Home sweet 127.0.0.1? [OPEN LIKE AN OPEN THING]

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

 Alex was sitting in one of the terminal rooms, sitting in front of the large glowing screen with his Omnicomm hooked in. Alice was fast asleep at the top of the console, having exhausted herself from exploring. Lines of code glowed in green as he typed away, working on his latest project. A training simulation for that demon umbrella girl he had met. It just needed some tweaking of the AI he had made for that game Mao had stole- but since Mao had stole that game, he had to re-write the AI as well.


Not realizing that he had left the door open he was singing this song as he typed. He was very good at forgetting about doors and locks. He was also not so bad at singing for such a shy teen. It wasn't any sort of professional material, but it was the sort of voice that could have earned him a solo or two in high school chorus. That is, if he was able to sing with even one person watching him.

Well, of all the times he had been using the media library- since his laptop still was not compatible with the Omnicomm- forgetting to close and lock the door once wasn't too terribly bad? Was it?

Comments

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Thud.

That's the door opening. Specifically, by a girl carrying a book. "I'm telling you it's coming from in here--" Zetta cut off his pointless explanation to the minion as they burst in.

"Oh. It's a person. Damn. I was hoping it was the sound cue for the next battle."

canon puncture done with permission

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex's voice cracked and failed as he leaped up at least a good foot before promptly falling over in shock.

He spun around to face... A talking book? With a chick carrying it around while it shouted orders? Was that? No way. "Zetta? The Most Badass Friggin Overlord?"

Re: canon puncture done with permission

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Someone recognized him!

Freaking finally!

The book grinned broadly. "I prefer 'freakin', but yes! I am the great Overlord Zetta! The one and only! The --"

Zetta's train of arrogance came to a horrible, crashing halt. He squinted at the boy. "Hey. I'm a book right now. How the hell did you recognize me?"

Trying to decide if Alice should like Zetta.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex covered his mouth, "I-I'm sorry, Zetta, the Most Badass Freakin' Overlord in all the Cosmos. Y-you're sorta a... a s-star of a video game in m-my world. A badass video game."

Alex had always rather loved the Disgaea series and sub-stories. Frankly, he wasn't terribly surprised, having had his game stolen by another games' star, but he certainly hadn't expected such a powerful Overlord on the ship. Sure, Mao was strong, but Zetta was... well, theoretically stronger... when he had his body... or minions. Arms would help too.

Still, his power to grant any wish written inside of him... If someone else with as much mana as Zetta was on board, they might be able to just wish the Ohm dead and have them smote.

Of course, there was one thing Alex absolutely had to ask, "S-so, what are m-my stat screens like? Am I c-close ta levelling?"

Zetta is totally a demon. Do rats like demons?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh, okay," Zetta said, placated. Despite the fact that the explanation made absolutely no sense to anyone but himself and possibly Alex. He'd be pretty insulted if he had the slightest idea Alex considered him only 'theoretically' stronger than Mao, with body and/or minions. There was simply no comparison. Mana power (and levels) didn't lie.

Obligingly, however, Zetta glanced over the status screen in question. "Hmm. Good mental stats, reasonable TEC... bunch of weird powers I don't recognize, that's pretty much standard on this ship, though." One eyebrow went up a notch. "Decent mana level for a human, too."

Not generally, but Zetta's a big softie when you get down to it

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex was rather entertained by this information and surprised by one of the stats, "G-good mental stats? W-well, I g-guess that I did w-well in school an' whatnot."

He figured that his shadow powers would translate into mana and magic, and so at least the mana level didn't come as a surprise, "W-well, I've b-been eating a lot of animate sh-shadows since I g-got on board. I-it's not quite as hard ta do on your own as I thought. M-Mikel would help w-with those at h-home. Oh! I-I'm Alex by the way." He decided not to offer a hand since the Overlord was lacking his own.
Just like with the Prince, and with Mao after he realized that it was Mao, and even Ophelia, having played their games made him feel a bit more relaxed around them.

Shhhhh! IT'S A SECRET TO EVERYONE

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Eating shadows, huh?" There's a sort of mercenary note in his voice as he considers this. "I guess that's the powers I don't recognize. Tell me more."

The minion set Zetta down, and the book proceeded to regard Alex with careful interest. Better tell but good!

It's okay. Alice hid. Oblivious Alex has not realized this yet.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Back on his Earth, it had been for forbidden to speak of his power, which had resulted in Alex feeling relived that he could finally openly explain his powers. He could even offer to eat peoples shadows. "W-well, I c-can see these blob like shapes a-around people that are d-dark an' well, I n-need ta eat those. F-from them, I g-get nutrition, an' a sense of why the shadow exists. They're negative e-emotions, an' when I e-eat 'em they disappear. The weaker the shadow is, the m-more likely it won' c-come back. There's different types too." Alex went on to explain briefly inanimate shadows and animate shadows, as well as the powers he knew he had and could use.

It was like now that he could explain himself he was more than happy to tell any one who might ask, as it might atone for the times he had to lie to prevent from getting caught and possibly even arrested for trying to be honest.

He IS otherwise distracted

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Zetta listened to this expository infodump curiously, churning it over in his mind like a dryer with a stuck timer.

Good defense, it sounded like. On the other hand, Zetta hadn't seen any shadows attempting to attack anyone lately. How often would these powers actually be usable? Maybe Zetta just can't see them. More likely, they're scared of him.

Still, if the kid turned out useless, he at least had the right attitude, which is more than he can say of pretty much everyone else on the damn ship with the possible exceptions of Starfire and Konoka. "All right, Alex," Zetta said with a broad smile. "I hereby appoint you as minion to the Overlord. Welcome to the winning team!"

Trying to not be a demon's minion. Whoops? XD

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Surprise quickly turned into laughter as he realized he shouldn't have expected less of Zetta. "I'm 'fraid I'm n-not really 'demon' enough ta be a minion. I'm c-closer ta a h-hero, but not really. N-not quite at good at saving worlds an' all."

He thought for a minute, about Zetta and the world as it was portrayed in the games. Zetta wasn't very good at being really evil. Petty evil, yes, but none of the demons went around committing genocide or other atrocities. They were just sorta... well, bullies.

He wondered what Alic- where was Alice?

Looking around, he found her hiding under the terminal. Well, a demon was a demon after all. And Zetta was loud. He stuck a hand out to her and called, "Alice." She rushed from under the terminal up Alex's sleeve and out of sight, though she still continued to shake slightly in his sleeve.

"B-but I guess, since we're both tryin' ta b-beat the Ohm, that I c-can work with you ta do that." It seemed like a really stupid idea to just outright deny Zetta. Even as a book.

Yeah right!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Pfffft," Zetta scoffed. "Defeating the Ohm is what it's about, kid. I don't care if you're demon, human, sabercat -- hell, I'd take a corn person at this point. We're all on this ship and that means we all need to kick Ohm ass and get things back together.

"Even if your rat doesn't like demons," he added with a look between indignant and bemused at the quivering sleeve. "I'll assume that's not a dealbreaker here. So welcome to the team."

Will you join the Overlord? Yes/No
No: But thou must!

Re: Yeah right!

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex laughed nervously. Zetta gets what Zetta wants. He never took no for an answer. That was glaringly obvious in the game. "Er, w-well... 's l-long as I don' n-needta do anything m-mean... I d-don' like c-causing shadows."

He drew his feet under him into a cross legged position while scratching the back of his head. It wasn't the best situation to be in, but he really didn't want to fight with the Overlord. That seemed like it would go poorly.

Re: Yeah right!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"All I'm after is the defeat of the Ohm and then wishing everything back to normal for the good ending. That is what matters," Zetta said. His growl wasn't really directed at Alex. "As for causing shadows, maybe this is none of my business, but... if you cause them, can't you eat them yourself?"

[bonnypiperlad]

It was the unfamiliar song that caught Jamie's ear. Curious, he decided to follow the music and tracked it through the media library until he found himself outside of of one of the terminal rooms, looking at the open door.

He was pretty sure someone was in there, but it didn't even occur to him that whoever was inside may not have wanted to be disturbed. If they really wanted to be alone, surely they would have closed the door. Right? He stepped into the room and called out.

"Hello? Hey, I was wondering...oh."

Whatever Jamie was about to say trailed off as he noticed the person was rapidly typing away at the keyboard. He hadn't meant to bother anyone working, and he grimaced briefly.

"Sorry, I'd not realized ye were working. My mistake."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex squeaked in surprise and nearly toppled over. He was generally okay with being bothered while working- people at home regularly ignored his away message, and Loretta generally had no qualms about knocking and then letting herself in- but he had expected to be completely closed off from the rest of the ship here.

He caught his breath and turned to face the person who was speaking, "Ah, n-no, it's okay. Wh-what were you w-wondering?"

[bonnypiperlad]

Feeling somewhat guilty about startling the other person, Jamie rubbed at the back of his head momentarily, wondering if he should have knocked first. Probably it would have been a good idea, open door or no.

"Er, I was just going to ask what it was ye were singing, but..."

He trailed off as he got a closer look at who it was he was speaking with. The blond boy looked somewhat familiar - almost as if the Scot had seen him with someone he knew. The name of that other person wasn't coming to him, though.

"I've not seen ye around the ship before, have I?" he asks, sounding somewhat uncertain. "Ye look a bit familiar."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

"Ah, i-it's okay, I'm jus' easily startled, i-it's no b-big deal."

He heard me singing.

"I-it was jus' a s-song from m-my world. S-sorry ta bother you..."

He heard me singing

"I-I dunno, I-I'm n-not around th-that much. U-usually on the c-comms more..."

How did I not remember to close that door?

[bonnypiperlad]

"Och, it was no bother." Jamie replies with a shrug, seemingly casual about the whole thing. He's looking at Alex with slightly narrowed, thoughtful-looking eyes - still trying to place him. Who is this lad, anyway?

The mention of the comms is no help - Jamie uses them sporadically, at best, and tends to skim over a lot of the entries unless it's something that looks important. After a few moments more of the answer still failing to come to him, he gives up and opts to just go ahead and ask.

"Ye weren't half bad. Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex's blood, which had slowly been draining from his face, snapped back with a vengeance, turning him such a bright red that his ears seemed to be glowing. "I-I, er," just pretend it never happened, "I-I'm Alex."

[bonnypiperlad]

"I'm Jamie." It's hard not to notice that Alex has gone all red, which leads the Scot to believe that he's embarrassed, especially considering the other boy's stammer. Jamie can understand that - there's been a time or two when he's done so himself, usually when he's very nervous. And even though Jamie meant his compliment, he gets the idea that changing the subject might not be a bad plan.

His eyes catch a glimpse of the text scrolling across the screen, and he peers at it - although admittedly with a rather blank look on his face. The whole thing looks like some sort of gibberish to him. Still, perhaps it's something Alex would be more comfortable talking about.

"So what's this you're working on, then?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex brightened at the mention of what he was working on, "O-oh! I-it's a strategy AI th-that I've been trying ta edit so i-it works in the s-sensoriums better an c-can recognise it's surroundings, b-but c-can't change them through the s-sensorium powers, o-only through the allotted resources."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Oh, aye. That." Jamie tries his best to sound like he knows what Alex is actually talking about, although he's gotten a bit lost during the explanation. He does understand parts of what was said though, and maybe if he asks some questions the rest of it will make some sort of sense.

"Why would ye not want them to be able to change in the sensoriums? Don't ye want it to be able to react to things there?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex shrugged, "W-well, if it c-could change the setting, that'd be a bit like ch-cheating. It's meant f-for training, an' I don' know of anyone that'll enjoy the terrain c-constantly changing. A-as for other a-aspects, I want it ta be able ta change that, so I'm figuring out a bit o' c-code that'll make it so i-it can't c-create things in the s-sensoriums."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Changing the terrain could make it more of a challenge," Jamie points out. There's probably a few people on the ship that would welcome that sort of thing. Still, he can see where not everyone - himself included - would actually want it to go and change everything around constantly.

"But I suppose it could also be a wee bit of a problem. Seems like a lot of work, though, for something ye can just think up while you're in there."

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex shook his head, "B-but my AI has higher c-capabilities than what I c-could think up, an' it'll g-give an evenly s-scaled challenge each t-time. An' I'd like it ta r-replicate real-life possibilities, so, k-keeping the same terrain's pretty standard."

If you kept fighting the same opponent in the sensoriums, eventually you would be able to totally overwhelm them. They were just programs after all. Fantastically complex ones, but programs all the same. His AI could learn to keep adapting and keep raising the bar.