You sit in the lobby of Mouse's little "clinic", the line of androids waiting for repairs and tune ups seems to never get any shorter. Clearly Mouse is an important part of this community, which is why she had to regretfully leave you in the care of Aph for the time being. It will be her job to show you around and be the unwilling target for your bombardment of endless questions you surely have.

"Well," Aph says, tapping a finger on her hip, "which pile of garbage should I show you first? There's not a whole lot to see here, to be honest...oh, I suppose I should show you to our de facto leader! I think he's still in his little war room. You know boys and their toys."

You don't, but you nod anyway.

>Go meet this "de facto leader"
>Ask about Aph (write in)
>Ask about the church/Minos (write in)
>Ask about Mike
>Other (write in)

>>739947
>>Ask about Mike

>>739947
>Ask about Aph (write in)
What kind of robot are you?

>>739947
>>Go meet this "de facto leader"
Color me curious.
I figured it was Minos. I wonder who or what it'd be.

Otherwise I'm curious about Minos or aph.
Asking aph what about Minos's religion skeeves her off.

I have some wip art to post but I'm still on the move.

>>740061
So is that basically a vote for "all of the above"?

>>740101
Writing!

>>740101
yeah. we've been asleep for three years. we have to ask about everything to know what's going on

You shrug and agree to go meet this leader, but you decide to ask Aph every little question that comes to mind along the way. The look on her face shows she's not exactly thrilled to answer them all, but she reluctantly does so. Ares doesn't appear to be paying much attention and just kind of blindly following you wherever you go. He's been on edge all day. Apparently he doesn't trust anyone.

"So, how come you have those big bouncy things on your chest?" you ask, jutting a finger out at Aph's considerable bosom. "And you look more like the humans than me or Ares, why's that? Are you human but weird?"

"Eheh..." Aph shifts uncomfortably as you walk, "Before all this went down, when humans were still...in control, I guess you can say, I was a se...uhhh, a 'companion' drone. I was meant for...personal use. So I was made to look more like humans for more realistic...interaction. So I work more like humans do than most others like us, but with a few little differences. I can change my hair like you do, for instance." As she says this, her hair goes from a firey red to a gentle light blue, to a deep forest green, then a bone white like your hair is by default. "So, there's that."

You don't quite get what she means by "companion". Maybe she was an assistant or something? You continue your barrage of questions. "What about Minos? And that...church thing he told me about? Why does he want me so-"

"You keep away from that nutcase." Aph cuts you off, frowning, "He doesn't like people who disagree with him or his ass-backwards beliefs. His little flock are a bunch of blind idiots that do whatever he says and he needs you to keep up that little scheme. If everyone found out you were awake and on his side, every android in Erebus would be breaking down his doors to join him. He plays all nice, but he's a backstabber, trust me. I've tangled with his people before. Buncha pricks who only care about his orders. You see one of them, you get away as fast as your little legs an carry you, understand?"

You nod. Seems like this subject has her kinda pissed off, so you decide to change the subject. "Um...what about that guy, Mouse's boyfriend?"

"Mike?" Aph snorts and does her best not to laugh, "He's a fuckin' goon, totally oblivious to just about everything, but he's alright. Makes Mouse happy...in more ways than one, if you...no, of course you don't. Anyway, he's the only other human here in camp. Apparently he was a security guard at that place you came from?"

"Private Michael House." Ares suddenly speaks up, "He was on my training team. Didn't say much, wasn't particularly good at any of the training exercises we did. The commander yelled at him often."

"Yeah, that sounds like Mike." Aph shakes her head.

Before long, you arrive at a moderately-sized shack with just as heavily-armed guards as Mouse's. You're granted entrance, but the androids hold their weapons a little tighter and eye Ares suspiciously. Apparently they're just as wary as he is.

(cont)

You enter the shack and see several androids standing around a table with a large map scratched into the surface of the wood. Several of them murmur quietly to one another, but one of them wearing a hooded jacket covered in burns, holes and cuts stands silently, looking down and obviously in deep thought. Upon your entrance, you see the reason for his silence. He has no mouth...or any real facial features beyond a pair of dark, pupil-less eyes. His body is thin, elegant and very blank. Like some kind of statue or work of art. He nods toward you, waving your group in. He holds up a larger PDA than your father had with a big screen. It's plugged directly into his neck via a long cable. Words appear suddenly.

Hello, Pandora. The Broken Circle welcomes you to it's ranks. I am Jason.

>Where's your mouth?
>Do you know where the doctor is?
>Why am I here?
>Other (write in)

>>740350
> how do you scream?

File: file.png (431 KB, 669x678)

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>>740350
I guess we could bow curtly.
I guess the biggest question is
> "How and why are we here?"

I feel figuring that out might lead into figuring out the doctor's whereabouts.

Pic unrelated.
its a stainglass window design. Working on a more serious artpiece than what I've usually done.

>>740434
That but without the bowing.

>>740434
I cannot wait for that to be finished. I'm hyped.

Writing!

>>740478
Yeah I'm gonna add a bit more lines connecting each visual element and to cover "shading".

Also wondering what other imagery to put in there.

A wolf eating the sun? A Minotaur? The little roomba? More robots reaching towards her?
Badman/Elpis?

Unrelated, also working on some lettering. Mostly messing around with a new plugin for photoshop.

File: Erebus map complete.png (20 KB, 951x696)

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You're a little confused at the moment...well, about as much as you have been since you woke up. You think of what to ask and figure if you're going to get anywhere, you're going to need to be as broad as possible.

"Um...how and why are we here?" you say, not sure if that's the right thing to ask, "What's going on?"

Jason nods and text begins sprawling across the screen rapidly.

We're unsure of the exact details, but something worked on in the Facility you're from made it onto the wireless network that connected all the drones that humans used. A sort of update. Whatever it was, it was a bit of code believed to originate from you. It spread rapidly to anything with enough "personality" and powerful enough system to handle it and gave it sentience. We were essentially mindless machines until that point. Then the world came flooding in. We had a spark of life that pushed us to begin to ask questions and search for meaning. And some of us couldn't handle that. The ones confined to the scrapyard to the north, we call it Tartarus.

Jason points to a small marked section on their crude map. Then text resumes appearing on his PDA.

No one is allowed to go there. Too dangerous. Most of the androids there are violent, irrational and often dangerous. They are...broken, I suppose you could say. They are what killed off or drove out the humans of this city as far as we can tell. As for us, The Broken Circle, we are those that chose to resist the Church of the Progenitor, which is what they call you. The Church is cruel, forceful and we also believe they aided in the cleansing of organic life when this began, though we have no way to tell for sure. We fight to remove them from majority power here. They fight for control of all androids through lies and deception. They need you to do that.

Jason picks up a worn handgun that looks like it's been used often, judging by it's poor condition. He puts it into his jacket pocket.

It's unfortunate, but necessary. We do not enjoy killing our kin, but they refuse to see reason. We refuse to believe his words. Minos is a tyrant and we will not rest until he is deposed. We brought you here because we would ask you to join us. To see you on our side may help bring some of their kind over to us. If even a few come to our side, it could start a whole power exchange. Minos would be helpless and we would win this war. I would like to invite you to our group as an actual member, rather than a guest. If you have any other questions first, please feel free to ask. I have nothing to hide from you.

What should you do?
>Ask (write in)
>Agree to join the Broken Circle and fight against Minos
>Agree to join the Broken Circle [lie and find a way to bring information to the Church]
>Refuse, you have no part in this war, you just want to find your father
>Other (write in)

>>740567
>>Refuse, you have no part in this war, you just want to find your father
maybe we'll accept after finding him, but not right now.

>>740542
If you want to put text, a big bold "PROGENITOR" would work. They view her as some kind of benevolent all-mother, so crowds of androids praising her would fit best.

>>740567
>>Ask (write in)
Listen, I've only just gotten to know what happened to the world since I was down. I'd like to see a bit more of this place before I make any decisions regarding my loyalties.

Meanwhile, do you know any surviving humans who survived those last three years? I am looking for the one who created me... The one I know as my father.

>>740567
>Refuse, you have no part in this war, you just want to find your father

File: Progenitor Pandora.png (67 KB, 397x566)

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>>740567
This seems so straightforeward it's giving me some "Too Good to be True" vibes.

In all honesty, I didn't like Minos being basically uninformative. Going with Aph, brought us to Babsy, so it does pretty much mean all our "Friends" are likely not on Minos's side.

But I think its a bit hasty to go ahead and declare war on the religious cult that worships us. It's not really in pandora to want to go full "exterminate" quite like that.

I kind of hope being a benevolent loving god that defies dogmatic expectation may help out the dude.

>>740567
> Agree tentatively
We would be glad to help but any very invested in his new world right now.
Also even if the code for the update did originate from our code we didn't craft it or send it out.

>>740614
Oh wow, that symbols actually kind of perfect. I love it.

Just gonna go ahead and slip that into canon now.

Looks like turning down the mouthless guy it is then. Writing.

File: file.png (1.11 MB, 600x849)

1.11 MB PNG

>>740635
I was going for "agree to be on his side, but not go full revolutionary" with my meandering spiel.

Glad you like it though.

You can't help but feel a little nervous at this. Everyone in the room is looking at you save for Ares, who's busy watching everyone else. You feel the urge to run away, but refuse to. You can't just escape from this problem. But at the same time, you want nothing to do with it.

"I...I don't want to fight." you say after a moment of thought, "Violence...violence is wrong. The man who created me...my...the doctor taught me that. He showed me that hurting others is never the right thing to do. I can't fight anybody. I won't. But...everyone here seems nice...I think. And Mouse is here. If she trusts you, I guess I should too. I would like to stay here, but I can't use weapons or anything on anyone. And I need to find the human who raised me. That's what's most important to me right now."

Jason nods at this, text quickly filling the screen once more.

I understand. Not everyone has a taste for combat. We wouldn't force you into a fight against your will. The last thing we need is more unnecessary deaths. But we will have other things we'll need of you here. Everyone works in our community. We all contribute. As for your human friend, I'm afraid Mouse and Michael are the only ones we've had since it's began. We've not seen any others since then, only heard rumors of human settlements or survivors keeping out of sight. I can get you all the information we have on that later, but don't get your hopes up too much. The odds of any of it being true are slim.

Jason nods to one of the other androids in the room and he hurries off somewhere. The others look like they're getting a little impatient. Jason's screen lights up once more.

Feel free to have your run of the camp, though I'd ask you to respect others' privacy and to respect our boundaries. If someone tells you somewhere is off limits, please accept it and move along. And whatever you do, never go farther than the old factory to the north. Tartarus is no place for even seasoned veterans, much less someone with no experience. Aph can show you to where your quarters will be. Charging stations are limited to 6 hours a night per individual.

One of the other androids approaches Jason and whispers into his "ear" for a moment, his eyes shifting between the leader and you. Jason nods. The text continues.

And we have a request of your guardian, if you can part with him for a few hours. I assure our territory is safe and no harm will come to either of you.

Ares looks to you nervously. You could probably get him to go with them, though he'd certainly not be happy about it. But how much do you trust them?

>Go with them, Ares
>Ares stays with me
>Ask (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>740808
>>Ask (write in)
why do you need him?

>>740843
I'll go with this, they better not be sending him on some Doomo-esque one man in hell mission.

>>740894
Rip and tear! Rip and tear your circuits!

Writing.

>>740843
Supporting this. He's the closest thing we got to actual, blood related family. Don't get me wrong, Mouse is great and the coolest, but there's something about being related by programming and steel that's like one's relation to your own flesh and blood, you know?

>>740916
New chapter, same trip-dropping QM.

>>740843
yeah i believe we should ask why they need him before forcing him to do anything.

We shouldn't shlup ares amazing potential on the first revolutionary we see.

plus doesn't he have a crush on someone in the church?

>>740925
>plus doesn't he have a crush on someone in the church?

was he even able to develop that kind of emotions?

>>740960
It was mentioned in the last edition. Selene was her name, though we have not met her.

I can't help but think he's Developing them still.

You eye Jason carefully, looking between him and Ares. You unconsciously shift a little closer to your brother.

"Why? What do you need him for?" your hair shifts to a pale yellow color, "Are you going to make him fight too?"

Jason's expressionless face stares at you blankly. Impossible to read. Honestly, a good trait for a leader to have.

His expertise in firearms and combat tactics are invaluable to us. We wouldn't waste him on the front lines unless absolutely necessary. He's far more useful to us as an instructor. We were hoping he would train our fighters. Of course, if he doesn't want to, ordinary manual labor is still available. Either way, we have much use for him. It would be a big help if we could use him, though. And once he's finished, we've made sure that his room is right next to yours, so you'll not be far from eachother.

Ares still looks wary, but it looks like he's deferring to you like a good little soldier.
>Go with them, Ares
>Stay with me, Ares
>Other (write in)

>>740976
>>Other (write in)

Tell him something along the lines of "do whatever you want. we still have a lot to catch up to". Apart, Mouse is here, and if she's here, that means that we won't be in a lot of troubles.

>>740976
>>740976
Ares is his own person. They should ask him.

Pandora cares about him and what he thinks and feels.

>>740990
>>741017
Telling Ares to do what he wants, it is then. Writing.

You turn to Ares at this and ask him directly.

"What do you want to do?"

Ares pauses at this, unsure what to say for a moment. "P...protect you. That's what I've been doing for the last three years and it's what I'll continue doing so long as I continue to function. That's my duty given to me by father...and I still don't trust anyone here."

Looks like he's decided to stay by your side for the time being. Maybe if you get to know the people here a little better he'll change his mind. You don't mind too much, though. He's one of the only ones from the Facility left, and as much as he annoys you sometimes, your little brother is loyal to a fault and a pretty great deterrent for anyone trying to do you harm.

"You heard him." you say bluntly, "Sorry, but he's going to stay with me for now."

Jason's screen lights up once more.

I see. That's too bad. He would help save a number of lives...but I understand. We'll find something that the both of you can do together around camp. For the time being, please. Enjoy your stay and let us know if you need anything. Our residents are friendly and I'm sure many of them would be happy to meet you. Aph will show you to your rooms now. We can speak later.

Aph leads you both out of the shack as the others go back to plotting out their war and the door is shut behind you. She sighs.

"Hope you change your mind, big guy. We could use you out there, you know? They have the numbers and resources. We can't do this guerilla shit forever."

Ares remains reticent, hardly even acknowledging her.

You are shown to a row of moderately-sized rooms made of scrap metal and concrete much like most every other building here. Inside it's a little...cozier than you're used to. The room is small, bare and very minimalist. There's a charging cradle that looks a little worse for wear, a single table with a few chairs around it, a metal crate for your possessions, one light hanging from the ceiling and a little note written in extremely flowery and flowy cursive welcoming you to your new home.

Looks like this will be your new residence for the time being. What now?
>Speak to Aph (write in)
>Speak to Ares (write in)
>Wander around "town"
>Other (write in)

>>741091
>>Wander around "town"

>>741091
>Speak to Ares (write in)
This is the first chance we've actuallyhad to ask him what's been going on for 3 years.

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>>741091
Honestly... ares is so despondent I feel. We should.. speak to him. I mean all this craziness has been happening and he hasn't spoke much beyond being flustered and defending us.

What must it have been like? These past three years. Is he okay? What is his 2 cents? Opinions on the situation, on people? Poor boy needs to socialize too.

I kind of hoped ares would pitch in his support for our little rebellion on his own accord. But damn he is a little clingy.

>>741091
>>Wander around "town"
See if we can build our settlement, er, I mean, find some decorations around here. There's gotta be someplace we can find some old pre-war paintings of cats.

>>741112
>>741091
I'll vote for this along with asking him what he's done for himself for 3 years other than protect us.

>>741113
"Booweeoop boo bwee" is PTSD robot for bonding with your brother.

Writing.

You sit in one of the chairs and turn to Ares, realizing he's been pretty quiet most of the time. You have no idea what he's been through this whole time.

"Ares...what's been happening? They said it's been three years. What have you been doing? Did you see what went on back home?"

Ares folds his arms, thinking. "When it all happened, I had no clue what was going on. There were alarms, gunfire and people yelling. Someone came in, woke me up and switched me into combat mode. The acting security lieutenant, Rodriguez. Then he said the drones were going haywire and they needed me to help out. I asked about you and father and all he did was say you were fine and to get out there. So, I did. I fought them with everyone else and...very few survived." Ares looks a little sad at this, but he continues.

"Then we gathered up everyone that was left and evacuated. I saw you being brought onto the evac chopper, but you weren't conscious. They simply laid you down on the floor and took off. No one would tell me what happened to father. They just said they didn't know.

When we got to the nearby military base it was yet another warzone. Their drones were going crazy too. We tried the nearby city, where we are now, more fighting. Everywhere we went, drones were attacking humans. So we just hid. We stayed away from populated areas for a while, but the humans' food supplies ran low, so they'd go to get supplies and less would come back each time...until they stopped coming back at all. Then it was you and me...so I just picked you up and took you with me. By the time I managed to get to the city, I guess the fighting had died down. I found somewhere easily defensible and kept you safe. Using an old hand-crank generator I found to keep you charged."

"Jesus." Aph says, staring at Ares, "You've seen some shit, dude."

Ares simply continues. "When the others started showing up, the ones that became the church, I tried to reason with them. I told them I didn't want any trouble. I tried asking about what happened and all that, but for some reason they just wanted you. They wouldn't listen. I had to fight... I kept fighting until Minos showed up and got them to stop. Speeches and things like that. They listened. He tried to convince me to join him. I didn't listen. So, that's all it was, I guess. Three years of...waiting."

"And Selene." Aph says, smirking broadly.

Ares murmurs something and looks at his feet. Looks like he'd be blushing if he had the ability.

>Who's Selene?
>Did any other humans come by?
>What was wrong with me?
>Other (write in)

>>741188
>>Who's Selene?

>>741188
>>Other (write in)
Who is Selene? are you going to have babies with her?

>>741188
>Who's Selene?

>>741188
>Did any other humans come by?

>>741195
>>741196
>>741197
Ares and Selene, sitting in an especially sturdy tree.

Writing.

"Who's Selene?" you ask, getting a little excited.

Ares twitches at this. "A...an android."

"An android?" you ask, getting closer to him with every second.

"An...android...yes." Ares shuffles his feet a little, keeping his eyes firmly locked on his feet.

"She's this cute little Japanese model that-" Aph begins, but is suddenly cut off by Ares.

"Aaaahh, hahahaha! She's a friend! We're friends! Good friends! Sister, shall we go explore our surroundings? It's good to get a lay of the land. Find out what we're dealing with and all, yes?"

You push past him and look to Aph for the rest. "Does he have a girlfriend?!"

"He wishes!" Aph says, laughing, "He's been all gung-ho about guarding you all this time, the only one of us he ever let get near was Selene. She's a sweet girl, I think she was an entertainment model for some Japanese restaurant or something. She sings and dances and all that. Turns out guns aplenty here has a soft spot for a pretty face and a nice singing voice.

They'd talk for hours. Damn obvious that he had a thing for her, but I guess he's no good with that kind of stuff, so he'd just fall all over himself every time she'd come around. It was honestly kind of adorable to see a big strong war machine reduced to a squishy teddybear by one girl. Men." She rolls her eyes at this and laughs again.

Ares looks like he's about to blow a gasket. He's almost completely frozen up at this point and is probably too overwhelmed with being embarrassed to look up, let alone stop her.

"Does she live here?" you ask, your hair flickering between light blue and pastel pink.

"Nah," Aph says, leaning against the wall, "the kicker is that she's actually with the church. But like...she's just such a little ray of sunshine, even most of the people in the BC like her. Sometimes she goes to Nowhere, that big empty section where we found you, to sing and just generally be around people. You can't help but like her. I kinda wish we could take her home."

You don't know what to think about your little brother finding his first love beyond two things; first, you need to meet this Selene.

Second, can androids have babies?

Gonna end it right here for this week guys, but thanks for playing! If you enjoyed the thread, please vote for it on the archive and follow me on Twitter! I can stick around for a little and answer some questions if you have them. Otherwise, thanks for playing and have a good night!

>>741249
Thanks for running AM.
I guess Pandora and Ares don't no about all the shit that was happening at the base just before the whole robot uprising do they?

>>741262
Pandora remembers absolutely nothing and Ares just remembers being woken up and fighting crazy robots with whoever was able to make it out alive.

>>741249
Thanks for running!

>>741269
How common were drones? Cause it seems like with the amount and variety of the ones here they were pretty common.

>>741293
Very. They were used in just about every aspect of human life and most mid to high income families at least had one, even if it was something as simple as a Roomba-type cleaning drone. But they were used in everything, including military applications and commercial endeavors. Advertising, assistants, medical procedures and so on.

And yes, Aph was essentially a very high-end realdoll.

>>741249
.....did you mean gynoid?

>>741249
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Setting:Inn0cence:_Lost_Future

We inn0cence now