It's the only way to be sure [Open]

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

So many people had recommended the Media Library to Soren that it ended up being one of the first locations on-ship that he paid a visit to. As promised, there was plenty of information to be found in convenient, electronic format.

Convenient for everyone who wasn't essentially from a medieval time period and thus had no framework for understanding computers, let along databases.

Losing patience, Soren began mashing the controls on some kind of instrument panel, and was rewarded with a moving picture featuring humans being menaced by floating tin plates, a woman singing about less-than-optimal romantic encounters, and some sort of storybook featuring a blue-skinned 'space explorer' and his evil nemesis (both with rather improbable hair).

"Infernal machine," he hissed, hitting the table with one small, bony magefist. "I'll show you a bad romance."

As far as he was concerned, the future should be destroyed. With fire.

Comments

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

Eva's back in the Media Library, scanning in some of the books she got on XaXing. If she's going to enjoy Latin American poetry, it stands to reason that everyone else should also have that opportunity.

However, it's hard to appreciate the beauty of the sentient spirit when there's some weird Eurodance synthesizer-laden teenybopper music blaring from a rather irritable-looking man's data pad. Clearly not made by people who could make music, like in her day.

"You look like you hated that as much as I did."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Soren snaps his head up to look at Eva. "...what is this racket? Is this supposed to be music? All I wanted from this blasted thing was some reference material!"

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

"Hardly music in my book," Eva mutters. Whatever happened to Queen? What's with all these fandangled electronic musicians I mean come on that's not how real musicians make music. "What reference material are you looking for? It's kind of intimidating for a first-timer."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"I come from a world considerably less... advanced than many of the crew. I'd like to get caught up on major inventions and technologies that the others would be familiar with that I would know nothing about."

Knowledge was a vital resource; without it, he was as good as blind in this battle.

[vissernone.livejournal.com]

"Alright, well. That's a bit tricky, given how many different worlds we're all from, not to mention times, so you're only a little bit behind the bell curve. We've got some people around here from 3000 AD, or worlds where some of our more rudimentary technologies are unnecessary." She pulls out her own data pad, stuffing her poetry books into the canvas bag she's taken to carrying around. "So when abouts are you from? What was the preferred method of transportation in you time?"

[iceiceprincess]

It was purely by luck that she had found the Media Library. By chance, but she would have had to visit this place sooner or later if she wanted to continue living up to her title of being an Oracle. With the Sacred Tome gone, she would have to work even harder than before. She didn't like it, but it would have to do for the while being.

She wasn't expecting someone to already be there when she entered the library, where she raised a brow when she saw the young man slam his fist onto the table. Curiosity got the better of her as she floated over to where he was and peered over to look.

"Hmm, interesting."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Pointed ears, wings, bizarre black sclera... suspicious. But since everyone on this ship seemed to resemble the laguz without actually being one, Soren merely snorted.

"Yes. Interesting. This is the face of progress. Mankind manages to discover the technology to create sight and sound from nothing, and what does it use this power for? Poorly-conceived entertainment pandering to the masses, with no clear narrative, reason, or substance. No doubt this is the environment that created that ill-bred oaf with the puppet hand." He was talking about Punchy, of course.

"Would it destroy them to speak clearly? What is this 'disco stick'? What is a 'jackwagon'?!"

[iceiceprincess]

Pram stared down at the piece of technology that had been blasting music a few moments ago as she listened to the human talk, not being able to help but feel a tad amused by the man's reaction rather than what was being presented on the device.

"Honestly, I could care less about how humans go about with trying to make their language colorful." She replied, not bothering to define the vocabularies being questioned. "And if this is entertaining to them, then it's a world not worth saving."

Not that she was even planning to save such world from the beginning. She was a demon overlord, after all; she didn't do this hero business.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"Hmph. 'Colorful', is it? More like incomprehensible."

Soren shot Pram a suspicious glance although almost all his glances were suspicious. "And what, exactly, would you be?" If the answer was 'god of destruction', he was really not in the mood.

[iceiceprincess]

Again with the suspicious look. What, did she look like she was going to steal his things? She couldn't help but give a small frustrated sigh as she heard the question; but of course, this place was a collection of remainders from billions of worlds that existed, it couldn't be helped if there were some who didn't know about her.

"I'm a demon, can't you tell from my ears and wings?" She said as she brushed her hair away from her face. "Not just any demon, I'm an overlord."

There was someone she knew of who had the title God of Destruction, though.

[unpaidcontract.livejournal.com]

Hei had been continuing on his rather meticulous exploration of the ship when he had ended up in the media library. Admittedly, he wasn't exactly the type to spend time with books or movies, but as he was here, he opted to look around all the same.

What he found, though, was a man apparently having a fight with a computer.

Upon moving closer, Hei discovered that he had actually met the individual already. He didn't have any names to work with, but that was of little issue to Hei.

"Having problems?"

Not that Hei was an electronics expert, seeing as his method of fixing a TV meant smacking it a few times, but at least he could use a computer.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Ah, it was that suspicious assassin-type from earlier.

"Oh, no problems. No problems at all. Well, there is the slight issue of this 'computer' deciding that what I really need is not information, but screeching, pounding dissonance. This is not music."

[unpaidcontract.livejournal.com]

Hei looked over at the device to find a woman (still) singing about bad romances. Maybe it was because of stuff like this that he never got into the music scene, lifestyle choices aside.

"Did you try narrowing your search?" he asked. "Your keyword choices might've been bad."

Then again, it might have been the general mashing of the instrument panel that had caused the search to go haywire, and not so much a bad choice of keywords.

Still, one thing at a time.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"'Key word'?" Soren repeated, in a manner that suggested he had no idea what Hei was talking about. "I don't want to solve puzzles; I want to access reference material."

Now, now, Hei, Soren had attempted to press buttons one at a time BEFORE pressing everything. Give him some credit.

[unpaidcontract.livejournal.com]

"You need to be more specific when searching. What did you input the first time?"

Ah, the joys of explaining technology to the uninitiated.

[on_errantry]

Rhiow needed sleep more often than normal these days, after a couple magical crises right in a row and a good chunk of memory restored. She avoided her usual places, and it wasn't very subtle that she was avoiding anyone who might know her enough to ask what was wrong.

The Media Library was usually a perfect place to sleep - quiet, few people came in here except to read or watch television, and out of the way. Rhiow was curled up in a nest of tablets someone had neglected to stack back up when the music blared through the room.

Ears laid back, she went seeking the source of the noise, leaping up on the table. The ehhif holding the tablet looked like he hadn't intended to wake her up at all, so Rhiow turned her severe gaze to the tablet itself. "I suppose you think that's funny, picking on ehhif who don't know how you work. Stop that this instant, that noise is worse than mating season."

Although she didn't appear to use any kind of magic, the tablet shut itself off immediately. Rhiow sniffed. "Gadgets with a mind of their own. Worse than Gates."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Soren was actually used to animals (close enough) with supernatural powers, so he didn't look terribly shocked when Rhiow showed up and began talking to the datapad.

"My thanks," he said. Unusual ability she had, there. "I had wanted some simple reference material, and instead I find my ears and eyes assaulted."

Technology. Bah.

[on_errantry]

"It's no trouble," Rhiow said, putting her whiskers forward in a smile. "Computers may seem like they're out to get you, but they really can't think for themselves. It's all about giving them very specific instructions."

She perked her ears forward and turned back to the tablet. "Stop sulking and turn on. Open search. Reference-" Rhiow looked up at Soren. "Most of them accept voice commands, since a lot of the crew doesn't have the convenience of fingers. You just have to tell it only and exactly what you want."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Soren sighed. "Of course. Leave it to the future to amass vast amounts of information and store it in finicky automatons."

He eyed the tablet with no small amount of suspicion, then addressed it directly. "I'd like to see a list of important technologies and inventions throughout beo-- human history. If you please."

[on_errantry]

"You'll be reading that for quite some time," Rhiow said dryly, watching the surface of the datapad populate with information. "The People have more sense than to worry about that kind of thing. Anything we can't do with our own four paws isn't worth doing."

She curled her tail around her feet. "Sorry - I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Rhiow, one of the ship's Councilors. I'm also part of the Magical Department."

[combustible_me]

That was nothing that Ellyn had ever heard before. It basically constituted as noise. And not pleasant white noise either. Totally distracting--though considering the subject material she'd found (the Endless' treatise on elementalism), it wasn't difficult for her to be distracted.

"Th'hell is that racket?" she growled, coming around a bank of unfamiliar machines. She'd been lucky that, in her primitive way, Ellyn had asked the computer to *give* her that book. It had taken her more than a few minutes to figure out how to turn the pages, though. And she'd whacked it against a hard surface a time or two before that.

"Cut that out!" Though that bawl was not directed at Soren, but at the device in his hands. Because that will totally work.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Miraculously, the device fell silent.

Soren stared at it in disbelief. "Someone built a contraption that works better if you shout at it?"

[combustible_me]

Soren wasn't the only one staring.

"That worked? Shoutin' at it worked?" Ellyn scrubbed a hand over her face. "This place makes less sense th'more I spend here.

I take it ya never did find yer friend you were lookin' for, didja?" Since the little guy was poking around the library and not having a happy reunion somewhere.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Soren frowned. "I did not. I can only assume he's somewhere, in another one of those mucus pods. I cannot imagine this vessel would choose to pluck me out of my world and leave him there. What about you?"

[combustible_me]

"Didn't find Eiros either, an' I'm assumin' same raw deal as you. Got no clue why I'd get picked up an' not him. 'Specially considerin' he is a mage like some of the others 'round here seem ta be." And like the guy from the Magic Department seemed to have wanted.

But they got her, instead. Ellyn grunted.

"So we're both stuck."