trans_9 | Technical Difficulties [Open]

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Technical Difficulties [Open]

Kyle's not too pleased with himself. Back home, he made a habit of carrying around writing materials, because inspiration struck at random moments - it never waited until he was at his desk - and he had to record them quickly. Here, though, there was no paper or pencil in his bag, and he didn't know where to find any. Which led to him combing the halls, looking for a room where he might find writing utensils.

After twenty minutes of fruitless wandering, it had finally struck him that there was someone who happened to know where everything was, and would answer his questions. So he just asked Stacy - only to find out that he'd been carrying both with him all the time.

Somehow, he'd missed the memo about being able to write on one's omnicom. So, rather disgruntled with himself, he's retreated to the Obs Deck, and found himself a nice chair. It's not hard to avoid thinking about the fact that he's sitting on a chair made of bouncy, <i>fatty</i> tissue, when he's sketching neat guns with the stylus. At least the stylus behaves like an ordinary pencil, and doesn't require any of his (nonexistent) knowledge of computer programming and usage.

He's designing a gun that has an abnormally-long barrel, and sketches of what look like little magnets next to it - essentially, a sniper rifle based on the principles of a rail gun. Other half-fleshed-out sketches had been put aside; a few vaguely grenade-like spheres, a couple more guns, a rod of some sort...

[Open. Anyone who likes guns/engineering is welcome to talk shop with him, as is anyone who wants to meet a paranoid inventor. Sounds like the perfect setup for a good time, right? XD]

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Yoshimi shrugs, running a hand through her hair. "Worse. There was a point when I was younger when AIs were a dime a dozen. You could buy a housekeeper for about 700 yen, so consequently even the poorest of people had two of them. They were all heaps, though, so they broke down completely in five years after their owners paid back the original cost by ten in repairs, and the cheap AI industry died pretty quickly, replaced by the quality stuff. The number of them has increased over time, and it's gotten dire in the last five years or so. It took people a while to gather enough money to afford them, so it was a lot better for a while." Of course, her income has increased drastically in the last five years, too, so she's not completely heartbroken about it. It still disgusts her, though.

"Anyway, they're not looking for a fast and easy solution - they're looking for something that lasts. I'm enough of a Luddite myself to know what's going through their minds. If they just made all the AIs blow up in one go, people would stop caring about how shocking and traumatic it was to have their maid spontaneously combust, have the Internet that has come to run our lives cease to exist, have planes explode with hundreds on board, and the whole thing would start over again. This way, they're making a solid point: There're enough of them to destroy the human race if they so desire. It makes a lot of sense; it just sucks." She has to admit, though, her respect for technology experts and computer programers has increased tenfold since the rampancy virus appeared. It was such a solid plan that it was nigh on ineffable.

She blinks, remembering the initial interest point. "Uhm... well, I could run and grab it for you now, if you like. It's just hanging out in my locker with only my earring for company."

700 yen must not be that much money, then. "Isn't that always how it is? There's a reason quality parts are more expensive." They were usually better, too. Kyle preferred to fabricate a good gun the first time around, rather than deal with a steady stream of repairs - his time was pretty valuable, too, considering the ideas still bouncing in his head. If he didn't have time to sit down and work them out, the resistance wouldn't have gotten any new toys to play with.

Hm. Yoshimi certainly has a point; he's not familiar with the fine workings or ideas behind that kind of terrorism (he's part of an organized resistance, not an indiscriminate terrorist cell). It does really make sense, if people have gotten so lazy and complacent while allowing robots to do all their work, that turning the robots against their masters will have more of an impact.

"Sure. Do you know where the engineering lab, or something similar, is? I've been looking for one." And failing, miserably. This ship confuses him.

700 yen really isn't that much money. "Exactly. The point of the cheap AI industry was to draw in more income. If the companies make an effort to not make an effort, and they covertly monopolize the manufacturing companies that produce the parts needed to repair the bots, then they get more money in constant repairs than in the single installment required for the quality stuff. I'm not sure whether it's good or not that people figure out the scheme and effectually boycotted it. From my point of view, the world's sense of indignation has grown, so when they all figured out that they were being conned, they all set fire to their tech and started doing things on their own, knowing (or assuming) that AIs would make a come back in a more reliable form." She shrugs again, looking faintly amused. "I guess the world has made a little bit of progress if the public can figure out schemes like that. It only took them about two centuries of post-industrial revolution plotting."

Yoshimi, unfortunately, is far too familiar with the fine workings of indiscriminate terrorist cells. Not really by choice, though; it's just the way her brain works. Working for the side that needs saving is more lucrative, therefore she obstinately refuses to give her talents over to the opposition. No matter how much she agree with them.

She blinks, turning her thoughts away from robots to the complex inner passages that make up Stacy. "Uhm... no. But I do know where the white rooms with the thinky-powers are. We could ask someone else, I suppose." Honestly, Yoshimi believes that the ship was built to be confusing.

"It does make sense, although all it does is advance their own greed." Companies in Pelinor were prevented from doing the same thing by the government that essentially owned all of them. Plans like that had been derided as harmful and greedy for so long, no one in business even thought about trying something similar.

"The Sensorium? Yes, I was wondering if I could use it to approximate a small metal-working factory. I doubt that even the engineering lab has the kind of equipment I need, but - all that probably depends on the state of your weapon. May I go down to the Weapons and Possessions locker with you, so I can see it?" Fixing guns. That's something he knows all about, more than killer AIs, and he's itching to help.

"Greed is the favorite of the seven deadly sins these days. That and sloth. People try their hardest to achieve both simultaneously." Yoshimi again looks disgusted. If one were to choose one of the sins, she believes that you should at least pick one of the passionate ones, like wrath or lust. The other ones are a waste of time.

"Sensorium..." She tries to catalogue the name so that she doesn't have to resort to calling it 'the white rooms with the thinky-powers' again. "Ah, well, the least we can do is try, neh? Sounds good to me."

"They are the easiest to indulge," he points out. Get more of something or another, while lying around all day. Sounds pretty easy, given the right tools.

"All right. Let's go." Rising, he tucks away the omnicom, with a touch of regret for the half-finished concepts, but more anticipation. Finally, something he can do.

She shrugs, nodding faintly. She hadn't thought about it like that, really.

Yoshimi has to orient herself, frowning faintly as she does. It doesn't help that she has a bad sense of direction; everything is confusing enough as it is. When she think she knows where she's going, she glances at Kyle, and starts walking.

Kyle's mental compass is utterly useless in a structure such as this, so he trusts that Yoshimi knows better than he does, and follows her. "Not used to the ship's structure?" he asks, wryly.

Yoshimi grimaces. "Is anyone? If the disorientation wears off, I'll be happy," she mutters, pausing to check their surroundings, trying to remember where in the hell she's going.

"I think it's..."

With a faint feeling of smugness, she finds the lockers and opens hers. "Tada," she says, her tone not nearly as enthusiastic as the interjection necessitates. With a not-really-at-all-flourishy flourish, she pulls the bag-clothed gun out, hearing the clink of the few loose bits rolling around as she lifts it. Removing the bag and throwing it back into the now empty locker, she offers Kyle the antique, rather broken (now that she thinks about it) gun. She blinks, looking confused for a minute before making a face that says clearly 'oh, right!' before frowning faintly. "Yeah, you know... its is broken. I'd forgotten about that. The last Class C I fought threw a tire at me, and I dropped it while I was dodging. Knocked a few bits loose." The loose bits are in her hand. "I had no clue where anything went, so I just kind of... let it lie, you know?"

"Yeah, it's not exactly like there's maps lying around." That'd be nice. Really nice. Kyle just hopes that growing up in a grid-like city doesn't mean he can't find his way around in a curving, twisting labyrinth like this.

He trailed Yoshimi to the lockers, eyes brightening slightly as she removed the gun. There was a telltale clink - something loose, either from damage or time. "Can I see those?" Holding out a hand, he turned the gun over with the other hand, examining it.

"Hmn...It looks rather old. Would you mind if I could somehow find a way to melt this down and remold it? I might be able to use some of the excess metal to make something else for it - a silencer, maybe. This one has a lot of kick, doesn't it? My guns - the guns I used to make - are designed to direct recoil downwards." Mumbling something under his breath about wishing Tarios was here, he turned the gun over again.

"Maybe someone made one or something. 'Course, that'd make things too easy..." She wouldn't be surprised if anyone attempting to make a map had been pinned down and mugged by tentacles. Those pesky tentacles...

Yoshimi plops the parts into his hand, watching as he examines her rather dead antique, eyebrows lifted. Really, it was kind of stupid to even think to ask for it to be repaired. The thing was decimated.

"Feel free; all I want is something that shoot bullets rapidly. Anyway, I'm sure you know better than I do. In my dimension, our guns these days are weird air guns that pack one hell of a punch, but don't do much else. They eliminated bullets for common use about forty years ago, after they developed the new tech. I only got my hands on this one through an antique shop owner who looked to be as old as his merchandise. The bullets came in a fairly steady stream from the government after they figured out that I couldn't take down seven foot robots with my hands, but other than that, I haven't gotten any help with the thing. It took me a month to figure out how to disassemble it." Not my fault that I don't know how to work a normal gun; blame the anti-violence squads, she grumbles inwardly, shoving her hair out of her eyes.

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Technical Difficulties [Open]

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