i'm looking for an easy thing [ OPEN MINGLE ]

[hyperlit]

Who: Anyone and everyone! Who wants to look at books?
What: BOOKVALANCHE
When: Let's say from the 25th and onward for simplicity
Where: The Storyteller's Temple, in addition to the library that's finally getting some much-needed attention
Warnings: Mark anything that comes up!



The library is finally getting some renovations! Between some new bookshelves (hope someone here is good at hauling) and a veritable cascade of all sorts of books and supplies, an awful lot needs to be transferred from the Temple to the heretofore unused library, and any help anyone has to offer is much appreciated!

But, of course, there's also so very much to go through for your own perusal. Just look at all this! Coloring books, puzzle books, stories of all sorts, comic books, fashion magazines, all sorts of survival texts...you name it.

This all needs to be put away and stored in those neat little waterproofing book protectors - shelves need to be moved, supplies need to be secured, and someone should probably take inventory. But also...there's a lot of fresh new reading material on an island that previously had none.

Isn't that worth looking over?

Comments

[hyperlit]

[A few days after things start to come together, the Drifter sends Legion a short message via Farspeech Stone. It's nothing special. It's just an alert that, should Legion wish it, the Drifter is ready to begin compiling information in a consolidated space within the library.]

[They also venture their current location - which is, unsurprisingly, said library.]

[forwearemany]

(The Drifter has caught them at an opportune time: they have finished their farming duties, and have no plans save for perhaps playing videogames.

The possibility of compiling their history with the assistance of their ally and fellow synthetic is a welcome one, and thus instead of going back to their cottage to grab their gaming console, they'll head for the library.

It doesn't take them long to arrive.)

Drifter.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter is at the sole desk, for the moment; no one else is using it, and so they have been making their use of it for continuing their mapping efforts.]

[A wave of greeting is all it takes for them to acknowledge Legion's presence.]

not busy?

[forwearemany]

(They'll come and stand next to the desk.)

All necessary tasks completed.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter nods, once, and then carefully starts to stack and slot away their mapping supplies.]

preference to consolidate?

[They weren't clear on how Legion wanted to see their history and information compiled.]

[forwearemany]

(They chatter, considering.

They chatter some more, still considering.

And more chatter.)

Uncertain.

(Their headflaps ripple, and their eye twitches briefly before focusing on the Drifter.)

Additionally, we have acquired new information about our universe of origin.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter opens the rough bullet-point list of notes they've taken from what Legion has issued to them thus far, and glances up, head to one side. How is a relevant question - but they don't waste time on how. More pertinent is their instinct:]

what information

[forwearemany]

(Well, the how might be answered if the Drifter considered that they didn't state that this acquisition was recent. There was, after all, an event that allowed one to see what was happening in their world several months ago.

As for why they didn't mention it sooner, well...)

We are no longer a relict of merely the Geth.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter doesn't entirely understand, but of course they seldom ask for clarification.]

in what way

[forwearemany]

All created life has been destroyed.

(They look away.)

[hyperlit]

[They blink, once. They glance at the desk beneath their hands. Then at Legion. Then out along the library, taking in all the corners and edges.]

in your world

[Not...here, surely?]

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(...The Drifter wouldn't be alive to talk to them if it were here, now would they?)

[hyperlit]

[They don't really understand that. The scope of it, perhaps, but the reason it happened? They've no context, and if it is not offered, they will not ask. So: a blink, and a nod.]

ok

[Accepted, then.]

changes nothing
still needs preserving

[forwearemany]

(Admittedly, the crucible would probably overlook non mechanical synths. If it fired here it might be the other way around: the Drifter alive and Legion gone, before they could consolidate any of this history.

The why? It was the only way to destroy the Old Machines. But Legion also sees the other reason: to Shepard-Commander preserving organics as they are is more important than the lives of synthetics.)

It is more urgent.

(There needs to be something somewhere that speaks of them as they were, and not the monsters or mindless automatons organics make them out to be.)

[hyperlit]

[Time is seemingly infinite here...though they could be snatched away at any moment, either one of them, this is true. The Drifter does not harbor patience, in any regard. So they only nod.]

then we will consolidate

[Compound as much information as necessary into this place, so that it lasts for someone to read it - so that those memories live on.]

[forwearemany]

Affirmative.

(To the point. It's something Legion can appreciate.

Regardless of their feelings, the task must be done.)

These materials are primitive: our experience working with them is limited.

(They're less of a book person and more of a digital upload person. Unable to simply place relevant memories inside a server, they find themselves lost. It is the primary reason they did not object to help.)

Your assistance is appreciated.

(Their headflaps ripple.)

Listing events in chronological order is logical.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter could store their information on their sprite's information banks, but...if they were to disappear, or die, or worse, it would be lost, and this would defeat the purpose of the library.]

books must be protected
kept safe from water
digital files can be deleted
risks with all storage

[Chronological...yes. That would be a good place to start.]

many blank books to begin

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(They don't put much thought into selecting one: more important is what will go into its pages.

But that's as far as they get, before their programs descend into debate, and they freeze up again.)

[hyperlit]

[The best place to start is the beginning. The Drifter is not a historian; they are more accustomed to recovering history, and putting together the pieces, than they are in scripting it.]

best place to begin?

[forwearemany]

Perhaps our creation and the reasons behind it.

(The Drifter is in good company: Legion is absolutely garbage at telling a story. The Geth share memories and experiences; such a skill was unneeded.)

Our primary intended use was as a source of labor.

(After a moment, they bring out their omni-tool and show a very unusual model, towering and four legged, like some behemoth of an animal, but still clearly Geth in design. It is definitely not just a labor model.)

However, combat models were also designed and constructed, though there were no active wars at the time.

[hyperlit]

a good beginning

[Illustrations would be most beneficial. The Drifter, unfortunately, is best at making maps and little else. They've no eye for artistry beyond general appreciation of it.]

know of any artists
might draw

[To preserve them visually is not a perfect analogue to digital storage, but it is more than mere words.]

[forwearemany]

We do not.

(Aside from Ren, that is, but as endearing as she is, her art is not suitable for this project.)

We will leave space for illustrations, seek assistance later.

[hyperlit]

[The Drifter would be inclined to agree. Privately.]

creation of geth
growth as species
conflict with quarians
and their end

[A rough timeline, for chronology.]

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(But the details. Do they include the reasons that Quarians desired labor. A breakdown of the different types of platforms and their duties? What about later? Do they talk about the slaughter of non Geth A.I.?

Perhaps all of it. It is all relevant, they think.)

[hyperlit]

begin at beginning

[The Drifter plucks one of the empty books up, opens it to the first page, and smooths it flat across the desk so they might align their pen to the topmost corner.]

will transcribe current information in companion

[The history they already have recorded from their notes, that is.]