Plot and character bunnies...

[IamLEAM1983]

On the more serious side of things (well, to a certain degree), Five Nights at Freddy's made me wonder what the Hopeverse would do with an Animatronic-based restaurant chain à la Chuck E. Cheese. With Clanks having been a thing as of the eighteen-hundreds and the Karthians pushing the development of electronics and AI research earlier than in our world, I figure a slightly lazy franchise CEO could decide that what the kiddies want is a set of Maintainer AI-driven animatronic characters. The repurposed Paradise AI clusters make the endoskeletons dressed in furry animal suits wander around the restaurant and interact with the guests in a somewhat believable fashion. They aren't normally much more than limited babysitters and rent-a-playdate friends that come complete with a table and a pizza; and they pack only so much artificial intelligence as is needed to keep the kids safe and entertained.

What happens, though, when one of the AI packages that came with one of Hope's Barney Bear franchises has a bit more individual programs than is strictly needed? Someone in Paradise has been putting together unsolicited and untested "upgrades" for the robots' AI packages, and distance forces them to be delivered in hardware format, since there's no way any single robot on Earth could wirelessly ping Paradise and request an update. Thanks to that, there's no real way to trace delivered upgrade packages to specific coders or compilers. In any case, one of the Barney Bear robots is starting to act a little strange around staff members, and behaves oddly after hours.

The franchise-holder asks for Wyvern and Travis' help in matters of technical investigation, but the stories that have been circulating prompt Connor to ask that Katherine involve a few Shieldies in the process, too...

* * *

Otherwise, I've been thinking that Shield's investigations and general dealings with Harrison Arkham might catch the attention of someone who isn't strictly allied with the Rothchilds or Meris, while also not exactly being a friend of the Loyalists... I figure the Order of St. Giles still exists, and David Cuthbert would be an atypical member. An old member of the Swiss Guard who's half-accountant and half-modern-day Crusader, he's the rare Void Weaver who doesn't serve the Others or the Architect - but God proper. He generally acts as Arkham's financial counterpoint in affected regions, by creating and administering Vatican-owned shell corporations, but he isn't afraid to switch out the smartphone and calculator combo for an annointed broadsword.

[TennyoCeres84]

Scott mentioned that game last night. Yeah, I'm not really surprised that you came up with that idea, but I think it could work.

As for Cuthbert making a comeback, it'd be cool to see him again.