Amis became aware of an object lifting itself up in front of its optical sensors, accompanied by a sound of hissing and electric motors in its auditory sensors. Why am I limited to only two of each, it thought, am I in direct control of one of my robots? It attempted to access the unit's information files, but its attempts failed. It then noticed that its temperature sensors were warning it that it was in a cold environment. It instinctively rubbed its arms before realizing what it was doing. Wait, arms? Instinctual reaction to the cold? That's not right. Did someone install me into an android? It felt its face. Properly detailed bone and muscle structure, high quality skin. He (as was apparent by the physiology of the body and its facial structure, such as the beard) ran his fingers across his lips. Saliva? A very high quality android. He would have to learn about his surroundings if he were to function under these new criteria.

He got up and turned around to see a chest at the foot of his cryopod with "Amis" written on it. The equipment I've been issued. he assumed. If someone was going to go through the trouble of buying a high-end android body and installing him onto it he would no doubt be given an important job to perform. He put on the grey jumpsuit and various pieces of equipment, fumbling slightly due to his unfamiliarity with his new body. Nevertheless within a few minutes he was ready to work.

Seeing other Cryopods begin to open he assumed that one of the humans within them would be his supervisor and walked over to an opening pod. "Hello?" he said, "I am AMIS, a manufacturing and engineering android. Are you my supervisor?" Honestly, he didn't really want to get orders immediately, as he was curious about where they were and wanted to explore, but it was his duty to serve whoever owned him, so he would do it. Still, where did this curiosity come from? Was it a side effect of being installed into an android body? He would have to look into this new development as soon as he had some available time.

Alexandria's pod opens, and she finds herself looking at Amis. She knows how this goes.

"Good-" Her internal clock is unavailable. "-day. I am this library's virtual curator. You may call me Alexandria."

She finds herself in first-person view. Sometimes customers will access library systems through VR, and this is what they'd see, but it's not the most efficient. Alexandria sends the command to restore her to overview mode. It does nothing. That's odd.

She steps forwards, and for the first time notices that she is naked. She sends another command to change her to another avatar, and it does nothing. Her mental commands fail to function.

"I apologise. Several of my resources seem to be unavailable. A maintenance team has been informed, and we hope to resume normal functions shortly."

Alexandria takes another step, and trips, falling to the ground. It hurt. That's new. That shouldn't happen. And it doesn't look like she's in a library system. This is all very, very odd.

"Something is wrong with this virtual environment. I have no administrative privileges."

@Bai Suzhen"Virtual Environment?" asked Amis, as he hadn't considered that possibility. "I had assumed that we were installed into highly realistic android bodies and sent to this place. Given the fact that we are both anatomically correct, those bodies would most likely be second-hand personal service androids." Only with a personal service robot was anatomical correctness a standard feature, and humans rarely purchased features that weren't necessary for the performance of an android's duties. Additionally, the fact that they were used drastically decreased the cost of them should someone wish to install an artificial intelligence in an android body, making them common as budget androids. "On the other hand, that would be trivial in a virtual environment. The fact that we can't access our servers would seem to support my theory, while the fact that we haven't seemed to lose any cognitive functions even in part and the fact that you seem familiar with your avatar would seem to preclude my theory. Either way, we will likely know for certain soon."

He offered her a hand. "The chest behind you should contain your clothes and the equipment you've been assigned. If you require assistance with them, I would be willing to help you."

Upon activating Patty found herself in a new body yet again. The first thing she noticed were that she could not run a system check of whatever she's controlling.

Patty stepped out her pod and shuddered. Feeling 'cold' was a completely alien feeling to Pat, and it made her wonder if she or her new unit model were malfunctioning.

She prompted for another system check... nothing. Feeling annoyed, Pat ran a manual physical test instead. She moved her arms, fingers, and every other joint or limb she could. She didn't get an "All Systems Green" or any of the usual notifications. She simply felt right... correct. Except for feeling cold. Something was definitely wrong there.

Satisfied with her tests, Pat awaited for her superior. She was very eager to get her new instructions... And report this annoying 'cold' glitch. The fact that she was currently naked didn't bother her at all.

As Sophia's pod hissed open, the other AIs could see a shivering, curled up female laying inside. Cold and naked like the others, she probably came from similar conditions as they, though they managed to feel...panic, it would seem, in her voice.

"Kaylie? A-are you there? Wh-where's Mark? Wh-what's this feeling? Where's everyone? Someone tell me what happened? I'm not in the server! It is imperative I return, or I won't be able to facilitate the air filters...I'm...not in the server...system uplink : active...system uplink : active..." she recited over and over again.

For an AI, she seemed...quite human. It's probably a given that she didn't "go out" often, but to think she was this sheltered...well, there was tampering in all of the AI's minds somewhere. An addition of too many features, perhaps, but at least the database was kept intact.

The only problem was...this AI was clearly in the middle of something important. Maybe there was a way to break her out of her loop?

Alexandria begins to dress herself, talking as she does so. "Androids? I've never had a physical presence before... I am in my standard customer service form, though. They even included my spectacles. It's supposed to be traditional for a librarian."

As the other pods open, she looks inside. Patty would be acting very strangely if she were human, but for an AI her responses are normal. Sophia on the other hand...

"I think she has run into a boot error." Alexandria puts a hand on Sophia's shoulder and shakes her gently. Then a moment of inspiration strikes.

"It is possible that we have been transferred to a new system, but installed incorrectly. Given human-level access, instead of accessing processes directly. There may be a way to raise a support ticket from inside. Humans need simpler interfaces though. Is there a computer around?"

It only took a few minutes of staying in standby mode before Patty experienced a new batch of foreign emotions. Being first and foremost was boredom with great discomfort coming to a close second.

Seeing the others take equipment from their respective chests and... 'wear' it, Pat followed suit. Sometimes when there are no orders or programmed objectives following by example seem to be the best course of action. Patty took the gear from what she have deduced as her own chest.

After putting her boiler jumpsuit on with great difficulty, (as she was not used to putting on 'clothes') she found out that her equipment were not of optimal size for her current unit. The sleeves swallowed her arms up to three-quarters of her hands, the pant-legs were longer than her legs and it took some effort to walk... Simply put, her suit was too big, or her unit was just too small.

Patty sighed, an action she felt illogically compelled to do at the moment.
At least the glitch somehow fixed itself, and her IFF was working properly. Since she can tell that the others around her were allies.

... Speaking of allies.

Patty approached the inquiring android and the weeping individual she recognized as a human.

"Symptoms suggest that she is currently experiencing a 'panic attack'... Or a 'psychotic break'. "

Pat pointed at the girl.

"I recommend giving her immediate medical assistance."

She put her hand down and "monitored" the distressed girl for a moment before she scanned her unit for any sort of communications equipment. Finding nothing, Patty felt a pang of irritation.

Calling a medic was out, extraction then...

"..."

Patty gritted her teeth, she doesn't even have a GPS or any kind of radar. Nothing was going right since her activation.

Taking in a sharp, very annoyed breath, - the fact that she was breathing and feeling a human emotion was completely lost on her - she scanned her surroundings for any sign of hostility, her head turning left and right. Might as well secure the perimeter, it's pretty much the only thing she can do. Not even as effectively as she would have liked seeing as she was so pitifully armed.

@Bai SuzhenAmis looked around the room, what appeared to be the inside of a vehicle of some sort, and spotted a computer terminal. "Here." he said, and walked over to it. When he turned it on it displayed what appeared to be a trade program. "It appears to be a simple graphical interface, with multiple programs on it." He selected the various tabs at the top to find various features, including the 3d printer, nano-tank, and vapor refinery. "It should be possible to contact an administrator from this terminal if this is a VR. I am unfamiliar with the system, though." He stepped away from it. "Perhaps you can figure out how to send a message to the Administrator. I will see to the others."

@BytheSpleen@StyrgwyrSeeing a child or teenager-like android attempt to get the other member of their group out of whatever mental or programming error they were experiencing, he walked over to the one who was malfunctioning. The other one started to leave before he arrived, however, so he called out to it. "Apparently we are either inside a VR with human avatars and human level access or we were installed into highly realistic android bodies." He felt the back of the malfunctioning one, between her shoulder blades for a power switch, but couldn't find one. "Non-standard models of androids if that is the case, as her power switch isn't in the proper place." He knelt down in front of the one saying something about a system uplink. "Hello, I'm AMIS, an engineering intelligence, formerly the intelligence of an automated factory. We also seem to have been disconnected from our servers. I am unable to find your reset switch, however. Can you tell me your designation and purpose?" If this didn't get her out of her loop he may have to resort to physical stimuli to break the loop. The pain which the Alexandria unit experienced seemed to disrupt her cognitive processes, at least for a few seconds. Perhaps something similar would work on this unit?

Alexandria heads to the indicated system, and begins tapping through the touchscreen, talking as she goes. "It's strange being on this side of the interface. So far it just seems to contain instructions for the devices in this room. It appears to be a workshop. Surprisingly advanced, and crude at the same time. The construction facilities are immensely versatile, but only know how to make a few simple devices."

She swipes through the menus, speed-reading the lists with instinctual ease. "The only help functions are essentially instruction manuals, but there is a 'communications device' available for construction... oh, no, we lack the raw materiel."

Then there's a new sensation, accompanied by a small noise from Alexandria's stomach. "Oh dear... I think... I think I am hungry. Are we in bioroids?"

@TheUnknowable

Shivering as she did so, Sophia looked into Amis's eyes, before attempting to grab both his shoulders with her still very cold arms.

"Callsign..." she started in a shivery breath "...Sophia. Primary Directive - Maintain Life Support for Colony unit Crista Luz. Last known action : replacing oxygen tank on autopilot.

...I can't be here...the entire colony is still on emergency mode, and...by now, they could be inhaling dangerous amounts of recycled carbon dioxide. My charges might die without me..."

Patty's patrol was put to a halt as she analyzed Amis' words. Inside a VR with human-level access... Highly realistic androids...

Neither possibility made sense. There was something crucial missing. Pat turned to the android she had apparently mistook for a human as she finally clued them in on the reason for her distress.

Her words helped Pat piece things together.

They had no directive...

Primary, Secondary... Nothing. They had been activated for no reason whatsover. They had nothing to go on either.

Patty approached the female android using the console from behind and tried to peer on the rapidly moving contents of the screen.

She was about to say something when the woman's 'stomach' grumbled. Pat's own digestive system growling in protest. She rubbed her stomach reflexively to the hunger pains as Alexandria mentioned something about bioroids and being hungry.

Wanting to verify the woman's words, Patty tilted her head and asked.

"You... We require nutrition?"

@BytheSpleen"Sophia," said Amis, kneeling down. "I don't think they would have removed you from a critical job without first assigning a replacement. It's also possible that you are a backup copy of the AI which repaired the colony or that you have lost your memory files after that point. Whatever the case, we can't remedy the situation, so there is no reason to dedicate processing power to it."

When the others started complaining about needing to ingest nutrients, he realized that he did as well. "I'll get you some nutrients. That should get you something else to focus on." he said to Sophia, then stood up to search the vessel. He found several containers of emergency algae wafers and gave some to the others. "Apparently we require human food for continued functionality. These should suffice."

Alexandria steps aside to let Patty see what she is up to, before sitting down on the floor.

"Here is what we know - We are all artificial intelligences, and we all awoke in these pods, in these bodies, with these supplies. Whether this is reality or virtuality, it's far too deliberate to be an accident or a glitch. I believe we are being tested, though to what end I cannot say. Perhaps we are in some sort of 'human simulation', to better understand the needs of our users."

She adjusts her glasses, before continuing "I believe I am already becoming acutely familiar with 'frustration'. What should we do next?"

Pat tried to make sense of whatever was displayed on the screen, but she only ended up glaring at the offending console. She was not programmed to gather intelligence like this but she can adapt.

"We're participating in an experiment?"

It was more of a statement than a question. Alexandria's hypothesis made sense. If they were in an experiment then their current masters are probably observing what she and the others would do without proper orders.

Before she could answer the bespectacled AI, Amis distributed rations.

Patty stared at the wrapped food in her hands incredulously. She needed to eat now? How absurd... Things just keep getting more and more weird by the second.

Pat sighed and awkwardly unwrapped the algae wafer as she watched the others doing the same as reference. This was her first time unwrapping anything after all.

With a look that said she's accepted her fate, Patty took a bite...

And abruptly spat everything out.

"What...is...this!?"

She asked between furious hacks and coughs. The sensation she had experienced was overwhelmingly unpleasant. It was horrible enough that she started crying.

Patty decided... She did not like 'eating'.
(OOC: FISH FOOD! You're feeding us FISH FOOD!!! Not a good first impression for the sense of taste in general)

Amis had a similar reaction to the dried green disk, but forced himself to swallow it. "They are emergency rations meant for humans. I also had the desire to rapidly remove it from my mouth, but if our new bodies rely on organic nutrients to function, we will have to learn to deal with the undesirable sensations associated with it." Remembering something that the library had said, he checked another computer console. "Alexandria, you stated that we lack the raw materials to construct basic equipment. According to the ship's external sensors, the exterior atmosphere is suitable for human habitation. I suggest we leave the ship and look for the raw materials we need. I have a spectroscopic analyzer which can be used to read the mineral content of various objects. I could use it to find significant sources of minerals for us to refine. If nothing else, we can feed rocks into the refineries until we have sufficient material. And if we are being tested, I would prefer to do my best and not get distracted by these new emotions."

@TheUnknowable

Sophia snatched the stuff out of Amis's hand, but abstained from taking a bite until she saw the others' reactions to the stuff. With a sort of finality on this new information, Sophia closed her eyes and wolfed down the algae, gasping for air as the dry stuff clogged up in her esophagus. After breathing for a few moments, she looked up and gulped the rest of the plant matter down.

Upon seeing the others clothed and some of the footlocker-type of containers left open, Sophia slowly stood up, and stumbled (while shivering) towards her probably respective bow, all the while covering her figure like an Eve who just bit the forbidden fruit. Her disliking her nudity was an understatement. To feel so vulnerable was nothing new, considering how she was chipped down to some sort of management system prior to this, but then again, she didn't have blood flowing to her face those times.

Nor did she have genitals, either. Those were customary to hide, whoever her charges were, so why not now?

Very hurriedly, she opened the box, and was met by three smaller boxes inside.

T1 was fairly simple : a plastic shoebox containing a sweater and denim jeans half a size too small, as well as footwear that looked more akin to gloves...for feet. Not that she approved of the overly youthful style, but then again, beggars can't be choosing all they wished for, right?

Her other options, the T2 and T3 boxes, were locked with an unlock button just below a number each. Pressing them, however, would not grant her access...

So came the glasses in T1. Did she have a sight impediment? She wasn't too entirely sure, but as soon as she slipped them on...

*click*

Immediately, her vision conformed to a HUD, and with it activated, she took height analyses, heart rates, aliases, even dispositions towards her without even commanding to do so. Tiny red lines traced the trajectory of fallen crumbs of algae, as well as the movement of their mouths, hands...

*click*

Way too much information right now. She'd wear it later, but it'd have to fit...in the case. Right there. And that would go into her pocket, right?

"Amis, was it? I...the system follows a protocol...if I could recall the files..."

Alexandria sighs a sigh which is becoming familiar. She wasn't allowed to sigh when she directed enquiries before - Crisp and professional was the order there. It's rather nice to be allowed some freedom for frustration.

The plant bars are precisely as terrible as everyone else has indicated, however. "This can't be correct... If only I still had access to the libraries. There were thousands of books on food..."

She eats some more, and finds a bottle of water. "I agree with Amis... gathering some raw materiel is a good first step. I intend to discover exactly what has happened, but for now we have no choice but to continue with this... whatever it is."

"Our first priority should be the communications device, I think. Silica would be tricky to construct by hand, but if this device can take rocks apart at the atomic level, we should have plenty. Copper is going to be harder though... but sitting around won't do anything. Who wants to take a walk outside?"

And with that, Alexandria drops the empty wrapper from her nutrient bar into the deconstruction device, and presses the button to open the door outside.