September 13th, 2006
Not more than five days into being home from the U, and I need a new pair of pants. Seriously, it's just my luck to try and hike my way into the city through a few clicks worth of forest and end up nearly cracking my head after tripping on a novelty paperweight. What the hell it was doing out here, I have no idea.
My first impression was that someone had dumped one hell of weird special edition Gamecubes - mostly because it was about that size - but as much as it was a cube, it was also smooth-walled and ...
... I was likely seeing things, but the first time I looked at it, there was some sort of circuitry design on it. Then it was just a plain, flat black.
The corners weren't smoothed either - one of them caught on my pants and now they were sporting a tear from the knee down. I just figured I was lucky enough that it didn't mess my leg up in the process. That would have sucked.
I decided to pick the thing up and haul it back home - it was surprisingly heavy for its size. Maybe some sort of rock? Unlikely. Still, it looks nifty, and doesn't seem to be leaking anything - perfectly solid if you ask me - or to be anything but smooth and dry. Nifty.
If nothing else, I thought it'd make a good conversation piece.
September 20th, 2006
Amusing note - whatever the paperweight's made of, the cat likes it. Just about as close to being a seal of approval as possible, I think. Also, it seems to be a great coaster ...
September 23rd, 2006
I forgot I'd left a half-full mug of coffee on the paperweight for the last two days. Picked it up today.
It was still warm. Not 'lukewarm', not 'room temperature', but 'just got done with being too warm, good to drink now'.
This requires further study.
October 1st, 2006
I'm keeping this thing, whatever the hell it is. Apparently, my laptop's battery is shot. I found out when I carried it out of the room and it suddenly stopped working. I carried it back and it suddenly had power again.
It didn't take me too long to come up with a working theory of 'the Cube did it'.
Testing with my console, a TV set, and various electrical appliances proved ... interesting.
October 5th, 2006
A few hours before I was set to go back over the border and to the U, Pops brought back the electricity bills.
It was a busy few hours.
October 18th, 2006
In other news, I'm trying to get into the daily grind of lectures and labs again.
Also, I'm pretty sure that whatever the hell my new paperweight it is, it's related to what's filtering onto the various forums online ... miracle goop? Chemical X? Yeah. That stuff that got yanked off the web a few days after it was first put up. That was a few weeks ago, actually. Nowadays, there's a few sites about it, but nothing quite as detailed as that initial posting, wherever it came from.
I tried sympathy and contagion out two days ago, set my PS2 on it. Results less than promising.
November 21st, 2006
Spoke too soon. Woke up to see the Cube glowing. Also, with a chunk of my manga collection now labeled 'Missing Presumed'.
Admittedly, this is more than just mildly concerning.
The upside being, my PS2 is now a universal media player when confronted with exposure to Sisters of Mercy music.
Have acquired headphones and Jade Empire for ... further testing.
December 1st, 2006
I checked and checked again ... the Cube _is_ bigger. It's also glimmering pretty much steadily as well as running my refrigerator ...
December 24th, 2006
Back home for the holidays and a funeral. Don't want to talk about it.
The Cube's back to its original size since two days ago, when the surface cracked and fell off. The shell looks vaguely crystalline, and I kept most of it for further study. A chunk doesn't seem to do anything by itself, other than act as a relay for the primary unit, which could be very useful in the future.
Also, caught cat licking Cube yesterday.
December 25th, 2006
At midnight, I had a very interesting conversation.
With my cat.
In the morning, I found out it wasn't just a dream. Mom just about freaked when she demanded salmon and went on a tirade about how little she appreciated getting spayed a few years back.
I think I'll sit this one out.
At this point, I'm pretty damn sure it's _that stuff_. Current term seems to be Handwavium. Catchy. Bets on whoever came up with that name being inspired by Keiyurium?
January 13th, 2007
Bleah. Dear flu virus, fuck you. Sincerely, me.
I was down for around a week, interesting fever dreams though.
Anything that leads you to cobbling together the bits and pieces of Solid, as I'm calling it now, into something that floats in the middle of your dorm room isn't necessarily a bad thing, even if it does suck at the time.
The weird thing is ... I'm getting _ideas_ all of the sudden. I don't know why, but they seem to be working, too. More often than not. I've never been much good at hardware, but somehow I pried apart and then put together a sort of universal remote out of a broken piece of the Cube's shell, an old and defunct mouse, and my spare console controller.
February 17th, 2007
You know, I've never wanted to own an automobile before. Didn't really have a reason to.
Sitting in a hoverchair I'd gotten to work last night, watching Youtube clips of jets and choppers, I think I've found one.
Then I hit the space-shuttle launch clips ...
March 2nd, 2007
Home again, and lugging excessive amounts of baggage ... pretty much every bit of functional and non-functional kipple I've managed to put together over the last few months.
Also, one backpack's worth of Cube shell.
I think ... no, I'm pretty sure that I have an idea that's going to work ...
Now all I need is a framework.
I'm cutting the hedge when my uncle's pocket cruiser catches my eye standing on top of its trailer in the back of his property.
In my mind, I'm already working on a sales-pitch.
May 10th, 2007
This is it. I can feel it in my bones as I breathe in the salty air of the seaside.
It didn't take more than two weeks to get everything aligned and ready. I was even pretty sure the boat wouldn't fall apart - the Cube had been working on overtime. Apparently, the cat could convince it to grow and shed, given salmon bribes aplenty - since hovering seemed to work alright.
The week before I got started on that I sold one of my initial projects through a security consulting company. Wonder how far they'll get on reverse engineering that kinetic shield before they come to 'and here, magic happens' on their charts.
What?
Well, I'd always been a bit of a Herbert fan. Since I'm dealing with force-fields mostly, putting one of those together had seemed an appropriate test.
The money got me the boat.
My Cube's sheddings gave me the means. Placed throughout the boat, acting as relays and projectors.
Common sense made me take a long drive with it for this final test.
Two laptops, one of them a truly ancient Toshiba with a P75 processor, an LCD display on the forward bulkhead. A couple of webcams on rotating mounts up on deck. My universal remote, two trackballs, a stack of maps. What passes for working controls.
The first field snaps into shape, tying the whole array of Solids together and, incidentally, making sure the boat stays in one piece. The second one just humms, making the air feel charged for a moment before it fades out into background buzz. I can hear it, though. It's still there. We have containment.
Third field. For a moment, it's like somebody poured ice-water down my back, the boat lurches ...
... and everything is still.
Slowly, giving the altimeter I'd scrounged up at an army surplus store a look, I roll one trackball back ...
... I don't feel anything.
The camera, though, is now showing sky.
Inertia control? Didn't expect that. I'm keeping the safety harness on for now, though.
My other hand reaches for the second trackball. I roll it forward.
And, in a moment, my uncertainty is gone.
I'm well and truly flying.
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

Just a thought that occured to me. One of the rules is 'play nice', and 'don't break the universe'.
Well, on first blush, it appears that Hephaestus and Rockhounds, Inc. are operating in the same ball park, trying to play the same game, on the same field, at the same time.
This is an incorrect assumption.
As written, Rockhounds, Inc, produces some of the finest in asteroidal living and working habitats, Space Rocks ranging in size from FrigginHuge to Hey, did I calibrate the radar right?
Hephaestus nibbles through the asteroid field, converting smallish asteroids, the size of schools, football stadiums, car dealerships, into processed, pre-waved and unwaved 'stock', and profit.
I'm certain that if Hephaestus runs into a rock big enough and round enough and suitable for Space-Rock-a-forming, Rockhounds is gonna get the call.
That is all.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

Submitted for Approval

Ship:
Ship Name: Foundry Hephaestus, Auxillaries and Shuttles

Created by Nicholas Casler (Wiregeek, Kokuten)
Registry Number:HSF prefix indicates Hephaestus Space Fleet.
Shuttles: The HSF incorporates two 'fast shuttles', 'wavemodded conventional automobiles, with AI cores onboard. Both of these vehicles are capable of self drive and are fully autonomous.
Millie: HSF-006 'Millie' is an AI controlled 4-door sedan dispatch boat, with integrated airlock dividers, allowing any of the three compartments to remain pressurized while others are exposed to vaccum.
Chassis: Millie is based off of a 1983 Subaru GL wagon. She's not the best looking or fastest vehicle in space, but she's reliable, she can park on a dime and bring back change, and she's Here to Help.
AI Core: Millie was intended to be a greek goddess, but the AI core generated as a perky blonde secretary, professional and dedicated. Millie isn't a supergenius, but she's more than capable enough to motor her chassis around Fenspace's docks and yards without any trouble.
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .1c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor, transverse mounted.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* I'm a GIRL, that's why!: Millie's AI core is female, emphatically so. As of yet, this has posed no problems with romantic entanglements, but she tends to avoid having to dispose of vermin or lift truly heavy objects, this is what boys are for, after all.
* I may not be a supermodel, but...: Millie is aware that her chassis isn't the 'pinnacle of automotive engineering', but she still likes to look her best. Keeping her in good tires and keeping the paint clean and polished are a necessity. If the interior and exterior are not well-kept and maintained on a regular basis, Millie will lose efficiency and speed.
* Oh BOYS!: Millie is quite fond of the 'Boys', Hephaestus' small fleet of 'waved Suburbans, and they're quite fond of her. Fond enough that if she calls, the poor devil loading a ton or two of rich steel slag into the back of one of the Boys may find himself working alone, while a pseudo-intelligent Suburban careens across the system barking happily and heading for his girl.
* "Grunt!": Millie retains one of the quirks of her basic chassis, and can handle and haul several times her normal payload or rated capacity, but she _doesn't like it_. She also is top-speed limited, and depending on the amount of overload, her top speed can drop to as low as .05c
Faction: Hephaestian, Millie knows who her Boss is, and will not consider other offers of employment.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* Millie's AI Core is unique amongst Hephaestus' cadre of AI and pseudo-intelligent personell in that it was spawned from non-Wintel hardware, a mac Powerbook modified into her dash console and wired into the car system.
* Even though Millie is the chronologically and experientially older of the two, she thinks of and treats Vioarr as an older sister, and is fairly intimidated by her.

Vioarr: HSF-009 'Vioarr' is an AI-controlled 2-door sport coupe, with similar airlocking capabilities to her sister Millie.
Chassis: "V" is based off a 1999 Mitsubishi 3000gt VR4, with Dodge Stealth badging. She's fast fast FAST, and very hard to see when she doesn't want to be. Her shell is variable reflectivity, on all wavelengths from IR to multi-ghz microwave. She also has 'store and forward' invisibility capability.
AI Core: V was CarPC'ed from an 8-way cluster of low-power VIA setups, bossed by a quad-core Intel machine. The resulting AI is almost disgustingly frugal in energy usage, but tends to multitask on an instinctual level, which works out beautifully with her normal operationals.
Drive: Speed, Max Velocity .12c,sustained, .13c burst (causes heat accumulation), .132c 'full burn' (sacrifices thrusters in addition to burst mode, no heat. Dual Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor, Lithium-Polymer-Handwavium backup pack. Acceleration, backup propulsion is low-ob liquid Nos thrusters, good for 'some' manuevering and accel without energy signature.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* I can outrun that, I can outrun _anything_: V is a very swift ship, but she's not the fastest thing in Fen space, and that's a sore spot with her. Unless she's 'on a job', V is a sucker for a race, and her agility and multitasking serve her in good stead pushing through the asteroids.
* Hey, look over there! *poof*: V is a stealth platform by primary design. When found, she's fond of cheap sucker ploys and overcomplicated gambits to lose her observer, but is not above simple misdirection or distraction. Whatever works.
* Stupid big galoot, get off me!: Publicly, V is less than fond of Hephaestus' flock of Suburbans, but they love her almost as much as they love her 'younger' sister. In private, when she thinks noone is looking, V will 'pet' or play with the Boys.
* Uhm, you're gonna put that _Where?_: V's trunk is half Adjusted Mass rotor, half tankage for the NOS thrusters. The backseat has been given over to lithium-ion pack and electronics. The passenger seat is cramped in by displays and auxillary controls, and the driver's seat is the only truly open seating. Cargo capability isn't just limited, it's vestigal.
Faction: Hephaestian, if you'd like her to turn her coat, don't be surprised if you somehow end up working for Hephaestus as well.. Girl's _wicked_.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* V's AI Core could have gone schizo during Quickening - but it didn't. She's a remarkably stable single personality that happens to be capable of multithreaded thought, as well as 'focussed multithread' on a single problem. This giver her incredible versatility with her processing, but leaves a possible vulnerability to personality fragmenting either by attack, or under extreme stress.
* Even though Millie is the chronologically and experientially older of the two, V thinks of her as a younger sister, due to her less worldly outlook.
* V looks forward to this whole 'no handwavium weapons' thing being worked around, because she has dreams of silenced long-range sniper shots. Doc Raven has blocked her access to the John Ringo and David Marcinko, but her obsession remains.

Tenders: The HSF is also home to a 'flock' of seven Chevy Suburbans, of varying years and personailities. 'Waved ECMs and auxillary processors ended up providing a 'big dumb dog' level of intelligence for these vessels, and they are used as the day-to-day 'work trucks' of Hephaestus' mining operations. When the two shuttles are spoken for or busy, a Hephaestian Suburban may be seen in public, usually with someone playing fetch in the parking lot while someone else accomplishes the errand in question.

Chassis: The Boys are based off of the Chevy Suburban utility vehicle chassis. They're big, they're not very subtle, but they can haul a whole LOT of stuff. The boys are all airlocked with standard Hephaestian Zipperlocks, and vary in color and body style cues.
AI Core: The boys were a 'punt' AI. After the 'Cat' experience, Hephaestus' crew decided that the somewhat self-motivated and somewhat-personality of the Cat could be improved upon 'just a little', to provide a very easy to use and efficient mining tender. So, the original Chevy ECM was handwaved, soaked overnight in a tub of pure strain with a copy of Disney's "Beethoven" movies. Similar treatment was given to a Sony in-dash media player, and the resultant items were installed in short order, into a 'waved Suburban. The result was seven "Big Doofy Dog" Suburbans, more than willing to get in harness and pull, but they'd like to talk to you about this tennis ball (radial tire, small lump of iron, Space Hamster) that they found...
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .08c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* GIRL!: The Boys are quite defensive of and fond of Hephaestus' two shuttles, and will obey/help them over the desires of human personnel.
* "Grunt!": The boys are capable of hauling pretty much anything that can be loaded into them or chained to them. Being a canine level intelligence, and well trained, they can also pull together in harness. Hephaestus has yet to find something too heavy to haul, heavier things just.. take a little longer to get going.
* Land Shark: Small fast-moving objects of appropriate size are considered 'play items' to the boys, and they may break orders and attempt to play with them. Unless you have VERY good body armor and inertial shielding, don't be a small moving object. The boys won't intentionally hurt someone, but 4000 pounds of Suburban is a whole LOT of love, and there is _seven_ of them.
Faction: Hephaestian, the Boys pick up on the 'smell' of the people and ships that live and work out of Hephaestus, and tend to not obey people who don't smell right.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* The Boys are individually named after the Seven Dwarves of Snow White fame. This was in an attempt to make them more 'mining oriented', and does not appear to have worked in the slightest.
* The Boys are not able to appear in public unescorted. They're just too damn dumb, and the amount of damage that can be caused by a Suburban who thinks your converted Winnebago looks 'cozy', or your flying VW looks like a chew toy, doesn't bear thinking of.
*The Boys spontaneously reinforced their hoods and assimilated part of the grills into them during their 'waving. They may not have that durable of a jaw, relatively speaking, but they have jaws, and they do use them. The installation of synthetic myomer actuators for the hoods is regretted, but it's a bit late, and the boys do love to play fetch...
Edit: corrected speed ratings, added quirks to VWire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

18:37 GMT 30 June 2011
Near the Asteroid Belt

"So what's so hard about getting an asteroid to Earth?"

"Yeah! We can do this ourselves - we don't need to pay those Rockhound chiselers what they want to do the job!"

"Sergei's got his car chained to the tow cables, and ... it's on the way!"

There was a chorus of cheers from the enterprising Fen who had decided to put their very own space base in Earth orbit, to compete with The Island.

Then there was an explosion in Sergei's ship. His friends watched in horror as his lifeless body floated out of the new hole in the top of his car... which didn't slow down.

I've been on a Sailor Moon kick recently, but aside from Strike Fiss's Sailor Moon: Omoi series, i've been having rather poor luck at finding anything engrossing to read, and given the huge variety of experience and depth of knowledge of the subject of fanfiction here, I was hoping for some suggestions? What in your opinion are the best Sailor Moon stories out there?

Something that popped up on the FFML this weekend reminded me of a fic that I lost when I accidentally nuked my carry-around archives about 18 months ago. I haven't had too much luck trying to find it with Google, so I thought I'd throw a description out to see if people recognize it and can point me at a copy.
It's a Ranma-is-split-into-boy-and-girl story, but it starts off well after that happened. "Ranko" got sick of basically being treated like garbage and headed off on her own. The story actually starts with Akane finding Ranko and telling her that Ranma needs a kidney transplant, and Ranko's the only viable donor. Ranko throws her out, but ends up secretly going and offering her kidney. Dr. Tofu's involved, and maneuvers things so that the secret's blown, and Ranko gets pulled back into her apologetic family. Still, the one thing Ranko really wants she can't have -- Akane. Akane solves this using Instant Jusenkyo and Happosai's incense burner, and the story ends with two happy couples: Ranma-Akane and Male Akane-Ranko.
Anyone have any ideas?
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

I did say in the other thread that I wasn't on much of late. But I popped in this morning with Lora'Lai and found that we had the prestige to do some major renovations. You won't see much difference yet - but the entire plot has been expanded. I intend to open up a new wing off of the main entrance hall soon. In going through stuff I noticed an old in-game e-mail from Wide Receiver that I had somehow COMPLETELY missed, and I'm sorry about that. In regards to that, expect to see as part of the expansion an arcane enhancement table or two.
What we're going to need right now is a LOT of prestige to make this happen, though. We really _can't_ expand into the new wing without more power generation. Don't worry about control. That's covered. But the generator is straining to keep up with what we've already got. I already have a turbine generator ready to go and space enough to put it in, but the actual placement cost is about a million away now. I could ALMOST place the damn thing already, but there was no way to make it fit on the old plot without giving up major portions of what we already have. And I'm loathe to do that. Just as soon as we've got the prestige, I can place the turbine and start opening up the new wing.
One of the things I want to do is consolidate our teleporters into a couple of large rooms, instead of spread out like they are. As well as the workshops. I want ONE large workshop instead of 2-3 rooms. With the expansion, we've got enough room to juggle things around and reorient things without losing equipment in the process.
So... get on your mid-level range characters and turn on Supergroup mode and go bash some bad guys! Or those of you at level 50, go do a Shadow Shard Task Force or something. And we'll have some cool new stuff in a couple of weeks to a month!-Logan
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"This kind of thing tends invariably to devolve into the kind of "No, Nakajima, THIS is true power!!" argument that only really works if you're yelling it from the cockpit of a giant robot . . ."
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... But World of Warcraft has been eating my free time. With the new expansion coming up, I've been getting more involved trying to gear up my level 60 Warrior so as to be able to explore beyond the Dark Portal without being at too great a disadvantage. Been doing Dungeon runs with guild members and tying up loose ends in quest turn ins and the like. Getting stuff ready for an Onyxia raid, etc.
I still love CoH and intend to keep playing and all, but if you don't see much of me the next couple of weeks, you'll know why. ^_^-Logan
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"This kind of thing tends invariably to devolve into the kind of "No, Nakajima, THIS is true power!!" argument that only really works if you're yelling it from the cockpit of a giant robot . . ."
-----------------

Just a req for an origin story/ship registry entry for World Watch One - it ties into my lifting.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

Dynamistress from our coalition partners Liberty F.O.R.C.E. just sent me an email saying that LF is trying to strengthen its ties to coalition members, and that she's been assigned the position of liaison with The Legendary. She wants to know who her main contact with the Legendary -- her counterpart -- will be so she can establish contact with them.
Now I can do this, except my schedule doesn't always let me play Eva as much as I'd want to. I gave Dynamistress Shizuru and Lora'Lai's names as contacts for now (in addition to me), but I wanted to see if anyone was interested in taking on a specific duty as our liaison to the LF. So... any volunteers?
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...