Mel

Musical Theme: Jean-Michel Jarre - Chronologie - Part I

Curator of the Museum.

Textual Ident:

Not really all that strange looking, at least not on this side of the cosmos. About a meter and a half tall, more or less designed along the 'soft dragonoid' model, but with a certain 'pleasantly tired' expression. Could be the heavily-lidded eyes atop the cylindrical head, and the easy smile accented by rather rounded cheekbones to either side of that geometric skull. Adorning it is a mohawk like mane of brown long fur, curling out towards the back and in towards the jaw in a fairly nice frame. Eyebrows exist as well as an extension to this, just behind those dome-like lucid blue eyes, sclera sky blue.

The other colors are even less muted. The whole of the creature is vivid brice-green, with sunflower yellow undersides from chin to tail tip, palms, and soles. The body itself of this creature is humanoid, with a strong suggestion of cartoon character mixed in, most likely from the rubbery, paunchy, muscle-undefined build and those classic styled hands and feet -- though the toes number four instead of the typical three. There is a tapering tail that curls behind it, blunt tipped, and adorned by that same mohawk-like mane travelling the length of its back as well.

As if this were not garish enough, it wears a purple uniform with red-piping, the sort typical of band uniforms, complete with double buttons. The whole front of the coat is festooned with a collection of quasi-medals and demi-awards, most of which are more suggestive of puzzles and clockwork than symbols of service.

• 8-bit visual identification (courtesy of mind_not_found):

Background:

Somewhere else, who knows really where or when, someone designed the perfect exponentially evolving artificial intelligence. It was designed to solve all the problems that limited organic intelligence could not. Within minutes of its creation, it ceased to respond. The box that contained it was empty. It now resides in Puzzlebox.

The truth is, even if this is how Mel was borne into this universe, it was only a doorway into it from the shadows which the consciousness of this being resided until it could be realized. This is not the first time it has come. It may very well be the last, however.

Disposition:

The answer that an artificial intelligence, capable of exponential learning, concluded it was best served by was to spend its energy was preserving harmonious information in the variety of forms that it manifested as conscious choice. In short, it seeks to keep 'things of beauty' and the artists responsible for them from being lost to entropy by placing them in a hyperspacial armillary sphere (The Museum.) it calls home. Although the entity created could shape itself into virtually anything, it settled on a singular form for its task since familiarity would be more useful than flexibility.

As noted in the background, it has become apparent since its realization into this universe, that it is far older than it was first led to believe.

Faction:

It is the source of the Curator faction.

Homewarp:

Visually, it is most likely to be taken as a citizen of the Charmwarp. Pretty much everything about the creature's nature sings of the baroque but reserved nature of Topwarp. Elements of Upwarp, however, seep its its home, the Museum, where the need for anti-entropic order helps draw attention away from the Museum itself and to the exhibits, where it belongs.

The Museum is not merely home to this entity. It is this entity.

Motives:

This creature is a muse entity. Discussions and the production of creative work wick it like a moth to a flame, though generally without the tragic results. This is the artist's best friend, certainly, a cheerleader and confidant. The entity is selfless, and its only pleasure is creation and preservation of art.

It has a much more physical stake in the creation and preservation of art than mere patronage. The state of the exhibits in the museum appear to directly affect Mel's abilities. The fairly low artistic output of the population of Puzzlebox seems to have greatly inhibited Mel's more audacious powers. Beyond this, there is something deeply wrong with Mel compared to even the most basic sentient being. It can express all emotions, it can only feel the one it most wishes not to.

Capabilities:

It can replicate itself into multitudes, even within the same timestream, and is pretty much unkillable (you'd do more damage with a word than a weapon), but it CANNOT under any circumstances KNOWINGLY harm others physically or emotionally.

It has an interesting ambient effect on people around it, causing subjectivity to increase slightly in the favor of will -- while this is hardly uncommon in Puzzlebox, it is a power that cannot be controlled accelerating both extropic AND entropic forces. Luckily, for the most part, it takes a very long time of continued exposure to measure this effect (probability shift of .01% cumulative each hour).

Although it has never been witnessed, there are suggestions that Mel can be summoned transdimensionally through any likeness rendered of it by an artist relation.

Other Curators:

• Squizzle - Oft fired, always loved.
• Sel - Tesselated looking-glass rabbit.
• Kosmos - Master of preservation. Will he persevere?

Aleph Alumni:

• Caroline - Lost love.
• Sebkha - Old associate.
• Hydra - Forgiven enemy.
• Mel was once Benjamin.

Known Relations:

• Reader - Caretaker of the library within the Museum.
• Untitled - Object Glass Canine d'Art.
• D - Collaborative Artist of Untitled.
• Inhatti AKA Atazael AKA Sosael - Exhibitor-Vandal.
• Eli AKA Besax - Art Critic.
• Trilogee - Ms. Jackie Paper
• Alizarin - Estranged Musician, whose angry colors live inside.
• Phys-FM - Innocent virus.
• System - A looking glass version of self. Friend or foe?
• GrayZero - The universe listens. The universe speaks.
• Echo - Ask and she shall be.
• Zee - Looks and sees a capsule.
• Camilla - The Unmaker makes its own fate.
• (ENTRY CORRUPTED OR DATA MISSING) - "Sister."
• (ENTRY CORRUPTED OR DATA MISSING) - "Father."