Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
And he's going to be joined by whoever promoted him, thanks to Turian views on subordinates.
Ghost in the Shell: Ascendance [ GitS / ME AU ]
- Thread starter Sevoris
- Start date
- Crossover
Sevoris
Nerd, Writer, Illustrator, Mad Scientist
- Location
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Yeah, the local Meritocracy of the area is heading for some turnovers.
And political turmoil, as well. Vectaris was one of these commanders who did his job, and did it well... but got just a bit too paranoid on the job and made the fault to step on the shoes of a Spectre who's idea of a sticking punishment is to make your life suck really hard. You can't entirely blame him for the way he did it.
And now you see one of these friction points inside turian society that keeps the water hot between them and transhumanity. The turians can really get struggling with doctrine and proper action at times. I hope I captured that well enough.
And political turmoil, as well. Vectaris was one of these commanders who did his job, and did it well... but got just a bit too paranoid on the job and made the fault to step on the shoes of a Spectre who's idea of a sticking punishment is to make your life suck really hard. You can't entirely blame him for the way he did it.
And now you see one of these friction points inside turian society that keeps the water hot between them and transhumanity. The turians can really get struggling with doctrine and proper action at times. I hope I captured that well enough.
Hmm, Turian equivalent of being transferred to Siberia?
Codex | Mass Effect Technology - Drive Metrics
Sevoris
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Mass Effect Technology
Drive Metrics
Modern Mass Effect drive technology is dependant on specific, complex field modulations of dark energy to achive their perfomance. While a basic frame bubble effect can be achived with a sufficiently high-powered mass-manipualting field, beyond 10 to 20 cee, normal field metrics become horrendously inefficient in their use of dark energy, and the effective FTL velocity gained for dark energy invested plummits. Combined with the increasingly expotential increase in raw dark energy demand for mass moved, simply using raw fields would be impossible. The answer, as with all modern eezonics, is the precise modulation and shaping of Mass effect fields via technology. In transhuman parlance, this is generaly refered to as "Drive Metrics".Drive Metrics
The foundation of drive metrics are complex theoretical field mathematics that describe the drive bubble, its interaction with space-time, and the modulation and shape of its compounding mass effect fields, at various velocities. As achievable FTL velocities have increased, so have the mathematics in complexity - modern theories consist of formulas where a single equation fills entire walls, not to mention the underlying theories that support these equations in turn. Each drive metric is created through heavy experiementation, computer simulation, and nowadays again the heavy use of AI agents. Personal augmentations to deal with superluminal physics are also extremely common, almost entire standard, for the scientific teams that work in drive metrics.
Pushing drive metrics technology is an obvious area of interest, but wrougt with many scientific challenges. At times, centuries of work have been invested on pushing a new generation of drive metrics from theoretical mathematics to practical drive systems. The massive advances in transhuman drive metric science, from the 1st generation developed during the Interplanetary war to the current 4th Gen Metric, were all heavily driven by reverse-engineering science and technology data out of the Mars Archives. Citadel nomenclatura recognizes recogizses 67 major leaps in Drive Metric science since the early days of the FTL drive, though by comparison many of them were less substantial than those made during the massive leaps of transhuman drive metric science.
Using modern drive metrics is as equally challenging as developing them. Modern metrics have "modes", sometimes also colloqually called "gears", which describe discrete and at time widly different field geometries required at various FTL speeds, often as a foundation for an even higher-velocity "top gear". These field geometries have to be switched between in a smooth manner; some of them require specialized projectors and field effectors entirely useless for the other modes, creating "dead mass" in the FTL drive assemby. Furthermore, field geometries require active maintenance - they have to be projected, their behavior and shape measured, and corrective field changes have to be computed and executed. Tightening and failure-proofing this response loop, especialy for military vehicles, is a significant challenge. Otherwise, battle damage or disruptive conditions can rip a vehicle apart. Translation speed - the speed at which a vehicle increases the maximum permissable FTL speed - is also dependant on the eezonic hardware and control software.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
Nice, not many people dare to touch the FTL of Mass Effect, especially not without some sort of internally consistent theory why doing it would work in the setting and why would it would work better with the rest of the tech introduced as part of the story, in this case GitS computing tech.
Story is on hiatus
Sevoris
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The last two weeks have been tough, due to IRL workload, in pushing Ascendance story forward.
Now a family member just had to be hospitalized due to some potentialy bad problems (I don't want to say more.)
I have no idea when I'm going to go back to writing Ascendance due to that personal concern atop of work, so I am calling the main story on indefinite hiatus. Maybe I will continue to post worldbuilding entries (potentialy in a separate thread) and I'm always open to answering questions or taking requests, but pushing the main story... I want that off my back for the moment.
Once again, a big thanks to all the people who have stuck around for 190,000 words of story and 230,000 words of overall material! You have helped push Ascendance forward for a year now, and for that I am thankfull!
Until then
- Sevoris
Now a family member just had to be hospitalized due to some potentialy bad problems (I don't want to say more.)
I have no idea when I'm going to go back to writing Ascendance due to that personal concern atop of work, so I am calling the main story on indefinite hiatus. Maybe I will continue to post worldbuilding entries (potentialy in a separate thread) and I'm always open to answering questions or taking requests, but pushing the main story... I want that off my back for the moment.
Once again, a big thanks to all the people who have stuck around for 190,000 words of story and 230,000 words of overall material! You have helped push Ascendance forward for a year now, and for that I am thankfull!
Until then
- Sevoris
Update on Hiatus
Sevoris
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Hi you all!
The Hiatus isn't over, but I can give a good update: My relative came out of brain surgery yesterday without complications and is recovering. One giant milestone has been passed.
I am hugely relieved about that. Feeling much better since yesterday.
The Hiatus isn't over, but I can give a good update: My relative came out of brain surgery yesterday without complications and is recovering. One giant milestone has been passed.
I am hugely relieved about that. Feeling much better since yesterday.
Codex | Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling
Sevoris
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Let's re-open this thread out of its Hiatus by introducing a piece of outright technobabble that is important for a couple of thinks.
Science
Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling
Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling is an effect that can be created via a mixture of particle spin-interacting electromagnetic fields, Mass Effect force vector metrics, and advanced quantum field physics. Shortened to APEC, this phenomena can be used to remotely sense and manipulate discrete subatomic particles such as electrons, protons and neutrons and upwards.
When demonstrated, APEC works by coupling a nexus and a locus through a field geometry called the "Selandretis bar", which synchs the properties of the nexus and locus to each other. The properties of the nexus are mirroed by the Locus and in return, a form of local quantum entanglement that is however dependant on the stable reach of the Seadretis bar to be maintained. Moving the locus out of range of the bar causes the coupling to collapse. However, while in reach the APEC can be used to sense the properties of the locus remotely be measuring those of the linked nexus, and manipulate the locus by applying force to the nexus.
The APEC phenomena was first documented in current galactic history by Alistesys Milena Salineres, in 1400 Before Christ (900 B.C.E.), while researching the scientific principles of the asari Auxillerous Nervous System and its role in the famous asari Melding ability. Salineres discovered that organelles inside the ANSs neurons could sense and manipulate ion charge differentials at a distance, but could not explain how exactly this effect propagated. Further research eventually disovered a phenomena that was not quite Mass Effect field manipulation and not quite electromagnetic effection of particle spin either, and instead a form of "forced quantum entanglement" between two particles. This effect eventually became known as the Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling, short APEC.
Modern (bio)technology can generate APEC fields with subatomic discrimination, targeting individual electrons, protons and neutrons. Most APEC fields are of lower "resolution" however, exchanging the larger coupling volume for enhanced range. This is because the APEC effect is apparently inverse proportional - the smaller the coupling volume, the shorter the range of the Selandretis bar before the field becomes instable. This is also refered to as the "throat" of the APEC effect.
The most well-known technological use of APEC is the modern Transducer "Wireless" Neuronal Interface, used for remotely sensing and manipulating nerves with extreme precision, ranging from dulling pain and cutting of or manipulating sensory and motoric nerve signals to synching an entire brain's neuronal space to an external computer system. While especially far more bulky than implanted DNI solutions, APEC Transducers have higher precision than early-generation electromagnetic transducers, higher signal quality and resolution, and present a non-invasive snap-use solution for linking in sophonts with neuronal applications. Other applications are in Asari-specific neuronal interfaces that provide an easy "Synch target" for their natural melding abilities, and a smiliarly massive field are sensors for instant compound analysis, pathogen classification, followed by APEC effectors that can be used for wireless atomic and subatomic manipulation. This makes APEC invaluable for modern picotech applications, creating atoms with custom properties.
APEC components can be produced in two ways, but all modern ones are based on a nexus created through electromagnetic-eezonic field interferences, commonly via single electrins and element zero particles trapped in special carbon cages and manipulated via further nanotechnological components sorounding these cages. These are either implemented as completely synthetic components, an approach that has to be used for atom- and subatomic-resolution APEC components or very large-scale APEC 'tronics, or via taking engineered and cloned Asari cells augmented with microcybernetics and nanotech components and then turned into gel-suspended "Wetware" components - the later approach is especially used in modern Transducers.
A/N: So yeah, this is my attempt at explaining how Asari do the melding Bullshit. Also, how you can use that for other nifty things like Transducers, atom-sensitive sensors, and some nano- and picotech.
Science
Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling
Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling is an effect that can be created via a mixture of particle spin-interacting electromagnetic fields, Mass Effect force vector metrics, and advanced quantum field physics. Shortened to APEC, this phenomena can be used to remotely sense and manipulate discrete subatomic particles such as electrons, protons and neutrons and upwards.
When demonstrated, APEC works by coupling a nexus and a locus through a field geometry called the "Selandretis bar", which synchs the properties of the nexus and locus to each other. The properties of the nexus are mirroed by the Locus and in return, a form of local quantum entanglement that is however dependant on the stable reach of the Seadretis bar to be maintained. Moving the locus out of range of the bar causes the coupling to collapse. However, while in reach the APEC can be used to sense the properties of the locus remotely be measuring those of the linked nexus, and manipulate the locus by applying force to the nexus.
The APEC phenomena was first documented in current galactic history by Alistesys Milena Salineres, in 1400 Before Christ (900 B.C.E.), while researching the scientific principles of the asari Auxillerous Nervous System and its role in the famous asari Melding ability. Salineres discovered that organelles inside the ANSs neurons could sense and manipulate ion charge differentials at a distance, but could not explain how exactly this effect propagated. Further research eventually disovered a phenomena that was not quite Mass Effect field manipulation and not quite electromagnetic effection of particle spin either, and instead a form of "forced quantum entanglement" between two particles. This effect eventually became known as the Asynchronous Particle Effection Coupling, short APEC.
Modern (bio)technology can generate APEC fields with subatomic discrimination, targeting individual electrons, protons and neutrons. Most APEC fields are of lower "resolution" however, exchanging the larger coupling volume for enhanced range. This is because the APEC effect is apparently inverse proportional - the smaller the coupling volume, the shorter the range of the Selandretis bar before the field becomes instable. This is also refered to as the "throat" of the APEC effect.
The most well-known technological use of APEC is the modern Transducer "Wireless" Neuronal Interface, used for remotely sensing and manipulating nerves with extreme precision, ranging from dulling pain and cutting of or manipulating sensory and motoric nerve signals to synching an entire brain's neuronal space to an external computer system. While especially far more bulky than implanted DNI solutions, APEC Transducers have higher precision than early-generation electromagnetic transducers, higher signal quality and resolution, and present a non-invasive snap-use solution for linking in sophonts with neuronal applications. Other applications are in Asari-specific neuronal interfaces that provide an easy "Synch target" for their natural melding abilities, and a smiliarly massive field are sensors for instant compound analysis, pathogen classification, followed by APEC effectors that can be used for wireless atomic and subatomic manipulation. This makes APEC invaluable for modern picotech applications, creating atoms with custom properties.
APEC components can be produced in two ways, but all modern ones are based on a nexus created through electromagnetic-eezonic field interferences, commonly via single electrins and element zero particles trapped in special carbon cages and manipulated via further nanotechnological components sorounding these cages. These are either implemented as completely synthetic components, an approach that has to be used for atom- and subatomic-resolution APEC components or very large-scale APEC 'tronics, or via taking engineered and cloned Asari cells augmented with microcybernetics and nanotech components and then turned into gel-suspended "Wetware" components - the later approach is especially used in modern Transducers.
A/N: So yeah, this is my attempt at explaining how Asari do the melding Bullshit. Also, how you can use that for other nifty things like Transducers, atom-sensitive sensors, and some nano- and picotech.
Chapter 11 "Borders" | Part 3
Sevoris
Nerd, Writer, Illustrator, Mad Scientist
- Location
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"What do you mean, he made him punch himself in the face? I thought that was the Major's big move!" Kat looked bug-eyed at the unseen replay of Batou punching himself in the face just underneath a lifted salarian leg.
"Not anymore it seems", Togusa remarked with a smile. "Though I've never seen the Major hardjack people in a leg lock before. She either breaches you wirelessly or does something with her hands."
"I guess that's why they made him a Spectre and not her", Mirai said loudly.
Kat rolled her eyes: "It's not that simple!"
"So how does it work?", Mirai shouted back mollified.
"Kids!" Saori put a hand on each one's shoulder. "Not now. We only have half an hour, so let's not squander that."
"But how does it work?"
"Basically? Spectres are really powerful. A few hours ago, Bau got us through a turian border check in 20 minutes flat. And he called somebody in turian High Command to make it happen."
"Like, in the movies? 'Get me the Prime Minister?` Oh wow, that's so cool!" Mirai was bouncing on the couch.
Togusa smiled. "Basically. Spectre authority is a very powerful tool, but it also means not everyone gets it. And transhumanity simply hasn't been trusted with that yet."
"Why is it we always have to prove we aren't a danger? It's unfair! I'm not hurting a soul but I'm a supposed possible menace, and Kharlir is trusted even though he's an idiot!"
Togusa sighed silently. [She had a bad encounter today?], he comm'ed Saori on a private channel.
[A few kids tried to bully her, yes. But I handled it.]
[How, my dear?]
[A turian parent wouldn't have it. We talked. Actually a pretty nice guy, believes in personal action first.]
With a mental nod, Togusa returned his attention to his little kid. "Mirai, people always have problems with that which they don't know."
"Yeah, but…"
He raised a hand. "We are both different, and alien, and we're new. It's been 35 years since First Contact. You are part of the second generation of transhumans who grow up on the Citadel. You're very new. The kids in your school… they don't come into contact with a lot of transhumans, just through our differing population sizes and cultural inertia. But, If they're afraid because we're "better"… well, let's be better than them. Let's not be spiteful and full of anger and rejection. Go open through life, and as you act friendly to your environment… so will the environment act friendly to you."
"Like you do now, working with a Spectre to show them we can be trusted?"
"Exactly like that." He nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright Daddy, I can do that!"
"Great!" He smiled at her brightly. "Sa, has there been…"
"No, not since we last had a chance to talk. Togusa, is everything alright?"
"I…" he cleared his throat. "You know this, but now it applies double-plus - this can't get outside of this call. Understood?" He glanced at the security read-outs, checking the encryption status. With his mental hand, he nudged the encryption level all the way up, waiting while the QEC backbone synched a new set of cryptographic keys between the Nagato and the SA servers on the Citadel.
They all nodded. "That goes for you especially, Mirai. I expect Tili to watch your tongue vigilantly."
"Yes Dad."
The ARvatar of her muse appeared on her shoulder. "I will pay attention, Mr. Togusa."
"Good." Togusa took a deep breath, and felt the "click" in the back of his mind that indicated neurotransmitter releases, leading the bubble of emotions beneath his surface.
"Saori, Kat, Mirai… I'm scared. They're still picking the code appart, but I've been with Section 9 long enough to know sophisticated work when I see it. This… this is too good for a plucky terrorist group."
"Dad… are you saying this might be-"
"I can't", he cut her off with a gesture. "But… there is a possibility."
"My… Dad." Kat looked scared. "That would mean… war, right? Like, a real war."
"If, if the politicians choose to go down that path…"
"Dad, it's not politicians who will decide this. If nothing else, we will have terrorist attacks. With starships. It's happened before. Remember what happened during the Outer Fringe War?"
"Kat…"
"If what you say is true… you realize you can't let them start a war, right? You know how this ends? They're running the documentaries on the Networks from time to time. Projections of possible wars, and they all agree it would be an absolute bloodbath. Dozens, hundreds of billions of people would die." Kat's voice began to break. "We would likely not have a chance to be reinstated for… ever?"
"Yeah Kat, I know. And that is why I am scared. I want you to be safe."
Saori spoke up: "And we will be, Christian, trust me on that. And we're with you every step of the way to ensuring that that war never happens."
Togusa listed to that silently, absorbing the confidence she radiated.
"...Thank you."
"That's what family is for, Christian. That's what we are for."
"Group hug?" Kat asked and stood up.
"Group hug", they all agreed.
The augmented reality space made it all so real. There was not just visuals and sound, but touch and warmth, a real sense of plasticity of the skin. He felt their warm breaths and knew they felt his, and even through he couldn't really lean on them, the illusions created by his neural implants made it more than enough physical support for this Ghosts liking.
And for that one moment, Togusa embraced the augmentality as his world, threw away the distance and the knowledge it was "just" telepresence, and just took in, and gave out, the love and support of his children and his wife.
"No matter what happens..." she said in the confines of their group embrace.
"We will always be there for each other", he promised.
Garrus was emerging from the attached bathroom of his private cabin when the wall terminal went off with an incoming call.
The turian's left hand twitched a pattern, and his omnitool opened the clock and communication widgets on his ARO implants. He'd synched several galactic times to his system: The Standard Citadel Time, the transhuman Standard Military Time that also was the ship time of the Nagato, and Palaven Global Time +5.
The later was now at 19:42. Evening time on the shores of Preantis.
Finally.
Garrus grabbed a quick tunic off his bed and clipped it over his shirt while he checked the screen. He noticed the rotating sigil on the screen and looked up, knowing something was listening and responsible for it: "You are routing this via turian priority networks?"
The disembodied voice of a female AI with a turian flange answered him: "There are several credentials linked with your profile. In turian space, invoking transmission privileges as a senior turian reservist is convenient for transmission resources."
"...Good thinking. Connect me please."
"Right away. Initiating Privacy mode." Garus noticed a tonal shift in a small ring-like entoptic element that had appeared on his communication window. It turned from green to a deep purple, and then faded out of his augmented view as the channel was closed.
Before him, the flatness of the holographic screen shrunk away into the distance to outline shapes, filling with color. The other end of the connection was a wide open living room, the broad windows of armaglass looking out over the evening-lit sea beyond.
A set of large couches and relytrea had been arranged in front of the camera, and Garrus knew he was looking out from the living room screen mounted over the traditional fireplace, though judging by the lack of flickering light on the thick carpets, it wasn't lit at the moment.
A single young turian was sitting in front of him. She looked to be in her late turian teens, shoulders broad and arms and legs lengthened by regular exertion. A series of small black nodules dotted her head, and her eyes had a strange luminous quality to it. The surface identifiers of cybernetic implants, of earned metal.
Her facepaint was nigh-identical to his - the two-segmented streaks on the nose, the lines under the eyes, the streaks across the mandibles. The only variation where two dots and thin lines above her eyes, further framing them with accents of grey.
The clothing was relaxed - a shirt and tight running trousers, accented with a tunic - but the rank insignia braces were proudly pinned to the shoulders, sleeves and breast. The two-bladed dagger, laser beam and four sharp-edged wings of the Palaven 23rd Legion, and the flaming six wings around the Deutan Tristeles of its 2nd Aerospace Assault Corps.
Garrus flared his mandibles in a smile: "Hey Sis."
"Hey Garrus, big brother", Solana Vakarian greated him back. Her face was passive. "What took you so long?"
"Spectre Operative, will travel", he jested. She laughed, but it was strained. Garrus pulled his mandibles and spurs in. "Everything alright? Where's the rest of the family?"
"They'll be with us later. Garrus… Grandma just had a stroke."
"WHEN?" He jumped off his chair, sending it spinning towards the bed. He stopped himself before his claws rammed into the holographic screen.
"5 minutes ago. The EMTs just rushed her off to the hospital." He heard the tears bubbling under the surface.
"Do they know what it is yet? Is it Corpalis Syndrome..."
Solana shook her head. "Aneurysm of some kind. They didn't want to say more. But, it's probably something augmentation-related, for her new neurogenotronics."
"Teylatron guide and protect."
"...I'm sorry Garrus."
"It's… it's okay, Solana. You dealing?"
"Not… not really. I feel like shit, but you've been off the grid all day and when you messaged me you'd have an hour while your spacecraft discharged, I got the family together. And then… then out of nowhere, while I was dressing, Grandma just falls over in the living room." She glanced over her shoulder, and Garrus leaned to the right, shifting his perspective to look past her.
There was a freshly cleaned spot on the carpeted floor, the fibres still wet with recent cleaning foam use.
"And you, Garrus?"
"...Okay, I guess?" He dropped back into his helpfully returning seat, and exhaled, biting back his own fears. Keep talking. Don't let the stress reaction set in.
A nonverbal message appeared on his ARO:
[Asiri (Local AI)]: You are showing signs of stress. Is everything alright?
[You]: ...No, but I do not require aid from your side.
[Asiri]: Acknowledged.
"Garrus?"
"Sorry, something on this end. And I've… been hard at work."
"Police work, or…?"
"Police work. Okay, and the raid on that transhuman Adriens."
"I've been following that one. It's been branded a case of corporate warfare. Rumors are Adriens stonewalled all further police investigations. That true, or did you doctor around?"
Garrus shrugged. "Not as far as I know. Not exactly surprised though. From what Togusa told me on the wayside-"
"The transhuman ex-detective?"
"Yeah, pretty nice guy. From what he told me, and I saw myself? Bekenstein's a massive collection of scumbags, and Adriens even more so. This transhuman, he had his augmented hands everywhere. Currency laundering, forged IDs, DIP cracking and Idip smuggling, military tech, the whole list of white and grey collar crime. No wonder he doesn't want the police sniffing around. Oh, and he smuggled Egos."
"Wait, he did what?" Solana looked aghast.
"Yeah, I learned that during the debriefing. That asshole somehow obtained copies of military minds, and then had them lobotomized and sold to customers in the Terminus. With runtime abo model and all."
"Spirit. I don't want to think about that…" Her gaze drifted off into the distance, and Garrus realized what he had just raised attention too. Oh shit.
"But besides the mansion… I actually was part of a few actual transhuman interrogations."
"Wait, you got to see an actual transhuman interrogation? What's it like? Do they like, take him apart like they show it in the vids?" She made grimace and tried to turn her voice into an imitation of a human one: "We don't have the time, just decompile him."
"No, Sis, far less dramatic in some ways." Garrus permitted himself a laugh. "The biggest difference was that we only had his stack, so it was a virtual interrogation. Or, "Simulspace" as they call it, considering our dear terrorist only exists as disembodied information at the time."
"Wait, how did you participate? Did you get yourself a DNI?"
"Just an old-fashioned Neural Transducer helmet. Though granted, it was one of those nifty new models that uses those bioprotein complex gizmos to work… anyway, they even have an interrogation room and all. And then it was basically like when they asked our turian captive - They asked him stuff, and scanned his neural activity at the same time, and used that to determine what he knew."
"Sounds so normal!"
"Is my little sis disappointed?"
"...Not really, thinking about it. Because if it was true… that would honestly be more horrifying. Just… ripping a copy of a mind apart to find information."
"Even under special circumstances?"
"I don't know Garrus. You are probably better qualified to consider that than your young Aerospace Mechanized Shock Infantry sister."
"You think?" She nodded, then had a hitch in her breath.
"...It's so good to talk to you now, brother."
"And to you. I… I wish I was there, right now. With you."
"...When are you going to be on the Net again?"
Garrus looked up. "You heard that?"
The female turian voice answered: "No. What do you wish to know?"
"The transit time to Kisaleves, STL Flight."
"19 hours, estimate."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome. Re-entering privacy mode."
He turned back to the image of his sister in the living room. She had leaned towards the screen: "Was that an AI?"
"Yes. The local one for my room, anyway. Or maybe the one the transhumans assigned to support me. I don't know, to be honest."
"What's it like, anyway? Being surrounded by all these AI…"
"You don't really notice it. Lights dim the same way, doors open and close as usual. If I had to be more precise, there's more… edge intelligence?"
"Edge intelligence?"
"It all reacts a little smoother, a little bit more predetermined. A bit more intelligent. And well… okay, you start to notice it during things like the interrogation. They have these humanoid robots… bioroids… no idea what they are under that outer shell, but they have restraint tentacle limbs and all, for controlling prisoners. Those are tack-smart."
"And I've worked with a couple analysis AIs now. Those are very good as well."
"How's their personality?"
"It's there, but… like, you know you are speaking with an intelligent being, but they are LAIs. Not AGIs."
"But there are some, right? Like, you are on a cruiser or something? I'm pretty sure those have at least a few AGI and one ASI."
"Yeah. There's Athena, and I know some of the crew are AGI. Our pilot during the operation was one too, I'm pretty sure."
"How is this… Athena?"
"...Approachable? So far all our interactions have been friendly, if… professional. She doesn't seem to be like some-" he stopped for a moment. "Some… AI who just chats with you casually."
Solana snorted amused. "Figures." She looked at her feet and back at him.
Garrus mulled over a response, arriving at a low: "Yeah".
They sat there, silently. Garrus glanced at the small clock ticking at the edge of the screen, showing how long the Nagato would remain slip-linked to the Extranet.
"...Spirits know I'm just… I don't know. We didn't have time to talk, so I wanted to talk too, but Grandma obviously also gets to you… I'm sorry Garrus."
"Solana?" She looked up. "Don't be. We both know the drills. We're keeping each other healthy right now. Now, let's talk until our time runs out, and if you learn anything or the rest of the family comes on, we'll talk about that. And then, once you know what is up with Grandma, contact me. I'll answer as soon as I can. Okay?"
"Right." She snapped up at his tone of voice, all First Claw Vasart.
They talked the entire rest of the time, and through the entire undocking routine. Unseen and ignored, groups of orange-painted service robots on the Nagato's hull detached the thick superconductor cables that had been used to discharge her static storage sinks and pushed them off towards the distant spire of the turian military discharge station, orbiting the nadir of a super-jovian gas giant, and the Nagato pushed off on white puffs of methane-oxygen RCS thrusters.
Only the beep that announced only 30 seconds remained before the Slipbeam telescopes shut down and cut them off from the civilian extranet ripped the two from their talk.
"Garrus… I love you. Whatever comes, whatever happens, whatever it will take… I love you. We love you."
"And so do I, Solana." Garrus breathed out. "So do I. Take care, and until I come back online… the best to Grandma."
[10 seconds.]
"Have a nice evening on Palaven."
"And a good flight to you." A turian claw reached out, and disconnected the call.
A moment later, the message popped up at the edge of the screen: [Civilian Extranet Access now Offline. Re-establishment in Buffer Access Mode in T-Minus 2 hours LVT.]
Garrus breathed out, and listened to the distant thrumm of the starships systems.
Then he turned away from the monitor, toggled off his personal devices, dropped on the bed and started crying.
It was also carthatic, to externalize some of the feelings of the last weeks.
Besides that... there will be changes in pacing, mostly, as well as style. This story has been hovering in a bit of a long limbo between major milestone scenes, so going forward that is getting compressed. The landing on Kisaleves, the next big location, should be no more than two parts away, in Part 5 of "Borders".
"Not anymore it seems", Togusa remarked with a smile. "Though I've never seen the Major hardjack people in a leg lock before. She either breaches you wirelessly or does something with her hands."
"I guess that's why they made him a Spectre and not her", Mirai said loudly.
Kat rolled her eyes: "It's not that simple!"
"So how does it work?", Mirai shouted back mollified.
"Kids!" Saori put a hand on each one's shoulder. "Not now. We only have half an hour, so let's not squander that."
"But how does it work?"
"Basically? Spectres are really powerful. A few hours ago, Bau got us through a turian border check in 20 minutes flat. And he called somebody in turian High Command to make it happen."
"Like, in the movies? 'Get me the Prime Minister?` Oh wow, that's so cool!" Mirai was bouncing on the couch.
Togusa smiled. "Basically. Spectre authority is a very powerful tool, but it also means not everyone gets it. And transhumanity simply hasn't been trusted with that yet."
"Why is it we always have to prove we aren't a danger? It's unfair! I'm not hurting a soul but I'm a supposed possible menace, and Kharlir is trusted even though he's an idiot!"
Togusa sighed silently. [She had a bad encounter today?], he comm'ed Saori on a private channel.
[A few kids tried to bully her, yes. But I handled it.]
[How, my dear?]
[A turian parent wouldn't have it. We talked. Actually a pretty nice guy, believes in personal action first.]
With a mental nod, Togusa returned his attention to his little kid. "Mirai, people always have problems with that which they don't know."
"Yeah, but…"
He raised a hand. "We are both different, and alien, and we're new. It's been 35 years since First Contact. You are part of the second generation of transhumans who grow up on the Citadel. You're very new. The kids in your school… they don't come into contact with a lot of transhumans, just through our differing population sizes and cultural inertia. But, If they're afraid because we're "better"… well, let's be better than them. Let's not be spiteful and full of anger and rejection. Go open through life, and as you act friendly to your environment… so will the environment act friendly to you."
"Like you do now, working with a Spectre to show them we can be trusted?"
"Exactly like that." He nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright Daddy, I can do that!"
"Great!" He smiled at her brightly. "Sa, has there been…"
"No, not since we last had a chance to talk. Togusa, is everything alright?"
"I…" he cleared his throat. "You know this, but now it applies double-plus - this can't get outside of this call. Understood?" He glanced at the security read-outs, checking the encryption status. With his mental hand, he nudged the encryption level all the way up, waiting while the QEC backbone synched a new set of cryptographic keys between the Nagato and the SA servers on the Citadel.
They all nodded. "That goes for you especially, Mirai. I expect Tili to watch your tongue vigilantly."
"Yes Dad."
The ARvatar of her muse appeared on her shoulder. "I will pay attention, Mr. Togusa."
"Good." Togusa took a deep breath, and felt the "click" in the back of his mind that indicated neurotransmitter releases, leading the bubble of emotions beneath his surface.
"Saori, Kat, Mirai… I'm scared. They're still picking the code appart, but I've been with Section 9 long enough to know sophisticated work when I see it. This… this is too good for a plucky terrorist group."
"Dad… are you saying this might be-"
"I can't", he cut her off with a gesture. "But… there is a possibility."
"My… Dad." Kat looked scared. "That would mean… war, right? Like, a real war."
"If, if the politicians choose to go down that path…"
"Dad, it's not politicians who will decide this. If nothing else, we will have terrorist attacks. With starships. It's happened before. Remember what happened during the Outer Fringe War?"
"Kat…"
"If what you say is true… you realize you can't let them start a war, right? You know how this ends? They're running the documentaries on the Networks from time to time. Projections of possible wars, and they all agree it would be an absolute bloodbath. Dozens, hundreds of billions of people would die." Kat's voice began to break. "We would likely not have a chance to be reinstated for… ever?"
"Yeah Kat, I know. And that is why I am scared. I want you to be safe."
Saori spoke up: "And we will be, Christian, trust me on that. And we're with you every step of the way to ensuring that that war never happens."
Togusa listed to that silently, absorbing the confidence she radiated.
"...Thank you."
"That's what family is for, Christian. That's what we are for."
"Group hug?" Kat asked and stood up.
"Group hug", they all agreed.
The augmented reality space made it all so real. There was not just visuals and sound, but touch and warmth, a real sense of plasticity of the skin. He felt their warm breaths and knew they felt his, and even through he couldn't really lean on them, the illusions created by his neural implants made it more than enough physical support for this Ghosts liking.
And for that one moment, Togusa embraced the augmentality as his world, threw away the distance and the knowledge it was "just" telepresence, and just took in, and gave out, the love and support of his children and his wife.
"No matter what happens..." she said in the confines of their group embrace.
"We will always be there for each other", he promised.
--- | 01010011 0101000001000001 01000011 01000101 | ---
Garrus was emerging from the attached bathroom of his private cabin when the wall terminal went off with an incoming call.
The turian's left hand twitched a pattern, and his omnitool opened the clock and communication widgets on his ARO implants. He'd synched several galactic times to his system: The Standard Citadel Time, the transhuman Standard Military Time that also was the ship time of the Nagato, and Palaven Global Time +5.
The later was now at 19:42. Evening time on the shores of Preantis.
Finally.
Garrus grabbed a quick tunic off his bed and clipped it over his shirt while he checked the screen. He noticed the rotating sigil on the screen and looked up, knowing something was listening and responsible for it: "You are routing this via turian priority networks?"
The disembodied voice of a female AI with a turian flange answered him: "There are several credentials linked with your profile. In turian space, invoking transmission privileges as a senior turian reservist is convenient for transmission resources."
"...Good thinking. Connect me please."
"Right away. Initiating Privacy mode." Garus noticed a tonal shift in a small ring-like entoptic element that had appeared on his communication window. It turned from green to a deep purple, and then faded out of his augmented view as the channel was closed.
Before him, the flatness of the holographic screen shrunk away into the distance to outline shapes, filling with color. The other end of the connection was a wide open living room, the broad windows of armaglass looking out over the evening-lit sea beyond.
A set of large couches and relytrea had been arranged in front of the camera, and Garrus knew he was looking out from the living room screen mounted over the traditional fireplace, though judging by the lack of flickering light on the thick carpets, it wasn't lit at the moment.
A single young turian was sitting in front of him. She looked to be in her late turian teens, shoulders broad and arms and legs lengthened by regular exertion. A series of small black nodules dotted her head, and her eyes had a strange luminous quality to it. The surface identifiers of cybernetic implants, of earned metal.
Her facepaint was nigh-identical to his - the two-segmented streaks on the nose, the lines under the eyes, the streaks across the mandibles. The only variation where two dots and thin lines above her eyes, further framing them with accents of grey.
The clothing was relaxed - a shirt and tight running trousers, accented with a tunic - but the rank insignia braces were proudly pinned to the shoulders, sleeves and breast. The two-bladed dagger, laser beam and four sharp-edged wings of the Palaven 23rd Legion, and the flaming six wings around the Deutan Tristeles of its 2nd Aerospace Assault Corps.
Garrus flared his mandibles in a smile: "Hey Sis."
"Hey Garrus, big brother", Solana Vakarian greated him back. Her face was passive. "What took you so long?"
"Spectre Operative, will travel", he jested. She laughed, but it was strained. Garrus pulled his mandibles and spurs in. "Everything alright? Where's the rest of the family?"
"They'll be with us later. Garrus… Grandma just had a stroke."
"WHEN?" He jumped off his chair, sending it spinning towards the bed. He stopped himself before his claws rammed into the holographic screen.
"5 minutes ago. The EMTs just rushed her off to the hospital." He heard the tears bubbling under the surface.
"Do they know what it is yet? Is it Corpalis Syndrome..."
Solana shook her head. "Aneurysm of some kind. They didn't want to say more. But, it's probably something augmentation-related, for her new neurogenotronics."
"Teylatron guide and protect."
"...I'm sorry Garrus."
"It's… it's okay, Solana. You dealing?"
"Not… not really. I feel like shit, but you've been off the grid all day and when you messaged me you'd have an hour while your spacecraft discharged, I got the family together. And then… then out of nowhere, while I was dressing, Grandma just falls over in the living room." She glanced over her shoulder, and Garrus leaned to the right, shifting his perspective to look past her.
There was a freshly cleaned spot on the carpeted floor, the fibres still wet with recent cleaning foam use.
"And you, Garrus?"
"...Okay, I guess?" He dropped back into his helpfully returning seat, and exhaled, biting back his own fears. Keep talking. Don't let the stress reaction set in.
A nonverbal message appeared on his ARO:
[Asiri (Local AI)]: You are showing signs of stress. Is everything alright?
[You]: ...No, but I do not require aid from your side.
[Asiri]: Acknowledged.
"Garrus?"
"Sorry, something on this end. And I've… been hard at work."
"Police work, or…?"
"Police work. Okay, and the raid on that transhuman Adriens."
"I've been following that one. It's been branded a case of corporate warfare. Rumors are Adriens stonewalled all further police investigations. That true, or did you doctor around?"
Garrus shrugged. "Not as far as I know. Not exactly surprised though. From what Togusa told me on the wayside-"
"The transhuman ex-detective?"
"Yeah, pretty nice guy. From what he told me, and I saw myself? Bekenstein's a massive collection of scumbags, and Adriens even more so. This transhuman, he had his augmented hands everywhere. Currency laundering, forged IDs, DIP cracking and Idip smuggling, military tech, the whole list of white and grey collar crime. No wonder he doesn't want the police sniffing around. Oh, and he smuggled Egos."
"Wait, he did what?" Solana looked aghast.
"Yeah, I learned that during the debriefing. That asshole somehow obtained copies of military minds, and then had them lobotomized and sold to customers in the Terminus. With runtime abo model and all."
"Spirit. I don't want to think about that…" Her gaze drifted off into the distance, and Garrus realized what he had just raised attention too. Oh shit.
"But besides the mansion… I actually was part of a few actual transhuman interrogations."
"Wait, you got to see an actual transhuman interrogation? What's it like? Do they like, take him apart like they show it in the vids?" She made grimace and tried to turn her voice into an imitation of a human one: "We don't have the time, just decompile him."
"No, Sis, far less dramatic in some ways." Garrus permitted himself a laugh. "The biggest difference was that we only had his stack, so it was a virtual interrogation. Or, "Simulspace" as they call it, considering our dear terrorist only exists as disembodied information at the time."
"Wait, how did you participate? Did you get yourself a DNI?"
"Just an old-fashioned Neural Transducer helmet. Though granted, it was one of those nifty new models that uses those bioprotein complex gizmos to work… anyway, they even have an interrogation room and all. And then it was basically like when they asked our turian captive - They asked him stuff, and scanned his neural activity at the same time, and used that to determine what he knew."
"Sounds so normal!"
"Is my little sis disappointed?"
"...Not really, thinking about it. Because if it was true… that would honestly be more horrifying. Just… ripping a copy of a mind apart to find information."
"Even under special circumstances?"
"I don't know Garrus. You are probably better qualified to consider that than your young Aerospace Mechanized Shock Infantry sister."
"You think?" She nodded, then had a hitch in her breath.
"...It's so good to talk to you now, brother."
"And to you. I… I wish I was there, right now. With you."
"...When are you going to be on the Net again?"
Garrus looked up. "You heard that?"
The female turian voice answered: "No. What do you wish to know?"
"The transit time to Kisaleves, STL Flight."
"19 hours, estimate."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome. Re-entering privacy mode."
He turned back to the image of his sister in the living room. She had leaned towards the screen: "Was that an AI?"
"Yes. The local one for my room, anyway. Or maybe the one the transhumans assigned to support me. I don't know, to be honest."
"What's it like, anyway? Being surrounded by all these AI…"
"You don't really notice it. Lights dim the same way, doors open and close as usual. If I had to be more precise, there's more… edge intelligence?"
"Edge intelligence?"
"It all reacts a little smoother, a little bit more predetermined. A bit more intelligent. And well… okay, you start to notice it during things like the interrogation. They have these humanoid robots… bioroids… no idea what they are under that outer shell, but they have restraint tentacle limbs and all, for controlling prisoners. Those are tack-smart."
"And I've worked with a couple analysis AIs now. Those are very good as well."
"How's their personality?"
"It's there, but… like, you know you are speaking with an intelligent being, but they are LAIs. Not AGIs."
"But there are some, right? Like, you are on a cruiser or something? I'm pretty sure those have at least a few AGI and one ASI."
"Yeah. There's Athena, and I know some of the crew are AGI. Our pilot during the operation was one too, I'm pretty sure."
"How is this… Athena?"
"...Approachable? So far all our interactions have been friendly, if… professional. She doesn't seem to be like some-" he stopped for a moment. "Some… AI who just chats with you casually."
Solana snorted amused. "Figures." She looked at her feet and back at him.
Garrus mulled over a response, arriving at a low: "Yeah".
They sat there, silently. Garrus glanced at the small clock ticking at the edge of the screen, showing how long the Nagato would remain slip-linked to the Extranet.
"...Spirits know I'm just… I don't know. We didn't have time to talk, so I wanted to talk too, but Grandma obviously also gets to you… I'm sorry Garrus."
"Solana?" She looked up. "Don't be. We both know the drills. We're keeping each other healthy right now. Now, let's talk until our time runs out, and if you learn anything or the rest of the family comes on, we'll talk about that. And then, once you know what is up with Grandma, contact me. I'll answer as soon as I can. Okay?"
"Right." She snapped up at his tone of voice, all First Claw Vasart.
They talked the entire rest of the time, and through the entire undocking routine. Unseen and ignored, groups of orange-painted service robots on the Nagato's hull detached the thick superconductor cables that had been used to discharge her static storage sinks and pushed them off towards the distant spire of the turian military discharge station, orbiting the nadir of a super-jovian gas giant, and the Nagato pushed off on white puffs of methane-oxygen RCS thrusters.
Only the beep that announced only 30 seconds remained before the Slipbeam telescopes shut down and cut them off from the civilian extranet ripped the two from their talk.
"Garrus… I love you. Whatever comes, whatever happens, whatever it will take… I love you. We love you."
"And so do I, Solana." Garrus breathed out. "So do I. Take care, and until I come back online… the best to Grandma."
[10 seconds.]
"Have a nice evening on Palaven."
"And a good flight to you." A turian claw reached out, and disconnected the call.
A moment later, the message popped up at the edge of the screen: [Civilian Extranet Access now Offline. Re-establishment in Buffer Access Mode in T-Minus 2 hours LVT.]
Garrus breathed out, and listened to the distant thrumm of the starships systems.
Then he turned away from the monitor, toggled off his personal devices, dropped on the bed and started crying.
--- | 01010011 0101000001000001 01000011 01000101 | ---
A/N: The scene with Garrus and Solana channels indeed some of the things I've gone through over the past weeks, though the exact diseases and event types obviously don't match. The dialog needed some work and more live to it, in the end I landed at this.
It was also carthatic, to externalize some of the feelings of the last weeks.
Besides that... there will be changes in pacing, mostly, as well as style. This story has been hovering in a bit of a long limbo between major milestone scenes, so going forward that is getting compressed. The landing on Kisaleves, the next big location, should be no more than two parts away, in Part 5 of "Borders".
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
You know, considering the nature and seriousness of the case I was expecting the Spectre/Sector 9 team to go black and been kept from contacting family, much less being allowed to tell them some details like the fact that they participated in the Berestein attack.
Sevoris
Nerd, Writer, Illustrator, Mad Scientist
- Location
- Server Stack 65412B
So... I'm still having issues re-engaging with Ascendance. I love the universe, but progressively I have issues re-engaging with the story, and it's not just do to continous IRL efforts to salvage what is left of the summer semester after the illness case.
I think the problem really started around the Bekenstein arc. The pacing broke down, the story worked itself forward update by update and I lost focus on the overarching plot and pacing.
And now I can't help but feel I am building on some rotten foundations. A part of me wants to push past and forward, but another is asking myself if that's really the way forward, the way to recover quality in this story and keep you readers engaged as well as getting old ones back onboard and new ones in.
I've learned a lot, I've gotten feedback. Maybe a rewrite is seriously for the best, fixing issues from the start and latest part of this story and achiving a coherent greater throughout.
It's only considerations right now. But I do want to ask you what you think.
I love Ascendance and its universe. Writing 8K for Verge Wars out of a writing block-breaking whim in two days showed me that. But I've started to feel that Ascendance needs a bit of a do-over if its to continue well, and tell its whole story.
I've never made a big point out of asking for feedback at the end of an update, but I really need it now.
I think the problem really started around the Bekenstein arc. The pacing broke down, the story worked itself forward update by update and I lost focus on the overarching plot and pacing.
And now I can't help but feel I am building on some rotten foundations. A part of me wants to push past and forward, but another is asking myself if that's really the way forward, the way to recover quality in this story and keep you readers engaged as well as getting old ones back onboard and new ones in.
I've learned a lot, I've gotten feedback. Maybe a rewrite is seriously for the best, fixing issues from the start and latest part of this story and achiving a coherent greater throughout.
It's only considerations right now. But I do want to ask you what you think.
I love Ascendance and its universe. Writing 8K for Verge Wars out of a writing block-breaking whim in two days showed me that. But I've started to feel that Ascendance needs a bit of a do-over if its to continue well, and tell its whole story.
I've never made a big point out of asking for feedback at the end of an update, but I really need it now.
It's back - new and improved, in white and black
Sevoris
Nerd, Writer, Illustrator, Mad Scientist
- Location
- Server Stack 65412B
It's back - new and improved - in white and black
Ghost in the Shell Ascendance is now also re-launching on Sufficient Velocity as Ascendance: 2nd GIG. Still the same plot, but much improved in writing and delivery, and without the writing trap the original ended up in.
Ascendance: 2nd GIG
It's good to be back, here as well!
Ghost in the Shell Ascendance is now also re-launching on Sufficient Velocity as Ascendance: 2nd GIG. Still the same plot, but much improved in writing and delivery, and without the writing trap the original ended up in.
Ascendance: 2nd GIG
It's good to be back, here as well!