>>5271667Bracing yourself to say the aforementioned ‘<span class="mu-i">word</span>’, you find yourself hesitating a bit as you feel Syb’s, Ly’s, Lil’ Stanley’s, and Kelly’s eyes all bore into you expectantly.
“<span class="mu-s">USER?</span>”
“Anybody home, kiddo?”
“Stanley?”
*<span class="mu-i">Munch, munch…</span>*
Where the <span class="mu-i">hell</span> does this chunker keep finding bags of <span class="mu-i">chips?!</span> Snatching a handful from the open bag held in your raccoon’s claws, you stuff your cheeks full of <span class="mu-g">MINT AND KETCHUP CHIPS</span> to give you a bit more prep time!
Hey, these aren’t that bad!
“<span class="mu-s">IF YOU REQUIRE MORE TIME, USER, YOU CAN ROUSE ME FROM SLEEP MODE WH-</span>”
No<span class="mu-i">NO</span>no, you sputter, sending chip fragments all over the priceless archaeological discovery, you uh… you were just thinking…
“... Oh?” Syb asks, turning your way with mock shock on her face, “What about the <span class="mu-i">word</span>, Stanley?”
Yea, uh, you mutter as you sheepishly scratch the back of your head, it’s uh…
Okay, look: you actually wanted to get some more info, but you got <span class="mu-i">really</span> fired up by <span class="mu-r">AME</span>RI<span class="mu-b">CA</span> and all that Lincoln stuff and kinda doubled-down on making a decision. You <span class="mu-i">love</span> this country, okay? You <span class="mu-s">love</span> this country.
“<span class="mu-s">OKAY, WELL-</span>”
So, you interject, any chance you can do, like, a <span class="mu-i">mulligator</span> or whatever that do-over thing is? You wanna check out this outpost’s other features before messing with anything!
“<span class="mu-s">BUT OF COURSE! PROCESSING.</span>”
As the virtual intelligence resumes her humming, you turn towards Syb and give her an apologetic grin. Heh heh… that was, uh, that was a <span class="mu-i">wild</span> ride you went on, wasn’t it?
Regarding you with a stone faced expression, The Goth breaks the tension by trotting over to you and giving your head a good pat.
“I’m not mad, Stanley–I’m proud. It’s not easy admitting to a mistake.”
Yea, you reply, grinning like an idiot as she continues to pat your head, but you didn’t make a <span class="mu-i">mistake</span>, real-ow! OW! <span class="mu-s">OW!</span>
“I’m. PROUD. OF. <span class="mu-s">YOU.</span>” Sybil repeats, forcefully bringing her open palm down onto your head with each syllable! You’re just about to retaliate when Kelly fades back into existence along with a few glowing topics to choose from.
“<span class="mu-s">WARNING: THIS OUTPOST HAS SUSTAINED CRITICAL DAMAGES–DATA AND FUNCTIONS PARTIALLY CORRUPTED. PLEASE SELECT AN OPTION FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST:</span>”
<span class="mu-b">CHOOSE 1 OR MORE:</span>
>SYSTEM STATUS>INTERFACILITY TRANSPORT>RECENT OBSERVATION LOGS>SECURITY SYSTEMS>BIRTHDAY>OTHER QUERIES (WRITE-IN!)>NEVERMIND--LET'S FIX THAT DAMN SIGNAL! 