You examine yourself, thoroughly enough. Your fingers, all four of them, are constructed of rusted metal, arranged with loose nuts, bolts, and assorted screws. A series of pneumatic pumps allow you to move them. You can grip, you can ungrip, you can wiggle your arms back and forth. Your elbows and shoulders are constructed similarly.

You grab a handful of grass, loosely, and pull yourself up. Your legs are the same as your arms, or similar enough, in construction, with three long toes in the front and a fourth toe emerging from your heel, for gripping. Your torso is a series of two rotund cylinders interlocked with each other, to allow for bending at the stomach, your hips attached to allow bending at the waist.

As far as you can tell, from feeling, your head is a similar, bucket-sort-of shape, with a wider top than a bottom. A circular panel of some kind is affixed to the top of your head, like hair - when you cover it with your fingers, you feel a sense of lethargy hit your circuits for a short moment before your internal batteries kick in and the tiredness disappears.

You look around, and come to your feet, in the reverse order. To your left is a stone-and-brick construct, with slight corners that indicate you are where the interior once stood. Several brick arches allow windows into the outside. You will call this direction "East", for now. Past the wall is a thick canopy that grows denser until it disappears beyond your field of view in blackness.

To your right ("West") is open forest, thinner than the Eastern side, allowing more sunlight through. In the distance, you spot a swell in tree elevation that could either be a hill, or something making the trees grow taller.

To the South (behind you), you see the point where the two forests converge into a medium-thinness one. You think you hear some kind of noise, but your auditory processors aren't capable of clarifying it for you.

To the North is an extension of the thick forest.

Above you is the sun.

Below you is the ground.

Energy: 50/100
Water: 50/100

>>2720194
Welcome to Lost in Green, and please ignore the human in the OP picture, because I didn't look closely enough and missed him myself.

In this quest, you are a rusty robot looking for purpose and clarity as to where you are, who you are, why you are, and when you are. Consider it a kind of mystery-slash-survival quest.

Your options are, for the most part, open-ended. If you can convince me that our player character can do something or make something (for example: "This is how you make a water-wheel. We can totally make this with the resources we have. Please, OP?", I will probably say yes.

Enjoy your trip.

>>2720204
That was some kind of noise, better see what it is and go South>>2720204

>>2720194
It almost looks like a voice from the sky will order us to solve puzzles right now.

>>2720205
Go South, investigate noise.

>>2720317
>>2720421
You walk in the direction you have designated "South", servos gently whirring at the action, creaky joints evidently not used for some time, although the exact timescale is unknown to you. You look around as you walk, take in the sounds, the sights. No smells, because you lack an olfactory detector - although how you know you should have one is its own curiosity.

The forest changes little, and you have no inherent model of distance to go by, so you have timed yourself instead. You know that 60 seconds is equal to 1 minute, and 60 minutes are equal to one hour. You walk 10 minutes to the South, and are closer to the noise.

You realize somewhat quickly that the noise you can hear is the only noise you can hear, outside of a gentle breeze and the wind rustling. The noise becomes sharper and more high pitched the closer you get, as you take it in.

It is a stump of a particularly wide tree, much wider than any of the other trees nearby, which are only about as thick as... Two of your arm's widths, at most. This stump is about as large as two of your torsos, instead.

Atop the stump is the contraption creating the noise - a series of 3 paddles arranged to rotate freely with the wind. Attached to them is a string of some kind, with small wooden spikes much smaller than your fingers placed through it. As the paddles turn, the loop of string pulls a larger wooden spike slowly along a circular rotation, until it strikes a bell and continues along its path.

Curious, indeed. By the foot of the device is a small booklet of some kind, with thin, flexible rings attached to several sheets of yellowed paper.

To the North is your awakening point.
To the South is further forest.
To the West is a sunnier, more open forest.
To the East is a thicker, more forboding forest.
Above you is the sun and forest's canopy.
Below you is the ground, a stump, a curious device, and a notebook.

Energy: 49/100
Water: 50/100

>>2720458
Read the booklet

>>2720473
There is no text in the booklet, only about 20 pages, double-sided, with a neatly arranged grid on it. Flipping through the pages, you untuck a small knob of graphite from underneath the notebook.

Energy: 49/100
Water: 50/100

>>2720563
Try drawing the curious device in the notebook

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>>2720577
You draw the curious device.

Your imprecise fingers, while capable of picking up objects, are not very skilled at fine manipulation. If you had to put a name on it, you would say that your sketch is not of the highest quality, but it does give you a clearer image of the wooden construction in front of you.

Nothing else occurs. The bell dings.

Energy: 48/100
Water: 50/100

>>2720867
>Nothing else occurs. The bell dings.
What do the bells mean? Time? Every full rotation?

>>2720974
You take some time to sit down and count the simplistic wheel system.

While the speed isn't constant, due to its reliance on the wind, it seems to stay stable at around 2-3 bell strikes per minute. The wind blowing through the system causes the differently-sized wheels to rotate at different speeds due to the rope tied through them.

You start counting from the top of one of the rotations, marking the vertical spoke of the turning gear mentally as "1". It takes "1" three full rotations to turn the larger stick that strikes the bell once, wherupon 1 and the larger stick are both aligned vertically.

It seems as if this device has a perfect rotational ratio of 3:1, whatever good that knowledge is for you.

>>2720990
Lay down, study the skies

>>2720990
Why does this exist in the middle of nowhere? It has to have been put together a good time after the ruined building we woke up in fell apart, but why would someone build this here? Is there any sign at all that someone has been here recently? A path we can follow back to some sort of civilization?

>>2721360

This but study internal mechanics like what modules we have. model, manufacturer just stuff about our past and what makes us run

>>2721360
You lay down and study the skies from what you can see through the forest canopy. They're a bright, light blue, with the occasional white cloud looming overhead. The sun's position has gone from directly overhead to slightly to, what you noted as, "South", heading in the same direction that you are. The sun feels nice.

>>2721781
Studying yourself only raises more questions than it answers. You know that you have an internal battery powered by light and heat, and that you require water to keep your internal systems from overheating during strenuous activity. You can charge your batteries by staying in intense light, such as that from direct sunlight, at a rate of 1% per 15 minutes - while activity in moderate light levels will drain it at a rate of 1% per 10 minutes. Presumably, acting in a darker environment will drain your batteries quicker.

You do not know the material that compromises your body, other than the fact that it is rusted and somewhat creaky, and is metal.

You can tell, however, that portions of your body have been designed for easy removal and replacement. For example, if you could find or construct an alternate energy source, it is likely you could change from light-powered to some other form of energy, such as wind, hydro, etc. Additionally, many of your body parts are designed for similar easy removal - your hand in particular, you can remove and throw about 5 seconds of walking into the distance, and re-attach seamlessly. While detached from you, however, your hand is incapable of moving.

>>2721723
You cannot see any path in any direction, although you believe your assumption that this device has been created after the ruined building holds water. Examining the bell reveals a small dent in the location where it is being struck. Your visual actuators are not precise enough to determine such micromovements, but, at best guess, you can imagine this device has been swinging for anywhere from 10 to 200 or so hours. The lack of wear on the rest of the bell indicates that it hasn't been swinging for a geologically significant rate of time, as you believe it would "polish" that part of the bell with repeated contact and variation over time, and produce some kind of visible scuffing across the metal, but the metal of the bell is even in color and texture across the board outside of the small dent.

Additionally, the lack of environmental wear on the rope further indicates recency. You can't imagine that this device has been cranking for more than 100 hours, at this point.

The only other sign that someone has been here recently is the empty notebook and small graphite wedge.

>>2722066
Go investigate the ruins

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>>2722069
You return to the North, another 10 minute trip back up, and examine the ruins.

You don't think you learn much. At the level of decay and disuse the ruins are at, it'd be impossible for you to calculate a precise time point for when they stopped being used. What you can determine, however, is that at least two walls have been removed - either by time, or by outside forces physically taking them. Your money is on the latter, since there are not piles of rock and brick that have fallen down and been grown over.

Your best guess is that the ruins are somewhere between 400,000 hours and 8,000,000 hours old. A number that doesn't help much.

Using your graphite knob, you make a small sketch of the layout of the ruins. This occupies another 10 minutes of your time - it has been 50 minutes since you have awakened. Now that you are in direct sunlight, it seems you can act without draining battery, for as long as the sunlight lasts, anyway.

Energy: 46/100
Water: 50/100

>>2722282
Go climb the hill to the east

>>2722282
Is there anything around us we can pick up? Like, aside from rocks, any item from the building's past that somehow survived the passage of time?

As much as I want to mess with the bell device in some way, to possibly get the attention of whoever set it up, I also feel that it's important for avoiding getting lost. If our origin is ever out of sight, we can follow the sound.

>>2722291
Might as well go east. I got nothing else I can think of.

I love this quest already but honestly have very little idea on what to do at the moment, so don't be discouraged by the lack of activity, I'm just mostly lurking with restrained excitement.

>>2723529
Actually, for a "you wake up in the middle of a forest with no motivation or goal, what do?", this is an amazingly high level of activity.

>>2723529
>>2723708
Thank you for the enthusiasm - this is my first outing as a QM and it started mostly as something to do during my downtime at work, so I'm glad you're invested.

>>2722291
>>2723529
There are, indeed, several rocks, dislodged stones, and other such materials loosely scattered about, but the lack of debris surrounding where, presumably, other walls would stand indicates to you that the material was outright removed, rather than worn down via time or destroyed by force.

Still, you pick up a brick and open your chest cavity. There's a nice, wire-free spot to store it in there, so you put it in. Who knows when you'll need a brick?

Brick added to Inventory

The hill to the East (you feel like you confused yourself at some point, but drawing the direction marker has definitely sorted things out for you) is the next point of interest, so you decide to walk in that direction. By the time you arrive, a full hour has passed since your awakening, and the forest here is light enough to allow light to pass through at a reasonable level, onto your charger atop your crown.

Indeed, a hill is climbed. From your position atop the hill, you can see slightly further - if you climbed a tree, it is likely you could see even further, but that may be a risky decision. For now, all you can see is that the forestry continues in every direction, only changing in density, and that a small stream about two of your wingspans wide winds around the hill, on the other side of it.

Energy: 45/100
Water: 50/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>Climb the tree (Roll 3d6, success on 9 or higher)
>Go down the hill towards the stream.
>Write-in.

>>2723936
Climbing success probablility 74.07%. Cost of failure unknown, estimated high.

>Go down the hill towards the stream.

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>>2723962
You walk down the hill towards the stream. It's pleasant here, and you put your fingers in the water, watching it flow around them.

The ground around the stream is grassy, turning to mud closely by the bank, with a fine layer of tiny pebbles and silt at the bottom of the stream. Several larger rocks cause the current to gently meander around them. The stream appears to be flowing from the North to the South, and stretches beyond your view distance.

Several purple flowers grow near the edge of the riverbank.

This water is not sufficient to fill your storage tanks, however - you can tell that it is adulterated with dirt and other such microparticles that render it ineffective as a coolant. You could fill your tanks with it, but that would result in an internal residue that would be difficult to clean later. Until you can find a way to, or think of a way to, purify or filter the water, you should probably refrain from using it except in extreme emergencies.

To the North and South are continuations of the stream, and further to the East is a thickening canopy of forest. The gentle sounds of the stream are relaxing. You make a quick sketch of it in your notebook.

Energy: 45/100
Water: 50/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>>2724041
Follow the stream downstream.
Where there is water, there are people. Or at least traces of them.

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>>2724105
You follow the water downstream, to the South, for thirty minutes worth of travel - in the meanwhile, you make a note of your location in your notebook so that you don't get lost. You notate it so that each square is about 10 minutes of travel in a cardinal direction - R stands for Ruins, H for Hill, and D for Device.

You hear the gentle dinging of the Device at some point during your downward travels, right when you pass by it, and then the sound fades into the distance. By the time you decide to stop walking, you've noticed a slight change in your surroundings - the trees have gotten slightly shorter, and the elevation has lowered alongside of that. Furthermore, the grasses are downtrodden and occasionally crushed or split, with the frequency of the grass's crushing increasing the further down the river you go.

Energy: 42/100
Water: 50/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>>2724587
Continue on our way

>>2724587
Continue, and keep an eye out for anyone.

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>>2724686
>>2724618
You continue further an additional ten minutes, keeping an eye out for any presence of life, until you hear a loud noise indicating as such.

A loud, thunderous stomping to the west. Quickly ducking behind a tree, you peek out just enough for your visual actuators to catch sight of the "life".

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>>2724702
A long, elegant creature, the rotund head brushing against branches, as it stomps forward, several of your body lengths at a time. Each step crushes the grass beneath in a manner consistent to the crushed piles further up. You watch it approach the stream, bend down, and submerge half of its head in the water, steam rising from its neck in the process.

It remains completely still for another 10 minutes, whereupon you decide to take your next action. The tall machine is not moving.

Energy: 40/100
Water: 50/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>>2724707
It appears this creature can filter it's own water.

It seems huge so combat is probably a no go since killing it with a brick is unlikely and approaching it will likely scare it off.

>divine knowledge from it

Is there any thing this creature can teach us about ourselves or the make up of life here? How does its makeup help us survive?

>also, name it.

>>2725106
>name it "Bolby"

>>2725106
>>2725261
You name the creature "Bolby", and draw a quick sketch of it in your notebook. Your anatomical artistry skills are lacking, but you think it looks pretty good.

Also, you're running out of room on your first page. You think you can fit, maybe, another small drawing on it before you need to move on to your next page.

As for what you can divine from Bolby, you can tell that it, appears to be, at least, completely mechanical. Peering into the seams on its body shows only wires and metal, with no indication of underlying flesh. It keeps its head dunked in the water, steam continuing to rise from its neck. You suppose if you figured out how its head worked, you would have an ample way to either heat or purify water.

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>>2727101

>>2727101
Try to climb and mount Bolby

>>2727700
>Roll 3d6 for climbing. Success on a 9 or greater.

Rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10 (3d6)

>>2727820

>>2727828
Score mate. I was just checking after sitting around thinking "you know what? Let's take a chance"

Not op btw

>>2727828

>You slowly walk from behind the tree towards the "Bolby". A stick cracks beneath your three pronged foot and the mechanical beast startles in your direction.

>You pause for a moment, apprehension fills each of your chests. You reach a hand out slowly and after a few seconds the Bolby lowers its head to your hand.

>Static electricity arches from your hand gently and you feel certain the creature will let you mount it. How to control it though you do not know.

>As you clamber up clumsily, you sit atop it's shoulders. You still can't see very much through the trees but perhaps if you just...

~Go~ you think.

>Bolby takes off at a full gate uncontrollably with you holding on, uncertain of what direction you head.

I'm not OP, just trying to move the story along fairly.

>>2729013
Please do not try to gamejack, I'm a very busy bean and I'll move the story along when I have time.

>>2729019
Sorry OP. Thought you left us.

>>2727828
>>2727945
>>2727700
You approach Bolby slowly and cautiously, taking care to not startle the mechanical animal. Finding a foothold on the back of its inverted knee, you grab hold and begin to scramble your way up.

Bolby doesn't react outside of a small shudder from the additional weight, but you make it onto his back okay. Steam rises from it, and the metal is hot - you feel your insides heating up just by being this close.

That being said, you don't think you should be this close for very long. You feel water rushing through pipettes and veins in an attempt to cool yourself down.

From this height, you can't see much more than before, although you are on top of an animal, which is cool by itself. You feel that climbing onto Bolby's head would require some further dexterity, although the fact that it is horizontal at the moment would make that easier now than if you waited.

Energy: 39/100
Water: 49/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>To climb onto Bolby's head, roll 3d6, success on an 8 or greater.

Rolled 2, 2, 1 = 5 (3d6)

>>2732497
Climb onto the head, try to determine the filtering mechanism

>inb4 it's just distilling with heat

>>2732499
Welp

>>2732499
>Failure! Roll up to 5d6 - Each 1, 2, or 3 will cause negative consequences, each 4 will do nothing, and each 5 or 6 will negate possible negative consequences.

Rolled 5, 5, 4, 1, 6 = 21 (5d6)

>>2732509

>>2732515
As you climb onto Bolby's neck, the elongated creature finishes its dunking, raising its head back up to its normal height and turning around to begin walking away. It doesn't seem to notice you, but you didn't manage to climb all the way up its neck, and a burst of steam causes your torso to begin getting slick with water.

You can continue climbing up Bolby's neck to see if you can learn more about his head, or just drop back to his back, where it's safe.

Energy: 38/100
Water: 48/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>To climb Bolby's neck further, roll 3d6, and success on an 11 or greater.

>>2732529
Nah, drop back. It's too dangerous.

Continue walking downstream

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>>2732566
You continue walking downstream, until you finally reach a curve in the stream that blocks you off. You're not sure if you have the ability to cross water at this point, and you also aren't sure that you want to test it. You hear Bolby continuing to walk off into the distance, until he leaves earshot.

There appears to be little more down here - your belief that there would be some kind of life or civilization near the stream seems to have been curtailed, although it is not ruled out as a possibility.

In the distance, to the east, you see a large stone structure - approximately 30 minutes of travel, you'd guess. When you move to your next page, you will mark it down. The structure appears to be more intact than the Ruins, and could serve as an appropriate base of operations, should you need it.

To the West is darker, thicker forest. The sunlight is blotted out, there.

Energy: 37/100
Water: 48/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>>2735686
Go investigate the structure east.

>>2736215
You're worried you may get waterlogged or injured attempting to cross the stream. Do we really want to do so right now?

Y/N

>>2736287
N.
Look for a crossing

>>2736287
No.
Make a crossing? Perhaps we're strong enough to move a log.

Also gotta watch our energy levels.

>>2736377
>>2736516
You decide that your time could be better spent looking for a crossing, or perhaps making one. You're not the strongest robot on the block, but eventually, you do find a narrow enough strip of stream that you think you could cross it with the assistance of some wood.

So, you get to work. There's some fallen trees nearby, but alone they aren't enough to cross the bridge, due to having been felled in their infancy. While they possess the necessary length, they fail to adequately make up for it in girth. You spend a fairly significant amount of time collecting these fallen saplings and hauling them across the narrowest part of the stream, eyeing up some thicker fallen trees in the process.

By the time you finish, you can approximate that it's now the fourth hour since your awakening. You burnt a little extra energy from the continuous activity, and the movement of logs caused you to overheat slightly, but that's what your water cooling is for.

Energy: 25/100
Water: 45/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick
Structures: Sapling Stream Bridge (60% complete)

You believe you could haul some of the thicker trees, or even fell some yourself, but the effort would burn through more water and energy in the process.

>Leave the bridge alone. Time to go elsewhere.
>Break some wood, finish the bridge (+1 Hour, -5 Energy, -5 Water).
>Devise some kind of alternate solution (Write-in)

>>2736589
>Break some wood, finish the bridge (+1 Hour, -5 Energy, -5 Water).

>>2736589
>Break some wood, finish the bridge (+1 Hour, -5 Energy, -5 Water).

>>2736589
>>Break some wood, finish the bridge (+1 Hour, -5 Energy, -5 Water).

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>>2738384
>>2738429
>>2738512
You exert yourself the most you can through the day, bringing your total time awake to 5 hours now, but you succeed in building a mostly stable bridge that you can cross the stream at.

You copy your map over to the back of the page so you can expand it a little. You're feeling a bit tired and sleepy, and by now, the sun has lowered enough so that it is casting a dim orange glow across the forest. Even if you went back to the clearing you were in, you don't think you'd have enough sunlight to charge up. Still, you have enough energy left to make the 30 minute trek to the second set of Ruins...

Energy: 17/100
Water: 40/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick
Structures: Sapling Stream Bridge (100% complete)

>Continued...

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>>2738874
You reach the ruins soon enough, and things are fine and dandy, outside of the steadily dipping sun. No lights appear from the interior, and this ruin appears to be in a much less advanced state of decay than the one you awoke at, with concrete and stone making for effective fortification against the elements.

Your amount of usable sunlight is rapidly decreasing, and you feel energy leaving your body. Perhaps it would be best to wrap up your affairs for the day before finding a safe place to hibernate overnight. Your remaining energy reserves are enough for about 100 minutes of activity (30 minutes in dim light, and then the darkness will consume the remaining 14 units twice as fast while operating, giving you 100 minutes of usable time).

You don't feel any particular pressure to get anything done - no urgent need, at the moment, but still...

Thank you for joining me on this journey, by the by. I notice we've fallen into autosage - the second thread will begin at the end of this in-game day.

>>2738890
explore the ruins for a bit, then shut down for the night

>>2738890
Supporting >>2738899

>>2738899
>>2738918
You explore the ruins, making sure to stay in the dimly lit portions as much as possible, since your energy drains twice as fast in darkness. Staying in portions with light, even if minimal, helps preserve a little bit extra energy

Still, you decide to play it safe and only explore the first floor of the ruins - a metal ladder leads to the second floor (and possibly above), while a small trapdoor presumably leads to an underground portion. You want to make sure you have some energy left over for overnight, just in case. There's very few things of note on the first floor, except for a couple of empty cans made out of flimsy metal. You take them and pile them into a corner.

Might as well clean up the place, a little.

Finding a spot with a big enough hole to let some light through, you decide on a clock system for self-organization before powering down.

You are not sure how long it takes for the sun to rise, although performing some quick math indicates that it is a 24 hour cycle. After all, the sun was directly overhead when you awoke and took 6 hours to set, so presumably, it will take another 6 hours to reach the underside of the rotation, and another 6 hours to begin rising, before reaching its apex at 00:00.

00:00 is demarcated as the time of day when you woke up - while the sun is directly overhead.
5:00 is the time sunset begins - you no longer can gain net positive power from the sun during sunset.
6:00 is when the sun sets. Once it is dark, your power begins draining even faster.
Presumably, 12:00 is when the sun is at its lowest point in the night.
17:00, following previously established trends, would have the sun beginning to come up.
18:00 is complete sunrise, and would allow you to begin actively charging.
The day will roll over at 23:59.

That being said, you must decide how long you'd like to go into sleep mode for.

Energy: 12/100
Water: 40/100
Inventory: Notebook, Graphite Wedge, Brick

>Sleep until the sun begins rising (17:00)
>Sleep until you can begin recharging (18:00)
>Sleep and charge until midday (0:00)

>>2740918
>>2738893
>>2740919
Neato. Looks like you made an interesting exploration quest.

>>2740918
>Finding a spot with a big enough hole to let some light through, you decide on a clock system for self-organization before powering down.
>That being said, you must decide how long you'd like to go into sleep mode for.
How efficient is charging here?

>>2740940
You suspect that getting a direct beam of sunlight that covers the entire crown of your head is enough to charge you at the normal rate of 1% per 15 minutes of exposure. Thus, you have no reason to believe this spot is any more or less efficient than another one.

>>2740949
Then
>>2740918
>>Sleep until the sun begins rising (17:00)
For some quick exploration for any better or safer spots to sleep.
>>2740918
>You are not sure how long it takes for the sun to rise, although performing some quick math indicates that it is a 24 hour cycle. After all, the sun was directly overhead when you awoke and took 6 hours to set, so presumably, it will take another 6 hours to reach the underside of the rotation, and another 6 hours to begin rising, before reaching its apex at 00:00.
What time is it now?

>>2740963
It is 6:10

>>2740918
>Sleep until you can begin recharging (18:00)
We'll need to explore the ruin and it's dark in there.

>>2741048
>>2740968
1 for the 17:00, 2 for the 18:00

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2741162
I'm bad at dice.

Thank you for playing along with this first thread - 25 posters is far more than I expected to receive, and I appreciate it lots.

New thread >>2741209 here!