Um- yes, actually... but it's been such a ghost town, I wasn't aware many others would be aware of it. I don't believe it intends to go on for too much longer, but...
I work for the project, man. I was on a food run for you guys. You know, get you some cabbages and stuff. As you can see, it went real well. Had a lovely month in here just kind of talking to myself!
[ He can be grateful it was a supermarket and he didn't just miserably starve.
After taking just one breath, he eyes Fai's filled cart. ]
Looks like you didn't even need anybody doing your shopping for you either!
( shizuku all but beams with her thanks, before humming a little. even if it's a little weird to run into another worker on the project, keeping everyone fed is important! but...
hm.
her expression goes from a bright, sincere smile to a concerned frown. )
That fog... it's very inconvenient, isn't it? I thought maybe it was at the hands of whoever did this, but if it kept you trapped here too....
[ That comment about Fai's filled cart just makes him laugh. He's taking initiative!
But also... ]
Mm, I thought the same as Shizuku, but it seems like the fog is a much bigger phenomenon. It isn't just us. What a shame we haven't had fresh produce though...
[ Ah well. He can lament about the produce another time.
[ The guy just grimaces at Shizuku's thanks. Evidently he's not sure that five weeks stuck at the grocery store is worth it even if a cute girl is showering him in gratitude. ]
Nah. Not directly. I'm not really, like, part of the research division. I just do logistics stuff. Back-end kinda work! I make sure the pens don't run out, the clipboards are in order, all that reeeaaal important work.
I only know how from running into her at HQ every once in a while.
[ He agrees that it's important, but he's a little disappointed that he can't get more on Lorelei. ]
So your role would have been to ensure we had food and I assume to ensure that all of our amenities were working too? I'm admittedly curious about how you would have interacted with the project as a whole if you hadn't gotten trapped in the fog.
Other than Lorelei and Florence, we haven't spoken to anyone else directly involved.
[ Like. There's Kyle, but Fai doesn't want to go into that rabbit hole right now. ]
Yeah, sorry, I got nothin'. No idea what's even been going on with you while I was stuck in here. The whole project's been kinda... weird?
Like, Camelia's a big org, you know? Tons of projects - I kinda wander between the research squads, just helping with supplies as needed, and they're not usually so... secretive?
This one's freaky. "Hey, Gregory, go out and buy produce for 30 people to cook for themselves..." What kinda order is that, anyway?
And don't get me started on the Lorelei woman... gives me the creeps whenever I run into her, honestly.
... yeah, I can tell. If you just... vanish out of existence again, I guess? Let the boss lady know to get me out of here, okay? I want a bath.
[ He heaves the deep sigh of a man who's been washing his hair with bottled water for way too long. ]
Anyway, Lorelei! She's kinda off in her own world at all times, you know? If the stoic type's for you, then I guess I can see 'cute'. But for me... Man, it wigs me out how little she reacts to anything. She's super muted. I want people to have a bit more fire, even if I get burned!
[ ... hopefully he doesn't mean this literally, but given the nature of Estelline.... ]
Gregory Samson, nice to meet'cha! It's good to talk to another living soul...
[ He'll give a thumbs-up, though it's a bit shaky. ]
And yep, no signal whatsoever. Can't even play most games on my phone, no dice with the server... So honestly, I have no idea if they can come and grab me but I'd damn well hope they'd try.
Maybe one of the robot-things can come and bust me out? Dunno if they're any good for that...
I can imagine... though, last time one of us managed to get through the fog, we were able to find someone they met a little later. Maybe we'll be able to come back for you, too!
We've met Florence, but if there are supposed to be others, we haven't seen them. If they can go through that fog, though, then maybe they could find you, too...
There's a whole team assigned to this, but I don't really know who's who in it... Need-to-know basis and all that.
[ He scratches his head, trying to produce another name for them, but fails miserably. ]
As for 'Florence', if that's the name they go by now... there's a bunch of almost-Florences laying around Camelia. Development for them took a while and they went through a good amount of prototypes before settling on this one. I always felt it was a waste, you know? So many almost-finished bodies, just tossed into storage.
But they were made for a rather specific purpose, so I guess those bodies just didn't cut it. They're an emotion experiment.
Hey now young miss, don't make that face! It's a pretty neat experiment actually!
They were made to try and figure out how to replicate emotions on an AI until they are indistinguishable from the real deal and could thus be considered 'genuine'. It'd be huge if that worked out, what a marvel of science!
[ So the smile news are actually pretty cool to him, if nothing else. ]
No clue why they loaned Florence to Lorelei for this specifically though.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
( she shakes her head and sighs. )
How did you hear about that?
no subject
[ Huh! ]
no subject
[ The guy waves his arms dismissively. ]
I work for the project, man. I was on a food run for you guys. You know, get you some cabbages and stuff. As you can see, it went real well. Had a lovely month in here just kind of talking to myself!
[ He can be grateful it was a supermarket and he didn't just miserably starve.
After taking just one breath, he eyes Fai's filled cart. ]
Looks like you didn't even need anybody doing your shopping for you either!
no subject
( shizuku all but beams with her thanks, before humming a little. even if it's a little weird to run into another worker on the project, keeping everyone fed is important! but...
hm.
her expression goes from a bright, sincere smile to a concerned frown. )
That fog... it's very inconvenient, isn't it? I thought maybe it was at the hands of whoever did this, but if it kept you trapped here too....
no subject
But also... ]
Mm, I thought the same as Shizuku, but it seems like the fog is a much bigger phenomenon. It isn't just us. What a shame we haven't had fresh produce though...
[ Ah well. He can lament about the produce another time.
But he's curious now. ]
Do you work directly under Lorelei?
no subject
Nah. Not directly. I'm not really, like, part of the research division. I just do logistics stuff. Back-end kinda work! I make sure the pens don't run out, the clipboards are in order, all that reeeaaal important work.
I only know how from running into her at HQ every once in a while.
no subject
[ He agrees that it's important, but he's a little disappointed that he can't get more on Lorelei. ]
So your role would have been to ensure we had food and I assume to ensure that all of our amenities were working too? I'm admittedly curious about how you would have interacted with the project as a whole if you hadn't gotten trapped in the fog.
Other than Lorelei and Florence, we haven't spoken to anyone else directly involved.
[ Like. There's Kyle, but Fai doesn't want to go into that rabbit hole right now. ]
no subject
Yeah, sorry, I got nothin'. No idea what's even been going on with you while I was stuck in here. The whole project's been kinda... weird?
Like, Camelia's a big org, you know? Tons of projects - I kinda wander between the research squads, just helping with supplies as needed, and they're not usually so... secretive?
This one's freaky. "Hey, Gregory, go out and buy produce for 30 people to cook for themselves..." What kinda order is that, anyway?
And don't get me started on the Lorelei woman... gives me the creeps whenever I run into her, honestly.
no subject
I wonder why they're so secretive...
[ He gets the idea that Gregory wouldn't know, however. ]
Tell me more. I've thought she's pretty cute, so I'm surprised she creeps you out.
[ Then again, maybe Fai's taste is just off in general. ]
no subject
To be honest, I think things went off the rails a bit ago. I'm not sure if it'll get better, either...
(
man she's suddenly glad it's just the two of them with this guy, considering kyle. )
no subject
[ He heaves the deep sigh of a man who's been washing his hair with bottled water for way too long. ]
Anyway, Lorelei! She's kinda off in her own world at all times, you know? If the stoic type's for you, then I guess I can see 'cute'. But for me... Man, it wigs me out how little she reacts to anything. She's super muted. I want people to have a bit more fire, even if I get burned!
[ ... hopefully he doesn't mean this literally, but given the nature of Estelline.... ]
no subject
Off in her own world, hmm? I have to wonder if she’s thinking about things.
[ But it tracks with what Hien said about Lorelei moving on from things easily. Hmm… ]
Do you think they could actually get you out of here?
[ And if they can, why haven’t they tried??? ]
no subject
no subject
[ He'll give a thumbs-up, though it's a bit shaky. ]
And yep, no signal whatsoever. Can't even play most games on my phone, no dice with the server... So honestly, I have no idea if they can come and grab me but I'd damn well hope they'd try.
Maybe one of the robot-things can come and bust me out? Dunno if they're any good for that...
no subject
[ Anyway! No signal and no server… that’s expected, he thinks. ]
The robot-things?
no subject
no subject
That would be nice...
[ He's never going grocery shopping again, it's delivery only from here on! ]
And the robots, like... Have you met Lorelei's assistant? They gave the final version to her, so I figured you'd have seen them.
no subject
[ Seems like everyone is aware of them! ]
What exactly do these robots do? Is it a variety of things or do they serve a specific purpose?
I HAD THIS OPEN IN ANOTHER TAB FOR LIKE AN HOUR I AM SO SORRY
Who else is working on this project, exactly?
no subject
[ He scratches his head, trying to produce another name for them, but fails miserably. ]
As for 'Florence', if that's the name they go by now... there's a bunch of almost-Florences laying around Camelia. Development for them took a while and they went through a good amount of prototypes before settling on this one. I always felt it was a waste, you know? So many almost-finished bodies, just tossed into storage.
But they were made for a rather specific purpose, so I guess those bodies just didn't cut it. They're an emotion experiment.
no subject
I see. I believe Florence has been learning. My partner mentioned that he got them to smile recently.
no subject
What are they supposed to do?
no subject
They were made to try and figure out how to replicate emotions on an AI until they are indistinguishable from the real deal and could thus be considered 'genuine'. It'd be huge if that worked out, what a marvel of science!
[ So the smile news are actually pretty cool to him, if nothing else. ]
No clue why they loaned Florence to Lorelei for this specifically though.
no subject
[ Sure, it's a marvel of science, but still.
There has to be reason. ]
no subject
( ahem.
anyways. )
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)