CD: That's an outrageous idea! I'd never do such a thing!
...besides, none of them wear skirts anyway. Canonically, Uno was the only one permitted to wear something other than that blue bodysuit.
BA: You're thinking of the memory augmentation system as a computer in its own right. Think of it more like a hard drive- or, more accurately, like the physical storage in a hard drive. It can only do what its drivers and file system let it do, and both of those are my own mind. To have more control over my memories than 'remember more/remember less/forget', I'd have to restructure my own mind. That's not something I'd let the doctor do, assuming he could do it without just replacing me with somebody else. That's not something I'd trust myself to do- I'd end up a vegetable, or worse.
Incidentally, that's part of why I can't just skillsoft everything. The other Numbers' minds were created to his specifications, more or less. They were designed to interface with their bodies (and the Doc's other systems) in a way mine wasn't, on account of growing up a normal human. The 'softs I did get only worked because he applied them when I was running on his computer system. Even then, they didn't work as designed.
Now, having Malleus broadcast images of it (unidirectionally, so I don't see it) would be possible, and neatly prevent me from ever remembering what the thing looked like. It just wouldn't be all that effective, on account of the effects of Al-Hazardian WTFtech being slower and more cumulative than that (consider that the doctor spent who knows how long working on it before he broke with the TSAB). One of their more complex creations might do the trick, but good luck finding one and verifying that without looking at it.
**********
Entry 36 (Day 441)
I am SO VERY GLAD I took all of those scans.
A bit over a week ago, I went to see the Doctor. Turns out my IS is a reverse-engineered copy of an anti-gravity device from ancient (and highly forbidden, and highly DANGEROUS) Al-Hazard.
The good news is that it seems to be stable, at least partially functional, and not particularly likely to explode, implode, grow into a squamous, eldritch horror, fracture dimensional space, decide to imitate a microwave, fill my room with burning marshmallow, and/or drive me insane.
The bad news is that it's only partially functional. Somehow, its power system tied itself into my linker core instead of into the actual grav engine. Without power, the actual engine died (and from how Scaglietti talks about it, I think he means that literally), so now my IS just gives me random bursts of gravity-elemental mana. It can't be repaired, either.
From what I gather, the IS I was supposed to have would've been utterly broken. Instinctive control over gravity, without having to crunch numbers or use a Device? Screw magic- I'd just use that for everything!
[TRULY?]
[It was an exaggeration, Malleus. You'd still be useful, even then.]
As it is, the doctor is working on fixing what I've got. We figure it should be possible to smooth out the mana flow, increase its max output, and give me control over how much I get and when I get it. We do that, and I've got a whole category of personal magic I can work with.
While I wait, I've been back at spell creation. Using the mana signature I found, I've mathed out the equivalent of 'if this mana tests as grav-elemental, then use it to fuel this aspect of the spell', and added it to a version of Magic Missile for testing... along with a new bit of flash. If all goes as planned, I'll have a spell that does what I tell it to, if not how much.
I've also got some testing cantrips developed- things I'll try out once I have a stable grav-mana supply. The relationship between gravity and space-time manipulation is, as proven by my DT spell, strong enough to investigate. If I can develop the effects I'm thinking of, well...
Let's just say it might be enough to put me on Ace level.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
...besides, none of them wear skirts anyway. Canonically, Uno was the only one permitted to wear something other than that blue bodysuit.
BA: You're thinking of the memory augmentation system as a computer in its own right. Think of it more like a hard drive- or, more accurately, like the physical storage in a hard drive. It can only do what its drivers and file system let it do, and both of those are my own mind. To have more control over my memories than 'remember more/remember less/forget', I'd have to restructure my own mind. That's not something I'd let the doctor do, assuming he could do it without just replacing me with somebody else. That's not something I'd trust myself to do- I'd end up a vegetable, or worse.
Incidentally, that's part of why I can't just skillsoft everything. The other Numbers' minds were created to his specifications, more or less. They were designed to interface with their bodies (and the Doc's other systems) in a way mine wasn't, on account of growing up a normal human. The 'softs I did get only worked because he applied them when I was running on his computer system. Even then, they didn't work as designed.
Now, having Malleus broadcast images of it (unidirectionally, so I don't see it) would be possible, and neatly prevent me from ever remembering what the thing looked like. It just wouldn't be all that effective, on account of the effects of Al-Hazardian WTFtech being slower and more cumulative than that (consider that the doctor spent who knows how long working on it before he broke with the TSAB). One of their more complex creations might do the trick, but good luck finding one and verifying that without looking at it.
**********
Entry 36 (Day 441)
I am SO VERY GLAD I took all of those scans.
A bit over a week ago, I went to see the Doctor. Turns out my IS is a reverse-engineered copy of an anti-gravity device from ancient (and highly forbidden, and highly DANGEROUS) Al-Hazard.
The good news is that it seems to be stable, at least partially functional, and not particularly likely to explode, implode, grow into a squamous, eldritch horror, fracture dimensional space, decide to imitate a microwave, fill my room with burning marshmallow, and/or drive me insane.
The bad news is that it's only partially functional. Somehow, its power system tied itself into my linker core instead of into the actual grav engine. Without power, the actual engine died (and from how Scaglietti talks about it, I think he means that literally), so now my IS just gives me random bursts of gravity-elemental mana. It can't be repaired, either.
From what I gather, the IS I was supposed to have would've been utterly broken. Instinctive control over gravity, without having to crunch numbers or use a Device? Screw magic- I'd just use that for everything!
[TRULY?]
[It was an exaggeration, Malleus. You'd still be useful, even then.]
As it is, the doctor is working on fixing what I've got. We figure it should be possible to smooth out the mana flow, increase its max output, and give me control over how much I get and when I get it. We do that, and I've got a whole category of personal magic I can work with.
While I wait, I've been back at spell creation. Using the mana signature I found, I've mathed out the equivalent of 'if this mana tests as grav-elemental, then use it to fuel this aspect of the spell', and added it to a version of Magic Missile for testing... along with a new bit of flash. If all goes as planned, I'll have a spell that does what I tell it to, if not how much.
I've also got some testing cantrips developed- things I'll try out once I have a stable grav-mana supply. The relationship between gravity and space-time manipulation is, as proven by my DT spell, strong enough to investigate. If I can develop the effects I'm thinking of, well...
Let's just say it might be enough to put me on Ace level.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.