003: On the Road to Aki

[terrymixon]

Time to arrival at Aki:

Once the ship is in jumpspace, the meeting can continue. Spicoli made the motion to split the position of captain and managing director of the guild and that should probably be cleared up before anything else.

Roscoe kind of shrugs at the suggestion. "The ship is pretty much a mobile guild hall. Do we need a separate position as they are one and the same? What will the ship's captain do that the managing director might not override? Seems needlessly complicated. We need a leader, so Willaim should be both. Or only one. We call the leader the managing director and tell everyone else he's the captain. It's all the same thing, right? Let me second the motion and vote no to severing the leadership roles. Once this is settled, Doctor Metz can tell us about the contract offer and we can all hear about our unexpected guest, Bilis."

It's really just the mirror of the original motion, so I should have phrased it differently.

Metz doesn't seem to care and votes present.

Motion on the floor: Sever the Managing Director from the position of Captain: 1 for, 1 against, 1 present. Outstanding votes: Jaelah, Arkar, Garvin, William, and Walt.

[ateno]

Motion on the floor: Sever the Managing Director from the position of Captain: 1 for, 1 against, 1 present. Outstanding votes: Jaelah, Arkar, Garvin, William, and Walt.

"I vote yes. Thats standard anyway. One runs the ship and such, the other the admin of the guild."

Arkar

[Thumper]

Walt votes again to keep the position as one (not sever) with William Captain and Guild leader.

[joertexas]

Walt votes again to keep the position as one (not sever) with William Captain and Guild leader.

Jaelah votes with Walt.

[Tiglath]

"I vote yes. Thats standard anyway. One runs the ship and such, the other the admin of the guild."

Garvin seems disinterested but after Arkar speaks he states "I vote with Arkar".

[terrymixon]

Motion on the floor: Sever the Managing Director from the position of Captain: 3 for, 3 against, 1 present. Outstanding votes: William.

The choice falls to William.

[terrymixon]

While William still needs to vote on severing the Managing Director position from that of Captain (and who that might be if it is severed), I'll start discussions of the contract offer.

Metz rose to his feet. "While Spicoli and I were meeting with Madam Treegarden, she learned that I was the one who figured out how to combine the advanced stealth coating on our hull with active camouflage, and still leave the holographic properties intact. She told us that she would handle the admiral for us, though I still think we need to be watching for harassment from the Navy. In any case, she wants the same coating on her new ship and offered to provide me the raw materials to mix up a batch for her with a significant markup for my trouble. I agreed in principle, subject to the approval of the guild. The solution I came up with to make it work was novel and I will address how it came to be--along with some of my other discoveries--once we settle the matter of the contract. It's a personal revelation, but one you deserve to hear about.

"The coatings combined and applied run about MCr 3.66 per ton of ship. Her 200-ton vessel would require almost 3/4 of a billion credits to fix up. She said the admiral would be paying for it, so she'd throw in enough of his budget to make it a full MCr 1,000. I told her I didn't need the raw materials and could simply provide the finished product. That earns us more if we accept the work. I have MCr 250 in raw materials on hand and would need to purchase half again more to complete the order. I'd have it done once we got back to Glisten and hand it over to her."

He shook his head. "That payment should include us applying it, but she's going to make the Navy do it. It's a good deal, particularly since there is no one else we could even tell that the hybrid coating exists. I think we'd be wise to take her up on it, but there is a potential dark side. If she ever became our enemy, she could hide as well as us. Something to consider, but I still move we take the work as that would alleviate our money concerns for the foreseeable future.

"If anyone has questions, I'd be happy to answer them."

Roscoe will second the motion and both of them vote to accept the contract.

[Thumper]

Walt votes in favor, then adds:

Couldn’t Bilis help us with the raw material generation? Save us the purchase of the second batch of raw materials?

[terrymixon]

Walt votes in favor, then adds:

Couldn’t Bilis help us with the raw material generation? Save us the purchase of the second batch of raw materials?

“As we haven’t discussed her, I felt it best to plan on what I know I can do. If an easier way is accepted, then I can reevaluate. That conversation will happen shortly.”

[terrymixon]

That’s 3 votes for accepting the contract—actually 4 since Spicoli was saying yes earlier and 5 with Garvin, so it will pass.

Metz will continue after the vote. “Materials science isn’t my specialty, so the Navy was right to have their doubts I could make the mixture work. As my specialties are computers, cybernetics, and robotics, you might be wondering how I managed what the chief engineer of the shipyard called an impossible breakthrough. To be honest, I cheated.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a neckless. The coin-shaped pendant was banded in silver and hung from a silver chain, but the metal is unmistakably Ancients. He set it on the table with a clatter.

“When I was a graduate student, I had an opportunity to work on an archeological dig of an Ancients site that has been throughly destroyed. It was absolute wreckage and had been gone over by looters for many years. The Imperial government had taken their turn through and then passed the site to our university.

“We made no universe-shattering discoveries, but we dug deep and found more wreckage. Nothing of convenience, they said, though it would all be collected and studied. I found this under a large rock and pocketed it as a souvenir. It was obviously non-functional and had been part of something g larger.”

He smiled. “I was very wrong. While I don’t know what it was originally intended to do, I can tell you what it does now. If brought within half a meter of your brain, it expands your consciousness. Boosts your natural intelligence. The only limitation is that I can only wear it a couple of hours a day without suffering blinding headaches and nosebleeds. The brilliance comes at a cost if I abuse it.

“I discovered this after the dig and even though I was already very smart, this gave me the leg up to do things unimaginable to my younger self. I was the driving force that brought robotics on Vincennes to tech level 16. My peers heralded me as a visionary, and they aren’t wrong, but I had help. With this neckless on, I would guess I am a quarter smarter and I wasn’t an idiot to begin with.”

He looked around the group. “I’m not a bounty hunter. I’m a scientist. And I used Mad Dog as a way to get out of the trap I was in. I knew how to do so much more than I could show them. Roscoe is two tech levels more advanced than anything I could tell my employer about. Not without having them take everything and leave me a mediocre paycheck.

“Mad Dog wanted something special and I agreed to give it to him in exchange for being able to continue my research. I have a contract somewhere in my lab and I’ll find it after a straighten up. He got this ship the way he wanted it and I got the guild owned robotics lab to create in. An equitable arrangement.”

He shook his head. “I’ll be honest. Recent events have made this revelation seem small in comparison, but it is something I’ve held close to my vest for decades. Now you know too.”

For reference, Metz was INT: 12 and EDU: 12 at the start of character generation. By the time he retired 32 years later, he was 15 in each and could briefly bump INT to 20. He was, in fact, a mental powerhouse in a curmudgeonly form. He’s not done revealing things, so look for more revelations when we get to the Anciets fabricator.

[Tiglath]

Garvin votes in favour guided by the experts on hand.

[terrymixon]

Garvin votes in favour guided by the experts on hand.

Yes, but what does he think of Metz's revelation that came in 30 seconds before you posted this? Inquisitive minds want to know!

[Tiglath]

He shook his head. “I’ll be honest. Recent events have made this revelation seem small in comparison, but it is something I’ve held close to my vest for decades. Now you know too.”

Garvin gives a genuine smile "Doc, it takes a man with plenty of front to admit 'e's a fraud and a thief - a lesser man would lie an' claim it all to 'imself. All that's fine an' more than safe with me. Seems like you're currently comin' up short in the thugs department though?"

OOC: I can't help it if the electro pigeons crossed in the post!

[terrymixon]

He shook his head. “I’ll be honest. Recent events have made this revelation seem small in comparison, but it is something I’ve held close to my vest for decades. Now you know too.”

Garvin gives a genuine smile "Doc, it takes a man with plenty of front to admit 'e's a fraud and a thief - a lesser man would lie an' claim it all to 'imself. All that's fine an' more than safe with me. Seems like you're currently comin' up short in the thugs department though?"

"Well, I suppose there's always Void. Trust me, that cat is a thug."

Void does not deign to reply.

"As for a thief, I suppose I am, and on a grand scale, at that. You see, I copied the skills vault when I left. It was barely even secured--not that I didn't already have access--which was a crime considering how much the company spent creating skills that advanced for use in their androids and conscious intelligences. It only goes to show you how much money the megacorporations have at their fingertips. The vault cost MCr 5,000, or so I heard. Still, it's all digital and they can make as many copies as they like. An extra one won't even be noticed and hurts no one if I never share it publicly. The computer security was criminal, anyway. They really should watch their employees more closely. I've broken into office supply cabinets that were better protected."

[Tiglath]

"As for a thief, I suppose I am. I took the physical backup of the skills vault when I left. "

Garvin smiles "Doc, I like the "level moral ground playin' field" you but, in all honesty, I'm not only pickin' up the "compulsive" from you. You've got that "collector" vibe an' all. No offence but I've regretted workin' for people like that but for now I'm all ears. So, go on what's the "skills vault" an'..." he rubs the bridge of his nose "...does it, he or she have name an' should we be introduced?"

[terrymixon]

"As for a thief, I suppose I am. I took the physical backup of the skills vault when I left. "

Garvin smiles "Doc, I like the "level moral ground playin' field" you but, in all honesty, I'm not only pickin' up the "compulsive" from you. You've got that "collector" vibe an' all. No offence but I've regretted workin' for people like that but I'm all ears so go on what's the "skills vault" an'..." he rubs the bridge of his nose "...does it, he or she have name an' should we be introduced?"

I just modified it above. Made it digital and added more monologue.

"Of course I am. I'm a computer scientist and roboticist. We're all inveterate collectors. Hoarders, even. You can bet your behind that I not only collected every robotics pattern I could get my hands on, but I also removed the copyright protection from my fabricator. I want them all and one day, I shall have them! MWHAHAHAHA!"

He paused to clear his throat. "Anyway, how does every skill they could think of ramped up to rank 5 sound? Only Roscoe can use them at that level because of his sophistication, but they were thinking long term. People with standard wafer jacks can use them to rank 3 if they have some familiarity with the skill already and rank 2 if they have no skill with it whatsoever. My version is better. Rank 4 skills if one is trained in it to some degree and rank 3 if not. Not as good as Roscoe, but a far cry from an unenhanced human."

He gives you a serious look. "Not to tempt you, but Walt and I already have the neural jacks I spoke of, and more on top of that. I know you have reservations about that kind of change, and I won't say that's wrong. What I will say is that a world of possibilities is available if you ever change your mind. You have my word that it is completely safe. No pressure, but just think on it."

[Thumper]

“I copied the skills vault when I left”

That statement earned a head-snap from Walt!

[Tiglath]

"Unfortunately, you'd need that brain augmentation you don't want. Let me repeat myself. Think about it. I'm fine and so is Walt."

Garvin replies "Yeah right. An' Walt's been your fan boy an' behavin' erratically ever since you slipped 'im that extra slice of brain. I'm not buyin' what you're sellin' so leave it. Tell me about Bili an' why we should expose any of our priceless company assets to unacceptable an' unnecessary risk by goin' to Aki where folk shoot ruddy great 'oles clean through yer spaceship".

[terrymixon]

"Unfortunately, you'd need that brain augmentation you don't want. Let me repeat myself. Think about it. I'm fine and so is Walt."

Garvin replies "Yeah right. An' Walt's been your fan boy an' behavin' erratically ever since you slipped 'im that extra slice of brain. I'm not buyin' what you're sellin' so leave it. Tell me about Bili an' why we should expose any of our priceless company assets to unacceptable an' unnecessary risk by goin' to Aki where folk shoot ruddy great 'oles clean through yer spaceship".

We once again crossed in the ether. And he was being so kind. Ah, well.

"Maybe he's a bad example," Metz admitted with a sly grin. "Just keep watching me. You'll be horrified if I start breaking into stuff and cutting in on your turf. I'll get to explaining about the artifact right now."

See next post.

[helvorn]

William saw the way things were going and voted for himself and to keep the two roles of Captain and Guild chief unified.

"I'm all for helping out Treegarden with the coatings. The money will be nice." Silencer was quiet for a moment. "Can you put in a backdoor in the stealth coatings? It's not fully aboveboard but you never know. Someone else may get the ship from her."

At this point in dealing with Doctor Metz Silencer wasn't entirely surprised. "A tech level jump like you are talking about is either centuries of work or a flash of blinding genius I would imagine. You are a brilliant man, no a fracking genius as it is but with that gizmo… I have to doff my hat to you Doc. Well done and as Captain and head of the Guild I will honor any such agreements made by my predecessor. Unless of course you pull anymore rabbits from your hat." William laughed. "Well done in getting a copy of the skill vault. I have to admire your chutzpah on that one. No better way than to stick it to the Man."

William took a sip of his drink. "Now I hear we have another guest on board. Do you mind introducing them?"