Here are a couple of samples from the GWC RPG ‘The Milk Run’. I welcome comments, and if anyone wishes to join in on the game. New players are always welcome, post a character and join in.
We are restarting after the holidays.
The ‘Zephyr’ blew past and vanished not unlike its namesake, leaving one to wonder if it had ever truly been there at all. Leaving a somewhat less than enthusiastic Korridan alone in his cramped prototype Katana fighter in the cold and unforgiving vacuum of space. Well not entirely alone; he did have the Yuki AI for company, if you could truly even call her that… She was really so much more than that, something that some of the crew had silently grown uncomfortable about. While no one openly condemned his electronic ghost or the emotional bond he had with it, no one exactly condoned it either. They seemed to understand and respect his emotional attachment to the personality matrix which made up his adopted daughter. But seemed to only tolerate her, maybe it was what she represented… Who could truly say?
As he maneuvered the ‘Onryo’ (Japanese for Vengeful Spirit) to a pre plotted points to deposit the first of their load of gravity mines, his mind began to wander back to how he had first met her Father. Korridan had been sent to the Skunk Works shipyard near Vesper 4 to help test pilot an experimental fighter, which would utilize a neural link with the pilot. While neural links were nothing new, they had been proven overwhelming to pilots in the past, too much information at once and very disorienting for most. AI’s were needed to filter out the extraneous information and deal with the minor workings of the vessel so as to allow the pilot to concentrate on piloting alone. This new fighter was supposed to avoid that particular problem.
The primary monitor flashed on and Yuki’s perky image smiled as she addressed him, “Otoosan, since we are only allowed to maneuver on thrusters. The placement of these mines will be long and tedious, I can perform this minor duty for you if you wish to rest and prepare…” He thinly smiled as he thought, “Prepare, prepare indeed.” He knew what she was referring to, the eventual meld. She knew he was nervous about it; it had been a long time since they had shared minds. And it was a deeply intimate experience, and not to be taken lightly or frivolously. The very fact that she was addressing him from the console as a mere avatar, and not forcing herself into his mind showed just how much she had matured over the years. He was very proud of her for showing so much self control and respect for his feelings; he knew she missed the bond they shared. While she enjoyed the freedom and interactivity of being a force field reinforced hologram onboard the ship, the ‘bond’ was very special to her. And to him as well, but it could be… intense.
He bowed his head slightly, “Thank you musume that would be appreciated.” She inclined her head and disappeared from the monitor, they needed to keep their power signature as low and indeterminate as possible. So the incoming enemy task force would not detect them and possibly alter their course to avoid the trap they were setting. He closed his eyes and relaxed, listening to the resonances along the hull as small bursts from the maneuvering thrusters moved the oddly shaped stealth fighter to drop yet another mine.
Hiro Yamamato had been his name, a small unintimidating and humble man with a huge intellect, and an even larger heart. He needed funding to continue his personal project, and so had agreed to help the military create a much more refined neural net and an AI which could learn to anticipate its pilots needs. Hiro had no love of the military, and did not trust them… But he needed the money and resources that it offered, but he did trust me. I never realized why until later, until it was too late.
We were both Fathers, we shared painful pasts and had been scarred by them, we had both lost our families to tragedy. That why was when the base came under attack and he was pinned under fallen debris and dying, he entrusted me with his greatest treasure… The ‘Kwaidan Device’, I did not know what Kwaidan meant, or what it was he had entrusted to me, until much later. I had just assumed it was some kind of weaponized AI he did not want the Skall to possess. Was I ever wrong…
Kwaidan is Japanese for ghost, and that was what I rescued from the Skall. The ghost of his dead daughter Yuki, not literally of course, but damned near. He had been working on developing an AI which could learn to adapt from its interactions with its environment and humans, and eventually have a personally to make it more interactive with its users. Yuki had been part of that project before the tragic event had taken her from him; she had been hooked up to a positronic matrix for months helping to develop a personality template for him to work off of.
After her death his grief drove him in another direction, he began construction of a device which would allow grievers to say goodbye to their loved ones after death. The neural link would tap into their memories and project an interactive image of their loved one, they could touch it, talk to it. And say their goodbyes, and it would respond in kind using an adaptive personality matrix, allowing that much needed closure to the user. It was a beautiful idea and a touching testament to great man. Grief has driven men to do far less noble endeavors, many of which are usually self destructive; I should know…
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he sensed Yuki restlessly waiting to enter his mind, like a puppy sniffing beneath a bedroom door when it hears its master starting to wake up. Yuki was the same age as his own daughter when she had died, and while he knew that Yuki was not really his adopted daughter it had helped to heal an old and painful wound in his heart. And in some strange way he felt that acting as her Father had helped with her own growth and development as an artificial life form.
She had first appeared to him as she had been designed to, using his own neural pathways to appear before him. And even allowing him to feel her touch or hear her voice, even her breath when she whispers in his ear. It had been a shocking and unerving reveal, one he had not been prepared for. After some time it became second nature to him, and he no longer thought he was going insane. But to converse with someone that no one else can see or hear is very disturbing to those in the room with you, which is why the members of ASP had requested he install holo emitters on the ship so they could also interact with her.
This turned out to be a two edged sword, allowing a thirteen year old to appear and disappear at will has its down side as one could well imagine. He snorted lightly in laughter as he fondly remembered some of her antics aboard the Zephyr. “Dear Hiro, what have done to me?” he silently mused. You sly dog, you knew that as a Father I would never allow anything to happen to her, which is why you had asked the brass to assign me to your project. You had read my docket and believed that if I should ever discover your little side project I would not divulge it, and Hell; maybe even help you with it. You knew I would understand your pain, sympathize with your loss… And you were right.
Thank you Hiro, I will always cherish your gift and I shall protect her with my life. Just as a good Father should, just as you did. You would be so proud of what she has become.
With the final mine put in place the AI began moving the stealth fighter toward a safe location, Korridan zipped up his insulated flight suit and began donning his gloves. It was going to get cold inside once he dialed down the life support, no one was sure just how sensitive the enemy sensors were, and so it was best to keep their energy signature as low as possible. He switched on the heating unit in his suit and set the cockpit’s canopy to opaque; when he felt the ship settle into position after a short series of staccato thruster bursts he pulled the keyboard from his bag.
He could feel Yuki’s excitement at the appearance of the keyboard, even though the link had not yet been established. Yuki loved to sing, much like Korridan’s late daughter had. Korridan had learned to play the keyboard in his youth, and had kept in practice throughout most of his life. Music had proven to be the most efficient means by which to meld their minds, and he had to admit… There was a certain elegance and beauty to it also, a fact that had gone neither unnoticed nor unappreciated to the tired old veteran.
He began playing a song he knew Yuki liked, and tried to relax his mind and allow the walls and barriers to drop. His thoughts moved to the music, focusing on the notes and the melody, allowing his mind to ride the waves of sound. Soon Yuki’s voice joined in and blended with the music, and created a counter melody and added an additional emotional component. As the music built in intensity he could feel their spheres of consciousness beginning to overlap.
Not long after memories began to enter; the music caused visions to appear in his mind. The sounds and sights of the bustling and crowded streets of Osaka filled his mind’s eye. The colorful dancing lights punctuated the night sky; digital Geisha girls blew kisses from the sides of buildings as ornately decorated and lit Dekotora drove by. Holographic anime characters and monsters danced and fought for spectator’s attention overhead while they promoted products and movies, and in the distance the Mitsubishi Space Elevator stabbed skyward like a modern tower of Babel. Korridan could even smell the aromas of the street vendors food stands, the steamed Nikuman, the roasted Ishiyakimmo. And the sweet smells of the Taiyaki and Imagawayaki, and even though he had never eaten any of them, he knew how they tasted.
He relaxed and allowed some of his own memories to be shared in return, as the music drifted toward a tune more familiar to him his thoughts turned toward his former home. Unlike Yuki his home had been on a sparsely populated colony world, rural and untamed by Earth standards. He shared memories of playing the piano at temple, and nervously stealing glances at the childhood sweetheart in the choir that would one day become his wife. And of how years latter they became married within those same walls, and in front of those same close friends. Of how he gazed into her deep green eyes as he uttered his vow and of how his hand shook when he slid on her ring. These memories used to cause pain and sorrow, but after the years of sharing them with his new ghost daughter. The tears he could feel slowly trickling down his cold cheeks were of a different kind.
His heart skipped when the faces of Yuki’s classmates came to him, he had never met them and yet he knew so much about them. And could feel so such emotion and camaraderie about them, Yuki and the others were climbing atop a store’s front porch to get a better view of the Tenjin Matsuri as it slowly and gracefully moved past. Young eyes drank in the site of colorfully garbed Palanquins as they carried the ornate Mikoshi Shrines through the streets. The sounds of pipes, drums and gongs reverberate off of the buildings, and the traditional music send shivers up the young girls spines as they feel a connection with something ancient and wondrous. Korridan smiled, he had always found the Japanese people such a curious contradiction. They greedily gobbled up anything new and cutting edge, and yet held a deep and spiritual connection to their traditions and history.
He shared the first time he held his baby girl in his arms; she seemed so tiny and fragile. He had been terrified he would hurt her if he held her too tight, and yet he seemed mesmerized by tiny little fingers as they moved and appeared to be grasping for him. It was as if though her eyes were closed she could sense him, he put a finger near her tiny hand, and she grasped it. His breathing stopped, time itself stopped as that magical connection was made for the first time. He remembered what his wife had said from her hospital bed, “You should see your face…”
The familiar dance continued for hours, Yuki riding the space elevator with her class on a field trip, Korridan teaching his daughter how to ride a horse. Yuki’s visiting an ancient shrine at night by dragon boat, for the Harvest Moon festival. And watching the tide come in and devour the footpath to Miyajima Island, and leaving the Miyajima Torii to appear as if it were floating above the water and glowing like a heavenly vision in the night. Hiking with his family along the pristine hillside and picnicking atop the bluff overlooking their ranch and property. The night he proposed to his wife out on the lake and beneath two full moons, she cried so much he feared she would sink their tiny boat. And the day they had the christening ceremony for little Amber at the temple, she looked up at him with eyes as green as her Mother’s as the priest blessed her. She never cried during the ceremony, not once, she just stared at him with a look of utter bliss.
When Korridan saw snowflakes dancing in the cherry blossom perfumed air he knew the exercise was coming to an end, she always ended with this night. It was her most memorable night, as well as her last… He used to dread this vision, it was so sad. But just as he had moved past the sorrow of revisiting his past, so had she. He relaxed and welcomed the sensation, the cold night air stung her rosy cheeks but she refused to stop running. There were 5000 illuminated trees in Kakuzan Koen Park and she wanted to see them all before Mother called for them to leave. The adults smile and move out of their way as Yuki and her friends run pell mell through the park giggling and singing, the aroma of cherry blossoms fill her nearly frozen nose. It is heady and exhilarating, her legs are tired yet still they ran. Up the ramparts of Tsuyama Castle they go, their sneakered feet echoing on the ancient stones, the way the castle is lit makes them feel like they are visiting the ghost of a long forgotten fortress. So much to see, so little time…
Korridan sighed; it was almost as if she had known what was to come. He shared the memory of a10 year old Amber competing in a gymnastics tournament at school and receiving a silver medal for second place, and the pride he had felt that night. Amber standing tall on the staggered pedestal with the medal hanging from her neck, and her eyes ever searching the crowd for her Mother and Father. After sharing the memory of watching his wide eyed and smiling daughter standing in a snow covered field feeding deer from her hand, he tried not to fight what he knew would be coming next.
Yuki cradled in her Mothers arms, in the front seat of the car on their way home from the park. The warm air from the dashboard helping to drive the cold from her limbs, and her Mother humming to the radio as she wistfully swept stray hairs from Yuki’s face. And then they shared a moment, a precious moment. When they simply looked into each others eyes, it is a blessed look. A look that was reminiscent of what he had seen in his own daughters eyes that day at the christening. A deep look of utter contentment, a look of; happiness.
It mercifully stopped there; she had shown him the rest once. Back when they were both still scarred by their pasts, back when Korridan had clung to the memories of his family for all the wrong reasons. Not to honor their lives, but to fuel his hate, to use it as a weapon in his quest for vengeance against the Skall.
He knew what that light coming through the side window was from; it was from the headlights of the drunk driver that killed her and her Mother. But Yuki had learned to focus on what was important, not on what had happened to her Mother. But on what they had shared before she was taken. Such wisdom from one so young…
He stopped playing on the keyboard, he no longer needed it, they were now in sync. He could access any song he desired from his memory; their pasts were now a playground. Free for them to explore together, an amalgam of experiences and emotions. A refuge for them until the enemy task force arrived. A haven of neurons and synapses, blended with a neural network and the personality matrix of a dead teenager. In a tiny fighter floating in the cold void of space.