nedofpies: (| stopwatch)
nedofpies ([personal profile] nedofpies) wrote in [community profile] kore_logs2013-07-06 05:00 pm

[open] a friend in need's a friend indeed

Who: Ned and OPEN
What: Random encounters & fallout from dream-walking tomfoolery
Where: House 20, the garden, anywhere around town
When: Day 89

It's been a long week. A long, mostly-sleepless, weird week during which Ned has seen far more of his friends' and neighbors' subconsciouses than he would have liked to. Plus, a creepy city made of crystals that everyone seems to have seen, but no one will claim as their own. Shady stuff. Today, he is determined to wear himself out. Perhaps if he's tired enough, whatever mojo the men behind the curtain have put on him won't be strong enough to stir him out of a deep and dreamless sleep.

It's probably a futile tactic, but he can't just do nothing.

So he is a bustle of activity - cleaning the house, walking around town, checking on the crops to see if they are holding up well (carefully, with an eye for any enterprising tigers roaming too close to the edge of the forest), keeping an eye out for new faces and an ear out for rumors of missing ones.
zen_navigator: (by the way | smartass)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-13 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Observe the circular growth pattern." He points out to where the line of mushrooms circles around a tree and back while he digs with his other hand into his a pocket for a handkerchief. "A fairy ring. I'm not usually quite so whimsical, but since there are people from a variety of realities here, sabre tooth tigers and robotic bears, i'd say it's within the realm of possibility to surmise that the fairy ring actually is a portal to another dimension."

He snaps one of the mushrooms off into the handkerchief, observes the result for a moment, then shoves the protected mass back into his pocket. He'd like to consult with one of the garden club to see if they've got edible mushrooms growing here. That is, if it's not a dangerous portal to another world.

As swiftly as he can manage, he stands and gives Ned a shove into the circle. What? He wasn't going to test it himself. When nothing happens, he shrugs. "Well then. No portal, but maybe something good to throw in a frying pan." He pats his pocket and grins at Ned. Potentially shoving him into an alternate universe is alright, right? "I'll have to consult with someone who knows far more about mushrooms than I."
zen_navigator: (by the way | smartass)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-14 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Death cap, you say." Dirk pulls a face, distastefully pulls the handkerchief from his pocket and holds up the corner so that the mushroom can fall out without the nasty business of actually touching something called a death cap. Really, Ned should have warned him about that sooner.

That done, he looks up to locate Ned only to see that he's stomping away. "Hey, wait."

Since the best that he's done so far here is fail to find dangerous animals in favor of finding dangerous fungus, Dirk is pretty done here at the moment, too. He jogs the few steps needed to catch up to Ned and thrusts his hand at him, offering a handshake. "We were never formerly introduced. I'm Dirk Gently. Holistic Detective, by trade."
zen_navigator: (by the way | smartass)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-19 09:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Holistically as in comprehensive. As anyone familiar with quantum mechanics will be thrilled to inform you, everything is connected - from the most basic of particles to the machinations of global megapowers. I simply follow the interconnected web of events and am led, inevitably, to the correct solution."

Dirk tucks his handkerchief back into a pocket, then tucks his hands behind them as they walk. "The agency has been doing well for itself lately. Pity I've gone and gotten captured by evil forces beyond my control. MacDuff will be useless without me." And, well, he already misses the giant stork of a man, no matter how frustrating he may have been. For one, Dirk is now lacking in a valuable sounding board, business partner, and tea-maker.

He casts a glance in Ned's direction, sizing him up. Getting back to London seems unfeasible at the moment, and Ned might do well as a temporary replacement. That is, if he's suitable for the work. "This...person that you care for. Do they often stop you from involving yourself in situations that might be dangerous or interesting?"
zen_navigator: (Default)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-24 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Business partner," Dirk clarifies, while at the same time finding a rock in the underbrush to kick along. The rock has better things to do. It gives a half-hearted hop before getting back to its no doubt very serious business of sitting around. Dirk lets it sit.

He's much more interested in the sudden revelation that Ned's friend doesn't seem to be human. He hasn't met everyone in town yet, but he's willing to make an educated guess that his friend is the robot he'd been talking to earlier. "Is he the..." He pauses, trying to remember what he had called himself. "humaniform robot? Daniel? Daneel?"
zen_navigator: (by the way | smartass)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-25 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Not face to face." Dirk unclasps his hands from behind his back in order to tap at his video watch. "He was asking about personhood and I had some insight to offer on the subject."

Dirk takes a few steps, while thinking over his interactions with Daneel. He had seemed to be human, to have his own motivations. After all, why would he be asking about personhood if he didn't? "Daneel. He's...more than a robot, isn't he." He tips his head to the side, raising his eyebrows in thought as he contradicts himself mentally. He's just reminded himself that really just about anything can be programmed in if you have enough space for the data. "Or at least sufficiently advanced to present as human."
zen_navigator: (baww)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-25 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"I..." He pauses, not sure exactly how to continue, or how much he wants to tell Ned. This is a fairly personal subject, after all.

"I knew someone in a similar situation. Not a robot. An artificial intelligence transplanted into the body of a young woman. She was..." He huffs out an embarrassed laugh and clasps his hands behind his back once again. "amazing. She wanted so badly to be human, but she was more than that. Something new. Better." Their differences on the subject may very well be semantic rather than philosphical. Dirk doesn't see anything wrong with Daneel being a robot, including whatever hangups come with that. Mostly, he's interested in how Daneel himself feels about being human.

"I told your friend that I thought it was the wanting that made her more than a machine." He smiles, though it's a sad smile, tipping his head down to watch his feet as he continues. "Wanting a life, wanting...me." He coughs, redirecting himself back to question. "Even if she had not succeeded in making it to the body, she would still have been something more. The fact that she felt it was what mattered."
zen_navigator: (Default)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-07-26 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Blaming Dirk's personality on an awkward sense on humour is, perhaps, giving him too much credit, but Ned is right to note a different sort of tenderness when he talks about Jane. She had been exactly what he'd needed, at a time when he'd been doubting himself the most, and he'll always be grateful to her for that.

"Jane. They named the artificial intelligence MAX, but she called herself Jane." Even after he'd figured out who and what she was, he wasn't very inclined to call her Max. She'd chosen to call herself Jane, so why would he call her anything else? It occurs to him belatedly that he's speaking of her in past tense, which might give the impression that she'd died. He clarifies quickly, "She left. To travel."

His smile at remembering Jane fades as Ned begins to describe the future from which Daneel hails. It doesn't sound like a particularly good place to come from, especially for Daneel, or for any robot. "Your friend said he wanted to be something more than what he is."

He shakes his head. "No," He corrects himself as he tries to recall his conversation with the robot, "Something greater. What do you think he meant by that?"
zen_navigator: (eyebrows)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-08-02 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
"I can see how that'd throw him for the proverbial loop. Or the causal loop."

He takes a moment to think over the information chunk Ned's just dropped on him. It's odd to think of Daneel being in service to humans when he already seems so much like one. "To protect and serve." He huffs out a chuckle. "So with all the new input, is he still protecting and serving the local population of humans?" It would explain why he'd been so helpful, but Dirk doesn't know how he feels about someone with Daneel's doubts and self-proclaimed desires continuing to see himself as something dependent on humanity for a purpose. "Is he serving you?"
Edited 2013-08-02 04:41 (UTC)
zen_navigator: (by the way | smartass)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-08-04 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
"That's...good." He glances sideways at Ned, taking in his sudden fidgety weirdness. At the best of times, Dirk isn't particularly good with social cues. Any implication of a romantic relationship is going to have to be shoved in his face before he gets it, but it'd be hard to miss this new strangeness.

The most interesting part to Dirk is how is seems Daneel has singled Ned out for, if not preferential treatment, at least some sort of exclusion. It could just mean that they are good friends, but he wonders if that means that Ned isn't entirely human, either. "What makes you different than the rest of the humans here?"
zen_navigator: (welp)

[personal profile] zen_navigator 2013-08-05 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh. Right." Well, that clarifies quite a few things, starting with why Daneel had been so protective of Ned and ending with why Ned wants to make Daneel happy.

It doesn't bode very well for the possibility of making Ned his interim partner. People who are attached usually have more pesky qualms about throwing themselves into difficult situations in the name of progress. And then their partners have even more qualms. Nonetheless, he can respect the relationship. As far as he knows, both men are more or less reasonable and not at all apt to make plans to move to Cambridge without notice.

"How long have you been...dating?" Yeah, he's going to go with dating here. Normally he wouldn't ask, but he's trying to figure out the extent of the situation.
Edited 2013-08-05 01:22 (UTC)