Turn 16 - Second Contact
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
September 22nd, 2121
One thing you had to admit, as you considered the screen in front of you. When Adriana wanted something done, her Ministers were just as competent as yours had been. Case in point? The current situation. You'd been given resources last year to pursue the creation of a body for Iris, but not even yourselves had really expected to succeed. When you had, the reaction had been extraordinary, if understandable. She'd put it best herself, although much removed from the moment in question.
'The Shiplords took away the Second Secret with the Sorrows. Humanity's ability to build upon the life you'd been given, and even make it.' What you'd done in creating her avatar had been to reignite the dream of making humanity more than itself, but more than that too. Her skin was a sensory marvel, and the ability of her chassis to simulate the perceptions of a human a vast leap forward. Even more so in that it had been done without Practice being woven into her shell. It was replicable. The response had been predictable.
"Miss Hawk?" A voice tugged at you, but you ignored it. Questions could wait, this was important.
Resources had flooded in, alongside a Home Office led team with backing from the Ministries of Science and Practice. But subordinate to you and Mary, as you'd both demanded. Iris was still young, and she wouldn't be able to stay that way for long. The needs of humanity might support the need for a swift understanding of her frame, but you wouldn't compromise her childhood. Not if you could help it. Fortunately, you could. The work had proceeded according to a schedule created by yourself and Mary, with as little of Iris's time taken up by it as possible.
There hadn't been a single protest, but at least some of that silence was down to the meticulous notes your friend had kept of the design and prototyping stages that led to the avatar that Iris now wore. That and the knowledge of the process you both shared. There was very little reason to involve your daughter in the process, apart from the requests for up to date scans. You were, after all, constantly working to upgrade her frame.
"Miss Hawk?" That voice again. "I'm sorry ma'am, she's not… But I couldn't just do that," the suite of system modifications and software upgrades was coming along nicely, so much so that you hoped you might be able to finish it this year. Without the support you'd been given by the government it never would have been possible, but now?
"Amanda!" You jerked up from the scrolling text that you'd been lost in checking for the nth time, and froze. The workshops were often quiet, but not like this. This was the silence of the slow breath taken before the plunge, and all eyes were glued to the holographic representative of Adriana in front of you. She must have been calling, but why hadn't she gone through Sidra instead of-
"Clear the room." She ordered. A moment later, you were alone.
"Adri, what's going on?" You asked, or at least you started to. You only got the first two words out before she replied, with words you'd hoped and feared in equal measure ever since you'd learned they were coming.
"They're here." Data surged into your mind, courtesy of a sealed data package forwarded to you in the last few moments according to Sidra
Your eyes widened, then widened again as you started to absorb the contents of the packet. "This is live?"
"It is." Adriana looked down at the desk outside of the transmission intake. "Fifteen ships, just as Insight said there would be. They came out at the edge of the system ninety seconds ago, no active stealth systems as far as we can tell. The Lux will give us a readback within the next five minutes."
"They've been in a fight on the way here," you noted softly, Sidra picking out the signs of battle scars on a few of the hulls. "Can't have been anything too serious. Courier craft are long lightly armed, and they made it here intact…"
"That matches the reports I'm getting now." She replied. "We've put a lock on the lagless data, but it won't hold for long. We're too open a society, and I wouldn't be surprised if we start receiving transmissions from them within the next few minutes. They came here looking for us, after all."
"I wouldn't bother with the lock, Adri. It's a waste of effort, and if we're going to talk to them people will find out soon enough anyway." She shrugged at your words, a little helplessly maybe, and you smiled to soften any blow behind the words. Then you took a very deep breath. "Why are you calling me, Adriana?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She asked in return, a weary determination clear in her eyes. "We need you." Her hands came up quickly. "Not for long. Just the initial contact stages, a few months at most. But there's no one else alive that has the same common support, or knows humanity as well as you do.
"Please, Amanda."
###
Do you agree to help the Diplomacy Corps with Second Contact?
[X] Yes
[] No Hahaha you thought this was even an option 
"Of course."
"I'll arrange a," you held up a hand with a chuckle to stop her.
"No. Focus on what you need to do on your end, Adri. The packet you sent has everything I need. I'll clear things here, convince Mary of how important this is," you restrained an artful shudder, "and make my own way. I'm faster than any ship you could send, and you know it. Just make sure I have some clothes for when I get there."
"Thank you." She breathed out, almost prayerfully.
"Thank me when I'm there." You replied. Mary really wouldn't be hard to convince, she'd known this had been coming. Fortunately, the Contact Fleet had been considerate enough to give her most of a year to stabilise after the event. Iris…might be more of a problem. Especially as she was likely to demand to go with you. That was going to be fun.
How do you approach your family about your being needed on Concordia very soon? As fortune might have it, Mary is teaching Iris this afternoon.
[] Write-in
Second Contact mini-turn commencing…
One thing you had to admit, as you considered the screen in front of you. When Adriana wanted something done, her Ministers were just as competent as yours had been. Case in point? The current situation. You'd been given resources last year to pursue the creation of a body for Iris, but not even yourselves had really expected to succeed. When you had, the reaction had been extraordinary, if understandable. She'd put it best herself, although much removed from the moment in question.
'The Shiplords took away the Second Secret with the Sorrows. Humanity's ability to build upon the life you'd been given, and even make it.' What you'd done in creating her avatar had been to reignite the dream of making humanity more than itself, but more than that too. Her skin was a sensory marvel, and the ability of her chassis to simulate the perceptions of a human a vast leap forward. Even more so in that it had been done without Practice being woven into her shell. It was replicable. The response had been predictable.
"Miss Hawk?" A voice tugged at you, but you ignored it. Questions could wait, this was important.
Resources had flooded in, alongside a Home Office led team with backing from the Ministries of Science and Practice. But subordinate to you and Mary, as you'd both demanded. Iris was still young, and she wouldn't be able to stay that way for long. The needs of humanity might support the need for a swift understanding of her frame, but you wouldn't compromise her childhood. Not if you could help it. Fortunately, you could. The work had proceeded according to a schedule created by yourself and Mary, with as little of Iris's time taken up by it as possible.
There hadn't been a single protest, but at least some of that silence was down to the meticulous notes your friend had kept of the design and prototyping stages that led to the avatar that Iris now wore. That and the knowledge of the process you both shared. There was very little reason to involve your daughter in the process, apart from the requests for up to date scans. You were, after all, constantly working to upgrade her frame.
"Miss Hawk?" That voice again. "I'm sorry ma'am, she's not… But I couldn't just do that," the suite of system modifications and software upgrades was coming along nicely, so much so that you hoped you might be able to finish it this year. Without the support you'd been given by the government it never would have been possible, but now?
"Amanda!" You jerked up from the scrolling text that you'd been lost in checking for the nth time, and froze. The workshops were often quiet, but not like this. This was the silence of the slow breath taken before the plunge, and all eyes were glued to the holographic representative of Adriana in front of you. She must have been calling, but why hadn't she gone through Sidra instead of-
"Clear the room." She ordered. A moment later, you were alone.
"Adri, what's going on?" You asked, or at least you started to. You only got the first two words out before she replied, with words you'd hoped and feared in equal measure ever since you'd learned they were coming.
"They're here." Data surged into your mind, courtesy of a sealed data package forwarded to you in the last few moments according to Sidra
Your eyes widened, then widened again as you started to absorb the contents of the packet. "This is live?"
"It is." Adriana looked down at the desk outside of the transmission intake. "Fifteen ships, just as Insight said there would be. They came out at the edge of the system ninety seconds ago, no active stealth systems as far as we can tell. The Lux will give us a readback within the next five minutes."
"They've been in a fight on the way here," you noted softly, Sidra picking out the signs of battle scars on a few of the hulls. "Can't have been anything too serious. Courier craft are long lightly armed, and they made it here intact…"
"That matches the reports I'm getting now." She replied. "We've put a lock on the lagless data, but it won't hold for long. We're too open a society, and I wouldn't be surprised if we start receiving transmissions from them within the next few minutes. They came here looking for us, after all."
"I wouldn't bother with the lock, Adri. It's a waste of effort, and if we're going to talk to them people will find out soon enough anyway." She shrugged at your words, a little helplessly maybe, and you smiled to soften any blow behind the words. Then you took a very deep breath. "Why are you calling me, Adriana?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She asked in return, a weary determination clear in her eyes. "We need you." Her hands came up quickly. "Not for long. Just the initial contact stages, a few months at most. But there's no one else alive that has the same common support, or knows humanity as well as you do.
"Please, Amanda."
###
Do you agree to help the Diplomacy Corps with Second Contact?
[X] Yes
"Of course."
"I'll arrange a," you held up a hand with a chuckle to stop her.
"No. Focus on what you need to do on your end, Adri. The packet you sent has everything I need. I'll clear things here, convince Mary of how important this is," you restrained an artful shudder, "and make my own way. I'm faster than any ship you could send, and you know it. Just make sure I have some clothes for when I get there."
"Thank you." She breathed out, almost prayerfully.
"Thank me when I'm there." You replied. Mary really wouldn't be hard to convince, she'd known this had been coming. Fortunately, the Contact Fleet had been considerate enough to give her most of a year to stabilise after the event. Iris…might be more of a problem. Especially as she was likely to demand to go with you. That was going to be fun.
How do you approach your family about your being needed on Concordia very soon? As fortune might have it, Mary is teaching Iris this afternoon.
[] Write-in
Second Contact mini-turn commencing…
Last edited:
Mean.
