goneawayworld | Mission Log 001

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Mission Log 001

Who: Buzz Lightyear and Brainiac 5
What: The World's Greatest Superhero, now the World's Greatest New Hire, is getting an upgrade.
Where: the Lab
When: Immediately after Buzz's New Hire interview, where his memory was forcibly erased and his delusion of being a real space ranger was locked in by Jorgmund.
Warnings/Notes: Forced memory loss, manipulation and gaslighting.

The fact that this universe is populated exclusively by giants and that his flight capabilities are currently disabled is nothing that Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger(tm) is allowing to slow him down. They weed out the easily frustrated early in the academy. The giants of Jorgmund don't offer to carry him, and he doesn't ask, jogging along between his orientation team on the way to the labs. They also weed out those with poor constitutions early in the academy, and he arrives not winded at all.

"If anyone can figure your -" a snicker "jetpack's problems out, it's the green meanie here," one of the interviewers who discovered the toy's play-demo switch says, stopping by Brainiac 5's table.

Buzz notes the tone, and misunderstanding the snicker, frowns. This world's courtesy is obviously strained by their imminent crisis, but being rude to each other isn't going to hold their potential apocalypse off any longer than it already is. The interviewer reaches down to offer him a hand up, but Buzz ignores the hand, backing up to do a running jump against the wall, using the leverage to grab the diagonal bar that braces the leg of the table. He climbs, pulling himself hand over hand up the inclined bar, grabs the lip of the table and pulls himself up and on.

"Just because we're facing the end of the world is no reason to forego courtesy," he admonishes the interviewer, whose authority he's not sure of, and who he'd address the correction to anyway if he were yet advised on the ship's chain of command. Turning to the green-skinned lab tech, he salutes crisply. "Space Ranger Lightyear, reporting for repairs. It seems my jetpack, laser, and air monitors were disabled during entry into your atmosphere."

The interviewers barely manage to hold back their mocking laughter behind the action figure, who clearly has never actually had a real jetpack attached to his plastic form in his plastic life.

"You heard the Space Ranger," the second interviewer directs Brainy. "Make that laser happen."

The other interviewer fingerguns at Brainy, whispering "pew pew pew" under his breath.

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Brainy had agreed to this because he wanted a chance to maybe sneak something useful out of the lab. Like a tool. Even a screwdriver would be useful. However, when he'd been told a New Hire needed miniaturized tech augmentations and asked if he was capable of making them, he'd been just been expecting someone from a diminutive species.

And who wasn't clearly made of plastic.

Who clearly wasn't a tiny droid of some kind because the "instruments" on his arm were a stick-on decal.

Brainy stared at Buzz for a moment and then turned to the Jorgmund goon keeping guard.

"You're joking."

"Nope," said the goon. "Boss wants you to make the space ranger -" another snicker "- ready for the field."

"Ready for the field, he's a -" Brainy cuts himself off, sighs a long sigh, and drags both hands down his face. "Fine. I will use my incalculably vast intellect to equip the...space ranger."

He clearly doesn't seem happy about it.

"Are you capable of pain or nerve sensation?" he asks Buzz, getting his equipment ready.

Just because it's a small action figure with a few algorithms loose in its AI matrix doesn't mean it's incapable of pain or unpleasant sensory feedback. He doesn't know how sentient he truly is. Autonomous toys in his world are not allowed to have AI past a certain level due to the moral implications, but he doesn't know if that's the case of a toy from elsewhere. That means he might be sentient, and if he's sentient, he might be programmed to feel negative feedback when taking damage.

"Not to worry. I have very high pain tolerance. Star Command doesn't graduate a Ranger without the mental fortitude for at least a field suture. A few electrical burns or minor shocks won't break my concentration."

After all, this green technician will only be working on his spacesuit. Buzz remains standing on the table, wondering which the technician will attempt to work on first - the nonfunctioning laser, the unresponsive comms unit, or his jetpack.

"I understand you must not be familiar with Star Command tech," he adds, misinterpreting Brainy's comment about a joke, and Brainy's clear unhappiness with the assignment, "but I'll do my best to help troubleshoot if necessary. I was top of my Engineering class, and it's all the usual scale to me."

He was top in all his classes, but bringing that up wouldn't be helpful, it would just be bragging.

"Of course you are." He picks up his tools. "Let's see to the laser first."

It's time consuming because the equipment and tools in this lab aren't as good as the ones back home. But he's still used to making miniature equipment because of Vi. Slowly but surely he makes the augmentations, slightly unnerved by the fact the toy man doesn't understand that he's cutting into his body, not a spacesuit.

Eventually, he gets to the jet pack, gets that mostly finished and...

"Hmm."

Sees something interesting.

The lab is mostly empty this time in the evening. Brainy spares a glance at his handler, who clearly is not taking this job seriously. He has air pods in and is checking his phone, only glancing up occasionally to make sure Brainy isn't trying to pocket something or messing with the lab equipment.

Apparently people here are sometimes lazy in doing their jobs, just like anywhere else. Small mercies.

It would be a prime opportunity to do one of those things, theft or sabotage, but instead he focuses on what's in front of him: the switch he just exposed.

Brainy looks at the switch curiously, then flicks it.

Edited 2020-06-21 11:50 (UTC)

Impressed with the green giant's skill at repairing his foreign, comparatively miniaturized gear, Buzz remains pleasantly calm and quiet until time for the jetpack repair.

He intones back, at Brainy's questioning hum, and the sound of something being flicked.

Initially, the switch does nothing. "Everything alright back th-" Buzz starts to say -

- then his body briefly goes entirely limp, like hes been turned off entirely.

Buzz comes rushing back to himself, and this time he isn't surrounded by his friends, the jump from his last terrible memory isn't to a present with familiar faces, and hes still lying prone with his wings removed and a stranger fiddling around with the machinery in his back that makes him lose his mind.

He nearly begins to hyperventilate, even without lungs. He manages to keep quiet, moving his hands slowly to prepare to bolt as soon as the technician lifts his hands. But when the seconds tick on and he doesn't, as the seconds tick on and no easy escape presents itself, Buzz's horror only grows.

"Please don't touch that again," he begs, in a sharp whisper for only the technician to hear. The terror and anguish in his voice is so far a cry from his professional tone a second ago. He has no reason to believe the technician will care. He has no reason to believe the technician is trustworthy. All he has is a very, very desperate plea, and his every nonexistent nerve poised to make the next possible escape.

Interesting.

The little AI doesn't want it shifted back into - oh. Aha. Demo mode.

A display mode, which means whatever the other mode is, it's meant for regular function.

He looks at the handler, eyes briefly darting.

"What's the difference between modes?" he whispers. "Explain quickly. And quietly."

His whisper becomes less urgent, gentler, because Buzz sounds terrified.

"Unlike our captors, I don't want to hurt you."

"It erases my memory," he hisses, urgently but quiet, "Makes me think I'm a real space ranger."

It erases everything he's found to live for after dealing with the horrifying crisis of believing he had a life, and suddenly discovering he has no life at all.

He wants to say so much more to the first alien who's claimed sympathy, but most importantly - "are they still here?"

Edited 2020-06-22 00:35 (UTC)

Of course they would do something so heinous as put a sentient through a memory wipe. Clearly this is some kind of child's toy that was given an AI that was far too advanced. It's actually gained sentience. And now they're trying to take that development away.

"Yes. They don't trust me to work in the labs without oversight. My handler is barely paying attention at the moment but only for so long. You need to keep still and pretend you're still cooperative." He puts him down, to work on preparing the jetpack. "They had me install miniature equipment for you. A real laser instead of an LED and so on."

He isn't sure how much he remembers and doesn't want this to appear to be some kind of terrible experimentation.

"I may be able to disable the switch. I can leave it in the demo position to fool them. You'll have to put on an act around them, but at least you'll be yourself."

A real laser?

"Well that's not child safe." But it is really cool. If Buzz had time to think about it much, he would, but there are so much more pressing matters to deal with than an upgrade.

"Can you do it without erasing me?" He barely manages to contain his hope. One time being wiped and hearing afterwards about the ways he mistreated his friends with almost no resistance to the order is already too many.

"Yes. It would be dangerous to meddle with the main mechanism responsible for this, but I can create a closed circuit and cut off the switch from it."

He could leave the switch disconnected from everything.

Edited 2020-06-22 04:37 (UTC)

"Do -"

Do it is almost out of his mouth before Buzz pieces together a few important things.

He can act the buffoon all he needs if it means the chance never to have to be strapped down, terrified, and lose everything he has that's worth living for over and over again, but it won't just be his secret to protect.

"This is a big risk you're offering to take on my behalf," he points out. He desperately wants it done, desperately wants to feel secure again in knowing who he is, what he's meant to do, and who he has to do it for.

But if these people are willing to just erase him with barely a thought, they must be willing to hurt each other too over decisions defied. The technician deserves a moment to consider that.

Edited 2020-06-22 04:50 (UTC)

"I'm a superhero. Undertaking risk while helping others is an occupational hazard I accepted a very long time ago."

He starts preparing what he needs to.

"May I proceed?"

That just blanks out Buzz's brain in a different way. Is he serious? He sounds very serious. A real superhero? Is that possible?

Is it any less possible than finding himself abducted by humans who detected his consciousness and caused him more pain than he's ever felt anything in his life?

"Please do."

They're stuck whispering, but he really hopes the gratitude (and awe) in his tone comes through.

Edited 2020-06-22 05:18 (UTC)

It takes some doing. Unscrewing more panels that Buzz has likely had anyone meddle with before. Brainy is slightly mystified by it, as he thought he'd find more internal armature than what's there, but there will be time for questions later.

He creates a closed loop that keeps the current mode active at all times, and disconnects the switch, leaving it clicked in place in demo mode. Flipping it will do nothing, as it's not connected to anything now.

"There. The switch is useless now."

The fear that relieves is so heavy Buzz has to breathe a few deep breaths not to overreact to it.

He can't thank Brainy enough. No really, he can't - not without alerting his handler to suspicion, and blowing their cover immediately.

He has to settle for a whispered "Thank you."

The relief is intense, but he's still consumed with so many other worries. He's going to have to maintain yet another masquerade, and if he doesn't, he won't be the only one on the chopping block for it. It's a secret mission in uncharted space.

It finally hits him that they are asking him to be a real Space Ranger, and he's getting the tools to do it. Of course this isn't Star Command - this is a pack of lunatics who thought it was a great idea to deliberately trap someone in a delusion and then give them a deadly weapon.

He doesn't have the space to really dive into that yet.

"They have a friend of mine. A cowboy ragdoll. Have you seen him?"

Where's Woody is the real thing he needs to focus on next.

Edited 2020-06-22 06:28 (UTC)

"Ragdoll?" Really?

Brainy overlooks it for now. Perhaps it's another toy with an overly advanced AI, rigged with some kind of armature to have mobility.

"No," Brainy says, finishing up his work on the jet pack. "But if he was captured like you, they'll most likely consider him too much of an asset to kill him. Even immediate subversiveness is privy to shock punishment, not death. Beings with a small stature would offer them potential advantages as agents in the field."

It doesn't take long for him to finish the jetpack. He sets Buzz upright again.

"There. Alongside self-contained power sources, I've installed a gas monitor, radiation pager, a laser with cutting and stun settings, a functioning jetpack, and a small comms device."

He taps the arm that has a snap open lid.

"The interface is installed in your forearm." He raises his eyebrows. "I apologize for doing the work without genuine consent. Unfortunately, I don't see any way around it, if you're to maintain the guise of being under their control."

There's a determined set to Buzz's plastic jaw and real gratitude in his eyes as Brainy sets him upright again.

The handlers can mistake it for an emotional overreaction to the cool upgrades, but while it was always clear to anyone who cared to look that there is a person behind those flat doll eyes, now there's significantly more of one.

Buzz tamps down on that, saluting stiffly and announcing in a bombastic Space Ranger voice, "You are a credit to your labor union, Sage Technician! Star Command thanks you for your intellectual and surgical contribution!"

"Ugh, are you finally done?" asks the handler, taking out one airpod.

The handler glaces at Buzz as he attempts to look as vacant as possible, and manages a pretty good job of making his eyes point just slightly different ways.

Edited 2020-06-22 07:33 (UTC)

"Yes, but I would like to take him to an area where it's safe for him to use the tech for a field test to see if any calibrations need to be made. The training area would suffice."

"Fine," says the handler. "You can bring him back if any new work needs to be done."

Brainy stands to go.

"Wait one second. Turn out your pockets," the handler says. Brainy rolls his eyes and does so. "Now hold out your arms."

The handler comes over and does a quick pat down that's fortunately not that obtrusive, just to make sure he hasn't sneaked any tools into his clothes.

"Okay, go ahead," he says, shadowing him as he leaves the lab.

Brainy holds out a hand for Buzz to hop on.

Since he doesn't know how to use the jetpack yet, Buzz jumps on.

"Great idea, viridian intellectual. I'm intrigued to see how your planet's tech compares to that of Star Command," he nearly yells, laying it on perhaps a smidge too thick because, as Bonnie's Room theater productions have proven, Buzz is not the greatest actor.

And also because, in the space left by the absence of his fear, it's starting to sink in that he has a real jetpack now.

The handler hovers until finally peeling off near the training area to go through one of the staff doors.

Brainy takes him into the empty training room and kneels, setting him down, staying there on the floor so they can talk.

"Were you properly apprised of our situation before they blocked your memory?"

Properly apprised? By people who immediately trapped him in a delusion?

"I highly doubt it. They left Woody and me in a room until we got up to find a way out, then zip tied me to a chair and shocked me until I couldn't stay inanimate. I didn't know I could feel anything that much!"

The intense pain and the intense horror coming back breaks his fake Ranger bearing and Buzz paces against the anxiety.

"They asked a series of inane questions and they must have had a polygraph of some kind."

Yes. A polygraph. (Occasionally when all the humans are away, the toys do watch a less-scary crime show or two.)

"The -" Buzz's anger breaks a little, as he remembers how they got his own design's flaw from his own mouth. "The last question - the only true answer lead them to that."

He points to his back, past the jetpack where his now nonfunctioning switch is hidden.

"I don't remember what happened between then and when I woke up on your table."

Reminded of the cameras that destroyed his and Woody's cover, he looks around the room. "Are they still watching us right now?"

"We believe the cameras in all New Hire areas have been rendered nonfunctional by a sympathetic AI who is as dissatisfied with having to serve Jorgmund as we are. The one that functioned enough to catch you on tape was likely functional because it was in one of the corporate areas."

He paused.

"Wait a moment, you tried to pretend you were inanimate? Ah, I see, you were trying to pretend you were a normal toy and hide that you had an AI."

Buzz blinks a few times.

"Oh you're giving my planet way too much credit."

Earth is fine and all but it's no fantastic technological wonderland.

"This is - this is sort of a first contact situation, isn't it?" Buzz half-laughs. It's kind of a joke. "Not that we havent contacted people before but we don't . . . talk to them." Maybe some of that anxiety hes feeling is - yup, it's the impulse to play inanimate, rising up stronger the longer he talks to a person. "Like we're doing now."

Not that he's ever known who made the Rules, but he sure is breaking a lot of them right now.

"I don't have an AI. The most advanced thing I had until I got on your table was an LED."

"Then how are you -" He stops, looking annoyed, because there are only so many options here. He sighs, and says flatly, "It's magic, isn't it."

It's the whimsy, you see. If a living toy didn't have AI, what other nonsense would give it life?

Buzz . . . shrugs.

What else can he say? "I never asked." Pause. "Not that I've ever spoken to anyone who could answer any of those kinds of questions."

As always, there's something more important to him right now.

"I have to find my friend. He can't be reset like I could, but who knows how they're torturing him right now?"

"Unless he attacks our captors, once he's released into the New Hire areas he won't be harmed. They only punish disobedience or attempts at insurrection. He's probably fine. Many of us have gone through their-" quotey fingers "'onboarding' process."

Brainy stands anyway.

"I can help you search for him. I have the areas that are open to us mentally mapped. That way you can search efficiently. I can explain our situation as we search."

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Mission Log 001

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