This post was delayed because SB is a pain and a half. On an unrelated note, the rewrite has begun.
http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ ... si.272571/
CD: You're not missing my sarcasm. You're showing me parts where I need to add more sarcasm.
On The Matter Of Unseeing: Doesn't work the way BA suggests. The bit of my mind that stores the memory data is a computer. The bit that recalls it is mostly meat. About all I can do with memfiles is choose to forget them, choose to remember less of them (think reencoding a video to a lower resolution), or try not to forget them (means they get reduced in quality after other files, if I run low on room).
On Eldritch Horrors And Strange Angles: That's actually not an issue here. Basically, Al-Hazard is so advanced that Clarke's Third Law applies here- part of that involves higher-dimensional creations, on both the physical and mathematical levels. They still drive people mad, but nobody's ever documented any nameless (or worse, named) horrors tied to it. It's just that modern humanity isn't built to comprehend the concepts High Magitech is built on. That particular cutout is Uno's doing, based on TSAB lost logia study precautions (partially authored by Scaglietti's black research operation, back when he was there).
I'm just busy going hearnoevilseenoevillosenoSAN, so I'm not going to investigate. Investigators get driven mad and/or eaten, you know.
**********
Okay, so it messed with his short-term memory, it seems. I should be careful not to remind him of the thing. "I've been here for a while, Doctor. You were explaining what my IS is." He blinked, apparently confused, so I decided to give him a bit more information. "You'd found some sort of gravity engine in a lost logia..."
I could see the realization in his eyes. "Ah, yes, the latus!" He looked faintly disgusted. "It was almost a complete waste of my time. My team and I had already seen most of its technology elsewhere- why, we even understood how to make some of it ourselves! Utterly mundane... except for the engine, the most efficient gravity manipulation mechanism known to current civilization. Ever since I saw it, I've worked feverishly, trying to unlock its secrets... and you, my friend, are living proof of my success!"
"...so my IS is an experimental anti-gravity engine, but it's only ever made things fall down. What, did you install it upside-down, or something?"
Scaglietti laughed. "Oh, no, dear Imma! The device was perfectly functional... or did you forget this incident?" He brought up an image of Tre being yanked to the ground, the sigil of an active IS on the ground below her.
While I winced at the memory, the doctor rezzed up another window, this one containing... something. I was fairly sure it was some sort of scan data, but the contents of the window were so ridiculously technical that I couldn't make heads or tails of them. "See this, here?", he said, pointing at a bright line on the diagram. I nodded.
"This is the connection between your body's mana system and the gravitic manipulator." He moved his finger up a bit to another bright line, this one connecting a dark blue ball to the midpoint of a twisty... thing, the top half of it totally dark. "This connection, on the other hand, links the manipulator's primary power system straight into your linker core."
"The combination of the two", he said, causing everything else in the image to fade out, "allows your body to feed mana into the manipulator, where it becomes attuned with the gravity effect, and then returns to your linker core. It's essentially an artificial mana conversion affinity... one your body seems to have created on its own."
I thought about this for a while. "Wait. You said it was functional? Not is?"
Jail nodded, eyes glowing with scientific glee. "Your little adaptation killed off the actual gravitic manipulator. I could transplant another one into your body, but it, too, would starve." He spread his arms wide, dramatically throwing his head back. "Isn't it wonderful? So much to learn! So many mysteries to solve!" He laughed; in his voice, I could hear both honest mirth and harsh madness.
While the doctor was busy being insanely happy, I looked back at the scan he'd brought up. Interesting. The mana converter is about the same size as the grav engine; I wonder...
"Doctor? What were you planning to do about the dead manipulator?"
"Do?" He actually looked surprised. "Why would I do anything about it? It's not hurting anything where it is."
Really? REALLY?! "It's not doing me any good, either, and it's taking up useful space. If this is correct," I said, pointing at the image, "we could fit a second power system into that space, and have space left over. You could hook them up to some sort of power regulator- something to let me choose when I use grav-element mana- and fix my reliability issue at the same time."
Scaglietti looked at the image for a while, flicking various parts of the full scan in and out of visibility. "Hmm. It might be possible to fix your little problem... but I wouldn't be able to fit another converter into the remaining space." He took the scan, zoomed it in on the grav system, and flicked the 'dead' part of it out of the image, rotating it to and fro to get a perspective. "...now that I look at it, I could probably encourage the current one to grow into the extra space. I'll have to run some simulations, but it should be possible." He looked up at me. "This will take some time. I'll summon you when I'm ready to begin."
Not being an idiot, I knew a brush-off when I heard it. "Of course, Doctor. Thank you." I then went back to my room, rezzed up a console, and began furiously crunching numbers.
A gravity affinity, huh? I can think of a few fun things to do with that.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/ ... si.272571/
CD: You're not missing my sarcasm. You're showing me parts where I need to add more sarcasm.
On The Matter Of Unseeing: Doesn't work the way BA suggests. The bit of my mind that stores the memory data is a computer. The bit that recalls it is mostly meat. About all I can do with memfiles is choose to forget them, choose to remember less of them (think reencoding a video to a lower resolution), or try not to forget them (means they get reduced in quality after other files, if I run low on room).
On Eldritch Horrors And Strange Angles: That's actually not an issue here. Basically, Al-Hazard is so advanced that Clarke's Third Law applies here- part of that involves higher-dimensional creations, on both the physical and mathematical levels. They still drive people mad, but nobody's ever documented any nameless (or worse, named) horrors tied to it. It's just that modern humanity isn't built to comprehend the concepts High Magitech is built on. That particular cutout is Uno's doing, based on TSAB lost logia study precautions (partially authored by Scaglietti's black research operation, back when he was there).
I'm just busy going hearnoevilseenoevillosenoSAN, so I'm not going to investigate. Investigators get driven mad and/or eaten, you know.
**********
Okay, so it messed with his short-term memory, it seems. I should be careful not to remind him of the thing. "I've been here for a while, Doctor. You were explaining what my IS is." He blinked, apparently confused, so I decided to give him a bit more information. "You'd found some sort of gravity engine in a lost logia..."
I could see the realization in his eyes. "Ah, yes, the latus!" He looked faintly disgusted. "It was almost a complete waste of my time. My team and I had already seen most of its technology elsewhere- why, we even understood how to make some of it ourselves! Utterly mundane... except for the engine, the most efficient gravity manipulation mechanism known to current civilization. Ever since I saw it, I've worked feverishly, trying to unlock its secrets... and you, my friend, are living proof of my success!"
"...so my IS is an experimental anti-gravity engine, but it's only ever made things fall down. What, did you install it upside-down, or something?"
Scaglietti laughed. "Oh, no, dear Imma! The device was perfectly functional... or did you forget this incident?" He brought up an image of Tre being yanked to the ground, the sigil of an active IS on the ground below her.
While I winced at the memory, the doctor rezzed up another window, this one containing... something. I was fairly sure it was some sort of scan data, but the contents of the window were so ridiculously technical that I couldn't make heads or tails of them. "See this, here?", he said, pointing at a bright line on the diagram. I nodded.
"This is the connection between your body's mana system and the gravitic manipulator." He moved his finger up a bit to another bright line, this one connecting a dark blue ball to the midpoint of a twisty... thing, the top half of it totally dark. "This connection, on the other hand, links the manipulator's primary power system straight into your linker core."
"The combination of the two", he said, causing everything else in the image to fade out, "allows your body to feed mana into the manipulator, where it becomes attuned with the gravity effect, and then returns to your linker core. It's essentially an artificial mana conversion affinity... one your body seems to have created on its own."
I thought about this for a while. "Wait. You said it was functional? Not is?"
Jail nodded, eyes glowing with scientific glee. "Your little adaptation killed off the actual gravitic manipulator. I could transplant another one into your body, but it, too, would starve." He spread his arms wide, dramatically throwing his head back. "Isn't it wonderful? So much to learn! So many mysteries to solve!" He laughed; in his voice, I could hear both honest mirth and harsh madness.
While the doctor was busy being insanely happy, I looked back at the scan he'd brought up. Interesting. The mana converter is about the same size as the grav engine; I wonder...
"Doctor? What were you planning to do about the dead manipulator?"
"Do?" He actually looked surprised. "Why would I do anything about it? It's not hurting anything where it is."
Really? REALLY?! "It's not doing me any good, either, and it's taking up useful space. If this is correct," I said, pointing at the image, "we could fit a second power system into that space, and have space left over. You could hook them up to some sort of power regulator- something to let me choose when I use grav-element mana- and fix my reliability issue at the same time."
Scaglietti looked at the image for a while, flicking various parts of the full scan in and out of visibility. "Hmm. It might be possible to fix your little problem... but I wouldn't be able to fit another converter into the remaining space." He took the scan, zoomed it in on the grav system, and flicked the 'dead' part of it out of the image, rotating it to and fro to get a perspective. "...now that I look at it, I could probably encourage the current one to grow into the extra space. I'll have to run some simulations, but it should be possible." He looked up at me. "This will take some time. I'll summon you when I'm ready to begin."
Not being an idiot, I knew a brush-off when I heard it. "Of course, Doctor. Thank you." I then went back to my room, rezzed up a console, and began furiously crunching numbers.
A gravity affinity, huh? I can think of a few fun things to do with that.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.