Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Travellers (Semi-Open RP between Tara and Catrin)

The Hologram nodded and then the eye's colour changed, the blue slowly darkening and shifting until it was brown, then the cheekbones narrowed and heightened, "Hm, how's that?" The AI asked, "Perhaps I should put a secondary colour into the fur, most Terelains have markings or patches of different colours on their fur."

Catrin rubbed her chin again. “Hm. It makes you look more predatory. Actually, it's kinda sexy,” she added with a bright smile. “And the markings sound like a good idea!”

"S-sexy?" The AI asked, "What? Really? Hm... I... uh... I guess that's a good thing." He then seemed to ignore that and went back to the colours, "Yes, the colours. The king whom I modeled the face on had brown fur with gold flecks through it, but I want something different, hm... maybe black or grey markings? A few stripes, or patches or something..."

“Black and brown sounds good! And the stripes would go well with the predator look.” Catrin decided not to comment further on the sexiness and wait for Tara's opinion when she wakes up.

The AI nodded and black stripes appeared along his tail and his ears gained black tips, a few stripes and patches of black and dark grey accented the brown colour of the rest of his fur, "Well, if that's acceptable, I should probably put some jewelry on, otherwise I'll be walking around entirely naked."

Catrin, back in her 'don't laugh no matter what' mode, nodded. “I like it. What sort of jewelry is appropriate for a male? Perhaps you could simulate all kinds at once and then we could remove the excess pieces?”

The AI nodded, "A good idea." With that, a great deal of jewelry appeared on him. Arm bands on each arm made of silver with gold scrollwork on them, a silver chain with a white gold ptear-shaped pendant on the end, a torc appeared around his neck, also made of gold, and a tail ring of what looked like obsidian, a few rings appeared on his fingers and a single belt of some form of silk with a small, ornate dagger hanging from it, "There, tat's about it."

Catrin needed a few moments to take it all in. Then she nodded. “Yes, very convenient. I can't imagine trying all these on one by one. Can you remove any of the items that have some major significance, religious or cultural, or other? It probably wouldn't do to wear those.”

The hologram's mouth twitched into a smile, "None of these ornaments have any particular significance that I am aware of, so no need to worry about that..." The AI's smile widened, "I'm quite enjoying this. I've never done this before, and I rather like the way 'I' look."

Catrin's 'no laughing allowed' façade didn't hold up and she chuckled. “Yes, it's fun.” She smiled back at him. “So you're telling me that you can wear any of these things and it won't mean anything? Wow. Well, that's quite something.” She gave him another thorough look. “I quite like the torc, the obsidian ring and... hmmm... how about a matching obsidian ring with some gold accents to also match the torque?” She grinned, getting more excited about this. “Or maybe we could create several sets and you could swap them? Surely Terelains do it with their jewelry all the time! Which pieces do you like?”

The AI nodded and the golden vines appeared on the tail ring, "Much better. Oh, and yes, Terelains do tend to have many sets of jewelry. Some for formal occasions, some for showing off, some for daily use or for ceremonies or funerals." The AI frowned slightly, "Hm.. I could create a few shaped energy fields within the hologram to give it a little more physical presence, that way it could pick things up, or touch things without going through them. It might get a bit disconcerting if I accidentally make it pass through a solid object."

Catrin laughed. “I actually meant a finger ring in addition to the tail ring, also made of obsidian. It's weird, I've never had to specify what part of the body the rings went on.”

She beamed when he mentioned the various decorational possibilities available to Terelains. “Well then, perhaps you could make yourself something that's not physically possible.. You know, like a matching set made of little silver or golden beads that won't be connected with anything, or maybe that would be more interesting if you mixed some little gems into it...” she trailed off, lost in the lands of jewelry design for a moment, and came back to reality when he mentioned energy fields. “Huh? You can do that? That would be interesting. Won't in be too energy-consuming?”

The AI shrugged, "Consider how much energy it would take for this ship to tear open a hole in the fabric of the universe, exit said universe and then re-tear a hole and return. Now consider how little power it would take for me to use shaped force-fields in that manner in comparison." The ring on his finger changed to obsidian and gold, the same as his tail ring, "As for creating physically impossible jewelry, that is certainly a possibility, for instance..." A few tiny gems, some red, some blue, some green or yellow, appeared around him, floating inches away from his arms, legs and tail, "Of course if I go too overboard with things like this, it tends to make organics uncomfortable as their brains try to explain why parts of my attire are defying every pre-made assumption they hold. It can be quite a disturbing experience, or so I have been told."

Catrin smiled. “Okay, okay, it was a stupid question,” she conceded. She smiled and nodded when the obsidian ring appeared on his hand, and gave him a thoughtful look when he created his tiny gem jewelry version. “Hm. Something more solid would feel better. I think subtle physically impossible jewelry would be more fun. Things like more of those gems rotating in a shape that would be an actual jewelry shape – impossible, but comfortingly familiar at the same time. Then you wouldn't need to worry about your body appearing realistic and people taking you for an actual Terelain male. Not that you probably tend to have enough visitors for it to matter.” She paused for a moment. “Would you like to try out that energy field thing now? I'm sure you could really surprise Tara when she wakes up.” She would have said 'scare the hell out of Tara', but held her tongue at the last second.

The jewels floated towards his head and tightened, becoming a very slowly rotating circlet of floating gems, "There... though I suppose a sufficiently vain Mage could use a levitation spell for the same effect. Oh, and yes. I'd like to test out the force-fields... I do hope Mistress approves of my new appearance. I'd have to go back and change the whole thing if she hates it."

Catrin smirked. “With all that jewelry, you look very vain, so a vain mage is a definite possibility here. Do you think you could make disappear everything apart from the obsidian rings and the torque? Unless you also liked something else in addition? And if there's any way I can help you with testing the force fields, don't hesitate to ask me.” She shrugged. “I suppose you'll have to wait for Tara's opinion until after she wakes up... but you might want to tell her beforehand about what you did. Unless you'd like to surprise her.”

A desire to witness a potentially dramatic and definitely hilarious scene gave way to compassion for the AI. “She might be more inclined to like it if you don't surprise her. Also, if she approves, you might end up with a name, eventually. Have you considered that?”

Most of the jewelry vanished, leaving just the torc, the tail ring and the finger ring, he seemed to be considering her words, "Well, on the one hand I'd rather enjoy surprising her with this... but on the other, what you say is true and I certainly want her to like my new appearance." The AI shook his head, "For now, I'll just test out the forcefields and calibrate them. One moment."

The hologram flickered slightly, and then went back to normal, "There, I've activated the forcefields, that should give my hologram the illusion of solidity."

Catrin nodded. “That looks much better.” A few scenes that won't ever happen now flickered through her mind, like Tara screaming in horror at the appearance of a new male on board – that probably wouldn't have happened anyway. Next was Tara finding him attractive and then finding out it was her AI... ahem. Oh well.

She nodded again when he said he activated the forcefields. “Illusion of solidity... what does that mean? Your appearance hasn't changed, or at least not that I've noticed. Would I feel resistance if I touched the hologram now?”

The hologram nodded, "Exactly; that's what I mean. The hologram will feel solid, even though it is just a trick." The Hologram reached out and touched her arm to show her. It wasn't warm, nor did it feel like flesh or fur, just the pressure of something touching her, "I suppose if I went to extremes I could probably make the forcefields warm, and overlay them with a few more layers that could simulate fur, but I doubt that would be necessary." The AI took its hand away and then smiled, "Do you have any other suggested alterations whilst I'm at it?"

Catrin watched him reach out and found the resulting sensation when he did touch her quite interesting. No warmth, no structure under the touch – after all, he hadn't simulated fur, or skin, or muscles and bones. She smiled when he suggested going to extremes.

“And then you'd have to simulate the muscle and bone structure beneath that. Sounds like too much work.” She shook her head and smiled back at him when he asked for suggested alterations. “I can't think of anything right now. What will happen if I try and push through you? May I?” If he indicates agreement, she'll raise her arm and push with an open palm against the hologram, then try and push some more to see what will happen.