Lude 1.2: Dr. Pandora

Lude 1.2: Dr. Pandora

Saturday, 7/12/2014

* GMAmy changes topic to 'Illusions of Grandeur 3: Mecha | Session 1.2: Dr. Pandora | Helicon Base - Friday, Komos 27th, HE 882 | Fridays, 6 pm Pacific | http://sites.google.com/site/iogmecha/ | #iog-ooc'

* GMAmy sets mode: +m

<GMAmy> Dr. Dora Griffin is in her office, frowning at her computer monitor as she types a report. Her fingers fly across the keyboard, keys clacking. She is apparently not in the best of moods.

* Ryllan , freshly shaved and showered, and in a standard, if somewhat rumpled, uniform, knocks lightly on the office door.

<GMAmy> "Come in." Dr. Griffin calls over her shoulder, not bothering to look away from the screen as she finishes typing the current paragraph.

* Ryllan steps in, but stays back near the doorway, holding his hands up at his side so that everyone can see he's not armed with any dangerous needles, "Got a moment, Doc?"

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin turns around, starts, and leans back defensively. She pauses, noticing that Ryllan is clearly not aggressive, and lets out a long breath. "...Sure. If you're certain you want to talk to me?" She gestures to a chair.

* Ryllan lets out a long breath, moving over to the chair, "Head's starting to sort itself out. Still got a bit of... double-perception, I guess you'd call it, but I'm sorted enough to know that I owe you a hell of an apology."

<GMAmy> She gives him a wry smile. "You certainly do." She tilts her head curiously. "I have to ask...exactly who did you think I WAS? I've been able to get precious little detail out of Tanan about exactly what went on in the sim, so far."

* Ryllan glances away, "There was a woman named Pandora, in the simulation -- she was part -- the head part, of an... amalgam known as the Prophetess. She was our principal opponent for much of the simulation, with an agenda to end the world and substitute her own."

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin is silent for several long moments before speaking. "......Ah." She pauses. "So that's what Tilly meant about Gerry being a colossal dick. I'm going to KILL him."

* Ryllan shakes his head, "Gerry was the one who decided who played what role?" He sighs, "To be honest, when we woke up there with you, I thought she'd pulled it off somehow, done her remake. Hence the attempted uh..." He grins sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

<GMAmy> "We're not entirely sure yet. It seems that he loaded the personnel file into the character database for the simulation, and Tanan was able to choose from GDF staff profiles when creating characters. On top of that, he specifically suggested my profile for - Pandora, was it?" She sighs heavily. "I have a feeling we're going to be getting fallout from that for a while. Don't be surprised if you run into other familiar faces here at the base."

<GMAmy> She smiles a bit though. "Glad to see you've calmed down, though. I can certainly see why you made the assumptions you did. I admit, we didn't really know just how strongly you would be affected and how severely your perception of reality would be skewed. Of course, we could talk all day about the nature of reality and simulation theory, and I admit I think it's a totally fascinating idea, that somehow this woman did remake reality, but..."

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin shrugs. "I think it's rather doubtful, and counterproductive at this point."

* Ryllan chuckles, "On review, Hemera isn't really much like the world she was pitching. But..." He shrugs, "With the memories we had, it's what we had to go on. I'm just glad I missed."

<Ryllan> I... did miss, right?

<GMAmy> Another wry smile. "Yes, you did. It helps that you were particularly weak and disoriented on waking up. Speaking of which, how are you feeling? Has Dr. Dupont had a chance to give you a physical yet?"

<Ryllan> "Weak, out of breath, but I gather that's to be expected. Head's still..." He shrugs, "I knew my way here, but not why I knew it. It's a disconcerting feeling. Made it without leaning on the wall more than once, though."

<GMAmy> "Hopefully things will continue to sort themselves out. You'll get your strength back. You get a couple days of on-base leave, and then you're scheduled to start exercise and physical therapy. Provided you pass your psych eval, of course. You want to schedule that? Originally I was going to handle it, but if you're more comfortable with Dr. Richards..."

* Ryllan smiles ruefully, "Unless you're uncomfortable - which I'd completely understand - might be better to face this one head-on, especially if there's other familiar faces running around."

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin nods. "Very pragmatic, I see - just as it says in your file. I'm not surprised they picked you to lead this circus."

* Ryllan rubs the back of his head, "Well, hopefully I can bear that trust out." He chuckles, "Speaking of circuses, and I'm sorry if I've asked this before, but how'd you wind up involved?"

Session Time: Sun Jul 13 00:00:00 2014

<GMAmy> "Me?" Both eyebrows lift; she was clearly not expecting this question. "Well...I suppose it just sort of happened. I was fresh out of school with my degree and was doing intake evaluations for military candidates, and one of my superiors had some contacts and recommended me when we heard the GDF was looking for psychologists for a new project." She shrugs. "I suppose I was curious and wanted to see what was up. It sounded a lot more interesting than what I was doing, and the details were kind of hush-hush, so of course I wanted to know what was going on."

<GMAmy> [Dr. Griffin] Ask anyone around here, they'll tell you. I'm probably one of the nosiest people on the base.

* Ryllan chuckles, "Ah, yes. 'It's all very interesting, but we can't tell you until you promise to work for us'. Think I've given that line once or twice."

<GMAmy> "And a line I've never been able to resist. You have to admit, it IS pretty fascinating. The simulation is the first of its kind - complex, long-term. There's a lot we didn't expect, though, and a lot we just weren't able to plan for. I'm afraid it's all new territory from here on in. But hey! So far so good. If we can just figure out what's wrong with Saki, and why she won't wake up. Something funny is happening with her scans."

* Ryllan closes his eyes, leaning back, "Funny?" He pauses, "I... it wouldn't happen to be funny as in 'it almost looks like there's two people in there' funny, would it?"

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin gives him a piercing look.

<GMAmy> "Seems you could shed some light on the subject."

* Ryllan opens his eyes, with a sigh, "...Was Tanan reporting /anything/? In the simulation, Saki was sharing her head with an ancient consciousness named 'Rachel' -- A contemporary of the Prophetess, but opposing her plan."

<GMAmy> "...I think I'm going to have to have a long talk with Tanan. This stuff is FASCINATING. Hell, even if the whole project goes south, maybe we could at least get a book deal out of it."

<GMAmy> [Dr. Griffin] Regardless, there were updates, but they had more to do with brain scans and physical responses than with the actual scenario.

<Ryllan> Mm. Might be something to revise for the next iteration. Anyway, if that's what you're seeing, that might have something to do with it. *He shrugs* Not really my area, I know, but... coincidences aren't.

<GMAmy> She shrugs. "In any case, I wouldn't worry. She's in no danger, and once we figure out what's going on we may be able to safely bring her out of it. Oh - that reminds me, I was just writing a report on this. You're down another two team members. I'm not sure how much you remember from your briefings prior to entering the sim, but you might recall that Sergeant Rios was a late arrival due to some bureaucratic nonsense, and you had to begin the simulation without him."

<GMAmy> "In addition, the team was originally supposed to include Angharad Wolf. She...didn't work out."

<Ryllan> "Mm. Angharad, yeah. She travelled with us for a while, but left pretty quick. Should I ask about this side?"

<GMAmy> "Man, what DIDN'T go wrong? First we had trouble setting up the neural connection. Then Tanan reported that...let me see if I can find the report." She turns to her computer, clicking around a bit before finally pulling up a document. "Here we are."

<GMAmy> "'Candidate has extreme difficulty working with others and a very rigid will, which prevents her psyche from adapting to the new environment and realities of the simulation. All indications are that she will not be able to modify her perspective enough to fully accept magic. Official recommendation - release from the program.' Ohh, was she ever angry when she woke up."

<GMAmy> "Hmm. I think Ethan wrote this report. We've talked to him before about how the higher-ups don't want us to call it 'magic' but rather 'psychokinesis'. Personally, I don't see how it matters."

<Ryllan> "Probably doesn't. Maybe the word just feels like giving up on understanding it?" He shrugs, "Can't really disagree with the assesment of Wolf. You said we were down another member?"

<GMAmy> [Dr. Griffin] Right. Angie Baker is being pulled from the program. I gather the top brass wasn't happy about it, but the Borean government has requested her immediate return. I'm not clear on the details, but there's some political upheaval going on over there and somehow it's put a damper on international cooperation. I know the techs are furious; they had the perfect mech picked out for her and were already making special modifications based on her sim performance.

<Ryllan> "No one told them there was a war on, huh? Well, she's a good woman, I won't deny we'll miss her." He pauses, "She's okay with going, right?"

<GMAmy> [Dr. Griffin] She seems suprisingly resilient, psychologically speaking. Her memory was as jumbled as yours, but she just sort of shrugged and said she was sure it would come back to her quickly. She obviously regretted leaving you, but was perfectly willing to return to Boreas. She said something about make sure the rest of you stay out of trouble and don't have too much fun without her.

* Ryllan chuckles, "That does rather sound like her." He nods, and stands, "Thank you for the chat, and the information, Doc. Want me to drop by again after Dupont has a chance to poke me with his sticks?"

<GMAmy> Dr. Griffin smiles. "Sounds good. Please feel free to come by anytime if you need to discuss things further, to help you get your feet under you."

<Ryllan> "Alright. See you soon, Doc." Ryllan makes a motion in the general vicinity of his forehead that could be read as a wave or a salute, as he leaves the office.

<GMAmy> == Lude End ==