They're pulling me back. The Pandoran has been freed by Jeremiah. He must have thought it was the corpse of Bloodwing. He was partially correct. Why didn't I throw that crate into a volcano? Why did I wait to eject it into the aether before we were intercepted?
This is all my fault. I never should have built the Retcon Device. Koen would still be at home recovering. My daughter wouldn't be sacrificing herself to save us.
I see Jeremiah's body suspended in that oozing abomination. Is he still alive in there? Or has his soul escaped to another body on this ship, or somewhere back on Earth?
It's driven to reunite with what it was separated from. From the demon. From me, from when the demon and I tried to blend one form and one soul. From Ash, a signle fragment carrying a soul of its own.
My mechanical arm is destroyed. Too flimsy to wield as an axe of even a club. I am exhausted from the torture...not enough energy left to invoke with one hand. Just give me a pistol...something with range...
It has to have a weakness. Part demon...do we have holy water? It has Mason clonetype DNA...concentrated...
ALLERGIES!! IT HAS ALLERGIES!!
Friday, June 6
Bursting with pride!
Alright, which one of you scoundrels referred my journal for mention as a must-see in New World Notes? I must say I'm pleased as punch!
Now, can I get some help with this xenopathogenic emergency brewing in New Babbage?
~Dr. Mason
Now, can I get some help with this xenopathogenic emergency brewing in New Babbage?
~Dr. Mason
TSO Rebooted, Powering Off
At the end of July EA-land (formerly known as The Sims Online) is shutting down and offering consolation coupons for POGO.
I'm a bit sad to see it go. TSO was the first MMORPG I played that wasn't an easy link from MUDConnector. I used to play the original Sims game for as many hours a week as I play SL now. Therefore it was an effortless transition to TSO. 90% of the controls in TSO were the same as the home version.
My primary character was a fuzzy, purple horned Sendak-style monster named Herne, who always spoke in third person. His best friend was a polar bear. They had a secret handshake and they called each other "fuzzbro". He used to scare people just by showing up and threatened to eat people that made him mad. He told people in Grateful Dead themed sims not to worry, that he was just a flashback. Pass the bubble-pipe?
The one thing I miss from TSO is the Pizza Game. Four sims (avatars) would gather around a square table with pizza ingredients. Each player would have three slots filled with dough, sauce, cheese, and/or a topping, in amounts for a Small, Medium or Large pizza. Each player would yell out a code like "LD SS MC" to say what they had and the leader would arrange the ingredients. Screw up or run out of time and you had a burned mess. Make an edible pizza and you earned Simoleans. Make a large Pizza Supremo you got a bonus.
Herne eventually bought a house that turned into the Monster's Ballroom, which became the third most popular nightclub in his city.
One big problem? TSO had a monthly fee, and Simoleans were never exchangeable for RL currency. In fact you couldn't even transfer your Simoleans to your alt in another server-town. There was a thriving black market of halawa style money-changers to do it for you, or just rob you blind. So, no chance of player profit whatsoever.
And they wonder why they failed?
Funniest thing I ever saw in TSO: Fight Club. It wasn't a combat game. That made it even funnier.
Happiest event: Herne got on a game show and won...a wooden chair. He immediately asked for ketchup.
Hmmm...if I put him in a unifom and a schmot hat...*OOF!* (tackled by his avatars)
I'm a bit sad to see it go. TSO was the first MMORPG I played that wasn't an easy link from MUDConnector. I used to play the original Sims game for as many hours a week as I play SL now. Therefore it was an effortless transition to TSO. 90% of the controls in TSO were the same as the home version.
My primary character was a fuzzy, purple horned Sendak-style monster named Herne, who always spoke in third person. His best friend was a polar bear. They had a secret handshake and they called each other "fuzzbro". He used to scare people just by showing up and threatened to eat people that made him mad. He told people in Grateful Dead themed sims not to worry, that he was just a flashback. Pass the bubble-pipe?
The one thing I miss from TSO is the Pizza Game. Four sims (avatars) would gather around a square table with pizza ingredients. Each player would have three slots filled with dough, sauce, cheese, and/or a topping, in amounts for a Small, Medium or Large pizza. Each player would yell out a code like "LD SS MC" to say what they had and the leader would arrange the ingredients. Screw up or run out of time and you had a burned mess. Make an edible pizza and you earned Simoleans. Make a large Pizza Supremo you got a bonus.
Herne eventually bought a house that turned into the Monster's Ballroom, which became the third most popular nightclub in his city.
One big problem? TSO had a monthly fee, and Simoleans were never exchangeable for RL currency. In fact you couldn't even transfer your Simoleans to your alt in another server-town. There was a thriving black market of halawa style money-changers to do it for you, or just rob you blind. So, no chance of player profit whatsoever.
And they wonder why they failed?
Funniest thing I ever saw in TSO: Fight Club. It wasn't a combat game. That made it even funnier.
Happiest event: Herne got on a game show and won...a wooden chair. He immediately asked for ketchup.
Hmmm...if I put him in a unifom and a schmot hat...*OOF!* (tackled by his avatars)
Thursday, June 5
danger all-consuming
Bloodwing's flame over his crown sputtered and his eyes grew wide in alarm as Qli-3 told him that Jeremiah Mason had emerged in another cloned body. He brushed aside the shattered remains of the last Steel drones with a rush of his wings as he strode bare-hooved back to where Qli-3 was entwined by massive chains into the pulsing crystalline engines of the floating city dubbed New Erebus.
"Darien...brought the Pandoran with him? He transported my corrupted remains along with the shell?" He paused to look at the lobster-like arm of his servant he had just destroyed, then continued to gesture with it. "Did he not realize...?"
"He was going to eject the crate into deep space before they drones captured us! So Earth would never unearth such horror by accident!" I expained with urgency. His stance of supreme confidence faded as his wings lowered. He furrowed his brow in concern.
"It seeks to become complete again, but it will consume everything in its path. It will head straight for those it used to be part of. If it's already absorbed Jeremiah's new clone, which is identical to Darien's form...that means it's almost as powerful as myself now. It will sense Darien and the shard of my bone that is now Ash, and compound its strength."
"And if it absorbs you Father," continued Qli-3, "only the gods could stop it!" The demon growled under his breach as he looked up at the fleet of black ships, then back at the chitinous limb carried in his hand, which he tucked under his arm.
"It seems I'll have a use for them after all!" He crouched, then bolted upwards towards the lead ship.
"Darien...brought the Pandoran with him? He transported my corrupted remains along with the shell?" He paused to look at the lobster-like arm of his servant he had just destroyed, then continued to gesture with it. "Did he not realize...?"
"He was going to eject the crate into deep space before they drones captured us! So Earth would never unearth such horror by accident!" I expained with urgency. His stance of supreme confidence faded as his wings lowered. He furrowed his brow in concern.
"It seeks to become complete again, but it will consume everything in its path. It will head straight for those it used to be part of. If it's already absorbed Jeremiah's new clone, which is identical to Darien's form...that means it's almost as powerful as myself now. It will sense Darien and the shard of my bone that is now Ash, and compound its strength."
"And if it absorbs you Father," continued Qli-3, "only the gods could stop it!" The demon growled under his breach as he looked up at the fleet of black ships, then back at the chitinous limb carried in his hand, which he tucked under his arm.
"It seems I'll have a use for them after all!" He crouched, then bolted upwards towards the lead ship.
Wednesday, June 4
we're in the doldrums
My discussions with Dr. Fourway are progressing splendidly. In the meantime it seems I've caught this infernal New Babbage Cough. I suspect tonight's gathering at Novem will turn into an impromptu clinic. I've asked Ash to retreive my satchel. I should probably stay in Babbage a few days to see how this malady progresses...and to avoid spreading this outbreak to the other sims.
In the meantime I've found a steady flow of tea is soothing for the throat and sinuses. I can't say the same for some poor fool who made absinthe pie as a folk remedy.
~Dr. Mason
In the meantime I've found a steady flow of tea is soothing for the throat and sinuses. I can't say the same for some poor fool who made absinthe pie as a folk remedy.
~Dr. Mason
Tuesday, June 3
Linden Labs Cries Uncle?
http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/06/03/sl5b-birthday-expanded-and-new-submission-deadlines/#comments
They've extended the deadline and are looking for more volunteers. Hmmm.
Quoth the Lindens...
All exhibits, in substance and form, are PG on Linden Land. Any Resident can submit an application to exhibit. A team of Lindens and Resident organizers will review the applications, and if accepted, builders can be in any avatar form they choose (provided they are within PG guidelines).
Which could mean you could be refused for being primarily in a child avatar, but if you show up as a child after your build is up there's nothing they can do about it.
Maybe I'm just being cynical.
Also...
Why the change? Simply put, the increasing complexity of these events requires more staffing and infrastructure than an all-volunteer organizing team. Second, we are responding to calls by Residents to take a more active role in improving the quality of life on the Mainland. Our intent is always to keep SL growing, vibrant, safe, diverse, astonishing….and eventually even stable ;-).
I've got to pity those Mainlanders if they're asking the Lindens to improve their quality of life. That's like asking the guy who runs the boiler room to be the head of your condo association.
Just my $2L. I think I'll still go to the Kids SL5B celebration instead. I haven't had cotton candy in years.
~DM
They've extended the deadline and are looking for more volunteers. Hmmm.
Quoth the Lindens...
All exhibits, in substance and form, are PG on Linden Land. Any Resident can submit an application to exhibit. A team of Lindens and Resident organizers will review the applications, and if accepted, builders can be in any avatar form they choose (provided they are within PG guidelines).
Which could mean you could be refused for being primarily in a child avatar, but if you show up as a child after your build is up there's nothing they can do about it.
Maybe I'm just being cynical.
Also...
Why the change? Simply put, the increasing complexity of these events requires more staffing and infrastructure than an all-volunteer organizing team. Second, we are responding to calls by Residents to take a more active role in improving the quality of life on the Mainland. Our intent is always to keep SL growing, vibrant, safe, diverse, astonishing….and eventually even stable ;-).
I've got to pity those Mainlanders if they're asking the Lindens to improve their quality of life. That's like asking the guy who runs the boiler room to be the head of your condo association.
Just my $2L. I think I'll still go to the Kids SL5B celebration instead. I haven't had cotton candy in years.
~DM
A Farewell to Koen
The mortals had almost evacuated. Very good, Bloodwing thought. He did not want them present if the squabble with Sekhmet turned into inter-pantheon conflict. Ra-Horus was still sore over the Library of Alexandria. And he and Sekhmet had...History.
His son watched with sadness as K'rra fled with her fellow adventurers. The demon sensed sense in her soul that she believed her love, when he said they would be together again in another life as they always had. Was it not natural for envy to linger in his heart for them?
Darien glanced back at Sekhmet. Surely she must have seemed somewhat familiar to him. But her sidelong glance of twin embers was more than enough to shake him from his combat fatugue. He reluctantly gathered his broken prosthesis and followed the rest.
Vortex approached her mother, trying to recollect the eternal memories of his immortal self. She pulled in her burning claws, and the flames abated. Her fur grew dark save for the ears and paws and tail.
"S...Sumalee? You incarnated as a mortal to birth me as Koen?"
Vortex pulled back the claws of his own demonic form, and he shifted to Bloodtail form as they embraced.
"The gods of the Nile, like many others," she said in a sweet, hushed tone devoid of malice, "are so powerful that our true selves can never be encompassed by solely one form. I was born as the incarnation of Sekhmet, a living goddess to the Bloodtail tribe. My fury alone held all the warring tribes at bay, even when still a kitten. Your mortal grandfather incapacitated me from a long range, that I could not stare him down and burn away his soul before the poison of his dart laid me low. When he pulled my claws from me, my incarnation changed from Sekhmet to my other form...Hathor, the Mother Goddess."
Koen looked at the clawless digits of the semblance of his old form.
"That's why I was born without claws on my hand-claws? I'm only Sekhmet's son when I possess them?"
"Correct, my son. This form is...passive. I knew that when I came of age, you would reincarnate as my child. I would never have denied you that chance."
"When did you become Sekhmet again?"
"The gods...took me back. They said I was needed. Come back to Heliopolis with me, my son. Let us finish a lifetime there...like this. Like it should have been. I have always preferred this form to be honest, though Sekhmet would say the opposite."
"I think I'm the only person here that understands that. Why did she let you become Hathor again?"
"She insisted. She is Vengence, yes, but she is also fair."
"Is she going to punish Darien?"
"No. Even though he hurt us, he protected us all from the wrath of the Fates by stepping into his Father's role. And his anguish is more than punishment enough."
He looked back to Qli-3.
"Go Koen," she said as the light from her reactor dimmed slightly, "what the Steels must do is too dangerous for spectators, even for the gods..."
Koen was tempted to embrace her, but then remembered what the chains had already done to him and two others.
"Goodbye, Sister. Thank you for rescuing me. I will return to..."
Qli-3 smiled, but shook her head sadly.
"You are welcome, brother. Enjoy the family you were denied in peace."
Bloodwing nodded silently to the two nekos as they were consumed by rays as dazzling as the sun. The demon winced from the glare, then looked up at the hovering fleet of golden triremes and sighed.
"Someone in our family gets a happy ending after all."
A similar brilliance shone a moment on the ship in lead formation, and they turned their rudders and unfurled their solar sails to head home.
A cheer rose from the black ships above. A shape descended from the main ship in an irregular spiral. As it grew closer those below could hear the drone of its four insect-like wings. The crustacean-demon landed, it chitinous legs scraping clear lines upon the dusty stones of the station with a grinding echo and a shower of sparks.
His son watched with sadness as K'rra fled with her fellow adventurers. The demon sensed sense in her soul that she believed her love, when he said they would be together again in another life as they always had. Was it not natural for envy to linger in his heart for them?
Darien glanced back at Sekhmet. Surely she must have seemed somewhat familiar to him. But her sidelong glance of twin embers was more than enough to shake him from his combat fatugue. He reluctantly gathered his broken prosthesis and followed the rest.
Vortex approached her mother, trying to recollect the eternal memories of his immortal self. She pulled in her burning claws, and the flames abated. Her fur grew dark save for the ears and paws and tail.
"S...Sumalee? You incarnated as a mortal to birth me as Koen?"
Vortex pulled back the claws of his own demonic form, and he shifted to Bloodtail form as they embraced.
"The gods of the Nile, like many others," she said in a sweet, hushed tone devoid of malice, "are so powerful that our true selves can never be encompassed by solely one form. I was born as the incarnation of Sekhmet, a living goddess to the Bloodtail tribe. My fury alone held all the warring tribes at bay, even when still a kitten. Your mortal grandfather incapacitated me from a long range, that I could not stare him down and burn away his soul before the poison of his dart laid me low. When he pulled my claws from me, my incarnation changed from Sekhmet to my other form...Hathor, the Mother Goddess."
Koen looked at the clawless digits of the semblance of his old form.
"That's why I was born without claws on my hand-claws? I'm only Sekhmet's son when I possess them?"
"Correct, my son. This form is...passive. I knew that when I came of age, you would reincarnate as my child. I would never have denied you that chance."
"When did you become Sekhmet again?"
"The gods...took me back. They said I was needed. Come back to Heliopolis with me, my son. Let us finish a lifetime there...like this. Like it should have been. I have always preferred this form to be honest, though Sekhmet would say the opposite."
"I think I'm the only person here that understands that. Why did she let you become Hathor again?"
"She insisted. She is Vengence, yes, but she is also fair."
"Is she going to punish Darien?"
"No. Even though he hurt us, he protected us all from the wrath of the Fates by stepping into his Father's role. And his anguish is more than punishment enough."
He looked back to Qli-3.
"Go Koen," she said as the light from her reactor dimmed slightly, "what the Steels must do is too dangerous for spectators, even for the gods..."
Koen was tempted to embrace her, but then remembered what the chains had already done to him and two others.
"Goodbye, Sister. Thank you for rescuing me. I will return to..."
Qli-3 smiled, but shook her head sadly.
"You are welcome, brother. Enjoy the family you were denied in peace."
Bloodwing nodded silently to the two nekos as they were consumed by rays as dazzling as the sun. The demon winced from the glare, then looked up at the hovering fleet of golden triremes and sighed.
"Someone in our family gets a happy ending after all."
A similar brilliance shone a moment on the ship in lead formation, and they turned their rudders and unfurled their solar sails to head home.
A cheer rose from the black ships above. A shape descended from the main ship in an irregular spiral. As it grew closer those below could hear the drone of its four insect-like wings. The crustacean-demon landed, it chitinous legs scraping clear lines upon the dusty stones of the station with a grinding echo and a shower of sparks.
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