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Goddamn Teenagers (Worm, AU/time travel)

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Furball Intervention
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    • Carol set down the emergency monitor. Victoria had gone to the Lindt farm which, while not ideal, was a damn sight better than what she'd feared. She took another sip of wine, while staring blankly at the time entries she was supposed to be reviewing for work.

    How had it come to this. Carol agreed with her daughter, agreed that villains in general and the Empire in particular were given too much leeway, abused the 'unwritten rules' while ignoring them without meaningful consequence. She knew that, they knew that, better than anyone.

    But she couldn't lose Victoria too. Not after Fleur, not after almost losing Amy to her own idiocy and now having to deal with her father in the wings, ready to swoop in and take her if Amy so much as hinted.

    "Mreow?"

    Carol turned at the interruption, to see Victoria's cat poking its nose into the room.

    "Mew!"

    The cat disappeared, replaced by Mark's face, peeking around the doorframe. "Honey, why are you sitting here like this?"
    Note: Happy humans give more pets.
     
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    • dc2008 said:
    emergency monitor
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    Unfortunately, this is a rather opaque term. In what sort of way is the emergency monitored? What sort of emergency? Some sort of qualifier to make this clearer might be useful?

    ---

    Carol being thoughtful is good. We know she's not stupid, but actually using that intellect to think about her own, her family, problem, rather than her canon 'blind' reaction..
     
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    CanIChangeMyName said:
    Do they perchance work in the energy sector offering a clean smoke free source of energy? (Totally not powered by human experimentation)
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    For a whole there, they had a solid despair generation machine going. However, following recent events their more predatory practices are transitioning away from soul-crushingly brutal to merely extortionate.

    Ace Dreamer said:
    Unfortunately, this is a rather opaque term. In what sort of way is the emergency monitored? What sort of emergency? Some sort of qualifier to make this clearer might be useful?
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    Yeah this didn't come through as clearly as I would have preferred. Carol has done way of monitoring Vicky's movements, that's what she is looking at.
     
    Healthy Hobbies, Part 2
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    • "Huh," Dr. Weaver replied. "I did not expect that."

    A part of Emily wanted to feel some satisfaction at taking the other woman off-guard, but she couldn't muster the energy.

    "Should we be concerned?" Emily asked.

    "I doubt Alec would do anything malicious. Still, might be worth checking with Jessica, ah, Dr. Yamada. You'll likely want someone reviewing the footage anyway, if only to figure out what ideas he is giving the Custodian. I suppose there are far worse things that could happen than the Cauldron utility team developing a juvenile sense of humor and an appreciation of videogames."

    Elsewhere

    Missy stopped short upon entering the testing area. She'd hoped to sneak in and try out some new power ideas, as among the Armsmaster-approved 'safe' areas it had the lowest possibility of nervous nellies.

    She had not expected to find Impulse's sister wandering around talking to a cloud of floating marshmallows, as Weld and Impulse supervised.

    "What is she doing?" Missy asked, sidling up to Weld.

    "Cherish is working with our guest, a Case 53 who is still picking a name. In an unanticipated power interaction, Cherish is uniquely well-suited to helping our guest figure out how her nervous system works."

    "She's a poltergeist," Impulse corrected, "and her name is Cassandra the Friendly Cloak."

    Missy snorted.

    "No, and no," Weld said wearily. "You can see why I'm here."
    Note:
    Alec: But your names are boring!
    Vista: Wait are those my marshmallows!
     
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    • dc2008 said:
    Yeah this didn't come through as clearly as I would have preferred. Carol has some way of monitoring Vicky's movements, that's what she is looking at.
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    That makes sense. Maybe add a passing reference to it being a precaution they'd all taken since Fleur?

    I think the reason it gave me a mental glitch was I couldn't, easily, see a way of making it work, reliably, possibly even using Tinker-tech (unless, 'don't think, it just works'). Issues with if any member of New Wave wants to 'go silent', to be covert, make 'active' stuff tricky.

    Of course, some might say, Carol just needs to listen to local radio to hear if there's a (new) Collateral Barbie incident. :)

    dc2008 said:
    We need a lizard emoji!
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    There is one. It's just your eyes keep skipping over it. :)
     
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    BethofDeath said:
    Alec is based. Never thought I'd say that before this fic.
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    Fisherman said:
    At least he's not basic. It would be almost as bad as being acidic.
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    Ace Dreamer said:
    Chemistry, the sub-culture that dissolves all others? :)
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    Sometimes, I experience a chain of "of course SV beat me to the punch," as in what I'd reply was already said, and what I'd reply to the reply, etc.
    ... and it makes me feel incredibly seen and warm and gooey, so thanks you all for being so adorkable. ❤️

    Ace Dreamer said:
    Does 'information theory' fit somewhere in that? Also, sociology is applied psychology is applied biology... And 'ecology' goes somewhere in there...
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    If we mean "information theory" as established by Hartley, Nyquist, Shannon and so on (reasoning about "quantities of information" as the entropy of random processes) I'd probably classify it as an offshoot of probability theory / statistics.

    If we mean "theoretical computer science" in general, I'd put almost-all of it under "discrete mathematics," though it's pretty densely interconnected with the rest of mathematics: as a random example off the top of my head, we have direct connections between the theory of fault-tolerant distributed systems and... algebraic topology.

    Ace Dreamer said:
    Also, sociology is applied psychology is applied biology... And 'ecology' goes somewhere in there...
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    Yeah, it's very much not a linear chain but some directed acyclic(?) graph.

    Ace Dreamer said:
    Mathematics and philosophy are weird... The first is a tool, the second is... weird. :)
    (*cough* natural philosophy *cough*)
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    Oh gosh, don't even get me started about that. Mathematics are "made up," they are social constructs rather than intrinsic properties of reality... like any other language. Thinking about modern mathematics as a constructed language is interesting though:

    they are constructed around an extremely minimalist core (the deductive system and axioms in use, like ZF set theory) and everything else is (supposed to be) described exactly and unambiguously in previously-defined terms of the language
    ... so we can see the formalization of mathematics as a process which builds intersubjectivity: in this context, consensus about the definition of mathematical concepts and what they mean, shared assumptions, etc.

    Mechanized mathematics takes it further, constructing external oracles which determine whether a given statement is valid; in practice, the oracles are computer programs that check the validity of a given proof, which itself must be expressed in a machine-readable formal language, rather than natural-language refering to mathematical concepts.

    SpeedDaemon said:
    With sufficient domain knowledge (corporate jargon for "I knows dis sh*t" :p), it may actually be intuitive. The problem is getting that knowledge, and (well-written) manuals are a great way to do so...it's somewhat horrifying that the art of writing good manuals is now becoming lost, and, worse, is considered unnecessary.
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    Absolutely. I'm one of those weird people who enjoys technical writing (both writing it, and reading good examplars thereof) and I despair at the state of technical documentation, at least in "my" field.
    I have the impression it's actively furthering "magical thinking" where a large amount of pretty fundational technology is treated as some sort of unknowable black box that requires paying someone else to run as a service, or hiring some near-mythical "wizard" to do in-house.

    SpeedDaemon said:
    Sadly, so many products these days are compromised not by bad engineering, but by bad management decisions, usually in service of either saving money on manufacture (and/or certification, testing, etc.) or making more money on replacement parts. Those goals tend to encourage and reward bad engineering...
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    I honestly don't believe that's a core cause, though it absolutely does not help in the case of end-user documentation, as it's becoming increasingly rare for find good internal reference documentation... and not having good documentation is incredibly expensive:
    • people need to ask others for information very frequently, either immediately interupting someone more knowledgeable, or being blocked (on this specific thing) until the other becomes available to answer ; either way, productivity is significantly degraded.
    • new hires (and internal transfers) need much longer to be socialized into a project, meaning they are a lot less productive longer ;
    • whenever someone leaves, especially more-senior staff, some "tribal knowledge" is lost with no record of even what was lost.
    Arguably, the same is true of "end-user" documentation, the only difference being that the cost is externalised on users... which often lack the long-term perspective which would make them prefer to buy from someone else (if there's anyone providing good documentation)

    SpeedDaemon said:
    Anyone who doesn't like to flail around to learn things (and didn't learn how to use a smartphone before they grew out of that) hates the smartphone UI, because there's never any documentation, and, no, it is not intuitive. Worse, how do you SFTW for <insert some UI widget here>? (I can get an answer about 75% of the time because I've tried to keep up with UI design, etc., but that's not exactly a common skillset/knowledge base.)
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    One thing which frustrates me to no end is, we could make it sensible and have metadata tying individual icons/buttons and widgets to their documentation, and provide a way for users to get the documentation of any on-screen UI element. We just... don't? 😬

    dc2008 said:
    Yeah this didn't come through as clearly as I would have preferred. Carol has done way of monitoring Vicky's movements, that's what she is looking at.
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    For what it's worth, it was pretty clear to me that was the intent, even though I also glitched on the specific phrasing.

    PS: sorry, that must have been NEIN NEIN off-topic, as in 99.9999999% offtopic ("nine nines") 😅
     
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    Happy Hebert Home
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    • Dr. Weaver turned the page of the photo album, and smiled warmly. "It's a side of mom I never really appreciated."

    Danny laughed, in a brittle tone. "She did have a temper, worse than mine, really. Didn't come out often though, she was slower to anger than I am but when she popped... She worked very hard to avoid letting it show around you."

    Upstairs

    "What do you think, Taylor?" Taylor (the teenager) said, vaguely in the direction of her bed. No audible sound emerged, but the response was clear nevertheless.

    "I thought so," Taylor (the human) replied, making a note. "Better move the Vulture Bees to a later stage. Unless... Maybe if I recolor them?"

    Another absence of audible response.

    "I suppose you're right, people really are so excitable."

    Two soft buzzing tones came from a desk drawer. "Hmm?" The teenager said, perking up. "Well, I guess it's time for your 'consulting fee'." She fussed about in the drawer for a moment, before retrieving a freeze-dried minnow. "Here you go!"

    The minnow was dutifully deposited next to the bed, before the human backed up a respectable distance. After she sat back down, single paw emerged, groped about a bit until it found the fish, and then withdrew, prize in paw.
    Note: Taylor III, the true unsung hero of Earth Bet.
     
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    • dc2008 said:
    but the respond was clear
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    'response'?

    dc2008 said:
    time for you 'consulting fee'.
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    'your'?

    ---

    So. Taylor thinks differently, depending on whether she considers herself to be a 'teenager' or a 'human'? And, instead of having a 'cardboard programmer' to explain things to, as she solves tricky problems, she has a silent, hidden, kitten?

    For a while I thought there was a second Taylor, possibly composed of bugs, in the room... And, there was a conversation between Taylors... Why? That wouldn't be the weirdest thing any Taylor has ever done...

    Of course, QA is 'in' the room, as well, but, typically, 'having conversations' isn't her strong suit...

     
    Communication Styles, Part 5
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    • "We have successfully removed the object," Armsmaster said.

    "Were they able to identify it?" Emily asked.

    "It is a remote medical monitoring device they used in treating Case 53s. They do not know how it works, but are intrigued at seeing any results we can get."

    "Excellent, please copy Tagg and the Chief Director's office on any official communication."

    "Dr. Yamada believes that the Custodian has developed a good rapport with Impulse. At her suggestion, they have exchanged contact information."

    Emily closed her eyes, and counted to five. This is my life now. Still better than before, but Christ. "How would that work? My understanding is that they were off-world?"

    "Apparently, longer-term Valkyrie's people are looking to set up some sort of cross dimensional communications network, along with the permanent portals that we were notified of. As an interim matter, they gave Impulse a number at the Consulate, that will forward somehow to the Custodian."

    "Of course they did." What lovely intelligence the Vasil boy was dropping in their laps. Maybe Tagg would even get him a commendation.

    "My understanding is that similar arrangements are being made for Panacea, coordinated through her security detail."

    "Thank you," Emily said, as she tried unsuccessfully to not think about what Marquis might get up to with such capabilities.
    Note: Alec and the power of friendship.
     
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    • Revelations
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    • "... Ok," Amy said slowly. "I'm done. See you in the morning."

    Carol blinked. She'd dreaded this moment for years and that... was not the reaction she expected. "You will always be our daughter, no matter what, remember that."

    Amy looked at her with haunted eyes. "Today I diagnosed and did post-op for a cat. That ate medical tinkertech from another dimension. That was the pet of a friendly ghost that was the victim of Cauldron experiments. Which cat was delivered by inter-dimensional portal, created by a friendly portal man who gave me a special phone to call a special number that was specially set up by the Fairy Queen, at her Embassy thing, specifically so that portal man and his friends can talk to people on Bet. Like me. And my neighbor. My neighbor who taught the ghost to play Counterstrike. Before he bullied Armsmaster into MacGyvering a thing to feed the ghost's text-to-talk machine, which the ghost needs because she is a ghost, into a gaming console's mic jack. So my neighbor could teach the ghost to smack-talk online. Also my sperm donor is a supervillain. I'm going to go to bed and hope this was all a dream."

    Carol watched Amy trudge up the stairs, with Vicky floating behind her fussing at her.

    She looked at her husband, who shrugged. "That went better than expected?"
    Note: Look, it's been a day, OK?
     
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