dualislogs | i've been bitten by the bug ...

i've been bitten by the bug ...

WHO: Open to all residents
WHAT: Inoculation Season, plus your regular monthly NAPs session
WHERE: Throughout the city, with NAPs held at The Ax Hole.
WHEN: Sept. 10-30 for plague shots and associated side effects; Sept. 10-14 for NAPs
WARNINGS: Please use if applicable!

So tell me, what do you prescribe for these symptoms?

Remember that awful plague that wiped out the city's entire original population? You know, the entire reason you've been brought here? Well, the medical science community of Dualis has been hard at work concocting a cure for as long as anyone can remember, with minimal results. But during the morning of the 10th, news of a breakthrough is announced is a special city-wide bulletin. All media channels are overtaken with this message, and alerts hit every citizen's phone. The best part? Science needs your help!

There's no formal approval process for new vaccines and medications, just a series of volunteer trials before it's determined whether what's being tested is effective. All residents are invited to participate in these trials, with a bonus of 200 extra duos as compensation for their time and possible suffering. Simply head down to your nearest MedDualis clinic and inform the MedDroids supervising that you're reporting for your civic duty. Participants will be given a quick, easy, and practically painless inoculation shot in the arm, and will walk out the door 200 duos richer. Neat, huh?

Participants will be warned that like all experimental drugs, there may be side effects. A non-comprehensive list of those possible side effects includes: minor appearance changes (hair/skin/eye color), enhancing or reducing senses (smell, taste, hearing, sight, etc.), sudden mild development of extranormal abilities (telepathy, super strength, super speed, etc.), the ability to share dreams (if you're not tired of that sorta thing after last month), and/or loss of control over abilities you already possess, or those abilities misfiring. Hey, at least death isn't included on this list!

Any intrepid Dualizen who comes down with a case of weirdness as a result of doing their civic duty will find that weirdness will wear off by the end of the month. The Head thanks you for your sacrifice!

Don't you feel the fever like I do?

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces - maybe even a few folks without faces - but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis,
and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

This month’s event is held at an exciting new establishment called The Ax Hole! The 'Hole is an indoor ax-throwing range plus bar plus mid-price grill-type restaurant, the first of its kind to find a home here in Dualis. You must be at least 18 to drink and/or throw axes, and if you are throwing axes, there is a limit of one drink per hour. The bartenders are very strict about enforcing this rule, and employees are available to give safety instructions on proper ax-throwing technique and supervise activities.

This is a family-friendly establishment, so anyone under 18 is welcome in the restaurant section and the viewing room between the restaurant and range to watch the ax-throwing action, but they are absolutely not allowed inside the range, even just to watch. In fact, anyone who wishes admittance to the range must sign a waiver stating that they understand the risks of participating and agree to hold the Ax Hole free of liability in the event of any accidents that cause injury or death.

If that hasn't scared you off yet, come on down and meet your new neighbors! Oh, and do try to exit with at least as many fingers and limbs as when you entered, OK?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'll keep that in mind, then."

He can understand that mentality, at least. Connor clearly enjoys his work — it's something Thane can appreciate, especially having seen many sides of the law himself.

"I do not. If I were to throw things in my spare time I would go for something lighter. Darts, perhaps." Or some kind of blade, mostly. "Still, it is an intriguing sport. Watching who struggles and who picks it up with ease is interesting."

If someone looks as if they are having trouble making sense of an axe while studying it intently then Thane is sure to be there, watching carefully with his stack of waivers ready in hand.

"Liability waivers are hardly for those signing them." He continues to hold them up as if expecting the other to eventually take one. "I must ask that if you plan on hurling sharp objects at a target on the far side of the room that you sign one."

This is definitely the closest he's come to seeing problems, and it's surprising - he wouldn't blame any of the people brought here for panicking. Maybe if he were human, he'd have panicked himself.

Connor lets out a breath that's close to a huff of laughter. "You'd be surprised. We were never supposed to be people, we just evolved on our own. You have to go through at least a little existential angst when that happens."

Or a lot of it. And he's made of mostly polymers, not metal, but he's going to take an educated guess and say she doesn't care about that nuance.

His timer reaches zero. There could already be iterations back where they started out, but no one's paying any attention to them here. They could still find the three of them, but he's not

"You sort of lived with them - like roommates, or..." Or were they owned, the way androids used to be.

He offers a nod of his head at her explanation. Intriguing, but it somewhat explains her uncertainty of her heritage.

"Overpopulation and over industrialization — mostly the latter, made living on Rakhana impossible. The soil depleted and the waters became acidic. There was no saving it." But he continues to explain it easily enough. For all of his life, home was Kahje, after all. While he appreciates the history of his people that is where his heart is. "My people were nearly driven to extinction as we hadn't the capabilities for interstellar flight at the time. Rakhana is a desolate planet now. Drell population never exceeds the thousands."

I was on a space station called the Citadel before I arrived here. [But he's semi aware of the indirect question, as he's been getting that quite a bit.] I am not from Earth, though I have been once. Lovely planet.

[He hopes it's not destroyed by now.]

I find myself curious as well. Our host appears to be gathering a diverse group.

Her frank questioning earns the slightest amused tug of his lips, but it's gone in an instant. "Not a weird question. I've become fairly used to it by now. I am a drell, though I suspect that means little to you."

That just seems to be the way things are going.

"Most of us live on a planet called Kahje. It is quite far from Earth." He figures it's a safe assumption that she is either from Earth or knows where it is. It's difficult to explain things when you don't know anything of what the other person does or doesn't know.

Interesting. Very very interesting. David considers it all very briefly.

"Usually most speedsters in my world are that. Basically a slightly different species from standard humans. But I'm learning all about other worlds where people have those powers without them being like I was."

Still, the more he hears that voice, the more he has to think.

"Ever heard of a place called Sokovia?"

Dog. That's just something the kid said.

"Your brother. Is a dog. On Ooo."

Yeah, no, this is definitely bad. Because he's moved into actual headache.

"Fuck, I need coffee right now."

He supposes it was a moot point to continue acting as if he weren't studiously studying every inch of the dormitories.

"Aside from the marked entrances there are none that I can spot so far. Though should there be an attack on the dormitories someone skilled could make use of several points of cover in the lobby alone, at the very least."

"Which one? Time becoming muddled or tearing apart completely?"

Yes, admittedly he is having a bit of fun at Hank's expense at the moment. He can't help that he found his reaction amusing. It's difficult to resist.

"Uh.... both."

Then he pauses, still looking flummoxed.

"Wait are you fuckin' with me? Are those things real? Or both?"

He chuckles lightly. "Fortunately, I have yet to see any case of either. But given everything that has occurred thus far, it would not be that far out of the realm of possibility, wouldn't you say?" Not just because of people who were once dead returning to the living, but people from different periods of time and all.

"The tapestry of the universe is delicate. What other consequences could you see coming to fruition from manipulating them as one sees fit?"

It might be a possibility, is all he's saying.

"You know what I think? I think the universe is a dick. It's a fuckin' beautiful place and it's nasty as fuck, and it's probably fragile and tougher than we think at the same time.

"I'd prefer the fabric of time not be undone. 'Cause yeah, that'd be scary shit. But I'd prefer the idea that something could be done about our situations than the helpless shit we're usually saddled with. And you know what? This might be one of our only chances to do something about it."

Helplessness is one of the worst feelings, as is loneliness. If he has even the slightest chance to spit in the face of circumstances, fight his way back, he wants to take it.

Thane gives a deep nod of his head. Upon closer inspection one could possibly see the faintest hint of a smile.

"I believe we are capable of extraordinary things in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. There are examples of it in history, both where I'm from as well as yours, I'm sure."

He passes a glance around the bar as if to consider something.

"Should space and time be torn asunder we will just have to find a way to bring it back together."

"I've seen unlikely things," he concedes with a small grin. "Just nothing impossible, not back home."

Although an android gaining sapience was impossible...right up until it happened. So maybe he actually has seen the impossible.

"He sounds like a good person to be around." Connor - this Connor - has only really come to appreciate how lucky he is to have the occasional good person around him. His partner from home right here in the city. The leader of the revolution back in Detroit. Without them, he wouldn't be the person he is - wouldn't have known how to grow into anything more than an intelligent, but ultimately lifeless, machine.

"I never saw much of the world," he says, and he wishes it wasn't the truth. "I was in one city the whole time - it didn't occur to me to mind until I got here and met people who've seen so much more than I have. But my city was a little like this one - just less unpredictable. And there were a lot more people like me around - androids."

He taps his temple where the light is. "That's what the light means - it's my ID as an android."

"Even if you were sure," Connor says as he takes up one of the axes on the stand nearby. He's probably not going to throw it, but he likes to have something in his hands. And right now, that's an axe. He doesn't handle it like it's particularly heavy or bulky. "You'd lose valuable seconds getting it back if it wasn't a one-on-one fight. You'd need to have other weapons. Or be really good at barehanded fighting."

Or have literally no other hope left but using one last ditch effort before running. Maybe. He's never been in that position before. His old programming would make him sacrifice himself to win a fight if he needed, but that was before he broke out of that programming. Now? Who knows.

"Luckily I'm pretty sure we won't be doing that." He makes a so so motion with his hand. "Reasonably, anyway. We can fuck up, but we can't fuck up that bad."

He hopes.

"Seriously though, these people are really fucking good with axes."

Except him, he's managed to hit the edges of the target, and that's a low bar to jump. He's much better with guns.

David was right about that, Steve didn't recognize the man in front of him but that didn't stop Steve from being polite. He couldn't help but shift under the silent scrutiny. It wasn't that Steve hadn't been under a microscope before and it still made him nervous.

"Figure Skating? Really? My Ma used to take me to the park when I wasn't sick to watch the skaters. I think it's great. I draw, not that you asked, but it keeps my hands busy."

"That's actually great to hear- the content thing not the shots thing. But that's good, too." He jokes idly, as if it needed clarification. "Consider this, maybe you can tell the difference between someone new of similar age, race, gender and someone who's been here for a while. Even second generation."

Hank pulls out that book of his, sliding it over to Morbius. It's his old paperback he got from a secondhand store, and in it he's tucked a bunch of post-it notes. He's kept his research hidden in a strange way; Hank's a reader himself.

He flips to the pages that have info on Dualis that he's collected. "This is what I know so far. Fair is fair. Mind if I see your notes?"

He will write them on more post-its. His handwriting isn't as neat as Michael's, but it's not illegible. It looks like the sort of notes a cop would keep but would want other cops to be able to read.

Michael made an amused noise at Hank's continued joke. "I suppose I could if I could get left alone long enough in the lab." He explained with a slight shrug. "There should be tells in the blood." At least he was used to talking to Jack about his work, so he naturally used laymans terms, not that he didnt think Hank knew the medical jargon, it was just force of habit.

Michael lifted the book, forever careful of his nails as he turned the pages his notes read careful but quickly as he could, without breaking his eyes from the page he reached into his jacket and pulled a small notebook out about 4x3 and slid it over to Hank, before lifting his hand to turn the page.

Michaels notes were 100% filled with medical jargon and mostly finding strange aspects in tested blood.

Hank takes one look at them and it's honestly like staring into the void. It's staring right back at him and his lack of medical training. But he looks anyway, because he should, taking away whatever little (which is very little) he can.

"It'll probably look strange to the department if I don't get a vaccination. So I'm thinking about before and after samples. I'll write down all the side effects for you, too. When and where's a good time to come give you one?"

Michael sits the book down and slides it back for now. "How about we meet for coffee tomoorrow before I head to work, I will be sure to have what I need on me, if not I can always do it, the other way." He's a vampire, he can get some blood.

"As for after, how about a week after you get it done we meet one evening after 7pm and speak it over, you can bring Connor as well if you wish."

He offered as he reached up pushing a bit of his hair back behind his ear.

Steve isn't the type of guy to be intimidated but the man sitting was huge compared to himself, so he took a slow sip of his beer.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Steve said politely. "Neither am I, but what else is there to do?"

Steve chuckled softly. "You sound surprised to see me?" He slouched a little in his chair, taking a sip of his drink. Steve got the feeling that she wasn't saying something, but he hadn't been here that long so how could he judge.

"You feel like taking a walk, now?" Steve almost missed the question. "I've never been on one really but Rhode Island was nice."

Steve listened to the girl in front of him, Steve's head was spinning just a little bit. It was a lot of people to meet in what felt like a short amount of time but then Steve was pretty used to talking to people especially since he basically became a grief counselor, not that he was going to be telling anyone he knew that.

"What is your favorite flower?" He asked. "You sound like a friend of mine. He likes to build things. Me? I like to draw."

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i've been bitten by the bug ...

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Re: NAPS

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Re: [NAP]

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Re: NAPS