Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP]

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*** Dave H. said:

(Another thought that occurs: Amir seems to have figured out that Numina is not who/what she appears to be by the end of their meeting. Assuming she wasn’t explicitly doing something “off” or obviously glitching, there’s a shift in Amir’s comprehension between the oddness of Brigand’s growling to his comment about her malfunctioning.)

Ahh. Okay, this is something else requiring clarification. I wasn’t acting under the assumption that Numina could (yet) pass as human for a number of reasons (alpha-version of the shell, visual artifacts up near the right shoulder, doesn’t come down the plane’s stairs right, probably looks a bit off under full sunlight, clips into the chair in the living room a bit, probably something else I’m forgetting, et cetera), and between that and “Amir is no dummy” I was writing everything under the assumption Amir has figured out she had an artificial shell by about the time you two were halfway to the house from the plane.

So, in short - yeah, that’s something he’d have just figured out pretty quick. Pneuma, by contrast, wouldn’t have even pinged his radar.

The clearest messages that Jason obtained were:

  1. [What do you want me to do?] Strategically, Jason should really prioritise pursuing Hecate over rescuing Dad or confronting the Vyortovians.
  2. [What do you want me to do?] Tactically, the book’s author, Randal, can lend him a hand regarding Hecate and stuff (though the book seems to be focused on alternate dimensions, which seems to circle back to Vyortovia).
  3. [What do you intend to do?] “Amir” hopes to feed him information (“I hope I can be of some help in that regard, feeding my action-adventuring sibling information he can use”).
  4. [What are you really planning? (Numina helps)] Not specific (there’s no actual plans revealed), but Amir is just not who/how he seems, missing a movie line that should have been reflexive in his understanding.

1. Should be understood as “from Amir’s point of view and his priorities,” whatever those might be.
2. Could be because he wants you on a wild goose chase, or could be some other reason. But it seems to be something more informative than something that’ll solve a problem straight away.
3. Yes. And that summary can sound as innocent, helpful, or sinister as you like.
4. I cheated a bit by tweaking the basic question to “What’s going on with you?” and cheated a bit further by not answering straight out but giving LOTS of information.

If it helps, I DO have the Real Answer…

… narrowed down to two options, that is.

author: Doyce T.
url: Community Forums: Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP] | Roll20: Online virtual tabletop

62

A quick side note, which might come up again depending: Yeah, Numina shouldn’t be able to pass yet. She moves and acts correctly, but the projection will never be perfect. Most of what will really bother her is internal, and some of that discomfort will also come through.

Examples:

  • “I can’t feel my teeth with my tongue. Actually, I think my tongue is just for show. Hey, take a look, does it even properly move when I talk?”
  • “I can’t properly cry. I think if I could, I’d be crying quite a lot right now, so maybe you’re better off not seeing it.”
  • “When I swallow, it feels like it goes nowhere. Like I have a sore throat or an obstruction or something.”
  • “I’m kind of hungry. I’ve been kind of hungry for awhile. I don’t know how to fix it.”
  • “I have to stop myself from taking a pulse. I don’t think I’ll have one, and that’s scarier than not knowing.”

She thinks of herself as being in physical therapy, with Jason as her doctor/therapist, and she will feel vulnerable and sick until she’s fully functional. She wants to use the combat bot chassis to help Jason convert his family’s swords into plowshares - putting weapons of war and assassination to good use, to prove to him that it can be done - and that’s important enough to power through the discomfort.

Leo spent months finding and implementing the numerous things a human being expects their body to do, and Jason and Numina have all that work ahead of them with this approach. Leo is working on something that’ll help, though…

author: Bill G.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6010798

63

Doyce T. said:

Ahh. Okay, this is something else requiring clarification. I wasn’t acting under the assumption that Numina could (yet) pass as human for a number of reasons (alpha-version of the shell, visual artifacts up near the right shoulder, doesn’t come down the plane’s stairs right, probably looks a bit off under full sunlight, clips into the chair in the living room a bit, probably something else I’m forgetting, et cetera), and between that and “Amir is no dummy” I was writing everything under the assumption Amir has figured out she had an artificial shell by about the time you two were halfway to the house from the plane.

Perfect. I’m good with all that. Makes sense, simplifies stuff, etc.

The clearest messages that Jason obtained were:

  1. [What do you want me to do?] Strategically, Jason should really prioritise pursuing Hecate over rescuing Dad or confronting the Vyortovians.
  2. [What do you want me to do?] Tactically, the book’s author, Randal, can lend him a hand regarding Hecate and stuff (though the book seems to be focused on alternate dimensions, which seems to circle back to Vyortovia).
  3. [What do you intend to do?] “Amir” hopes to feed him information (“I hope I can be of some help in that regard, feeding my action-adventuring sibling information he can use”).
  4. [What are you really planning? (Numina helps)] Not specific (there’s no actual plans revealed), but Amir is just not who/how he seems, missing a movie line that should have been reflexive in his understanding.

1. Should be understood as “from Amir’s point of view and his priorities,” whatever those might be. [Yes … "what do you [Amir who is talking with me] want me [Jason] to do?]
2. Could be because he wants you on a wild goose chase, or could be some other reason. But it seems to be something more informative than something that’ll solve a problem straight away. [There was enough emphasis there that Jason think’s there’s something of value (hey, she even has a wiki page), but he’s already noted a priority for it. I’ll add it to Trello. :-)]
3. Yes. And that summary can sound as innocent, helpful, or sinister as you like. [And was taken as both at different tims in the conversation.]
4. I cheated a bit by tweaking the basic question to “What’s going on with you?” and cheated a bit further by not answering straight out but giving LOTS of information. [Which, I think aligns with what I summarized there.]

If it helps, I DO have the Real Answer…

… narrowed down to two options, that is.

Tease.

author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6010871

64

Bill:

She thinks of herself as being in physical therapy, with Jason as her doctor/therapist, and she will feel vulnerable and sick until she’s fully functional. She wants to use the combat bot chassis to help Jason convert his family’s swords into plowshares - putting weapons of war and assassination to good use, to prove to him that it can be done - and that’s important enough to power through the discomfort.

Again, this all makes sense. And another sign how Leo’s bots are a lot more sophisticated in construction and desire than the AI holographic puppets at the Quill compound (as too-clever-by-half those have become).

author: *** Dave H.
url: Community Forums: Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP] | Roll20: Online virtual tabletop

65

Bill G. said:

Leo spent months finding and implementing the numerous things a human being expects their body to do, and Jason and Numina have all that work ahead of them with this approach. Leo is working on something that’ll help, though…

Just jury rig in a keynome as her power supply and I guarantee all her problems with not feeling entirely real will Vanish.

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6010972

66

Jason is sure that would end well.

author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011011

67

Interesting image choice. I would have gone with something closer to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011014

68

Leo: “do not be merging with my robot girlfriend’s twin baby sister into a new machine lifeform courtesy of some alien MacGuffin”.

22 sessions and that’s where this game has taken us.

author: Bill G.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011016

69

_Omnipotent _alien macguffin.

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011035

70

I’m sure that, however Numina destroys the universe, everyone will smile and feel fully supported by her doing so.

author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011040

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author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011162

72

Somewhere over Orlando, Jason blinks, looks up from the book, and says to Numina, “Oh! You wanted me to come into the kitchen with you. Um. Sorry.”

author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011246

73

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011270

74

[See, those are the reaction shots I live for.]

author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6011414

75

[What are you really planning? (Numina helps)] Not specific (there’s no actual plans revealed).

I wasn’t entirely happy with how I answered this one, but I finally figured out some stuff (and realized/remembered a few things about Masks) as I was drifting off last night.

What Jason - probably mostly in hindsight, as he’s processing everything on the flight - realizes he was seeing toward the second half of their conversation, as well as throughout his departure, were hints of fear. Buccaneer kept circling Amir, looking up at him in concern. Whining. Easy to mistake as “why are you walking around, human who doesn’t walk around much? You’re bad at it.”

A startled movement that is redirected toward something else. A shaky hand, quieted by gripping a cane. A widened eye, quickly downcast.

Amir was scared. Maybe truly terrified.

As for what he’s planning? Well, the baseline human response to fear is fight or flight. And he didn’t attack you. He’s going to run.

[The delay in Jason figuring this out is partly the GM’s fault for not being a second-gen super genius, so if you want to retcon and have him figure it out literally in the next breath after his apology to Numina, and turn the plane around and race back to the Key, we can absolutely do that.]

author: Doyce T.
url: Community Forums: Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP] | Roll20: Online virtual tabletop

76

I missed a few of the replies above, amidst the penultimate day of Packing The House and Trying Not To Be a Tragic Murder-Suicide Local News Story.

the DC/Vyortovia Event. (DCVE?)

Sorry, every time I/we write something like that, I think we’re doing some sort of cross-publisher event.

And just to keep us out of a rabbithole, he was a gift from H & B during Amir’s first year of convalescence. Hell, we can even retcon that backstory into some of the ‘pre-departure’ small talk. They got him from the Carolina Corgi Rescue.

Fine. I was going to speculate on whether I’d ever actually touched Buck, or if he might be a hard light illusion by the Vyortovian sorcerer masquerading as Amir … but I’m happy to have that part of the story established.

Final, Logical Conclusion: Amir can’t be evil, because a cute dog likes him.

As the VTOL dwindles to a dot out over the ocean, Buccaneer looks up at Amir. “You have served us well another day, minion,” the cute little corgi says with a voice like the tolling of a great stone bell_. His tongue lolls. “The Mistress will be pleased. She may even let you survive to serve her after the Great Transformation.”

Buck stops, scratches at something. “Now, get me out of the thrice-damned body. It has fleas.”_

The delay in Jason figuring this out is partly the GM’s fault for not being a second-gen super genius

Definitely one of the problems with the GM and the Player both clearly not being second-gen super geniuses.

(I’m not quite so sure about Bill, though.)

if you want to retcon and have him figure it out literally in the next breath after his apology to Numina, and turn the plane around and race back to the Key, we can absolutely do that

Even if that supposition (which goes alongside possibly either option 1 or 2, or else he could simply be a hapless disguised Vyortovian homunculus who’s been promised a long and painful deconstitution should Jason penetrate the disguise) is true, Jason’s going to file it with the other weirdities, as it doesn’t actually settle anything. If it’s the True Amir who’s terrified because the Dread Queen is lurking in the bedroom, listening to everything he says (one of the scenarios, less hyperbolically, Jason was working under during part of the conversation), then Jason flying back right probably isn’t going to help. Better to let them think he was fooled.

That’s Rusty talking, of course, and if this all ends poorly for Amir, Jason will be a bundle o’ guilt. But Charlotte is a much clearer-cut problem, and there’s no reason to think that the Amir thing can’t be addressed as part of a bigger part of the Vyortovian stuff the team is tackling.

[Also, to be meta, I’m going to be much less on the grid the next four days, between moving vans and road trip, so I don’t want to open up a new thing that will be killing me to not hover over during that time. :-)]

author: *** Dave H.
url: Community Forums: Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP] | Roll20: Online virtual tabletop

77

Sounds good!

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6013461

78

[I’m posting this here, since it’s more relevant to Jason’s thread and I don’t want to derail anything else Bill might post in 22.4.]

*** Dave H. said:
8. Amir referenced Valerie over in that thread, a bit more circumspectly. (And now I’m curious about what order these threads occurred in, and how much of that was already pre-plotted by the GM.)

I worked out most of the stuff for Valerie awhile back (try finding pictures of blonde women who are also physicists in real life and say goodbye to an afternoon), and finally put it up on the wiki in preparation for last game session… where I didn’t need it. Valerie’s past connection to Hecate is a more recent addition/filling in, but still before it came up in this thread and 22.4.

As far as timing goes, and considering the time of day in both… I’d say there’s pretty good odds both conversations probably happened at almost the same time.

If they’d happened in game, I might have even tried to be fancy and switch back and forth between the two. :slight_smile:

How much of it was pre-plotted? Nnnnone of it? Bill’s post was his idea (I had, after wikifying it, solicited feedback to see if it was lame, so he had that material on hand to work with), and Amir has reasons for wanting Jason to go anywhere but the Sepiaverse, so “let’s distract him with a science woman who’s also his mom and cross our fingers…”

I even know how he knows that, and THAT is horrible, also. :slight_smile:

author: Doyce T.
url: Community Forums: Masks 22.1 - Sepiatoned Images of Florida [Cutscene] [RP] | Roll20: Online virtual tabletop

79

I’m actually kind of excited by how much STUFF there is to legitimately, finally, get to in the next couple sessions. I’ve been waiting on some of this SO LONG.

author: Doyce T.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6014718

80

I put together some other conclusions and asked Doyce how many of those we could actually ICly know. I also suggested having Numina voice those conclusions (she’s on scene, is smart, etc.), and if I don’t hear any objections, I’ll have her talk about that in an IC post here.

author: Bill G.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6014800