@tony.stark & @rey.solo

[voicelog]

@tony.stark
hey, tony here.

rey and i just left the meeting with riverstone. long story short: they want test subjects if we want answers to who they suspect is bringing all of us here. they aren't willing to budge on this. what a shocker.

why are they so interested in us? apparently, they want to know how we were able to disrupt the simulation back in may. given judas is still a credible threat, they're claiming to utilize what information they gain from the tests to potentially create a preventative measure against similar attacks in the future as well as help us learn more about our biology.

@rey.solo
they also have their own reasons to be interested in the people who brought us here. riverstone suspects that the people who have been dropping us off and the person who prevented my arrested when i changed my name are one in the same.

according to them, this person — not a group, a person — may have been involved in the marianas trench incident that riverstone believes we’re also connected to. apparently, good riverstone scientists were killed during that experiment. I know some of the displaced have already speculated that the marianas trench may be connected to us. riverstone agrees.

this person was never punished for their role in the experiment, and they’ve been operating extrajudicially. they seem to want to punish this person for the people they got killed. in other words, i think they’re on our side. really.

@tony.stark
if you think that sounds too good to be true, there's more.

they've agreed to a NDA which will be included in the consent forms for volunteers. i've looked it over. it's airtight, but i just want to take a moment to point out that this is one of the largest corporate entities in this world. they have both the power and the means to do whatever the fuck they want with the data they collect without us ever knowing. so with that said, they're going to be conducting interviews to see what kind of tests we feel are appropriate. i strongly advise against any that will require a sample of our DNA or any that will be performed under general anesthesia.

full access to the data gathered will be given to the participants and relevant riverstone personnel. they've also agreed to let us have representatives present for the procedures.

@rey.solo
and they’ve shown no interest in sharing the data they gather with other parties. it seems to me like they’ve got their own fathier in this race.

we should think about what these tests might turn up about some of our collective powers. i know a number of us have been trying and failing to learn more about our dreams, about the empathy bond, and about the objects in our chests. it might be tempting to use the resources that riverstone is offering to get some of the answers we’ve been looking for.

if anyone is considering consenting to tests about these, i do think we should talk about it because these are powers that all of us share.

@tony.stark

i don’t trust them and i won’t be participating in any of the tests, but i realize that there are differing opinions among us. for whatever it’s worth, i’m going to stay here to make sure that they won’t try and pull anything funny during the procedures.

for the ones who are interested in volunteering and want extra legal security, i hear @ian.fowler is cooking something up.

Comments

@goro.akechi

[impede]

So what we've learned is that if someone wishes to trick Rey, all they need to do is tell her precisely what she wants to hear, or close enough.

How are they on our side for going after someone who helped you? Please, do enlighten me with your reasoning.

[forcevisions]

Because they're doing the right thing. People got killed, and they're trying to make that right.

I don't think whoever kept me out of jail did it for my sake. They probably did it to keep the UN from finding what's inside of us.

[impede]

The same UN that already experimented on you?

You're doing entirely too much work for them. They must have profiled you in advance.

@thor.odinson

[ofmyth]

i will not take part, but i thank the two of you for spearheading this effort on our behalf


i would also like to offer to accompany anyone who is considering taking up the offer from riverstone, to oversee any tests and ensure you are not coerced or taken advantage of in any way

@bellamy.blake

[jettisons]

I can't believe this is even still on the table.

@thor.odinson

[ofmyth]

for some, the promise of answers will outweigh the risks. we should not demean those among us who decide to take up this offer

[jettisons]

They have a right to make their own choices, but not when it endangers the rest of us.

[forcevisions]

Thank you.
I mean it.

@john.murphy

[reproached]

can't you

[jettisons]

Guess I was being too optimistic.

@ian.fowler

[wittingly]

My idea is to blanket all displaced participants under the same umbrella contract. It won't cost individual participants anything, and nobody's obligated to attend meetings or review the drafts unless they want to. I'm hoping all displace who intend to volunteer will do so with this legal representation rather than as an independent agent on their own. Obviously I can't force anyone, but there's really no benefit I can think of to opt out of this extra layer of potential security.

Also, for what it's worth, I ended the simulation by cutting the power cable. I'm not sure exactly how much they plan on getting out of that, but I'd love to see their expressions if they were expecting something cooler.

@quentin.coldwater

[filloryfanatic]

They could also be talking about how people were able to wake people out of the simulation to go on the rescue mission through touch/our empathy bond.

[forcevisions]

That's what it sounded like to me. 'Disrupt' was the word they used, not 'end.' Lots of us were doing that while we tried to access our powers.

[wittingly]

You're probably right, but I'd love to pretend otherwise

@samuel.drake

[withmeinparadise]

what do we know about the courts here? they actually likely to give a damn if a company screws displaced over?

@ava.silva

[sor]

Ian and I are also going to try and keep a list of the people that go through it, I should be doing that post sometime soon.

Does that NDA prevent the people that accept to the trial to tell us about it though? It would suck major ass if everything they learn can't be shared with the rest.

[forcevisions]

Good catch. Ian's in charge of the legal side of things. Will you make sure he has his lawyer include that?

@lance.sweets

[lifetothefullest]

All of this is good to know, and it makes the situation a little more clear. However, I'm concerned by the use of 'suspect' in terms of what they know about who brought us here; if they don't have real evidence and are just taking a guess, any number of us here could do the same thing. Unless they have some very good reason why we should be considering their information to be worth all trouble they want us to go through to get it, I'm not convinced the benefit outweighs the risk at this point.

@stephen.strange

[rehandle]

Unfortunately I think this ship has sailed.

@marian.hawke

[championofsnark]

Did they give a number requirement? Because I maintain as someone who already said I'd volunteer, that if they haven't they'll have to live with one and it'll bring down the risk to me.

[forcevisions]

They haven't, but I think it'll be easier if there are more of us. Especially if we want information about the connection we have to one another, the way we can feel each other's feelings and memories.

@cal.amari

[kinkprofessor]

As before, I'm here to offer my assistance however necessary.

Honestly, Riverstone sounds quite a bit like the company I work for so, while it is my own personal bias, I find myself more inclined to trust them.
They sound like they want answers just as much as we do.

[forcevisions]

How does it sound like the company you work for?

@cassian.andor

[evasives]

They are likely very interested in how we were able to shut down Judas because Riverstone 500 years ago was absolutely vital to stopping the AI War, according to this world's accepted history. This victory secured them a solid place of power on this planet for the next half century into today. I would assume they want the ability to repeat that win, if necessary.

However, it also seems as though they were prepared for such a war at the time in ways their competitors were not. In the years prior to its outbreak, Ricky Ling (direct ancestor of Meredith Ling) spent time stockpiling supplies and goods. It could very well be coincidence, as he had lived through WWIII and lost a sister to it, but the data is clear he was prepared for a war and made this a goal for Riverstone, and he led the company through it.

Unlike their corporate counterparts, Riverstone did not put investment into AIs as more than a tool. They chose to develop counters to AI reliance, which also put them in a place to succeed as the Xelkoven War decimated any sense of trust this planet would seemingly ever have for AI again, again putting Riverstone in a good place to swoop in and absorb other companies under its jurisdictions and paved the way for further expansion.

In their connection to the Marianas Trench, it seems more evident via the fact that prior to the massive power outages that rocked the planet in September 2510, the company ordered a pause on all projects. Many employees have always found this strange, given the ultimate magnitude of the disruption across the globe, but Riverstone scientists were prepared for this interruption, which suggests there were at least some figures within the company who knew it was coming. I would assume connections and involvement with the cause, but it is unfortunately still an unknown reason.

I urge caution. Ultimately, Riverstone seems to be about forwarding itself, but this is true of any corporation.

@bellamy.blake

[jettisons]

You think this ties into the AIs directly, or they might have other uses for us?