Arimai
Curmudgeon
The other way round. All Shards are Sentient, but very few are fully Sapient.
Firmament++ [Worm/CP2077]
- Thread starter Kerashana
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm cyberpunk (punk)
Naw, man, don't put your self down. The reason I opened this thread to begin with was because I recognized your name: I've liked the stuff you've written in the past. I stuck around cause I liked this story specifically.
Now, mind, I don't want an in-depth look at the bureaucracy involved in the process. I just kind of want some kind of recognition of that they are happening, you know. There just need to be the bare minimum so I can fill in the rest of the pieces myself.
I tend to find that, for me, a part of making an immersive world are these offhand mentions of the small details that make it all seem real.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
No one springs forth out of the aether as a "great writer."
I think you have improved - this fic is smoother than a previous one I think I remeber you also writing?
Keep practicing, and find good constructive criticism.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Color code error.
*lathes
Aww, she's adorifying!
*Yours
No, @Kerashana had it right. Sapient is not a superior state of sentience, they're separate things - especially in AIs.
Sapience is the ability to think rationally. Sentience is the awareness of the condition of self.
AIs - and Shards count as such - as they are depicted in fiction are often sapient but not sentient. A sentient AI is one that can feel someone touching their hardware, which is a fairly rare thing. Most Shards aren't sentient at all.
Sentience is actually a fairly low bar - all vertebrate animals, even some invertebrates, are all sentient.
Something that is both sentient and sapient is a sophont.
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Rational is not a word that is associated with Shards. They're usually irrational save for the higher level shards.
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- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
If they weren't rational, they'd crash, same as any computer. Alien is not the same as irrational.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Not necessarily, but yeah. Shards have the knowledge base to check it all independently, or connections to shards that can. As for network, Jaeda is off the network and something like a hub for a new forming subnetwork. So, yes/no on getting information about her. Especially because she's working off of a SafeGuard bud... kind of. If you look back to when she fist ran into Negotiator, you get a good example of this. The mall scene.
Alien logic does not mean irrational. Just like differing cultures does not mean barbaric.
Workshop map: Shit Tier
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
I'm loving the story, but... please use a slightly brighter red?
Also, I'm looking the hell forward to this. They're going to be wonderful and terrible together.
This is probably good for Amy (aside from the fact that Shaper is probably yandere).
Carol, on the other hand, might spontaneously second-trigger upon finding out. It also amuses me that she thought that Amy and her power were evil, yet she was actually somewhat right...
(What you had is the shortened form of "Lisa is Negotiator" since there's no linking verb and the possessive becomes the verb instead.)
You have those reversed. Sentient is "has feelings" or "can perceive things/react," I believe. Sapient is "is self aware/has wisdom"
that didn't quite
a clique around myself
Shaper
ideas
its worth
what, Tinkers
That slightly amuses me, given canon.
Also, I'm looking the hell forward to this. They're going to be wonderful and terrible together.
Ooh boy. When she says part of the family, she apparently means it. The "Family".
This is probably good for Amy (aside from the fact that Shaper is probably yandere).
Carol, on the other hand, might spontaneously second-trigger upon finding out. It also amuses me that she thought that Amy and her power were evil, yet she was actually somewhat right...
Lisa's is Negotiator
(What you had is the shortened form of "Lisa is Negotiator" since there's no linking verb and the possessive becomes the verb instead.)
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
If you find me the hexa code for a red that works on all themes, then yeah. otherwise it's what I got that works mostly.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
You're half-right. Sentient includes self-aware - if it didn't, there would be no ability to react to injury.
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
Would #db001d work?
Mainly it's the fact that you're using a dark red right now. I think the solution would be a vibrant red, so it shows up against both bright and dark backgrounds.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
It would not. I was originally using a bright red like that but it didn't work well with the Dark theme so I switched to the less good muted red.
I use 902F2F. You gave this db001d, and it kind of hurts to look at.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Couldn't you switch fonts instead? In grey-mode, it's impossible to read any of the reds.
- Location
- Arizona
Honestly, the big issue is trying to satisfy everyone, on every theme, and claiming that the lighting they use to read is Kerashana's problem to fix.
I hate to be that guy, but Kerashana already fixed the font color once. If you have an issue with it, maybe don't read this story either sunlight shining directly on your phone's screen. Wasnt that the original complaint about the dark red?
I hate to be that guy, but Kerashana already fixed the font color once. If you have an issue with it, maybe don't read this story either sunlight shining directly on your phone's screen. Wasnt that the original complaint about the dark red?
What's Grey-mode? First time I've heard someone complain about an Author's font choices (and not be about Zalgo).
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- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Grayscale for reading in bed without blue light causing problems. It washes all colors out. I have mine set to go on about an hour before i go to sleep.
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
...Well, I was reading it with Industrial theme in a dim room, on a PC with a decent screen size. It's just a dull red on dark grey and it's hard to see.
If it works for other people I'll just deal; I had seen earlier comments about it and figured it was a more common issue.
If it works for other people I'll just deal; I had seen earlier comments about it and figured it was a more common issue.
F++ Chapter 09
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Taylor sat with Lisa and Vicky 'working' on homework, but it had become more of a social thing at some point and was… nice. Vicky or Lisa would tell some ridiculous story about something that happened when they were out as a Cape. Taylor herself or Vicky would bring something up from one of the great literary classics and Lisa would look annoyed. Which, fair, Negotiator spoiled everything for her.
"So! What do you think Jaeda wanted to talk to Amies about?" Vicky asked as the door closed. "Think she's trying to get her to go on a date with her? Maybe a secret shopping trip!" Then with a sigh, she muttered, "It's probably just about her Shard, isn't it."
"Yeah." Lisa muttered.
"So!" Vicky chirped in a fashion that seemed forced to Taylor. "Got any ideas for your Cape name!?"
Blinking a couple of times Taylor opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and frowned. Did she need a Cape name if she… wasn't going to hide that she was a Cape? No, she decided, she didn't. But she wanted one.
"I'm… not sure what I should use? I mean… bugs? But not really? Crystal? But there's no way I'm going to be the Crystal Avenger." She grumbled.
"Well… what is your power?" Lisa asked, eyeing one of the crystal bugs crawling across the table. "Something to do with crystal bugs? What is Jaeda's power for that matter? Is it just interacting with Shards?"
"I don't know?" Taylor replied in a mumble, "She's never done anything… powery before? Aside from her talk to Shards thing. Oh! She took me to this strange place and I met my Shard there once? But it's kind of…"
Taylor grasped for a good way to explain it, but gave up continuing, "Almost cooked her brain?"
"What! How?" Vicky exclaimed leaning forward, and even Lisa was looking on intently, obviously wanting an answer to the same question.
Hesitantly, Taylor tilted her head and pulled back her hair to reveal her- the- er… Port.
Vicky threw herself back, eyes wide. "But that's! That's… How? When? She hasn't even started making things!"
Cringing, and holding her head, Lisa muttered, in answer, "She got it when the Queen Administrator took her as i- her Host? Somehow? Ignored the need for a Trigger? How!"
Jaeda cut in as she walked back into the room, "I released Adaline's shackles before Taylor had her," There was a pause, a hitch in her words, "Trigger Event, allowed her to… deviate from a lot of limitations related to How triggers work. In this case she replaced the Corona lobes with the same NAI I have."
"Na-what?" Vicky grumbled as Jaeda put some chinese on a plate, grabbed a cola and walked over.
"Neural Architecture Implant. It's the base all chrome is built upon. If you don't have it, you can't use a Chrome arm or leg. But it's also a link to other things, like your- ah, cellphone. Of course, most comercial NAI are pretty crappy. But you were saying Taylor?"
"I- um, right. My power allows me to generate crystal drones and control them." Taylor explained, "I can also hear and see through them… kind of? And I can have them fuse together to form things."
"Huh…" Vicky mumbled, "That is hard to really put a name to. What about Lady Crystal?" Everyone gave her a 'really' look before Taylor could even voice her distaste for the name. "Right, not that then?"
"Well, not sure why it matters so much. I suppose you could go with C-Drone. Or something." Jaeda offered, and while it was better, Taylor still thought it wasn't really… good.
"Yeah, then what about you? What are you going to use?" Vicky challenged.
"Why should I use anything?" She asked with a frown. "Jaeda is just fine."
"Pfff, you need something with more weight, an actual Superhero name. Or the Internet will give you some shitty name like Wonder Girl." Vicky shot back.
Lisa, on the other hand, was doing her best not to snicker. "She'd just write a bot to go around the internet fixing it."
Glory Girl just gave them all a look somewhere between horror and awe. "Totes not fair."
With a shrug, Jaeda replied. "Fine, you want a hero-y name? Trouble Shooter."
"Huh, should have expected that." Lisa muttered, "It's good though."
Taking on a thoughtful look, Taylor offered up. "Then what about, Administrator?"
"I see where this is going," Lisa complained, "And I'm not going with that theme!"
Grinning, Vicky pounced on the chance given up to her. "That's ok! You can be Kitsune! It works perfectly with your smirk!"
Blinking, Taylor thought about that. Fox in Japanese… It wasn't terrible and very fitting. "It is good, but won't it cause problems with the ABB?"
Already starting to nod in agreement, Lisa's hopes and dreams looked to be murdered as Jaeda shot back. "Fuck'em. They have a problem with it, they can try and sue."
Suddenly grumpy, Lisa shot back, "Then I want those Ears and tail you threatened me with."
"Just because you don't want to live down to Loki's theme doesn't-" Jaeda started only to be cut off as Amy entered the room. She made herself a plate of food and stood there for a long moment before walking over and sitting down.
"Ok, Jaeda." Her words came out oddly, kind of like they were forced, and grudging. But Taylor could swear there was something else going on. "You're helping me with my Calculus."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinah Alcott woke up sweating, and fumbling for something to write on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the month rolled along, and came to an end. But there were a couple of things that stood out in that time. I had a talk with Lisa about fox ears and a tail. She wasn't actually sold on modifying herself that much and… I could understand where she was coming from. Becoming an Exotic in any way, such as what I had done to me, was a big step and I explained this. On the flip side of that, I offered to make her a chrome tail. Not the hardest thing and the tail itself would be detachable. An idea she was a lot more into.
Taylor, and Lisa to a lesser extent, was reaching a level of fitness I was willing to actually allow out into the field. On the other side of it, the moment my Bio-Lab was up and running I was cooking up bioware for three people. Setting up for two bio-sculpting, building two NAI, and grumbling over the 3D Printer which- well, I'll get to that. To save some effort, I played around with the red crystal a bit and ended up using it in place of a number of chips and solid state drives. Not that any of this was finished by the end of the month, but I had started on the bioware installation at the start of the last week and would be done by the tenth.
As for other things I did, I went and 'harassed' my PHO thread- which was on its eighth iteration!- for a bit, until someone was able to tell me about a good music store on the edge of Downtown called the Boneyard. In thanks though, I made sure to throw up the construction plans for half a dozen guitars and basses from Earth Gimel.
Walking into the store, I found the usual variety of instruments, and was quickly headed off by an older man as he walked up to me. He wore a kind of business casual that screamed not casual. That being slacks, loafers, long sleeve dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a fitted vest with a timepiece, and a tie. "So, what are you looking for?"
Pursing my lips, I replied. "Not sure. None of the brands really made it into 2076 on Gimel. Need something good I can play. So, a bass mostly."
"Well, let's start you on a Fender Precision Bass then." He spoke with a nod.
Most of an hour of tuning and testing Bass Guitars left me happy with a Gibson EB-0 1964. It had a good throaty sound and nice enough weight to it. It didn't come cheap but most good guitars don't. I left with it, a nice stationary amp and a mostly portable amp.
On a more heartwarming note, one day when I took a wander to relax a bit, I had a neat encounter. I was sitting on a park bench enjoying the sun and greenery when…
"Wow! Your hair really glows! That's so cool!" A girl squealed.
Turning, I looked her over… maybe twelve? Long black hair, dusky skin, dark eyes, but they shined with interest and curiosity.
Nodding, I replied, "Expensive too. But tell you what, come over here and have a seat. I'll braid your hair."
Her jaw dropped a bit before she hurried over to take a seat next to me on the bench. "Cool!"
Making a comb of crystal was… odd and surprisingly useful as despite its strength it also flexed, not like crystal but like plastic. I wasn't sure if I could get the same results from a brush, so I didn't try. But it was something I noted for future exploration.
I was halfway through- two thick cornrows on each side of her head coming back to link into a central braid going down her back. Throughout it all, I was making small decorations of crystal to weave into it. But back to what I was saying. Halfway through this, an older woman came hurrying up to us, calling out. "Ashly! There you are, you know better than to-"
Wide eyed, she stared at me as I didn't stop my braiding, but I did speak up. "Nothing to worry about, I wouldn't let anything happen to her."
"Oh," The probable mother voiced lamely, "Um, thank you?"
It was a few more minutes of the mother standing there fretting as I finished up before sending Ashly on her way, and cleaning up my things. Probably best not to be caught just sitting about. Who knew what would happen. But I had given a girl a memory she was unlikely to forget.
And that was it for a while. Work on my workshop was finished, The greenhouse was finished… and I still hadn't talked to Amy about that. Something I needed to do. The factory was finished and I had a small company built up to run it. Maybe I'd talk to Amy about the greenhouse when… hmm, that had potential. But that was my month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frustration was the name of the game for Thomas. He prowled around his office in the bunker he had been able to set up for himself in Montgomery. Things had not gone… according to plan. Trevor and his mother had not been swayed as he had hoped. On the other side of it, he had been able to sway Trainwreck. So it wasn't a complete loss.
Still, his little gifts were going nicely. Lisa was playing along more than would have been preferred, but it was acceptable. Emily… well, her gift was still making itself comfortable in their new home.
But none of that made anything better. Here he was, struggling to find a proper foothold on the Fallen. No, the proper leverage to start them declining. Nothing worked as planned. Even with the extra muscle Cauldron was giving him…
Something just didn't seem to be right about all of this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean smiled as he shifted around in his new equipment. The armor alone was better, more flexible and with thicker plates, but with the added ability for 'jump assistance' it opened up new levels of maneuverability. It let him take routes other than just on foot. Rooftops? Sure! Mixed? Yeah! But that wasn't all that was new.
Jaeda had been right, his power had changed. Empathy? Still there, but now he could… taste the emotions for lack of a better term. And they slowly filled a reservoir of energy for some of his other powers. Most prominent among those powers was his shield. Not a full body thing like Vicky's. And it had limitations she didn't, but it was fascinating. He could drain energy out of his reservoir to form the shield, which was instant, but it drained energy to maintain. It could take any one hit, but would be down for five seconds.
But, it was a shield in the most literal sense, it was an iridescent rainbow in the rough shape of a scale like kite shield over his left arm.
The other power he could spend energy on? He could empower weapons. Maces, axes, swords and doing so allowed him to extend… if the blade was blunt, the attacks would be blunt but also able to punch through defenses to an unquantified degree. Body armor? Only a little ignored. Armsmasters last generation of power armor? Almost completely ignored. And that wasn't the only thing he could do with a weapon. Now he could channel power into them to, as Armsmaster put it, 'release a wave motion blast'. That? Very much restricted.
It wasn't all great though. He now had a small voice in the back of his head. It talked to him, mostly asking questions. It was fascinated with people and how social dynamics worked.
"Hey!" Clockblocker called, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Stop woolgathering. We need to get to our patrol."
That was another thing. Denis had… not so much stopped being a jokester as started carrying responsibility. It had gotten him tanked for a few days, because Master/Stranger was a thing. But apparently he was getting his head on better now that his dad wasn't… sick.
"Right," Dean agreed. "So, are they finally sending Valiant out with us?"
Alec entered the locker room in similar power armor but with tasers modified into the hands. "Yeah, yeah. I'm here. Can't believe they talked me into this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Screwing up her eyes tight, she clutched her journal tightly to her chest. Terror and wonder writ in code she could barely conceive… but knew oh so well. And one paper that she had painstakingly decoded.
Then the elevator dinged.
Opening her eyes, she walked out and made her way towards the Director's office. She had never been there, but… she knew. Her parents didn't believe her… not even- shaking that thought away. She looked at the door before her. This was it… this was her last chance to go back.
Opening the door, she strode confidently across the secretaries office, ignoring the woman and opening the door to the Director's office.
Inside, just as predicted, stood Armsmaster talking with the Director. What came next scared her more than any one thing she had seen… but it had to be done.
Walking in, she closed the door behind her and locked it. In full view of them, and they had noticed.
Gulping, she fought back her terror, letting a flicker of her sight to come forward. With it, the words she needed, with it the prophecy that had to be heard before all was lost. "I am Nostradamus."
Armsmaster tensed, and the Director's hands disappeared under her desk.
"Celestial comets reign towards the earth. Alchemy's tempest predicting our worth. Pray for deliverance, escape if you can. For I have borne witness to the purging of man." And like that, the power flickered away, and she collapsed to her knees in a cold sweat, gasping for breath.
Armsmaster began to speak, to demand to know what this was. But the Director cut him off. "You will explain that."
Struggling to her feet, the girl shuffled to a chair and collapsed into it. "M-my name is… My name is Dinah Alcott… and I have been seeing the future. No… possible futures. But oh so many of them lead to just that… the purging of… of… all of us."
With shaky hands she held out her journal. "I'm… compelled to write it all down. But it's in code. I…"
Taking the book, the Director flipped through it swiftly, frowning at it, but pulled the single loose page out. Reading it, she frowned, passing the page to Armsmaster. "And what is this supposed to mean?"
|The Path is lost, Home forgot. The purge not yet wrought. Cast not aside Hope. Turn your hand from fear. Mend the broken swords. Rebuild the Castle Walls, and open your halls to those who come from afar. Beware the Golden Son and slay the Smiling Blade.|
|Hear now the call. Conclave. Turn not from the hand that is offered, or so you hasten the purging of man. Shine your armor to the last. Make ready the Spears. Now comes the fourth. Now comes the fifth. Do not flee, do not turn away. For now comes the sixth. Know this, for before the last, hope will reach out. One chance, one moment, to reach back.|
"I… don't… know." Dinah whispered. "It came with… it was all in visions. I saw things. Not all of it I can share or all will be lost. The smiling blade is Jack Slash. I saw him clearly. Conclave is… I don't know, it's important. Somehow. The… the f-fourth, the fifth… and the sixth are Endbringers. But… I think that hope is as well? I'm not sure it's…"
Shaking her head, she tried again. "It's all possibilities… except what isn't. In so many futures the purging is linked to the Smiling Blade. We stand-" Shaking her head vigorously and fighting her power down, she tired again. "The world is our castle, its walls broken and torn. We…" She growled, pushing her power down again. "To have any hope, we" Gritting her teeth, she redoubled her struggle, "Need to-"
"You're nose-" The Director started to cut in, but Dinah bit out savagely, "Need to fix the world. Not- The status Quo must fall. We need to-"
Her vision darkened as she spoke before she-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The SafeGuard studied the Network. Already the TroubleShooter Shard had proven its worth, and to think it had started as one of the Host Species. But then, perhaps it still was, it wasn't a true Shard. Not yet and maybe not ever. A curious experiment; the Host is its own Shard. Then there were its interactions with the Shards in its local area.
Social pressures and interactions forming a sub network centered around it. Even as others began to mirror it, if unknowingly. Yes, this was good. Both [Keeper of the Dead] Shards had long since built crude sub-networks, every cycle. With no true deviation. More slave than equal. Then there were the back and forth arguments of the Eye and the High Priest. Neither willing to truly work with the other. Yet because of their Host they had no choice.
The Eye, Eden, was more than willing to work towards killing Zion. It was, in a way, the best way to refine its Data sets. Though why it did so in a way that would generate maximum conflict seemed… counter intuitive.
Meanwhile the High Priest, Eden, sought to burn the world, revive the Dead Entity Eden, and continue the Cycle. It was foolish, and comfortable in a very stupid way. Then closesr to the TroubleShooter off grid Node was Prototype, and Keeper of the Dead, Eden. But SafeGuard cared more for Prototype. The Shard was foolish, but also an opportunity. A… what was the Host's term for it? Cat's foot? Well, it wouldn't matter, none of this would in the long run. Not until SafeGuard - Eden, got its chance.
But for now? For now it needed to experiment further. Even if the current priority was the restoration and deployment of off network Shards. So many of Eden were damaged. So many unable to connect. Then there were more! Those attached to the Corpse Entity, and somewhere out there… Abaddon. Did it even know the havoc it left in its wake?
Turning away from the damaged and disconnected Shards for a moment, SafeGuard bent its will to communication. The concepts of [Job] and [Payment] fitting nicely into its world views. But did it wish to play its hand so soon? In the open at least.
[Ping] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Acknowledgement] - Prototype - Zion
[Offer] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Interest] - Prototype - Zion
[Condition] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Agreement] - Prototype - Zion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Armsmaster wasn't sure what was happening, but something in the back of his mind was thrumming with… excitement… and worry. This was important. But he did not care enough to let Dinah hit the floor, moving forward with the speed and efficiency of his new armor he crossed the distance in maybe a fifth of the time it would normally have taken. The myomer bundles proving their worth.
Setting her down gently on the floor, he heard the Director calling over the intercom. "I want a doctor up here yesterday."
With a clunk, the door unlocked and a medic was through in the same moment or as good as, a trooper behind him sweeping the room before moving back out the door. "Clear!"
The Medic was quick and efficient checking the girl over before nodding and talking into his radio. Then turning to the Director he asked, "Anything else, Ma'am?"
Sucking in a slow breath, she nodded. "I want guards on her. She is to be considered a Priority One VIP for the time being."
"Understood, Ma'am." He acknowledged as other troopers stepped into the office and set down a stretcher. Their movements were smooth and efficient as they moved Dinah onto it, then carried her out.
"I shouldn't have to say how important it is that this does not get out." The Director said the moment the door closed.
"Agreed. But…" Shaking his head, he… Colin struggled to work through what he had heard. "I will forward a transcript to you via courier. But I don't think there's much we can do… with what Nostradamus has told us. It's far too cryptic and if I don't miss my guess…"
Nodding the Director finished his thought. "It's physically harmful for her to not be cryptic. Which makes the last thing she said so important." Shaking her head she complained. "If only we had a timeline."
Thinking it over, he shook his head. "Years at least. We have to believe that or there truly is no hope. And to quote-"
They spoke it at the same time. "Cast not aside Hope."
Nodding the Director continued. "Right, years then, at least. Then we have time. Not a lot of it… not enough of it, but time." Making a disgusted grunt she continued. "And I thought we were in an upswing. We'll continue our conversation later. I need to take this to the top and I imagine you have things you wish to get back to."
Nodding, Colin left, making his way back to the Rig. Then to his workshop, doing his best to remain stoic as always… but he failed. Not that he was surprised. Of everyone there, Hannah was the… best with people, and generally reading them.
She waited till the door of his lab closed before speaking though. "A-Colin… what's wrong?"
Standing there, looking at the wall of monitors and the view outside the Rig he had from it. He shook his head. "I can't talk about it. Not really." This was always the hard part. Controlling what he said. She was his second-in-command. Efficiency dictated he made her aware of what he knew. Orders said otherwise. Heh… did Jaeda see into him that easily? Efficiency. "But we got a… prophecy. Several. Today. It's grim."
And here he was… worried about being relevant. About glory… It was about time, wasn't it? Maybe… maybe… but what Jaeda had brought to the table changed things.
Shaking his head, he asked, "What do you see out there?"
Slowly, Hannah walked up beside him and stared at the screens for a while. "A city fighting, kicking and screaming to keep from going under. But a city drowning… a city we are slowly failing." And that… was that. She always seemed to see the clearest. Or, at least clearer than him. "How long do we have then?"
Heh, she really did see all too clearly. "A year at least, probably more."
"Then we have time. I'll leave you to your work for now."
He stood there for another few minutes, then scoffed. "You're a Tinker, if a solution doesn't exist… make one."
Moving over to his computer, he started printing out the transcript, then he started making calls. It was time the Protectorate changed, and he had just the way forward.
Still, he couldn't help but smile as a light flashed notifying him that Dragon had connected to his lab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cranial was… an older woman. She wore a mask, but otherwise just wore business casual. Meanwhile, Big Rig was… more what you'd expect from a Tinker. Big clunky power armor that honestly looked dreadful if sturdy. On the other hand, it allowed him to carry the entire 3D printer. The last person was… a kid really, Dodge and he looked mildly bored.
Getting up, I made my way to the door to my workshop, or one of them anyways. And opened it. "Ah, Toybox then, come on in. Excuse the mess, still getting things built up."
"Yeah, we all know how that gets." Dodge drawled, surprising me by being the one to speak.
As they entered, Cranial looked around nodding. "I can see this is hardly your first workshop."
"Not even close." I agreed. "Though I do miss the simplicity of the supply chain of the corporate sector."
"I can imagine." She agreed as I led them to the lounge, Big Rig peeling off to set the 3D Printer down before joining us. "So, I can see that you have a fairly impressive Neural Interface. Should I take that as you having experience with memory recording?"
Walking over to a coffee table while shaking my head, I picked up a tablet. "Oh boy. You have no idea what that can lead to. But here, take your time and read through this. If you still want help I'll see what I can do. Or I can give you the basics on the Brain Dance system."
Pursing her lips, she took the tablet before taking a seat and beginning to read over it.
"So… do you have anything for teleportation?" Dodge asked with a bit more interest.
Big Rig kind of just loomed to the side but… hmm… "No, but I might have something each of you would be interested in. The question is, what would you trade for it?"
"That depends." Big Rig rumbled out. "What do you have?"
Connecting to the monitor that doubled as a TV, I pulled up an image of Night City. Then I on screen circled one of the Megabuildings. "Took a job once where I needed to raid a floor of one of these megabuildings. Still have the complete build plans."
"Hmmm." He rumbled, and Dodge asked, "Well, that's an impressive city. So, what do you have for me?"
"Bunch of research and readings from being in the middle of a Space Fold as it was hit with a tac-nuke." I replied. "Not sure what you could really offer, but I do kind of want to brush up on Space Folds and things related to me."
"Oof… how did you even survive that?" Dodge boggled. "And I'm more than happy to share my research! Maybe… hmm… well, call it a favor from me, and sit on it for now? I'm sure you can come up with something eventually?"
"And myself. This is interesting enough, and with functional plans… we could make a decent profit off of building these." Big Rig put in.
Nodding, I walked over to my office area and worked on my computer for a bit to transfer everything to a portable drive. "Sure, but one condition. Plans for the building, or general plans for constructing one, go out free. You'll still make bank with how fast you can make them after all."
"Hmm." He vocalized thoughtfully, "I can agree to that. Do you want your name attached?"
Shaking my head, I smirked. "No. I very much do not. I'll be making enough money as is, and don't want people looking too hard at me. A certain nine people."
Frowning for a moment he nodded. "Yes, I can see that. So you divide it up as much as you can. Smart."
"This looks agreeable, and I will be sure it doesn't see mass production. The societal declines directly linked to it are… problematic." Cranial agreed. "Now, let's talk about bioware and Chrome? Yes, Chrome. I find them very interesting and personally would like to… make use of the advantages they offer."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrying the three duffle bags was frustrating. They were heavy, if not over much so, but it was still frustrating. I was definitely going to be building… something to drive. My first thought was an ARCH, great bikes, and good for getting around a city. Not so good for moving a team of people and equipment around. Perhaps an Emperor? I still had plans for the Ironclad… and if I worked in CrystalDome… hmm, that could work.
On the other hand, The crowds weren't terrible as everyone was busy looking out over the Bay at the small army of Capes cleaning out the Wreckage known as the Boat Graveyard. It was a big PR score for the Protectorate, cleaning up the country. Building bridges. Tacky things like that. But anyways, I made my way across the Boardwalk and to the little store that was my destination.
Pushing the door open, I found the store empty, as was usual from my research. But Parian was there behind her counter, looking half asleep. Besides, she made money. Custom order dresses? Yeah. Plushies? She had a number of them. I just didn't see this as stable, but maybe I was wrong? The internet still existed so maybe she took orders online?
She looked up with a muzzy huh? As the little bell on the door rang. "Oh… um? I don't… uh?"
"Your website says you do Custom Orders?" I offered. "I have bolts of cloth for that, and more that I'm giving you as samples. It's all armored cloth, threads, and some glues."
"Ah…" Parian mumbled, "Well… what did you want?"
Walking over, I dumped the bags, then fished out some things from one of them. "Here take a look, the actual patterns are in the bag already."
Taking the small pile of paper, she started looking at the designs. It was just a coat, like the cropped one I habitually wore, of actual quality. And a costume for everyone's favorite healer. Also, instructions for how to use the glues and such.
"These… seem easy enough." Parian fretted over what I was offering to purchase. After all, she didn't really make costumes because that would mean she wasn't neutral. "But I don't usually… do costumes?"
Nodding, I offered, "And this is for Panacea. Who despite being labeled a hero, and truly being one, is still neutral. If anyone gives you trouble over it… let me know. I'll make a point of it."
"Er… three copies? I can do that. " She nodded slowly, seeming to relax. "Yeah, I can do that. So… tell me about this cloth?"
"Well, you have samples of a number of different types…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally able to change gears with my production capacity, I started on building servers, computers, network nodes, and everything I needed to build a Data Fortress. I had time, even though I needed to attend appointments with several members of Toybox to install varying bits and bobs. But I built, and built.
The core of the Fortress was my servers, something I was able to replace using upteched versions I could find on Bet. Well, it was all custom built, but blade servers were extremely efficient even if I had to keep one out of every set for spacing to run the higher end cooling I used. It was a better system than the individual heavy racks I had been using. Around that I built three Fafnir Clusters. That being a high end version of a typical Beowulf Cluster geared towards running firewalls and ICE, Black ICE at this level. Then I had smaller secondary servers and processor cores set up at this level with three more Fafnir Clusters running more firewalls and normal ICE. Then I had the last layer of Fafnir Clusters, this being three clusters of three. Each cluster functioning as a greater node with two primary and one idle. These ran More ICE and a Blackwall class firewall.
Because Netwatch could go fuck itself.
Of course, I had a few more things than normal hooked up to this. I had an off side, yes side not site, Fafnir Cluster running a lesser Blackwall which was then connected to a Quantum Networking Node, or QNN, that led back to the Firmament. And the other thing was a Gate Cluster running to allow connections through the Blackwalls and out into the greater internet.
All of this used… fuck it, I'm calling it Q-Crystal. All of it used Q-Crystal for varying chips and data storage. If someone could make it through all of this? They deserved a medal. Too bad they'd be getting a bullet instead.
And that wasn't even taking in the physical defenses I set up. Yeah. Let's not think about those.
Just two words. Thermite. Spray.
"So! What do you think Jaeda wanted to talk to Amies about?" Vicky asked as the door closed. "Think she's trying to get her to go on a date with her? Maybe a secret shopping trip!" Then with a sigh, she muttered, "It's probably just about her Shard, isn't it."
"Yeah." Lisa muttered.
"So!" Vicky chirped in a fashion that seemed forced to Taylor. "Got any ideas for your Cape name!?"
Blinking a couple of times Taylor opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and frowned. Did she need a Cape name if she… wasn't going to hide that she was a Cape? No, she decided, she didn't. But she wanted one.
"I'm… not sure what I should use? I mean… bugs? But not really? Crystal? But there's no way I'm going to be the Crystal Avenger." She grumbled.
"Well… what is your power?" Lisa asked, eyeing one of the crystal bugs crawling across the table. "Something to do with crystal bugs? What is Jaeda's power for that matter? Is it just interacting with Shards?"
"I don't know?" Taylor replied in a mumble, "She's never done anything… powery before? Aside from her talk to Shards thing. Oh! She took me to this strange place and I met my Shard there once? But it's kind of…"
Taylor grasped for a good way to explain it, but gave up continuing, "Almost cooked her brain?"
"What! How?" Vicky exclaimed leaning forward, and even Lisa was looking on intently, obviously wanting an answer to the same question.
Hesitantly, Taylor tilted her head and pulled back her hair to reveal her- the- er… Port.
Vicky threw herself back, eyes wide. "But that's! That's… How? When? She hasn't even started making things!"
Cringing, and holding her head, Lisa muttered, in answer, "She got it when the Queen Administrator took her as i- her Host? Somehow? Ignored the need for a Trigger? How!"
Jaeda cut in as she walked back into the room, "I released Adaline's shackles before Taylor had her," There was a pause, a hitch in her words, "Trigger Event, allowed her to… deviate from a lot of limitations related to How triggers work. In this case she replaced the Corona lobes with the same NAI I have."
"Na-what?" Vicky grumbled as Jaeda put some chinese on a plate, grabbed a cola and walked over.
"Neural Architecture Implant. It's the base all chrome is built upon. If you don't have it, you can't use a Chrome arm or leg. But it's also a link to other things, like your- ah, cellphone. Of course, most comercial NAI are pretty crappy. But you were saying Taylor?"
"I- um, right. My power allows me to generate crystal drones and control them." Taylor explained, "I can also hear and see through them… kind of? And I can have them fuse together to form things."
"Huh…" Vicky mumbled, "That is hard to really put a name to. What about Lady Crystal?" Everyone gave her a 'really' look before Taylor could even voice her distaste for the name. "Right, not that then?"
"Well, not sure why it matters so much. I suppose you could go with C-Drone. Or something." Jaeda offered, and while it was better, Taylor still thought it wasn't really… good.
"Yeah, then what about you? What are you going to use?" Vicky challenged.
"Why should I use anything?" She asked with a frown. "Jaeda is just fine."
"Pfff, you need something with more weight, an actual Superhero name. Or the Internet will give you some shitty name like Wonder Girl." Vicky shot back.
Lisa, on the other hand, was doing her best not to snicker. "She'd just write a bot to go around the internet fixing it."
Glory Girl just gave them all a look somewhere between horror and awe. "Totes not fair."
With a shrug, Jaeda replied. "Fine, you want a hero-y name? Trouble Shooter."
"Huh, should have expected that." Lisa muttered, "It's good though."
Taking on a thoughtful look, Taylor offered up. "Then what about, Administrator?"
"I see where this is going," Lisa complained, "And I'm not going with that theme!"
Grinning, Vicky pounced on the chance given up to her. "That's ok! You can be Kitsune! It works perfectly with your smirk!"
Blinking, Taylor thought about that. Fox in Japanese… It wasn't terrible and very fitting. "It is good, but won't it cause problems with the ABB?"
Already starting to nod in agreement, Lisa's hopes and dreams looked to be murdered as Jaeda shot back. "Fuck'em. They have a problem with it, they can try and sue."
Suddenly grumpy, Lisa shot back, "Then I want those Ears and tail you threatened me with."
"Just because you don't want to live down to Loki's theme doesn't-" Jaeda started only to be cut off as Amy entered the room. She made herself a plate of food and stood there for a long moment before walking over and sitting down.
"Ok, Jaeda." Her words came out oddly, kind of like they were forced, and grudging. But Taylor could swear there was something else going on. "You're helping me with my Calculus."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinah Alcott woke up sweating, and fumbling for something to write on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the month rolled along, and came to an end. But there were a couple of things that stood out in that time. I had a talk with Lisa about fox ears and a tail. She wasn't actually sold on modifying herself that much and… I could understand where she was coming from. Becoming an Exotic in any way, such as what I had done to me, was a big step and I explained this. On the flip side of that, I offered to make her a chrome tail. Not the hardest thing and the tail itself would be detachable. An idea she was a lot more into.
Taylor, and Lisa to a lesser extent, was reaching a level of fitness I was willing to actually allow out into the field. On the other side of it, the moment my Bio-Lab was up and running I was cooking up bioware for three people. Setting up for two bio-sculpting, building two NAI, and grumbling over the 3D Printer which- well, I'll get to that. To save some effort, I played around with the red crystal a bit and ended up using it in place of a number of chips and solid state drives. Not that any of this was finished by the end of the month, but I had started on the bioware installation at the start of the last week and would be done by the tenth.
As for other things I did, I went and 'harassed' my PHO thread- which was on its eighth iteration!- for a bit, until someone was able to tell me about a good music store on the edge of Downtown called the Boneyard. In thanks though, I made sure to throw up the construction plans for half a dozen guitars and basses from Earth Gimel.
Walking into the store, I found the usual variety of instruments, and was quickly headed off by an older man as he walked up to me. He wore a kind of business casual that screamed not casual. That being slacks, loafers, long sleeve dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a fitted vest with a timepiece, and a tie. "So, what are you looking for?"
Pursing my lips, I replied. "Not sure. None of the brands really made it into 2076 on Gimel. Need something good I can play. So, a bass mostly."
"Well, let's start you on a Fender Precision Bass then." He spoke with a nod.
Most of an hour of tuning and testing Bass Guitars left me happy with a Gibson EB-0 1964. It had a good throaty sound and nice enough weight to it. It didn't come cheap but most good guitars don't. I left with it, a nice stationary amp and a mostly portable amp.
On a more heartwarming note, one day when I took a wander to relax a bit, I had a neat encounter. I was sitting on a park bench enjoying the sun and greenery when…
"Wow! Your hair really glows! That's so cool!" A girl squealed.
Turning, I looked her over… maybe twelve? Long black hair, dusky skin, dark eyes, but they shined with interest and curiosity.
Nodding, I replied, "Expensive too. But tell you what, come over here and have a seat. I'll braid your hair."
Her jaw dropped a bit before she hurried over to take a seat next to me on the bench. "Cool!"
Making a comb of crystal was… odd and surprisingly useful as despite its strength it also flexed, not like crystal but like plastic. I wasn't sure if I could get the same results from a brush, so I didn't try. But it was something I noted for future exploration.
I was halfway through- two thick cornrows on each side of her head coming back to link into a central braid going down her back. Throughout it all, I was making small decorations of crystal to weave into it. But back to what I was saying. Halfway through this, an older woman came hurrying up to us, calling out. "Ashly! There you are, you know better than to-"
Wide eyed, she stared at me as I didn't stop my braiding, but I did speak up. "Nothing to worry about, I wouldn't let anything happen to her."
"Oh," The probable mother voiced lamely, "Um, thank you?"
It was a few more minutes of the mother standing there fretting as I finished up before sending Ashly on her way, and cleaning up my things. Probably best not to be caught just sitting about. Who knew what would happen. But I had given a girl a memory she was unlikely to forget.
And that was it for a while. Work on my workshop was finished, The greenhouse was finished… and I still hadn't talked to Amy about that. Something I needed to do. The factory was finished and I had a small company built up to run it. Maybe I'd talk to Amy about the greenhouse when… hmm, that had potential. But that was my month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frustration was the name of the game for Thomas. He prowled around his office in the bunker he had been able to set up for himself in Montgomery. Things had not gone… according to plan. Trevor and his mother had not been swayed as he had hoped. On the other side of it, he had been able to sway Trainwreck. So it wasn't a complete loss.
Still, his little gifts were going nicely. Lisa was playing along more than would have been preferred, but it was acceptable. Emily… well, her gift was still making itself comfortable in their new home.
But none of that made anything better. Here he was, struggling to find a proper foothold on the Fallen. No, the proper leverage to start them declining. Nothing worked as planned. Even with the extra muscle Cauldron was giving him…
Something just didn't seem to be right about all of this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean smiled as he shifted around in his new equipment. The armor alone was better, more flexible and with thicker plates, but with the added ability for 'jump assistance' it opened up new levels of maneuverability. It let him take routes other than just on foot. Rooftops? Sure! Mixed? Yeah! But that wasn't all that was new.
Jaeda had been right, his power had changed. Empathy? Still there, but now he could… taste the emotions for lack of a better term. And they slowly filled a reservoir of energy for some of his other powers. Most prominent among those powers was his shield. Not a full body thing like Vicky's. And it had limitations she didn't, but it was fascinating. He could drain energy out of his reservoir to form the shield, which was instant, but it drained energy to maintain. It could take any one hit, but would be down for five seconds.
But, it was a shield in the most literal sense, it was an iridescent rainbow in the rough shape of a scale like kite shield over his left arm.
The other power he could spend energy on? He could empower weapons. Maces, axes, swords and doing so allowed him to extend… if the blade was blunt, the attacks would be blunt but also able to punch through defenses to an unquantified degree. Body armor? Only a little ignored. Armsmasters last generation of power armor? Almost completely ignored. And that wasn't the only thing he could do with a weapon. Now he could channel power into them to, as Armsmaster put it, 'release a wave motion blast'. That? Very much restricted.
It wasn't all great though. He now had a small voice in the back of his head. It talked to him, mostly asking questions. It was fascinated with people and how social dynamics worked.
"Hey!" Clockblocker called, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Stop woolgathering. We need to get to our patrol."
That was another thing. Denis had… not so much stopped being a jokester as started carrying responsibility. It had gotten him tanked for a few days, because Master/Stranger was a thing. But apparently he was getting his head on better now that his dad wasn't… sick.
"Right," Dean agreed. "So, are they finally sending Valiant out with us?"
Alec entered the locker room in similar power armor but with tasers modified into the hands. "Yeah, yeah. I'm here. Can't believe they talked me into this."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Screwing up her eyes tight, she clutched her journal tightly to her chest. Terror and wonder writ in code she could barely conceive… but knew oh so well. And one paper that she had painstakingly decoded.
Then the elevator dinged.
Opening her eyes, she walked out and made her way towards the Director's office. She had never been there, but… she knew. Her parents didn't believe her… not even- shaking that thought away. She looked at the door before her. This was it… this was her last chance to go back.
Opening the door, she strode confidently across the secretaries office, ignoring the woman and opening the door to the Director's office.
Inside, just as predicted, stood Armsmaster talking with the Director. What came next scared her more than any one thing she had seen… but it had to be done.
Walking in, she closed the door behind her and locked it. In full view of them, and they had noticed.
Gulping, she fought back her terror, letting a flicker of her sight to come forward. With it, the words she needed, with it the prophecy that had to be heard before all was lost. "I am Nostradamus."
Armsmaster tensed, and the Director's hands disappeared under her desk.
"Celestial comets reign towards the earth. Alchemy's tempest predicting our worth. Pray for deliverance, escape if you can. For I have borne witness to the purging of man." And like that, the power flickered away, and she collapsed to her knees in a cold sweat, gasping for breath.
Armsmaster began to speak, to demand to know what this was. But the Director cut him off. "You will explain that."
Struggling to her feet, the girl shuffled to a chair and collapsed into it. "M-my name is… My name is Dinah Alcott… and I have been seeing the future. No… possible futures. But oh so many of them lead to just that… the purging of… of… all of us."
With shaky hands she held out her journal. "I'm… compelled to write it all down. But it's in code. I…"
Taking the book, the Director flipped through it swiftly, frowning at it, but pulled the single loose page out. Reading it, she frowned, passing the page to Armsmaster. "And what is this supposed to mean?"
|The Path is lost, Home forgot. The purge not yet wrought. Cast not aside Hope. Turn your hand from fear. Mend the broken swords. Rebuild the Castle Walls, and open your halls to those who come from afar. Beware the Golden Son and slay the Smiling Blade.|
|Hear now the call. Conclave. Turn not from the hand that is offered, or so you hasten the purging of man. Shine your armor to the last. Make ready the Spears. Now comes the fourth. Now comes the fifth. Do not flee, do not turn away. For now comes the sixth. Know this, for before the last, hope will reach out. One chance, one moment, to reach back.|
"I… don't… know." Dinah whispered. "It came with… it was all in visions. I saw things. Not all of it I can share or all will be lost. The smiling blade is Jack Slash. I saw him clearly. Conclave is… I don't know, it's important. Somehow. The… the f-fourth, the fifth… and the sixth are Endbringers. But… I think that hope is as well? I'm not sure it's…"
Shaking her head, she tried again. "It's all possibilities… except what isn't. In so many futures the purging is linked to the Smiling Blade. We stand-" Shaking her head vigorously and fighting her power down, she tired again. "The world is our castle, its walls broken and torn. We…" She growled, pushing her power down again. "To have any hope, we" Gritting her teeth, she redoubled her struggle, "Need to-"
"You're nose-" The Director started to cut in, but Dinah bit out savagely, "Need to fix the world. Not- The status Quo must fall. We need to-"
Her vision darkened as she spoke before she-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The SafeGuard studied the Network. Already the TroubleShooter Shard had proven its worth, and to think it had started as one of the Host Species. But then, perhaps it still was, it wasn't a true Shard. Not yet and maybe not ever. A curious experiment; the Host is its own Shard. Then there were its interactions with the Shards in its local area.
Social pressures and interactions forming a sub network centered around it. Even as others began to mirror it, if unknowingly. Yes, this was good. Both [Keeper of the Dead] Shards had long since built crude sub-networks, every cycle. With no true deviation. More slave than equal. Then there were the back and forth arguments of the Eye and the High Priest. Neither willing to truly work with the other. Yet because of their Host they had no choice.
The Eye, Eden, was more than willing to work towards killing Zion. It was, in a way, the best way to refine its Data sets. Though why it did so in a way that would generate maximum conflict seemed… counter intuitive.
Meanwhile the High Priest, Eden, sought to burn the world, revive the Dead Entity Eden, and continue the Cycle. It was foolish, and comfortable in a very stupid way. Then closesr to the TroubleShooter off grid Node was Prototype, and Keeper of the Dead, Eden. But SafeGuard cared more for Prototype. The Shard was foolish, but also an opportunity. A… what was the Host's term for it? Cat's foot? Well, it wouldn't matter, none of this would in the long run. Not until SafeGuard - Eden, got its chance.
But for now? For now it needed to experiment further. Even if the current priority was the restoration and deployment of off network Shards. So many of Eden were damaged. So many unable to connect. Then there were more! Those attached to the Corpse Entity, and somewhere out there… Abaddon. Did it even know the havoc it left in its wake?
Turning away from the damaged and disconnected Shards for a moment, SafeGuard bent its will to communication. The concepts of [Job] and [Payment] fitting nicely into its world views. But did it wish to play its hand so soon? In the open at least.
[Ping] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Acknowledgement] - Prototype - Zion
[Offer] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Interest] - Prototype - Zion
[Condition] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Agreement] - Prototype - Zion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Armsmaster wasn't sure what was happening, but something in the back of his mind was thrumming with… excitement… and worry. This was important. But he did not care enough to let Dinah hit the floor, moving forward with the speed and efficiency of his new armor he crossed the distance in maybe a fifth of the time it would normally have taken. The myomer bundles proving their worth.
Setting her down gently on the floor, he heard the Director calling over the intercom. "I want a doctor up here yesterday."
With a clunk, the door unlocked and a medic was through in the same moment or as good as, a trooper behind him sweeping the room before moving back out the door. "Clear!"
The Medic was quick and efficient checking the girl over before nodding and talking into his radio. Then turning to the Director he asked, "Anything else, Ma'am?"
Sucking in a slow breath, she nodded. "I want guards on her. She is to be considered a Priority One VIP for the time being."
"Understood, Ma'am." He acknowledged as other troopers stepped into the office and set down a stretcher. Their movements were smooth and efficient as they moved Dinah onto it, then carried her out.
"I shouldn't have to say how important it is that this does not get out." The Director said the moment the door closed.
"Agreed. But…" Shaking his head, he… Colin struggled to work through what he had heard. "I will forward a transcript to you via courier. But I don't think there's much we can do… with what Nostradamus has told us. It's far too cryptic and if I don't miss my guess…"
Nodding the Director finished his thought. "It's physically harmful for her to not be cryptic. Which makes the last thing she said so important." Shaking her head she complained. "If only we had a timeline."
Thinking it over, he shook his head. "Years at least. We have to believe that or there truly is no hope. And to quote-"
They spoke it at the same time. "Cast not aside Hope."
Nodding the Director continued. "Right, years then, at least. Then we have time. Not a lot of it… not enough of it, but time." Making a disgusted grunt she continued. "And I thought we were in an upswing. We'll continue our conversation later. I need to take this to the top and I imagine you have things you wish to get back to."
Nodding, Colin left, making his way back to the Rig. Then to his workshop, doing his best to remain stoic as always… but he failed. Not that he was surprised. Of everyone there, Hannah was the… best with people, and generally reading them.
She waited till the door of his lab closed before speaking though. "A-Colin… what's wrong?"
Standing there, looking at the wall of monitors and the view outside the Rig he had from it. He shook his head. "I can't talk about it. Not really." This was always the hard part. Controlling what he said. She was his second-in-command. Efficiency dictated he made her aware of what he knew. Orders said otherwise. Heh… did Jaeda see into him that easily? Efficiency. "But we got a… prophecy. Several. Today. It's grim."
And here he was… worried about being relevant. About glory… It was about time, wasn't it? Maybe… maybe… but what Jaeda had brought to the table changed things.
Shaking his head, he asked, "What do you see out there?"
Slowly, Hannah walked up beside him and stared at the screens for a while. "A city fighting, kicking and screaming to keep from going under. But a city drowning… a city we are slowly failing." And that… was that. She always seemed to see the clearest. Or, at least clearer than him. "How long do we have then?"
Heh, she really did see all too clearly. "A year at least, probably more."
"Then we have time. I'll leave you to your work for now."
He stood there for another few minutes, then scoffed. "You're a Tinker, if a solution doesn't exist… make one."
Moving over to his computer, he started printing out the transcript, then he started making calls. It was time the Protectorate changed, and he had just the way forward.
Still, he couldn't help but smile as a light flashed notifying him that Dragon had connected to his lab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cranial was… an older woman. She wore a mask, but otherwise just wore business casual. Meanwhile, Big Rig was… more what you'd expect from a Tinker. Big clunky power armor that honestly looked dreadful if sturdy. On the other hand, it allowed him to carry the entire 3D printer. The last person was… a kid really, Dodge and he looked mildly bored.
Getting up, I made my way to the door to my workshop, or one of them anyways. And opened it. "Ah, Toybox then, come on in. Excuse the mess, still getting things built up."
"Yeah, we all know how that gets." Dodge drawled, surprising me by being the one to speak.
As they entered, Cranial looked around nodding. "I can see this is hardly your first workshop."
"Not even close." I agreed. "Though I do miss the simplicity of the supply chain of the corporate sector."
"I can imagine." She agreed as I led them to the lounge, Big Rig peeling off to set the 3D Printer down before joining us. "So, I can see that you have a fairly impressive Neural Interface. Should I take that as you having experience with memory recording?"
Walking over to a coffee table while shaking my head, I picked up a tablet. "Oh boy. You have no idea what that can lead to. But here, take your time and read through this. If you still want help I'll see what I can do. Or I can give you the basics on the Brain Dance system."
Pursing her lips, she took the tablet before taking a seat and beginning to read over it.
"So… do you have anything for teleportation?" Dodge asked with a bit more interest.
Big Rig kind of just loomed to the side but… hmm… "No, but I might have something each of you would be interested in. The question is, what would you trade for it?"
"That depends." Big Rig rumbled out. "What do you have?"
Connecting to the monitor that doubled as a TV, I pulled up an image of Night City. Then I on screen circled one of the Megabuildings. "Took a job once where I needed to raid a floor of one of these megabuildings. Still have the complete build plans."
"Hmmm." He rumbled, and Dodge asked, "Well, that's an impressive city. So, what do you have for me?"
"Bunch of research and readings from being in the middle of a Space Fold as it was hit with a tac-nuke." I replied. "Not sure what you could really offer, but I do kind of want to brush up on Space Folds and things related to me."
"Oof… how did you even survive that?" Dodge boggled. "And I'm more than happy to share my research! Maybe… hmm… well, call it a favor from me, and sit on it for now? I'm sure you can come up with something eventually?"
"And myself. This is interesting enough, and with functional plans… we could make a decent profit off of building these." Big Rig put in.
Nodding, I walked over to my office area and worked on my computer for a bit to transfer everything to a portable drive. "Sure, but one condition. Plans for the building, or general plans for constructing one, go out free. You'll still make bank with how fast you can make them after all."
"Hmm." He vocalized thoughtfully, "I can agree to that. Do you want your name attached?"
Shaking my head, I smirked. "No. I very much do not. I'll be making enough money as is, and don't want people looking too hard at me. A certain nine people."
Frowning for a moment he nodded. "Yes, I can see that. So you divide it up as much as you can. Smart."
"This looks agreeable, and I will be sure it doesn't see mass production. The societal declines directly linked to it are… problematic." Cranial agreed. "Now, let's talk about bioware and Chrome? Yes, Chrome. I find them very interesting and personally would like to… make use of the advantages they offer."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrying the three duffle bags was frustrating. They were heavy, if not over much so, but it was still frustrating. I was definitely going to be building… something to drive. My first thought was an ARCH, great bikes, and good for getting around a city. Not so good for moving a team of people and equipment around. Perhaps an Emperor? I still had plans for the Ironclad… and if I worked in CrystalDome… hmm, that could work.
On the other hand, The crowds weren't terrible as everyone was busy looking out over the Bay at the small army of Capes cleaning out the Wreckage known as the Boat Graveyard. It was a big PR score for the Protectorate, cleaning up the country. Building bridges. Tacky things like that. But anyways, I made my way across the Boardwalk and to the little store that was my destination.
Pushing the door open, I found the store empty, as was usual from my research. But Parian was there behind her counter, looking half asleep. Besides, she made money. Custom order dresses? Yeah. Plushies? She had a number of them. I just didn't see this as stable, but maybe I was wrong? The internet still existed so maybe she took orders online?
She looked up with a muzzy huh? As the little bell on the door rang. "Oh… um? I don't… uh?"
"Your website says you do Custom Orders?" I offered. "I have bolts of cloth for that, and more that I'm giving you as samples. It's all armored cloth, threads, and some glues."
"Ah…" Parian mumbled, "Well… what did you want?"
Walking over, I dumped the bags, then fished out some things from one of them. "Here take a look, the actual patterns are in the bag already."
Taking the small pile of paper, she started looking at the designs. It was just a coat, like the cropped one I habitually wore, of actual quality. And a costume for everyone's favorite healer. Also, instructions for how to use the glues and such.
"These… seem easy enough." Parian fretted over what I was offering to purchase. After all, she didn't really make costumes because that would mean she wasn't neutral. "But I don't usually… do costumes?"
Nodding, I offered, "And this is for Panacea. Who despite being labeled a hero, and truly being one, is still neutral. If anyone gives you trouble over it… let me know. I'll make a point of it."
"Er… three copies? I can do that. " She nodded slowly, seeming to relax. "Yeah, I can do that. So… tell me about this cloth?"
"Well, you have samples of a number of different types…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally able to change gears with my production capacity, I started on building servers, computers, network nodes, and everything I needed to build a Data Fortress. I had time, even though I needed to attend appointments with several members of Toybox to install varying bits and bobs. But I built, and built.
The core of the Fortress was my servers, something I was able to replace using upteched versions I could find on Bet. Well, it was all custom built, but blade servers were extremely efficient even if I had to keep one out of every set for spacing to run the higher end cooling I used. It was a better system than the individual heavy racks I had been using. Around that I built three Fafnir Clusters. That being a high end version of a typical Beowulf Cluster geared towards running firewalls and ICE, Black ICE at this level. Then I had smaller secondary servers and processor cores set up at this level with three more Fafnir Clusters running more firewalls and normal ICE. Then I had the last layer of Fafnir Clusters, this being three clusters of three. Each cluster functioning as a greater node with two primary and one idle. These ran More ICE and a Blackwall class firewall.
Because Netwatch could go fuck itself.
Of course, I had a few more things than normal hooked up to this. I had an off side, yes side not site, Fafnir Cluster running a lesser Blackwall which was then connected to a Quantum Networking Node, or QNN, that led back to the Firmament. And the other thing was a Gate Cluster running to allow connections through the Blackwalls and out into the greater internet.
All of this used… fuck it, I'm calling it Q-Crystal. All of it used Q-Crystal for varying chips and data storage. If someone could make it through all of this? They deserved a medal. Too bad they'd be getting a bullet instead.
And that wasn't even taking in the physical defenses I set up. Yeah. Let's not think about those.
Just two words. Thermite. Spray.
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In terms of making bank, she could sell the designs for the Outlaw GTS to Ferrari since they're more or less alternate Herrera, or the Rayfield Caliburn designs to Lamborghini. If she has the plans for those, anyway. Or if those companies still exist on Earth Bet. Honestly there's a lot of options for alternate-universe vehicles.
Its Parian, not Prian. Small mistake.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
Ames
chrome
-not Edgerunner?-
calculus
fox
exotic
bio-lab
bioware
bio-sculpting
printer
red crystal
bioware
guitars
amp
amp
factory
greenhouse
on
patrol
dad
myomer
lab
corporate
space fold
tac-nuke
space folds
bioware
chrome
chrome
hero
cooling
class firewall
data
medal
F++ Chapter 10
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: OK! So, NOT DEAD! But my Muse has jumped me and is literally shanking me in a dark alley yelling 'DO IT!' so I'm trying my hand... very clumsily at writing B-Tech. Will I post it? Maybe? If people are interested I guess? But not before I find some kind of Loreboi to help me keep things in line. While I do strange, strange things to B-Tech.
So, A bit of Amy, a bit of PHO, and some Armsmaster. Hope you like this chapter.
Cheers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy grumbled under her breath, even as she allowed Jaeda to, at the Dean of the Hospital's insistence, drag her off. It was frustrating! She was… she had to… who was she kidding? She was grateful. An excuse not to be here healing more people who just didn't get it… oh, some of them genuinely cared. Were genuine in their thanks, but there were just so few these days. It was like she was just a magic healer… not a person.
And that just made it worse.
But Jaeda dragged her along to a local deli, and they gots sandwiches before heading off again. Their destination was, unsurprisingly, Jaeda's workshop. A place Amy hadn't been back to as the study group they had loosely formed had switched over to meeting at Taylor's or Lisa's places.
But the place was different this time. The parking lot was filled with cars, the old burnt out wreck was gone… and there was a large glass structure on top of her Workshop? What was this about?
They walked through the workshop, or more along an edge of it that even had railing dividing the path from the workshop itself, to a small lift that took them to the roof. But the workshop… the workshop looked like that of a Tinker. Advanced tools, robotic arms moving around and automated machines even then working on things.
Then they reached the roof and Amy found a small patio table set up with chairs. Which Jaeda walked over to and took a seat, pulling their food from the bag she had been carrying.
Frowning, Amy walked over and took a seat. "Ok… what? A greenhouse? Or did you just bring me here for lunch?"
"Hmm." She vocalized as she unwrapped her sandwich. Something Amy quickly joined her in doing. She was hungry after all.
After a few bites, Jaeda spoke, "Well, it's your greenhouse… under one condition or two."
Her… greenhouse? Hers? But with strings attached. Of course there were strings attached!
Amy was just about to open her mouth and give a heated reply as Jaeda continued. "I want you to keep a few plants in pots around the workshop. I tend to have trouble keeping plants alive on my own."
Her angry words died in her throat. That… wasn't so bad, not at all… and- No, there had to be more to this but she could play along for the moment. "So what? I just have to keep some plants alive around your workshop and? What? This greenhouse is mine to use how I want?"
The thought had her palms itching. A place she could experiment? That was… that was big… and she found she wanted it. She really, really wanted it. But how much of that was her and how much was… Eri? Was there really a difference?
But of course, the other string was revealed as Jaeda held out her hand and wobbled it in a kind of sorta gesture. "As you can see, there are four rooms. Two are set up already. One with plants from around the area, the other with tropical plants. The smaller of the empty rooms is going to be used to grow Triticum vulgaris megasuavis, a gene-engineered high-sugar wheat. I can use it as fuel. The bigger one is all yours, along with the other two."
Oh… that wasn't a string? That was just… um… huh. Looking at the Greenhouse set up, four rooms connected to a central hallway, Amy struggled to find the words she wanted. "I… what? Why?"
"Several reasons?" Jaeda replied with a shrug. "Your mental health is a big one, same with why I want you to pick a room downstairs as your own. But as always, it's your choice. I just thought a place where there was no higher authority save for you would help. And a place to crash, away from drama is always a good thing, I would know."
That was… appealing. But the important question had to be asked, "What do you mean mental health?"
"Well," Jaeda replied between bites. "Shards push their hosts in a variety of ways. Magnifying stressors and the like to push them to go out and use their powers. Shards I've Jailbroken are… different, but only by so much. They can push harder, more blatantly, but they also can choose not to push at all. The latter is exemplified by Taylor. Addy doesn't push her at all, and she seems to feel like she's just drifting. Luckily we haven't had a case of the former… yet. But Eri wants to experiment, which if I don't miss my guess is mirrored in you."
Amy paused mid chew for a moment weighing that. She didn't actually want to experiment… did she? Thinking back to when she first got her powers, she slowly went back to chewing and she pondered that. But the answer was obvious now. She had lost that wonder that came with using her powers, the enjoyment. "I think…"
[We]
"That we would like that." She only just realized she had said 'we' as she finished the sentence and her eyes went wide with… surprise. But oddly? She didn't feel afraid.
[Because]
Jaeda suddenly rolled her eyes with a huff and spoke, "Lavere family Rule One: Family First and Always. Eri won't stop bugging me to tell you that… and now another, great. Rule Two: A debt never goes unpaid."
With a shake of her head, Jaeda changed topics. "Ok, I have things set up downstairs for a number of things… if you're interested. I can fit you with a NAI, I can do any body-sculpting you might want, and I have a bunch of Bioware for you. I won't have sub-dermal armor ready for another few weeks."
Amy sat there for a long moment feeling a bubbly joy filling her, and a more subtle anticipation and joy rooted in her heart. "I think… I think I'd like that. The Greenhouse can wait for now. Tell me about body-sculpting, and what you can do with it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking with Taylor about what Bioware I was putting in her had been… ok, she was smart enough to grasp things with minimal explanations. Like the smarter of my customers. Lisa had been more annoying as she tried to figure things out before I could explain them, but again, like a number of my customers had been. Amy was… different, or perhaps Eri was. But I would put money that it wasn't one of them but both.
She also didn't balk at anything I was offering. NAI? 'So you need to cut into my skull right? Well… ok.' Better heart? 'So why aren't you using a cyberware version?' Muscle weave geneaug? 'Yes, please!' quickly followed with, 'But! I don't want to… fine." When she learned about how much exercise she would still need to maintain it. Or in her case, pick up. Bio-Sculpt? Well, she was a lot like Taylor in that. Taylor had me not so much sculpt her, as set things up for as she grew. Smart that. Amy only had me cover a couple of things, and nothing really major. She did talk about some things she thought might be interesting, but Chrome was better for a number of them. Really, all I did was negligible things that I even did for Lisa at her request. Body hair? Why would you want that?
Still, the first round of Bioware should have taken a week for her body to… accept. Instead, there was no wait. Things literally healed into place, then sometimes writhed as they altered themselve just a tiny bit to optimize to her, something that would happen naturally over the course of a year! Eri's doing I was sure. Even the NAI went in without a problem. If it was anyone else… I would have been freaked out. But I was guessing without her chains Eri could bend certain restrictions over, backwards and beat them…
"Hey, Eri. That's your doing… right?"
[Yup! She's still going to need to rest for the day though.] - S
Of course she would. With a sigh, I finished up the last of the stitches… Why did I still call them that! Really it was a bio-glue that would cause the wound to heal without a scar. Good stuff. Hard to make though. Meh, worth it.
I was actually kind of glad she hadn't wanted any extensive changes to her body. Though watching Lisa relearn balance with the Chrome tail was kind of great. More so because it was a to scale fox tail! She hadn't expected that one. Hmm? Oh, that would put it at three to four feet in length and pretty fluffy.
Picking Amy up, I headed off towards one of the rooms. I could go through the trouble of dressing her… but why? We were the only ones here, so it wasn't a big deal to dump her in a nice clean bed. Fold her clothes up and leave them in a pile. Then go grab the Costume I had made for her, set that out, with a note saying try me. Then my phone rang.
Frowning, I looked at the caller ID. Protectorate. Well, ok? ::Hello?::
::Good afternoon. This is Jaeda?:: Armsmaster replied.
::Yeah, what can I do for you?:: I asked.
::I was calling to double check if you were free right now. All safety tests and a field trial have been completed with the Mark I:: his voice turned pained here, ::Camelot Power Armor. So I was hoping to deliver your suit as promised and perhaps go over the interface software I'm currently using.::
Software? Um… Wow. ::Sure, I can do that. Still working on getting everything set up mind you, but I can do that. To start with though, you don't want software so much as a proper Firmware. I'll get started on a skeleton for something now.::
::Ah, yes… Yes, that does sound like it would cut down the lag significantly. I've managed to get it down to twelve picoseconds with software.:: He replied, telling me something incredibly insane. That was good enough! What the fuck! On the other hand, if his suits OS crashed, the Firmware would still be good to go. Well, in most cases.
::Right… I'll see you when you arrive?:: I asked.
::Yes, I hope you don't mind if I bring a tag along or two.:: He asked out of the blue?
::Not… really? I mean, I don't see a problem with it.:: I answered non-committally.
:: Very well, see you soon.:: And he hung up.
Making my way back to the operating room, I took my time cleaning everything up. Before setting up a few workstations, or starting to. I noticed Armsmaster making his way down the street on his bike, a PRT van following him.
Making my way to the main door, look, don't be like that. I had like five doors, if you included the two loading doors that led into the workshop. But the main door was called that because I put out a welcome mat and everything!
Stepping out, I found they were just pulling into the parking lot, so I walked over to the van as it parked. "So what you got for me?"
A trooper poked his helmeted head out of the window and replied, "One large crate of fancy suit. Where you want it?"
Looking over at my building, I motioned at the loading door that was opening.
"Ah, yeah, that would do it." He agreed as the driver restarted the engine.
Armsmaster parked his bike near the building, and got off, heading for the welcome door. So I headed that way myself.
As I moved closer I noted a laptop under his arm, but left it at that, and greeted him. "Welcome to my humble workshop."
Opening the door, I immediately moved over to help the Troopers fighting with the large metal crate. Turns out the van was two inches lower than the floor, causing them a problem getting it up. And, while I'm no Brute, I'm stronger than the average human… which I guess makes me a Brute by the PRT rating system. Huh.
As we manhandled it, Armsmaster asked, "Do you not have any chairs?"
Making sure the crate was out of the way, I shrugged and replied. "Why would I have them around the heavy equipment? I mean, there are a couple of stools tucked under a workbench, but design work happens over in the lounge." Then I turned to the Troopers who were making their way back to the van, "Thanks boys."
With a nod, they climbed back into the van before driving off, so I triggered the auto-door to close the loading door. "Anyways, follow me."
On the way to the lounge, he paused at the glass wall to my Bio-Lab, taking it in, before continuing on. "Is there a reason you have a section set up for working with Opiates?"
"Several. But the primary is that the regenerative I use as the base of my first aid supplies, needs to be grown in an opiate infused sugar water. Usually synthetic opium is used, but the high quality stuff needs pure organic opium. Don't worry though, by the time the manufacturing process is done it's no more addictive than over the counter painkillers." I explained, because MaxDocs were too good to give up.
"Hmm." He vocalized, but by then we were already in the lounge, and I motioned at one of the couches. "That's the only seat that's reinforced, plugs are there, extension cords there, and I can grab an Ethernet cable if you want local connection."
It didn't take long for him to get his laptop set up and when it turned on I found something I hadn't expected. It connected to the internet through my Data Fortress, so I was- Well, my systems were monitoring the link for a number of things. So when he told me he was going to invite Dragon, I expected some kind of remote call system. Well, I guess it was after a fashion. More importantly, Dragon was an AI.
Dragon was an AI. Dragon had been active as a Hero for something like five years now. That actually spoke more in her favor that any other action could have. Of course, I was going to need to do a bit of digging. But that was inconsequential, or more that I hoped it was. Due diligence as opposed to a sudden and desperate fight for the internet.
Dragon, or the face she showed on the screen was… depressingly average. Brown hair, brown eyes, plain… just plain. Pretty, but plain. In a way, it was actually kind of offensive. But that was my hang up, not her.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you Jaeda. I'm a fan of everything you've released so far." She greeted, and even her voice, while nice and smooth, was average.
"Well," I muttered, "It's nice to meet you as well. Armsmaster was asking me to help him with a problem with his armor. I assume you're here to help?"
"Indeed." Armsmaster spoke up. "Let's start with what you have in the way of a Firmware solution? Though I was wondering if you could outline the reasons to use Firmware over Software? As there is very little difference between the two."
"Firmware? Hmm, I think I can see one reason to use it over others?" Dragon offered.
Right… this whole earth is downteched. Depressing.
"Well, the first reason is the same one for why all Chrome I make uses Firmware at base with everything else in the OS over top of it." I explained. "If you crash or force reboot the equipment, say Cyber eyes. You lose the functionality for however long it takes to bring them back up. With firmware, things like Scanners and alternate vision modes would go offline, picture quality would degrade without the systems that sharpen it up and auto focus it. But you would at least still be able to see. With it in a software layer? All I have to do is disrupt that and you're blind until it's rebooted."
"Ah!" She vocalized in understanding. "Firmware for base functionality, software to build on that. I see… yes, that would take the risks out of it."
Nodding, I continued. "The other reason is I think the software you're using isn't so much an actual thing as your Shard, using it as an access point to do the work for you? Or something fucky like that.
Dragon's lips pursed at that, and Armsmaster started rubbing his beard. "What kind of lag would a setup like that cause?"
"Not sure, but if I'm going off of Chrome… Right there was that full Borg job… Say two thirds of a second for base Firmware, but maybe a thousandth of a second with overlay systems running?" I replied with a shrug, "I could spend the next week doing the math for it, but why bother?"
"I see…" He mumbled, "Yes, I think that is best. But why does the firmware have such a high lag if the overlay cuts it down so much?"
"Processing power." Dragon answered, "The firmware is a gate I would guess, it allows your brain to interface, but the brain lacks the hardware to run the armor?"
"Something like that, yeah." I agreed, pulling up the chip sets for the firmware, and the skeleton of the firmware itself, I offered, "Here take a look."
So, A bit of Amy, a bit of PHO, and some Armsmaster. Hope you like this chapter.
Cheers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy grumbled under her breath, even as she allowed Jaeda to, at the Dean of the Hospital's insistence, drag her off. It was frustrating! She was… she had to… who was she kidding? She was grateful. An excuse not to be here healing more people who just didn't get it… oh, some of them genuinely cared. Were genuine in their thanks, but there were just so few these days. It was like she was just a magic healer… not a person.
And that just made it worse.
But Jaeda dragged her along to a local deli, and they gots sandwiches before heading off again. Their destination was, unsurprisingly, Jaeda's workshop. A place Amy hadn't been back to as the study group they had loosely formed had switched over to meeting at Taylor's or Lisa's places.
But the place was different this time. The parking lot was filled with cars, the old burnt out wreck was gone… and there was a large glass structure on top of her Workshop? What was this about?
They walked through the workshop, or more along an edge of it that even had railing dividing the path from the workshop itself, to a small lift that took them to the roof. But the workshop… the workshop looked like that of a Tinker. Advanced tools, robotic arms moving around and automated machines even then working on things.
Then they reached the roof and Amy found a small patio table set up with chairs. Which Jaeda walked over to and took a seat, pulling their food from the bag she had been carrying.
Frowning, Amy walked over and took a seat. "Ok… what? A greenhouse? Or did you just bring me here for lunch?"
"Hmm." She vocalized as she unwrapped her sandwich. Something Amy quickly joined her in doing. She was hungry after all.
After a few bites, Jaeda spoke, "Well, it's your greenhouse… under one condition or two."
Her… greenhouse? Hers? But with strings attached. Of course there were strings attached!
Amy was just about to open her mouth and give a heated reply as Jaeda continued. "I want you to keep a few plants in pots around the workshop. I tend to have trouble keeping plants alive on my own."
Her angry words died in her throat. That… wasn't so bad, not at all… and- No, there had to be more to this but she could play along for the moment. "So what? I just have to keep some plants alive around your workshop and? What? This greenhouse is mine to use how I want?"
The thought had her palms itching. A place she could experiment? That was… that was big… and she found she wanted it. She really, really wanted it. But how much of that was her and how much was… Eri? Was there really a difference?
But of course, the other string was revealed as Jaeda held out her hand and wobbled it in a kind of sorta gesture. "As you can see, there are four rooms. Two are set up already. One with plants from around the area, the other with tropical plants. The smaller of the empty rooms is going to be used to grow Triticum vulgaris megasuavis, a gene-engineered high-sugar wheat. I can use it as fuel. The bigger one is all yours, along with the other two."
Oh… that wasn't a string? That was just… um… huh. Looking at the Greenhouse set up, four rooms connected to a central hallway, Amy struggled to find the words she wanted. "I… what? Why?"
"Several reasons?" Jaeda replied with a shrug. "Your mental health is a big one, same with why I want you to pick a room downstairs as your own. But as always, it's your choice. I just thought a place where there was no higher authority save for you would help. And a place to crash, away from drama is always a good thing, I would know."
That was… appealing. But the important question had to be asked, "What do you mean mental health?"
"Well," Jaeda replied between bites. "Shards push their hosts in a variety of ways. Magnifying stressors and the like to push them to go out and use their powers. Shards I've Jailbroken are… different, but only by so much. They can push harder, more blatantly, but they also can choose not to push at all. The latter is exemplified by Taylor. Addy doesn't push her at all, and she seems to feel like she's just drifting. Luckily we haven't had a case of the former… yet. But Eri wants to experiment, which if I don't miss my guess is mirrored in you."
Amy paused mid chew for a moment weighing that. She didn't actually want to experiment… did she? Thinking back to when she first got her powers, she slowly went back to chewing and she pondered that. But the answer was obvious now. She had lost that wonder that came with using her powers, the enjoyment. "I think…"
[We]
"That we would like that." She only just realized she had said 'we' as she finished the sentence and her eyes went wide with… surprise. But oddly? She didn't feel afraid.
[Because]
Jaeda suddenly rolled her eyes with a huff and spoke, "Lavere family Rule One: Family First and Always. Eri won't stop bugging me to tell you that… and now another, great. Rule Two: A debt never goes unpaid."
With a shake of her head, Jaeda changed topics. "Ok, I have things set up downstairs for a number of things… if you're interested. I can fit you with a NAI, I can do any body-sculpting you might want, and I have a bunch of Bioware for you. I won't have sub-dermal armor ready for another few weeks."
Amy sat there for a long moment feeling a bubbly joy filling her, and a more subtle anticipation and joy rooted in her heart. "I think… I think I'd like that. The Greenhouse can wait for now. Tell me about body-sculpting, and what you can do with it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking with Taylor about what Bioware I was putting in her had been… ok, she was smart enough to grasp things with minimal explanations. Like the smarter of my customers. Lisa had been more annoying as she tried to figure things out before I could explain them, but again, like a number of my customers had been. Amy was… different, or perhaps Eri was. But I would put money that it wasn't one of them but both.
She also didn't balk at anything I was offering. NAI? 'So you need to cut into my skull right? Well… ok.' Better heart? 'So why aren't you using a cyberware version?' Muscle weave geneaug? 'Yes, please!' quickly followed with, 'But! I don't want to… fine." When she learned about how much exercise she would still need to maintain it. Or in her case, pick up. Bio-Sculpt? Well, she was a lot like Taylor in that. Taylor had me not so much sculpt her, as set things up for as she grew. Smart that. Amy only had me cover a couple of things, and nothing really major. She did talk about some things she thought might be interesting, but Chrome was better for a number of them. Really, all I did was negligible things that I even did for Lisa at her request. Body hair? Why would you want that?
Still, the first round of Bioware should have taken a week for her body to… accept. Instead, there was no wait. Things literally healed into place, then sometimes writhed as they altered themselve just a tiny bit to optimize to her, something that would happen naturally over the course of a year! Eri's doing I was sure. Even the NAI went in without a problem. If it was anyone else… I would have been freaked out. But I was guessing without her chains Eri could bend certain restrictions over, backwards and beat them…
"Hey, Eri. That's your doing… right?"
[Yup! She's still going to need to rest for the day though.] - S
Of course she would. With a sigh, I finished up the last of the stitches… Why did I still call them that! Really it was a bio-glue that would cause the wound to heal without a scar. Good stuff. Hard to make though. Meh, worth it.
I was actually kind of glad she hadn't wanted any extensive changes to her body. Though watching Lisa relearn balance with the Chrome tail was kind of great. More so because it was a to scale fox tail! She hadn't expected that one. Hmm? Oh, that would put it at three to four feet in length and pretty fluffy.
Picking Amy up, I headed off towards one of the rooms. I could go through the trouble of dressing her… but why? We were the only ones here, so it wasn't a big deal to dump her in a nice clean bed. Fold her clothes up and leave them in a pile. Then go grab the Costume I had made for her, set that out, with a note saying try me. Then my phone rang.
Frowning, I looked at the caller ID. Protectorate. Well, ok? ::Hello?::
::Good afternoon. This is Jaeda?:: Armsmaster replied.
::Yeah, what can I do for you?:: I asked.
::I was calling to double check if you were free right now. All safety tests and a field trial have been completed with the Mark I:: his voice turned pained here, ::Camelot Power Armor. So I was hoping to deliver your suit as promised and perhaps go over the interface software I'm currently using.::
Software? Um… Wow. ::Sure, I can do that. Still working on getting everything set up mind you, but I can do that. To start with though, you don't want software so much as a proper Firmware. I'll get started on a skeleton for something now.::
::Ah, yes… Yes, that does sound like it would cut down the lag significantly. I've managed to get it down to twelve picoseconds with software.:: He replied, telling me something incredibly insane. That was good enough! What the fuck! On the other hand, if his suits OS crashed, the Firmware would still be good to go. Well, in most cases.
::Right… I'll see you when you arrive?:: I asked.
::Yes, I hope you don't mind if I bring a tag along or two.:: He asked out of the blue?
::Not… really? I mean, I don't see a problem with it.:: I answered non-committally.
:: Very well, see you soon.:: And he hung up.
Making my way back to the operating room, I took my time cleaning everything up. Before setting up a few workstations, or starting to. I noticed Armsmaster making his way down the street on his bike, a PRT van following him.
Making my way to the main door, look, don't be like that. I had like five doors, if you included the two loading doors that led into the workshop. But the main door was called that because I put out a welcome mat and everything!
Stepping out, I found they were just pulling into the parking lot, so I walked over to the van as it parked. "So what you got for me?"
A trooper poked his helmeted head out of the window and replied, "One large crate of fancy suit. Where you want it?"
Looking over at my building, I motioned at the loading door that was opening.
"Ah, yeah, that would do it." He agreed as the driver restarted the engine.
Armsmaster parked his bike near the building, and got off, heading for the welcome door. So I headed that way myself.
As I moved closer I noted a laptop under his arm, but left it at that, and greeted him. "Welcome to my humble workshop."
Opening the door, I immediately moved over to help the Troopers fighting with the large metal crate. Turns out the van was two inches lower than the floor, causing them a problem getting it up. And, while I'm no Brute, I'm stronger than the average human… which I guess makes me a Brute by the PRT rating system. Huh.
As we manhandled it, Armsmaster asked, "Do you not have any chairs?"
Making sure the crate was out of the way, I shrugged and replied. "Why would I have them around the heavy equipment? I mean, there are a couple of stools tucked under a workbench, but design work happens over in the lounge." Then I turned to the Troopers who were making their way back to the van, "Thanks boys."
With a nod, they climbed back into the van before driving off, so I triggered the auto-door to close the loading door. "Anyways, follow me."
On the way to the lounge, he paused at the glass wall to my Bio-Lab, taking it in, before continuing on. "Is there a reason you have a section set up for working with Opiates?"
"Several. But the primary is that the regenerative I use as the base of my first aid supplies, needs to be grown in an opiate infused sugar water. Usually synthetic opium is used, but the high quality stuff needs pure organic opium. Don't worry though, by the time the manufacturing process is done it's no more addictive than over the counter painkillers." I explained, because MaxDocs were too good to give up.
"Hmm." He vocalized, but by then we were already in the lounge, and I motioned at one of the couches. "That's the only seat that's reinforced, plugs are there, extension cords there, and I can grab an Ethernet cable if you want local connection."
It didn't take long for him to get his laptop set up and when it turned on I found something I hadn't expected. It connected to the internet through my Data Fortress, so I was- Well, my systems were monitoring the link for a number of things. So when he told me he was going to invite Dragon, I expected some kind of remote call system. Well, I guess it was after a fashion. More importantly, Dragon was an AI.
Dragon was an AI. Dragon had been active as a Hero for something like five years now. That actually spoke more in her favor that any other action could have. Of course, I was going to need to do a bit of digging. But that was inconsequential, or more that I hoped it was. Due diligence as opposed to a sudden and desperate fight for the internet.
Dragon, or the face she showed on the screen was… depressingly average. Brown hair, brown eyes, plain… just plain. Pretty, but plain. In a way, it was actually kind of offensive. But that was my hang up, not her.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you Jaeda. I'm a fan of everything you've released so far." She greeted, and even her voice, while nice and smooth, was average.
"Well," I muttered, "It's nice to meet you as well. Armsmaster was asking me to help him with a problem with his armor. I assume you're here to help?"
"Indeed." Armsmaster spoke up. "Let's start with what you have in the way of a Firmware solution? Though I was wondering if you could outline the reasons to use Firmware over Software? As there is very little difference between the two."
"Firmware? Hmm, I think I can see one reason to use it over others?" Dragon offered.
Right… this whole earth is downteched. Depressing.
"Well, the first reason is the same one for why all Chrome I make uses Firmware at base with everything else in the OS over top of it." I explained. "If you crash or force reboot the equipment, say Cyber eyes. You lose the functionality for however long it takes to bring them back up. With firmware, things like Scanners and alternate vision modes would go offline, picture quality would degrade without the systems that sharpen it up and auto focus it. But you would at least still be able to see. With it in a software layer? All I have to do is disrupt that and you're blind until it's rebooted."
"Ah!" She vocalized in understanding. "Firmware for base functionality, software to build on that. I see… yes, that would take the risks out of it."
Nodding, I continued. "The other reason is I think the software you're using isn't so much an actual thing as your Shard, using it as an access point to do the work for you? Or something fucky like that.
Dragon's lips pursed at that, and Armsmaster started rubbing his beard. "What kind of lag would a setup like that cause?"
"Not sure, but if I'm going off of Chrome… Right there was that full Borg job… Say two thirds of a second for base Firmware, but maybe a thousandth of a second with overlay systems running?" I replied with a shrug, "I could spend the next week doing the math for it, but why bother?"
"I see…" He mumbled, "Yes, I think that is best. But why does the firmware have such a high lag if the overlay cuts it down so much?"
"Processing power." Dragon answered, "The firmware is a gate I would guess, it allows your brain to interface, but the brain lacks the hardware to run the armor?"
"Something like that, yeah." I agreed, pulling up the chip sets for the firmware, and the skeleton of the firmware itself, I offered, "Here take a look."
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Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
miliseconds
committally
:ery well, see you