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[Draignean]

Interview: Vantasa

   Eagerness was a part of Blackjack's nature that he tried to suppress, but it was, at times, rather difficult. Now, the Wilhelmina almost ready for launch, a qualified robotics engineer across the table, and an only partially synthetic turkey sandwich in front of him, was a difficult time indeed. "Your record is impressive, Vantasa. Repeat trespassing, top marks on your academy training, repeat burglary, a recommendation from the inventors society, misconduct and felony evasion charges, a classified development contract, and, considering where you're sitting, I'm going to guess that the same contract didn't exactly pan gold." Blackjack smiled at the young miscreant, his list sounding more joking than accusatory. "I'd like to get to know you,  but, in all honesty, I'm on a timeline and it's your abilities that count. That in mind: pop quiz," Blackjack said, drawing out a slightly dented device made from grey plastic. "Solve this puzzle so that all pins are withdrawn from the board. You are not allowed to take apart the board, and you have until I finish lunch," Blackjack added, picking up the sandwich from his desk as soon as he slid the device over the Vantasa. "Fire when ready."

The box is a cube with four buttons on the cardinal faces, and four pins top face. The four pins are arranged as though to mark out the points of a square roughly half the height and width of the face. Three of the pins are depressed, their heads flush with the box. One pin, the lower left, is withdrawn from the box, revealing its structure to be similar to that of a steel nail. The head of the pin is circular, and roughly twice the diameter of the solid column beneath it. On the cardinal faces of the box, in the middle of each face, is a single button.  Marks on the faces of the box indicate that the top button controls the topmost two pins, the left button controls the leftmost two pins, and so forth.

[Adragis]

((*looks shifty* hey, I've definitely done it does this mean I get to join instead? ))

[GiglameshDespair]

Spoiler: Roboticist. Delayed but finally got around to it: (click to show/hide)

Name: Vantasa, Kirik

Role: Roboticist and general tech expert.

Personality:  Kirik is what you would call a technosavant. A genius with a severe deficit. On one hand, he can easily grasp the technical sides of technology, programming comes easy, and new technologies take minimal time to figure out. Given enough time, he could in theory reverse engineer a small shuttlecraft. Although the question is why would you even want that?

Kerik tends to be focused in his work, whatever that may be. His speech tends to be somewhat clipped, occasionally omitting less then necessary words, this speech pattern can sometimes give the impression he's trying to prevent words from running away. Although the real reason is he thinks a tad too fast for his mouth to move and therefore skips things. He will occasionally get annoyed when people don't get what he's talking about, although he normally manages to explain things in laymans terms, so this is rarely an issue.

Kerik doesn't people very well. He does have a level of empathy, he just doesn't really give a fuck normally. Mildly sociopathic, not completely uncaring, just more along the lines of "Why should I care?" Long as you aren't interrupting his work, he's fine with listening to whatever though, he's a greaaaat listener, even if he doesn't seem like he's listening. He's totally not completely tuning your blither out. Totes. In reality, he is actually paying a slight bit of attention, so if you ask him if he's listening, he can quote the last bit you said, as well as state the overall topic or subject. No internalizing though. not unless he likes ya.

If he likes you, he's a very loyal friend and actually a good person to talk to, if you're on his shitlist, just don't get in the way of the mildly insane engineer. Long as you don't bother him he won't bother you. And if you're a neutral to him, he'll listen to your blither, he just won't remember it five minutes after your lips stop flapping.

Biography: Kirik became enamored by technology in his early childhood, born after the Screenshock, he does not share the technophobia that many humans have. He was always a.. Unique child. Rarely played with other children, spent much of his time reading or tinkering with things. This more or less continued through his teenage years. More or less becoming a recluse. Much of his living space crowded with half finished projects.

His parents rarely knew where the parts came from, although a certain scrapyard across town slowly increased security as repeat breakins became a problem. He was caught eventually, spent several weeks in jail, and was released with a warning, and then caught again about four months later. This time he escaped midtransit. Utilizing what more or less amounted to a homemade welder. He then returned home, to be caught yet again because they knew where he bloody lived due to the first arrest. The numerous projects in his home caught the authorities attention, and after several tests, a higherup decided that rather then standard jailtime, he was had a choice between jail or to work on a special project in effectively an unofficial government facility.

He was about age 21 by this point. He, along with several others. were to attempt to build a computer that was unaffected by screenshock. They were provided with test subjects. Obviously this was immoral as hell. And obviously they went through many subjects. They figured out the exact resolution that screenshock works vs doesn't work, which was still pretty damn shitty. They however did not figure out a way to prevent it. Plenty of experiments were tried and plenty of test subjects had died.

Several years passed, Kirik having signed on past his required time because he found the work interesting, inversely, many of his coworkers left the program quite quickly, the numerous kills they racked up being a bit too much for their conscience. Kirik however did not care about the test subjects. They were tools and nothing more.

One idea that was suggested after a rather long brainstorming session but never tried was create a completely new operating system with no root in the current one, that followed completely different rules and was utterly incompatible with the current one. This was never tried due to it being deemed unfeasible to replace every computer with it.

The program was shut down after years of no progress. The project had several side projects, such as a better OS for some robots, and an easier way to control them, but no progress on the project proper. Kirik however was still thinking on that idea as the scientists were vacated from the labs. He was interested in finding somewhere to work in more or less peace. Some random out of the way colony would work, as would a starship, plenty of time in transit between planets to work. He proceeded to go looking for a job.

Purge it with fire.

[Tiruin]

I'll vote Marlowe. It's got plenty of planets to trade with,

And little land area? I'm uncertain--we're only receiving geographical(?) data, not the socio-economic statuses of the areas. I think.
I'm voting for New Hope, and can edit this post to reflect the idea IC.

[Cheesecake]

I'll vote Marlowe. It's got plenty of planets to trade with,

And little land area? I'm uncertain--we're only receiving geographical(?) data, not the socio-economic statuses of the areas. I think.
I'm voting for New Hope, and can edit this post to reflect the idea IC.

Then what criteria did you use to choose New Hope?

[Parsely]

Spoiler: Roboticist. Delayed but finally got around to it: (click to show/hide)

Name: Vantasa, Kirik

Role: Roboticist and general tech expert.

Personality:  Kirik is what you would call a technosavant. A genius with a severe deficit. On one hand, he can easily grasp the technical sides of technology, programming comes easy, and new technologies take minimal time to figure out. Given enough time, he could in theory reverse engineer a small shuttlecraft. Although the question is why would you even want that?

Kerik tends to be focused in his work, whatever that may be. His speech tends to be somewhat clipped, occasionally omitting less then necessary words, this speech pattern can sometimes give the impression he's trying to prevent words from running away. Although the real reason is he thinks a tad too fast for his mouth to move and therefore skips things. He will occasionally get annoyed when people don't get what he's talking about, although he normally manages to explain things in laymans terms, so this is rarely an issue.

Kerik doesn't people very well. He does have a level of empathy, he just doesn't really give a fuck normally. Mildly sociopathic, not completely uncaring, just more along the lines of "Why should I care?" Long as you aren't interrupting his work, he's fine with listening to whatever though, he's a greaaaat listener, even if he doesn't seem like he's listening. He's totally not completely tuning your blither out. Totes. In reality, he is actually paying a slight bit of attention, so if you ask him if he's listening, he can quote the last bit you said, as well as state the overall topic or subject. No internalizing though. not unless he likes ya.

If he likes you, he's a very loyal friend and actually a good person to talk to, if you're on his shitlist, just don't get in the way of the mildly insane engineer. Long as you don't bother him he won't bother you. And if you're a neutral to him, he'll listen to your blither, he just won't remember it five minutes after your lips stop flapping.

Biography:
His parents rarely knew where the parts came from, although a certain scrapyard across town slowly increased security as repeat break ins became a problem. He was caught eventually, spent several weeks in jail, and was released with a warning, and then caught again about four months later. This time he escaped midtransit. Utilizing what more or less amounted to a homemade welder. He then returned home, to be caught yet again because they knew where he bloody lived due to the first arrest. The numerous projects in his home caught the authorities attention, and after several tests, a higherup decided that rather then standard jailtime, he was had a choice between jail or to work on a special project in effectively an unofficial government facility.

He was about age 21 by this point. He, along with several others. were to attempt to build a computer that was unaffected by screenshock. They were provided with test subjects. Obviously this was immoral as hell. And obviously they went through many subjects. They figured out the exact resolution that screenshock works vs doesn't work, which was still pretty damn shitty. They however did not figure out a way to prevent it. Plenty of experiments were tried and plenty of test subjects had died.

Several years passed, Kirik having signed on past his required time because he found the work interesting, inversely, many of his coworkers left the program quite quickly, the numerous kills they racked up being a bit too much for their conscience. Kirik however did not care about the test subjects. They were tools and nothing more.

One idea that was suggested after a rather long brainstorming session but never tried was create a completely new operating system with no root in the current one, that followed completely different rules and was utterly incompatible with the current one. This was never tried due to it being deemed unfeasible to replace every computer with it.

The program was shut down after years of no progress. The project had several side projects, such as a better OS for some robots, and an easier way to control them, but no progress on the project proper. Kirik however was still thinking on that idea as the scientists were vacated from the labs. He was interested in finding somewhere to work in more or less peace. Some random out of the way colony would work, as would a starship, plenty of time in transit between planets to work. He proceeded to go looking for a job.

I'm very sorry that I couldn't warn you sooner, but I only just read this. I am not going to allow this sheet. The character is sporting quite a few signs of being a mary sue.

- He's exceptionally accomplished for his age, but not because of training or experience. He is simply the best.
- He wasn't punished by the police the third time he was arrested even though someone would normally get in trouble in that situation. His mistakes are quickly and easily forgiven with no consequences. Why would the government just let him go after apparently coercing him into joining the secret black project?
- He somehow welded his way out of a police van without anyone noticing. He just happened to have the exact tools he needed in order to get out of this scrape.
- He is terrible at interacting with people, and yet acquired a job that requires communicating effectively with people.
- The whole secret black project part of the backstory doesn't build up or explain who the character is, it seemingly serves only to show how much of a badass he is and give him an excuse to join the story.

Thank God you held back and didn't decide to have your character solve screenshock, the problem that is at the heart of the entire setting, because that would have been really bad. >_>

I'll vote Marlowe. It's got plenty of planets to trade with,

And little land area? I'm uncertain--we're only receiving geographical(?) data, not the socio-economic statuses of the areas. I think.

Yeah that's all I could think to come up with, statistics-wise. If you can tell me stuff you want to know about I would appreciate it. Gig and I don't yet have a concrete idea of what these places are like, which is why I'm not asking you guys to vote right away. You're free to decide now and change your pick later, of course.

[Tiruin]

I got PPE'd by the GM ._.
@Kevak:

- He's exceptionally accomplished for his age, but not because of training or experience. He is simply the best.

Meaning you need to detail the other side of the story. I know the general notion of a technosavant, but the details are missing.

- He is terrible at interacting with people, and yet acquired a job that requires communicating effectively with people.

This is possible in reality. Question is -how-, for you, dear writer. ;3

I'll vote Marlowe. It's got plenty of planets to trade with,

And little land area? I'm uncertain--we're only receiving geographical(?) data, not the socio-economic statuses of the areas. I think.
I'm voting for New Hope, and can edit this post to reflect the idea IC.

Then what criteria did you use to choose New Hope?

And that's where I put IC notes! (Sorry)


In the months in between, during the crew recruitment, Helen entertained herself with a simple 'chart' the Captain created. Opinions on neighboring systems!

Without any prior information on any such systems--as was her knowledge due to colonial life--she decided based on prior experience.

Always a place with Atmosphere. Though I'm not sure if this means 'breathable or liveable atmosphere', or that we'd require some..kind of...um, gravity-suit? Maybe?

Her eyes skimmed the list, and she found herself attracted to the second and third notes.

So we're guessing, and probably voting. I'm casting mine on New Hope. Comparing the population, the former is greater than the latter, though the latter has more planets in question.

Problem is, we're a trade ship. What matters is the surface area, compared to the (sentient) population. More space would generally equal more opportunity for development, and New Hope has more districts, land area, and population compared to planet count. The latter has low land area...though unsure if that's -per- planet, or in total.

So I guess I'll vote for the former until more details pop up. I wouldn't want this crew to leg it on lesser opportunities. Though I should ask the Captain about that.

[Cheesecake]

That makes more sense. I'll cast my vote with Tiruin.

How much starting money do we start off with anyway? And what's the currency called? I'm thinking of starting a business on one planet when I get enough cash.

[Draignean]

Damnit Gunin, I held off on that interview for five days. I thought you had him approved. *grumble grumble*

Adragis, if you can make a robotics expert you're welcome to the same puzzle.

[Parsely]

How much starting money do we start off with anyway?

And what's the currency called? I'm thinking of starting a business on one planet when I get enough cash.

Some! I haven't decided yet. The Captain's net value will all be in assets (the ship, the cargo, his apartment/house) after the trip begins. As for the rest of you, typically you'll each have some small savings or investments along with some pocket change, as well as an apartment if you wish. You'll also have valuables that pertain to your job. For example the EVA spec probably owns his own hardsuit.

I didn't think about that. Probably I'll call it something suitably generic like Universal Currency.

Damnit Gunin, I held off on that interview for five days. I thought you had him approved. *grumble grumble*

Adragis, if you can make a robotics expert you're welcome to the same puzzle.

Yeah I'm really sorry about that, particularly for having to drop that on Kevak.

[Dutrius]

I like the idea of going to New Hope. A larger, more established colony would likely have more goods to sell at cheaper prices. I'll also go with Tiruin.



In regards to land area, they seem a little small. If the land area refers to the entire surface area of the planet, then the Hawaiian Islands are larger. The smallest inhabited Hawaiian Island, Niihau, has a surface area of 180 km².

[GiglameshDespair]

That's land area for the colony city. The colonies on world are mostly one large metropolis.

Atmosphere means breathable atmosphere. The others do have an atmosphere present, but trying to breath it would rather ruin your day.

[Dutrius]

Fair enough.

[mastahcheese]

I'm good with anywhere, really.

[Tiruin]

I like the idea of going to New Hope. A larger, more established colony would likely have more goods to sell at cheaper prices. I'll also go with Tiruin.

* Tiruin was doing Star Wars Reference.

But that's just me being silly ._.