[Open RP]
-VT Sanctuary, Foundry-
<04/2 DR 12:42>
Isa:
The Corpus-born Tenno had left for the sanctuary's foundry
immediately after the briefing. If she was to infiltrate the Corpus, she
wouldn't want to do it alone. She needed allies that could blend in
with her and had gone to the foundry to begin the production of some
MOAs, while listening to various Corpus broadcasts from around Lua. She
could possibly try listening in on broadcasts around Pluto, but doing so
would be more difficult, and she wasn't that intensely focused on
gathering information at the moment.
/Lekalis/
With due interest, he'd stalked behind Isa to the Foundry; not
wholly sneakily as his augments whirred, hissed, and clicked while he
shuffled on around every odd corner she made.
Eventually, he
too came upon the foundry, iron platter of empty cups and scatered
cookie corpses still resting in his hands.
There was a
vicious curiosity in The Strider, as he watched the Foundry door
close... He swallowed what vile thoughts brewed within him and
approached.
The door opened as it 'ought, with a whisper
of sliding metal, and Lekalis entered. He made to approach Isa as he
cleared his throat, his arms hopelessly raising in reflex, wanting to
wave.
"Hello!"
He called out simply, happily, as he quirked his helm to one
side.
"... You are not too busy : I hope?"
Isa:
Isa was focused on the console in front of her. She paused the
transmissions and turned around to eye the rather strange Loki behind
her.
"Not terribly." She said, her voice buzzing.
"I did notice you were following me. I assume there's
something you would like to discuss."
/Lekalis/
"You were tasked for... Infiltrating the
Corpus. Yes :--"
The Strider straightened, adopting a tune a bit like Mataeru's,
though with a mocking flatness, if it weren't for his vox's
typical statick subsiding for a moment, he would have sounded utterly
robotic.
"It might be best for you to hijack one of the supply ships on
Pluto's surface get aboard that way, which is basically what you
suggested."
He gave a small chuckle, as he approached humbly, moving his helm to
peer at the console; noting the transmissions, then caught Isa's
eye.
The Strider cleared his throat, a grumbly, firey noise as his
voice fell to its typical cheery demeanour.
"You seem wise on the Corpus... I was curious : why is
that?"
He pondered openly, looming close now and stooping closer to Isa with
the platter bared before her.
"... You also did not try the tea. Or the cookie : I
would like to know why."
Isa:
"I was tasked with such, yes."
The corner of her mouth twitched in what seemed to be a smile for a
split second before she spoke.
"I as Yotkuy... I am Corpus. Not many of us were present
aboard the Zariman, even fewer Corpus children were on board."
She looks down at the platter, then up at the Loki.
"I am not hungry. Additionally, I tend to eat specialized
nutritional supplements. They include specific chemicals to power my
implants."
/Lekalis/
"I made these from Grineer military
rations... Balanced, perhaps more protein than one might expect. Bugs,
you see."
The Strider hummed, though, his nature did wane a touch as he seemed to
suppress a glower as he made to, slowly, pull the cookie back. In case
she changed her mind.
"Yotkuy... A Tenno? Curious."
Lekalis nodded, then sighed hopelessly,
"Perhaps not. You are here for money? And trinkets,
and baubles... Twinkling lights."
His vox cleared up for a moment, and his tone had a poetic, though
indignant, lilt.
Isa:
"No, I am here as a member of this group, to end this
war. I am a Tenno through and through, I was simply Corpus by
birth."
She explains to him.
"But I have received all the... training that the other
Tenno have. Furthermore I do not worship money as these newer Corpus do.
I value productivity, creating things, achieving goals."
April 26, 2018
/Lekalis/
"Oh..."
The Strider seemed a bit taken aback, literally, as he recoiled for a
moment.
"I see. This is good."
He observed with a quaint nod as he shuffled to one side, then the
other with a humm. Presumptively, he made to walk over and observe the
transmission feed she'd stopped.
"... Correction : That is admirable. And I am sorry
for presuming. The Corpus and their.... corporate creed : very bad, not
good."
He paused, looking down to the Champion's regalia pinned to
his breast. Shrugging the shoulder for emphasis.
"Caused unneccessary pain in pursuits."
Lekalis looked up to Isa with a quirked helm.
"I find it curious you are Corpus and Tenno; how did
that happen?"
Isa:
"As I said, I was born among the Corpus. Some of us were
aboard the Zariman Ten-Zero, as it was a colony vessel. Given our more
industrial nature, the Orokin no doubt wanted to have us aboard to help
jump-start production on the colony. I, like the other children on board
was changed in the incident, becoming a Tenno just like all the
others."
The feed was nothing of interest really, more just general Corpus radio
chatter than anything.
Isa turned back to the console, continuing her work on the MOA as she
spoke.
"Perhaps, but it is not dissimilar to the old
Orokin."
/Lekalis/
"The Old Orokin were very bad. Not good,
too."
He remarked with a nod, stroking the chin of his chinless helm.
"Still curious : a Corpus chld is not very
productive... Did you work on ventilation? Life Support? Why were you
there?"
Lekalis almost rambled to himself, before turning to face Isa; implying
the questions were poised at her, despite the stringed words.
Isa:
"I was among the older ones that survived the Zariman. I
was already in training as a biomachinist to help maintain the ship and
other technology.."
She turns to Lekalis again.
"They wanted some of us aboard to learn the ship
specifically to ensure a generation that would know it by
instinct."
/Lekalis/
He watched her with sympathy, his Sunny eye dimmed a touch as he seemed
to measure her up to some unseen yard.
"I see."
A simple response as he leant his hip lightly against the transmitter.
The weight hissing out of his knees.
"Were you... happy aboard it?"
Isa:
"I rather enjoyed my time aboard the Zariman,
yes."
She says, turning back to the console, then pausing a moment.
"I do wonder what life would be like if the incident
hadn't occurred... I suppose we would have just been killed by the
Sentients."
/Lekalis/
As Isa spoke on, the fluxuating lights recording the transmission
receiver cast a small smile across Lekalis' scarred helm.
"Suppose we may have. Or some other destitute children would
have taken our place... "
He hummed, ponderously and impossibly intrigued by the girl now, he
moved like a snake in the grass to spy over Isa's shoulder
"What would you have wanted for your life if you were not
Tenno..? "
He paused and pulled the iron doah against his stomach to raise a
finger emphatically
*.... Nor slain by Sentients... Generally : Not dead, very
happy, very good? "
Isa:
She stopped her work to think.
"I'm not sure. Not that it matters. I'm Tenno now
and will remain as such. I enjoy what I am, and I suppose if I were not
Tenno, I would probably have enjoyed being a scientist as I am
now."
/Lekalis/
"Hmm... Fair."
The Strider supposed for himself with a nod as he seemed satisfied that
she stopped her work, making a bit more activity in his rolled shoulders
before the platter in his offhand wobbled a bit and he moved to hold it
in both hands yet again.
"Science seems frighteningly demanding; all I know
who've delved seem utterly enraptured... Why do you reckon that
is?"
Lekalis' vox-static seemed to fade a touch as he seemed to glide to
Isa's other shoulder, nosing forward a bit to eye the MOA she was
working on like a cat nosing towards a precariously set plant pot.
April 27, 2018
Isa:
"It is an interesting subject. The same occurrence
happens with artists and craftsmen, does it not?"
She responds, her voice flanged as usual, though it seemed like a more
intentional design feature than due to damage. She turns her attention
back to the MOA.
"Besides, it's rather easy to be productive this
way. Ippe ktoyeyyey po top tetetip pke Yotkuy."
/Lekalis/
He hummed, pondering; if a helm could squint, the Strider's
certainly would as he listened.
"A... Fair point."
The Strider managed to reply, as he leant back to free up one hand so
it might pluck at one of the cylinders jutting out of his helm again,
twisting it with two sharp clicks.
"IDLE. PROCESSECSY. pot--ATAO--p. BENEFIT. pek CORPUS."
His vox jargled, a jarring mess of vicious white noise; voices
construed from countless others. The Strider gave one final click to the
cylinder jutting out of his neural array and hefted up the platter
again.
"Hmm... You've become Tenno, though :
Ut-ykaitep. Ut-ykaykpep..."
The Strider leant his hip against the table where the MOA lay, stooping
his helm forward to take threaten the periphery of her vision.
"... Perhaps : you'll ponder with me... In the
Dark; things you've left unpondered?"
His words were jovial as ever, but were dripping with curiosity.
Lekalis looked down to the MOA with a slight quirk to his helm.
"There are different ways, different things to be
productive towards : Move in all directions."
Lekalis' free hand flourished for emphasis, tapping the side of his
helm at the end of the small flicker.
Isa:
"Yes, I am Tenno now." She said, installing the optics of the MOA. "But perhaps you are unaware that the word corpus does not
only refer to the faction. It is also our word for family."
She glances to the Loki. Surely one who seemed to speak in riddles such
as this one would understand what she meant.
"There are, but I am not suited towards them.
Now then, what is it exactly you wish to discuss? I doubt there are many
things I have left unpondered."
May 12, 2018
/Lekalis/
"The Corpus is the main body, the core, the
torso; Anhata, Maipura, Svadhisthana."
The Strider's good hand reached out and tapped three points along
Isa's spine; a point between her shoulder blades, then at the
deepest point of the small of her back, and the last, at the top of her
tailbone.
"Love, Strength, Pleasure; base drives. Base needs :
all lead to greed, ultimately."
His tone had fallen flat, and he rescinded his hand for a moment and
moved the iron dish up and onto the top of his helm, where he balanced
it carefully with his prosthetic.
"The word Corpus is rusted : vile, distasteful,
untrustworthy. Perhaps the Remnant can make the word back as it once
was."
Though, now with the quick ramble over with, The Strider's
spriteful musings came up again with a small staticky gasp.
"Ah, but : Family, our word... Wish?"
He raised his good hand up and waggled it knowingly at the corner of
Isa's peripheral view.
"Have you pondered Family, Isa? Who are they, where
are they, how are they..."
Like the legs of a dyng spider, The Strider's delicate fingers
daintily curled up. His elongated little finger raised, he reached out
with it to tuck a few stray strands of Isa's hair behind her
ear.
May 13, 2018
Isa:
"Greed in and of itself is not a bad thing. Greed drives
innovation, evolution. It is a defining aspect of life, the desire to
advance, to strive to have more, to not be satisfied with your lot in
life. It must be kept in check, but to have none leads to apathy. Like
all things, it has its uses."
She nods as the Loki expresses its distaste of the word Corpus.
"Yes, to outsiders the word is corrupted, perhaps, but to
the common man and woman within the Corpus, it still holds its true
meaning. Elimination of those responsible for its tarnish will hopefully
bring the term back to its roots. And yes, our word. I take pride what the Corpus are... were. We were the workers, the
creators, the innovators. We were mutable where the Orokin were
static. It is still true among the Corpus now, but... they now focus far
too much on war. Without it, they are nothing. I want to restore the
Corpus to what it was: a partner, an ally to the Orokin, different, but
equal, with a symbiotic relationship despite all differences. Though...
I would prefer it if the relations to this new empire that is being
built were more... friendly."
She mostly ignored his touch, though a glint of hostility appeared in
her eyes as the Loki's fingers touched her hair. She finished with
her work on this MOA, then activated it, it twitched to life and stood,
looking at her quizzically.
"Family has multiple definitions. Biological,
psychological, societal. My biological family died on the Zariman, but
genetics are less important to me than emotional attachment. Your family
are those whom you would do nearly anything for, and who would do
nearly anything for you."
"Those who plead for help and give nothing in return"
"Those who you can share your deepest feelings
with."
"Those who you hide the truth from."
"Those whom you love most."
"Those who need what I cannot give."
/Lekalis/
He listened humbly, quietly, his hand pulling back in posthumus as he
meant to collect his thoughts... Though doubly waning from her frightful
glimmer. His Harkonar breastplate whirred, humming in tune to his own
vox as he pinched at some minute thing between his fingers. As though he
could grasp at her words like invisible strings.
The prow of
his helm angled downwards in rumination before he nodded, his good hand
raising to fidget with the braid wrapped about his horn.
"I see."
He stated simply, almost insultingly simply as his brilliantly glowing
orange eye flickered for a moment and he sighed,
"I... Like your words : admirable, inspiring... They give me
hope. I remember... Corpus machines piling vats of Life atop one
another, a great foundry of cold but precise kindness and aide. They are
beautiful in their utility; a focus unnerred. "
Though, The Strider took a step back from the MOA; raising his arm up
haphazardly out of some reflexive defense. He ultimately brought the
hand up to pinch at the hem of his sash.
"But I remember their guns, their machines, their war, too.
I sometimes think : They are the few who cannot be saved. That there is
nothing to shine their tarnish."
His attentions shifted, however, from the MOA to the Tenno Isa. His
fingers flexed and he bowed forward subtly, making to curve himself to
spy at her face.
"But then there is You. Isa. And others too... "
The Strider hums, then glances to the MOA for a moment, before settling
his eye back onto Isa.
"... who is : Family to you, Isa? "
Isa:
"A difficult question.... my hope is for the Remnant...
but I honestly do not feel I have had any since the Zariman." "Even earlier."
She closed her eyes a moment, then looked up at the MOA.
"But if that does not occur... I will always have the
machines." One corner of her lip twitched in what appeared to be the ghost of a
smile.
"We have much alike."
/Lekalis/
"Curious..."
He seemed to agree quietly, looking up to the MOA, sharing the
fascination before he suddenly looked to Isa again; the cups and cookies
on the platter atop Lekalis' head rattled softly.
"... I do not see it : You are meat, and curious, and not...
Cold. I do not think."
There was another hum, a bit worried and jovial, as he presented his
palm to her,
"I should check."
Isa:
The Tenno reached out towards the MOA now. It bent its legs down and
leaned against her hand as she pat it. It let out a quiet trilling,
behaving almost like a dog in response to her. She turned her head to
Lekalis.
"There is plenty of metal among the meat... These creatures
can be as curious or warm as you make them to be."
She moved her hand away from the MOA and looked at it. "Yip!"
At her command it squatted down, as though it were an animal resting.
She then pointed to the corner of the room. "Ypeek." The mechanical creature stood up and walked over to the corner, then
slumped over, the lights on it dimming.
May 14, 2018
/Lekalis/
He watched the display with some restrained scrutiny; despite the
apparent warmth of the MOA, Lekalis seemed to recoil and pull himself
into an evermore defensive posture. He pulled his good hand back to
brush off the Champion's pin at his breast, before curling his
fingers around his sash. Hanging his arm idly off it.
The
Strider took a few paces back from the table and eyed the MOA in its
slumped, sleeplike state.
"But that's all code, it didn't... Learn, like
you or me."
With a somehow intimidating gait, The Strider stalked over to the
sleeping MOA and squatted down in front of it; removing the iron dish
from his head to press it against the side of his torso. His good
arm rested its elbow against his knee as he leaned in towards the MOA,
inspecting it for some unspoken detail.
"You learn off of experience, no?.. Eheh..."
The Strider looked over his shoulder to Isa, making to stand up, he
looked down at the MOA again. His good hand's digits flexed into a
fist, then out in the same breath.
"... Your desire to slay is not pinned to a few lines
of code, I imagine?"
This time, Lekalis turned in full to face Isa before pacing his way
over to her again.
"Your ingenuity and passion were not... Written into
your fleshy cortex. Perhaps : Training, Upbringing, and subtle impulses
drove you to it. But Your Meat, your bones, your brain and heat all grew
and... Adapted to your own whimsy."
His stride brought him almost invasively close to Isa; he leant forward
now, threatening to pop her personal bubble. He seemed to know it too;
his voice fell to a whisper that was crisp like waters from a
mountain's spring.
"Machines cannot be family. Only unwitting slaves to
their code."
The hypocrisy was unfounded to Lekalis, as his words crackled out of
his staticky vox.
"Why do you think you've had no family since the
Zariman..?"
Isa:
"Electronic programming. Psychological programming. I
see no difference. We are machines just as they are, only composed
primarily of organic compounds rather than synthetic."
She said. A somewhat wry smile appeared on her face as he asked in
regards to her learning off of experience. "So do they. My code lies within my genetic makeup, within
the patterns of neurons within my brain. Theirs lies within their memory
registers."
She strode over to the MOA, her hands clasped behind her back.
"I know you are not familiar with Corpus technologies,
so I will assume you have never heard of the Ascaris bolt. It is a piece
of equipment used to disable rogue proxies. Those that have learned to
target and attack their Corpus masters. Such behavior is learned by the
AI within these. Like it or not, 'life' does not require
flesh."
She looks up at the Loki that now stood uncomfortably close. The gleam
of hostility once more present in her eyes.
"Making such connections is... difficult for me. Not by
choice, mind you."
May 16, 2018
/Lekalis/
For a moment, as The Strider's eye seemed to be insistent on
pursuing the argument more, but there was a glimmer of understanding as
he leant back; Isa's latest remark taking a poignant interest in The
Strider, as his pulled up his good hand and tapped at the bottom of his
helm's visor.
"Not by choice..?"
He inquired with a little chuckle, his hand tracing the lines of his
helm to the tip of his horn again. Pinching at the end of it
excitedly,
"... Many Tenno do not make many connections."
Lekalis pointed out, his fingers flourishing with a shrug as his eye
squinted skeptically at her, his tone was like ripe wine; an enticed
sourness that implied the most curious of smiles.
"What makes you special?"
Isa:
"Many try to avoid them. I do not. If find myself simply
unable to relate to others, other Tenno or not. I feel far more like the
machines you despise so, than I do the other human beings I
encounter."
She walked back to the console, starting to type in the automated
procedures to begin construction of more MOA units.
"I've been told I would make an excellent
cephalon. I've been accused of being a cephalon at times. It's
simply the way my mind functions. I am a solitary creature by
nature."
/Lekalis/
He didn't move, watching Isa take her steps to the console, Lekalis
hummed and rested his good hand against his neck.
"I do not despise the machine. I despise the Corpus:
They kill many of my friends."
Lekalis clarified, presuming to follow Isa, now, like a shadow to her
console.
Again, he peered over her shoulder and watched her inputs
keenly.
"Some believe I am a Cephalon too... Perhaps we are
not so different there."
He mused with a little chuckle, punctuated with a small combustible
grumble from his Harkonar breastpiece.
"But : '...feel far more like the machines...'. Yet you say we are much like machines..."
The Strider pondered heavily with a humm; a small cough and sputter
interrupted his hum, more from his whirring chest than his vox.
"... What is the difference, then? That you are more like a
machine, and not a... Meat. Bag."
Isa:
"That is something I would rather not discuss at the
moment. And while some more advanced machinery can replicate life
itself, the more simple ones are far from it. Just as there are robotics
that are similar to life, to people, in their code and behavior, there
are people with corresponding similarities to robotics. It is a
spectrum, one on which I find myself much closer to the artificial side
of things than other humans. Let's leave it at that, shall
we?"
May 24, 2018
/Lekalis/
"O.Kay."
He agreed with a small bow, his good hand tapping the crown of his helm
with a small chuckle as he ran his fingers over the cage of his
Harkonar's fan.
"... You know; I woke up like this."
The Strider added a bit somberly. A Spring Rain settling into a murkish
puddle.
"I never saw my corpse, but I feel... Deadened. At the
bottom of the cup, I see a casket looking back at me."
His tone dropped somberly as he backed away from Isa and looked to the
door he'd stalked in from.
"I want to... Bond, with Meatbags who smile and
giggle. Who breathe, who drink : I have no mouth to do either. I
cannot... Eat and relish in the mortal coil."
Lekalis set the iron dish of pasteries and iron cups at his stomach
again, supporting it with both hands. His helm cowed to his chest
to peer at it.
"Even machines can record the energy pumping through
their circuitry. The heat of the current, the data coursing into their
processors..."
His tone had fallen flat, the synthetic drawl had faded to a barely
perceptible hum, leaving his words clear as bleached bone upon the
shore.
"... I've felt... Isalated, before. But this Remnant has rallied good people : curious,
grey, but kind people. I hope you would have me... or, at least, the
People of The Remnant as your family. Someday."
Despite his melancholic tone, he chuckled a bubbly, staticky tone; the
rainy haze that haunted his voice rose once again. The Strider looked up
from his dish, and to Isa.
"I'm sorry. This was a good talk; should I
go?"
May 25, 2018
Isa:
"Good, I might explain it more, but..."
She paused a moment, thinking of the proper words to say.
"...I feel that I need to know you and the others
more."
She tilted her head as she looked at the damaged Loki.
"Why is that? Is your body still in stasis? Lost
somewhere? I would be willing to help you find it."
While the words she spoke offered assistance, the tone did not convey
compassion, more a scientific curiosity.
"Isolation does not bother me. One gets used to it
rather quickly, I've found, and even comes to enjoy it, perhaps not
unlike a form of Stockholm Syndrome. Still, some day perhaps you will be
family, but that would require both of us knowing each other more,
further exchange of information."
Her gaze now fell to the machinery that had begun construction of more
MOAs.
"If you wish. Your presence isn't bothering me,
but perhaps you should distribute the rest of those pastries before they
grow stale. If you wish to talk more, I'm sure you can figure out
where to find me. But... there is one thing..."
She turned to look at him, dead where his eyes would be.
"Pun is the lowest form of humor."
May 30, 2018
/Lekalis/
"But : It is humor."
The Strider intoned his dignified wisdom with a dainty bow as he looked
down to the pastries and shrugged.
"If I knew the answers to those questions... Why,
Where, Help..."
His tone slowed before he brought his good hand up to twist at the
cylindrical nodules jutting out from his optical array.
One click
punctuated his sentence, as he rolled his shoulders.
"... I would be : Different. Perhaps, after : The
mission, your return, our victory. You may help me."
Lekalis looked to Isa, his gaze lingering for a moment before he gave a
small, content, nod and made to shuffle the last few paces to the
door.
Isa:
The yellow-eyed Tenno returned to her work after Lekalis left.
[End RP 04/2 12:50]