OOC: Chapter 2 of the adventures of OakV2, GMed by Tadeusz.  :)

In reply to Tadeusz (msg # 1):

You wake, right side of your face down, and the grass under you is wet and neatly trimmed.  Rising to your feet, you see a handy rock or something to push up with, and then as you stand, you get a jolt.

Its a tombstone.

Inscribed very finely thus:

James Wilson Hendricks
Beloved Mentor, MAN, Wayfollower
2179-2284 Anno Domini
He was betrayed but he betrayed not

Looking about, you see a small cemetery next to a ruined stone chapel, and many sparkling lights in the sky in addition to the normal stars in the dawning light that reveals a sea of fog beyond the wide circle of green and stones you stand in.

:: Is this part of the same dream?  Am I on Earth, or Venus?  Is this a new dream? ::

:: Dearest LORD, please guard and guide me now, I pray... ::

I regard my new surroundings, using my training.  I... perceive... all that is around me.  Inscriptions from other headstones.  Any symbols from the headstones or the chapel.  The estimated age of the structures.  The stars and lights above.  Any of my belongings that may have come with me.  The... vectors... that may suggest their location.

I then approach the chapel, perceiving as I proceed...
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:52, Sat 25 Nov 2023.

In reply to Oak (msg # 3):

The inscription is cut using some technique you're not familiar with.  There is another similar tombstone.

Casey Johnson Hendricks
Maniple of Ten, MAN
Died Valorously Taking Outpost #17
sic transit gloria mundi
2212-2231 Anno Domini

Another stone with a more familiar technique describes the Dome Breach on Luna, and is in 2167.  Another goes back to World War Three in 2038 where Captain Charles Hendricks 'dismantled an AI core despite knowing the cost would be his life' and a Victoria Cross.  Another one goes back to WW2 and the RAF, and the last gives mention to a jezail bullet in dusty Afghanistan. None but the last two use the word 'MAN'.

You see Protestant crosses and trumpets and drawn swords and doves of peace and crying angels as symbols.  There are other stones, but none readable.

The ruined chapel is old in design and small, and its brass plate says as much.

Hendricks Chapel 1091 AD- First raised by Baron Ethelred Hendricks.

Looking up, you see what looks to be irregular spiky shapes in the small flashes.  Space stations, factories, starships in orbit?  They're not moving so that's something. Nor do they appear to be using power to keep station.

You get your vectors.

OOC: Any discernible response to my prayer?

I walk around the perimeter of the cemetery and chapel, perceiving from different angles, as well as looking for any signs of a path or trail leading elsewhere.

There must be someone regularly coming from somewhere to keep this grass so neatly trimmed...

Then I turn on my phone to see if it can detect or connect to anything...

And then I thoughtfully examine the yellow cord loop around my wrist, and begin counting the pattern circles.  3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6, 5, 3, 5, ...

In reply to Oak (msg # 5):

No.

What did the wrist string do again?

You look around and see something like a Roomba in a metal box behind the chapel.

link to a message in this game

The wrist cord loop was a gift of the fey, and allowed me to enter the Dream, which transported me from Germany to Japan...

Any result from the wrist cord loop?

Any result from the phone?

I examine the metal box and the Roomba...
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:52, Wed 29 Nov 2023.

In reply to Oak (msg # 7):

Thanks.

The cord just lays on your wrist. Before, there was something about it. Now, its just a weird cord.

At first its 'no connection' and then 'connection' and then 'downloading'.

"How can I help you?" The Roomba says to you.

"Good morning.  I seem to have some type of memory lapse, and do not know where I am or how I got here, or how long I may have journeyed to arrive here."

"Please, do you know where we are now?  What is the current date and time?  What options do I have for seeking assistance?"

In reply to Oak (msg # 9):

"Of course, master. You are currently on Hendricks Tor. The date is May 9, 2391 Anno Domini. It is 6:47 in the morning. Do you need medical, travel, advisory or other assistance?  Communication links are frayed, but I will attempt to summon whatever assistance you require. I am an Exterior Roomba 9.7, and my speciality is groundskeeping so direct assistance to you is not my speciality. However, I will be of whatever assistance I can be."

"Thank you very much for your assistance."

"What is the nearest city?  How far is it from here, in what direction?"

"What type of transportation options are available?"

"Are there any provisions available here if I am unable to find transport elsewhere?"

"Do you know why the communication links are frayed?"

"Can you give a brief summary of recent news events?"

=="That would require me to access that Region Net which could damage me, and perhaps threaten you, master.  The former master, Mr. Hendricks, stated as a preference 'be vewwy vewwwy quiet'."

I immediately power off my cell phone.

"I attempted to use this communication device to see if I could get a signal, and it indicated that it was downloading something.  I have just powered down the device.  Would you advise me to destroy this device immediately?  Have I already endangered us?"

"How long has it been since you have seen your former master, Mr. Hendricks?"

"Please summarize local and world events as you know them prior to the loss of communication links."

"Do you know where the dwelling of your former master is located?"

===In the base of the tor, uncertain as to the entrance as I was just a Roomba and not trusted with high security information.

As soon as the phone powers back up, I smash it immediately, cutting it off in mid-laugh.

"I am sorry for having endangered us.  Are we safe now, or should we evacuate from this location, or is it already too late?"

"Was your former master James Wilson Hendricks, who died one hundred and seven years ago?"

"Are there still local Loyal animals and/or AIs nearby?"

"How did Mr. Hendricks help the local Loyal animals?"

"Do you know how I can find them?"

"How long has it been since you have seen another AI?"

"How can I help you?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:41, Thu 30 Nov 2023.

In reply to Oak (msg # 17):

"He was able to help them with some medical and mental problems, and he provides services as a pastor."

"No. It has been a long time since one came here to the tor."

"I am a Limited AI, and as such, much of the issues that greater AIs have are not problems for me. However, if you were inclined to dissasemble some of my parts, and clean them before reassembling me, it would extend my functionality from 130 to 170 more years which would be appreciated."

"I would be happy to help as best I can."

"Would you be able to give instructions for disassembling and reassembling those parts?"

"Do you know if the dwelling place of your former master has tools that could help me help you?"

"Let me see if I can locate the entrance..."

I examine the tor carefully, perceiving it as I search for an entrance...

In reply to Oak (msg # 19):

"No tools I believe."

You search for an entrance all over the tor.  It is getting close to noon, and you have combed the tor from top to bottom. Its about eight hundred feet tall of thick green grass with a few granite rocks here and there that you thoroughly examined.  Nothing.

"Yes," and you begin to take the Exterior Roomba apart, piece by piece. At one point, he gives you a list of ten instructions, telling you to do them correctly, without fail, or well, he's dead.  Then he shuts down.  Nervously, you work your way back to the point where he's supposed to come back on, and for a second, he does. He stutters, and then smoothly comes on.  After that bit of adrenaline wears off, you put the rest of him back together, cleaner pads, filters blown out, and screws tightened.

"Thank you, Lord."

I breathe a sigh of relief as the Roomba revives, and again as I complete my work.

"How do you feel?"

"By the way, I'm John Oakmaster.  Well met.  How may I address you?"

"Do you have any recollection of patterns used by your former master when he accessed his dwelling?  Any observations of where he was last seen before entering or after exiting?  Any footprints or other indications that you may have noted during your groundskeeping duties?"

"Did your former master go to the uplifted animals to minister to them, or did they come here?"

"What were the aliens like?  Are they still a threat?"

"I will eventually need food and water.  Do you have any recommendations for options I should pursue to acquire sustenance?  How did your former master obtain such things?"

"Who buried your former master?"

He pauses to reflect, and then speaks. "You have precise hands. I feel good. Almost as good as a factory revamp."

"I'm Hendrick's Tor Exterior Roomba ver. 9.7 #2.  There used to be more of us, but they shut down or were damaged, or one, well #5, he was a bit of a lamebrain. He kept getting lost, and would end up in a nearby village. Eventually he did not come back."

"Follow me," it rolls off, and leads you down to the base of the tor on the west side.  It circles about a bit. "Somewhere around here,  I would lose track of him. It was a software lock meant to keep me from seeing.  I can tell you this because you asked me.  But I do not think I can get closer than this." Its showing an area maybe fifty feet across w hich you had examined already, but perhaps you  missed something.

"Mostly they would come, but on occasions they would gather and he would go to them."

"It was delivered to him by trundlebot, food, water, small items. He also had a small homefab for less complex items. There is a small river about a mile to the north which you can obtain water from. As to food,  I am sorry, master, I am unable to help."

"I do not know who did bury him. As I said, it was four days before I was aware he had been buried. This suggests either a software override or advanced stealth tech was used."

I carefully perceive the area indicated once again...

If that doesn't work, then I try carefully systematically stomping on the ground throughout the area in question to see if anything feels different.

"Do you know where your former master used to go to meet the others?"

"Do you know where the nearby village is?"

"Do you remember the family names of the local loyal and disloyal animals, in case I encounter their descendants?"

"If I explored the area, would you come with me, or would you prefer to remain here?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:56, Sun 31 Dec 2023.

OOC:Perceive botch, and a failure on stomping about.  Hard to figure out how to do this. I like dangerous botches, but its hard to have just looking be dangerous.  I suppose if I wanted to be ridiculous I could say you got a piece of dust in  your eye.  Ummmm.....

IC: You look very carefully, but it seems clear to you that the Roomba has made some mistake.  Stomping about supports this theory as you find nothing.

He gives you directions to the village. Its less than ten miles to the east across a bridge over a small river.

"I do not store most names after a one year since last seen. My data store is regularly emptied.  I do store certain more important data bits which I find appropos.  However, I remember that the Conchobar were well loved by my master, and the Peresmile family was who he often went to when he needed to ship something illicitly like spare parts for me."

"I must stay here." He scoots back a bit from you.