You're quite right. They don't have the context (Portal) to associate 'testing chamber/magical confinement cell' with 'enrichment center', nor would they get it if I told them. Theoretically, I could go to the local Earth, get a copy of Portal, and show them, but there are a few problems with that.
1. That would give Jail Scaglietti IDEAS.2. MSLN Earth is only vaguely like our own, not exactly like it. Who's to say Portal exists, much less uses the same term for the lab complex?(Incidentally, I did have some fun with MSLN-America in a later snippet. For one thing, they're not Starbucks- they're Apollos.)3. Even if I did find a copy of Portal, and it was just like our version, my Earth-tech laptop probably couldn't run it. The GPU sucks.
#3 is easy to deal with, and #2 is out of my control. #1 would be a VERY BAD THING.
CD, one of the stalls there? Knife throwing. One of the prizes is furry, soft, and of interest.
**********
Uno shook her head slightly. "Not quite. You missed a layer of abstraction."
Really? Going to be that precise about it, Uno? I folded my arms across my chest, and, in as close as I could manage to my earlier contemplative tone (with just a bit of annoyed pedantry in my voice spoiling it) rattled off... "'...allowing him to send items into a place that could be emptied into a place that could be emptied into the room, but not reached from inside.' Better?"
That earned me a snort of amusement. "Yes. Much." Uno took a second to recover her usual impassiveness before continuing. "As I was saying, items can be remotely introduced into the containment room, but not removed remotely. Typically, we either have to remove used items ourselves, or have the base's automated systems do it for us. As the automated systems are mostly designed for inanimate objects-"
I get the idea. "-they wouldn't've been able to handle the rowdier test subjects, requiring us to move them by hand. I understand." I waved a hand around, indicating the large storage room we'd just entered. "But why, then, did we have to bring them all the way here? Couldn't we have just dragged them into the hallway, and teleported them from there?" As I asked the question, I saw Uno look off to one side. Interesting. What is that she's looking at?
'That' turned out to be a set of controls. Zoom in on them, and... oh. Now I see. I grinned in realization. "This isn't a storage room- at least not totally. It's also a lift."
I saw Uno beginning to smile, so I kept going. "...and, unless I miss my guess, we're almost directly beneath... yes, we're very close to being right under the lab's primary industrial teleporter. I take it that site-to-site teleports are energy-intensive?"
The smile I got from that one was both pleased and wry. "You catch on quickly. I only had to give you one hint."
Without thinking, I responded. "Thank you! I... hey!"
And lo, the Uno did laugh. And I laid ears upon the sound, and heard that it was good.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
1. That would give Jail Scaglietti IDEAS.2. MSLN Earth is only vaguely like our own, not exactly like it. Who's to say Portal exists, much less uses the same term for the lab complex?(Incidentally, I did have some fun with MSLN-America in a later snippet. For one thing, they're not Starbucks- they're Apollos.)3. Even if I did find a copy of Portal, and it was just like our version, my Earth-tech laptop probably couldn't run it. The GPU sucks.
#3 is easy to deal with, and #2 is out of my control. #1 would be a VERY BAD THING.
CD, one of the stalls there? Knife throwing. One of the prizes is furry, soft, and of interest.
**********
Uno shook her head slightly. "Not quite. You missed a layer of abstraction."
Really? Going to be that precise about it, Uno? I folded my arms across my chest, and, in as close as I could manage to my earlier contemplative tone (with just a bit of annoyed pedantry in my voice spoiling it) rattled off... "'...allowing him to send items into a place that could be emptied into a place that could be emptied into the room, but not reached from inside.' Better?"
That earned me a snort of amusement. "Yes. Much." Uno took a second to recover her usual impassiveness before continuing. "As I was saying, items can be remotely introduced into the containment room, but not removed remotely. Typically, we either have to remove used items ourselves, or have the base's automated systems do it for us. As the automated systems are mostly designed for inanimate objects-"
I get the idea. "-they wouldn't've been able to handle the rowdier test subjects, requiring us to move them by hand. I understand." I waved a hand around, indicating the large storage room we'd just entered. "But why, then, did we have to bring them all the way here? Couldn't we have just dragged them into the hallway, and teleported them from there?" As I asked the question, I saw Uno look off to one side. Interesting. What is that she's looking at?
'That' turned out to be a set of controls. Zoom in on them, and... oh. Now I see. I grinned in realization. "This isn't a storage room- at least not totally. It's also a lift."
I saw Uno beginning to smile, so I kept going. "...and, unless I miss my guess, we're almost directly beneath... yes, we're very close to being right under the lab's primary industrial teleporter. I take it that site-to-site teleports are energy-intensive?"
The smile I got from that one was both pleased and wry. "You catch on quickly. I only had to give you one hint."
Without thinking, I responded. "Thank you! I... hey!"
And lo, the Uno did laugh. And I laid ears upon the sound, and heard that it was good.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.