ECS, Dartz: Nobody seems to have placed this in the timeline yet. There's a reason only Uno and Tre have made appearances as of yet.
CD, Dartz: Yep. This time, it's a fragment of one of Tre's memories.
Dartz: That was *exactly* where I was going with Tre's opinion of me so far. She respects strength. In this case, she'd decided that blackmail- even attempted blackmail- was a tool only used by those who lacked the strength to reach their goals on their own power, and the honor to accept that. I attempted blackmail, therefore I was of no benefit to her or The Cause, therefore she had no use for me.
Of course, then I showed two parts bravado, two parts stubbornness, and one part self-hypnosis with anime references. So things changed.
**********
The two of us entered the Doctor's lab mere minutes later. Ford- he had proved himself worth naming- walked into the room under his own power, if ever so barely. He had one arm around my shoulders, and was letting me carry most of his weight, but he was walking.
My father, of course, had his own concerns. "Ah, Tre. You're here. Set Mister Prefect down in the Chair. Quickly, now- I'd prefer he not suffer a total magilink collapse."
But that only happens-? "Yes, Doctor!"
Once I'd positioned Ford in the Chair- an impressive machine, worthy of the emphasis my father gave it- it snapped shut around him. Metal brackets slammed into place, locking around Ford's arms , legs, and neck... only to pull him deeper into the cushioned back of the machine. From where I was, it looked like he wouldn't be able to move a muscle.
Ford was, naturally, not pleased with this. "Doctor? What's going on!?"
"My part of the deal," he answered, not even looking away from the two different systems he was controlling. "Do not speak unless spoken to, and Do. Not. Move! This is a complex procedure, and I do not need distractions! Uno, attend!"
'Complex' was the word for it. I'd seen the Doctor work on some of my sisters- both Uno and younger siblings yet to be born- but nothing I'd seen required this sort of equipment, or this sort of effort. Even as I watched, my older sister had taken a place next to the Doctor, her own displays coming to life around her.
The two of them worked feverishly, new displays and controls flaring to life around them as more and more equipment came to life. First the Chair, already active enough to restrain Ford, fully activated. I watched as the helmet Ford was wearing unfolded, dozens of probes lifting themselves away from the rest of it, only to drill down through, hair, and bone. Then the computer core in the background powered up, and I noticed the thick cables linking it to the Chair.
"Bridge core operational. Engram collection loaded; synchronization at 98.3%. Beginning system update."
Uno entered a few more commands, and the computer core began to hum. Lights began to blink on its surface, each one in time with the probes on the Chair. "Synchronization now at 99.9%. Switching to real-time update pattern."
The lights began to blink faster, spending less time off than on. As the pace increased, Ford's body began to twitch, the restraints keeping him in place as the twitching escalated into a full-scale seizure.
Even as Uno looked over toward the Chair, eyes wide in alarm, one of the many displays hovering around her head flew in front of her face, its border blinking an angry red. "Magilink collapse underway! Core fragments are separating!"
The Doctor reached down to a console at his side, the screen for it appearing before he made contact, and typed out a sequence of commands. Steam hissed from vents on the back of the
Chair as an orb in the back of it lit up a deep, dark blue. The orb- some form of customized Device, obviously- gave off a nearly subliminal hummmmm as it activated, locking Ford's chest in a cage of dark blue light.
For the next three seconds, all of us were silent. The twitching gradually slowed, and Uno's readouts changed from dangerous red to a healthy green. Finally, the resonant voice of Doctor Scaglietti, calm and in control, filled the room.
"Emergency magilink integrity field online. Projected time to failure- seven to eight minutes." He smirked, closing down the console he'd used. "Continue the operation, Uno."
Uno looked over her readouts, adjusting a few settings, and nodded. "Real-time updates online. Synchronization at four decimal places and holding. Predictive iterations look good."
I was well used to the Doctor's creative moods by now. This one proved little different. "Well.... LET'S BEGIN!" He raised his hands, a keyboard not unlike the ones we often use appearing underneath them, and played a chord, holding it for a few seconds before starting the piece proper. As he played, Uno continued her work, occasionally calling out details for our father's sake.
I've seen them do this hundreds of times- she's almost a second set of hands and eyes for him, managing less complicated processes and feeding him important information, letting him focus on the complicated bits without missing anything. Their teamwork is some of the best I've ever seen, actually.
"Cognitive bridging successful. Ego border bilocated. Multiplexing sensory data... adjusting for transmission lag... sensory data now synchronized." With each callout, another one of Uno's displays changed from amber to green. A lazy swipe of her hand, and all the readings were collected in a single display... which promptly turned green. "Consciousness continuity achieved."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
CD, Dartz: Yep. This time, it's a fragment of one of Tre's memories.
Dartz: That was *exactly* where I was going with Tre's opinion of me so far. She respects strength. In this case, she'd decided that blackmail- even attempted blackmail- was a tool only used by those who lacked the strength to reach their goals on their own power, and the honor to accept that. I attempted blackmail, therefore I was of no benefit to her or The Cause, therefore she had no use for me.
Of course, then I showed two parts bravado, two parts stubbornness, and one part self-hypnosis with anime references. So things changed.
**********
The two of us entered the Doctor's lab mere minutes later. Ford- he had proved himself worth naming- walked into the room under his own power, if ever so barely. He had one arm around my shoulders, and was letting me carry most of his weight, but he was walking.
My father, of course, had his own concerns. "Ah, Tre. You're here. Set Mister Prefect down in the Chair. Quickly, now- I'd prefer he not suffer a total magilink collapse."
But that only happens-? "Yes, Doctor!"
Once I'd positioned Ford in the Chair- an impressive machine, worthy of the emphasis my father gave it- it snapped shut around him. Metal brackets slammed into place, locking around Ford's arms , legs, and neck... only to pull him deeper into the cushioned back of the machine. From where I was, it looked like he wouldn't be able to move a muscle.
Ford was, naturally, not pleased with this. "Doctor? What's going on!?"
"My part of the deal," he answered, not even looking away from the two different systems he was controlling. "Do not speak unless spoken to, and Do. Not. Move! This is a complex procedure, and I do not need distractions! Uno, attend!"
'Complex' was the word for it. I'd seen the Doctor work on some of my sisters- both Uno and younger siblings yet to be born- but nothing I'd seen required this sort of equipment, or this sort of effort. Even as I watched, my older sister had taken a place next to the Doctor, her own displays coming to life around her.
The two of them worked feverishly, new displays and controls flaring to life around them as more and more equipment came to life. First the Chair, already active enough to restrain Ford, fully activated. I watched as the helmet Ford was wearing unfolded, dozens of probes lifting themselves away from the rest of it, only to drill down through, hair, and bone. Then the computer core in the background powered up, and I noticed the thick cables linking it to the Chair.
"Bridge core operational. Engram collection loaded; synchronization at 98.3%. Beginning system update."
Uno entered a few more commands, and the computer core began to hum. Lights began to blink on its surface, each one in time with the probes on the Chair. "Synchronization now at 99.9%. Switching to real-time update pattern."
The lights began to blink faster, spending less time off than on. As the pace increased, Ford's body began to twitch, the restraints keeping him in place as the twitching escalated into a full-scale seizure.
Even as Uno looked over toward the Chair, eyes wide in alarm, one of the many displays hovering around her head flew in front of her face, its border blinking an angry red. "Magilink collapse underway! Core fragments are separating!"
The Doctor reached down to a console at his side, the screen for it appearing before he made contact, and typed out a sequence of commands. Steam hissed from vents on the back of the
Chair as an orb in the back of it lit up a deep, dark blue. The orb- some form of customized Device, obviously- gave off a nearly subliminal hummmmm as it activated, locking Ford's chest in a cage of dark blue light.
For the next three seconds, all of us were silent. The twitching gradually slowed, and Uno's readouts changed from dangerous red to a healthy green. Finally, the resonant voice of Doctor Scaglietti, calm and in control, filled the room.
"Emergency magilink integrity field online. Projected time to failure- seven to eight minutes." He smirked, closing down the console he'd used. "Continue the operation, Uno."
Uno looked over her readouts, adjusting a few settings, and nodded. "Real-time updates online. Synchronization at four decimal places and holding. Predictive iterations look good."
I was well used to the Doctor's creative moods by now. This one proved little different. "Well.... LET'S BEGIN!" He raised his hands, a keyboard not unlike the ones we often use appearing underneath them, and played a chord, holding it for a few seconds before starting the piece proper. As he played, Uno continued her work, occasionally calling out details for our father's sake.
I've seen them do this hundreds of times- she's almost a second set of hands and eyes for him, managing less complicated processes and feeding him important information, letting him focus on the complicated bits without missing anything. Their teamwork is some of the best I've ever seen, actually.
"Cognitive bridging successful. Ego border bilocated. Multiplexing sensory data... adjusting for transmission lag... sensory data now synchronized." With each callout, another one of Uno's displays changed from amber to green. A lazy swipe of her hand, and all the readings were collected in a single display... which promptly turned green. "Consciousness continuity achieved."
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.