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[piecewise]

((L3 may not be stable, but a station can still be parked there with some minor stationkeeping required. And it's the furthest from the planet - not that it'll help much, if Steve's estimate on the containment breach of the artifact from mission 4 is any indication.))

((At that point, is there even any reason to putting it at a Lagrange point? Seems like it would be cheaper, Δv-wise, to just put it on another planet.))


Like I said in the previous post: With my vocal cords.
First, replace the silvery material for later investigation and store the action figure. Then, head to the isolation chamber.

Once there, say the following:
"Hi. I heard you were sentient. Can you understand me?"
If this fails, stick my hand in it and try again.

Well, talking to it has no effect.

Sticking your hand into it has:

[Will:1]
[End:1]

...

You wake up on the dusty plains outside of the base, very confused as to where you are and whats going on. Last thing you remember is a big rock falling down toward you.

No amps in our workers, nor changeling implants. I suppose we can be reasonably sure that none of the workers left here are operatives in disguise, since those two items would be unbelievably difficult, if not impossible to get rid of without a full surgery bay. Still possible there is one, but the obvious - and most far-reaching - option is out.

((This one:

Message the Armoury Master:

I need a bit of advice regarding Organochemistry or Neural Connector amps (much more likely the former) - during the space battle, a member of ARM came into the control room and attempted to detonate a nuclear device. He was subdued, and is imprisoned, but we can't be sure whether or not he was acting of his own free will. Is there any way, without the use of amps (as we have nobody to use them, nor even the means to manufacture them yet), to determine whether someone has had their mind manipulated?

))

Not without knowing what their brain was like before hand.

((I had actually considered turning that off to be part of my action, but decided against it in case it forced a roll or something.))

Respawn.

"Why must these VRs be that realistic... I still feel sick..."

No amps in our workers, nor changeling implants. I suppose we can be reasonably sure that none of the workers left here are operatives in disguise, since those two items would be unbelievably difficult, if not impossible to get rid of without a full surgery bay. Still possible there is one, but the obvious - and most far-reaching - option is out.

"But Charles hasn't even... eh, okay.  I've written a program that links our video feeds, although it seems to already be purposeless."

TINKER!  AND CHARGE AN AUX BONUS!

Spoiler: Tinker things (click to show/hide)

First things first, set my VR body to be a dex synthflesh body with an MK.III.  Examine what my stat bonuses are.

Now spawn myself into a regular tinker environment.  Spawn a few Piezoelectric shard launchers, in various stages of deconstruction.  Examine how they work- If I understand it correctly, the gun feeds a liquid solution into the firing chamber, and then channels electricity(?) through it which instantly solidifies it into the crystals.  Then it... uses some form of electrical repulsion to propel the round out of the barrel?  I'd like a better description, if you have one.  Also, at what RPM does it fire a charged volley?  Can you fire charged volleys in quick succession?

For now, just spawn little mini-sods armed with mini-PSLs that fire rounds at the below sizes.  I want to see how well they do against full size mk1 dummies, and full size battlesuits for the heck of it.

Test 0: 24 inch shards (Yes, this is a standard PSL.  I still want the description.)
Test 1: 12 inch shards
Test 2: 6 inch shards
Test 3: 4 inch shards
Test 4: 2 inch shards
Test 5: 1 inch shards
Test 6: 1/2 inch shards

And puppet Charles into making a nice speech about how the civvies better get into a particular living section, and lock all the doors once the civvies are inside.

+2 dex and specific +1 dex for dodging.

Yeah, thats basically it, in terms of the mechanics

RPM? As in what speed is the shard rotating?

Yes, if you have the fluid for it.

0: Against a MK I, this thing doesn't even get the chance to explode, it just punches straight through the guy,
1.Same as above
2. Gets about 3/4ths through and then detonates, spraying electric crystal shards in all directions. Guy is fucking dead.
3.Penetration and electricity do most damage, detonation does lots of local damage but isn't as spread.
4.-5, like above but weaker, still probably fatal or at least really damaging if you manage to hit someone in the chest
6.Now it's getting to the point that it's too small to do good damage. Still fucking hurts and such, but not really damaging in a fatal way.

Anton Chernozorov

Genau das, was wir brauchen. See if you can get some kind of video on the area, by scout drone or similar. We can determine what we do then - and I hope that we do not find what I expect. And if it is, we'd probably be better off making a strategic-yield nuclear device than any number of footsoldiers.

"Much as a sympathize with the notion of blowing things up, I would rather not slag any more of our own facility than absolutely necessary. Let's leave it as Plan B - first we should see what actually goes on in there, and try to resolve the situation with less destruction. Or at least better focused destruction.

Anyway, it seems we won't have a Sod strike group anytime soon. Don't know about "flesh is weak", but it certainly takes some time to make. I don't know if we can wait a few months either, and I certainly don't want to go down there without backup - or at all, really, at least until I know what's down there. Wasn't there an organochemistry amp overload that resulted in a creature that fled underground?

I do have an idea of what we could do in the meantime... but it needs some discussing. And I'll need Saint's help."

Anton pauses for a moment, consolidating his thoughts into as coherent a mass as he can.

"Basically, remember the RT unit? One of its features are the "zombie functions", where two support CPUs drive the body when the brain is not around. Well, we can't make RTs now, but we can probably hammer out a set of programs for a regular synthoid body with its own support CPUs, and a powerful comms unit instead of a brain. Tie the sensor feedback into a VR scene, and we can pretty much drive a body around in place of the brain. Instant remote control avatars. And best part, we probably don't need any new production lines to make any of it."

Talk to Simus.

Try (again) to get a camera feed from the damaged area underground, see what it is.

Ask Aresteve (or Steve, whoever is more qualified) on the feasibility of the proposed RC Synthoid - can a robot body be controlled with a comms unit and a CPU block plugged into where its brain should be?

No problem with that, though You'll probably need some time to get everything to work right. As in to get them moving without falling down, not shooting teammates, etc.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Anton Chernozorov

Can I finally get that video feed from underground? Or confirmation that I tried and failed at least?
((Embiggened for emphasis. Third time's the charm, right?))

[GreatWyrmGold]

((Is this a new Grate?))

"...Maybe I shouldn't do that again."

Dear Ms. Simus,
We were recording the isolation chamber, right? What happened?
Sincerely,
Grate

[Kriellya]

((Is this a new Grate?))

"...Maybe I shouldn't do that again."

Dear Ms. Simus,
We were recording the isolation chamber, right? What happened?
Sincerely,
Grate

(( Yeah, that's a new Grate, alright. Worse, it's a new Grate that has no idea where everyone went or what he is supposed to be doing

Have fun! ))

[piecewise]

((Is this a new Grate?))

"...Maybe I shouldn't do that again."

Dear Ms. Simus,
We were recording the isolation chamber, right? What happened?
Sincerely,
Grate

Perhaps you mean to say, "Dear miss Simus, Where am I and why is everything completely different from how it was a second ago? Also, why am I naked?"

Because now we have the time to properly handle the downside of your immortality so We'll handle it. At least in so much as having simus explain things to you in a brief manner.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Oh.

...

Alright. Well, first I'd like to point out that I don't believe I was naked any of the previous times I respawned.

[syvarris]

((IIRC, Saint actually helped you out with the basic RT programming during the year-long stay.  It was part of my action, anyway.  Also, I completely misinterpreted what Anton was talking about. ))

Spoiler: Talking with Anton (click to show/hide)

"I've been tweaking the programming in my off time while we were preparing for the UWM counterattack. The zombie AI mostly knows how to do basic movement, and uses my drone OS for recognizing and navigating around obstacles. And of course locking onto and firing at targets, which is what it does all the time, at least with the RT's main weapons. Choosing targets is a tricky part, but so far it defaults to any large moving object that doesn't broadcast an ARM IFF. Which isn't all that great. I was thinking of building a library of shapes to let fuzzy logic recognize person-shaped objects and only firing at those, but that will take more time.

Anyways, you're thinking of it all wrong. I'm using a simulated environment with an inverse-kinematics rig to determine motion patterns by evolution. Sensors report the state of the body to the sim, and the sim determines required alterations to the movement cycles, in realtime. Well, whenever any changes are needed, anyway. Most basic situations are covered by default - I mean, the number of losable limbs is finite - but the sim can do corrections even for partial loss of function. All of it is for a quadruped though, so that's why I need your input.

And I was primarily thinking of VR scene recreated through onboard sensors, although if my drone OS is reused for basic movement we can make do with regular video feeds - at least until we need to examine something up close."

"Hmm.  The RT is supposed to be a support unit, rather than a fully autonomous drone that operates without any supervision, right?  The targeting problem could be solved by a battlefield awareness HUD project that I've been thinking about.  One of the things it does is detect potential targets, and allows units to mark them as hostile.  That would solve the targeting problem, at least when the RT is operating with a squad.

I like the simulated environment idea, but it gets to be fairly expensive, inefficient, and potentially very slow or inaccurate depending on the environment and your sensor setup.  For a design like the RT, which is already quite expensive from what I remember, it's probably not too bad of an issue, but it's still not ideal.

And literally using a VR setup is... not ideal.  If you aren't onboard the ship while controlling it, then you have to drag a very large and very expensive device to the surface.  If you do stay on the ship, then you'll probably want stronger communication equipment than the standard radios.  Quantum entanglement would be ideal, as that has no lag, but it's also large and expensive, and has to actually be on the RT.  Beyond that, unless you get a robotic horse body yourself, entering and exiting would be... very disconcerting.

Taking those into mind, I don't think you actually mean a literal VR.  Yet, you said regular video feeds were a different option.  So I don't really know what you want me to do."

@ Piecewise:

Dynamic AUX bonus:+/-1

RPM means "Rounds Per Minute" when referring to guns.  For comparison, an MP5, probably the most popular SMG in existence, fires at 800 RPM.  The M16, which you should know, fires at 700 or more RPM.  The FN SCAR-H, a .308 battle rifle, fires at 625 RPM.  How fast does the PSL fire shards during a charged volley?

This is important: How much of a barrel does the PSL have, and how important is it to the functioning of the weapon?  Can it semi-accurately fire without a barrel, or an oversized barrel?

How exactly is the shard formed?  Is there some form of mold, or is it just injected and solidified nearly instantaneously, and timing determines the size?

Also, you said a dex synthflesh body in an MK.III gets "+2 dex and specific +1 dex for dodging."  Does that mean +3 for dodging, or +1?  And does the MK.III still grant the +1 to str and end? 

Additionally, write a program that takes all the sensory inputs that a robot body normally zaps into a brain, and transmits them via standard radio to a server explicitly set up for this.  From there, have the server send the sensory data to any robotic bodies, MK suits, or VRs requesting it with a proper password.  Also, allow the recipients to send back control signals collected from a robobody's brain interface, an exoskeleton, or VR equipment, so that the remote robot body can be controlled.

Yes, I understand that there's several problems with it, such as lag, MK suits being incapable of displaying all the info, or exoskeletons and VR stuff being incapable of easily collecting all the required information to drive a body.  I don't particularly care, write it anyway.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Anton Chernozorov

((IIRC, Saint actually helped you out with the basic RT programming during the year-long stay.  It was part of my action, anyway.  Also, I completely misinterpreted what Anton was talking about. ))

((Indeed, you very much did. And do. ))

Spoiler: Talking with Anton (click to show/hide)

"I've been tweaking the programming in my off time while we were preparing for the UWM counterattack. The zombie AI mostly knows how to do basic movement, and uses my drone OS for recognizing and navigating around obstacles. And of course locking onto and firing at targets, which is what it does all the time, at least with the RT's main weapons. Choosing targets is a tricky part, but so far it defaults to any large moving object that doesn't broadcast an ARM IFF. Which isn't all that great. I was thinking of building a library of shapes to let fuzzy logic recognize person-shaped objects and only firing at those, but that will take more time.

Anyways, you're thinking of it all wrong. I'm using a simulated environment with an inverse-kinematics rig to determine motion patterns by evolution. Sensors report the state of the body to the sim, and the sim determines required alterations to the movement cycles, in realtime. Well, whenever any changes are needed, anyway. Most basic situations are covered by default - I mean, the number of losable limbs is finite - but the sim can do corrections even for partial loss of function. All of it is for a quadruped though, so that's why I need your input.

And I was primarily thinking of VR scene recreated through onboard sensors, although if my drone OS is reused for basic movement we can make do with regular video feeds - at least until we need to examine something up close."

"Hmm.  The RT is supposed to be a support unit, rather than a fully autonomous drone that operates without any supervision, right?  The targeting problem could be solved by a battlefield awareness HUD project that I've been thinking about.  One of the things it does is detect potential targets, and allows units to mark them as hostile.  That would solve the targeting problem, at least when the RT is operating with a squad.

I like the simulated environment idea, but it gets to be fairly expensive, inefficient, and potentially very slow or inaccurate depending on the environment and your sensor setup.  For a design like the RT, which is already quite expensive from what I remember, it's probably not too bad of an issue, but it's still not ideal.

And literally using a VR setup is... not ideal.  If you aren't onboard the ship while controlling it, then you have to drag a very large and very expensive device to the surface.  If you do stay on the ship, then you'll probably want stronger communication equipment than the standard radios.  Quantum entanglement would be ideal, as that has no lag, but it's also large and expensive, and has to actually be on the RT.  Beyond that, unless you get a robotic horse body yourself, entering and exiting would be... very disconcerting.

Taking those into mind, I don't think you actually mean a literal VR.  Yet, you said regular video feeds were a different option.  So I don't really know what you want me to do."

Anton facepalms, being careful not to break his own nose with the armored gauntlet.
"Wait, wait, wait. Two entirely different things here. The RT unit is what it is. Its zombie functions never kick in until its brain is destroyed in combat, and honestly at that point its survival chances drop rather severely. It has those functions so that it can still fire back when encountering an enemy, and can be easier moved around by any friendlies. The CPU can still accept targeting and movement orders, like a drone, but that's about it - its decision-making skills are almost nil, because the brain handles that normally. It's also not meant to be VR-controlled, because... well, the reasons you mentioned. Although honestly, with what some people around here go through... yeah.

Now, what I'm talking about right now is this RC synthoid, which is unrelated to the RT at all. It's a standard synthoid body, for one. It's not going to have zombie functions, because it's meant to be constantly controlled. It's also not meant to be working alongside anyone, because we're going to be driving them. And we're going to be doing it from here in the base, using the VR equipment we have, and solely for the purpose of exploring the potentially too-dangerous-to-just-butt-in damaged area underground. If that works out well, we can start thinking of practical applications for ARM service, but for now it's only for our own use. The VR controls don't have to be used all the time, since the drone OS can process simple movement orders if the support CPUs handle the walking cycles, and the RC Synthoids can be guided like any drone, through their video feed, but we're going to need the VR if we're going to be gathering any detailed data.

Also, when I said "simulated environment" I didn't mean it was recreating the world around the unit. It just runs a preset obstacle course, with an IK-rig body reconstructed from internal sensors. Simple and relatively slow, but considering that the only times it's even needed is when the damaged body has to walk with a dead brain, I consider it mostly a sign of myself trying too hard to be prepared for everything. I don't think we should use it for the RC synthoid, because it's not going to be moving if it loses contact with us, especially if it's damaged. And if it's damaged and still in contact, we can probably make do with direct control from VR."

[GreatWyrmGold]

If Simus doesn't respond, wander around in search of clothes and answers.
Clothes first, though, it's chilly.

[Toaster]

((The best part is Simus is hidden in the aurora.  Grate won't find it without being told where it is!))

[syvarris]

Saint lets out a long sigh, and when he resumes speaking his words are measured and slow "I originally thought you were talking about a standard body... why did you go on a tangent talking about the- Nevermind, it's irrelevant.  Yes, I like the idea.  I'll start on something that allows long range control over a robotic body immediately."

((Original action edit'd.  Also, Saint's trying to be nice, but I'm curiousmyself- why did you launch into a big description on the RT's functioning?  That really threw me off.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

Saint lets out a long sigh, and when he resumes speaking his words are measured and slow "I originally thought you were talking about a standard body... why did you go on a tangent talking about the- Nevermind, it's irrelevant.  Yes, I like the idea.  I'll start on something that allows long range control over a robotic body immediately."

((Original action edit'd.  Also, Saint's trying to be nice, but I'm curiousmyself- why did you launch into a big description on the RT's functioning?  That really threw me off.))

((Ever watch Stargate: Atlantis? There's a certain McKay that this particular mannerism has probably made it into Anton's character from.

He originally referred to RT's zombie functions because Simus knew of them, and it was a quicker way to explain the basics of the idea. Saint then questioned the functioning of the zombie functions by saying that they'd be difficult to implement and wouldn't react well to changes. He also asked how to go about controlling the RC sod. Anton then pointed out that the zombie functions already work in the context of the Artee, and they were never intended to handle changes or make decisions, nor would they need to, and they would work just as well in the RC sod, albeit with some work and Saint's help. He also briefly described how the movement is handled internally in the Artee to address Saint's concern, and then answered Saint's question. Saint then mistook Anton's answering the question and the preceding lenghty description of RT's functions for an intention to apparently make RC sods in the shape of the RT, or perhaps controlling an RT through the VR interface, but they were two separate things. Anton then facepalmed and tried his best to steer the two lines of thought back onto their separate tracks so that there was no more confusion.

I think that about explains it. Miscommunication at its finest and most annoying. >_>))

[syvarris]

((Never seen it, but TvTropes is wonderful for assuaging that problem.  So, I'm guessing you mean the "Insufferable Genius" part, and not the "Canadian" part?  I think I've seen elements of that in Anton, although it's more just a constant focus on his projects and annoyance with trivialities and having to explain it.

Come to think of it, four out of the five player characters on Hephaestus have "insufferable" as a trait to some extent.  And the one that doesn't is the PR guy.  Interesting.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((Never seen it, but TvTropes is wonderful for assuaging that problem.  So, I'm guessing you mean the "Insufferable Genius" part, and not the "Canadian" part?  I think I've seen elements of that in Anton, although it's more just a constant focus on his projects and annoyance with trivialities and having to explain it.

Come to think of it, four out of the five player characters on Hephaestus have "insufferable" as a trait to some extent.  And the one that doesn't is the PR guy.  Interesting.))

((I meant more the tendency to explain the details of something's working principles at length when a simple description is all that was needed, but I suppose Anton might have some signs of that as well. Fairly minor signs, at that. He's more likely to be terminally blunt with his words than actually insufferable, because No Social Skills, or close to it.))

[GreatWyrmGold]

Dear everyone,
What's going on?
Sincerely,
Grate

If not otherwise noted, wander around in search of clothes and answers.
Clothes first, though, it's chilly.