conversations.from: system
conversations.value: ***
  
  >“It probably started [with] poetry; almost everything does.” 
  >> -- Raymond Chandler
  
  ***
  
  *2133*.
  
  Man is still alive, and - against all odds - generally thriving. (No one talks about that rough period in the 21st century, though; it's a sensitive topic.) Man is also, as man is wont to do, firmly dedicated to finding new and unusual ways to escape reality. 
  
  ***
  
  Me? I'm Jace, a.k.a. Sam Slade - a mysterious, hard-boiled detective that roams the dark streets of Gotham, striking fear in the hearts of criminals everywhere... or, well, at least the criminals in the 1930's, noir-themed VR shard my buddies and I setup and run. 
  
  My pals (ain't that a great word?) and me have all got a serious hard-on for  that stuff. It's like living in an old-fashioned movie, or better yet, like one of those old comics come to life. 
  
  Only *better*. 
  
  ***
  
  Like I say, we run a shard, but we aren't exactly, you know, *rolling* in creds. I know, I know. Who is, these days? But even if you got a job, modules for VR shards don't come cheap...'least not the good ones, anyway. I got my hands on one, though. Yeah, don't ask how; you don't wanna know. It's called *The Fourth Man* and it's supposed to be really good shit... I heard it's based on a real thing that happened back then. I can't wait to see what's in it. 
  
  Anything I went to that much trouble to get, it's got to be real good, right?
  
  *Right*?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Wrongfully Accused: Once upon a time, you were a professor, a learned man of distinction. Something happened, though, to cause your fall from grace. Once, you strode the lofty halls of a hallowed institution; now, you have a seedy office in the city, performing small research jobs, consulting with the police, and otherwise trying to make a living. 
  
  1) What is your specialty?
  2) While you were wrongfully, you were nevertheless the architect of your own fall from grace. Why?
  3) Do you have a family? Did they stick with you through The Fall?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Shady Dame: You drink too much, smoke too much, fuck too much, and God help anyone who crosses your path. And that's just the way you like it. 
  
  1) What led you down the primrose path?
  
  2) What does your family think of you?
  
  3) Does he regret it when you leave?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Innocent: You like to think of yourself as a man of the world, but everyone else sees a wide-eyed young fellow they want to pat on the head. 
  
  1) In what ways are you innocent?
  
  2) In what (secret) way are you *not* innocent?
  
  3) What does your family think of your career?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An Unexpected Virtue: Everyone's got a hidden strength, including you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: An Unsightly Vice: Everyone's got a dirty little secret. What's yours?
  
  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An Unseemly Vice: Everyone's got a dirty little secret, including you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Innocent: You like to think of yourself as worldly and sophisticated, but everyone else sees you as an adorable puppy. 
  
  1) Why are you innocent?
  
  2) In what way are you secretly *not* so innocent?
  
  3) What does your family think of your job?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Dolls, Dope & Dicks: Once upon a time, people lived for wine, women and song, but these days, things are a little tougher: dolls, dope and dicks are what the downtown man is concerned with, now.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Dope, Dolls & Dicks: Once upon a time, people lived for wine, women and song, but these days, things are a little tougher: dolls, dope and dicks are what the downtown man is concerned with, now.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Shady Dame: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: You drink too much, smoke too much, fuck too much, and God help anyone who crosses your path. And that's just the way you like it. 
  
  1) What led you down the primrose path?
  
  2) What does your family think of you?
  
  3) Does he regret it when you leave?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Wrongfully Accused: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: Once upon a time, you were a professor, a learned man of distinction. Something happened, though, to cause your fall from grace. Once, you strode the lofty halls of a hallowed institution; now, you have a seedy office in the city, performing small research jobs, consulting with the police, and otherwise trying to make a living. 
  
  1) What is your specialty?
  2) While you were wrongfully, you were nevertheless the architect of your own fall from grace. Why?
  3) Do you have a family? Did they stick with you through The Fall?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Moral Authority: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: Fine discernment and considered judgment are your stock in trade. You're out to save souls as much as the bodies they live in.
  
  1) Why did you choose this path?
  
  2) Are you a redeemer or a judge?
  
  3) Are you a hypocrite?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Innocent: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: You like to think of yourself as worldly and sophisticated, but everyone else sees you as an adorable puppy. 
  
  1) Why are you innocent?
  
  2) In what way are you secretly *not* so innocent?
  
  3) What does your family think of your job?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Moral Authority: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: Fine discernment and considered judgment are your stock in trade. You're out to save souls as much as the bodies they live in.
  
  1) Why did you choose this path?
  
  2) Are you a redeemer or a judge?
  
  3) Are you a hypocrite?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Shady Dame: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: You drink too much, smoke too much, fuck too much, and God help anyone who crosses your path. And that's just the way you like it. 
  
  1) What led you down the primrose path?
  
  2) What does your family think of you?
  
  3) Does he regret it when you leave?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Wrongfully Accused: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: Once upon a time, you were a professor, a learned man of distinction. Something happened, though, to cause your fall from grace. Once, you strode the lofty halls of a hallowed institution; now, you have a seedy office in the city, performing small research jobs, consulting with the police, and otherwise trying to make a living. 
  
  1) What is your specialty?
  2) While you were wrongfully, you were nevertheless the architect of your own fall from grace. Why?
  3) Do you have a family? Did they stick with you through The Fall?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Gainfully Employed: You've busted arse to get a *real* job, and because of that, you have money...but little time.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Footloose, Fancy-Free: You're fine with the minimal standard of living provided, and if you want something special, you know someone who'll give it to you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Questionable Virtue: Whatever it is you do, it's probably just this side of being illegal. Or that side. 
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Snoop: You can't stand not knowing the rest of the story. As such, you've accumulated a wealth of generally useless knowledge.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Focused Fire: You've got your eye on your target, and nothing ***will*** distract you.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Focused Fire: You've got your eye on your target, and nothing ***can*** distract you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: All Eyes on Me: No one ***wants*** to look away: you're hot.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: All Eyes on Me: No one ***can*** look away: you're a hot mess.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Safe in my Arms: You're ready to protect what you love and you ***won't*** let go.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Safe in my Arms: You're ready to protect what you love and you ***won't*** let go.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Lock Step & March: You know how to fit in and work with the group, but you ***can*** step out on your own.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Lock Step & March: You know how to fit in and work with the group, but you ***can't*** step out on your own.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Wander (Wo)Man: Everything you do is in pursuit of new experiences. Any kind of responsibility you take on is for the sake of getting to somewhere or see something new.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Only the Lonely: You're self-sufficient; whatever challenges you face, you ***must*** manage on your own.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Only the Lonely: You're self-sufficient; whatever challenges you face, you ***can*** manage on your own.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Cynic: **YOUR VR ARCHETYPE**: At one point in your life, you were an idealist's idealist, but somewhere along the way, your experiences have soured you on humanity. 
  
  1) Why do you still hang with humanity, when they so constantly disappoint? 
  
  2) What made you this way? Was it a sudden fall from grace, or a slow saunter towards limo?
  
  3) To what kind of job is your mindset best suited?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Horn & Hardart: The flagship automat, located in Times Square, New York City. It's been recreated in this cluster with loving, painstaking detail.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Ready, Set, Digitize: It's time to enter the VR - and sometimes, that can be a little tricky...
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Unenthused: You can image a thousand ways in which this could go wrong, but you're here for the ride, anyway.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Excited: You're here for it. All of it. With whatever decade's equivalent of 'bells' on that seems appropriate.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Creative Spirit: It's time to create your avatar...but sometimes, that's a tricky process. How's it going?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: 771 Broadway: It's not much, but at least it's...not much.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Esprit de Corpse: There's a body outside your office building. That seems a little...*strange*, doesn't it?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: "It Happened To Me!": Hypothetically, anyway.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Innocent, I Tell Ya!: Yeah, you know some things, you've seen some things, but there's a perfectly good explanation. Honest.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Office: The PI's office.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Diplomatic Corpse: The police have questions; do you have answers? More importantly, do you have *good* answers?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Falsely Accused: No matter how many times you say it, you're not a nice person.  No matter how many times you say it, you're not a good person.  Just because you say it at the top of your lungs doesn't mean you're redeemable.  But the one things everybody thinks you did ... the most terrible thing of all ... isn't true.  You were set up.  Framed.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Wiley Survivor: They've ruined your reputation in your field, slurred your name in the press, sent quiet men with piano wire.  Somehow, you're still here.  When they throw the book at you, you start a library.  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Angry, Weak Willed, Degenerate: You have cultivated the polished, capable, articulate, sycophantic demeanor you need to survive.
  
  But sometimes, the truth shows through.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Shady Dame: You drink too much, smoke too much, fuck too much, and God help anyone who crosses your path. And that’s just the way you like it.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Moral Authority: YOUR VR ARCHETYPE: Fine discernment and considered judgment are your stock in trade. You’re out to save souls as much as the bodies they live in.
  1) Why did you choose this path?
  2) Are you a redeemer or a judge?
  3) Are you a hypocrite?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Placeholder: Placeholder
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Ingénude: Whether it's cute and innocent, or sultry and alluring, you cover all the bases of attraction as an extraction tool.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Femme Fatalistic: You expect the worst from those around you, and they so rarely disappoint.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Hunt for Red November: You've got a past that haunts you, and every case you take is just another way of fighting that war all over again.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Innocent: YOUR VR ARCHETYPE: You like to think of yourself as worldly and sophisticated, but everyone else sees you as an adorable puppy.
  
  1) Why are you innocent?
  
  2) In what way are you secretly not so innocent?
  
  3) What does your family think of your job?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed: You got an energetic earnestness and a can-do attitude, ready to commit to the task at hand!
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Scatterbrained: Maybe you are easily distracted, maybe you've got poor impulse control, but sometimes you are... well erratic is perhaps putting it a bit mildly...
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Widow: Your cold, loveless to a much older man ended in his mysterious and very violent death. Sam Slade helped out you out of that jam, but your heart turned to stone a long time ago.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Whispers: Sam cleared your name with the law and the papers, but people still talk.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A Classy Dame: Money so old it doesn't need to talk. And the Carville name. It opens doors and keeps mouths shut.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Mimic: You may be new to all this, wide-eyed and wandering, but all you need is a good example to follow and you will adjust quickly. 
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Terrier: Nothing stops him when he thinks he smells a rat.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Rats Nest: Yes, perhaps you are a vermin.  But vermin belong to an ecosystem full of useful nooks and crannies, containing healthy morsels and crumbs.  Being a useful part of that ecosystem is one of the reasons they survive.