Avatar of Stern Algorithm

Status

Recent Statuses

7 yrs ago
Current Lots of guests coming and going in the next few weeks. I apologize in advance if I lag in posting
1 like
7 yrs ago
Traveling for a week, and may not keep up with RPs. Thank you for your patience.
3 likes
8 yrs ago
Been busy and scatterbrained this week, and behind on RPs. Please excuse my delay in posting.
1 like
9 yrs ago
Got back from a two-week vacation overseas. Give me some time to catch up with RPs. Thank you for your patience!
3 likes
9 yrs ago
I'll be going on a two week vacation starting tomorrow and don't know how often I'll have Internet access. Thank you for your patience. I'll try to be more regular when I get back.

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

A R S E N I O





โ€œPerhaps something of a different nature would be more interesting to you? Someone with a vocabulary such as yours must be interested in a more advanced reading. Have you intentions of joining the Scholar Guild when you come of age? Or have you another gift? How about this one instead? It was one of my favorites when I was younger, and I still hold a piece of it dearly in my heart. Will this be a better fit for you, or would you prefer the ah, shall I say, younger reading? For appearanceโ€™s sake. My name is Amidale. Alexander Damien Amidale. Should you need assistance again, with anything at all, for the remainder of this evening, I shall likely be with the blond, mustached gentleman for a bit, though I shall remain in this library should I leave his side, seeing as it is theโ€ฆleastโ€ฆdrab, out of the rest of the decorated estate.


"I'm aiming to be a craftsman," Arsenio replied with a well-practiced child-like innocence, though he did come to the realization that he had difficulty masking his intelligence and that this Alexander had seen through it. This was likely due to the Institute's training for all evil geniuses to flout their intellect as much as possible, and since Arsenio had only crashed a few subterfuge courses at Madame Geraldine's, his skill at pretending to be humble and unassuming were in need of polishing. "I will try the book you suggested, sir. Father is often telling me how quickly I learn." Taking the book that Alexander offered rather than the one he had originally requested, Arsenio flipped it open just to take a quick glance at the first few pages and the literary style, earnestly interested in the book that the older man had proposed. Arsenio took this moment to rate Alexander. Alexander had seemed honest enough, and genuine in his desire to help. Arsenio could tell that Alexander knew that everything was not as it seemed with Arsenio, picking up on the child's intelligence fairly quickly. Alexander could have just shooed Arsenio away, but he didn't.

In the meantime, several more people entered, none of which Arsenio knew, save Professor Grey. Given what he knew about her area of expertise, Arsenio could only surmise that the objective of this mission hit uncomfortably close to home, given Arsenio's true nature. As Alexander went off with the man named Finnegan, leaving Professor Grey to deal with the vapid-looking Evelyn woman, Arsenio took this as an ideal opportunity t o'switch dance partners' and to engage with his professor. Normally, Arsenio would not reveal that he and Professor Grey knew each other, given the nature of this meeting, it only made sense to keep one's cards close to one's chest, but the prospect that this mission might have something to do with automatons made Arsenio uncomfortable, and he subconsciously sought the alleviate that discomfort with the help of his former teacher. Closing up the book and keeping it under his arm, Arsenio strolled right up to Alyssana, Evelyn, and Lottie. "Professor Grey!" Arsenio called out, "What a pleasant surprise to see you at this gathering." Turning to Evelyn and Charlotte, Arsenio added, "Miladies," before turning back to Alyssana. Though Arsenio smiled, there was some unease visible in his eyes.
Since the defeat of Homeworld forces, Amber had been living in seclusion, afraid of what the rebels might do to her, given her position of regional governor-in-training. But there was only so much solitude one could tolerate, and when this signal was emitted, Amber wondered if Homeworld was returning. If not, and she ran into other, rebel gems, well, Amber would rather attempt to parley with them and beg for her life than spend another century alone.

Amber approached the monolith. Looking around at the barren wasteland, she wondered if she was the first one here, or if others had already entered. Amber attempted to open the door, unsure if it still worked after all this time.
Ping Hai waited quietly at the port for the human ship to undock and leave with her. Her mental model stood at the prow at attention, her sharp red eyes scrutinizing the humans that milled about in the land. "So far, so good," She thought to herself. She was able to leave Shinano's stealth field and make it to the port without incident, but it was the return journey, with a frail human ship in tow, that worried her. Like many of her sisters, Ping Hai didn't fully trust the humans yet. She was certain that had she been captured during that one incident when she was still with the Fleet of Fog with her sister, that she would have been dissected and experimented upon mercilessly. She could tell how opportunistic these humans were from the few battles she'd fought with them. Intelligent and resourceful, they will exploit the slightest advantage given them. She also didn't believe that they truly desired peace. After all, it was the Fleet of Fog that adopted Mental Models in order to emulate human thinking, initially intended as a a way of understanding their tactics, but one could argue that it allowed the Fleet ships to empathize. So if the humans desired peace, how come they didn't use their nanomachines to create ship-shaped mental models in order to empathize with Fog ships? Ping Hai chalked it up to arrogance.

Regardless, Ping Hai would carry out her orders and trust in Shinano's judgment. Ping Hai wanted an end to the fighting and a way to locate her sister ship. Maybe she'll ask some of the humans if they'd seen her.
@shylarah

For the first three years of his life, Arsenio spent his time maturing mentally, and under police surveillance, labelled as 'contraband' until his father was able to clear everything out legally. He was then enrolled at the Institute and graduated in four years. He has spent a year working at his father's consulting company.


To refresh my own memory, I went to check my CS if I had a Polytechnic attendance timeline. As it turns out, I had the above stashed in a hider somewhere (probably because it was a last-minute requested edit to get the CS approved), so his time at the Institute aligns with Professor Grey's time there.
@Letter Bee I don't mind either way
@shylarah I don't, mind. I was planning on getting a post up, but I might be a day or two, so if you'd like, go ahead. I had intended that Arsenio graduated.
Sorry. For the wait. Been busy. Should get a post up in a day or so
"You're thinking right but.. we do not inhabit a normal world. Our world would never allow these types of things. A train track would be exquisite if there were towns nearby to start with. But...why settle for a train when, together, we could create a series of gateways across the continent and teleport anyone or anything. Instantly! We would need metal, gemstones, our scrolls! Dozens for a single gate! The archeway would need to be immense and well secured. Do you think we can do it?"


"Hmm..." Brunhillde pondered for a moment, "It should certainly be possible, assuming the laws of architectural crafting have carried over, similar to how the laws of item crafting have."

"If I may interrupt," Omniac suddenly declared, "From what I can gather from the cacophany within the guildhall, at the location of Lady Tea and the others, the breach in the defenses seems to lead to a cave into the mountain. perhaps the required resources can be gathered there?"

"True, we should get plenty of stone and metal that way, but higher rarity items may be more difficult, like magic gems. Either we'll have to trade for it, find where they can actually be mined, or perhaps craft it ourselves. I think it's a grand idea, but..." Brunhillde had certain misgivings. Magic, obviously, was something that was poorly understood, at least for modern day humans in the real world, so it was not something she wanted to rely upon completely. She was reminded of how solar maximums, EMPs, or simple power outages could knock out electronics, surely anti-magic capabilities existed alongside magic as a necessity for shutting down mages or dangerous enchantments. In the end, as an engineer, Brunhillde took comfort in the knowable, physical realm. Still, she wasn't going to let her obsession with the physical obstruct her from trying every possibility. "Maybe we can have alternative forms of mass transportation in the interim until the project is complete, or as a backup in case the magic of the portals malfunctions. Besides, a network of magical gateways is too powerful to let fall into the wrong hands. If we recruit people to help us gather resources, it would make sense to give them access only to mundane forms of transportation. There is also the advantage of having a form of technology that we alone understand."
So, umm, how 'fake' are the fake cars in the city block area? Do they have axles? Engine blocks? Gas? If the cars are completely fake, what other machinery is available for Dieselpunk to fuse with?
A R S E N I O





"To the esteemed Mister Hermes Lennard-Jones:

You are cordially invited to Supreme Commander Phillip Osborne's estate for a masquerade ball being held in honor of his daughter's twentieth birthday, to be hosted on the twenty-fifth of March, in the year eighteen-hundred and ninety-two.

You have been invited because your 'son' is being 'requested' to serve on 'official business' on 'behalf' of the city with some of the city's most talented individuals. We humbly request that you confirm your 'son's' 'commitment' by attending the ball. The library should be of particular interest.

Sincerely,
Supreme Commander Phillip Osborne
Minister of the Legionnaire Guild"




Arsenio read the letter, noticing the thinly veiled draft notice poorly hidden behind obvious apostrophes. Was it even proper grammar to use three apostrophes like that in the word 'son's'? Arsenio looked up at his father, who seemed a nervous wreck, covering his eyes with his hands as if he were suffering from a migraine.

"This was the deal," Arsenio said flatly.

"I know," Hermes replied shakily, though knowledge of the matter did not make it any easier to swallow.

"I was trained by the best," Arsenio continued, trying to ease his father's fears.

"I know."

"I love you, Father."

"...I know..."



Hermes and Arsenio walked through the lackluster event. As a craftsman without nobility, fallen from grace, the different in status between Hermes and the other party-attendees was palatable, as pleasantries were exchanged in a more one-sided fashion. Hermes essentailly rushed Arsenio through the hall to get this over with, greeting the Supreme Commander and his daughter at the end of it. There was no showing emotion here as they had already said there goodbyes before coming. "Arsenio, why don't you go run along now, the Supreme Commander and I have important matters to discuss," Hermes said.

"Yes, Father," Arsenio replied, giving a small bow and heading off. Arsenio headed straight to the library, avoiding other children (though there weren't many) so as not to get dragged into some banal playtime. When he reached the doors, he slowed down and wandered in, as if her were just exploring the house, feigning amusement and wonder at the well-kept library. Though he was, in truth, rather impressed by the collection, a certain degree of his amazement was forced to seem more child-like. Before revealing himself completely to these people, who were almost undoubtedly his future comrades, he wanted to first see how much of their true natures he could get them to divulge. Taking a few staggered steps over to a bookshelf, he looked up at a book that had a tittle that seemed appropriate to what a child of his appearance might be interested in reading, one that was just too far out of his reach. Looking over at the tall man with long golden hair, Arsenio pleaded, "Please, kind sir, this book has caught my eye, and I would so love to peruse it, but I unfortunately cannot reach it. If it pleases you, would you mind helping me to attain it?" While step-stools and sliding ladders abounded, Arsenio wanted to see how these people reacted to a child in need. Would they tell him to just get the book himself? Would they just get it for him? Or would they playfully lift him up to grab the book himself (a difficult affair, considering Arsenio's deceptive weight)? Or would they see right through his act?
© 2007-2026
BBCode Cheatsheet