[IC][BBS] Comfortably Numb?

[Dartz]

I've got it under control. I think.

Lou needs some perflurocarbon, but not immediately. The red blood cells will last a few days. I think.

Derek. He's alive.

Walked in on him and Lou like I planned. He begged and pleaded like I planned. We both got angry. We played our parts. He snapped. more like a drug addict loosing his fix. He knifed her, just to prove how much he still needed me. I stunned him before he turned it on me. Lou stopped bleeding. She was dying. I took enough to keep her alive, in the short term.

Derek is still a loose end.

I need to cover this up somehow.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Black Aeronaut]

IXNAY ON THE OOSE END-LAY!

Washu is on her way to modify Derek's memories and reset his biochemistry. She's also packing the perfluorocarbons Lou will need. Usagi will be there as backup, and I'll be there to help make sure the poor girl doesn't wig out too badly.

By order of Lord Phantomhive, this is not up for discussion!!!

We'll be there in five minutes. Do not do anything rash!

[Rajvik]

Drop me a portal if you need a tracker, otherwise just keep me informed please
 

[kestrel404]

Welp, looks like beta testing on HAL's new code is a success. Say hello, HAL.
EDIT: HAL9000: Hello.
Also, in case you're curious, the past few days worth of messages have been removed from all public data archives. Also, there are some new 'permissions' on who can view this content. You guys shouldn't notice anything different. 
There's not much I can do for you guys out there, but I'll cover any digital tracks you need to leave.

EDIT: Not from my account, HAL!

EDIT: HAL9000: I am not an employee of Lord Phantomhive, and as such I cannot make an account on this site.
"Not this again!" Minerva said. "Albus, it was You-Know-Who, not you, who marked Harry as his equal. There is no possible way that the prophecy could be talking about you!" - Harry Potter and the Method of Rationality, Chapter 84

[Dartz]

What, not that sort of loose end! Do I look like a terminator? Jesus.... just meant, getting some sort of story or a cover story straight that someone would find easier to believe than a stabbed boomer from the future and an emergency oral transfusion.

I already called an ambulance, thirty-five minutes ago. They'll be here, well..... eventually.

I just panicked a bit.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

Now that things are calmed down, I'd like to ask a favour from Kestrel and HAL.

Could you create a monitor to carry out an ongoing Internet search for any news of these people - or, ideally, contact information of these people, please? I would be extremely surprised if we can find all of them, and I would be just as surprised if we can find none of them. The tricky part - the part beyond my capability - will be to filter out references to these people as fictional characters. I'm most interested in finding any signs of the first person on each of these two lists.

Romanizations of these people's names might be in different formats than what I've given here.

上条 当麻 (Kamijō Tōma)
禁書目録 (インデックス , Index) a.k.a. Index Librorum Prohibitorum
土御門 元春 (Tsuchimikado Motoharu)
土御門 舞夏 (Tsuchimikado Maika)
食蜂 操祈 (Shokuhō Misaki)
婚后 光子 (Kongō Mitsuko)
春上 衿衣 (Haruue Erii)
枝先 絆理 (Edasaki Banri)
黒妻 綿流 (Kurozuma Wataru)
ミサカ10032号 (Misaka 10032) a.k.a. Misaka Imōto
ミサカ[10033..20000]号 (Misaka [10033..20000]) - I trust you understand the notation, so I don't need to list 9,667 names that differ only by the number embedded in them
ミサカ20001号 (Misaka 20001) a.k.a. 打ち止め （ラストオーダー, Uchidome, Last Order)
月詠 小萌 (Tsukuyomi Komoe)
黄泉川 愛穂 (Yomikawa Aiho)
鉄装 綴里 (Tessō Tsuzuri)
木山 春生 (Kiyama Harumi)
テレスティーナ・木原・ライフライン (Therestina Kihara Lifeline)

地場 衛 (Chiba Mamoru)
土萠 ほたる (Tomoe Hotaru)
天王 はるか (Ten'ō Haruka)
海王 みちる (Kaiō Michiru)
冥王 せつな (Meiō Setsuna)
月野 謙之 (Tsukino Kenji)
月野 育子 (Tsukino Ikuko)
月野 進悟 (Tsukino Shingo)
大阪 なる (Ōsaka Naru)
海野 ぐりお (Umino Gurio)
古幡 元基 (Furuhata Motoki)
古幡 宇奈月 (Furuhata Unazuki)
西村 レイカ (Nishimura Reika)
桜田 春菜 (Sakurada Haruna)
熊田 雄一郎 (Kumada Yūichirō)
浅沼 一等 (Asanuma Ittō)
星野 光 (Seiya Kō)
大気 光 (Taiki Kō)
夜天 光 (Yaten Kō)

My thanks in advance, whether the search can be done or not.

Rob

[Dartz]

Situation resolved.

Almost.

With a lot of panicked flailing. Yeah, I fucked up okay. I don't need everyone staring at me. It's like, I'm only....

Well, I amn't anymore.

All I've proved is we're smart enough to screw up.

Lou's been repaired. The addiction's been cured. Deus Ex Machina I guess. It's hard not to use an ability you didn't have a week ago, like suddenly growing an extra arm. It's nice to be in control again.

We played to a thousand people the other night. I think I've found a new addiction. To radiate energy and feel the desire come back. To touch each mind with a look and feel that person's thrill. The same people met us selling quick-burned CD's pulled straight from the line five minutes after we finished, begging for the same momentary thrill. Instant fanbase, bragging to everyone about how awesome we were.

Build a dedicated core of fans, and the rest will follow. That's the plan. Yeah, we'll be careful. Look, I amn't stupid. No intense physical stuff. The girls know. We don't want to be the band Jezebel hate.

But I think I know what I want to do with my life. And I've never seen Sylvie smile like that. Relaxing in our apartment, winding down in our underwear, I think we all agreed that feeling was so much better

And to think, it took just five minutes and an RJ-45 cable to learn how to play the guitar from Lou.

Deus Ex Machina, I guess.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Labster]

Hi everyone,

I guess it's time for me to delurk.  I'm Brent, manager of a lovely little fixer-upper complex in Venice Beach, California.  My first group of tenants just moved in, and well, I can use some advice.

Like everyone else, I had quite a shock when I realized exactly who my tenants are: the undines from the Aria anime -- specifically I have the Three Water Fairies and their trainees.  And President Aria, their cat mascot.  For those of you who haven't watched, they're not actually fairies -- it's just what they call gondoliers in Neo Venezia, on Mars.  Anyway, they were rather unhappy about being assigned to Venice in California instead of Venice in Italy, but they're settling in okay.  One fake Venice to another, right?

They're great, "down-to-Aqua" people that are just fine with doing things in an old-fashioned manner, so it's been pretty easy working with them, for the most part.  Surprisingly little culture shock.  It helps that we've managed to get an actual gondola.  And much much easier to manage than what the rest of you got -- even just the sourcing the carrots for Ryo-Ohki alone must be a nightmare.

But I do need advice about one thing which is a bit above my level.  Well, below my level, technically: the link layer.  Akari Mizunashi managed to smuggle her laptop into our world in her backpack, and she'd like to hook it up to the wifi.  Which would be fine, except our router doesn't understand 802.11wf or 802.11wd.  Anyone up to reverse engineering a wireless protocol from 200 years in the future?

Related offer: Anyone interested in looking at crypto from 200 years in the future too?  Luckily there's a C compiler (and telnet!) floating around on this machine, so I can actually compile software that hasn't deprecated every technology used on the web.  It turns out the Year of Linux on the Desktop will be 2303.

Does anyone have any ideas how to cheer up a 12-year-old girl who already thought she wasn't anybody special?

That seems like a normal teenage girl thing that everyone goes through, even interesting people.  Tell her that she's an interdimensional traveler now, which is super interesting?  Some of the greatest people in the world became great without money or power, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi, Michael Faraday, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Joan of Arc.  Stanislav Petrov proved that an ordinary man doing his job can save the entire world.  Comparing yourself to others is a sucker's game; you have to compare yourself to the best person you can be.  I don't know that you can tell a person that in a way they'd truly believe it, but maybe give her the right story book, and the idea will stick.

Also tell her to avoid giving interviews in elevators at creepy seminars, and to definitely avoid taking the black rose.  You know, in case that comes up.  Wouldn't be weirder than anything else I've read about in here.

[Black Aeronaut]

Hey Brent!  They got you too, huh?  Weird how it's just us Drunkard's Walk regulars, though no sign of Bob, and yet no one we know at SV/SB that doesn't also post at DW...

Well, I guess that just means we'll be able to network somewhat better.

As for that laptop issue...

I think this is something that's best fielded to Kestrel.  He might have some time once he's go HAL debugged and automating a lot of the digital drudgery he has to deal with.

Anyhow, this little bit reminded me...

Does anyone have any ideas how to cheer up a 12-year-old girl who already thought she wasn't anybody special?

Rob, it's a REAL long shot, but I'm drop-boxing you an epub of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Poor kid sounds like she needs it on top of the big brother thing.  God knows I did when I was her age - I spent several weeks reading and re-reading the copy my mother gave me, and it was a happy escape at a time that I could have gone to some very dangerous places, psychologically speaking.  Looking back on it now...  brrrr.  I know I'm one of the lucky ones now, even if it doesn't really feel that way.

(I think the main reason things didn't get much worse for me back then was because my Dad was actually happy for once, so I wasn't on his radar as often.  There were still some really cringe-worthy moments, though.  There's a reason I put off cleaning in the kitchen as much as possible.)

At any rate, keep us posted, Brent.  We'll also try and keep you ahead of any planned socials.  We're already toying with the idea of a Halloween Social here at my complex because it's got a pool as a courtyard big enough to pull it off.  That, and it's pretty comfortable outside this time of year in San Antonio.  I know Rob's girls will welcome a chance to wear shorts and T-shirts and skirts without thermal leggings.

(I already know that there's gonna be a few begging to get relocated.  Not sure if that's something that should be done or not.  We'll have to remind them that it easily hits 42 degrees centigrade down here, and with relative humidity levels of 80% at that.  It's hilarious that so many people have this idea that Texas has a desert climate when, really, it's sub-tropical.)

[robkelk]

Hi everyone,

I guess it's time for me to delurk.  I'm Brent, manager of a lovely little fixer-upper complex in Venice Beach, California.  My first group of tenants just moved in, and well, I can use some advice.

Hi, Brent! Ask away - that's what this board is for.

Like everyone else, I had quite a shock when I realized exactly who my tenants are: the undines from the Aria anime -- specifically I have the Three Water Fairies and their trainees.  And President Aria, their cat mascot.  For those of you who haven't watched, they're not actually fairies -- it's just what they call gondoliers in Neo Venezia, on Mars.  Anyway, they were rather unhappy about being assigned to Venice in California instead of Venice in Italy, but they're settling in okay.  One fake Venice to another, right?

They're great, "down-to-Aqua" people that are just fine with doing things in an old-fashioned manner, so it's been pretty easy working with them, for the most part.  Surprisingly little culture shock.  It helps that we've managed to get an actual gondola.  And much much easier to manage than what the rest of you got -- even just the sourcing the carrots for Ryo-Ohki alone must be a nightmare.

Hey, all I have to worry about is a group of tweenaged and teenaged girls, all but one of whom have superpowers of some sort.

Hmm. When I put it that way... yes, you've got it easier than the rest of us. Your boarders are old enough to earn a living.

More seriously, you might want to make sure the three younger Undines have a High School Equivalency certificate, or whatever California calls the magic piece of paper that means they don't need to go to high school. Unless they want to go back to school, of course - my girls enjoy or at least tolerate learning for its own sake, so they're in classes here.

But I do need advice about one thing which is a bit above my level.  Well, below my level, technically: the link layer.  Akari Mizunashi managed to smuggle her laptop into our world in her backpack, and she'd like to hook it up to the wifi.  Which would be fine, except our router doesn't understand 802.11wf or 802.11wd.  Anyone up to reverse engineering a wireless protocol from 200 years in the future?

Related offer: Anyone interested in looking at crypto from 200 years in the future too?  Luckily there's a C compiler (and telnet!) floating around on this machine, so I can actually compile software that hasn't deprecated every technology used on the web.  It turns out the Year of Linux on the Desktop will be 2303.

I know one person who I'm sure would be interested, and she lives in my building: Kazari Uiharu. Sure, she's still a tween, but she has one of the sharpest minds I've ever seen when it comes to computer security and coding. All she lacks is experience - and reverse-engineering a comms protocol and a crypto protocol from a single working example of each would give her a lot of experience.

And we also have Kestrel to consult on this, yes. Once they've reverse-engineered the crypto, I'd love to add it to our cellphones and desktops.

Does anyone have any ideas how to cheer up a 12-year-old girl who already thought she wasn't anybody special?

That seems like a normal teenage girl thing that everyone goes through, even interesting people.  Tell her that she's an interdimensional traveler now, which is super interesting?  Some of the greatest people in the world became great without money or power, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi, Michael Faraday, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Joan of Arc.  Stanislav Petrov proved that an ordinary man doing his job can save the entire world.  Comparing yourself to others is a sucker's game; you have to compare yourself to the best person you can be.  I don't know that you can tell a person that in a way they'd truly believe it, but maybe give her the right story book, and the idea will stick.

Also tell her to avoid giving interviews in elevators at creepy seminars, and to definitely avoid taking the black rose.  You know, in case that comes up.  Wouldn't be weirder than anything else I've read about in here.

And no signing up for a Grail War, either. (Although I've heard through the grapevine that Belldanady's already put a stop to that.)

Anyhow, this little bit reminded me...

Does anyone have any ideas how to cheer up a 12-year-old girl who already thought she wasn't anybody special?

Rob, it's a REAL long shot, but I'm drop-boxing you an epub of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Poor kid sounds like she needs it on top of the big brother thing.  God knows I did when I was her age - I spent several weeks reading and re-reading the copy my mother gave me, and it was a happy escape at a time that I could have gone to some very dangerous places, psychologically speaking.  Looking back on it now...  brrrr.  I know I'm one of the lucky ones now, even if it doesn't really feel that way.

(I think the main reason things didn't get much worse for me back then was because my Dad was actually happy for once, so I wasn't on his radar as often.  There were still some really cringe-worthy moments, though.  There's a reason I put off cleaning in the kitchen as much as possible.)

I only had the chance to read JLS once - a borrowed copy - but I remember liking it. I'll make sure Ruiko gets that epub. Thanks.

At any rate, keep us posted, Brent.  We'll also try and keep you ahead of any planned socials.  We're already toying with the idea of a Halloween Social here at my complex because it's got a pool as a courtyard big enough to pull it off.  That, and it's pretty comfortable outside this time of year in San Antonio.  I know Rob's girls will welcome a chance to wear shorts and T-shirts and skirts without thermal leggings.

Here's a thought: weekend getaways. I suspect my boarders would appreciate taking a gondola ride, and your boarders might like skating on the Rideau Canal once winter rolls around. And I know I'd like to visit the Alamo. Although, with Makoto's (completely justified) distrust of airplanes, we may need to impose upon Washuu-chan to open teleport gateways for us.

(I already know that there's gonna be a few begging to get relocated.  Not sure if that's something that should be done or not.  We'll have to remind them that it easily hits 42 degrees centigrade down here, and with relative humidity levels of 80% at that.  It's hilarious that so many people have this idea that Texas has a desert climate when, really, it's sub-tropical.)

What? Do you mean to tell us John Wayne and John Ford mislead us about the conditions in Texas in all those movies?

[Black Aeronaut]

More seriously, you might want to make sure the three younger Undines have a High School Equivalency certificate, or whatever California calls the magic piece of paper that means they don't need to go to high school. Unless they want to go back to school, of course - my girls enjoy or at least tolerate learning for its own sake, so they're in classes here.

I believe what you're thinking of is a GED or 'General Equivalency Diploma' (or, if you're feeling uncharitable, a 'Good Enough Degree').  Brent, as long as your girls are fluent in written English, they should have no issues passing with top first percentile ratings across the board.  Just make sure they know the local vernacular.  IE, we don't call it Aqua in this time period.

Also, they're going to need a Child Emancipation - especially in California as they are, as usual, rather persnickety on matters like this.  But that won't be an issue as we can not only have Washu-chan falsify the needed documents, but also place the digital paper trail it was necesitate.  Hell, we can even falsify an actual paper trail by planting the appropriate documents in the appropriate places.  With The System being as it is, no one will be the wiser, even if someone did do a bit of digging.

But I do need advice about one thing which is a bit above my level.  Well, below my level, technically: the link layer.  Akari Mizunashi managed to smuggle her laptop into our world in her backpack, and she'd like to hook it up to the wifi.  Which would be fine, except our router doesn't understand 802.11wf or 802.11wd.  Anyone up to reverse engineering a wireless protocol from 200 years in the future?

Related offer: Anyone interested in looking at crypto from 200 years in the future too?  Luckily there's a C compiler (and telnet!) floating around on this machine, so I can actually compile software that hasn't deprecated every technology used on the web.  It turns out the Year of Linux on the Desktop will be 2303.

I know one person who I'm sure would be interested, and she lives in my building: Kazari Uiharu. Sure, she's still a tween, but she has one of the sharpest minds I've ever seen when it comes to computer security and coding. All she lacks is experience - and reverse-engineering a comms protocol and a crypto protocol from a single working example of each would give her a lot of experience.

And we also have Kestrel to consult on this, yes. Once they've reverse-engineered the crypto, I'd love to add it to our cellphones and desktops.

I heartily agree, but I would also caution against using it willy-nilly.  The spooks down here do sniff around from time to time, and if they see crypto the likes of which they've never seen, that WILL attract undue attention.  Remember always the lesson the Germans learned when using encrypted communications to coordinate their U-Boat attacks: just because they can't figure out WHAT you're saying doesn't mean they can't trace the signal and find out WHERE you are!

In general, most consumer-grade crypto that we have available now is more than sufficient.  Not even Google has enough processing power to effectively brute-force a sufficiently complex crypto-key.  The trick these days is in making sure that they don't find out what your crypto-key is in the first place!

On another note, this reminds me...  You guys remember that Tenchi Muyo multicross SI I was working on?  And how my SI pulled more than his fair share of financial weight by using his workstation computer to perform heavy number crunches for governments, private companies, and schools?  A workstation computer BTW, that during the timeframe of the story's setting would have counted as being among the top three most powerful supercomputers on Earth.

Our tenants can make an absolute killing selling CPU hours for big number crunches.  The best part is that having a home-brew supercomputer isn't as outlandish now as it might have been in 1993!  And best of all, Lord Phantomhive can actually make a return on his investment - not just from our tenants paying an actual rent, but if Phantomhive put together an shell company that ostensibly 'manages' these home-brew supercomputers...  Yeah.

And we even have an ostensible 'datacenter' in the form of Kestrel's compound already.

Just kinda throwing it out there.  

Anyhow, this little bit reminded me...

Does anyone have any ideas how to cheer up a 12-year-old girl who already thought she wasn't anybody special?

Rob, it's a REAL long shot, but I'm drop-boxing you an epub of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Poor kid sounds like she needs it on top of the big brother thing.  God knows I did when I was her age - I spent several weeks reading and re-reading the copy my mother gave me, and it was a happy escape at a time that I could have gone to some very dangerous places, psychologically speaking.  Looking back on it now...  brrrr.  I know I'm one of the lucky ones now, even if it doesn't really feel that way.

(I think the main reason things didn't get much worse for me back then was because my Dad was actually happy for once, so I wasn't on his radar as often.  There were still some really cringe-worthy moments, though.  There's a reason I put off cleaning in the kitchen as much as possible.)

I only had the chance to read JLS once - a borrowed copy - but I remember liking it. I'll make sure Ruiko gets that epub. Thanks.

Just so you know, this one's a DRM-free epub.  Feel free to make as many copies as you like.

At any rate, keep us posted, Brent.  We'll also try and keep you ahead of any planned socials.  We're already toying with the idea of a Halloween Social here at my complex because it's got a pool as a courtyard big enough to pull it off.  That, and it's pretty comfortable outside this time of year in San Antonio.  I know Rob's girls will welcome a chance to wear shorts and T-shirts and skirts without thermal leggings.

Here's a thought: weekend getaways. I suspect my boarders would appreciate taking a gondola ride, and your boarders might like skating on the Rideau Canal once winter rolls around. And I know I'd like to visit the Alamo. Although, with Makoto's (completely justified) distrust of airplanes, we may need to impose upon Washuu-chan to open teleport gateways for us.

Maybe not quite as often, but during regular school holidays for sure.  While we are manufacturing all the needed identification and legal paper trails, it would behoove us to actually use these in a manner that does not raise any eyebrows.  All we'd need is for one well-meaning police officer to ask them for their ID's, and well...  Let's just say that even Canada requires that US Citizens visiting have valid passports.  Dual citizenship would simplify things, but I don't recall us having set that up, and trying to change it now is risky business.

Simply put, I'd like to save Washu-chan's portal technology to emergencies and for other business we cross borders through normal means using the (ill-gotten) legal means we have access to now.

That saaaiiiiid.....

Gimme a few weeks.  There's plenty of websites out there that sell busses.  I just took a quick look and I think we might be able to score one or two motorcoach conversions (that is, motor coaches that have been converted into RVs) that may be in our price range.  They'll need work, but that's never been something to stop me in the past.

(I already know that there's gonna be a few begging to get relocated.  Not sure if that's something that should be done or not.  We'll have to remind them that it easily hits 42 degrees centigrade down here, and with relative humidity levels of 80% at that.  It's hilarious that so many people have this idea that Texas has a desert climate when, really, it's sub-tropical.)

What? Do you mean to tell us John Wayne and John Ford mislead us about the conditions in Texas in all those movies?  

Pfffft.  Don't get me wrong.  There's plenty of scrubland out here.  But the climate during the summer is gonna make you beg for air conditioning within seconds of being out in it.  It's not quite swamp heat, but it's close.

[robkelk]

At any rate, keep us posted, Brent.  We'll also try and keep you ahead of any planned socials.  We're already toying with the idea of a Halloween Social here at my complex because it's got a pool as a courtyard big enough to pull it off.  That, and it's pretty comfortable outside this time of year in San Antonio.  I know Rob's girls will welcome a chance to wear shorts and T-shirts and skirts without thermal leggings.

Here's a thought: weekend getaways. I suspect my boarders would appreciate taking a gondola ride, and your boarders might like skating on the Rideau Canal once winter rolls around. And I know I'd like to visit the Alamo. Although, with Makoto's (completely justified) distrust of airplanes, we may need to impose upon Washuu-chan to open teleport gateways for us.

Maybe not quite as often, but during regular school holidays for sure.  While we are manufacturing all the needed identification and legal paper trails, it would behoove us to actually use these in a manner that does not raise any eyebrows.  All we'd need is for one well-meaning police officer to ask them for their ID's, and well...  Let's just say that even Canada requires that US Citizens visiting have valid passports.  Dual citizenship would simplify things, but I don't recall us having set that up, and trying to change it now is risky business.

Simply put, I'd like to save Washu-chan's portal technology to emergencies and for other business we cross borders through normal means using the (ill-gotten) legal means we have access to now.

That saaaiiiiid.....

Gimme a few weeks.  There's plenty of websites out there that sell busses.  I just took a quick look and I think we might be able to score one or two motorcoach conversions (that is, motor coaches that have been converted into RVs) that may be in our price range.  They'll need work, but that's never been something to stop me in the past.

We've already started the process to get an 11-seater short bus, and I already have a license to drive one of those.

The thing is, our boarders just don't understand the distances between cities in North America. I got complaints about a nice, short, five-hour, 500km trip (that's 300 miles IIRC). The drive from Ottawa to San Antonio is, what, 30 hours? Longer if we stop to sightsee in Toronto, Chicago, Memphis, Dallas, and Austin. And we will need to stop - I'm the only licensed driver in the building. That isn't a weekend trip; that's a summer vacation trip.

And it wouldn't be fair to leave Makoto out of the fun and fly from Ottawa to San Antonio.

[Dartz]

My advice. Don't limit yourself to busses. If you're converting things already you can convert a lot of things. Trucks with a large loadspace in them might be easier to refit.

Just ad windows, bunks, racking and living spaces.

[Labster]

Thanks for all of your advice, everyone.

I'm not sure Kazari could review the wireless signal alone.  The protocol is only half of the story -- it's probably using different spectrum and might need more sensitive hardware.  We'll throw her some of the software later, of course.  I'm sure Washuu-chan could figure it out in a few minutes, but let's not waste a scientist on an engineer's job.  Since we only have the one device, I think I'll go ahead and send it to Kestrel.  I just wish I could figure out a way to back up the data before I send, y'know?  

So far as schooling is concerned, Aika is 18 years old, and legally an adult.  So no schooling issues there.  Akari had been on Mars for over a Martian year, which means that they're all from 2303 and Akari is age 17.  Her birthday is on January 30, so she'll be legally 18 in 4 months, though she's actually a few months younger.  She's old enough to take the GED, but her American History knowlege is pretty poor, so she'll need to study.

But Alice is 16, and not even allowed to take the GED in California.  She'll have to go to school for a the minimum of four hours a week, at a continuation school.  There will probably be lots of other immigrants there.

Everyone knows English really well, though.  They're from the tourism industry, after all, in a tourist town.  They also speak Italian -- or possibly Venetian, I'm not really sure.  Only Akari speaks Japanese, which is kind of weird considering that they all spoke Japanese in the anime.  You'd think Aika would be Japanese too given her name, but nope, her name is actually Italian!  I think Aika has some Chinese heritage, though.

I've been to Austin a couple of times, both in the summer, so I'm well aware of how hot and humid it can get in East Texas.  West Texas is a desert, though.

I have one tenant used to trips that takes such a long distance -- one of Akari's travels was best measured in millions of kilometers.  Though, uh, in the manga, didn't Usagi travel to Sgr A* that one time?  That's in the thousands of light-years away.

If we end up coming to Halloween, I'll need to buy a van -- or rent one.  There are only seven of us now, but this apartment complex is awfully big... not sure how long it's going to stay empty.  There is direct train service between L.A. and San Antonio.  Hmmm.

[Black Aeronaut]

Luckily for you, you can use air travel. Rob's the only one who's stuck doing the Pan-American Cannonball Run.

(Fun Fact: in the Actual Real Life Cannonball Run, one of the winners was a couple of guys driving an RV of all things! Which goes to show you - you don't have to be driving a sports car to make really good time when driving cross-country in the USA - just very smart about where and how you make your best times!)

That said, why not treat it as such? I can drive, if nothing else. And if Rob gets a vehicle with toilet facilities, then that will drastically cut down on stops - two a day for solid meals, and one for a midday snack. If we have three drivers on hand, then those are ideal driver change times. And I can take the graveyard shift with no issues. Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome can be a pain in the butt, but there are times when it's a godsend.

So, what tourist traps you think you should hit up on the way down, Rob? Pretty sure that Chi-town and Gateway Arch in St. Louis is gonna be on that list. Dunno about Mt Rushmore - that would be a ways off the beaten path for you.

Note: If you are going to Chicago, then it is of PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE that the girls watch The Blues Brothers and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Without those, seeing Chicago just doesn't have the same impact. Also, a collection by the eponymous band would not be out of the question, either. They have a sound that is absolutely timeless.

I wish I could be there when they do see those movies for the first time. The girlfriend that I had in Japan was absolutely destroyed by some Bugs Bunny cartoons.* Watching the Senshi's reactions would be an absolute scream.

* - What's especially impressive about this was that it was in the Starbucks coffee shop above the larger of Yokohama's two train stations. The Japanese are not fond of making a scene in public, but Mariko couldn't help but be reduced to almost falling out of her chair and clutching her sides by Bugs Bunny's usual antics.

[robkelk]

I'm not sure Kazari could review the wireless signal alone.  The protocol is only half of the story -- it's probably using different spectrum and might need more sensitive hardware.  We'll throw her some of the software later, of course.  I'm sure Washuu-chan could figure it out in a few minutes, but let's not waste a scientist on an engineer's job.  Since we only have the one device, I think I'll go ahead and send it to Kestrel.  I just wish I could figure out a way to back up the data before I send, y'know?

I wouldn't suggest Kazari try going it alone, but I would appreciate it if she's in the team that works on the project.

As for the backup, at worst we can ask Kestrel to write something that sends the data through the laptop's screen and another machine's camera the way we send data down a fiber-optic cable. Sure, the data transfer rate will be slower than a dialup modem, but it's better than not backing up the data at all.

Only Akari speaks Japanese, which is kind of weird considering that they all spoke Japanese in the anime.

Don't put too much trust in any of the little details from the anime - any anime. For example, Mikoto tells me that Makoto doesn't sound like Mikoto's mother, despite in our world the two of them having the same voice actress.

That said, in the anime Alice sings in Esparanto.

If we end up coming to Halloween, I'll need to buy a van -- or rent one.  There are only seven of us now, but this apartment complex is awfully big... not sure how long it's going to stay empty.

I'm sure Lord Phantomhive will allow you to stretch your budget to buy a van, if you can show you'll be using it. And if the stereotype is correct, I can't see how anybody in LA can survive without a car of some sort.

That said, why not treat it as such? I can drive, if nothing else. And if Rob gets a vehicle with toilet facilities, then that will drastically cut down on stops - two a day for solid meals, and one for a midday snack. If we have three drivers on hand, then those are ideal driver change times. And I can take the graveyard shift with no issues. Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome can be a pain in the butt, but there are times when it's a godsend.

That's where it gets tricky - my license doesn't cover a vehicle with more than 11 people in it. (But if somebody was to fly down, maybe somebody who thinks studying is more fun than sightseeing and would prefer to stay in class for as long as possible *cough*Ami*cough*...)

So, what tourist traps you think you should hit up on the way down, Rob? Pretty sure that Chi-town and Gateway Arch in St. Louis is gonna be on that list. Dunno about Mt Rushmore - that would be a ways off the beaten path for you.

Let's see where Google Maps wants to route me. (goes and looks)

Huh. Yesterday it suggested Ottawa - Toronto - Lansing - Chicago - Memphis - Texarcana - Dallas - Austin - San Antonio. Today it's suggesting Ottawa - Syracuse - Buffalo - Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati - Louisville - Nashville - Memphis - Texarcana - Dallas - Austin - San Antonio. Either way, it's about 30 hours of driving if there's no traffic delays. (And I know the odds of there being no traffic delays in Toronto are lower than the odds of winning the lottery.)

We actually wouldn't go near St. Louis, either way.

(Austin, Memphis, and maybe Nashville - I foresee hearing a lot of country music of various flavours.)

Note: If you are going to Chicago, then it is of PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE that the girls watch The Blues Brothers and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Without those, seeing Chicago just doesn't have the same impact. Also, a collection by the eponymous band would not be out of the question, either. They have a sound that is absolutely timeless.

Ruiko loves her music - maybe she's already got some Chicago on her smartphone. If not... well, I still have a dedicated MP3 player that can be loaded up for a road trip.

[Black Aeronaut]

If you're using Google Maps for your turn-by-turn navigation and it advises a change in route, then for the love of all that's holy, take it. in case you haven't heard, Google acquired Waze, and Google Maps has gotten A LOT better about avoiding the worst of the traffic snarls as a result.

[Dartz]

It takes you on the fastest route, but not always the best. Because it seems to use the speed limit to calculate its averages.....

And we're rearely doing the speed limit.

The only thing I really rely on it for is the arrival times which can be spookily accurate and for places I don't know - but I'm always picking my own routes because gmaps has a habit of finding some utterly hideous roads or oddball ways with impossible turns, around here. It once sent me down a 'main' road that had more craters than the moon and had the car bellying itself.

Who knows where it'll send your bus.

The point is. Don't be afraid to ignore the blue line. IIf you're travelling long you might find some interesting places away from the motorway. 

By way of example, the fastest way from Dublin to Cork is the M9. The best way is the Coast road. It's a much more interesting drive.

[robkelk]

You know, just because we have an 11-seater short bus doesn't mean we have to drive it cross-country.

Let's see... (goes and looks) ...it looks like a five-day train trip from Ottawa to San Antonio. Two and a half days on the trains, assuming no rail disruptions, with layovers in Windsor/Detroit (sleep only) and Chicago (at least half a day). More expensive than driving, but we can get up and walk around for most of the trip. Fewer opportunities for sightseeing, though.

And as long as I'm looking... (looks again) ...Amtrack's "Sunset Limited" takes 27 hours to go from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with no need to change trains. Too bad the track is too far south to see any of the Rocky Mountains.

[Black Aeronaut]

You know, just because we have an 11-seater short bus doesn't mean we have to drive it cross-country.

Let's see... (goes and looks) ...it looks like a five-day train trip from Ottawa to San Antonio. Two and a half days on the trains, assuming no rail disruptions, with layovers in Windsor/Detroit (sleep only) and Chicago (at least half a day). More expensive than driving, but we can get up and walk around for most of the trip. Fewer opportunities for sightseeing, though.

And as long as I'm looking... (looks again) ...Amtrack's "Sunset Limited" takes 27 hours to go from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with no need to change trains. Too bad the track is too far south to see any of the Rocky Mountains.

Well, I told someone once about the difference between splurging for a sleeper stateroom on a train and simply driving.

Assume you're not like my parents with their batshit-crazy tendency to go full-bore cross country, not stopping except for fuel, food, bathroom, and driver changes.  Preferably all in one stop.  Which means you're stopping every night at a hotel.

So, compare all that: money spent on food, lodging, and fuel for a five day trip.

I'd budget at least $500 for fuel, five nights of hotel stays with five doubles and a single - assuming $50 for the single and $75 for a double - that's $2,125 right there.  And lastly, food.  Assuming two meals a day for eleven people, and at least $9 per meal... That's almost another $1,000 right there.

So just for the trip down, you're talking about $3,600...  Double it... $7,200 round trip.

But with a sleeper berthing, you get all that, plus room to move around.  Sleeper berthing accommodations include bathing and toilet facilities (though not always within the stateroom), included meals in the dining car, and reasonably comfortable beds.

The cost for one adult traveling from Toronto to San Antonio and back will run about $1,430... But there's eleven of you.  Which means you qualify for a special group rate, which are usually quite a good value.

Let me tell you, this is going to be something the girls are not going to soon forget.  They're used to train rides that, while lasting all day, will get them to wherever they need to go in Japan without needing lodgings midway.  In short, they don't have stateroom cars because there's never been any need for them.  But here in the Americas?  Whole different kettle of fish, and the girls will get to have the unique experience of getting rocked to sleep by the swaying of a train car.  I am certain that they are going to fall in love with American rail travel right away.

I wish *I* could have had that experience, but then again I've had the rather unique experience of sleeping one of the aft berthing compartments of a US Navy Destroyer.  (Let me tell you, it doesn't get any better when the ship is fast-cruising at 20 knots - the whole ship is swaying, the screws are thrumming in the back, and the sea is foaming and hissing against the skin of the ship.  Puts you out like a light.)

Anyhow...  As for money...  I think I got an angle.  You guys remember my Tenchi Muyo SI fic?  And how my SI used his workstation computer from 2017 as a 'super computer' in 1992, selling CPU time to universities, businesses, and government organizations?  I we can get Washu and Kestrel together to work up something similar.  Keep in mind, even in this day and age, people willingly pay through the nose for CPU time on supercomputers because as PCs have been advancing, so too have supercomputers.  They just use a helluva lot more parallel processing now.

With this money, we can easily set up a 'Tennant Enrichment Fund' for things like these get togethers, or even more mundane stuff like group outings to the movies and stuff.  Maybe even a stipend for personal spending.  And the best part is that there's nothing bad about it at all.  Our customers get exactly what they want for a fair price, and our Tenants get goodies.

Thoughts?

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm... There's 11 people in my building, and 20 or so in the Montreal building. That's a full sleeper car, right?

If we coordinate our vacations, Lord Phantomhive might find it less expensive to rent an entire car for us.

[Rajvik]

Oh sweet goddesses the other shoe has dropped. My little place had ten apartments each with two bedrooms. My original arrival was 4 adults and the 6 kids from Eva. Now I have the crew of the Serenity looking at the other rooms and matching up while Rei and River have a staring match on my patio.

I'm fragged.

[robkelk]

I have two thoughts about your situation. First, River and Shinji have to be good influences on each other. (Please, goddesses, let River and Shinji be good influences on each other!) Second, don't take this wrong, but I'm glad you're half a continent away.

[Black Aeronaut]

*Insert demented cackling here*

Great googly moogly. Serenty's crew? All of them? Oh man, the Evangelion bunch are gonna have FUN with River 'I Can Kill You With My Mind' Tam. They'll never be able to tell if she's coming or going - with the possible exception of Rei.

Honestly, I kinda wonder what will happen if she ever visits here. It's a known fact that when I'm not in srs bsns iz srs mode that I have a helluva mischievous streak in me. If she picks up on the fact that Animal and Taz are my totem spirits... NO ONE IS SAFE!!! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

And on the whole River-Shinji thing... I think River might just be exactly what Shinji needs - a big sister figure that, while seemingly loopy, is actually someone he can trust and depend on. And I don't see River doing anything to hurt the poor guy. She's gonna know right away that he's pretty fragile, and for good reason. She might even become righteously cheesed off with more than a few people on his behalf.

.... How badly did she work Asuka over?

Pro Tip: If Gendo somehow shows his face (or even Fuyutsuki), keep at least five miles between him and River. At the very least I can see Dr. Akagi showing just enough remorse to be spared the worst of The Wrath of River Tam. (Though it won't save her from a short, sweet, and utterly scathing telling-off that's gonna strike like a TLAM - horrifyingly accurate and with the possibility of a nuclear payload.)