[open] stories sown along the way

[funbreaker]

Who: Thancred Waters & YOU
When: Throughout July
Where: Thorne; the Horizon
What: Reacting to goings-on in the castle, hanging out in the Horizon, chocobo rides
Warnings: Will edit in as they come up!

[ Starters below in the comments! If you've got questions or want to plot out something not covered here, feel free to contact me on Plurk (demonology) or Discord (demonology#1725)! ]

Comments

[lightkeeping]

Well, I can't take credit for it.

[She says, heading off the most common question she's getting about the machine--did you build it? Aloy, for her part, watches the bird intently. It seems friendly, at least. Domesticated, which Thancred confirms when he says they're often used for riding.]

No, not really. [Though it's becoming more common, given her and Sylens' separate activities.] They're usually...wild?

[That doesn't quite sound like the right word, but she isn't sure how else to describe it.]

[funbreaker]

You can take credit for its existence here, I imagine.

[ Granted, building a piece of advanced magitek and simply willing one into being with one's mind are two different things, but Thancred would rather she didn't sell herself short.

But... it's a wild machine? His head cants to one side as he tries to puzzle through that, even as his chocobo shifts around beneath him, somewhat restless in the presence of the magitek beast. ]

Are they not automated? Programmed by their builders to behave a certain way?

[ Clearly this one is following her orders now. Thancred has seen magitek and how it behaves when it is no longer under anyone's control. Some of them will simply keep to their same patrol routes, ready to fire at anyone who comes close. ]

[lightkeeping]

Still getting used to that...

[She says it more to herself than anything, her tone of voice implying that she's either uncomfortable with or doesn't like the Horizon. After a moment, however, she seems to return to the conversation at hand. HEPHAESTUS is a little complicated to explain, but Thancred has it more-or-less right. Programmed by their builders to behave a certain way, and then, to evolve once humans started hunting them for parts. Without GAIA to run the terraforming system, and her sub-functions acting on their own, the machines spun out of control.]

Sort of. They have programming. Hostile to humans, but it's there. Back home, I had a device that let me override some of them.

[She gives her Clawstrider a little pat on the carbon fiber neck, as if to emphasize that's what she's conjured up here.]

[funbreaker]

[ The Horizon does take getting used to, and Thancred hardly blames her for still being uncertain about it. That statement implies that she is more newly Summoned, though he is fairly certain she is not in Thorne. He has at least a passing knowledge of all of the other Summoned in the vicinity of the Castle.

A device that allows one to take control of what he assumes to be a powerful machine must be quite useful, and with Cid Garlond's help, Himeka has done similar in the past.

There are more questions he has, of course, but Thancred suspects both of them would prefer to keep on the move. He tightens his thighs around the flanks of the chocobo, indicating that it should continue moving, and jerks the reins to ensure that he remains on the same path and pace as his new friend. ]

Hostile to all humans? There isn't a group that built them for their own purposes?

[ His point of reference is Garlemald, yet he knows that the other worlds that his fellow Summoned come from might function rather differently. ]

Thancred, by the way. It's nice to meet you — in a sense. [ He smiles and nods, at ease even as they ride. ]

[lightkeeping]

[More than useful--it's effectively given her an advantage over most adversaries, at least until Sylens started distributing the technology to suit his purposes. For now, however, the increasingly widespread use of overrides is not an issue. She made sure of that.

All of this is a long story. Too long of a story, and she's not even sure Thancred will understand what she means, when she describes an artificial intelligence. Still, he seems interested, so that helps. A group? No. She shakes her head.]

Machines building machines. It's...complicated. I'm Aloy.

[funbreaker]

[ Machines building machines. That is enough to make his head ache, just a tad. Thancred can theoretically understand that larger magitek can be used to manufacture smaller units, automating the process so that not all of it is done by hand. Yet it seems as if this Aloy is implying something else entirely. ]

Well met, then, Aloy. Might I ask where you are right now? In reality, that is.

[ He scans the horizon, on the lookout for any domains of interest. The impossibly tall buildings of Amaurot are visible in the distance, but he averts his gaze almost immediately, having no interest in running across Ascians on this fine day. ]

[lightkeeping]

Solvunn.

[She doesn't sound too thrilled about that, but maybe there is some relief in Thancred choosing not to pry further into the technicalities of machines building machines. They might as well talk about where they are in the physical world, instead, even if she's not terribly enthused about that, either.]

It's...fine. Lots of farms.

[Aloy doesn't really...do...farming.]

[funbreaker]

So I've heard.

[ Thancred bows his head as he smiles, half hiding it as they continue to ride along. The chocobo is quite well-behaved (because that had been his intention for it), and Aloy's metallic mount is also keeping up with little trouble. ]

A good friend of mine is there as well. It's possible you've met. Himeka?

[ He finds it hard to believe that Himeka wouldn't have introduced herself to every Summoned in Solvunn by now.

Then, in a strange bout of coincidence, he spots something in the distance. A glowing, rotating crystal sits encased in a transparent dome of aether — it is the entrance to Himeka's domain, which travels about the Horizon at her whims. This seems to be where she's decided to place it for now. ]

Well — speak of the devil. [ He picks up the pace. Even if Himeka isn't present, it's not a bad place to visit. ]

[lightkeeping]

Oh. Yeah, we've met.

[Not under the best of circumstances, unfortunately. Aloy had been willing to listen to her--and to help her gather materials for the ritual, but she'd been appropriately skeptical, not only of her willingness to aid the mages, but of the things she spoke of from her homeworld. She's not about to judge Thancred for his apparent relationship to her, but her furrowed eyebrows says it all.

Luckily, it doesn't last long, because the crystal in the distance does command some attention. Aloy is sharp, putting the pieces together fairly quickly.]

Is that hers?

[funbreaker]

[ Something does fall flat in Aloy's voice, indicating that her meeting with Himeka had not exactly gone well. It's difficult for Thancred to imagine, as Himeka is someone who is eager to meet just about anyone, but he could see how she might come on too strong for some.

Perhaps he can begin to pick at what exactly happened. They're fast approaching the aetheryte, and once they reach it he's quick to dismount, giving the chocobo a quick pat before it fades away into nothing. ]

Her domain is one that travels around, even when she isn't present. She doesn't mind visitors, if you're curious.

[ It's possible Himeka will be found within once they step through the barrier created by the dome. It's equally possible it will be empty for them to explore as they wish. He tilts his head up toward Aloy where she sits on her metallic mount. ]

If not, we can part ways here. [ He doesn't yet know the nature of her potential quarrel with Himeka, and doesn't intend to push. ]