I liked this one pretty well - the structure reminded me a lot of the Calendar Code, which I also enjoyed.
Only one thing struck me as kind of odd…
I guess constant exposure to all the horrors of the neath become pretty jaded after some point - I found it kind of weird that opening a crate full of human skin gave me tales or terror, but no increase to my Nightmares menace.
At the beginning of the story, I made the assumption that my character is already a part of the conspiracy (whatever it may be), and that the whole investigation is conducted for the purpose of plugging the leaks and tidying up loose ends.
It made the final choice so much easier.
I can possibly get behind this.
So long as you can figure out how to keep it from gaining sentience, or completely rupturing The Chain.
Hopefully it can get the Fingerkings, the DM, tLotN, the C. Council and a good number of other things out of history for good.
Mabey even let me turn back the clock on a gold framed painting.
I have a good number of plans for worst case preparations, you may have my matirials if you can guarantee I will no longer need them.
Just wanted to say how much I appreciated
[spoiler]that we were given the option of at least TRYING to stop the Censor from murdering the Mathematician, Even though we couldn’t actually convince him to stop, I appreciated the option to stay in character while doing so, since that made it a tragedy my character simply couldn’t prevent rather than an evil act he gave his blessing to. I would have liked an option to try and defend the Mathematician from being murdered that didn’t involve siding with him and basically giving him license to continue his evil, but I am glad my only options weren’t “decide to murder the bad guy” or “decide to become his accomplice.”
I also felt a little bad about destroying the machine, since it couldn’t help what the Mathematician used it for, but I also wasn’t sure if it was actually sapient or not. I really hope it wasn’t.
That poor horse though… [/spoiler]
Over all though, I really loved the mechanics on this one, especially how the investigation was set up. Gradually coaxing information out of your three companions and exploring the machine bit by bit, including backtracking and putting the pieces together was fun and satisfying.
I also love the three companions who come with you to the mathematician’s house. All of them were likable and had such sad backstories. I wish we had gotten a little epilogue telling us what became of them.
All in all, what a fun story! Nice work, writers!
So, anyone know the rewards for this month?
I earned 5 Favours in High Places by saving them both
edited by Cantankerous Captain on 11/29/2016
[spoiler]I got a Searing Enigma from destroying the Machine myself while the Censor took his revenge.
And don’t forget the Vital Intelligences, which are worth a pretty penny.[/spoiler]
Rewards for the three actions:
Leave the house - 1 x Night-Whisper
Leave the Censor to his revenge - 1 x Searing Enigma
Spare them both - 5 x Favour in High Places
(Storywise the most merciful decision seems to let you know the least. But it might make no difference at all. )
I really enjoyed this one, although I wish I could have had the Mathematician arrested like the Big Rat (easily one of my favorite options in the game as far as endings go). In the end, I decided that the Mathematician, from his own point of view, believed he was doing what was right and never (from his point of view, perhaps) hurt anyone directly. As such, he didn’t deserve a slow death at the hands of the Censor.
As for the Persona Engine, she (?) seems reasonably sapient in the fashion of the Dawn Machine, but without the evil bits. Sparing her is clearly the moral choice, especially since she obviously doesn’t have the capacity to judge her own actions. Besides, I could see her becoming much nicer if my character sat down and had a nice chat about what her “best self” actually means. After all, isn’t that what morality is all about in a way?
[li]
The fact that I specialize in computer science and see Alan Turing as a personal hero probably had a lot to do with my choice as well.
edited by Saklad5 on 11/29/2016
An excellent story. I like the writing, the characters, the mechanics, the pacing, and the hints at the larger lore.
[spoiler]Things I particularly liked:
Things I felt could have been better:
Updated Exceptional Stories personal ranking:
Excellent:
Lost in Reflections
Cut with Moonlight
The Frequently Deceased
The Waltz that Moved the World
Flint
The Persona Engine
Where You and I Must Go
Good:
The Pentecost Predicament
The Calendar Code
The Art of Murder
The Chimney Pot Wars
The Final Curtain
Our Lady of Pyres
Five Minutes to Midday
Discernment
The Haunting at the Marsh House
Meh:
The Last Dog Society
The Seven-Day Reign
The Court of Cats
[quote= Saklad]As for the Persona Engine, she (?) seems reasonably sapient in the fashion of the Dawn Machine, but without the evil bits. Sparing her is clearly the moral choice, especially since she obviously doesn’t have the capacity to judge her own actions. Besides, I could see her becoming much nicer if my character sat down and had a nice chat about what her “best self” actually means. After all, isn’t that what morality is all about in a way?
The fact that I specialize in computer science and see Alan Turing as a personal hero probably had a lot to do with my choice as well.
edited by Saklad5 on 11/29/2016[/quote]
On the topic of the gender of the Persona Engine, and on the history of computing, I was wondering about something (spoilers & historical speculation within):
[spoiler] Where is Ada Lovelace? Assuming that the Reclusive Mathematician is Charles Babbage, who designed the Difference Engine(s) and the Analytical Engine (the first Turing-complete computer, were it ever built in his time), I wondered where Babbage’s correspondent, Lady Ava Lovelace (arguably the first computer programmer) was. And, on a related note, why does the Persona Engine write with a woman’s handwriting?
Well, it turns out that Lady Lovelace died in 1852, and Babbage was thus left without a brilliant correspondent, supporter, and friend. Maybe he made the Persona Engine write with woman’s handwriting because it’s meant as a substitute (or memorial, or homage) to Lovelace?[/spoiler]
I should also add how much I enjoyed this story especially. The interviews, mysteries, exploration, and final decision were all top-notch. This is one of my favourite exceptional stories.
There’s little I can say that haven’t been said by others here, good or bad.
The conversations with the three characters is a bit stiff though, since
[ul][li]two small talk, gain trust
[/li][li]change storylet[/li][li]two questions[/li][li]change storylet[/li][li]two small talk, gain trust[/li][li]change storylet
[/li][li]two questions
[/li][/ul]is pretty awkward when all the topics are interesting and you’d end up clicking all of them once anyway.
[quote=Rook Crofton][quote= Saklad]As for the Persona Engine, she (?) seems reasonably sapient in the fashion of the Dawn Machine, but without the evil bits. Sparing her is clearly the moral choice, especially since she obviously doesn’t have the capacity to judge her own actions. Besides, I could see her becoming much nicer if my character sat down and had a nice chat about what her “best self” actually means. After all, isn’t that what morality is all about in a way?
The fact that I specialize in computer science and see Alan Turing as a personal hero probably had a lot to do with my choice as well.
edited by Saklad5 on 11/29/2016[/quote]
On the topic of the gender of the Persona Engine, and on the history of computing, I was wondering about something (spoilers & historical speculation within):
[spoiler] Where is Ada Lovelace? Assuming that the Reclusive Mathematician is Charles Babbage, who designed the Difference Engine(s) and the Analytical Engine (the first Turing-complete computer, were it ever built in his time), I wondered where Babbage’s correspondent, Lady Ava Lovelace (arguably the first computer programmer) was. And, on a related note, why does the Persona Engine write with a woman’s handwriting?
Well, it turns out that Lady Lovelace died in 1852, and Babbage was thus left without a brilliant correspondent, supporter, and friend. Maybe he made the Persona Engine write with woman’s handwriting because it’s meant as a substitute (or memorial, or homage) to Lovelace?[/spoiler]
I should also add how much I enjoyed this story especially. The interviews, mysteries, exploration, and final decision were all top-notch. This is one of my favourite exceptional stories.[/quote]
Interesting! I read it as a reference to:
the natural language processing programme, ELIZA, the prototype ‘chatbot’ - the programme was named after Eliza Doolittle in Shaw’s Pygmalion. .
[li][/li][li][/li]
edited by Belgravia on 11/30/2016
Was this… could this possibly be… all right, I’m admittedly easily led astray by names that don’t necessarily mean what I think they might, but is this story a sort of FL tribute to Finch’s Machine, and "Person of Interest"? I was utterly charmed, reading it as such, and of course then my final choice was (relatively) clear!
I thoroughly enjoyed this months story. I’d love to sit down and have a longer chat with the machine, or at least one similiar. Though I must sadly add my name to the list of people not entirely satisfied with the ending.
I was hoping to have the option to spare the mathematician and destroy the machine. The mathematician apparently felt at least some remorse over the trouble his forgeries caused, at least based on how he tried to help them during, their respective trials. The machine is just too dangerous to leave intact on this plane.
edited by folklore364 on 12/1/2016
Am I the only one who would have liked an ending choice to leave the mathematician alive as a prisoner, so I could interrogate him for information about his work? I’d like to have a go at raising my Scholar of the Discordance level!Other than that, good story, and it has me looking forward to what is to come!
Not at all Good Sir. I do have a feeling that the machine alone could be quite helpful in your pursuit of information.
I actually couldn’t make a decision for three days as I mulled over the implications my choice might have. I finally decided that my character began the investigation to stop the murders and adding at least one, if not two murders would have undermined the entire purpose. I can always keep an eye on the Mathematician and see if he doesn’t step over the line.
Sorta wish there was a third option though all the same. I disliked turning on my companions as I did understand why they were so upset.
What murders?
There were forgeries, and people’s careers were ruined, but no one was murdered.
Though one person accidentally died during the Censor’s raid (and then came back).