Friendly reminder that I ain't even done with SpecOps (b2) so just... don't ruin this for me... also I have always associated Joe with orange and greens and him staring into the orange planet and contemplating death... I.. okay.
More thoughts under the cut 🩷
SO this is...gestures vaguely. I doubt Elder AIs have names. When she meets the crew of the Flying Dutchman, she explains that her name is unpronounceable because the planet that she has been named on speaks in multiphonics, thus impossible for the human tongue. She explains that her name from this planet translates closest to the English Polaris or Upper Star. So, she asks to be named Polaris but everyone on the Flying Dutchman calls her Polly for short. She doesn't mind...eventually.
With my limited knowledge and theories, here's the vibes so far:
🩷 At some point pre-Elder ascent, Polly is stranded and like Skippy, ends up on a planet, her signal going down, vanishing from the Elders, lost to deep space. She landed on a planet she translates as Cup-Flood or Abundance.
🩷 Cup-Flood is a tropical planet filled with dense jungle but also a well-developed metropolitan culture. More importantly, it is EXCESSIVELY indulgent. There is no work on Cup-Flood, no war, no tumult, just games, drink, trade, concerts, entertainment, drugs, and parties.
🩷 When Polly landed, she was adapted into the culture of the Abundantians. Her beer-can self is dangerously attached to an ideal body, screwed into place beneath her unique breastplate. While she appreciates the body, she was mortified to learn that trying to remove her from this body could possible erase her from her can... not good!
🩷 Settling into her new life, she uses her talents and immeasurable smarts to woo the planet, becoming its top entertainer and ultimately new ruler. She indulges all of their whims, guarding the planet with lazy aggression.
🩷 So when the Flying Dutchman one day appears in her skies, pinged by her Elder technology offput that has grown stronger as she's recovered, Polly is less than excited.
🩷 Idk it all yet but she is an antagonist for a long time, fighting the crew of the Flying Dutchman. Eventually though, when the proposition to join the Elders in ascension and be free from her artificial body, Polly joins the team, freezing Cup-Flood in her wake to make sure none of them die. Aw.
🩷 She rarely torments the ship. She annoys Skippy. Her lazy, stiff attitude contrasts Skippy's mindlessness and Joe's humor. She is endeared to Joe quite a lot actually and beefs with Skippy constantly. She is the one to teach him how to project a body. She gets along very well with Adams and Giraud.
🩷 I like to think she and Skippy eventually warm up to each other through their...shared AI-ness and dedicated longing for the Elders and figuring out What Was Wrong With Them. She pushes him a lot to use more of himself, apply himself. I can't imagine what they could do together.
