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[Nikitian]

Only that it was thinking of the past - so the paradox must have been hiding in the deeds or experiences of the past, not in the present state of things, I suppose.
...I need to think. Maybe I'll be able to remember something else.

Think over what I have felt in the void memory again. Consider the little thought fragments and loose ends I might have experienced there.

((Also, question to GM: Within the boundaries of 'common knowledge', what is known about the organisation and guidance of the Altered? Are they supposed to be part of a hive mind (of a sort), or just as individual as humans, or what?
Also, what is known about their origins? Is it commonly known that Altered started as humans who went overboard with genetic enhancements (regardless of whether it is really true or not)?
Asking to avoid meta-knowledge. ))

[piecewise]

Only that it was thinking of the past - so the paradox must have been hiding in the deeds or experiences of the past, not in the present state of things, I suppose.
...I need to think. Maybe I'll be able to remember something else.

Think over what I have felt in the void memory again. Consider the little thought fragments and loose ends I might have experienced there.

((Also, question to GM: Within the boundaries of 'common knowledge', what is known about the organisation and guidance of the Altered? Are they supposed to be part of a hive mind (of a sort), or just as individual as humans, or what?
Also, what is known about their origins? Is it commonly known that Altered started as humans who went overboard with genetic enhancements (regardless of whether it is really true or not)?
Asking to avoid meta-knowledge. ))

There's not much to the void memory, at least not more then anything you already saw. It was basically the memory of the time just before the cognitive loop began.

As per the altered; Their exact organization is unknown however it is commonly believed that they were guided by some sort of hive mind or communal instinct.

And the origin of the altered is fairly ubiquitously stated-outside of a few conspiracy nuts- that it is the result of a particular strain of genetic alteration technology suddenly going haywire all at once, everywhere it existed. Why that happened and how have never been explained.

[Parisbre56]

((I made a quicktopic so that we could talk about the goingons of this mission without tempting the participants of this mission with our ideas. If you are watching this thread and you feel like gossiping or want to talk with us about your theory, send me a PM and I'll send you the address of the quicktopic.))

[Nikitian]

((I made a quicktopic so that we could talk about the goingons of this mission without tempting the participants of this mission with our ideas. If you are watching this thread and you feel like gossiping or want to talk with us about your theory, send me a PM and I'll send you the address of the quicktopic.))

(( Aww. Now I feel cast off and given up upon. :3
(Kidding, of course.)))

See if I can take a nap or at least relax and focus solely on the task of figuring out the paradox that could send the Ghostship into the cognitive loop.
Ponder the potential paradoxes that could spring from those ten memories for a little while. Think about them, then consider whatever loose ends we might have stumbled upon.
Rest as the team keeps discussing the subject.

((The final assault on the stronghold of missed and misinterpreted knowledge! ))

[Knight Otu]

"I'll try to think about it some more, but right now I'm spent. You guys have any ideas?"

Think. Was there any emotion or orders from elsewhere in the burning world mission?
Try to apply my programming skills - which of the memories seem most likely to result in a loop/paradox as described to us?

[piecewise]

Nope. No Int rolling clues until it becomes obvious. This is a riddle for your real brains. However if you want to, say, think about something specific you've seen to get some clarification, that could work. 

[Thearpox]

((I love when players are met with a real riddle, and then begin asking GM for advice. Loving this.
Maybe you guys want to discuss this on a chat board? Just in case it might work better then doing it here. There are several advantages to receiving quick responses and being on the same page.))

[SeriousConcentrate]

(Probably wasn't the best idea to send me on this mission, given I'm really not very good with riddles, puzzles, or logic problems. I don't have anything to contribute to this process beyond a belief with no foundation in fact that it's the keyboard memory. )

[Knight Otu]

((For what it's worth, that's pretty much the answer I was expecting. I was mostly hoping to see what the others are thinking about what we've said so far. Right now my virtual money is on the burning world memory, for the reasons I've already stated - it seems the most likely to be a loop/paradox.))

[Pancaek]

((I'll admit that I am ze wurst at riddles. Though I think Otu's thingy with the shooting innocents seems logical enough. Then again, Jim's idea with the keyboard and the "recognizing hatred towards itself" also seems logical, but I'm not sure that's a paradox? Also, anyone else scared that PW might be frakking with us and that the UWM scientist has it all wrong? ))

Pancaek sighs "Yeah, so this is all complicated and mind bogglin'. I don't suppose it just has an itch on its hull somewhere and it can't scratch there, on account of having no arms, and it's driving it insane?"

[Nikitian]

(( Oh, I'm perfectly fine with it. (You said nothing about Intu rolls, which could probably qualify, but that's fine too. Well, really, it's a pity, since about only one result in six appears to be accurate and reliable and without rolls shown it'd be fun to work out whether that idea suggested by subconsciousness has any worth to it. Well, whatever.) Just wanted to make sure we have all the advantages we could theoretically get before having to decide.
The riddles are fine too. For me, I like riddles that I was able to solve. (As in, the most traumatic event of adulthood and the greatest blow to self-esteem being having failed to solve a reportedly simple riddle.) And for that, good sirs, I can give you no less than a forty-percent chance of resolving a given riddle! ))
Waking from his improvised nap, Maurice said:
I still dislike the memories of the Ghostship creation. There are too many of them in this area for them to be completely irrelevant to the cognitive loop.
Furthermore, I believe we can lower the amount of memories we have to consider erasing by three. That is, the metal desk and the keyboard memories, which, I believe, must not be erased at any cost, for they hold the morality of the Ghostship and its current standing orders (not to mention the knowledge of the end of the Altered Wars), and the void memory, which is clearly secondary in causing the cognitive loop and by erasing which (and nothing else) we would not achieve anything long-term.

Now, I think that the destruction of the Altered as the only "bad guys" known to the Ghostship could have caused the cognitive loop, but, unfortunately, as said before, we cannot erase the keyboard memory as well we cannot erase the memory responsible for seeing the Altered as "bad guys" and the UWM as "good guys". There must be something else.
He then fell into silence once again.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"So... you're suggesting we delete all the memories of the ghost ship as individuals?"

[Nikitian]

No, of course not. There are at least four of them, if I recall correctly.
I am only saying that one of those might be at fault, not just the memories of the Ghostship full-fledged we seem to have been considering lately.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Jim thought about Gorat's summary of the memories again. (AKA reposting Knight Otu's list so everyone can see it again quickly)

"Let's try to take stock again...
1) Embedded globe - Ghost ship memory; destroying an Altered armada; we screwed up somehow and the ship concentrated on the memory.
2) Drifting helmet - Individual memory; Altered assaulting a base; the ship investigated while we were in, and the blobs appeared.
3) Ghostship fleet - Ghost ship memory; first field test, apparently. The ship destroys an Altered planet, possibly feels sad about that. The memory is practically assaulted.
4) Hiding face - Individual memory; the ultimate descent into a collective being
5) Syringe zeppelin - Individual memory; VonNost's experiments in deindividualization.
6) Nerve node - Individual memory; first steps towards an organic supercomputer.
7) Cheering keyboard - Ghost ship memory: The end of the Altered wars, the ship recognizing the hatred towards itself. Notably, the cheering stopped when we approached.
8)Empty void - Ghost ship memory; The ship contemplating on the past.
9)Metal bench -  Individual memory; The individual getting sworn into the UWM creed.
10)Burning world -  Ghost ship memory; The ship burns down a whole inhabited world."

"What's your opinion on the syringe memory?"

[Nikitian]

The syringe... hmmm, apart from deeper analysis, I can say that perhaps the syringe and, more likely, the nerve memories could theoretically lead the Ghostship to thoughts of kinship with the Altered - given the dehumanisation and deindividualisation.