003: On the Road to Aki

[Tiglath]

"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."

Garvin replies casually "Well if I were you I wouldn't be usin' the poor sod as a display in yer shop window. You need to ruddy fix 'im up before 'e meets people - I'll bet we're ruddy liable! An' no I won't be surprised if you start 'alf inchin' gear all over because you're a bigger tea leaf on much a bigger scale than I am".

He adds "An stop evadin' about Aki. I reckon you're just after stickin' it all on another spin so you can double yer stake in Ancient nik naks!"

[terrymixon]

“The container with all the panels is an Ancients fabricator. I had no idea what it was but when I started taking it out of the crate, it woke up. Communication was impossible as it is only able to communicate psionically, but it was able to create a device that allows us to exchange words. Not mind reading. Not mental communication. Only her psionic voice translated into sound waves and our sound waves converted back."

He looked around the room. "All I can go on was what she said, but I'm inclined to believe her. She was created by someone she calls the Master to build things. Unlike Roscoe, she seems much more focused and task oriented. Her desires all seem to revolve around creating things. She's not an idiot, but those constraints seem to have been programmed into her personality before she was created. She claims that she was basically scrubbed of most data and put in a closet when more advanced techniques became available to her Master. She has no idea how she ended up where Mad Dog found her.

"She says she has safety constraints built into her to not take unrequested actions or harm living beings at all. That seems wise in a machine that powerful. Unlike Roscoe, she is a truly a tool that talks. Very focused on what she was created to do, and she wants to do it. She doesn't want to be turned off again and has promised that she would serve us in the same way. She's honest enough to volunteer that if her Master put in an appearance, she would be forced to obey him. Lacking that, she has chosen us as his surrogates."

He smiled and shook his head. "She has no patterns of Ancients devices. What she can do is scan the things we found. I was able to replicate almost all the strange weapons we found, but she managed them all. She also advised Walt on how to charge the dead ones. She also scanned some of the patterns I had and enhanced them. She can extrapolate on our technology, at least to a degree. Also, she gets her raw materials from a pocket universe. I have no idea how something like that is even possible, but she doesn't think we are in danger of running it dry even if her Master is dead and gone. Apparently, it's self-filling.

"She claims the Master worked with humans in the past. If he was an Ancient, it would have to have been when humaniti was spread all over this area of space. She had enhancement patterns for humans already in her memory. When she offered to enhance me, I accepted. It was risky, but how often does one have such an opportunity? She also took the neural jack pattern I had and improved it somewhat. Nothing all that big, but there were a lot of little changes. I wasn't going to ask someone else to risk that and I decided to trust her. I was not disappointed.

"I am confident that many or most of you would disagree. I can accept that and do not ask anyone to do anything. I have patterns for all this as well and could use my own equipment to do the work now. I've run the work through my computers and used my magic intelligence pendant to go over everything. It's more advanced than what we can do, but it is right on the cusp of what is possible. Like I said, a gamble that I chose to take to save anyone else the risk. Walt also went through the same process, but that's him.

"Anyway, I can let you chew on me for a while, but I feel like I'm a bit closer to keeping up with Roscoe, so it was worth it. I'll also be able to help with bounty hunting as I can load skills. I have no experience, but at least I won't shoot my own leg off now. As Garvin said, maybe I'm wrong in the head a bit, but I was that way before I let Bilis work me over. There is so much to what was done, that I don't want to infodump it on you. I can go to my lab and get the translator if you want to talk to her. She cannot hear us without it, and I knew you would want to talk without her listening in."

[terrymixon]

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?"

"Sadly, I can't. It's electrically actuated, so on or off. No half measures. The active camouflage can be on or off. The stealth absorption coating can be on or off. The holograms are holograms. Maybe if I really was a specialist in that field, it would be different. Or perhaps I can come up with something in the next few weeks. I have no compunction about doing what I can to protect our group.

"And the agreement was one of mutual convenience. Nothing more. You get my support and I get yours. Just what we're doing, really."

[terrymixon]

"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."

Garvin replies casually "Well if I were you I wouldn't be usin' the poor sod as a display in yer shop window. You need to ruddy fix 'im up before 'e meets people - I'll bet we're ruddy liable! An' no I won't be surprised if you start 'alf inchin' gear all over because you're a bigger tea leaf on much a bigger scale than I am".

He adds "An stop evadin' about Aki. I reckon you're just after stickin' it all on another spin so you can double yer stake in Ancient nik naks!"

"Ancient snow globes is wide open. I could corner the market just like that."

[Thumper]

Walt fishes in his pocket and retrieves the small rod with a disk on the end…the cypher….and spends the moments deep in thought while others are speaking. He looks at all y’all and considers some more. When he speaks, an uncharacteristic nervousness is detectable and he stumbles on his first few words. He sets the rod on the commons table.

”Metz is not telling the truth, well, he is…just not the whole truth….about Bills. He’s trying to protect someone. Some of this Ancient tech is psi-tech or some element of psionics; and its operation can only be known or safely known or understood using psionic power.

Bills is one. Doc didn’t assemble Bilis, I did. Maybe the panels might never have been assembled had she not reached out to me through telepathic link. She drew me to her, and provided the instructions for her assembly. Only then did she print a communications device. Until then, she could only communicate with a psion.

That rod there, it’s a heavy weapon in your pocket. Specifically, it’s a Matter Disintegrator gun. Don’t try to play with the Cypher buttons, as that is its triggering mechanism. You’d blow a hole through the “Lost and Found” for sure. That hole might well look like the one Mad-Dog got…smaller probably. It told me it’s activation sequence.

Garvin already knows. I projected my thoughts to his mind when he was about to bungle the interrogation. I still have no idea how he knew it was me that could share thoughts with…like private messaging. But he already knew. Now you all do.

Do with it what you will. I have a hit-and-run-bag prepped for when we get to Aki. I always do. I think you all have enough money and prospects. With what I’ve given you with Bilis, you don’t need a psi bounty. Let me run. I will leave first thing and run for the Imperium border. I already know what one…maybe three…votes will be. I’ll let you to fight the Imperium’s nobles’ officially trained and controlled psions on your own.“

That last sentence is said with great disgust.

[terrymixon]

Walt fishes in his pocket and retrieves the small rod with a disk on the end…the cypher….and spends the moments deep in thought while others are speaking. He looks at all y’all and considers some more. When he speaks, an uncharacteristic nervousness is detectable and he stumbles on his first few words. He sets the rod on the commons table.

”Metz is not telling the truth, well, he is…just not the whole truth….about Bills. He’s trying to protect someone. Some of this Ancient tech is psi-tech or some element of psionics; and its operation can only be known or safely known or understood using psionic power.

Bills is one. Doc didn’t assemble Bilis, I did. The panels might never have been assembled had she not reached out to me through telepathic link. She drew me to her, and provided the instructions for her assembly. Only then did she print a communications device. Until then, she could only communicate with a psion.

That rod there, it’s a heavy weapon in your pocket. Specifically, it’s a Matter Disintegrator gun. Don’t try to play with the Cypher buttons, as that is its triggering mechanism. You’d blow a hole through the “Lost and Found” for sure. That hole might well look like the one Mad-Dog got…smaller probably. It told me it’s activation sequence.

Garvin already knows. I projected my thoughts to his mind when he was about to bungle the interrogation. I still have no idea how he knew it was me that could share thoughts with…like private messaging. But he already knew. Now you all do.

Do with it what you will. I have a hit-and-run-bag prepped for when we get to Aki. I always do. I think you all have enough money and prospects. With what I’ve given you with Bilis, you don’t need a psi bounty. Let me run. I will leave first thing and run for the Imperium border. I already know what one…maybe three…votes will be. I’ll let you to fight the Imperium’s nobles’ officially trained and controlled psions on your own.“

That last sentence is said with great disgust.

Just because it's a telepathic voice doesn't mean it's not YOUR voice.

"I did omit that part because it was not my secret to share," Metz said. "Still, I would have assembled it. The pattern of panels wasn't hard to discern, so it would have happened. And as far as psionics goes, I couldn't care less if someone has it or not. If Walt says he won't go snooping in my head, I'll take him at his word. His talent is no more disturbing to me than Roscoe monitoring what goes on aboard the ship."

Roscoe raised a hand. "I knew as well. The cargo bay is monitored, and unlike your quarters, I don't use a subroutine to give you privacy. It's a public area. To be clear, anything I learn or overhear is sacrosanct. I don't eavesdrop on purpose, and if a conversation in a public area takes a turn into something others shouldn't be listening in on, I engage the subroutine. Your secrets are safe with me.

"I think psionics is a fascinating subject. The Imperium has a very dim view of it, but I would wager they wouldn't be all that pleased with us, either. Madam Treegarden seems to know what I am, yet she has kept that to herself. Others might fear me far more than the earlier discussion. I won't condemn someone for a talent that society frowns on. It's not what a psion does that we should be worried about. It's what Walt would do. We know him and I don't believe he is a danger to us. In fact, his talents could be very useful in a bounty hunter. Just saying."

[ateno]

Arkar stands up

"So what is this a novel? We have a scientist with a crazy item, a psionic, a robot that is a human in most ways. Where the Solomoni terrorist, the Hiver agent, Disgraced high ranking Imperial Noble? Cestus McCourtney? Just so everyone knows, I'm the Vargr in a human suit."

Arkar looks around.

"What i'm trying to say, is that I don't have any problem with any of you. We all are thrown together, I am sure Mad Dog knew what he was getting, if not had he a plan. I say we see where this goes without making statements about leaving yet."

The pirate that about 12 years ago stole 1.24 billion from a corporation and has not been found.

Arkar

[terrymixon]

Arkar stands up

"So what is this a novel? We have a scientist with a crazy item, a psionic, a robot that is a human in most ways. Where the Soloni terrorist, the Hiver agent, Disgraced high ranking Imperial Noble? Cestus McCourtney? Just so everyone knows, I'm the Vargr in a human suit."

Arkar looks around.

"What i'm trying to say, is that I don't have any problem with any of you. We all are thrown together, I am sure Mad Dog knew what he was getting, if not had he a plan. I say we see where this goes without making statements about leaving yet."

The pirate that about 12 years ago stole 1.24 billion from a corporation and has not been found.

Arkar

"I think Garvin is the disgraced Imperial noble," Metz said. "That terrible accent is his--bad--cover. Secretly, he does origami and composes poems in his room at night. And you're very well trained as a Vargr. Who's a good boy!"

[Thumper]

”Still, I would have assembled it. The pattern of panels wasn't hard to discern, so it would have happened.”

”I believe you Doc. And I believe, then, that you would eventually have discovered a way to communicate with her.”

At Arkars words, he allows for some cautious optimism. Maybe he would survive a vote. Would he survive the next contact the group made with imps? Would one betray him individually?

[Tiglath]

Garvin laughs "Metz, old son, no offence but I think you're just about the definition of a "mad scientist". I can work with that well enough but I also think you are a ruddy archeotech addict an' I suspect we're goin' to Aki just so you can get another big hit of it. I propose a new rule for everyone's benefit: Doc you tell us what you are doin' back 'ere in yer lab because I'm worried that you can't see the difference between whether you could do somethin' and whether you should".

"We are where we are and you now have Bilis the fabricator with Daddy issues to go with yer other assortment of "talking tools". He then deliberately turns his gaze on Walt "Just gave you a mention. I was goin' to keep yer secret despite all yer nonsense - I'm good like that. Professional. I guessed you'd feature as soon as Metz mentioned psi powers but I reckon whatever you let 'im put in your 'ead's messin' you up though. That's one reason why I didn't advance me own special motion of incommunuicado an' give you a nap just now. So, you've outed yerself as a psion and suddenly become useful. Lucky you eh?"

He adds "You reckon you're three votes down already an' yet you couldn't even get a "second" to get rid of me?" He smiles "Looks like democracy's turnin' out to be almost as much of a bitch as payback. That's unless maybe you're as bad at readin' minds as you are at readin' people".

"I think Garvin is the disgraced Imperial noble," Metz said. "That terrible accent is his--bad--cover. Secretly, he does origami and composes poems in his room at night. And you're very well trained as a Vargr. Who's a good boy!"

Garvin smiles and replies in a well educated urbane high Imperial drawl "Well, old boy, the catch would be discerning which is my real accent - the one you hear now or that of... my shabby alter ego".

(OOC: Deception 3 used here: the "acting" element of a long con).

[Thumper]

”He adds "You reckon you're three votes down already an' yet you couldn't even get a "second" to get rid of me?" He smiles "Looks like democracy's turnin' out to be almost as much of a bitch as payback. That's unless maybe you're as bad at readin' minds as you are at readin' people".”

With himself on the scale now, Walt will refuse to take the bait. He’ll bristle internally but ignore the blowhard.

[terrymixon]

Garvin laughs "Metz, old son, no offence but I think you're just about the definition of a "mad scientist". I can work with that well enough but I also think you are a ruddy archeotech addict an' I suspect we're goin' to Aki just so you can get another big hit of it. I propose a new rule for everyone's benefit: Doc you tell us what you are doin' back 'ere in yer lab because I'm worried that you can't see the difference between whether you could do somethin' and whether you should."

"We are where we are and you now have Bilis the fabricator with Daddy issues to go with yer other assortment of "talking tools".

He frowned. "What does that even mean? There is no difference." A few seconds later, he smirks. "I'd be happy to tell you what I'm working on. The challenge will be getting the import and detail down to the level where it will make sense to you. That's not an insult, by the way. What I do is extremely technical and retaining the true impact of the work while making it comprehensible to a layman be a challenge. Still, I've heard that if you can't explain it to a six-year-old--not that I'm comparing you to children--you don't understand it yourself. It will be a difficult task, but I accept.”

"I think Garvin is the disgraced Imperial noble," Metz said. "That terrible accent is his--bad--cover. Secretly, he does origami and composes poems in his room at night. And you're very well trained as a Vargr. Who's a good boy!"

Garvin smiles and replies in a well educated urbane high Imperial drawl "Well, old boy, the catch would be discerning which is my real accent - the one you hear now or that of... my shabby alter ego".

(OOC: Deception 3 used here: the "acting" element of a long con).

Metz looks impressed. "I had no idea, Your Grace. Welcome aboard and don't mind the mess we plebes leave in the fresher."

[terrymixon]

As William is considering what was said, Metz rises and begins to speak. "To comply with Garvin's request, I will explain what I have been working on in my lab and what has been accomplished with the assistance of Bilis. I'm sure that the label of mad scientist will be hung around my neck, but I'll only experiment on myself unless someone asks for it. Earlier, I said I would design an enhanced neural link as part of a package we all might be able to use. I did so, and Bilis helped me to slightly increase the capabilities. Rather than being a tech level 18 augment, it is now tech level 19, most likely. I could delve deeply into the technology, but I will say that everything in it is either existing technology that I have patterns for or an outgrowth of that technology that I can clearly trace back. It is not space magic or Ancients tech. It is what will someday--perhaps even sooner than I expect--be in use on the highest tech worlds. It is not harmful or experimental in any way. Allow me to explain how it functions in detail.

"I also improved upon some of the other augments that might be useful for a bounty hunter, as well as a couple that were aimed more at scientific endeavors, though they wouldn't hurt any of you, either."

A full writeup of everything can be found here:

viewtopic.php?p=714612#p714612

After explaining in detail what is linked to above, he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "While this might seem mad, I'm fifty years old. It's all downhill from here and I have so much more to learn and create. I can't speak to Walt's reasoning in doing all that to himself, but I wanted to be useful to the group in non-lab settings and still be able to advance computer, cybernetics, and robotics sciences for a very long time to come. While I am no Ancient, perhaps one day I will understand what they created well enough to do something similar. Perhaps Garvin is right. I'm a collector and I want it all. Better yet, I want to make it useful to my friends and partners. I also did this to myself to show it was safe. If it isn't, then I have a pattern of me before the changes to go back to, but I have been using this for a fair part of a day and it is all working smoothly. By the time we arrive at Aki, I will be certain one way or the other.

"The benefit of doing it all at once via deconstruction/fabrication is that there is zero recovery time. In the seeming blink of an eye, it's done. In reality, it is almost as fast. Just a couple of minutes. If this is too radical for you, I understand. I'll worry for your safety in dangerous situations, but that is your choice to make, and I will respect it."

Once he finished, he sat, but Roscoe stood up. "I must admit to having a change done as well. Not to my personality, but to the android body I occupy and the capabilities that it gives me. I suppose that makes my android side program more than it was as well, and that might have implications to changing the ship's systems and my main program resident there so that Spicoli's concerns could be addressed without killing me. The change I was intrigued by was a very specific one called individual transformations. Bilis and I spoke while everyone was out and I learned some of what Ancient androids were capable of, and I wasn't interested in being able to do that kind of thing. What did capture my attention was the ability of an android to shift from being an android to a real biological being. Flesh and blood with all the capabilities of being an android thrown in."

He raised a hand and looked at it. "Not to change what I look like--though that is also possible--but to become like you. That was very attractive to me. Don't get me wrong. I like my android body very much and do not intend to become biological as a full-time state, but how useful would it be if I wanted to have a fuller life? Children, even. Real ones, not simply new programs that spring forth as a fully formed being. Or being able to pass the most intense of scans in places where an android is illegal. All attractive enough to convince me to seek Bilis' help."

He looked around and smiled. "I'm still me. Even my body is still mine, with a few minor tweaks. Bilis told me that the same kind of thing could work the other way. That in her world, being mechanical or biological was more of a choice than an unchangeable condition. Ironically, a biological human could get all the benefits of being an android like myself, and the differences between the two states became meaningless. They were one and the same. To me, that's a Singularity. Where the world changes in such a profound way that it is forever altered. Not in a bad way, though. It will give me much to think about for a very long time."

Roscoe sat back down. "That's all for me. I have no more secrets to hide. Well, other than my stealth package will make Garvin jealous and my security package will do the same to Spicoli."

”That might be too adventurous for my blood," Metz said. "Ask me again after I get used to the new me. Though if anyone really is a secret Imperial noble, I really want to know."

[ateno]

Arkar, not really impressed with the talk of high tech gadgets, even though they sound impressive does not say anything. He knows he has to stew on it, growing up rural he got used to doing things with what's available and not with gifts from people from the city.

He calls up the autopsy report on the woman found in the other ship and looks thru it.

Arkar

[Tiglath]

Garvin eventually rallies from his bewildered incomprehension "Roscoe, I'm 'appy for you - I really am".

He then sighs "Doc, these Ancients - didn't they eventually destroy each other and nearly everything else in a devastating civil war? Their gear's just not the sort of stuff you should be 'anding out to mere mortals. I'm wise enough now to accept what I didn't like as a nipper - my catapult 'ad to go on a 'igh shelf in the staff room!"

[terrymixon]

Arkar, not really impressed with the talk of high tech gadgets, even though they sound impressive does not say anything. He knows he has to stew on it, growing up rural he got used to doing things with what's available and not with gifts from people from the city.

He calls up the autopsy report on the woman found in the other ship and looks thru it.

Arkar

No identity for her as no one did a search for her picture. She died of vacuum exposure, likely when her suit was compromised. She had a gunshot wound--postmortem--from Walt. Nothing unusual beyond that.

[terrymixon]

Garvin eventually rallies from his bewildered incomprehension "Roscoe, I'm 'appy for you - I really am".

He then sighs "Doc, these Ancients - didn't they eventually destroy each other and nearly everything else in a devastating civil war? Their gear's just not the sort of stuff you should be 'anding out to mere mortals. I'm wise enough now to accept what I didn't like as a nipper - my catapult 'ad to go on a 'igh shelf in the staff room!"

"Perhaps. I'll think on that."

[terrymixon]

Since William hasn't said anything other than wanting to meet Bilis, Metz will walk out to his lab and return with a small speaker and microphone combo. "See the red light on top? That means the microphone is muted. Press the button and it turns green and you are audible to her. I had her create this version of a communications device because the original one was more difficult for humans to understand."

He set it in front of William and pressed the button, turning the light green. "Bilis, I'm about to introduce you to the rest of us. Whoever is talking will identify themselves. They have questions."

"I am prepared," a mellow female voice said from the speaker. "I am grateful for the opportunity to meet you all."

[terrymixon]

On the way to Aki, everyone has the opportunity to be working on skills/characteristics. The rules for doing so are spelled out at the link below. These are the rules Eris came up with, but I made one significant change. Getting level 0 in a skill still takes two weeks in jump but getting to level one only takes an additional two weeks, not four. I figure you're halfway there when you get level 0. It says yuo need to buy some materials, but I'm going to say that some were ordered before departure to keep you from losing the time.

viewtopic.php?p=709349#p709349

For anyone that ends up with a neural jack, even a level 0 skill will allow for a higher capability with the expert program loading that skill.

You can be working on two characteristics and one skill.

Metz is working on STR, END, and Gun Combat (energy).

I need to know what each of you are working on, and I will add it to your character sheet for future reference.

[terrymixon]

Augmentation. Walt and Metz loaded up. Jaelah is considering a modest one. Spicoli and William had expressed an interest in something, I believe. I need to know if you want something, or nothing at all, and to what extent you want to proceed. You can always change your mind later, but if you're going to do it via the AutoDoc it will have some recovery time (1 day) so there would be some scheduling during the jump.

No rush and whatever you decide is fine. Just trying to get things moving before the Aki arrival.