Dannylonglegs

Tags: Spaceship/Vehicle old pic "Inform Pombe that his presence is requested in one weeks time aboard the O.C.S. Rod 69. This is where we will perform our tests. It's too risky to do so on the Axle, or in the confines of a large gravity well, afterall." To Infinity and Beyond by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr To Infinity and Beyond by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr To Infinity and Beyond by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr I may fix up the text a bit tomorrow, but I got the plot elements out there. next week, I will finally have time to get the the next part of this story! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Tags: Civil Building, Science Planet: deep within the bowels of Crofter's Ridge "Hello, Dr. Long. You look well." " I'm fine, Dr. Bernier. You're looking slender. Have you lost weight?" "Here, I brought you an apple. You really must eat." "I'm not hungry, but thank you for the offer." "That was not an offer." "I've already eaten..." "Not according to your guard you haven't. Eat the apple. I want to watch you eat the apple." "I... no.. I can't. I won't." "Look. I need you healthy right now. We are at the cusp of a breakthrough. You showed me this. your experiments with these psychic children could open doors we never even knew were locked. You know this, don't you? I need you to hold on to whatever it is that motivates you... because Octan needs you. Think of the profits your work will bring to us when we have teams of special forces operatives capable of reading minds and practing telekenisis.... Think of the glory you'll garner yourself if we manage to generate permanent Gravitational Anomolies sustained by merely the will of a psychic worker... or a machine capable of mimicing the electrochemical power of a psychic brain... you'll be as famous as Rhumkomf and Brikowski! Think of the Knowledge you will uncover in your research. You'll pioneer a whole new uncharted field and discover not only how these "psychic" brains actually work, but why we've only recently come across them. Has Andromeda itself had a hand in this mutation? We don't know... but you could help us figure this out.... Or instead think simply of the order[I/] we can impose on the galaxy with this power. Just imagine a galaxy under complete control of our benevolent corporation's forward thinking and efficient oversight... But whatever it is that keeps you going..." "We all need to eat to live." *Five tense minutes later* "That wasn't so hard, was it? Now. Take your pills, then tell me what you've found out about Ms. Kolai from the data I gave you.." "Feeling better?" "Yes... So... the data you gave me on Patient Kolai... it was very strange. It is similar to the thought patterns that individuals exposed to Subject Three for prolonged periods of time displayed. She is likely experiencing altered perceptions of reality..." "What did we learn from subject three?" "Not much, I'm afraid. Subject Three vanished along with Subject Ten during "the Incident."" "Yes. A tragedy that. At least all involved had signed their waivers. That alone saved us from millions in legal fees." "But Subject Three was next in line to undergo the test. he was a class I Reality Warper." "I think, then, that we may still get our test in. I'm Greenlighting Project Birthday Boy. this is exactly what I wanted to hear." "SK-M0, Inform CEO Pombe that it is time. We're going to see if Corporate's dream can be made reality. If anyone can do it, it's him." ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Sorry that took so long. the build is up in-full now! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Tags: Science, Land Vehicle, Civil Building Planet: Crofter's Ridge (in orbit) "Ah, Dr. Black. Funny how we coincidentally were walking down the same corridor of the Axle at the same time, considering how truly immense this vessel is. Why is it that you're all by yourself?" "Hello, Dr. Long! You mean why I'm not with Dr. Hawkins? He's on a tour, actually, with..." "No. I meant to ask where your defense drone and robot dog had gotten to?" "My robot dog? ED just took Gidget on a walk..." "Hmm. I was concerned, because, the last thing I saw was it being viciously attacked by your defense drone." "I'll have to look into that." "Please do." "That does seem odd, though..." "I thought so too. Your robot dog isn't programed to be confrontational, after all." Moments later... "Major Alcock. I'd like to thank you in person for all your hard work preparing the Lab for project Birthday Boy and Suburban Soccer Mom. I take it you have brought with you the machine I requested?" "Your thanks are unnecessary. Corporate pays me well." "I know." "Then you know I'm not your lab assistant. I serve Corporate." "I do too." "And you believe that Kodan doesn't know the nature of "the lab"? It is suspicious that his dog has gone offline." "I have the utmost faith in Dr. Black. He, in a way, is a model Octan employee. He asks appropriate questions... and accepts the answers he is given. Let's get going then." Several rooms over, in the health wing. "The Doctor will see you now..." "Oh boy! I hope they ask me to cough a few times! Hee hee hee!" "Hello Ms. Kolai." "Dr. Long? I thought this was just a well check!" "Well, in a way it is." "No offense, but I didn't think you were a medical doctor!" "I'm not. My father used to refer to me as 'the kind of doctor that doesn't help people.' he stood by that joke for years before I started paying his medical bills. That made him quiet. No, I'm not a medical doctor, but I am here to help. I want to ask you a few questions." "Okay! Gosh I can't even remember the last time we met, it's been so long!" "Interesting... doesn't remember last meeting. So, Ms. Kolai, you've served as our CEO's aid now for well over a year... and I have a few questions to ask regarding your... work relationship. "Alright! Ask away! I've had a lot of character development under his direction!" "I'd like to know if you've noticed anything... abnormal about Pombe or events that occur around him." "I'd be hardpressed to point out anything abnormal about my time with him! everything totally normal! infact, this scenario right here feels more abnormal than anything else! I mean... why does this room only have 2 walls?" "two walls? you mean you don't see the third and fourth wall? huh. are your glasses on straight? I will admit I did approve of your being hired personally, considering you displayed pragmatism and logical thought patterns during your probationary period... but you mean to tell me you haven't noticed anything... strange... about Pombe?" "Nope!" "Nothing... supernatural?" "Apart from his superhuman fashion sense?" "Hmm. So you are saying to me very clearly that you have not noticed him displaying... subconscious powers capable of warping the very fabric of reality and space to suit his his eccentric tastes?" "I can't seem to think of anything..." "huh. by the way, why are you wearing a helmet?" "because we're in space! duh!" "I see. Well... thank you for your testimony. We're going to run a few tests on you now." "!!!" "we're going to need you to remove your helmet and lay down on this slab please. Remove any metal you may be wearing, such as glasses, and hand them to my armoured assistant. We'll now conduct several minimally invasive test to analyze your mental health." "But you haven't even taken me out to dinner first!" "We don't have to. It's in your contract." "What if she doesn't survive? She's no use to Corporate dead." "She will be fine. I'd be more worried about permanent damage from her time enduring Pombe's psychic backlash. But we will see. We will see." ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Really? only a few months?... that's nowhere near enough time for my innumerable story arch plans! I guess I'll have to keep Dr. Long around for 2.0., which was not actually in my plans. wow. did not see this coming, to be honest. I wish it was ending in the summer. More thoughts later. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Welcome Aden! Pleasure to have you aboard! Welcome to the best corporation in Andromeda and the Milky Way! All Grisbi to Bob, please. ~Dr. Long

Tags: Science (Testing Mech), Land Vehicle Planet: Crofter's Ridge Receiving incoming message. "Dr. Long, This is Emily DuPont. Do you read?" "You're coming in clear, but aren't you supposed to be testing the new Executive Class Walker that the engineering division so humorously dubbed "The Pantsuit"?" "I'm multitasking. It's about Operation Silent Silver." "Hmm. What of it? The operation was going flawlessly until recently. Its failure has not been well received by Corporate." "Yeah, I can imagine. But I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this... guess who just gave me a call?" "Who?" "The Jade Sun's escort, my mentor, Vyken Tyros." "I have him listed as MIA" "I just received a message from him. He claims that he was shot down by an unknown MANTIS agent. A woman with red hair. Her and another more well-known operative by the name of Gnarl Graves, who took him down in a fight afterwards." "Good. We'll have him debriefed to find out what went wrong this time. Operations like his are a crucial aspect of our strategy in the Quarrel. We have much to learn from this if we intend to maintain our presence there. Have you anything else to report?" "He needs a transport." Only the mech is new this week. Didn't get a chance to build so I pulled this one out of my build-reserves. Originally this was part of my Mech contest entry but I remodelled it once I realized it shouldn't be a mecha suit. Might be worth noting, while the mech's name may seem relevant to current news items, I've actually been planning on using that name long before this election cycle. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Tags: Civil Structure, Science (finally, amiright?) Planet: deep within the bowels of Crofter's Ridge "Emily, I've been thinking." "Late at night, I know." "I just wanted to let you know that I think I've thought it over, and concluded that I did what had to be done, and that the results, while not ideal, yielded more good than bad, in the long run." "Glad to hear it." "What I mean to say is... I've washed my hands of this senseless self-pity. I do what I do, not for my own sake, but for the greater good of our company. I blaze a trail through the mud so that others may walk on pavement. I do what needs to be done. I did my duty." "Couldn't have said it better myself. So, what are we doing in this cavernous mega-lab hidden miles beneath the ground?" "We're lighting a torch in the darkness." "This lab structure is the kindergarten of Suburban Station... and this, is project 'Suburban Soccer Mom.' I initiated this program to investigate 'psychic' phenomena. Long the subject of speculation and fiction, I've come to discover that psychic powers can be very real... however we do not yet fully understand them. Most notably, it is suspected that our very own CEO may have reality warping powers of this nature. I've been tasked with investigating this and coming up with a way to test for this, and harness it. I personally believe that reality warping powers may be the secret to unlocking true permanent gravity anomaly generation... and once we can prove this to be true, and investigate the mode of action.... we can mechanize it. "Cool." "Yes. Very cool. It is my personal ambition to ensure that Octan remains at the for-front of gate travel technology.. and the way I see it... The corporation best capable of manipulating the fabrics of time and space, will be the corporation that dominates them all. I see before us, Emily, a future of peace.... Because when Octan develops the power to generate and manipulate Gates at will, to travel to any corner of the universe in an instant.... There will be no war." "That sounds like a beautiful dream." "Dr. Bernier. I've heard great things..." "Ms. Long..." "My mother's name was Ms. Long. Please, call me Dr. Long." "Oh, of course." "Lets get started, shall we? I've read your reports on your child, Subject Eleven. You've done wonderful work with her. You've made me a believer that such things are even possible... And that's saying a lot. I am a stickler on proper procedure and scientific methodology. As such my visit here today will not be more than a demonstration. I want to observe what this child can do firsthand, and assess the needs of this project. have you prepared the equipment?" "yes. It's all ready..." "Then let us begin." "So.... How's life?" Background Officer: "Well I still ain't got my hand back. Other than that, can't complain." "Eleven, darling... I'm here." "Mama!" "I want to introduce you to someone...." "This is Dr. Danielle Long. She's your mommy's boss." "Hello, child." "I've seen you in my dreams!" "Fascinating. So, today we'll be performing a series of tests... to look into... your 'special gifts.'" "Do you know what this is?" "No." "Can you activate it?" "Yes." "By the stars. It is true. Now deactivate it please." "Ok." "Bring in the projector." "Ok, Eleven. This next task will consist of several parts. I will think of a word in my head, and associate the word with an image or two. I want you to tell us what word I'm thinking of, and use this machine before me to project the images from my head. Can you do this?" "I think." "First word." "Beauty" "Correct. Second word." "Mystery" "perfect. Now we will conduct the final test. Guard, bring in... The device..." "No... you said you wouldn't..." "I want you to concentrate, eleven. Channel your power into this device... I want you to create a fissure in time and space." "Ok." "I can't." "That's because the machine does not work. This was only a test... but despite that, you got very far. Admirable attempt. Thank you for showing me this. I'm very pleased with your progress, Eleven." "Please you've got to kill her. You promised you'd help." "And we will help, but we will not be killing her. She is very useful to us." "You said you'd help. We had a family... She had a father... but she removed him from existence in a temper tantrum! No one remembers him but me! ..." "In your contract it explicitly states that if she dies, you are out of a job. And need I remind you who is paying to operate on your numerous brain tumours?" "But it's abominable. It's strange." "I've seen stranger things." "It's unnatural. It's not right." "We will be the judge of what is right and what is wrong." "I can't keep living like this. I I can't. I cant." "Oh, I assure you, Octan can keep you alive for a very long time." "It's time for Dr. Brennier to get some rest. Guards, make sure she takes her pills and eats her dinner. I won't have another food-strike interrupting her work." "You have no idea what you're tampering with!" "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan. Now, I hear that Pombe's aid, Eschey has been acting strangely. I think it's time for her to have another psych evaluation. Inform her she has an appointment... with the Doctor." Cue the music! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Super sorry all for the wait. I had three tests this week. TExt has been updated. Took a while to think her rationalizations through, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Enjoy! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Civil building Farmolis "She claims that it gets easier.... When?... When will I be able to close my eyes and not see her blood-soaked hands reaching up to me? When will I cease to feel its warmth seeping through my jacket, inducing horripilation. Why do I still hear her voice in my head, muttering, in broken common... "help me..." Why could I not help her? Why did I freeze? Why was I horrified? Is that not my driving force? The reason I do everything that I do? To help people? "How did my actions lead to this event?... I made a poor judgement of character when I entrusted so much power to a member of a cruel species. I cannot blame the Oni-Ren though. We all act as our nature compels us... I can only truly control my own actions... and now I am wondering the halls at night.... doubting even that. "Should I resign?" "Has my judgement become so compromised that I am no longer fit to carry out my duties as chief administrative officer of the Axle, and Second Branch Executive? Have I broken my vow to Octan and myself to act in Octan's best interests always, and perform only morally just actions in the name of our fine corporation?... I cannot be sure.... and that scares me. I don't often feel... unsure." "Have I gone too far? Is the massacre at Onix's Capitol truly on my hands?" ".... .... ...." "No." "It is President Jinx who is wrong. She is the one who made the order, She is the one who misused Octan equipment and abused our trust. The Queen was a tyrant and needed to be stopped, but Jinx was supposed to have been reasonable. How could I have known they were all the same?... Maybe I should have... But this will not happen again. Her death is not on my hand, but Jinx's... and those hands will be watched. Very closely. No... This will not happen again. I will not allow it. "No. I cannot allow it. How could I have thought that this situation would improve if I turned over responsibility of it. That would be lazy, and un-befitting an individual of my competence. I'll have to see this all through... We've come too far to let Ba'al Ba'al Jinx's idiocy come in the way of mining Onix and improving the way of life of their people. It will take time, but surely we can teach them to improve themselves. We've done far greater things before, after all." "And besides, I cannot resign when there's so much work to be done. There's discoveries to be made. Species to catalog... Gates to open.... No. My place is on the Axle, in the spinal chord of the glorious body of our grand corporation. "The natural course of the universe is descent into entropy. I can only do so much to maintain order... but the universe needs a firm, guiding hand, to help stave off the darkness." Judges: this is the same build (with like ten exchanged pieces) as my Contest entry for Nar Eubrikka. Feel free to grade it as a fig on a plate for that reason. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Yeah, but MANTIS is still growing like a weed. So many new players join MANTIS, and only recently have new players started joining Kawashita and staying around. Octan hasn't seen a new productive player since Prof. Thaum joined this summer. Meanwhile you got LucByard, who's already proven himself to be yet another MANTIS master-builder. ... and you also got a bunch of other recruits who haven't proven themselves as steadily as LucByard has. But yeah, Kawashita still needs more players, which is why I always throw the option out there when a prospective player asks advice. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

We have a sharing program. More info will be made available to you when you get added to our super secret chat pm. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Yay! Welcome to the best team! can't wait to see what you got! Also, Dr. Long would like to purchase sleeping pills and morr handsoap. All grisbi to Bob. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

We just had a contest! ... and it's still kind-of going on, on the judging side of things. This topic may be a better place to continue talking, but we're still going strong, and there's plenty going on! So join on in!... especially if you want to join Octan! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

We at Octan are well aware of fact. Considering this, Octan offers basic literacy courses for willing participants of other factions. We hope this program may serve to avoid further treaty breaches such as those observed during the winter that resulted in "the Quarrel". ~Dr. Long

You saying the Stickleback is not MANTIS? Octan would gladly claim the vessel. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Great job all, and thanks, Goatman461 for collabing with me! Wish I'd had the chance to do all I had planned, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see how well I did nonetheless. Thanks judges! And thanks for the fun challenge! Also, it needs to be said, mad props to Lucaslaughing for building that absolutely gorgeous rendition of the Virago based solely on the parts we guessed! MKJoshA, I'll take that Tag if you wouldn't mind. Your tag will make a fine addition to my... collection. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Post that as a fig on a plate next week Medium! Dr. Long looks pleased to be there! awesome! Looks like a blast! Wish I got out to more of these! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Tags: Civil Building Sector: H06 (Axle) TW: Mild graphic content. And blood. Originally this was two builds, but I consolidated. Originally I intended for the Office build to have more builds in the same vein to be accompanied by this song, but now I'm thinking the build needs something more mellow, like this. Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "Logdate 739, this is Dr. Danielle Long, recording from temporary officespace Launchpad 6 aboard the O.C.S. Axle. Vaccine dissemination is progressing. As The Liberated Democratic Republic of Unified Onix spreads, so to does Octan's healthcare programs, and enlightened ideals. While the means employed by the LDRUO may fail to meet Octan's rigorous ethical standards when left to their own devices, under our constant scrutiny, we'll ensure both prosperity and peace for the Oni-Ren as we extract the copper we need to fuel our Awesomnium Alloy technology. As the Eyewash program succeeded under my supervision, I have decided to reopen my investigations into CEO Pombe's psychic powers. Before I attempt to conduct project Birthdayboy, however, I will need to resolve Project Suburban Soccermom. Dr. Brennier has done some fantastic work with her child, and It's about time I checked in on her... and tested the device. Barring Unanticipated delays, this will occur within the next two weeks. If the research has met expectations, we may finally be able to test Pombe conclusively, and we may then be able to devise a means to further monetize his powers, or those similar to his. This concludes my log update. Dr. Long out." Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr *Sigh* Much Later, within Dr. Long's chambers. Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "Nope. Stop. I'm finished." "Already?" "I'm finished for the night. You may return to your room." Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "You feeling alright? You've been awful quiet the past few weeks." "Never better. Now leave. I need to sleep. And shave your chest too. It's disreputable." "... Alright." "..." Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr Later still. Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "This is Dr. Danielle Long. Do you have a moment?" Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "Always! Hold on one sec." Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "I need the room." Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr "What can I help you with." "I... have an odd question to ask you." "Shoot." "I can't sleep." "Because of... on Onix?" "Yes." "I see." "I don't consider myself a bad person, Emily. My job requires perfection, and while I am certainly not perfect, I must meet the high standards and therefor I demand that of my subordinates as well. I do not tolerate incompetence, but that doesn't make me a bad person... The work we do on the Axle saves lives. Millions if not billions of lives. human and otherwise. This is an objective fact. At peak efficiency the Axle is a bastion of civilization in the savage frontier, but if I slip for even a moment, people die. I am not accustomed to failure... or self-doubt... but I cannot help but feel that out success in Onix was not complete... I... I'm not sure what I'm saying. I am not used to being so close to... to death. To brutality. I suppose I feel.... complicit in what just happened. Even though they weren't human, they had lives. Thoughts. I guess... How do you, a soldier with a very admirable confirmed kill-count, deal with what you must do. How do you put the thoughts aside so that you can sleep?" "Honestly. It gets easier. I do what I do for the company, not because it feels good, although I admit, I love the adrenaline of a good fight... but because what we do is the right thing. We are doing good work in this galaxy, you know. We're bringing civilization to the final frontier, and that's a messy job. All we can hope is that at the end of the day we've done more good than not." "hmm." "It gets easier." Overview of the build: Symbolic of Yin and Yang? A monocrome Octan symbol? happy accident? Hollow People and Trouble Sleeping by Danny-Longlegs, on Flickr ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Super awesome. Loved this film, and I love your rendition of the cars! Great work bringing the distressed post-apoc vibe to the Lego medium, and I especially like how you chose to display the figs and vehicles. The wet sand is a wicked touch... although probably a pain to clean up... especially off those Lego parts! Good luck! ~Insectoid Aristocrat

And the artist responsible for the opening MOCs for MANTIS (which I assume you're referring to) is LadyK, by the way. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Nope. Still can't say juniorized. so at least the important censors are still working. @Darkdragon: thanks. That actually helps. Still wish there was an easy button like before, but now at least I don't have to tour through 3 different pages to get back to the overall listing. Thanks! ~Insectoid Aristocrat.

Wait... are the censors gone for real? Okay (not ok-ey) then. <insert that tiresome argument>. Joking megablocks-ide, I'm curious as to why my post count seems to have gone down, as well, and sifting through the answers in this thread I didn't see anything definitive. I suppose it's not very important, though. Did old posts disappear? That would suck... Although there's no really practical way of finding one's old posts anyways. One thing I am curious about though is why the join date of a member no longer shows up on the quick member display to the left of a post? Edit: By the way, I've noticed that navigating the forum from an android phone is pretty irritating, as there seems to be no quick link to the forums masterpage, and I have to navigate through a few pages just to get there. Again, this isn't a huge issue. Edit: Looks like censors are working. drat. Edit 2: I didn't go back enough. Found the Post count comment. Good. That's sensible. And jeez. I guess that means I made over 100 posts in the community threads. Edit 3: Still not indicating clearly to me that I'm in anonymous mode. That asterisk helped, but now I can't see it. No rush on that, though. I'm sure you're all really busy with actual problems. Hope I'm not being annoying. ~Insectoid Aristocrat

Oh boy! VEry interesting figure. Can't wait to see what you build! And, in your defense, Octan does have a habit of firing nonconforming Scientists.... ~Insectoid Aristocrat