voice // viveca.ai

[vivecai]

[ This time, Viveca's message comes in voice — and it's easy enough to tell that her tone is very much relieved, almost like someone who has been fretting for days and can't quite believe that nothing went wrong, in the end. ]

Welcome back, everyone. You did amazingly, believe me, that wasn't an easy retrieval... but you still did it. You can all be proud of yourselves. I definitely am.

Those of you who got injured during the mission, head to the infirmary, there will be medicine for you to help with your recovery. I've also programmed some helper bots for us, one in the infirmary and one around the station to take care of cleanup, so if you see small robots zooming around... don't step on them, please.

Now, I thought I'd get a special treat for you since it's your first mission. All of your devices should have a message that reads "food requests" — if you open that, you'll be able to request something to eat. I've timed the food shipment so that it'll come in later today with your requests, so make sure to get those in as soon as you can.

[ She adds, a little wryly, ] Don't think this is going to be an every post-mission thing, though, it takes a lot of our resources to do it this way. But just this once, I think you deserve it.

Speaking of that, you deserve some rest, too. It takes a few weeks to charge the main platform up to full power, so take that time to decompress and prepare for your next mission.

[ That concludes her message, and the comms go silent once more... but she's here to talk to, for those who want to chat. ]

Comments

voice; un: s.wilson

[unclesam]

[ The southern drawl comes through a little more heavily with exhaustion. ]

Any limits on those requests, or is it an open bar?

[ Literally. He could use a drink. ​]

Say, the moment of our return to the station. That only dependent on the orb?

[vivecai]

No limits. I told you, I'm treating you this time. So if it's an open bar you want...

[ well. go for it. ]

When you retrieve the orb, it triggers a connection between the station and the platform activates to bring you back. So, in short... yes.

voice; un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

First off, Viv, I want pizza. I want enough pizzas to fuel the team at least for a party, or at least send me the supplies to make it myself. Which nobody honestly wants, but it's gonna happen if you're cruel enough to send pizzas disassembled.

Besides, I think we at least deserve that much.

[Sorry Viveca, it's a overtalkative and mildly grouchy science gremlin.

But it does sound like he's trying really hard not to say something very particular right now. Like someone who doesn't want to tell the waiter his food tastes gross? So he just gives a tight-lipped smile and a it's fine but he looks like it's not fine? Yeah, that vibe. Can AI in this station read vibes?]

[vivecai]

First off, Newton, did you hear me say you should open the message on your device and send in your request through that? I thought I was very specific, but perhaps not.

And secondly, disassembled pizzas are also called ingredients. So if you want a pepperoni pizza, write one as your request, and you'll get one. Or fifty.

[ judging by the fact she's sounding just a touch annoyed... yes, perhaps reading vibes is a thing. or maybe she's just annoyed by his inability to listen to instructions. ]

video; un: username

[skelepun]

[ The last ten minutes or so had the same effect as being dropped down a very long, very unpleasant mine shaft only to land on a silk pillow to the sound of canned applause. Adrenaline pumping, grief threating to crack his breast bone in two, and here was this... voice, telling him what a great job they'd all done.

'Cuz sure, that had been victory hadn't it? ]

Wouldja mind taking a direct request? [ His voice is as friendly as ever, for all the corners of his perpetual smile are tight. It's the closest to pissed Sans has ever looked, really. ] How about a banana-cream pie, right here.

[ Sans holds up a finger, tapping his own forehead pointedly. That was the traditional treatment for people getting played for fools, right? ]

voice;

[vivecai]

You object to my congratulations, then?

[ it seems their ai is at least somewhat pop-culture savvy... though she doesn't sound annoyed with him. if anything, she sounds sympathetic. ]

Had you left the orb in Gyeongje, how long do you think it would have taken until it would have collected its end of the bargain? And then what? More chaos once someone else had taken possession of it?

You brought it back. You stopped more chaos. That is a success, as much or as little you may like what it cost to achieve that.

Voice | UN: Syrlya

[chronosynthesis]

Hello, Viveca. [He just sounds exhausted.]

Were you--did you know how things were going back there, or have you been waiting alone until we finally retrieved the orb?

[vivecai]

Hi Syrlya, welcome back.

[ she sounds genuinely happy to hear from him. ]

The answer is a bit of both. Though I am able to observe what happens through staying connected to your devices, that doesn't change that I am alone. I'm unable to interfere.

private.

[starer]

[There's no preamble. No semi-friendly greeting. Instead, finally back on the station again and with an offer like that being shared, all he says is-]

That medicine. You got something that's gonna work on me?

[Because someone might be needing to go reset a few bones tonight. Fun times.]

// private

[vivecai]

James.

[ that is a greeting, and she sounds relieved to hear from him. ]

Of course. Ask the bot in the infirmary for supersoldier medicine, or if you'd rather do it yourself, there's a locked cabinet to the left of the infirmary door. It's a number lock, and the code is 457118. All the medicine there is meant for those who need... well, something stronger than the regular stuff.

voice: fullmetal

[chrysology]

Good to have you back!

[At least. She seems okay. Even if he's aware she's...not really there exactly. Ed is glad that she's back all the same. And here is where he all but lights up at her mention of the reward of feeding them. Because he is a teenage boy, a bottomless pit with food, of course.]

....I can have apple pie? Yes!

[Maybe he shouldn't, knowing how much Al was looking forward to trying Winry's back home. But. Well, Ed did need to eat. He may as well try make the best of this mess. As best as they could manage, anyway. All things considered.]

I think everyone'll need it. I guess. Things went about as well as could be expected, anyway.

[Ed still wishes he could have done more. But. Well, it wasn't just him. And now they knew for future missions to wait to get the orb until they were sure they were ready to get back here.]

[vivecai]

Thanks. It's good to be back.

[ she laughs a little, and were she a real person, one might imagine her nodding. ]

Yes, you can have apple pie. And anything else you want, just enter it into your requests.

[ as for the mission... ] Unfortunately... during many missions, you will find you want to do more than you can. But bringing the orb here is the best outcome, no matter what it cost to do it. Gyeongje will be better off without it.

text;

[petsthedog]

[He was going to ignore this whole thing but there is one bit of conversation that's gotten his attention, and he wants more information.]

i thought we made the contract with the guy who just shut himself in with the orb
the commander guy or whatever

// voice

[vivecai]

You did... well, sort of.

[ a sigh. ]

See, your contract with the Orb is your time in exchange for it undoing your regret. But how you use that time is helping us recover the orbs. That's what you've agreed with us to do. So your contract is with the Orb, but it is us who bring you here and make it possible for you to go after the individual orbs.

Voice. UN:Kirigan

[cruelyethuman]

[The Darkling's voice is smooth, unemotional.]
After this, what you give us is a treat. Food. What if I want something that cannot be consumed, but it is still from-[a slight pause] home.

Something very precious of mine was lost during this mission, and I would very much like it back. Or something like it.

[vivecai]

Alright. [ there's a slight question to her voice, but she keeps going. ] That's a different platform, but it's not impossible to power that up as well. It won't be as immediate as the food, but you'll get what you ask for in a week.

voice; un: trashmouth

[longoverdue]

Any of the helper bots know how to repair glasses, mine got cracked on account of some dick and I've got no backups left.

[Pause.]

How specific can we get with the food?

[vivecai]

The one in the infirmary probably does. If not, you can request a new pair, and I'll have that for you in a week.

[ as she answers his second question, she sounds somewhat amused. ]

That depends. The more specific you are, the more power it expends to fulfill it... but it's doable. If you want the donuts from your local cafe back home, I can do that.

audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

If you're taking requests for food and... other things, can you bring tea? And some Charter magic spell books, and perhaps some silver?

[If Viveca thought that her magic might be needed in the future, the least she could do was bring in some more grimoires, in Sabriel's opinion.]

[vivecai]

Tea? Sure. Just remember to put the exact type of tea you want in your request field... or several types.

[ why not stick with just one! ]

As for the other things, they'll arrive in about a week, once I power up the item platform. The armory might be able to produce some silver in the meantime, if you need it urgently.

voice | un:silent

[callada]

Thanks for answering all those questions others have been asking. Do you mind clarifying why, if the orb is part of some sort of intelligent creature, you didn't explain that before? Hard to make informed decisions without knowing all the relevant information, you know.

[At least he sounds neutral, not actively bothered.

Not that his tone reflects his attitude.]

[vivecai]

And if I'd tried to explain that, how do you think everyone in the team would have understood it? Would they have thought it to be completely sentient, and assumed that the girl who took it was acting on its orders? Or that it's something you can talk to, or something that can understand things like people do?

[ she pauses, sighing. ] People have a tendency to view something new through the lens of what they already know. And in this case, you would have been wrong... and it may have had you make decisions you otherwise wouldn't have.

I thought it best you see for yourself what it is you're dealing with.

voice; @WHEATLEY

[testgasm]

Viveca, hey! Hi, how's it going? Boy, am I glad to hear from you again. Did you, uh...how do you watch us, exactly?

[vivecai]

Hi, Wheatley. I'm alright, especially compared to all of you. I'm glad you all made it here relatively in one piece.

[ she sounds like she truly is glad! ]

I can monitor everyone's vitals, and stay up to date through the comms — it's not until you come here that I see what's really happened. But while you're planet-side, I can at least know you're alive and what you're doing.

text, un; dustywolf

[softmouth]

I need the ingredients to make about 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies, please. I can give you my recipe if you need it

unless instructions and supplies to make a portable smoke house counts, because I'll take that if it does

[softmouth]

oh and maybe...coffee?

un: zee | voice

[directrix]

What exactly is your role in all this? To help us, as you say? Or are you just watching us for whoever we're really working for?

[ Still a tiny bit irritable over the no magic thing. And given her recent experiences with so-called gods who liked power and lies, she's more than a little lacking in trust, especially with those who hold all the cards while showing only one or two. ]

[vivecai]

Can't it be both?

[ she sounds incredibly unimpressed. ]

Besides, how do you know you're not working for me?

audio; un: kaspbrak (private)

[respirations]

Uh, hi— I remember someone saying you were busy when I first got here.

( A man's voice, a familiar man's voice since Eddie also remembers it from lingering parts of his brain when he was fading in and out before waking up here on the station. )

I got a question. It might be a weird question but now that I'm not dead or, uh— dying... can we change the regret we want to fix? I mean it'll still lead to the same place in the end but I just want to be more clear, I guess.

sorry for the delay!

[vivecai]

Hi, Eddie. [ a pause, and as she continues, her voice is rather wry: ] Yes, "busy" is one way to have put it. But I'm not busy now.

[ which means she has plenty of time to answer his question... and what a question it is. ]

Change your regret? [ suddenly, all the levity is gone from her voice, and what is left is something dead serious and and almost tangibly reluctant. ]

... yes. It is possible, I won't lie to you. But if changing your regret doesn't change the outcome of your regret now — don't do it.