driftfleet | 2 >> nerd life is hard

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2 >> nerd life is hard

Who: Megaman and you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Moping at the desk in the engineer's office on the SS Golden, lights on as usual
When: RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW somewhere around the space equivalent of midnight

Hello, I'd like to ask a question for anyone still awake. Some of you have been here for a little while now, right? I was wondering...has anyone ever been able to contact people they know back home here? Has Atroma ever allowed it, I guess.

My friends back home are probably really worried about me by now...I don't think they would know what's going on. To them I might have suddenly become missing! And I'd like to let them know that I'm okay, if I can. But I don't know if there's a way...

And also, since [ah] maybe I'm going to be here for awhile too. Does anyone have a database about outer space that I could borrow for a bit? A book or a data file you'd be willing to lend? Just, something that gets detailed about how things work in general out there. I have basic knowledge on the subject, but I'd like to learn more of I can.

Thank you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It takes Nightingale a minute to answer, given her own current home problems, but...]

I don't think it's possible. I mean... I've found someone here from where I was before, but from home isn't going to happen. We've been dragged across worlds- Maybe if your home world had the ability to send messages across worlds or something? But odds are we're all shit out of luck in that regard.

Some talking horse told me that time's probably frozen back where you came from, though.

Yeah, I think you're probably right about that. My world definitely doesn't have that kind of technology yet...and I guess I was hoping that maybe Atroma would open up a venue like this at some point? Since they've definitely got enough power to take us here, and also broadcast it for a show for a lot of worlds? But that's also relying on Atroma being generous, hah...

Ah, Dr. Crusher has just told me that too, though! Although I don't think Dr. Crusher is a talking horse...but apparently time might flow differently between here and home? So at least they're not worrying.

[...Hm. But...]

It'd still be really nice to be able to talk to our friends at least a bit, though.

[On text, Nightingale will end up switching to the same medium.]

I don't know about that. Rather than 'flowing differently', from what I've heard, it's more like we're just being put back at the same point they picked us up from. So it's not that time is frozen, but rather, that we're just sort of operating outside of that time right now. I don't think the Atroma would be that generous, though. (-_-)ゞ゛ They weren't exactly big on asking us permission before grabbing us. I don't think they particularly care about how we feel. Honestly, our being homesick is probably good for them. It'll bring them ratings. Who's Dr. Crusher?

Oh, that's another good theory! Dr. Crusher told me that normal people aren't aging here anymore, either...do you think that would tie in with us "operating outside home's time" too? Man, that's still pretty incredible either way.

You're right, though, I don't think Atroma's really that generous too. Worth a shot, I guess... (￣^￣＼）I'm still not sure what kind of show this even is. I thought it'd be more like a scifi movie, but if they want that much drama wouldn't it be more like a soap opera??

Actually I've just met Dr. Crusher! We're talking right now. But apparently they already lived in space before coming here, so they know a lot about it. They've been very helpful so far! Would you like me to tell you about anything else they know about space later, too?

That's okay, I've got another space nerd who's willing to tell me everything already. Thanks, though. I'm not sure about not aging normally... I'm not sure how that would work, for me. As for the show, it's a reality show, from what I know. I never watched those much at home- or at all, really- but it's mostly that they watch what we do and broadcast it. But I think it also does things like record everything in advance, and then chop up the recorded footage to try to make some people into protagonists or villains. ... But, then, I've never seen a camera here outside of our communicators anyway, so I'm not sure I even buy into the show explanation. (◎_◎;)

Edited 2015-07-16 04:14 (UTC)

["How aging would work for her"? Hm, that's an odd thing to say...though maybe this person's like him too, actually. Not a normally aging person anyway, that is. Worth looking into later. More importantly right now, though:]

A reality show? Oh, huh...Mom watches those a lot. [wait shit--] Mrs. Hikari, I mean! But they seemed kind of boring...maybe space reality shows are more entertaining somehow. [why is he even thinking about this] But when you put it that way that's really weird to think about...I've been on tv before, but not quite like that!

It's funny that you mention cameras, though, because I've been wondering about that too. There don't seem to be any on my ship, for sure...and I think I'd know if there were, since I'm the engineer! I don't know...

[Fortunately for Megs, Nightingale has enough parent issues of her own that she won't pry there.]

Well... One person I met suggested that it was our eyes. The Atroma had the implants using our eyes as cameras. Which is... terrifying, and I don't know how to test this.

[BLESS YOU NIGHTINGALE for letting him have these incredibly awkward attempts at damage control....old habits die hard but he's still not quite ready to try elaborating his rather convoluted family issues in general around here, surrounded by strangers. Though he still forgets to catch himself sometimes....anyway--

oh god

Cue a small pause as he allows this idea to sink in for a moment. ...Ah.]

Our--our eyes, you think so??

I mean I guess in my case it's possible, I think my eyes are cameras already... [ROBOT OPTICS...he has learned a lot of things from his robotics textbook bought from the last casino planet. STILL--] But--that's still really creepy!! And I'd think I'd know if they were being used like that, I mean, they're my own eyes! I really hope that's not true...

I'm hoping not, too. But our choices are 'invisible omnipresent cameras', 'our eyes are cameras', or 'the Atroma have been lying to us all along about why we're here, if the Atroma are even real.' And frankly, none of those options are good. Why are your eyes cameras?

Well, at least if Atroma is lying to us that means they're not actually watching us all the time through our eyes after all...but that still does seem like a lesser of two evils thing. And then we'd have to wonder why else they'd have us out here...

[But oh, right--]Oh, I'm in a robot body right now! I think it was supplied by Atroma, too, so now I'm definitely kind of worried about my eyes. And everything else...but it's all been working like it's supposed to so far?

Yeah, it's not exactly encouraging. Is it all right if I ask why you're in a robot body? And, if it's been supplied by Atroma, it's probably not possible, but can you tell if your body or your eyes are transmitting any kind of signal that could be picked up? If you're definitely sending out a video signal, even when you're not aware of it, that's a good point in favor of the eye-camera idea.

Ah, I don't mind at all! You're fine, don't worry. I'm actually a computer program, normally, I only lived in the cyber world. But I guess they wanted to bring me out to the real world here. It was pretty disorienting to start with!

Can I tell if I'm transmitting anything, though? Honestly, I'm not sure...[This bothers him like you would not believe tbh ESPECIALLY NOW THAT HE'S ACTIVELY THINKING ABOUT IT...] I'd really like to say that I can! But it's like...I'm not normally an engineer, either, but this secondary database they've given me on engineering is so well-integrated that sometimes I forget I never knew how to fix things. Does that make sense? It's got to be something in the programming there...and programming can make you think in different ways sometimes. Or not...notice things.

Oh, that's not good at all, is it?

It's fine. I think I get it. Sorry, I'm not really sure how... AIs? work. (Is that what you are? I think that's what those are called.) I figured they'd lock anything from you, though, since you're in the same boat as us. Carelessness was too much to hope for, I guess.

Yes, AI is also a correct term! I'm a NetNavi, specifically, though that's more about what type of program I am.

But that's true. I guess they'd want everyone here on the same page, robot or not. That's still really...off-putting, though, now that I'm thinking about it? I really hope I don't end up doing something I don't notice until it's too late, because of this kind of thing. Like hurting somebody... [Uuugh that's an idea hitting a bit too close to home, now isn't it?]

Mind if I ask what a 'NetNavi' is? If it helps, everyone's in the same position as you. We all have these augments in our brains, so... We're all just as at risk as you. That's probably not really comforting, though, is it... （；￣д￣）

Oh, it's short for Internet Navigator. We're designed to help our Operators navigate the Internet! You know, to keep up with day-to-day schedules and obligations and tasks, or exchange messages with others, things like that.

But no, you're right, that's true too. With everyone having these augments, it's definitely no good...nothing bad might be happening yet, but it's still pretty worrying.

I guess we're all just going to have to stay on our guard and try to pay attention to what's happening around us, huh?

Well, sure. Not that staying on guard will do any good, since they're influencing our brains. Why does navigating the internet require an AI?

Well, maybe it won't, but it's still better than doing nothing at all! And if we catch it in time we might even be able to stop it, or something! Or at least slow it down. It would probably be difficult, but that sort of thing never is very easy anyway...

The internet is pretty complicated anymore, though! Most people can't really work out the process manually without a lot of training, and it's probably still convenient to have a Navi help with things even then. Navis can serve as an anti-virus, too, you definitely need to watch out for those. I'm guessing you don't have Navis where you're from, though?

Edited 2015-07-19 06:00 (UTC)

Not that I remember, but I only used the internet much for school. I remember my parents monitoring my use, so I avoided it. But we definitely didn't have that sort of thing. It was a lot simpler than what you're describing. Input URL, get the page. I'm not sure how you can overcomplicate that to require an AI...

URL input...? [oh my god] Oh, yeah, that did used to be a thing for us too. But wow, that was a really long time ago! We've gone through a lot of updates since then. It's like...I think webpages are a lot more interactive now than they used to be before, for example? We Navis travel through them in order to organize them or navigate them, since our Operators can't exactly go inside themselves.

Ah, but it's really kind of hard to describe if you've never seen it before...the cyber world is kind of huge. I'm actually having a hard time imagining how you'd only need the internet for school! I wasn't around for things like manual URL inputs yet. Nowadays pretty much everything functions online...

Interactive... Rather than requiring an AI to organize or navigate a page for you, wouldn't it be much simpler to just not make them so complicated? I don't understand the point... What do you use the internet for that necessitates that?

[oh god how do you word this WHERE DOES HE EVEN START...somebody help......]

Well, it's like--maybe it would have been easier, back in the day! With the first version of the internet. In fact, your version of it sounds a lot like our first version too... But they had to really overhaul things after the first internet [uh] kind of self-destructed. They had to recreate another Net entirely, but also change a lot of the functions that lead to the first Net going wrong. Which might be why it has to be so intricate?

The internet is definitely used for all kinds of things now, though! Like, house security, or cooking things...or managing the power supplies of cities. There's worldwide climate control, too? We've even been able to manage earthquakes and natural disasters and things like that, as well... [THAT'S JUST ALL THE IMPORTANT THINGS OFF THE TOP OF HIS HEAD THOUGH is he ready to write up a laundry list up to and including your toothbrush probably having internet too...no, not yet. That should be common sense!] Just, a lot of things! It can be a lot for a person on the outside to keep up with.

Okay, wait. Hold the fuck on a moment. You manage earthquakes with the internet? What the fuck? You mean just by sending out advance data and preparing places before they happen, right?

[Ah why does he get this feeling like he's only spawning more questions than he's answering now.....]

Well
Yes?

I mean, advance data does have a part in it! The quakes themselves can generally be suppressed to a minimal amount also, however! It's pretty sophisticated...but I don't work in those kinds of servers usually, so I couldn't really tell you the exact details of the process, I'm sorry! It's pretty bad when something malfunctions, though...

[There's a long pause before Nightingale's next reply, as she has to quietly try to regain her composure and not scream WHAT THE FUCK over text.]

Right. I won't ask anymore, then. That just sounds so pointlessly overcomplicated... Not my world, though, I guess I can't judge.

2 >> nerd life is hard

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