Calibration (BAHHSCQ/Sanctioned)

Neruz · Oct 2, 2020

Czlyydwr Llrngwl said:
Like this one, right?

So fluffy, and extra legs for EXTRA HUGS! (and extra weapons, of course)

The person behind the camera taking that picture has approximately 3.14 seconds to live, judging by the look on that cat's face.

fictionfan · Oct 2, 2020

Neruz said:
The person behind the camera taking that picture has approximately 3.14 seconds to live, judging by the look on that cat's face.

Actually π seconds to live.

Astrobot · Oct 2, 2020

Aunty Shi Ping said:
I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that the stuff in invisible storage doesn't count, and is difficult to remove and replace quickly, or something. So they wouldn't increase her impellers much unless she brought them out and dragged them along behind her, which would be a poor method of keeping her power generators from failing.

While true for normal Valks, its possible that this could be another area where Symbie is an exception to the rule due to not being an actual core.

TacitSoliloquy said:
What could perhaps be accomplished if an Arcology's nigh absolute perception of everything within it in addition to control of nearly every aspect of it got coupled with the wealth of intelligence on the psychology of the people there?

That could actually be one of the ways the big sisters justify QA's behavior. If Hell's Hand was (as far as they could tell) a proto-Arcology, it being managed by a malicious intelligence that matched the rest of the facility would go a long way to help them understand why QAlor is so jumpy when doing things she thinks she isnt supposed to do. Like dealing with a malevolent, mildly sadistic, slightly more intrusive Mind from the Culture (because any more than that would enter and pass IHNMAIMS territory so fast its not even funny).

curiosity · Oct 2, 2020

RisenIre said:
Yes. To be more specific the strength of the impeller field is determined by a combination of things, but only expressed components emit impeller. As the strength of the impeller increase the fidelity, control, over it goes down. A valkyrie battleship may have several orders of magnitude more impeller than a regular valkyrie, but cannot do near as much as the valkyrie can with said impeller.
Edit: In addition, the impeller can only be stretched up to 100 meters away from expressed components. This is why Anna expressed the thin tendrils during her construction service at both the refugee/temporary towns, and the Sydney arcology: She needed more range to be able to complete the construction of the town(s) and to reach the growth vats at the bottom of the arcology.

None of what you quoted states that Impeller strength depends on expressed components.

Greydrone · Oct 2, 2020

Astrobot said:
because any more than that would enter and pass IHNMAIMS territory so fast its not even funny).

Sorry, what's IHNMAIMS?

OctarineShrike · Oct 2, 2020

Greydrone said:
Sorry, what's IHNMAIMS?

Probably I have no Mouth and I must Scream, the novel. I had to google it, it's not exactly an intuitive acronym.

SaltyWaffles · Oct 2, 2020

Aunty Shi Ping said:
I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that the stuff in invisible storage doesn't count, and is difficult to remove and replace quickly, or something. So they wouldn't increase her impellers much unless she brought them out and dragged them along behind her, which would be a poor method of keeping her power generators from failing.

No, stuff in storage definitely counts. Remember that Anna's impeller strength does not vary depending on whether or not she's expressing one or all of her HPPs, or her melee halberd, or even when her frame is expressed at all. Impeller strength comes from the Valk core, not the armored frame that is integrated into it (remember that a Valk core still provides impeller even when nothing is expressed at all).

Plus, if impeller amount/strength is a function of the total complexity of the stuff that is integrated into the core, then by your logic, a Valk who never expressed anything could just integrate anything and everything without issue so long as they didn't express anything.

Remember, Anna pumps her blood manually through her Impeller even when she has nothing expressed. While non-expressed components do not emit impeller, the core itself still can. As also evidenced by valks being able to scan stuff with their impeller even when not having anything expressed, or Anna being able to hack stuff/communicate with stuff even when having nothing expressed.

SinisterPorpoise · Oct 2, 2020

Conjured Blade said:
Probably I have no Mouth and I must Scream, the novel. I had to google it, it's not exactly an intuitive acronym.

I've seen the acronym used mostly in reference to the game rather than the novel.

OctarineShrike · Oct 2, 2020

Sydonai said:
I've seen the acronym used mostly in reference to the game rather than the novel.

Fair enough. The Novel part was probably unnecessary given the existence of a videogame adaptation.

RisenIre · Oct 2, 2020

I have returned, and I come bearing gifts. Here are all the releavant quotes from WoG and the BAHHSCQ story thread regarding impeller, strength, and any interesting feats done using them. Honestly, this isn't a complete record so there may be things I have missed.

Avalanche said:
Impeller is dictated by a combination of Core compatibility, volume of component extended, and component complexity.

Avalanche said:
Retracted components do not emit Impeller.

Avalanche said:
he air around you thickens as your Impeller field activates, small blips of radiation popping into existence as the barrier severs atomic bonds, before you capture the radiation with your Impeller field just as easily.

Avalanche said:
To be serious, some form of Evangelion style AT cancellation except more explosive. Generally though, you'd probably bounce off each other assuming you made contact with someone with an Impeller field as powerful as your own, which is fairly rare.

Avalanche said:
The Impeller field of the Type 5 was unable to disperse the incoming fire evenly and the thermal explosion of so much concentrated energy knock it off it's flight path, your strike very nearly managed to break through the field judging from the way it visibly distorts. Before you manage to reacquire weapons on it, Shuri smashes the Type 5 towards the ground with her particle melee weapon combo, shattering it's Impeller fields with a flash of light. A secondary layer underneath slows the strike enough to prevent it from being bisected by the blow.

The Type 5 crashes in an enormous explosion of dust, another flash of light announcing its secondary layer of Impeller fields had overloaded at that.

Avalanche said:
a targeted pulse of your Impeller field throwing the remaining water off you.

Avalanche said:
You feel the slippery static sensation of low power Impeller fields interacting and turn in surprise.

Avalanche said:
you quickly refine your Impeller field slightly to make sure you don't cut anything by accident

Avalanche said:
You materialise weapons, feeling a drag on your Impeller fields as the extra mass is matched with your velocity

Avalanche said:
You expand your Impeller field and change thrust direction, catching the air and slamming yourself to a dead stop.

Avalanche said:
You throw you Impeller field wide, smoothing space around you back down, slamming the gate closed. Her Impeller field flashes as it takes the backlash of the failed attempt and her flight path wobbles for a moment.

Avalanche said:
No, your Impeller field at maximum extension struggles to reach past 100 meters. At such ranges, projectile velocities make it meaningless to try and correct them. I'll say right now that this is one property that is unfortunately impossible to hack, you can't project Impeller fields beyond a certain distance from equipment integrated to a Valk Core no matter what.

Avalanche said:
Compress and add energy into Impeller Field until… uh, until it feels right.
Add Higgs Particles.
Wait until the bubble heats up from the Higgs particles.
Pop the bubble, and form a new one just as the… insides? Insides. Of the bubble rush out, compressing it back down.
Repeat until the wave reaches coherence.
Throw the wave- no. Push the wave with the Impeller Field at target.

Avalanche said:
In the same instant, a shrug of her Impeller Field gathers the plasma surrounding her frame around her head, where it scatters another laser attack.

Avalanche said:
There are two limits, volume and 'complexity'.

Time taken to integrate new things rapidly rises as 'complexity' is used up, whilst volume is a much harder limit that simply prevents you from storing more things inside your storage. Both increase with sync hours but at a very glacial pace.

Avalanche said:
No. Your Impeller was measurably stronger with Heavy Particle Projectors as opposed to the laser, missiles and cannons you currently have in their place.

Avalanche said:
As you watch, his Impeller Field flickers, distorts and runs over the surface of the stick. A few moments later, his Impeller Field shudders, then resonates… you think. It's awfully hard to get a read on someone else's Impeller, especially with both of the Valkyrie Frames still retracted, but it appears to be some form of zero range contact attack.

Avalanche said:
Up ahead, the Golden Ace weathered the forces without the slightest hint of trouble, shunting aside most of the water and smashing apart a path through which the rest of the Flight followed. Shuri's Impeller was spread out deliberately wide, pushing ahead of it a plasma bow that probably would have broken Setsuna's own frame and field both in half if she tried to do the same. All this force didn't even strain Shuri in the slightest, and from the documentaries that Setsuna had watched before joining the Valkyries, Shuri could cruise way faster than this, even when acting as the icebreaker for an entire squadron.

Speaking of strong and steady… behind the main group, Anna was… being Anna. She flew above Shuri's wake, somehow keeping up with the speed of the flight despite hardly leaving a visible trail. Anna also seemed completely oblivious to the unnecessary strain she was placing on her Impeller Field that she could have avoided by dipping a hundred or so meters lower.

Avalanche said:
Antagonists Types couldn't regenerate Impeller as fast as a Valkyrie

Avalanche said:
You correct your Impeller slightly, change the activation thresholds for the layers cradling your Internal organs and then take another step. Your Impeller holds your stomach firm and you twist your torso around and back to test some more.

Avalanche said:
Heart- heartbeat and breathing. Cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This isn't an intended effect of activating your digestive system.

Exhale. Your chest deflates and air rushes out, up your trachea and into your mouth and nose, whistling over your tongue and past your teeth. Inhale. The same but in reverse. This is nothing like talking, not measured or voluntary-

Compared to circulating and oxygenating your blood with your Impeller, this is loud and irregular. You try to isolate the two systems and shut them down but find the involuntary systems of your body annoying interconnected.

Avalanche said:
The time taken to integrate a component depends on the item's own complexity level in addition your 'used up complexity' limit. As the item that you are integrating changes your overall 'complexity level', time taken changes based on whether they increase that limit or lower that limit. If the component is more complex than the overall complexity of your frame components, then integrating it increases your overall complexity level, and so time taken to integrate any subsequent components rise, and vice versa.

For example:

Day 1: Yukari wants to Integrate: Heavy Particle Projector!

Item is greater than Nue's complexity.

Increase Impeller strength

Increase Nue's complexity level

Time required: ~800 days!

Day 2: Yukari wants to Integrate: Heavy Particle Projector!

Item is greater than Nue's complexity.

Increase Impeller strength

Increase Nue's complexity level

Time required: ~940 days! (Time increases as one HPP is already integrating, using up 'complexity limit')

On the contra-example:

Day 1: Yukari wants to Integrate: BL 12 inch Mk X naval gun!

Item is less than Nue's complexity.

Decrease Impeller strength!

Decrease Nue's complexity level!

Time required: 24 hours (delay caused by Nue's used up complexity) and 1 minute (Base complexity of ye old naval rifle)!

Day 2: Yukari wants to Integrate: BL 12 inch Mk X naval gun!

Item is less than Nue's complexity.

Decrease Impeller strength!

Decrease Nue's complexity level!

Time required: ~1 minute (Base complexity of ye old naval rifle) + 23 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds (delay caused by Nue's used up complexity)(Reduced by previous integrating gun lowering complexity)!

A discussed tactic is to dump everything and just build your frame out of the most badass components possible. Which really, is basically how new Valkyrie Frame are created from the newly discovered Cores. Lets take a rather extreme example however.

Day 1: Setsuna wants to create a New Valkyrie Frame; Temp name Mononoke
Day 1: Setsuna receives; 4*Heavy Particle Projectors, Plasma Melee Halberd (Customised), Exotic Composition Smart Matter, Nuclear Fusion Reactor (Customised), Onium batteries, Solar dynamos and Energy dynamos; From Anna.

Items are greater than Mononoke's complexity (Empty core)

Increase Impeller strength!

Increase Mononoke's complexity level!

Time required: ~ 6000 days! (Valkyrie Compatibility too low to influence integration time!)

Cadets are not going to be swaggering around with frames that have anywhere near the capability of Durga anytime soon, even if the UN manages to recreate your unique components.

Now on a tangential question that is related to this whole topic. What is the 'complexity limit'? As far as the UN can guess, it's how close the frame technologically to the Three Hundred Frames, with fluctuations based on the individual Valkyrie's compatibility. As the Three Hundred are constantly self optimising and improving, even without use, there is no 'complexity ceiling', or so the UN fervently prays.

EDIT: Before any questions are asked; numbers are pulled out of my ass. I need to put some serious thought into integration times before I pin more of them down.

Avalanche said:
But to actually answer your question, the Impeller dispels a certain amount of incoming energy. So to penetrate an Impeller, higher power rather than more energy is what is necessary, like most shields in games etc. Taking the example as intended, a million joules in a second will affect you, whilst a joule per second for a million seconds is less than your Impeller regeneration rate.

Basically, this is what happens when an attack meets the Impeller.

1: Impeller counteracts against attack.
1.1: Magnitude of mitigation depends on Impeller 'strength'/'density'/etc.
1.2: Impeller loses some strength from counteracting attack.
1.2.1: Magnitude of loss depends on attack power.

2a: Attack is fully counteracted, no effect to target.
2b: Impeller is unable to fully counteract attack, attack partially effective.

3: Impeller regenerates some strength, depending on Valkyrie/Type. (Always active, much more effective if Impeller is not under strain/mitigating an attack.)

You don't necessarily have to deplete an Impeller to effect what it is protecting; for a sufficiently powerful attack, the Impeller will strip away a certain amount of energy from the attack and the rest will penetrate. These forms of attacks are far more effective at depleting Impeller Field strength than an attack which does not penetrate the Impeller.

Avalanche said:
While brooding on the subject, you capture some of the spray from the ocean waves around you, measure their mass, and convert it into energy, then back into mass. Electromagnetic, the two nuclear forces, gravimetric and then more mundane expressions of energy, you work across the spectrum. After a few minutes of this, you convert all the energy back into matter and measure its mass once again.

As far as you can tell, the amount of matter is equal to what you collected for this experiment. You may have just managed a one hundred percent conversion efficiency.

Avalanche said:
By default, your Impeller is organised into twenty primary layers. Ten layers are dedicated to protecting your expressed components and vital parts of your body, as few of the latter as there are, five dedicated to defensive and quick reactionary techniques, and five more general-purpose layers for discretionary use.

Avalanche said:
Gathering and compressing your Impeller, you turn all of your nineteen remaining layers to one task.

To halt it.

Space ripples as you reach outwards and tug. The force of this technique is so much greater than normal that spatial gaps flicker around you, discrepancies ebbing and flowing away from you. This is past Interdiction; when so much force is exerted on the fabric of space time that it tears, this is spatial corrosion.

Avalanche said:
Your maximum Impeller range from expressed frame components is around one hundred meters, but your practical total reach with your Impeller is very easy to increase due to Durga's properties.

Durga's underlayers drip out, thin tendrils of material spreading outward. Using it only to expand your peripheral Impeller range like so, you keep the tendrils thin enough that they should be invisible from the ground. Your range expands until you are encompassing the entire town. You reach down towards the docks with one tendril and you take part of the construction materials into your storage.

Avalanche said:
A missile slammed into Koujirou from the side and Kandakara whispered urgently, warning him of his outer Impeller layer Integrity. Koujirou didn't need the warning, he could feel it buckling. It was going to fail, and soon. His flight was already growing turbulent as his Impeller windshield began degrading.

Avalanche said:
You hum, playing with the electrons racing around your hands. A dozen million of the tiny particles danced on the top of your fingers.

You release them from your Impeller and watch as they are consumed by the simulator, suddenly becoming solid existences you can pin down. You collect them again and you can feel the simulator passing them into your Impeller, one by one, where they again become evanescent little glimpses of possibility.

Avalanche said:
Have you ever seen a Valkyrie crush a fresh Type 2 into a ball with just pure Impeller power?

Avalanche said:
You spend half an hour meticulously checking over the entire generator and all the power connectors through the Arcology alongside several flights of other Valkyries before you settle in next to the generator to begin its start up sequence. Energy is injected, activating powerful electromagnets and exotic elements that locally weaken the Coulomb force, then hydrogen is heated and injected into the disk. More and more power is required, pushing the reactions along until it finally reaches criticality. Your presence speeds up the startup sequence substantially, firstly as your triad of modified generators at their emergency maximum output allowed you to push nearly twenty terawatts of power by yourself, more than two hundred times the specified power of the standard fusion generator included in most Valkyrie frames. Secondly, your Impeller is powerful enough that you can simply stand inside the fusion chamber and adjust the plasma disk directly with your Impeller and Heavy Particle Projectors.

Within minutes, the fusion chamber reaches a million kelvin and radiation pressure begins to press down on your Impeller as you watch over the reaction. A minute later of your encouragement and the temperature doubles, then increases by a couple of million kelvin again every minute after that. It is at 103 million degrees Kelvin when your outer Impeller partitions begin to strain, even the specially crafted layers of Impeller slowly begin to buckle from the extreme conditions. Radiation crashes into the sides of the containment chamber, and the exotic construction walls glow as they reflect nearly all of the energy back into the plasma disc. A few minutes after that, and your spatial techniques reducing your real space volume also start wavering from the mass and energy in the space around you continuing to rise. You exit the centre of the fusion disk and watch from the perimeter of the reactor chamber where you are exposed to only the radiation, and the effective temperature is a few dozen million degrees lower.

At 170 million kelvin, the reactor is at 81 percent maximum power, and the fusion process finally achieves criticality, with enough power generated that the generator will no longer be at a deficit. Helical streamers of plasma are drawn from the axis of the disk and herded into the powerplants above and below the reactor. You still watch carefully, your Impeller extended throughout the entire complex, but not invasively adjusting the process. The power plants begin to correctly output electricity, and you watch with a grin of satisfaction as Valkyries begin slowly disconnecting from the Arcology power grid, allowing the new generator to take up their slack as it steps up its output steadily.

With a careful teleport, you first emerge into the air forty kilometres above Sydney, absorbing the excess energy you brought with you into your batteries, and then down to Sandra, back on the surface above the generator.

Avalanche said:
Continuing to hold the thousands of tons of metal in place, you fly closer to Sandra and watch the updates.
[SNIPPED]
You shift your Impeller, preparing a teleport- but cut it off as you glance over at Sandra. She shakes her head and points at her ear, then behind and above her. The fusion reactor. You reach for an update- and find everything in order. The Valkyries guarding the reactor are now tense and silent, but report no anomalies. You understand Sandra's general point though, and nod silently in reply, Durga shifting uneasily around you as you expand your Impeller to reach throughout your local area of the arcology, but do nothing else at the moment.

A ripple of space announces the two flights of Valkyries entering the dark area with teleports and you clench your jaw. Waiting, straining to watch everything. Your Impeller continues to expand, encroaching towards the region of the disturbance. Valkyries you accidently bump with your Impeller jump, weapons swivelling as they search for a hostile before you reassure them it's you.

Ten seconds pass.[SNIPPED]. Your Impeller is now at the arcology superstructure's doorstep, progressing slowly as you strain to keep coherency. You need more components expressed for this volume.

Twenty seconds, [SNIPPED] You double check their checks just to be sure. Perimeter patrols accelerate their routes, searching for signs of exfiltration.

Thirty seconds. You're going to hold the all of Sydney in your Impeller soon.
They won't get past again. Not this time.
Never again.

Forty seconds, TACNET updates.
>[Situation under control. Unknown micromachine weaponry co-opted food production machines to gestate bionic weaponry. Active platforms destroyed. Area partially sanitized with radiation to terminate micromachine cluster formations.]
>[Onsite requests assistance with investigation and clean up.]

Ah? It's… over?

Your Impeller finally reaches the structure.

"Undersecretary ma'am, situation under control," reports Commander Zaya, "Is the- that Special Constable you mentioned, is she around? The first responders are trying to secure the scene but it's still chaos."

You have a quick search and find no one with that role- wait. It's you. You have been temporarily vested as some sort of civilian officer by the UNHCR with a lot of legal power.

>'My Impeller has reached the site of the incident, I am investigating now.'

Avalanche said:
Impeller strength is a weird combination of your compatibility with the core, total synch hours of the Valkyrie, total equipment integrated into the frame and overall complexity level of the equipment. Putting in weaker stuff or dumping equipment appears to weaken a Valkyrie Impeller Field after a certain threshold.

So you could say that you train it up.

I have put way more than just the workings of it, but they do provide some insight into what the impeller can do.
1.) The impeller is determined by what components integrated into the frame, core compatibility, and volume of expressed components.

1a.) Frame complexity seems to be the main thing affecting the strength of an impeller field.

2.) Cores automatically express an impeller field upon syncing with the Valkyrie pilot, even if it is weak.
3.) Impeller can extend up to about 100 meters from the expressed components, hence Anna using tendrils to do the construction work. Note, this does not affect shifts, even if it is easier to do within your impeller field.
4.) The impeller can be used as a general field of Valkyrie fuckery, and can manipulate some pretty fundamental forces within our understanding of physics.
5.) Anna is a peerless freak of nature that should not have too much value placed upon what she can do specifically as she far outstrips almost all other Valkyries (unknown how she compares to The Valkyrie, but she is better at several things compared to the Top Twenty.
6.) Antagonist types do have impeller fields of their own, but they regenerate slower than elite level Valkyries or higher.

6a.) Unknown how Type Zeroes compare, but likely better than the regular Types.

Edit: Thanks to @curiosity for providing more quotes. They have been added into the spoiler.

Astrobot · Oct 2, 2020

RisenIre said:
The impeller can be used as a general field of Valkyrie fuckery, and can manipulate some pretty fundamental forces within our understanding of physics.

So expect QA to do some horrifying shit with her Impeller that nobody thought was possible using her greater understanding of physics at some point then. Got it.

Also, can effects caused by an impeller leave the 100m radius, or are those locked down as well? Because if not, that sounds like a fun way to get around the whole frame armament limit.

RisenIre · Oct 2, 2020

Astrobot said:
So expect QA to do some horrifying shit with her Impeller that nobody thought was possible using her greater understanding of physics at some point.

Queen Administrator will do horrifying shit anyways, no impeller required. 'Tis kind of her thing, so to say. ~~besides being traumatized and wrong about things~~

curiosity · Oct 2, 2020

RisenIre said:
Honestly, this isn't a complete record so there may be things I have missed.

Here's a good one, specifically about strength:

Avalanche said:
Impeller strength is a weird combination of your compatibility with the core, total synch hours of the Valkyrie, total equipment integrated into the frame and overall complexity level of the equipment. Putting in weaker stuff or dumping equipment appears to weaken a Valkyrie Impeller Field after a certain threshold.

So you could say that you train it up.

fictionfan · Oct 2, 2020

In BAHHSCQ canon. This year was known to have 3 aces. Most people didn't really know how they measured up against each because none of them were inclined to compete against each other. However I think that in this year there are only be 2 known aces. QA is very inclined to compete and is likely to walk all over everyone by Anna soon.

Woodlark14 · Oct 2, 2020

RisenIre said:
3.) Impeller can extend up to about 100 meters from the expressed components, hence Anna using tendrils to do the construction work. Note, this does not affect shifts, even if it is easier to do within your impeller field.

It's a good thing QA would never abuse range limits with spatial warping or portals. I mean what sort of cheater would ever consider redefining distance to get around a pesky little range limit?

LostArchivist · Oct 2, 2020

Alivaril said:
More evidence required.

Oh dear. Really, this is a good thing, but I feel bad for the sanity of the people exposed to her. Hopefully for the future of this world, circumstances don't prove so coincidental that she thinks Eden is still watching. It would be boring if she stopped upending known physical laws, after all.

Alivaril said:
I am aware that the curvature of the Earth is the primary restriction for engagement ranges.

"...And that was when Type Zero: Wardenclyffe moved behind some light cover--"
"Just to be clear, this was when you demolished that mountain, right?"

That right there almost proves that she's taken something hilariously out of context, or at least I really hope so. I'm fairly certain that only Anna, and perhaps not even then, actually meant that remark in any manner that was remotely literal.

Alivaril said:
273.15 Valkyrie Cores in a Trenchcoat

I am meme-deprived. What is the source for this one, and where can I learn about what it was written for?

Alivaril said:
chrome ball of insectile horror

We accept no substitutes!
This had to happen eventually. I'm looking forward to when she goes memetic and actually drops several tons of these "bugs" on someone from out of sight (and normal sensor) range...

Alivaril said:
Symbie is currently constructing the infrastructure necessary for a superior Frame

This sounds promising. What was that one Touhou character I recently heard about, who actually said something along the lines of "You can't let yourself be held back by common sense"...?
Anyway, I get the impression that some people will either adopt that as their excuse for trying to stay sane, or perhaps will embrace said saying and become as OP as Taylor...

Alivaril said:
The exceptions were the Three Hundred, which slowly improved all their armaments regardless of use at the cost of having a preset loadout.

I know it gets mentioned later, but I can't help but be suspicious about our ex-Main Character's frame...

Alivaril said:
"No. The second page of the packet would've explained what kinds of equipment you could request for personal use with minimal justification, including a fusion reactor. I'm amazed you've apparently been working with a fission reactor this whole time."

Shapira sighed and rubbed her face with both hands.

"I suspect some people probably expected you to struggle and ask for help well before now, leading to a lesson on how paperwork is a necessary evil. However, you proved to be more self-sufficient than they expected, so..."

She didn't need her eyes to see Taylor's expression shift to the excitement of a child given twice their body weight in sweets.

I can't help but feel that this lesson has not been learned in quite the way it was intended. There's probably going to be a slight run on supplies...

Alivaril said:
"How many reactors am I allowed to request, exactly?"

Eeyeah...
I think I called it.

"One for me... One for you... Three for me... One for you..."
I imagine that as her internal conversation as she works with Taylor and Symbie to create unholy wonders out of her new supplies.

Alivaril said:
Nobody knew if Symbie was truly a one-off or if she was just the first of her kind to be found. Really, they all expected Symbie to remain unique, but hope yet lived.

I feel like they're going to regret that later, but I hope it happens too.
What exactly would happen if she modifies or "improves" another Core? They're apparently people, or at least sapient, so would it be an argument (with lots of "persuasion") to do things differently, a surprise set of upgrades that they didn't ask for, or would they simply get subsumed into the nascent overmind that is QA?

It's probably safer if her big changes stick to new cores that she makes, but I do also want to see the other NPCs get upgrades too... Hmmm...

"I have a new invention! I call it the 'Emotional Support Companion Cube'!"
"That looks oddly familiar... Is that a square Valkyrie Core?"
"Nooo, what would give you that idea? You're meant to equip this alongside your existing core, and it will help you out!"
"I see... For future note, the pink hearts are supposed to be the shape, not the organ. However, I'll conditionally improve this project if you assure me there will be none of your usual unexpected side effects."

Alivaril said:
"You and Symbie produced at least fifty conventional military-grade drones and approximately twenty exotic biomechanical organisms within sixteen hours of non-combat conditions. We would be irresponsible to not learn as much about you as possible."

"You would," Hebert agreed, smiling brightly.

Shapira just knew that would provoke another wave of 'Antagonists do not intentionally infiltrate' memes. Her colleagues simply couldn't help themselves.

I mean, it's true, but that phrasing...
It's like she has that condition that The Architect from DSS has!

Is that from Evangelion? What even spawned that meme, and why?

Alivaril said:
"I require several minutes in an expendable environment, simulated or otherwise, in order to calibrate Symbie's Frame and my control of it. I would also appreciate any available reference footage for the most advanced weaponry currently available to Valkyries."

Sanchez arguably had that, but Shapira suspected such a demonstration wouldn't be good for the long-term mental health of either Valkyrie. The instructor briefly skimmed Hebert's file for probable reasoning and found herself suppressing all outward signs of rage. Hebert's old residence had killed experimental subjects for being too lethal? What was the point of military research if not to find weapons claiming exactly that? It was the height of irrationality to fear other humans when Antagonists were at the gates.

Well. Watching a recording-slash-simulation versus a Type Zero should help quite a bit with whatever misgivings that hellhole had given Hebert. Instructor Shapira submitted a priority request to Perth and received confirmation within milliseconds.

I love this. That accidental alibi of hers worked perfectly, and now she has a valid excuse for looking for new top-of-the-line sandbagging and ideas while looking innocent of both!
Of course, it has only made everyone else look at her with more concern and pity, but at least they aren't suspicious of her for it yet.

I really hope she waits to crash the sims until later. It would be more fun if there are student witnesses rather than just Big Sister watching.
Perhaps this will inspire her to prepare the improvements to install when it becomes time to actually practice...

Although... if she manages to accidentally crash all of the simulators to the point that they still aren't working by the time the students are supposed to use them, it would be acceptable.

Alivaril said:
there are a few scenarios which should provide the weapons' demonstration you want

Alivaril said:
a weapons' demonstration in general

I don't think those should be possessive.

Alivaril said:
"Oh? Check her discussion pages."

>> Group Captain Vishka Nonahali (300 Rank: 6)You know how some people have Napoleon complexes or messiah complexes? She has a military-industrial complex.
"...Objection reluctantly suspended while I go castigate our superiors."

Oh, my sides. That is a priceless joke right there.

I vote it to be up there with "I don't have issues, but entire subscriptions."

Kellcat said:
...did the beetles come up with the Crafting Club? Or is she just assuming? I don't remember them...obviously, this means I must do a complete and detailed re-reading. Woe. Woe and agony. =D

Yes, I think they were a prior project around the same time as the unicorns were proposed. They didn't rate much of a mention, so if you find it let me know where it was.

Vebyast · Oct 2, 2020

LostArchivist said:
"I see... For future note, the pink hearts are supposed to be the shape, not the organ. However, I'll conditionally improve this project if you assure me there will be none of your usual unexpected side effects."

"I intend all of my side effects.

"

Astrobot · Oct 2, 2020

LostArchivist said:
What even spawned that meme, and why?

Its a quote from Legion in Mass Effect. He was saying "Geth do not infiltrate," before ammending it to "Geth do not intentionally infiltrate," after someone on the citadel told shepard not to use VI drones that look like Geth there.

RisenIre said:
Queen Administrator will do horrifying shit anyways, no impeller required. 'Tis kind of her thing, so to say. ~~besides being traumatized and wrong about things~~

I was more referring to doing stuff like generating and firing a GBE/GFUBoD analog using nothing but her Impeller, or other exotic effects that humans havent figured out yet.

Sapient_Ham · Oct 2, 2020

While we're on the subject of Avalanche WoGs, my personal favorites are a series of blurbs about Valks competing in athletics using Impeller techniques and spatial manipulation:

Avalanche said:
Not really. Sprint events now resemble ski jumping as a sport more than anything we know and Valks need to run on top of hurdles to get good time. Anything over 100 meters also uses straight track rather than oval since trying to turn at full sprint has an annoying tendency to turn into a 'le tour de france' peloton wipeout as everyone slips. That or you slow down but that's for nerds.

Avalanche said:
Most Valks don't have good enough control of their Impeller, nor have a powerful enough Impeller, nor have enough range with their Impeller, to speed themselves up with spatial warping whilst their Frame is retracted.

But if they can, why should it be banned? It's a result of training, years upon years of hard work, it would unfair in the extreme to ban spatial warping if a Valk was capable of using it whilst not having her frame extended.

Avalanche said:
Lets be real here, if you are hardcore enough to warp space with your Impeller without your frame extended, there's no difference between "Moving my leg and arms in this fashion" and "moving my legs and arms in this fashion whilst warping space", it would be just another natural body function.

Would you disqualify everyone who moved their arms whilst sprinting? Probably not, it's part of running. Why then would you disqualify someone shortening distance whilst sprinting? It's part of running. For them only most probably but a natural part of running none the less.

Avalanche said:
If someone teleported from end of the track to the other without a Valkyrie Frame extended you have a Type-18 or Type-0 Antagonist competing in your athletics tourney and there will be a large number of problems unrelated to sporting ethics which will appear very soon.

The final quote in particular seems like it could potentially be relevant for QA's time at Perth.

TheBiggerFish · Oct 2, 2020

Astrobot said:
So expect QA to do some horrifying shit with her Impeller that nobody thought was possible using her greater understanding of physics at some point then. Got it.

Also, can effects caused by an impeller leave the 100m radius, or are those locked down as well? Because if not, that sounds like a fun way to get around the whole frame armament limit.

Effects generated by impeller manipulation can leave its radius, yes. There's an entry on Anna's sheet for Demipotence which probably wouldn't stick, though.

Alivaril · Oct 2, 2020

Ah, oops. I'll fix the possessive stuff when I'm on a computer.

LostArchivist said:
Is that from Evangelion? What even spawned that meme, and why?

spikethehobbit · Oct 2, 2020

Carrnage said:
Could be rosehip tea rosehips are technically fruit.

A fruit that bites back. If you've ever eaten one, you know what I mean.

Qwertystop said:
I think perhaps the Crafting Club came up with the beetles, not vice-versa.

TacitSoliloquy said:
The Crafting Club might get into some legitimate trouble over this—the whole incident is over a Valkyrie having an adverse reaction, after all—but they might not necessarily need to really be actively punished; given the relationship that they seem to have with QA, there's a distinct possibility that they're going to feel pretty bad about it anyway.

I think Shapira is incorrectly assigning blame. These bug-drones seem to be something QAylor (or Symbie) came up with on the spot.

Neruz said:
Now Symbie just needs to covertly move the secret base five inches to the left while a Valk team is inside and no-one is looking directly at the base, then the team comes out and immediately notes the geological discrepancy, cue freakout.

[Dreamer]. I'm wondering how long it will take them to realize that Hell's Hand (not Hell's Hole, aka Hellhole?) is actively reacting to their comments by trying to 'improve' the experience.

Czlyydwr Llrngwl said:
Still better than a giant extension cord, though!

Somewhere, somehow, Asuka Langley salutes you. With only one finger, and she has no idea why, but here's to you, champ.

ROTH963 said:
Therapy seem to become a very lucrative job this days.

Nobody was expecting the profession to include danger pay.

curiosity · Oct 2, 2020

Woodlark14 said:
It's a good thing QA would never abuse range limits with spatial warping or portals. I mean what sort of cheater would ever consider redefining distance to get around a pesky little range limit?

QA: demonstrates highly advanced technique to accomplish something trivial
Everyone else: WTF?!

On a more serious note, if she keeps standing in the doorway, she would be risking getting Interdicted in two.

spikethehobbit · Oct 2, 2020

Woodlark14 said:
It's a good thing QA would never abuse range limits with spatial warping or portals. I mean what sort of cheater would ever consider redefining distance to get around a pesky little range limit?

Even jailbroken, didn't she require assistance from Doormaker to pull that off in canon? On the other hand, Alivaril likes to play with her character so that might not apply here, or she might find a way to abuse impeller to give her the ability anyway (while giggling about not needing :SIBLING: assistance to do it), so it could happen.

SolipsistSerpent · Oct 3, 2020

spikethehobbit said:
Even jailbroken, didn't she require assistance from Doormaker to pull that off in canon?

Khepri wasn't wearing a quasi-Valkyrie frame in canon. Those are quite capable of warping space and creating portals on their own.

Calibration (BAHHSCQ/Sanctioned)

Rogue Spiderbanana

Please sir, may I have some Meows?

Avatar of Mandos

I am dissapoint, son

Avatar of Mandos

Please sir, may I have some Meows?

Sane, unfortunately.

Nascent Transhuman

On a magically-deficient journey of self-discovery

Endlessly Devouring