- Location
- Russia
"We are Blorg. You will be befriended. Your biological and technological friendliness will be added to our own. Resistance is impolite."
Perchance to Dream (Mass Effect / Commander)
- Thread starter Drich
- Start date
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Ahem.
Those are the CANADIAN BORG's lines.
Please try to remember that
*Borg Hockey Puck goes cruising by in the background, while Drich can only facepalm at the absurdity of the multiverse*
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Mgunh1
Not an AI, honest!
- Location
- Northern Luna Base, Module 5, Sublevel 15
Turians have the wings (where they mount extra weapons).
.jpg)
The Asari ships, for all that they look dumb, are actually surprisingly well designed. The engines are inside that hole, where they are protected by both shields and hull. The front hole also means they don't have to physically reverse their ships to slow down in FTL (which is a thing in ME lore, despite the fact that it was completely forgotten by ME2).
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4.9
Drich
Von Neumann Writing Machine
4.9
+++
The ships were intriguing. The angular one, the spiked one, the smooth one. All three were relatively small ships; six hundred, five hundred, and seven hundred meters, respectively. The variance of the design was uplifting; Javik had described a galaxy under a monolithic culture. This utter difference was good, hinting that there were different cultures with different viewpoints.
Many of them felt that the hole going through the center of the third ship was an odd choice, but the engineers had been quick to point out that it was, in fact, a Dark Matter funnel, providing an effective, if power-hungry and somewhat limited, method of propulsion.
There was an emotional cloud surrounding those ships. They felt anticipation, eagerness, excitement, awe, mixing alongside an appropriate amount of caution, and just a touch of fear.
There was no anger, no desire to attack. This was good, they decided. Marcus tells Javik the former. Javik's own cloud of annoyed resignment doesn't fade, but a notion of some other emotion peeks through.
Minutes pass. The new ships have sent radio messages, beginning a maneuver that takes them closer, though not directly towards, their and Javik's ships.
They retrieve the messages before they arrive. There are several different types, only a few actually understandable. Some are simple, repeating, and it doesn't take them very long to figure out that it describes basic mathematical concepts. The first steps towards gaining mutual understanding.
There are several that are more complex, and all but a few of them are completely incomprehensible.
Those ones are familiar, but distorted. Those transmissions follow Prothean encoding. The size of each varies; one is likely nothing but text, while another likely follows into a visual image, with a third seemingly containing audio content
Marcus relays this.
It is close, but not the same. It takes thirty seconds to properly reconstruct the simplest of the messages, to successfully translate the encoding. It is text, a data string. The message is a simple greeting.
It is also a butchering of Prathiik. The words, individually, make sense. The sentence, translated as is, is more along the lines of 'you Hello, welcome we you to stellar.'
Javik's teeth grind together when he sees it.
The next most complex one takes a minute, and the one after that two. Patterns begin to make themselves apparent. They pass the data through the network.
Psy-crystal had, long ago, proved to be an effective computronium. The combined mass of psy-crystal immediately available to them is far larger than it needs to be.
Brute force combines with careful skill easily. By the time that the alien's light echo reaches their ship, they're starting to get a handle on how the encoding is meant to be done. When the radio waves reach fifteen seconds later, they're mildly certain that, if they tried to communicate through radio, the aliens would be able to piece together at least ten percent of it.
First Contact would have been vastly more difficult if they, or the Protheans, were not what they were.
Javik's ship sends a message back, shortly. A moment later, theirs' follows.
Javik's, however, is singular, a message in proper Prathiik, which, considering their displayed mastery of the language, was probably going to be just this side of incomprehensible.
Their own transmissions are more varied. They send one greeting in Prathiik, which is significantly simpler than Javik's own. They send another in their own language, which is what they suspect the aliens' variety includes.
Their others are more simple, holding in the same vein as the alien's own attempts to establish a baseline, a method of transmitting meaning. It is markedly, delightfully, out of date. The novelty of it is intriguing.
It won't, and can't, last forever. It will last until either Javik gets annoyed enough about the inefficiency of it to arrange a meeting and simply pull the language to get it over with, or until they successfully communicate that they have the ability to learn the language and can get the aliens to agree, or until the situation gets to the point that they can longer afford to extend the courtesy.
Until then...
They tug at their ship, pulling it away from where it was. The acceleration is gentle, and places it on a vector that takes it closer to the alien's own, but doesn't quite intercept it.
Six minutes is far too long for a communication delay.
+++
It had all started over half a day ago. Old probes, leftover from the Rachni Wars, had detected new signals. After nearly eighteen hundred years of inactivity, it was almost a surprise that the probes still functioned at all, especially when one considered the fact that most Salarian equipment wouldn't last even a tenth as long.
It had taken an hour before anybody realized that the probes were reporting. It had taken another before the situation had been investigated appropriately.
Ten minutes into the investigation, and the situation had been escalated directly to the attention of the great Dalatrasses, the highest points in the Salarian Union. Two and a half hours after that, the Turian Hierarchy and the Asari Republics were informed so that all three might plan a unified response.
A ship of unknown design, its size surpassing even the Destiny Ascension, had appeared in former Rachni territory.
Its mere existence strongly hinted at another large, alien polity, likely possessing advanced technology. The three largest governments of the Citadel Species, therefore, had quickly decided that it would be best to go ahead and investigate, with the possibility, and indeed, probability, of opening contact.
Three hours into the preparations, another ship had shown up, larger than a dreadnought, but still smaller than the first, and also clearly of another distinct design aesthetic, hinting at two separate polities.
Five hours later, here they were. Three ships full of some of the finest minds in Citadel Space, all of them with long experienced crews, and ready to make history.
It had been a bit too rushed, for her liking. A great deal many Matriarchs had wanted to wait, but...
Well, Salarians. Short lifespans made for little patience, and when they were a driving force, things would have to go quickly.
The initial phases had gone well, despite; they arrived on target, the transmissions were sent, and they started a course that would take them closer, but not directly towards the other ships.
Six minutes was how long it took for their light and signals to reach.
Four was how long it took the other's to reach back.
As the deck of her ship burst into noise, Matriarch Benezia smiled.
All going well, so far.
+++
The ships were intriguing. The angular one, the spiked one, the smooth one. All three were relatively small ships; six hundred, five hundred, and seven hundred meters, respectively. The variance of the design was uplifting; Javik had described a galaxy under a monolithic culture. This utter difference was good, hinting that there were different cultures with different viewpoints.
Many of them felt that the hole going through the center of the third ship was an odd choice, but the engineers had been quick to point out that it was, in fact, a Dark Matter funnel, providing an effective, if power-hungry and somewhat limited, method of propulsion.
There was an emotional cloud surrounding those ships. They felt anticipation, eagerness, excitement, awe, mixing alongside an appropriate amount of caution, and just a touch of fear.
There was no anger, no desire to attack. This was good, they decided. Marcus tells Javik the former. Javik's own cloud of annoyed resignment doesn't fade, but a notion of some other emotion peeks through.
Minutes pass. The new ships have sent radio messages, beginning a maneuver that takes them closer, though not directly towards, their and Javik's ships.
They retrieve the messages before they arrive. There are several different types, only a few actually understandable. Some are simple, repeating, and it doesn't take them very long to figure out that it describes basic mathematical concepts. The first steps towards gaining mutual understanding.
There are several that are more complex, and all but a few of them are completely incomprehensible.
Those ones are familiar, but distorted. Those transmissions follow Prothean encoding. The size of each varies; one is likely nothing but text, while another likely follows into a visual image, with a third seemingly containing audio content
Marcus relays this.
It is close, but not the same. It takes thirty seconds to properly reconstruct the simplest of the messages, to successfully translate the encoding. It is text, a data string. The message is a simple greeting.
It is also a butchering of Prathiik. The words, individually, make sense. The sentence, translated as is, is more along the lines of 'you Hello, welcome we you to stellar.'
Javik's teeth grind together when he sees it.
The next most complex one takes a minute, and the one after that two. Patterns begin to make themselves apparent. They pass the data through the network.
Psy-crystal had, long ago, proved to be an effective computronium. The combined mass of psy-crystal immediately available to them is far larger than it needs to be.
Brute force combines with careful skill easily. By the time that the alien's light echo reaches their ship, they're starting to get a handle on how the encoding is meant to be done. When the radio waves reach fifteen seconds later, they're mildly certain that, if they tried to communicate through radio, the aliens would be able to piece together at least ten percent of it.
First Contact would have been vastly more difficult if they, or the Protheans, were not what they were.
Javik's ship sends a message back, shortly. A moment later, theirs' follows.
Javik's, however, is singular, a message in proper Prathiik, which, considering their displayed mastery of the language, was probably going to be just this side of incomprehensible.
Their own transmissions are more varied. They send one greeting in Prathiik, which is significantly simpler than Javik's own. They send another in their own language, which is what they suspect the aliens' variety includes.
Their others are more simple, holding in the same vein as the alien's own attempts to establish a baseline, a method of transmitting meaning. It is markedly, delightfully, out of date. The novelty of it is intriguing.
It won't, and can't, last forever. It will last until either Javik gets annoyed enough about the inefficiency of it to arrange a meeting and simply pull the language to get it over with, or until they successfully communicate that they have the ability to learn the language and can get the aliens to agree, or until the situation gets to the point that they can longer afford to extend the courtesy.
Until then...
They tug at their ship, pulling it away from where it was. The acceleration is gentle, and places it on a vector that takes it closer to the alien's own, but doesn't quite intercept it.
Six minutes is far too long for a communication delay.
+++
It had all started over half a day ago. Old probes, leftover from the Rachni Wars, had detected new signals. After nearly eighteen hundred years of inactivity, it was almost a surprise that the probes still functioned at all, especially when one considered the fact that most Salarian equipment wouldn't last even a tenth as long.
It had taken an hour before anybody realized that the probes were reporting. It had taken another before the situation had been investigated appropriately.
Ten minutes into the investigation, and the situation had been escalated directly to the attention of the great Dalatrasses, the highest points in the Salarian Union. Two and a half hours after that, the Turian Hierarchy and the Asari Republics were informed so that all three might plan a unified response.
A ship of unknown design, its size surpassing even the Destiny Ascension, had appeared in former Rachni territory.
Its mere existence strongly hinted at another large, alien polity, likely possessing advanced technology. The three largest governments of the Citadel Species, therefore, had quickly decided that it would be best to go ahead and investigate, with the possibility, and indeed, probability, of opening contact.
Three hours into the preparations, another ship had shown up, larger than a dreadnought, but still smaller than the first, and also clearly of another distinct design aesthetic, hinting at two separate polities.
Five hours later, here they were. Three ships full of some of the finest minds in Citadel Space, all of them with long experienced crews, and ready to make history.
It had been a bit too rushed, for her liking. A great deal many Matriarchs had wanted to wait, but...
Well, Salarians. Short lifespans made for little patience, and when they were a driving force, things would have to go quickly.
The initial phases had gone well, despite; they arrived on target, the transmissions were sent, and they started a course that would take them closer, but not directly towards the other ships.
Six minutes was how long it took for their light and signals to reach.
Four was how long it took the other's to reach back.
As the deck of her ship burst into noise, Matriarch Benezia smiled.
All going well, so far.
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Huh, well you learn something new every day. Thank you for clearing that up, it is highly appreciated.
*Edit: I was replying to Mgunh1.
*Edit: I was replying to Mgunh1.
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Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
I'm imagining her face when the truth is revealed...
- Location
- Malaysia
Does this mean they received a reply before their own message should have reached?
Jamie Roberts
Hávamál 127
- Location
- N/A
- Pronouns
- she/her
No, four minutes after the six minutes (so ten minutes total) they received the reply. Due to the ships getting closer together the lightspeed-delay is shrinking.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
I look forwards to the Council's preconceptions getting messily shattered; they make such pretty tinkling sounds when they do that.
Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
I thought it was because the reply was faster than light... light communication.
Which is insane, now that I think about it... Can light be faster than light?
Does that just change the speed of light if light just travels faster?
Mind blown. Can physics be self-updating?
I can't wait for the running around confused/excited council races.
And the inevitable reveal of how fucked they are.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I think the tinkling is just the mass of Psicrystals and assimilation. It might end up breaking their puny mortal minds, though.
Hard to be sure. When the day comes that we've figured it all out, if it all then changes, we have our answer.
...
Come to think of it, I read a short story once that had as it's premise that every time people figured out too much about how the universe worked, the universe would change. The world used to be flat, etc. Apparently God was a troll in that universe.
That sounds like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; I'm pretty sure something like that is mentioned at some point.Come to think of it, I read a short story once that had as it's premise that every time people figured out too much about how the universe worked, the universe would change. The world used to be flat, etc. Apparently God was a troll in that universe.
No, it was a short story in a sci-fi magazine I read when I was a teenager. The first indication that man had Learned Too Much was when people suddenly started living at faster and slower rates of time than the rest of the world for no explicable reason.
Naturally, the people living faster than the rest took to pranks...
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Sounds Legit. It is what I would do.
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Remember the name?
No. It was about twenty five to thirty years ago.
4.10
Drich
Von Neumann Writing Machine
4.10
+++
"The second ship, the smaller one, only sent a single transmission. Its a text message that the translators recognize as Prothean."
Benezia smiled. "So they have encountered ruins."
Attely nodded excitedly, before her expression cooled and she spoke again. "Unfortunately, the translator wasn't able to parse it correctly. Their understanding of the Prothean's language appears to have grown differently than ours. The syntax is wrong, and some of the words are unrecognizable even from our database. We understood maybe one word in ten."
"Not enough for reliable communication, then." Benezia noted. "And the other ship?"
"Same syntax issues, but the message was significantly less complex." Attely reported. "It appears to be a greeting. The syntax makes it difficult to parse, but the translator VI reports a 93.4% certainty of it."
"Do you think we could communicate the concept of meld language transference with what we currently have?" Benezia asked next.
Attely slowly shook her head, frowning. "I... wouldn't think it would be reliable enough, Matriarch. While a simple concept, communicating it through broken syntax and a relatively limited array of words would be difficult, and a misinterpretation might be... problematic."
"We'll need to wait until we can communicate better, then." Benezia noted.
Attely nodded.
+++
"It's binary. Simple, yet efficient."
+++
"I see, they organize it like with continuous binary numbers, each one double the previous one. 11111111 would be 255, while 01 would be 2. 111111111 is 511, with 011111111 as 510. Ten ones would be 1023, with eleven ones as 2047. All integers, but no fractions."
+++
"We've observed three different distinct signals, thus far. Signal A is 0, signal B is 1, and Signal C appears to designate the end of a binary string."
+++
"A new signal. It appears to represent breaks in a string, but not the end of the string itself. The result contains three separate strings contained in a single superstring. Metadata."
"I think it is intended to be arranged in a grid, with the horizontal and vertical values being the first and second parts of the string."
+++
"We are now at the point of pictures. Pure black and white pictures, but pictures nonetheless."
"We can also make the observation that the other species understands visuals in a manner roughly similar to us."
+++
"The alien ship has launched drones. They arranging in a grid pattern, ten by ten."
"The drones just lit up. All of them show white light."
"We received a transmission, simultaneously. Grid pattern arrangement of strings matches the drones."
"We received a new transmission, drones changed to match it."
"Ah. They're confirming the results of their attempts and transferring meaning."
+++
"We received a different superstring, this time. Four parts in it, horizontal coordinate, vertical coordinate, active, and an eight piece long string of binary. Drones are changing in response."
"The alien ship is releasing more drones, the grid size is changing to sixteen by sixteen."
"All drones are active, but the light has changed for each of them. Drone 1 has the superstring of 1,1,1,255. The light it is releasing is the same light as before. The next drone is 2,1,1,254, and is slightly darker. Pattern continues to the last drone, which is showing very low levels of light."
"Shades of gray. Just like that, the amount of information that can be communicated has been dramatically increased."
+++
"Drones are retreating back into the ship. We are receiving a new transmission. Grid size is one thousand by one thousand. It... appears to be an image of their ship, from an isometric viewpoint."
Benezia smiled. "How difficult would it be to send a similar picture of our ship to them?"
Attely checked her console. "The Salit is roughly in position. Should I forward the request?"
Benezia nodded.
It took a few seconds to get it all together. Some quick cropping, and some conversion, but it was handled just fine by the VI.
Off the message went.
Thirteen seconds later, the communications officer reported that there were two transmissions, sent simultaneously.
The first was another image, five thousand by one thousand. The top part of it it was a match to the image they sent before, their ship rendered in grayscale, but the lower portions...
Benezia leaned forwards, all of her attention suddenly captured.
The lower portion showed beings that might have been mistaken for Asari.
There were two of them, shown from two different angles. From the front and from the side. Both were remarkably similar, but of the two...
The second definitely had more in common. The structure of the face, the body... Nearly all of it was the same, except for the top of the head.
Where there would have been a crest of tendrils for an Asari, this being appeared to have some sort of fur. There was, furthermore, a pair of structures on the side of the head, though she didn't know their purpose.
The only thing missing was the colour, but that was to be expected of grayscale.
At the bottom of it all was a Prothean word, which the VI helpfully translated as 'Us'.
"What?" She asked, alongside fully half of the ship.
Which wasn't a surprising. Seeing the image of something so close to their species coming from an alien ship- With an appearance like that, how alien are they really? - that would surprise anybody.
The image shifted, moving to the left as another transmission arrived. Another image, again in parts. The top part was an image of the other alien ship, the smaller. The bottom portion, however, show something dramatically different from the previous.
Again, two beings, again, from two angles. these ones, however, were significantly different.
They shared the same basic structure, yes; a head, two arms, two legs. Their hands, however, had only three fingers, with their feet having only two widely spaced 'toes'. They were significantly bulkier, with larger muscles.
The head truly cemented it; the top of it was plated and wide, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a Krogan, though significantly flatter. Four eyes, like a Batarian, but instead of being right above and below each other, these beings had their eyes arranged upwards and to the side, with two attached pupils in each eye.
They, too, had a word at the very bottom. The VI was quick to translate that, too.
'Prothean'.
+++
"The second ship, the smaller one, only sent a single transmission. Its a text message that the translators recognize as Prothean."
Benezia smiled. "So they have encountered ruins."
Attely nodded excitedly, before her expression cooled and she spoke again. "Unfortunately, the translator wasn't able to parse it correctly. Their understanding of the Prothean's language appears to have grown differently than ours. The syntax is wrong, and some of the words are unrecognizable even from our database. We understood maybe one word in ten."
"Not enough for reliable communication, then." Benezia noted. "And the other ship?"
"Same syntax issues, but the message was significantly less complex." Attely reported. "It appears to be a greeting. The syntax makes it difficult to parse, but the translator VI reports a 93.4% certainty of it."
"Do you think we could communicate the concept of meld language transference with what we currently have?" Benezia asked next.
Attely slowly shook her head, frowning. "I... wouldn't think it would be reliable enough, Matriarch. While a simple concept, communicating it through broken syntax and a relatively limited array of words would be difficult, and a misinterpretation might be... problematic."
"We'll need to wait until we can communicate better, then." Benezia noted.
Attely nodded.
+++
"It's binary. Simple, yet efficient."
+++
"I see, they organize it like with continuous binary numbers, each one double the previous one. 11111111 would be 255, while 01 would be 2. 111111111 is 511, with 011111111 as 510. Ten ones would be 1023, with eleven ones as 2047. All integers, but no fractions."
+++
"We've observed three different distinct signals, thus far. Signal A is 0, signal B is 1, and Signal C appears to designate the end of a binary string."
+++
"A new signal. It appears to represent breaks in a string, but not the end of the string itself. The result contains three separate strings contained in a single superstring. Metadata."
"I think it is intended to be arranged in a grid, with the horizontal and vertical values being the first and second parts of the string."
+++
"We are now at the point of pictures. Pure black and white pictures, but pictures nonetheless."
"We can also make the observation that the other species understands visuals in a manner roughly similar to us."
+++
"The alien ship has launched drones. They arranging in a grid pattern, ten by ten."
"The drones just lit up. All of them show white light."
"We received a transmission, simultaneously. Grid pattern arrangement of strings matches the drones."
"We received a new transmission, drones changed to match it."
"Ah. They're confirming the results of their attempts and transferring meaning."
+++
"We received a different superstring, this time. Four parts in it, horizontal coordinate, vertical coordinate, active, and an eight piece long string of binary. Drones are changing in response."
"The alien ship is releasing more drones, the grid size is changing to sixteen by sixteen."
"All drones are active, but the light has changed for each of them. Drone 1 has the superstring of 1,1,1,255. The light it is releasing is the same light as before. The next drone is 2,1,1,254, and is slightly darker. Pattern continues to the last drone, which is showing very low levels of light."
"Shades of gray. Just like that, the amount of information that can be communicated has been dramatically increased."
+++
"Drones are retreating back into the ship. We are receiving a new transmission. Grid size is one thousand by one thousand. It... appears to be an image of their ship, from an isometric viewpoint."
Benezia smiled. "How difficult would it be to send a similar picture of our ship to them?"
Attely checked her console. "The Salit is roughly in position. Should I forward the request?"
Benezia nodded.
It took a few seconds to get it all together. Some quick cropping, and some conversion, but it was handled just fine by the VI.
Off the message went.
Thirteen seconds later, the communications officer reported that there were two transmissions, sent simultaneously.
The first was another image, five thousand by one thousand. The top part of it it was a match to the image they sent before, their ship rendered in grayscale, but the lower portions...
Benezia leaned forwards, all of her attention suddenly captured.
The lower portion showed beings that might have been mistaken for Asari.
There were two of them, shown from two different angles. From the front and from the side. Both were remarkably similar, but of the two...
The second definitely had more in common. The structure of the face, the body... Nearly all of it was the same, except for the top of the head.
Where there would have been a crest of tendrils for an Asari, this being appeared to have some sort of fur. There was, furthermore, a pair of structures on the side of the head, though she didn't know their purpose.
The only thing missing was the colour, but that was to be expected of grayscale.
At the bottom of it all was a Prothean word, which the VI helpfully translated as 'Us'.
"What?" She asked, alongside fully half of the ship.
Which wasn't a surprising. Seeing the image of something so close to their species coming from an alien ship- With an appearance like that, how alien are they really? - that would surprise anybody.
The image shifted, moving to the left as another transmission arrived. Another image, again in parts. The top part was an image of the other alien ship, the smaller. The bottom portion, however, show something dramatically different from the previous.
Again, two beings, again, from two angles. these ones, however, were significantly different.
They shared the same basic structure, yes; a head, two arms, two legs. Their hands, however, had only three fingers, with their feet having only two widely spaced 'toes'. They were significantly bulkier, with larger muscles.
The head truly cemented it; the top of it was plated and wide, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a Krogan, though significantly flatter. Four eyes, like a Batarian, but instead of being right above and below each other, these beings had their eyes arranged upwards and to the side, with two attached pupils in each eye.
They, too, had a word at the very bottom. The VI was quick to translate that, too.
'Prothean'.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
Here we go!
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
[UNCONTROLLABLE HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER INTENSIFIES]
"We are humanity. Prepare to be trolled. Resistance, is amusing."
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Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
"Must be a bug in the VI, let me recalibrate..."
...
"It still says Prothean. Impossible!"
Dis goin 2b gud
...
"It still says Prothean. Impossible!"
Dis goin 2b gud
Y'know, you'd think that. But it's a big galaxy, all kinds of ancient races might have tiny little holdouts hidden beyond the ass end of nowhere, unable to get back in touch with the rest of the galaxy due to equipment failures or still hidden away in some kind of stasis, waiting for some far flung day to awaken.
It's a really big galaxy.
- Location
- Canada
Distant Worlds vibes intensify...
"To anyone who receives this message, we wish you well. May galactic civilization rise once more in the far distant future."