WEEK ZERO MINGLE - Party Games Edition

[hellscapes]

Rise and shine, little deadlings. It's a beautiful day here in Hell and you're not gonna get anywhere by sleeping in all morning. After a rocky weekend, you may be finding yourself still trying to make sense of everything. Like…you're dead. Isn't that still so crazy? Wow!

But don't wallow about it. It's time to embrace your new afterlife and take a look at the world around you. You can look outside the windows of your dormitory and see that the reddish sun has risen a little higher in the sky. There's no cheerful sound of birds chirping or anything of the sort. You only have each other right now.

Venturing downstairs, you'll find that the front door has finally unlocked and you're able to step outside. The air is hot, a blast of warm air directly smacking you in the face as your feet step onto the dry, barren wasteland stretching ahead of you. Little cracks and fissures appear under your feet as you walk, glowing crimson as the heat follows after you. But it's worth exploring, don't you think?

For any of you who immediately make a break for the dock, you'll be happy to hear that there isn't a ferry at the moment. You can see the faint outlines of islands in the distance, but you have no chance of heading out to any of them just yet. Boo. Oh well. There's plenty of places to look around on this island. You didn't exactly get a grand tour yesterday, so take the opportunity to look around and get to know the lay of the land.

Maybe you're the chatty type who wants to get to know everyone else around you. Or maybe you're the type who just wants to mind their own damn business and expects everyone else to, too. No matter what though, as you go through your daily activities over the course of the week you will find that on occasion you will be compelled to tell a lie or spread a rumor about another new resident. You might tell a stranger your new roommate has cute underwear with little bunnies on it. Perhaps you'll tell someone else that the person across the street was programmed with the most tragic backstory on account of being a cyborg. There's no limit to how real or outlandish these stories are.

It almost seems as though it's simply meant to be an annoyance.

And speaking of annoyances? Don't forget to check out what's new on Bicker. You can always contact each other via public Beeks or by sliding into their DMs.

Likewise, you'll find that your personal demons' accounts are live and active and despite what some of them may say, their DMs are also open.

Good luck!

Good morning everybody, and welcome to your week zero mingle! A few notes for clarity.

-This week's effect is a rumor mill! Characters will feel compelled to lie or gossip about other characters at various times, or whenever the rule of funny applies.

-Audiences for the personal demons are now open! Please submit all requests under the correct weekly header.

-Please submit all PC submissions under the correct weekly header.

-The Bicker poll is public! All replies will be public, and players may also post their own Beeks in their toplevels that will be considered public. You are free to reply directly to the appropriate toplevels, or you may create Beeks in your own toplevels with other prompts. Be free.

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Comments

[outsidebones]

[sighing out heavily.]

...One. Maybe. We'll see what you ask.

[engineers]

[ victory ]

Truth or dare, Harrowhark?

[outsidebones]

...Truth.

[engineers]

Gideon said you could create something called a 'construct'. From her description, they sounded really impressive. What's the most impressive one you think you've created so far? And - maybe, if you don't mind, what allows the actual animation to happen? There's got to be an energy source, right?

[ a pause. ]

Oh, that was a few more questions than one - you don't have to answer the second two if you don't want to.

[ nerd ]

[cavaliered]

[across the room gideon can sense harrowhark getting ready to beat her ass]

[outsidebones]

[oh well this is a pretty unobjectionable question. she tries not to seem too enthusiastic.]

Creating a construct is hardly an impressive feat. I'm sure Nav's explanation was substandard, anyone can do it provided they have necromantic inclinations. The energy source is thanergetic. Bone is best; the thanergy in flesh is more intense but it decays more rapidly. They don't always hold together as well as they ought to without constant attention and touchups. The thanergy in bone has longevity, it's possible to make something that will then hold together and follow simple instructions on its own.

Now, my constructs are impressive, but not simply because they're animated. I can manipulate the thanergy to be self replicating and self reinforcing; it requires less bone or less thanergy-rich bone sources to create a viable construct or to reshape and reanimate as needed. Possible to give it simple instructions and know it will hold together for a long time without needing much additional input. The most difficult piece is mobility. Bone isn't precisely intended to be mobile on its own without the aid of musculature but if you know what you're doing you can replicate it with energy and careful joint construction.

[engineers]

[ no im sorry he is eating this shit up. like, chinhands for a moment, and then, making a thoughtful noise. ]

I see. So, thanergetic energy is - if there's intense thanergy in flesh that decays, but it has longevity in the bones, then thanergy is the energy of death, right? Does it decay over time too, eventually? Or does it remain? Are there certain kinds of bone that carry more thanergy than others, or is it a time delay...? This is fascinating.


[ lu bixing puts his finger to his chin, thoughtful, listening about the construct thing, too - this description really is impressive! he just thought moving bones were cool but this is a whole other thing. ] Even when people recreate constructs for AIs, they're usually made with human ideology in mind. The structure of - even something like Lin's gauntlet has wiring like ligatures that make it easier for him to move with it, and even though he can move on his own, it's more stilted than you'd like. Can you build flexibility into them with just bone, too?

[outsidebones]

It decays over time, though some types of bone do carry more than others, and they serve as a useful conduit - one can deposit thanergetic reserves from a fresh bloom into them and it will keep with minimal bleed off. Human and young is by far the most effective.

[she nods.]

I can, but it is a hard trick to master.

[engineers]

[ huh. ]

Would a 'fresh bloom' be the moment of death? And when you deposit... basically, is that like rerouting thanergy? That makes sense, too...

[ that makes sense. he claps his hands together, once! ] That really is impressive, Harrowhark! I've never even heard of thanergy - maybe it doesn't exist in my world, or maybe we just don't know how to harness it? Either way, it sounds like you've got an incredibly scientific base! That's my kind of practice. Gideon's description didn't do it justice at all!

[outsidebones]

Correct.

[she is flattered by this, even though she's trying to act otherwise.]

You have exhausted your questions. Now pick your own, truth or dare.

[engineers]

[ bone science is cool!!

something about that phrasing makes his mouth quirk up a little, and he huffs a laugh. ]

Where’ve I heard that before... [ deja vu ] How about a truth for a truth?

[outsidebones]

Tell me about one academic subject you are bad at.

[engineers]

[ he







really, really has to think. like. he really. he is really thinking, pausing midway through a sip of his terrible radioactive green drink. stares ]

... Well, I don't really know anything about magic besides what I've read in stories. So, I guess in other worlds and this one, that would count?