driftfleet | get in nerds it's time for nerd stuff

Who: Kirito + whoever
Broadcast: Video OTA
Action: Paisley, Iskaulit
When: Todayish

[Alright, so technically he was warned that this might not be entirely wise, but whatever, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And the warning came from someone who hails from a world with evil inventor supervillains, and this place is totally different. It's fine. This will be just fine.

The comm clicks on to reveal a corner of the Paisley's engineering room, where a couple of boxes of spare parts and tools have been stacked and labeled nearby. Kirito plops himself on the floor in front of it, offering an awkward wave.]

Hey, this is a general shout-out to the engineers of the fleet- not just the ones with engineering augments, but specifically people who like to experiment with tech, invent stuff, that sort of thing. Don't know about you, but I've been working mostly on my ship, and it's getting a little crowded, so I'm putting together a more official lab on the Iskaulit. It'll really barebones, but that's the point of this.

Anyone interested in contributing? We could get some tables and set up a decent workshop for more people. It might be cool to have a general area where some of us can work together, swap ideas, maybe get some experience with fields other than whatever we specialize in. I know I've got a lot to learn, and I'd like to see more of what's out there.

While I'm at it, does anyone have experience with building furniture? Or even making cushions? We're gonna need a lot for another project I'm working on.

{Private message to Nami:}

Got a present for you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I have a feeling we'll need plenty of tables, though there's also plenty of volunteers...

The hard part will be getting the material, at this rate. Hopefully we can get some at the next stop.

I'll keep my fingers crossed. Once you get some, though, you might be able to ask Alex to transfigure the rest.

I'm not sure how it'll go, but if it's anything like the studio, it should be good. [Stefan is so shamelessly proud of her sometimes.]

Ah, right! She can do that. I've got another guy who's offered to put stuff together kinda-magically, but if I can't afford a full stock, I'll ask her about getting more.

...Can she do just materials, or could we replicate whole pieces of furniture? Or would it be better to dismantle a table and use the materials for that...

[PONDER, PONDER.]

I'm not sure. She could replicate tea leaves without a problem, but you'd have to ask for something bigger.

Still, it's a better solution than waiting for all the raw materials you'll need. We've got no clue what the next few planets'll hold.

Anything's gotta be better than the last one, though, right? I can't imagine what I'd be able to do with poisoned wood.

[Or anything else for that matter.]

Technically? That would be a pretty effective stake.

[Only Stefan would think about ways to kill other vampires.] But yeah, I'd even take the wild wild west again.

[STEFAN PLEASE.]

Oh man, I would love to go back there. It was so cool. ...I mean, aside from the whole avatar issue.

[Suddenly getting stuck in a form that made everyone mistake him for a girl was really not ideal. At least he can control it now.]

[He stifles a laugh.] Your avatar was cool, though.

It sure fooled me, and I'm normally pretty good at discerning that kind of thing.

Cool... I guess I should take comfort in the thought that people wouldn't mistake me for a girl as my regular self anymore.

[His mom still laughs about that.]

Probably. [Headtilt] Did that really happen that often?

[REGRET.]

Ah... when we were little, people would mistake me and my sister for twins. Twin girls.

Huh.

[It's only because of years of practice that Stefan manages to keep his face neutral.] I can't say I see it, unless your younger self looked like your avatar.

I sure hope I've grown a bit past that.

[Though if the mistake still persisted at first glance, he wouldn't be surprised- Asuna says stuff like that sometimes, too, so he's used to it. It was more prominent in SAO, when he only looked fourteen for two years straight.]

Honestly, I don't see much resemblance between this appearance and that avatar at all. First time I used it, I didn't even realize it was me.

I can see some, if I'm really looking for it. [He shrugs.] But honestly, I think that's only because I know it's you.

....I can't decide whether or not to feel offended...

[It's not like it's an insult, but... ouch, if he had much in the way of manly pride it would be so very wounded.]

[Ah. He winces.] Sorry, it wasn't meant to be an insult.

It's more... you know how you see someone and you think they might be related? That kind of thing.

No, I get it. It's more impressive that any features stick out at all, actually. The avatars are supposed to be randomized for the most part, dependant on some base stats and the play time on a person's save. I only got the avatar because of that.

No kidding? [He gets what each word means individually, but when they're combined, he's... a little lost...] So you don't get to pick what your avatar looks like?

Not at first. You can do some modification after the first log-in, but it costs real money to do it. When I made my accounts, I was either in too much of a hurry or I didn't care enough to bother. Yui made me change my hair on the fairy avatar, though.

[Stupid microtransactions.]

Edited 2016-07-21 04:12 (UTC)

That's pretty smart of the developers....

[He knows he would pay up too, if he ever played such a thing.]

I guess I've got a lot to learn about your video games. Katamari was the closest I got in a long time.

Yeah, it's... definitely different from those games.

[He played one during one of those retro callback days he used to have before VR games stole all of his attention. It was alright, but not really his type of game.]

I wish I could show you, but I don't think the tech exists here.

Seriously? We have all this fancy med equipment and engineering who-knows and yet... no tech?

[a small huff,] That sucks. I guess I'll have to wait and see for myself.

They have different priorities, I'm assuming. Unless they started streaming the digital world, it probably wouldn't be very fun to watch a reality show of people lying around on beds for hours at a time.

If they can stream our dreams, they can stream the digital world. All a matter of perspective.

[He's got your back, bro.]

Well, it's a pretty nice dream. If I could get my hands on the tech, I could probably make the software, but I'm not good enough of an engineer to do the hard part yet.

video;

stefanged - 2016-07-27 04:42 (UTC) - Expand

huaaaaagh - 2016-07-27 21:13 (UTC) - Expand