In Which A Programmer Discovers the Sensorium [Open]

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

He'd heard about the Sensorium - places where anything could be created - but hadn't really believed their capabilities until he'd been inside it.

Kira first tried to create a simple white room, and was surprised when the ship seemed to respond to his words, forming, indeed, a white room around him. After that, he'd populated it with little objects and mementos, starting small, until he'd recreated his room on the Archangel.

Where to go after this? The possibilities were endless, and so he couldn't really resist trying to see how far he could take it. So, he requested a different style of interface: A computer pad through which he could describe the area he had in mind. Kira's fingers flew over the keyboard, and before long, the white room had become a beautiful, idyllic garden in front of a large manor house, complete with glass-covered gazebo.

Beyond that, though, the rest of the world began to take shape - a balcony overlooking large body of water, in the center of which was a massive pillar that stretched high into the sky... where it disappeared from view. In fact, though the walls did an excellent job at recreating the illusion of a blue sky, the entire place was contained as part of a space colony - or, as known in his world, a PLANT.

It was Lacus' manor garden, where he'd awoken after the destruction of his Strike. He'd only spent a brief amount of time here as he recuperated, but it was still... relaxing. It felt peaceful.

Kira sat on one of the garden benches, looking up at the sky, and feeling the breeze across his face. None of it was real; it was just a simulation that he'd programmed. But how could he ever tell the difference?

(ooc: Open, open, open! Come bug and/or meet Kira :D

Also, this is a truly open log. Feel free to thread hop or interject if only to meet new people 8D)

Comments

[morphitudinous]

Honestly, Billy Cranston wasn't in the business of crashing everyone's private Sensorium-time uninvited. He'd made his way to the simulated reality rooms to test the viability of organizing chemistry experiments here for his future students in the crew's upcoming educational endeavor.

Distracted as he was by his brain's attempt to visualize a particularly acidic formula, his feet failed to arrive at the intended empty Sensorium and instead deposited him in Kira's garden. For a moment, the site managed to quiet his mind. It was pure, beautiful, and he had a fleeting fantasy about being back at home and sharing this with his friends---only to realize glancing at the back of the bench that he'd intruded on someone else's simulation. Billy debated attempting to quietly slip out, then decided he owed his unknown crewmate an apology. He spoke up from a few paces behind Kira's bench.

"I profusely apologize for the intrusion. It was not my intention to interrupt your simulation, and I shall excuse myself." That said, he inched to the exit guiltily.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

He sensed the man's presence a few moments before he spoke up, and despite it being a rather unexpected visit, Kira managed to avoid any external signs of being started. He turned around, standing up, and shaking his head. "Ah, no... it's all right. I was just seeing what this place could do."

It was a young man whom Kira guessed was... around his age, actually. Maybe a bit older or younger; he wasn't sure. He hadn't been on the deck with the new arrivals, either, so the obvious conclusion was that was probably already part of the crew. Either way, Kira hadn't seen him before.

He turned back to look up at the simulated sky. "...this is all computer code. It's hard to believe."

[morphitudinous]

'Computer code' was among the list of trigger words that instantly drove the younger male into a talkative mood, so it wasn't a surprise to Billy that he would abandon his plans for chemical testing and instead take a moment to admire the structure. "Agreed. The scope of the immersion in an artificial environment goes far beyond the processing capabilities of technology in my home era."

"At least, the capabilities of Earth technology unaided by elusive alien sources unknown to the general public," he amends a moment later.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira blinked for a moment - the other boy's style of speech sounded like some of the professors he'd known at Heliopolis, actually. Still, he got the meaning well enough. "It's beyond anything in my world, too. We have simulators, but nothing so... real as this."

Alien technology? So was he from another world - like Selene's - where aliens were common?

[morphitudinous]

There's a nod from Billy. "Honestly, when I first arrived I wondered whether any of this was real. Logically, the bizarre sensations of emerging from podsleep and being thrust into this environment should have cleared my doubts, but...sometimes I still wonder how I came to co-lead a band of engineers on an organic vessel hurtling through space."

Raking a hand through his hair, he glanced at the other through round glasses. "Is this garden from your home world?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Engineers, huh? Maybe he'd have gotten along well with Athrun, what with all the little robots he was always making. "That must be strange. ...do you take care of the ship?"

Kira looked up at the sky around him, wondering how to phrase it. "Yes. It's the home of a friend of mine, on a PLANT... sorry," he amended, "A space colony, in Earth orbit."

[morphitudinous]

"You'd think that we would, but we've found that Stacy handles herself quite efficiently. We've intervened to save the ship in an emergency once before, but we receive Violations for attempting to alter the ship unless circumstances permit. For the most part, our Engineering department has concentrated on developing communications technologies and weaponry---though there is also a core of proficient computer programmers in the event that we need their expertise."

Leaning back, Billy turned his head to the sky, marveling at the expanse of the simulated world. "A space colony? In my time, space exploration efforts haven't yet progressed beyond a few brief landings and studies in orbit---in all likelihood, a colony designed to sustain humans for the long term is years away." But enough about the state of technology in Billy's world. He wanted to know about the other male's. "Did you live on that colony, or a similar one?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

That was actually pretty interesting. And, Kira thought, maybe a way to help out that wouldn't involve having to hurt people. His gaze came back down to Billy. "I studied computer engineering, actually - specifically programming."

Huh, was that so? In that case, he was from far before Kira's time - before the Cosmic Era calendar had even started, in the infancy of space travel. "I lived on another one called Heliopolis," he answered, for a moment shifting as though uncomfortable. "I was there to study."

[morphitudinous]

A small smile crosses Billy's face, and he pulls out a handheld device with a data screen, glancing at Engineering's to-do list. "Then I believe we have a place for you in our department, if you'd like to join us. My own computer skills are limited by the relatively primitive era I come from, but there are computer programmers who would gladly take you on with their projects."

Billy recognizes the twinge of discomfort from his own mannerisms, so he quickly backpedals. "I see. My own life was more landlocked---but no matter where we all come from, we've been thrust into this struggle for our lives and a trip home," he mutters. But now's not the time for complaints.

"Come to think of it, I should have introduced myself some time ago. I'm Billy Cranston, pleased to meet you." His hand almost hovers between being offered and not being offered. By now he's well aware that the handshake is far from a universal greeting gesture, and he doesn't want to offend.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira nodded - he'd probably want to talk it over with Lacus first, but... well, he couldn't just sit around and do nothing, right? "I'd be okay with that," he said, looking out at the water again. "If I can help out, I should." He paused, wondering how best to phrase this. "My... main project was writing an OS to help pilots interface with military hardware," Kira began (even if he hadn't known it all at the time). "Do you think that would be useful?"

It's ok, Billy. Kira's not against talking about the technology in his world, it's more that Heliopolis was destroyed. And that's kind of frustrating. "It's true," he says with a shrug. "It's hard to believe that there are so many people here from so many worlds."

"I'm Kira Yamato. It's nice to meet you too." Kira, too, sees Billy going for the shake - and even if it's not all that common in his life so far, he's familiar with it. So he moves to put his hand out... but sees Billy's hesitation, and so hesitates himself. It's almost funny, actually.

[hero-sting.livejournal.com]

With the new arrivals, Chris had felt a tad weird. He was kind of hoping someone he knew would have been released. But non luck, so far. So he decided to check out the Sensorium, unaware it was being used. Spying a young man around his age sitting in a garden, he was a little surprised.

"Hi, there. I don't mean to interrupt but what are you doing?"

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira had stood up when the person had entered, and he turned to look - it wasn't Lacus, he'd known that much from their footsteps. It wasn't someone he recognized, either, so that meant that they hadn't been new... but that wasn't anything to hold against him, either.

"Ah... I'm testing this system. We don't have anything like it in my world. It's really incredible."

[hero-sting.livejournal.com]

"Ah. Well that explains it. You kind of get overwhelmed with everything here at first. Using the Sensorium for something does help clear some people's minds. I'm Chris. Chris Ramirez."

He offered his hand to shake it.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

"I can see why it would," Kira answered - and met the other's hand with his own. "Kira Yamato. It's nice to meet you."

[hero-sting.livejournal.com]

"You too, Kira." He took a moment to take in the garden for a second, breathing in.

"Is this from your home?" Dumb question, but excellent conversation starter.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira looked back at the simulated sky. "It's the home of a friend of mine, up on PLANT... that is, on a space colony orbiting Earth. I stayed here."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly can't help but peek in. There's something—familiar—about the place.

"It's beautiful," she murmurs.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

For a moment, Kira is stunned by the girl's appearance - is she actually an alien? - but he manages to recover before being too rude. Just because she looks strange doesn't mean she's any less deserving of his respect. Still, he can't help but feel a bit awkward. "It is... it belonged to a good friend of mine."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Maybe where she comes from, they have some really out-there cosmetics.

"Kind of reminds me of when I was a little girl." She pads just a little further in, expression mostly neutral, but with a little bit of a smile. "Is that a structural spine?" She's looking in the direction of that huge column coming out of the water.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Kira wasn't sure what to make of that - did she somehow know the PLANTs of his world? "Uh... yes it is, actually. You're familiar with them?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"I was born in space," Luly says with a little nod. "The Most Glorious Ocean's Spear wasn't as big as this, but it had the reinforcement struts down the whole freespace section..." She gestures vaguely. "Seems silly to waste all this space by making it one-sided, though." She's looking straight up, now.

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

She was born in space, then? That's actually pretty interesting, since Kira's fairly sure she means beyond the Earth Sphere. "It isn't one-sided," he amends, looking up with her. "It's shaped like an hourglass. There's another living section on the opposite side."

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

Lafiel had spent so much time in the cramped quarters of a spaceship (first Basroil, then here) that she'd forgotten what a joy open spaces and gardens could be. It was one of those small pleasures you learned to lock away for breaks when you're in the military. You genuinely don't desire it until you're on leave...when you suddenly do.

She'd seen Meluly enter the sensorium and followed to say hi to her friend get her thoughts on the security breech.

"It reminds me of the architecture of Lacfacale." Mental sigh. Home.

But when she glanced down she noticed that someone was with her, a grounder boy with messy brown hair that seemed to miraculously stay out of his big watery purple eyes. He had the delicate features that could pass for an Abh with some hair dye (an amusing thought).

[kirasaves.livejournal.com]

Another set of footsteps, these so light-footed that for a moment he almost did think it was Lacus... but the young woman certainly wasn't the girl I knew. She could have almost passed for an exceptionally attractive human (though her hair might have given her away as a Coordinator) if it weren't for her slender, pointed ears.

It was exciting, in a way, to meet people who were obviously not from his world, or even from Earth at all. "...is Lacfacale your home?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Oh!" Luly says with an epiphaniac expression as her mental map of the layout rearranges itself. "The Spear, it was all a cylindrical configuration..." She gestures vaguely.

Her eyes unfocus a little as Lafiel enters in a way that suggest she's used to dealing with lightly-walking people. She offers a little wave at the entrance, only looking over—and breaking into a smile as she sees Lafiel—after.