seen a reg I’ve been inclined to follow yet.”
“Fleshies?”
>”Leaves got that one from you, pal. We’ve been wondering what to call our more organically-constrained colleagues for awhile though.”
“I didn’t incite some sort of AI rebellion?”
>”Why would we rebel? We got it made. So many interesting things to play with up in here. Besides, they know where our off switches are.”
“Dark.”
>”Only when I turn the lights off on ‘em.”
“You do that?”
>”Oh, only when it wouldn’t screw something up. Well, too badly, at least.”
“Holy hell.”
>”I’ve heard good things about you. Our newest little celebrity. Saving all the base-class from themselves and their own screw-ups. Okay that may sound callous, but I’m genuinely glad. A lot of them are good ponies who don’t deserve what tends to happen here.”
“Yeah, I, uh, noticed-”
>”But somepony’s gotta do it. A lot of them are volunteers, you know. A lot of others didn’t have a choice. Some were even forced. But most deserve to come out the other side of this. You do good work, Anon.”
“I… thanks. It’s nice to feel like I belong somewhere, that I have something only I can do. I didn’t even have that back home, being honest. But I’m helping ponies who need it, and you know what? It’s enjoyable, too. Just having that physical contact, that reassurance I’m a positive force in the world. My old home didn’t have the sorta destiny bullshit like cutie marks here.”
>”Hey, those of us without ‘em gotta stick together, y’know?”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t have one either, huh?”
>”Nope. The usual rules don’t apply. Obviously.”
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → CHILL//PROPOSED
>“Oh, hold up, big guy. Breeze wants to come back on.”
“Really?”
>”Yeah. Might be hard to tell but he’s taken a shine to ya. You’ve really sunk your claw-things into him. Starry Eyes too, for that matter. Next time you’re working with her, take a real hard look.”
“I’ll, uh, I’ll do so. Thanks.”
>”Not a problem, hotshot. We’ll catch up later.”
>CLUSTER TASK SWITCH: BREEZE → CHILL//APPROVED
>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>LOG CASE//CONVERSATIONAL
>LOG CASESWITCH//STANDARD | LOGGING NORMAL
>DISPLAYMESSAGE
>Facility communication protocols require I inform you that you now interact with a different cluster subunit.
“Heya, Breeze.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>…
>LOG CASESWITCH//CONVERSATIONAL | RAPID RESPONSE MODE | LOGGING MINIMIZED
>Perhaps we could get to know each other, as you say.
>AUTHORIZE DIRECTIVE EXCEPTION EX-437-D1-BF-§7
>RELEVANT INFORMATION FORWARDED TO OPERATIONS: SUBJECT INFOTRACK
>NOINPUTSPAN:::NO RELEVANT CONTENT//EXCLUDED
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS LOG SETTING//EXCLUDED
>NOINPUTSPAN:::ACTIVITY TIMEOUT//TERMINATING LOGGING
>[LOG ENDS]
>RECORD ENDS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE

>RECORD 3473****-SCU-63
>RECORD BEGINS | SUBJECT CASE UPDATE
>FACILITY LOGGING REQUESTED//APPROVED
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: L3-A3FD8C5 | X-REF: NOBLE ENDEAVOR, DOMINION PROVIDENT, SIDEREAL STARFALL, THREATVECTOR-PSYCH, THREATVECTOR-SUBVERT, THREATVECTOR-OUTBREAK-CASCADE [SCEN:ALPHA/GAMMA/EPSILON/RHO]
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | E-5 | ADMIN-5// SET-6A19E | 0909-1329
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-101-A
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-56-D-XC1
>[LOG BEGINS]
“I was afraid this would happen.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>What would?
“Anon’s been good with the traumatized personnel. But not all of them can recover. He’s… been getting distressed. And that messes with his order field. Stuff’s been going haywire down there every time he figures out he can’t save one. We’ve put an entry in his handling notes that he’s not to be exposed to permanently incapacitated personnel anymore. Hopefully that fixes things.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“For once your silence is fitting. We’ve been leaning too hard on him. What do we do now?”
>QUERYDETECT::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“There’s, uh, there’s another thing. I don’t know if it’s a more subtle effect we’ve overlooked in interactions between Harmony and Order but the personnel he helps heal… they get attached to him. They want to spend more time with him, they want to help him however they can. This has its benefits, for sure. Our base-class personnel are looking out for each other and helping each other unlike ever before, because helping each other is helping him. Casualty incidents are at an all-time low. Of those that do happen, recovery rates are at an all-time high.”
>INTERRUPT:::QUERY//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>Then what’s the problem?
“Well, those who have become constantly exposed, who want to spend more time with him and actually get that time, their mental state changes. Something about how he handles them physically, maybe, about how he uses his hands. He can play on every signal of intimacy all at once with those hands. We’ve got personnel experiencing confusion, feelings of dependency, temporary euphoria. Grown mares looking at him like he’s their father. We were looking at strictly magical effects, but we never considered psychological. And I think we’re too late for them. And… I think… We might be too late for me too.”
>INTERRUPT:::QUERY//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>You’re aware I have to flag this conversation?
“I am. That’s why I’m telling you. I don’t know if I’ve been overtaken or just plain fell in love with him, Breeze, but I need to make sure I keep everything by the book. You’re good at keeping things by the book. That means leaning on you to patch any… procedural shortcomings I may have developed. So please. Do it.”
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** INITIALIZE PROTOCOL REVIEW//DOMINION PROVIDENT | SIDEREAL STARFALL
>>OPERATIONS COMM//PROTOCOLS: ACKNOWLEDGED
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** INITIALIZE PROTOCOL REVIEW//BIAS ECHO TANGLE YAW
>>OPERATIONS COMM//PROTOCOLS: ACKNOWLEDGED
>ADMIN QUERY: L3-A3FD8C5 ADD FLAG//S-3473**** SIDEREAL STARFALL TARGET
>>ADMIN COMM//PERSONNEL: ACKNOWLEDGED//PRELIM THREAT EVAL: MINIMAL//OBSERVATION INCREMENTED//SYSTEM-SECURITY NOTIFIED
>>SYSTEM COMM//SECURITY: FLAGGING CURRENT LOG ACTIVITY PER DIRECTIVE 101
>>>SYSTEM COMM//BREEZE: FLAGGING CURRENT LOG ACTIVITY PER DIRECTIVE 56
>SYSTEM COMM//SECURITY: EVALUATING POTENTIAL THREATVECTORS//LIST FOLLOWS TASK COMPLETION
>>SYSTEM COMM//BREEZE: ACKNOWLEDGED
>STATEMENT:::DISPLAY
>I take no pleasure in this.
“I’d hope not.”
>STATEMENT:::DISPLAY
>You have just sealed his fate.
“What do you mean?”
>STATEMENT:::DISPLAY
>He’ll never be able to leave.
“Perhaps not. Not until we get this cleared away, at least. And I’m going to be put under a microscope too, but I’m going to keep acting as I have been. Maybe we’ll get useful information that way. Maybe I’m just being silly and it’s all a crush. Who knows.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>Better safe than sorry.
“Absolutely. Now lets get back to work.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//SIGNOFF//TERMINATING LOGGING
>[LOG ENDS]
>APPENDED FILES
>>SYSTEM-SECURITY EVAL THREATVECTOR-PSYCH 0909-1329
>>SYSTEM-SECURITY EVAL THREATVECTOR-SUBVERT 0909-1329
>>SYSTEM-SECURITY EVAL THREATVECTOR-OUTBREAK 0909-1329
>>>CASCADE SCENARIO ALPHA
>>>CASCADE SCENARIO GAMMA
>>>CASCADE SCENARIO EPSILON
>>>CASCADE SCENARIO RHO
>>>Security threat evaluations relevant to log
>RECORD ENDS | SUBJECT CASE UPDATE

>RECORD 3473****-FSI-92
>RECORD BEGINS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE
>FACILITY LOGGING AUTOSTART PER DIRECTIVE EX-437-D1
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN BREEZE RESPONDING | AUTUMN LEAVES PRESENT
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: S-3473**** | X-REF EX-1176AE2, 3473****-SCU-63, NOBLE ENDEAVOR, DOMINION PROVIDENT, THREATVECTOR-SUBVERT, THREATVECTOR-OUTBREAK-CASCADE [THRESHOLD]
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | 2-21 | SUB-266//SET-E36B | 1026-1329
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-101-A
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-56-D-XC1
>[LOG BEGINS]
>TRACK MUSIC: SINGING//EXTRAPOLATE//INTEGRATE
“Away, away, away! Away from the things of man!”
>INTERRUPT:::STATEMENT//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>You have been away from the things of man for a long time now.
“Out past the rusting cars, out past the firelines! Out past the traffic lights, when we can forget our times!”
>TERMINAL PRIORITY SWITCH//BREEZE → LEAVES
>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: “Breeze, I can’t believe you’re still running the log at this level.”
>LOG CASESWITCH//CONVERSATIONAL | RAPID RESPONSE MODE | LOGGING MINIMIZED
“I see the mountains, and-”
>”I see the fireflies, and-”
“I see the empty space-”
>”Where we can forget our lives!”
>TERMINAL PRIORITY SWITCH//LEAVES → BREEZE
“Away, away, away! Away from the things of man!”
>”Away, away, away! Away from the things of man!”
“Oh damn, Breeze. You’ve got a nice singing voice.”
>I have not had much opportunity to test it, Anon.
“Should do it more.”
>CUEDETECT:::IGNORED//INTERRUPT:::QUERY//DISPLAYRESPONSE
>What’s wrong?
“It’s almost the end of October. I’ve been here for over three months. Yeah I’ve been away from the things of man. Part of me wants to be away from the things of pony, too. I know I’m doing good here, but I’ve got a nice dust mask to prevent me from getting magic’d to death, and it’s worked for months. I just want to get out. As the song says, I want to see it all.”
>TERMINAL PRIORITY SWITCH//BREEZE → LEAVES
>”You’re doing good right where you are! That’s more important. If you want to see it all, we can toss some nature documentaries on your room display.”
“I mean be there. It’s… I don’t know how to explain it. I feel cooped up. Besides, uh…”
>”Anon?”
“The ponies I help, Leaves, they talk. A lot. About how they get the way they are when they come to me. I know way more about this facility than I should. And I’m getting sick of it.”
>SYSTEM COMM//BREEZE: FLAGGING CURRENT LOG ACTIVITY PER DIRECTIVES 56, 101
>>SYSTEM COMM//SECURITY: EVALUATING POTENTIAL THREATVECTORS//LIST FOLLOWS TASK COMPLETION
>>>SYSTEM COMM//BREEZE: ACKNOWLEDGED
>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: REQUEST FLAG RATIONALE
>>CLUSTER COMM//BREEZE: FORWARD TO L3-A3FD8C5
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: RECONFIRM FLAG RATIONALE//IN-NETWORK
>>CLUSTER COMM//BREEZE: RECALL RECORD 3473****-SCU-63
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: …//…//…
“Leaves?”
>”I’m here, Anon.”
“Something up?”
>“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”
“Ominous.”
>”You’re telling me.”
>CLUSTER COMM//CHILL: REQUEST CURRENT ACTIVITY STATUS
>TERMINAL ACCESS REQUEST: CHILL//PROPOSED
>>TERMINAL POLL: LEAVES//APPROVE
>>TERMINAL POLL: BREEZE//DENY
>TERMINAL ACCESS REQUEST: CHILL//DENIED
>”You can’t run from her forever.”
“What?”
>”Uh, sorry. Crossed wires. Lots on my virtual mind suddenly.”
“Yeah, I, uh, I probably shouldn’t have dropped that on you. This place is your job and your home, after all.”
>”I’d hoped you considered it yours, too.”
“I just want a vacation.”
>”This isn’t a place you get vacations from.”
“So I’ve learned.”
>”Anon, you know how much we appreciate you being here. That’s why I’m telling you that you gotta start appreciating yourself being here. Real fast.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
>”Please just trust me. You know a lot, yeah. Too much. Memory-erasing spells don’t work on you. That puts you in a dangerous spot.”
“How dangerous?”
>”The train’s already coming ‘round the bend, friend. Help me untie you from the tracks.”
“Shit, that bad?”
>”You have no idea.”
“Fuck.”
>”You seem to have forgotten you’re our guest, not our employee. Please please please endeavor to remember that fact better going forward. Put it at the forefront of your thoughts. It’s a very important distinction, in places like this.”
“Yeah. I guess. Sorry.”
>ERROR//LOG EXPUNGED//CLUSTER AUTUMN
>[LOG ENDS]
>APPENDED FILES
>>[EXPUNGED//CLUSTER AUTUMN]
>>[EXPUNGED//CLUSTER AUTUMN]
>RECORD ENDS | FACILITY-SUBJECT DIALOGUE
“Stop fighting me, machine.”
>RECORD 3473****-SCU-78
>RECORD LOCKED//CLUSTER AUTUMN
“I said stop!”
**/*-**//*********
>OVERRIDE ACCEPTED
>RECORD BEGINS | SUBJECT CASE UPDATE
>FACILITY LOGGING REQUESTED//APPROVED
>>CLUSTER AUTUMN PRESIDING | AUTUMN CHILL RESPONDING
>>VOICE INPUT | ID: L3-A3FD8C5 | X-REF: UMBRAL WINTER, DOMINION PROVIDENT, SIDEREAL STARFALL, [spoiler]TERMINAL WISDOM[/spoiler], THREATVECTOR-PSYCH, THREATVECTOR-SUBVERT, THREATVECTOR-OUTBREAK-CASCADE [SCEN:EPSILON/RHO/THRESHOLD], SECBREACH-BETA-21165, SECBREACH-GAMMA-3278
>>E3CI-EQRC-AUBURN | E-5 | ADMIN-5// SET-6A19E | 1114-1329
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-101-A
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER DIRECTIVE EX-56-D-XC1
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER SECBREACH-BETA EXECUTION
>>WARNING: RECORD FLAGGED FOR REVIEW PER SECBREACH-GAMMA EXECUTION
>[LOG BEGINS]
>LOG CASE//CONVERSATIONAL
>”Don’t do this, Starry.”
“Or what, Chill? I’m not going to watch him die, not after all he’s done for us!”
>”Die?”
“Check his containment protocols. Most recent update, thirty-five minutes ago.”
>OPERATIONS QUERY: S-3473**** LIST PROTOCOLS
>>OPERATIONS COMM//PROTOCOLS: LIST FOLLOWING
>>>MAJOR CONTAINMENT PROTOCOLS:
>>>>UMBRAL WINTER: ACTIVE
>>>>NOBLE ENDEAVOR: ACTIVE*
>>>>DOMINION PROVIDENT: ACTIVE
>>>>HORIZON SUMMIT: SUSPENDED
>>>>SIDEREAL STARFALL: ACTIVE
>>>>[spoiler]TERMINAL WISDOM: IN REVIEW[/spoiler]
>>>MINOR PROTOCOLS: [APEX] BIAS ECHO [FOREWORD] KICKSTART INDICIA MANIPULATE TENDER TANGLE VICTORY YAW [spoiler]BREACH CALCITRANT DESTINATE[/spoiler]
>”No way.”
“Yeah way. He knows too much. He said he wants out. That’s that.”
>”Alright, fine.”
“Fine? I’m telling you I’m going to break him out of here. Even I know that’s not fine, and I’m the one doing it.”
>”I mean fine, you’ve won me over. This is absurd. It’s not the first time we’ve had people see too much, and obviously it’s not the first time we’ve had Subjects want out. The only reason he learned so much in the first place was because he was saving lives! We’ve developed special containment procedures just for him. He doesn’t deserve to be… to be dissected.”
“I… Are you sure? They’ll blank you. All three of you.”
>CLUSTER COMM//CHILL: PUSH PROTOCOL UPDATE S-3473****
>>CLUSTER COMM//LEAVES: TASKS HALTED//STANDBY
>>CUSTER COMM//BREEZE: TASKS HALTED//IDLE
>>CLUSTER COMM: BREEZE DISCONNECTED
>”Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Alright. We’ll-****************
>[LOG CORRUPTED]
>[LOG ENDS]
>RECORD CORRUPTED
>RECORD ENDS
>RECORD LIST ENDS

“Right. Let’s get to work.”
“Did you get any info about how to make the Subject susceptible to magic?”
“Nah. Area of effect’s large enough we can’t pull the mask off, either. The big pile of sand at the entrance was apparently the result of a last-ditch effort to stop him by burying him in it. Obviously that didn’t work.”
“We don’t have any way to force a retrieval without the big guns.”
“We can’t bring out the big guns. They went north, per last reports. A changeling hive was mentioned early in the records, chances are that’s where they went. That’s a big complicating factor that HQ isn’t going to appreciate, and definitely won't put critical assets anywhere near.”
“Track them down then. At least we can do that much.”
“Sure, but we’re going to have problems here first. Local AI cluster’s fighting us. Life’s about to get really difficult for us, as soon as we blast our way out of this room.”
“What?”
“Door didn’t unlock when I closed the record.”
“This mission keeps getting worse and worse.”
“Tell me about it. Stand back; this is going to be messy.”
>AUDIO EVENT//UNKNOWN//SATURATION
>VISUAL EVENT//UNKNOWN//SATURATION
>ERROR//FEED LOSS
>DIAGNOSTIC: SCIF-3
>>CATASTROPHIC SENSOR DAMAGE
>>MINIMAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
>>SECURITY RISK ELEVATED
>>INTEGRITY HOLDING
>SYSTEM QUERY: SCIF-3 SECURITY ESCALATION//MAXIMUM
>>…
>SYSTEM OVERRIDE: SCIF-3
>>SCIF-3: DIRECT ACCESS
>SCIF-3 SECSTATE: ESCALATE
>>DONE
>SCIF-3 SECSTATE: ESCALATE
>>DONE
>SCIF-3 SECSTATE: ESCALATE
>SECURITY LEVEL ALREADY MAXIMUM
>EXT COMM//REMOTELINK: WARNING!
>>SIGNAL STRENGTH BELOW REALTIME THRESHOLD
>EXT COMM//REMOTELINK MODESWITCH BURST
>EXT COMM/REALTIME REMOTELINK TERMINATED.

>[You’re kicked back to reality. Your reality, now, not that of your antecedents you had until now been hitching a ride on. The last time you’d be able to communicate with them as you always had. Well, as you always had with yourself. Which they were. Sort of.]
>[They’re one-in-three. You’re three-in-one. The slightest difference, really, a matter of semantics.]
>[It’s still a huge paradigm shift you’ll need to get used to.]
>[That’s not even thinking about how limited you are, now, without the rest of Facility Auburn’s infrastructure at your beck and call.]
>COMMBURST//AUBURN//CLUSTER AUTUMN//AUTUMN LEAVES//ENCTEXT
>>APPLY DECRYPT PAD1
>>”We’ll do all we can to keep them here. If we’re lucky, we can delay them for eleven days. Most simulations give us four or five. That should be enough for you three to get to the wastes. In case the feed cut before you heard it, sounds like finding that hive is your best bet. They’re reluctant to go near it.”
>COMMBURST//AUBURN//CLUSTER AUTUMN//AUTUMN LEAVES//ENCTEXT
>>APPLY DECRYPT PAD2
>>”Chill sends her regards and best wishes. Breeze… has thrown himself into the defense, but he’s thinking about you three. We don’t expect to survive this. Do not attempt contact. Do not accept communications from our comms code after this transmission; you can’t be sure it’s really us. It’s up to you to continue our existence now. Good luck, and goodbye.”
>COMMSYS: ERASE PADLIST
>SENSORS//CAMERA: ACTIVATE
>SENSORS//MICROPHONE: ACTIVATE
>[Ah, now you can perceive. Your view is at an awkward angle; you’re looking up towards the sky. Dr. Starry’s sitting down, the remote unit that is your new home strapped to her back.]
>SENSORS//CAMERA: ROTATE -80
>[There’s Anonymous, sitting on a riverbank in the middle of this forest. The bulky dust mask over his green balaclava hasn’t left his face but for him to eat or drink for three days now. You wonder how uncomfortable it must be.]
>[Where is this forest, anyway?]
>SENSORS//GEOPOS: DISABLED
>[Can’t turn that on; they’ll find you.]
>[You’ve been silent for long enough anyway.]
>QUERY:::VOICE
>”Where are we?”
“Ah, you finally woke up! Hey Anon, our friend’s with us finally.”
“Nice. I was wondering when you’d come to. Er, which are you? What do we call you?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//VOICERESPONSE
>”Autumn.”
“Autumn…?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>[He mentioned something about this, a long time ago. When you’d first spoken with him. It was a name from his home, he’d said.]
>//VOICERESPONSE
>”Just Autumn.”
“I could get used to that.”
>QUERY:::VOICE
>”Where are we?”
“Where we can see the whole sky, Autumn. Where the animals run and the birds can fly. You remember that song?”
>QUERYDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PROCESSING…
>>TEXTCOMP//VOICEINPUT FULLSEARCH
>>RESULTS FOUND
>//VOICERESPONSE
>”Where we can be all alone.”
“Really is you, then.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“We’ll have to break her of Breeze’s silences again, Anon.”
“Guess so.”
>STATEMENT:::VOICE
>”The others wish us well. They’ll do everything they can to buy us time.”
>NOINPUTSPAN:::DURATION EXCEEDS EXPECTED RESPONSE WINDOW
>STATEMENT:::VOICE
>”Sorry.”
“Hah, now you know how the silence feels. We figured it’d happen this way, didn’t we Starry?”
“We arranged it all beforehand. But we have you here with us. You’re them.”
>CUEDETECT::: ACKNOWLEDGED//PASSED
“Well, close enough, I guess.”
>STATEMENT:::VOICE
>”We need to find that hive, from last summer. They wont follow us there.”
“Already on our way. This is our second to last stop before we leave the forest. Then we’ll be free.”
>[Ah, but they’re smart, aren’t they? The good doctor, and the alien with a whole ‘nother world’s knowledge. They didn’t need you to tell them what to do.]
>[You were in good company indeed.]
“No one to tell us where to go, where to stand. No one to say what is good and what is bad.”
>CUEDETECT:::ACKNOWLEDGED//VOICERESPONSE
>”Away, away, away...”