Radio audio, evening.

[firstsoldier]

[It's that guy again! He still sounds pleasant at least.]

I wish to make a suggestion that we find ways to make ourselves... visibly identifiable even when in monstrous forms, as members of the convoy and thus ideally not a marauding wild beast even if we are acting like one. Something beyond our often hidden sigils, that an unthinking creature is unlikely to imitate. What exactly, I am open to recommendations for. I suspect friend-or-foe ID chips might be beyond what this place is capable of.

[The rest sounds extremely reluctant.]

I don't have as much control of the ... thing ... I become as I would like, and though I am reasonably sure I can keep from doing serious intentional harm to allies, I can't guarantee my behavior might not match that of a feral creature and thus seem to be a viable target for hunting. Especially as it seems intent on establishing a ... pecking order, and aggressively.

... I suspect I'm not the only one who has such concerns. These changes are uncomfortably unpredictable.

Comments

[audio]

[serialmurderbot]

ID markers would be the most consistent system, but unaugmented humans wouldn't have the capacity to collect ID chip data without interfaces, and even salvaging from the cyborgs doesn't seem to give the right level of tech. And non-invasive feed interfaces would get destroyed.

[Fuck it misses the feed and all the ident systems it involves.]

Additional high likelihood of harm happening between two compromised convoy members stuck in an altered state with increased aggression.

[firstsoldier]

Mm. I'm one of them at risk of an altered state with increased aggression. Every option has its potential failure points, but something may be better than nothing at all, concerns of spies amongst us aside. So far alternatives are .. 'friendship bracelets' and .... sports jerseys.

[serialmurderbot]

Spies. [It sounds... skeptical about that.] Given the small numbers here and the way people join, spies are less likely than genuine differences in opinion. [And it's a very paranoid SecUnit saying so.]

Alterations are highly variable. Multiple options are probably best.

[So why does it sound grumpy about that?]

[firstsoldier]

It's apparently a concern for at least one other person here, I would be remiss to not consider the possibility even if I believe it unlikely.

[They hadn't come across any monsters intelligent enough to try that yet. Or even had it hinted at. But it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility..]

As long as there's a cohesive theme, multiple options are also fine. Coaxing every new arrival to recall that this bracelet, that jersey, this pair of shoes and that set of dog tags all signify the same thing, with other variants inbetween, may muddy the waters.

[serialmurderbot]

[Yeahhhhh now it's going to be wondering about that. But threat assessment doesn't think highly of the possibility, given the ever present danger and the particular circumstances they show up in. It's not like any of them know where the fuck they're going, either.

Also: It hates that it's going to end up suggesting this, but;]

Like a unifying color?

[firstsoldier]

[There is a faint sigh.]

It would work, if it's vivid enough. It might be more effective than bracelets. ..The odds aren't good that everyone will select black, are they.

[serialmurderbot]

[It knows that's a rhetorical question, but it still needs to be an asshole about it - it must be missing ART because this is exactly the kind of thing ART would say if it were here.]

It fails at the 'vivid' criteria, so no.

[firstsoldier]

No, of course it doesn't.

[That's resignation, and no apparent offense at the sarcasm. He doesn't much like bright colors. At all.]

If it's for the general safety of the Convoy, if that's the route chosen, then I'll deal with it.

[serialmurderbot]

If you have opinions about which vivid color they choose, you'd better pick one yourself before they get set on one.

Humans have strong opinions on colors.

[It's seen multiple debates on colors over its time as a security lamppost. One turned into a fistfight it was obligated to break up.]

[firstsoldier]

My only strong objections are to colors unlikely to be selected, as they don't match the criteria of vivid.

[He still sounds displeased. He'll deal with it, that's the whole point of this.]

Day-glow orange safety vests will be tolerated if necessary. So far the only strong color opinion offered has been in favor of blue.

[serialmurderbot]

[It's trying to picture some of the monsters it's seen in safety vests, like the kind it's seen on the Preservation Port Authority now and then. It's a deeply silly mental image.]

Could be worse.

[firstsoldier]

Very much so. For now I am grateful worse has not been suggested.