[Genius] ExtraIntellectual '09!

[storybookknight]

Across the barren arid plains of Nevada, they came. By dirigible, by mutant bird, by mole machine they came. From Europe, from Lemuria, from Mars, they came. The life of the mad genius is a lonely one, surrounded by ignorant fools and mewling lackeys who cannot hope to comprehend one's true brilliance. Here in Nevada the shining promise of meeting a lesser genius who might even dimly comprehend the magnitude of one's work, of utterly crushing one's rival, the promise of perhaps meeting a single and lonely peer of the opposite gender, burned like a Bose-Einsteinian condensate of francium exposed to an electrical current.

As always, the host was the world-renowned explorer and defender of Earth, the retired colonel Dr. Giles Habibula. Once a high-ranking Lemurian, he was one of the leaders of the Navigator exodus from the shadows of unmada. Among the Navigators, he holds the rank of Chevalier Palatine; although he is the nominal leader of Peerage activity in Roswell he is typically off exploring the multiverse for no less than sixty-seven weeks out of the year. Every July 8th, however, Habibula's subterranean army base opens its doors to the peers of the region and to any guests from afar who can obtain an invite.

The structure itself is masked by a cloaking field from the outside world, and as such those vehicles that lack such protections are 'parked' all over, leaving the airspace cluttered and the ground strewn with all manner of bizarre devices, with organic biplanes next to clockwork ornithopters next to flying-saucer devices next to centipede crawlers next to... in any case, in and among all of these devices flit Habibula's mechanical servants, 'Ray-Gun' inspired robots with an ant motif and aesthetic. Boxy-bodied and bipedal, with radio antennae where an ant's antennae would be, they are drones of a larger subterranean computer system named ANTHAR. The drones direct new arrivals to a small building which houses an elevator (http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/1290/dsc0319.jpg) large enough to accomodate even the largest experiments and devices. It descends over an enormous main hall, full of commotion and bustle. At the exit to the elevator, there is an enormous multimedia display that uses targeted audio and visual to display information about the complex, and to answer any questions posed it individually without interrupting anyone else's recitations. The first thing anyone hears upon approaching it, however, is always this:

"Hello! And welcome to ExtraIntellectual Peerage Convention 2009!"

You all are attending. You have been informed that you are not expected to assist with anything until later tonight, which gives you some time to fool around and explore the con. Please narrate your arrival (including your mode of transport), your appearance, and your starting actions. Feel free to arrive singly or together; you'll be called together soon.

[Kirindal]

Daniel stepped off of Hauptmann Kreuzfeur's Eargersplittenloudenboomen Fliegeden Untertasse and shaded his eyes with his hand as he stepped into the blazing Nevada sunlight. His silk emerald green mandarin's robe blew gently in the wind as the various embroidered creatures and arcana fluttered on display. In his left hand he held the handle to his wheeled luggage. He turned around and thanked Kreuzfeur again for providing transport to Nevada and gave him an extra fifty.

Meanwhile, some of the Beholden on staff were moving the crate containing the Rarifier along with the crates from the other passengers of Kreuzfeur towards the base. He grabbed his luggage and followed the others making their way to the entrance. Tugging his luggage along, Daniel worried about Madeleine and if the dose of Panacea he had given her prior to leaving was enough to hold her until he got back. His body hunched with that thought, making him seem much older than his thirty-five years of age. He made his way into the entrance and got on one of the first trips and made his way down.

He sought to find one of the staff to direct him to his dealer's table to begin to set up the Rarifier and other products. With luck, he would be able to earn some extra money and prestige amongst the Scholastics at this convention.

[The Kings Raven]

“Thanks for the lift”

Grabbing the Portable Energetic Pattern Readjustment Device from under his seat Dr Caduceus leapt to the ground, ”Some other time cutey” giving a friendly pat to the factual butterfly that was kind enough to carry him the doctor turned towards the convention. Walking through the parking lots was an uplifting experience, each Wonder a marvel of science and a tribute to human endeavour, boasting of its creator's talents and drive to build a better world. Though grateful for the assistance in travel he quickly resolved that next time he would have a ship of his own. He Paused to admire a particularly shiny example of aeronautic engineering (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shiny.jpg) “something like that, maybe with some colour and a Caduceus emblem naturally”

The modestly timed elevator trip provided a chance to chat with an accomplished Indian Gentleman accompanied by a magnificent winged Bengal Tiger on the subject of cheep chemicals, Dr Caduceus' was forced to admit that Dr Verma's technique of extracting estrogen from free, discreetly provided birth control pills demonstrated greater cunning than his own methods to purify sedatives past their expiration date. As the elevator reached the bottom the two Peers touched fists and with a cry of “Science!” parted ways.

"Hello! And welcome to ExtraIntellectual Peerage Convention 2009!"

Ah an information booth, "Display today's schedule of events and who is running the medical services at this convention" remembering that the machine might be intelligent he quickly added ”Thank You” and a smile.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria was quite lucky, honestly - she had family in New Mexico, so she was able to stay with them for the week. A quick trip to Nevada was hardly an issue! The fact that the con had a shuttle service was just icing on the cake. The littlest Genius (well, no, not quite) steps off the winged bus, stretching lightly as a number of her peers follow, each giving a grunt of thanks to the beholden driver. The teenaged Genius puts an earbud into one ear, which is plugged into the largish backpack-shaped device on her back. The opening chords of Harlequin (Rock Version) (http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/album/homestuck-vol-2) can be heard by anyone close by - she's got the volume up way too loud.

Were it not for the backpack, and what appears to be a plastic baton at one hip and a small car battery at the other, the girl would look perfectly mundane. Oh, sure, she wears glasses, and her long pigtailed hair has that faint frizz of someone who stayed up way too late last night, but other than that her appearance is entirely mundane. Practical sneakers, t-shirt and jeans, with no a labcoat, pocket protector or even pen in sight.

The elevator ride is a pleasant enough experience. The information booth catches her slightly off-guard - this is, after all, her first time at the con! "Uuh..."

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial stepped briskly through the Nevada town , heading toward the compound from the bus stop, looking rather out of place for the warmer temperatures. He wore a long coat, carried an empty dufflebag, and the way his monocled eye flicked about from object to person and person to object would probably make him appear to be some sort of eccentric homeless man, if at least a decently shaven and cleaned one. To the inspired, they’d notice the general look of a genius on the go, a toolbelt strapped around his waist, and the dufflebag ready for the Inspired’s version of convention swag.

He weaved his way through the assorted vehicle parking lots without much of a glance at the vehicles. His interest lied in smaller, more complex wonders. The best part about the vehicle arrays was watching them all take off at the end of the event, anyway. He conversed with other members of the peerage on his way down the elevator, sounding much more businesslike then mad scientist-like. Most of them he only met at the usual materials swap meets, and didn’t always have a chance to work any real collaborations, or find many others with coherent and compatible theories.

"Hello! And welcome to ExtraIntellectual Peerage Convention 2009!"

Nathanial readjusted his monocle, making sure he had a clear view to record data. “Hello, and good to be back.” He said to the information terminal. “Could I get a vendor listing for all people with a license to deal in non-ionizing radiation, and anybody with an inventory of bicycle spokes, airplane wheels, or any vendor claiming to have the full 1993 Rookie collection of baseball cards.”

“Also,” he added, pulling out a piece of paper from a pocket and squinting at its contents. “Requesting the official scheduling for the following seminars: ‘Katastrophe for dummies: Building your own laser, phaser, or ion ray gun’, ‘Critiquing the critique of pure reason’, and ‘Layers within Layers: meditations on manifold theory’.”

[storybookknight]

Seemingly materializing out of thin air, a hologram girl appears in front of you and curtseys. She's wearing a lab smock, orange tank top, blue jeans, and lab goggles on her forehead. Her hair is bright blue, and her eyes purple, but despite this is lifelike enough that it's difficult to tell whether she's merely a computer simulation, or if she's a recording of a real human. About you, various other Peers can be seen talking animatedly to thin air in a manner that suggests that they also see and hear the girl, though only the one addressing you is visible or audible to you.

Daniel
"Hello! And welcome to ExtraIntellectual Peerage Convention 2009!" The girl looks at you, and from the machine behind you a mechanical pincer arm extends, grabbing a small white card and handing it forwards. As it enters the hologram field the arm vanishes, creating the appearance that the girl herself is handing the card to you. "Daniel Zhou? My name is ANTHEM." The capitalization is almost audible. "Thank you for volunteering your services as part of the convention staff. Your assistance is most appreciated. You have been assigned to convention group C, which means that you have until 8 pm to explore." She pauses for a second and pulls a clipboard (or the hologram thereof) out of her smock. "I see that you have also registered for a dealer table. Your table is in the Grand Hall, which is this room right here. Please head to the rear left of the room, towards the Progenitor's hall, and look for section Apocrita-Mu. Your table is number 23 in that section." Looking at the card, it is an identification badge, with your name preprinted on it.


Dr. Caduceus
The girl looks at you, and from the machine behind you a mechanical pincer arm extends, grabbing a small white card and handing it forwards. As it enters the hologram field the arm vanishes, creating the appearance that the girl herself is handing the card to you. "Dr. Caduceus? My name is ANTHEM." The capitalization is almost audible. "Thank you for volunteering your services as part of the convention staff. Your assistance is most appreciated. You have been assigned to convention group C, which means that you have until 8 pm to explore." The robotic arm reaches now lower and brings forward a thin pamphlet, allowing ANTHEM to hand it forward in much the same fashion as the card, which upon further examination was an identification badge with your name already on it. The pamphlet only has one page, but the text on it flashes and changes. "This is a map of the convention - please note that while medical services are run by volunteers such as yourself, medical exhibitions are being run by the progenitors in the Biodome, which can be reached by the door on the top-left of your map, or directly ahead and to your left." The hologram wrinkles her freckled button nose as she smiles. "And you're very welcome, and thank *you* for your courtesy."


Victoria
The girl looks at you, and from the machine behind you a mechanical pincer arm extends, grabbing a small white card and handing it forwards. As it enters the hologram field the arm vanishes, creating the appearance that the girl herself is handing the card to you. "Victoria Becksford? My name is ANTHEM." The capitalization is almost audible. "Thank you for volunteering your services as part of the convention staff. Your assistance is most appreciated. You have been assigned to convention group C, which means that you have until 8 pm to explore. I see that this is your first time attending our little soiree, so please feel free to ask me any questions you may have concerning events here at the convention." The hologram smiles in a friendly manner, revealing flawlessly even and white teeth.

Nathanial
The girl looks at you, and from the machine behind you a mechanical pincer arm extends, grabbing a small white card and handing it forwards. As it enters the hologram field the arm vanishes, creating the appearance that the girl herself is handing the card to you. "Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins? My name is ANTHEM." The capitalization is almost audible. "Thank you for volunteering your services as part of the convention staff this year. Your assistance is most appreciated, and we're very glad that you thought enough of our events in years previous to become a contributing member. You have been assigned to convention group C, which means that you have until 8 pm to explore." The robotic arm reaches now lower and brings forward a thin pamphlet, allowing ANTHEM to hand it forward in much the same fashion as the card, which upon further examination was an identification badge with your name already on it. The pamphlet only has one page, but the text on it flashes and changes. "This is a map of the convention, but it contains built-in search functions that can lead you to any vendor that has its goods properly listed, as well as any registered seminar. Any further problems you may have can always be addressed to the Drones as well." The hologram device is new for this year, or at the very least you don't remember anything this sophisticated from last year's events.

[DarklingPerhaps]

The heat was getting to him, cramped in the little blue car with rust-covered spltches. It was too cramped anyway for the big man, but he still prefered to drive himself over the broken desert floor as the car bumped and rattled its way along. The engine roared a little, protesting the lack of road, but Zach continued on feeling a few beads of sweat roll down his scraggly beard slowly. He still wore the welder's mask pushed to the top of his head, disconnected from the pile of rubber and metal that made up his protective suit.

The Peerage had invited him, probably another snake from the Directors trying to recruit him. Last time Zach had been here he'd been... well.. not himself. The place was big, he remembered that, so maybe he wouldn't run into any recruiters who recognized him and wanted to get another shot at adding him to their ranks. He could just see the various vehicles out in the flat surface before him and felt a little embarassed pulling up in the mundane piece of junk.

Parking it haphazardly among the giant ant-looking things, Zach forced himself out of the vehicle, the big dirty-looking man stretching in the sun. He followed the ants' directions, his eyes shifting from one strange vehicle to the next. Back when he was an assistant, these things didn't interest him. He didn't have the power to be interested. But now he couldn't help but wonder about what kind of science powered each invention, how they were utilized and the like.

Zach entered the main walkway, tugging on his ponytail a little, and was greeted by the loud voice, "Hello! And welcome to ExtraIntellectual Peerage Convention 2009!" Everyone around him was talking to the machine, so he figured he'd follow suit. He didn't remember this, probably because he was just carrying stuff and following the Prof., so he tentatively said, "Um... Hello there. What's a newcomer to do here?"

[The Kings Raven]

Smiling in response to ANTHEM's praise Dr Caduceus accepts his badge and walks a short way off to find a quieter spot away from the main entrance. Satisfied that he is not in anyone's way the Doctor adds a Caducus sticker to his convention badge and takes a home made armband adorned with both the Red Cross and Red Crescent above the text “Scholar of Exelixi” from one of his lab coat's many pockets. ”I knew this would be useful.

Next it was time to choose what to do first, taking out his map Caduceus plots a course that would take him through a free experimental coffee bar, detouring towards someone selling cheep laboratory props and finally to the biodome and a seminar on retroactive immunology. Thus prepared the doctor sets on his way.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

"Thank you ANTHEM." Nathanial replied, turning the holographic over, and holding it up to the light to try and get a better look at it. "Fascinating, Dr. Habibula is certainly improving his work." Nathanial then wandered away from ANTHEM's terminal, directing various inquiries to the holographic device.

[storybookknight]

The hologram girl appears to Zach as well.
Zach

"Zachary 'Junkman' Bates? We do not have you listed as a new attendee." She picks up a hologram clipboard and reads through it. "I see that you attended previously as a guest of Professor Factor. According to my information, last year you agreed to participate as a convention group assistant. Is this information correct?" She leans in and smiles confidentially. "If you don't mind my saying so, you look a bit confused. Can I make an educated guess, and provide you with a list of forums and other events dedicated to Enlightened former beholden?"

Dr. Caduceus finds a lovely Nightshade Rooibos coffee blend, a whole stack of miniaturized van de graaf generators and tiny beakers-and-tubes apparatuses for the Mad Scientist on a space budget or simply looking to liven up their private residence, and assorted other knickknacks and odds and ends that might be worth going back for later, after he has a chance to look around. The Biodome is an enormous Buckysphere (http://www.essential-architecture.com/ARCHITECT/Richard-Buckminster-Fuller.jpg) of steel and glass that has been half carved into the rock, the top third of the structure open to the surface to allow solar radiation to permeate the building. The complex resembles nothing more than an enormous zoo, although most zoos do not feature genetically engineered specimens, extraterrestrial samples, levitating elevators to the aviaries, or subterranean grottoes for light-sensitive species. The biodome in fact uses most of its volume to house the trophies and experiments of Dr. Habibula and his allies, with the leftovers being dedicated to small meeting rooms and equipment. The seminar is being held aboveground in a treehouse-like structure that was apparently grown out of the surrounding wood.

Anthem blushes at Nathanial's compliment as he walks away. The holographic brochure can be activated by voice or by touch, but otherwise appears to be a fairly standard convention brochure. The map function can zoom in or out, and has a 'you are here' logo that also indicates the bearer's facing, and can plot routes to reach any given registered destination such as a particular booth, seminar, or other location. They also show the nearest Drones - the soldier robots monitoring proceedings from the parking lot. A little logo at the bottom reads "Powered by ANTHAR."

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria looks startled as ANTHEM appears right out of thin air, but she recovers quickly enough. She tilts her head slightly to one side, then grins. "...A hologram. Cool! Are you an AI or just really cleverly programmed?" She takes the brochure, glancing at it. "...I really have no idea what to do. This is my first time here, after all..."

[storybookknight]

ANTHEM smiles at Victoria. "I'm actually a set of subroutines of the ANTHAR computer system; which is Turing-complete. It required some heavy programming, though, so ... a little from column A, a little from column B? If you aren't sure, I recommend exploring. If you're interested in bardos, there are a few on-grounds; Dr. Habibula has created a shooting range for people to test their weapons in the Navigator hall, which is also where you'll find many Skafoi constructions. The Scholastic hall has a reading room, a great deal of presentations discussing Apokalypsi findings, and some film rooms. The Directors' hall has most of the Wonders of Epikrato and a secondary Metapropti event, I believe they're running a free matchmaking program there, there's some filking, video games, and karaoke going on, and of course the main cafeteria is in that hall as well. The Artificers are hosting the exhibitions of Automata and Protasia, and the "Battlebot Arena" in that same hall is a perennial favorite, though wonders must be non-sentient in order to be entered." As Anthem speaks she hands forward a hologram brochure, which starts displaying the map; pointers flash to indicate which direction to head in for each of the events she names. "Finally, the Progenitors are housed in the Biosphere wing, which is worth seeing in its own right. Beyond that, however, wonders of Exelexi and Metapropti are primarily housed inside the Biosphere or its surrounding rooms." ANTHEM tilts her head to the side. "Do you have any further questions about events at the convention?"

[Kirindal]

"Thank you very much, ANTHEM."

Daniel say courteously as he fixes the badge to his clothes. He dragged his wheeled luggage in the directions the machine had directed him in. He entered the Great Hall already bustling with energy as the other dealers were scrambling to get set up. Daniel smiled as he breathed it in, sales were going to be good to him today, he could feel it.

Some of the other dealers he recognized from back home and he waved back to Victor Weems who was setting out several of his mannitrons who were wandering back and forth on the table looking over the edge and daring each other to jump off, Carol 'Lady Override' Dashiell who already talking the ear off a prospective customer, and Bacon who claimed he was one of Frankenstein's later creations after his first two attempts and was setting up shop to sell the secrets behind his creation. Daniel found his own table and the crate with the Rarifier already sitting on it.

I hope Habibula's people didn't damage it...

Daniel unbolted the sides of the box and removed the padding to reveal the Rarifier shining scales of crimson and yellow still intact. He sighed and stashed the parts of the crate behind his seat and opened his traveling case. He pulled out the color flyers he had printed at the local shop and spread them on the table. He pulled out the chemicals he was going to use for live demonstrations and set them to the side. Finding a nearby generator he plugged in a coffee machine and grinder and started the process of making some fresh-brew coffee that the Rarifier seemed to like.

While the coffee was brewing, he activated the Rarifier which roared to life and belched a small pyrotechnic display from its various release valves. Daniel carefully calibrated the various valves, brushed clean the release tubes, filled several of the chemical reservoirs, and polished the Rarifier to a shining gleam. After he was done, the scent of the coffee told him it was finished and he took the pot and poured a cup first for the Rarifier before pouring the rest of the pot in to process.

Daniel poured himself a cup of the espresso into a disposible paper cup and sat down with his satchel waiting for customers to file into the hall. He opened his satchel of supplies and started making a fresh batch of Panacea for Madeleine to kill the time. As he took a sip of his coffee he heard a cough that sounded like a backfiring engine had inhaled gravel. Looking up from his work, he didn't see anyone in front of him.

Then there was the cough again and and a lowly-gravelly yet slightly weasely voice spoke up.

"Kaaffeee plleezz...."

He looked over the table edge to see a....pink...toothy...koala thing grinning back at him. It raised its paws and smiled a wide toothy grin showing its sharp teeth.

"Kaaffeee pllleezzz...."

Great, some Progenitor's creation had probably wandered away from them and was hitting him up for a hit of caffeine. Daniel sighed and wondered if he should feed the damned thing.

"Kaaffeee nnaaooww plleezzzz..."

On the other hand, whoever the thing belonged to was clearly negligent and it wasn't Daniel's reponsibility to clean up after his mess. Daniel pulled out another paper cup and filled it with espresso and gave it to the creature.

"Tttthaaaannkkk yeeewww...."

Daniel watched the creature totter off with the cup between its paws and shook his head. Whatever happened next was not his issue.

[nick012000]

Rob grins under his motorcycle helmet as he flies across the desert, the miniature nuclear explosions at his back are caught and channelled by the electromagnetic fields his hoverbike produces. The wind whips past him as he barrels across the dusty terrain, heading for the navigation beacon displayed on his glasses. Lots of folks use GPS nowadays, but he's glad that the guy running this still has an NDB station set up for those whose communicators can't talk to satellites in orbit without intermediaries.

Getting closer, he throttles down a bit; the explosions only happen every few seconds now, as he maneuvers into his parking space. Grabbing his bag from the rack it's tied down to behind him, he stuffs his helmet into it before pulling the keys out of his hoverbike. Not like that'd stop a mad scientist from stealing it, though hopefully it'd slow them down a bit.

With that done, Rob stands up, and walks towards the entrance. He's a sharp contrast to the kit-bashed appearance of his hoverbike; where it looks like it was cobbled together out of stuff you'd find in a junkyard, he looks like something out of a more modern science fiction setting. He wears a white jumpsuit, with molded plastic bracers and shin-guards inset with a couple rows of circular indentations glowing with faint blue light. His chest and back are covered with a similar, but more flexible system of plating and smooth lines, with trio of lights at the forefront of his collar.

Arriving at the entrance, he smiles at the image of the woman that appears, and replies, "Hello! I was wondering if there were any meeting of the Seven Vertex Devils planned? I think I might also be volunteering to help with the con, too."

[DarklingPerhaps]

Zach fumbled for a second, "Well, uh... ya see... I- I wasn't..." He stopped talking and sighed, looking around, his hands nervously rubbing together.

"Ok, I meant what's a person... new of free will... ta do here. Um... Yeah... Yes, I'd love some info on the newly enlightened whatever. Thanks."

[storybookknight]

"Robert Smith? My name is ANTHEM." She smiles and nods. "You're on my list of volunteers, thanks so much. You've been placed in con group C, which will be meeting at 8 PM in the auditorium." The machine performs its handing-things-forward trick and gives Rob a brochure/map. "The Seven Vertex Devils have a vehicle exhibition in the Navigator's Hall, one of my personal favorites. Dr. Habibula has used his knowledge of Skafoi to access bardos that will allow for some truly unique racing conditions. The race that the Devils are hosting isn't until tomorrow, but I believe that people are taking the chance to test drive their vehicles now and make sure that everything is in working order. There is a hydraulic lift in the Hall that allows the entrance of ground vehicles - additionally if you have any other Wonders you would like to enter in some of the other contests, there are matter transporter rings for flying, swimming, and tunneling devices of any size."

Zach's map flashes at him as ANTHEM speaks. "I've marked all of the pertinent meetings in blue." She pauses for a second, and a few of the locations turn a light purple. "I might recommend steering clear of the acaudial seminars - those are the purple ones. You're not secretly a giant animal that wants to permanently transform into a human, move to Duluth and study accounting, are you?" ANTHEM asks innocently. "If so, you're doing a very good job of hiding it - my scans register you as a normal human."

[nick012000]

He nods and grins as she hands it to him, and looks at the map. "So, where do we go to check into the accomodation or whatever? I know folks usually rent hotel rooms when the attend sane conventions, but since this is a Mad Science convention, I'm not entirely clear on that."

Worst comes to worst, I can just commute from home each day.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria still continues to practically stare at ANTHEM in awe, head tilting slowly to one side. "...You're very well-programmed, then. I could swear you were actually sapient." The girl grins a little bit, looking back down at her brochure. She really has no idea what she wants to do. "...Maybe I should stop by the Artificers, just to be social..."

[The Kings Raven]

Doctor Caduceus wondered through the convention in a pleased daze, that coffee had left him feeling that fiery Latin stereotypes were performing the tango in his belly. Not unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination but certainly distracting. At some point one of the colonel’s robotic ants had volunteered to take his new purchases to his room.

His first glance of the biodome was enough to send him back to reality; no sooner than he stepped through the door than an actual dragon swooped overhead scales shining like rubies in the sunlight. "Wow!". Feeling much more alert Caduceus set off towards his seminar, walking past the klatch of squirrels playing cards over a pile of nuts and smoking like chimneys, past an stately woman in Victorian garb scolding a giant bumblebee for pollinating plants in mixed company before getting sidetracked by a sign "Have your photo taken riding a tyrannosaurus rex". The Doctor joined the line behind a man with such a strong resemblance to Sigmund Freud it had to be Metaptropi. Or rather behind the line of brown ducks following the Freud look-alike quacking merrily.

”Doctor Caduceus, mad psychiatrist and doctor, Union of Artifice. Pleased to meet you.”

”Professor Connubium”, the professor gives a little chuckle at his name, ”I’m a Freudian animal behaviourist with the Directors”.

”And the ducks?”

”An accident, I was trying to enhance my animal magnetism” at this he points to a magnet strapped to his wrist, “it turns out to be more effective on mallards than I would have liked”

As he was talking the professor looked at the ducks, in response they tilted their heads gave a sigh and started to flutter their eyelids. Caduceus and Connubium exchanged an incredibly embarrassed look before turning away. Although he intended to greet the people behind him but upon seeing a gorilla wearing medallion with the crest of the Atomists eagerly explaining his plan to end all wars by turning everyone into gorillas to a grandmotherly African lady who was equally enthusiastic about showing the gorilla her photo album of giant spiders; Doctor Caduceus decided to queue quietly.


"Smile for the camera! Ok done!" As Caduceus dismounts a young Genius dressed in the fedora and overcoat of an old fashioned reporter prints of photos depicting the doctor grinning atop a tyrannosaurus in mid charge.

"How did I look? Did you get my teeth?"

"Got the teeth, you looked terrifying Nessie! Want some stakes before the next shot?"

Arriving at the base of the treehouse with just a few minuets to spare the Doctor was pleased to see a conveniently placed up button. Unusually it simply dispensed a small seed the size of a walnut, since he was standing on fertile soil Caduceus did the obvious thing and planted it, no sooner had he stood up when a beanstalk started to grow beneath his feet. Grabbing one branch and placing his feat on another the Doctor took an exaggeratedly casual pose as he rose up to the seminar room.

To his disappointment no one noticed him arrive, they were all to busy filing through the doors, Cadeceus joined the queue. The beanstalk withering behind him. Soon a large yellow and black snake with a fanged overbite slithered into the room wearing an academic’s tweed and bowtie specially modified to fit his form. Wasting no time the serpent began his seminar in a thickly accented monotone.

”Good Afternoon yes. I am Albert Flurgle and start with joke. Man go to Doctor and Doctor runs tests. Not good you have 10 to live. 10 what? 10 day 10 month? 10. 9. 8. 7.” A few forced laughs come from audience.

”First demonstration then theory.” Two stitched automaton enter from behind the stage. ”No Exelixi, both identical you check yes?” Beeps and electronic noise fill the room as the audience turn Apokolypsi towards the two automaton, a consensus is reached: neither contains or is under the effects of any Exelixi Wonder, nor are they protected by Prostasia and the two are indeed identically constructed.

Suddenly Albert strikes, for someone with such a lethargic way of speaking he can move quickly. With the sound of a whip crack he’s sunk his fangs into both automatons before anyone could blink. One automaton soon collapses the other remains motionless.

”Not be worrying, was not intelligent. Identical, no Exelixi, why only one survive? Retroactive enhancement of immune system." He looks at a syringe on the desk, it soon levitates its way into the surviving automaton’s arm and injects its contents. The audience gives a standing ovation,

[storybookknight]

ANTHEM nods to Robert, pointing out the staircases in yellow on his map. "While the majority of the exhibitions are on this level, the complex does extend deeper into the earth. Guest rooms are on the two levels directly below this, followed by the auditorium entrance, which you'll see later tonight, a security level, Dr. Habibula's private laboratory, and finally ANTHAR's main systems. I advise against exploring any lower than the auditorium level, however, for your own safety." She smiles again. "Rooms are complimentary with your registration - you are in the Alpha Quadrant, room Wolf 359."

ANTHEM blushes at Victoria's compliments. "Well, I'm running off of ANTHAR's architecture, and she's sentient, so that means I'm sentient too? Unless I'm a piece of sentient computer language, who just happens to be hanging out in her mom's data banks... I should ask Dad - er, Dr. Habibula, I mean." ANTHEM looks at her notepad. "If you're curious about sentience tests and the like, the Artificers have a few seminars on AI. There's 'Lovelace's' seminar on sentient computer language, 'Ada Byron's' presentation on the construction of thinking machines.... is it just me, or are there a lot of people here with a hard-on for historical figures?" She holds up her notepad critically. "Hmm... 17 instances of 'Curie'. I thought the Enlightened were supposed to be imaginative?" She puts a hand over her mouth as she blushes again, this time with embarrassment. "Sorry! I got distracted."

As the presentation wraps up, a balding man in an orange parka approaches Dr. Caduceus. "I wonder what would happen if someone had shot or stolen the medicine before it could be applied? Would a quantum wave-field collapse? Would we remember the second construct having survived temporarily? And was the one that survived the one he bit first, or second? I imagine his venom sacs need time to refill..." He extends his hand. "Errol's the name, Dr. Errol Flynn, zoologist. No relation."

[The Kings Raven]

Dr Caduceus shakes Dr Flynn's hand somewhat absent-mindedly as his superhuman intellect ponders the problem. ”I think the 'original' timeline would be the one where it died so – Dr Caduceus pleased to meet you – The effects took place before Albert did anything to change the past, which would suggest a fixed timeline where all time travel is already accounted for. Of course we know the universe doesn't work that way.” At this Albert breaks into a grin ”When did we ever find evidence that didn't contradict everything, come on lets see if it worked. Maybe we'll remember both dieing."

The two doctors clearly weren't the only ones who intended to examine further, a small crowd had formed around the surviving automation and were examining it with professionalism and appropriate care for what had recently been deadly venom. This of course means that all eyes were on a young woman of eighteen as she licked yellow streaked blood from a pair of scissors. ”Poison, pass the placebos.”

As Doctor Caduceus joined the throng poking and prodding the venomous weeping wound a rather conspicuous shadow in the corner solidified into a teenage boy, his long black cloak, broad brimmed black hat, goatee and sliver tipped cane clashed horribly with pale skin and moderate acne. He approached the woman who recently tested for deadly venom and began scrapeing blood from her arms onto his knives. In response she pinned him with a glare ”Nice try weirdo. Not.” With a dramatic swish of his cloak the boy walked away, hands in his pockets as the air around him twisted into an inky pool.

[storybookknight]

Flynn scratches his head. "That'd be disconcerting, certainly. I always tend to be a little leery of risking life and limb on something like that, though I have no problem staring down a Tarantulocerus or a Praying Mantiphant."

The throng continues to gather; with various people either asking pointed questions to Albert, or haggling with him over whether or not they could 'dispose' of the leftovers for experimentation purposes. The snake-scientist bids people to be seated, so he can make a more formal presentation. "I think I've seen all I care to here - this fella's gonna take forever to explain all that. Care to follow me to the gorillaraffes, or are you staying?"

[nick012000]

Rob nods. Sounds like the good doctor is a Trek fan. "Thanks. That's it for now, I think." With that, he starts walking, until his ear catches a familiar tune. Turning, he walks up to Victoria.

"So, you read MS Paint Adventures?"

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

Nathanial meandered his way toward the Progenitor Biosphere, poking and prodding the holographic display for both useful information, and taking a look at how the thing was working.

"Hmm, not fractal-based. Algorithmic. Logarithmic. Arithmatic." Nathanial paused to casually wave away a trio of hummingbirds that were flitting about his head, extolling the virtues of various wonders and herbal supplements being sold at the convention that were guaranteed to enhance your personality, cranial calculating capacity, and make that cute beholden stop rejecting you.

Blinking and looking around to regain his bearing Nathanial headed into the Biosphere, heading down a side alley labeled 'ExtraIntellectual Retro: Bringing back the classics!', and passing all manner of creatures and wonders that looked like they'd belong in Greek or Roman mythology, then walking into an impromptu tent with a hastily scrawled paper sign hanging from an open tent flap proclaiming 'Assignments'.

"Good afternoon Susan, what does the old bag want me to do this year?" Nathanial said to the attendant. Susan being a six-armed, four eyed (or, technically eight eyes. for reasons Nathanial had never figured out, Susan's creator had given her reading glasses, as well) attendant, functioning as receptionist for those who were currently on the outs with the higher ups in the Progenitor Hierarchy.

"You know that I don't read these, Jack." Susan replied, flicking one pair of eyes up at him while the other pair stayed focused as four hands flew along an Apoklypsi data compilation machine as she was entering the results of the yearly mandatory research projects for the foundation. her remaining two free hands both handed Nathanial a sealed manilla envelope and gave him a dismissive wave. "And a pro-tip for you dear. This year, and in future years, don't drunkenly suggest to a direct Demiurge-heir that you think the over-creation of automata is making us all look like a bunch of shoddy artificers. Just saying."

[The Kings Raven]

”A Doctor Moreau fan? You do like making things big.” At this Caduceus gave a smile. ”Gorillaraffes it is.”

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria shrugs her shoulders idly. "The Inspired are all geeks. Every one of us. Of course we're going to pretend to be people we're not." She grins, then bows to the hologram only she can see! "...Thanks. I'll go see those seminars." She hmms a bit. "This may be a bit forward, but would you be against the idea of me making a copy of you so I can see how you tick?"

[nick012000]

He pauses for a beat, not entirely sure how to take that, before he realizes that it's probably a reference to the way that the comic gives a nod to the old adventure games. Then he grins. "True, that."

He then snorts as she asks for the AI's code. He can't hear the AI's response, so he adds in one of his own, smirking as he does so. "Planning on fondly regarding someone else's creation (http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Fondly_regard_creation)?"

[storybookknight]

Aside from the normal con volunteer rotations (the volunteer to attendee ratio was higher than usual at Peerage cons in comparison to normal cons, mostly due to the higher preponderance of working ray guns,) Jack's envelope contained some Progenitor-specific assignments, not the least of which was a large stack of evaluation forms. The evaluator's job was a typically dismal one, first of all because they wound up having to work all con, and secondly because panning a particular demonstration could result in that demonstration's host hunting you down with Apokalypsi and declaring a vendetta to 'show those fools who the superior intellect truly is'. A little love-note taped to the top suggesting that Jack check out Dr. Kilgannon's Automata exhibit added insult to injury.

ANTHEM's display fuzzes for a brief second, then becomes visible and audible to both Victoria and Rob. "I wouldn't be against it, but you'd probably need some serious hardware - I think Doc built me using quantum computer language - and in any case you'd have to ask him." ANTHEM looks at the two geniuses and gives them a teasing grin. "You two make a cute couple; do you want me to point out a couple of the more romantic spots in the facility? The garden has some lovely black roses on display."

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria jumps! She wasn't even aware that Rob was talking to her - after all, lots of people are talking to thin air around here. "I. Uh. What?" She blinks at him, then goes pink at ANTHEM's teasing. "I don't even know the guy!"

She swallows a bit, chewing on her lip. "...So where's your creator? I'd like to meet him..." Doing her absolute best to avoid looking at Rob, at least for the moment. "...And yes I read MS Paint Adventures. But seriously, why would you ask that?"

[The Kings Raven]

After an uneventful walk which encountered a poorly thought out attempt to graft wings to an elephant and a smug cuckoo who's artfully clumsy attempts to build a clock and attract a mate had lured in helpful Geniuses unable to resist the siren call of machinery in need of improvement Doctors Caduceus and Flynn arrived at the gorillaraffe enclosure munching on strawnuts and sipping chiberry coffee.

In truth Caduceus was realising that his sociable agreement to visit the animal pens might not have been the best idea, as the dominant male hung from a tree, its long neck reaching down to chew the grass Caduceus' mind began to stray from Flynn's explanations of the valve system and reserve oxygen supply that made this possible towards a group of Orthodox Jews very seriously debating weather the cowpigs were Kosher and then towards his convention schedules. Finding something that looked interesting he made his excuses, exchanged pleasantries with a passing Dr Verma, his tiger now laden with genetic samples, convention swag, and an entire public bathroom's worth of hygiene products, before setting off towards an Artifcer hosted talk on prosthetic limbs.

[nick012000]

Victoria jumps! She wasn't even aware that Rob was talking to her - after all, lots of people are talking to thin air around here. "I. Uh. What?" She blinks at him, then goes pink at ANTHEM's teasing. "I don't even know the guy!"

She swallows a bit, chewing on her lip. "...So where's your creator? I'd like to meet him..." Doing her absolute best to avoid looking at Rob, at least for the moment. "...And yes I read MS Paint Adventures. But seriously, why would you ask that?"

He points at her earbud. "I heard your music as I was walking past, and it seemed like a good enough way to start a conversation. That earbud's either turned up really loud, or it's got pretty poor sound directionality. Or both, I suppose."

He pauses before adding, "If you're wondering what to do for the day, I'm planning on checking into my room and then taking my hovercycle for a test run before the race the Seven Vertex Devils are holding tommorrow. I wouldn't mind at all if a pretty young lady accompanied me." He looks back towards the hologram. "Is there anywhere to rent motorcycle helmets?"

[The_Snark]

Asmita Dahal had always approved of public transportation very much. She was the sort of person who either couldn't or wouldn't shell out for her own car, and as her hopeful belief in the interconnectedness of all things had yet to provide her with a physical, distance-transversing connection to all things, she was forced to fall back on other people. By now, it was a firmly ingrained habit: if she ever did make a breakthrough in transportation techniques or cave in and buy a car, she would find herself constantly arriving fifteen minutes early for everything, so as not to miss a bus she no longer had to catch.

Yes, she firmly approved of it. But good heavens, it could be annoying at times. Buses that claimed to leave at 3 o'clock should leave at 3 o'clock.

Nobody would notice if she was late, she consoled herself. It was a convention, people dropped in and out all the time. But punctuality was a very hard habit to break, and she couldn't help but feel slightly awkward as she wove her way through the various cars, locomotives, tripod walkers, and one vehicle that looked like the offspring of a gyroscope and a hamster wheel.

(Well, part of her felt awkward. Another part wondered if the parking lot would be one of the exhibits, or if people didn't consider these important enough to show off—an astonishing thought to Asmita. She had a notion the gyroscope machine might be a perpetual motion machine, generating more electricity than it used, but it was not polite to start taking apart somebody else's creation, not to mention their way of getting home.)

Her own contribution felt rather insignificant by comparison. She spent the elevator ride making sure it was properly configured—if it turned out to be unimpressive, it would at least have had a fair chance, darn it—and then stepped out. The massive aggregate of screens and invisible speakers giving directions was a huge relief; she'd been afraid she would have to wander around for a while just to find an information kiosk.

"Ah..." she said eloquently, unused to communicating with machines (much less invisible ones). "Is there a... portable map, or a flyer that I might have?"

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria takes the other earbud out of her ear, and stares at it. "...I guess listening to Homestuck volume 2 was a bit of a giveaway..." She rubs the back of her head. "...Sorry. I'm, um, not really used to people talking to me." She frowns at his next suggestion. "...How old are you?"

[nick012000]

He tilts his head at the question.

"21, why?"

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria stares for a while. "...I'm fifteen. Don't flirt with me, creepy guy." She looks down at her brochure. "Anyway I'm going to go to one of those AI seminars..."

[nick012000]

Victoria stares for a while. "...I'm fifteen. Don't flirt with me, creepy guy." She looks down at her brochure. "Anyway I'm going to go to one of those AI seminars..."

"Huh. I just figured you were short." He shrugs. "What happens at ExtraIntellectual, stays at ExtraIntellectual?" he jokingly questions, before shrugging again. "If you're old enough to handle death ray responsibly, you're probably old enough to give consent. If you're not interested, though, no skin off my back."

[storybookknight]

The Artificer halls are not quite as lavish as the Biosphere, which was completely redolent with synthetic life of every shape and form. What they lack in sophistication, however, they make up with Kitsch. The Artificers this year have decided on a Trash Praxis / Brutalist style, and the corridors are liberally festooned with chain-link fences, orange plastic barriers, and bright yellow roadway paint. Light is provided by dirty fluorescents and artfully sparking wires, and someone has thoughtfully piped a techno beat into the speaker system. On the walls, floors, and occasionally ceilings sculptures of various shapes and forms are displayed. The sculptures are composed mostly of welded metal, though wood and glass are also relatively common, and some things that appear to be sculptures at first glance are in fact exhibits or members of the vast menagerie of constructs that are attending. While some constructs' makers have refused to compromise their design principles and are displaying their pieces in all their gleaming metropolitan or victorian glory, many others not originally of the dominant aesthetic have attached faux clock hands or TV aerials in an effort to fit the theme. The prosthetics seminar is being held on a platform which appears to have been created by carefully unfolding an Abrams tank, with sound dampeners to make up for the otherwise open-air walls.

"Asmita Dahal? My name is ANTHEM. Thank you for volunteering your services as part of the convention staff." The mechanical arm extends and hands Asmita the 'smart' flyer as the hologram speaks, in a similar manner to the other attendees. Your assistance is most appreciated. You have been assigned to convention group C, which means that you have until 8 pm to explore." She pauses for a second and pulls a clipboard (or the hologram thereof) out of her smock. "I see you've entered into one of our competitions... Science As Art, correct? The pieces are being placed on exhibition tonight in the Directors' hall, so please make your way there to sign your creation in." The leaflet in Asmita's hands flashes as ANTHEM speaks. "The contest itself will be judged tomorrow afternoon." She looks up from her clipboard. "That's a lovely piece, if I may say so myself. Do you have any other questions I can answer?"

Over by Victoria and Rob, ANTHEM looks chagrined. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interfere. That was rude of me." She looks to Rob and says, "I believe that there are helmets in the Navigator hall. I'll mark it on your map for you." In a Victoria-only directed burst of sound, however, she adds the following. "If he does bother you too much, just let me or one of the drones know and I'll do something about it."

[The_Snark]

"... I don't believe so," Asmita replied, properly impressed by the level of organization here. She had never met Dr. Habibula before, but she rather hoped to now. "Thank you," she said, bowing a little bit since the holographic projection presumably could not shake hands. "You are very helpful. If I have any other questions I'll be sure to come back and ask."

There was a brief pause while she glanced at the map, then realized she was still talking to someone and looked back up. She could locate the Director's hall later. It looked like an excellent map. "Actually—if I may ask, are you a broadcasting of a person? Or are you a machine?"

[storybookknight]

ANTHEM approximates a curtsey as best as she can with the long lab coat. "Thank you for the compliment, but I'm not human. I'm quite Turing-complete, however." She looks thoughtful. "I'm not quite certain if I'm a machine, either... But that's one of those metaphysical questions, and I'm no good at those. We do have a number of presentations on that very subject, however... maybe I should send in some of the lab waldoes with cameras and see what the people around here are saying. There's at least three main schools of thought on the subject, with another handful of subschools and outre theories, so the debate should be lively. Hopefully it won't involve railcannons this year." ANTHEM sighs.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria gives ANTHEM a thumbs-up. "Talk to you later, hopefully. Try not to forget me!" And off she heads for the Artificer's area, to attend those AI seminars.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

Nathanial shuffled through the headers of the evaluator forms in a huff , crumpling up the love-note and tossing it onto Susan's desk with a rather irritated attitude, and went back outside of the tent. He grimaced again, looking around to see who was by him. He'd probably brought this on himself, true, but this was utterly menial work, and could easily be filled by a small group of beholden. They'd be more expendable, too.

With a rather irritated huff, Nathanial set him down at what passed for the food court at the Progenitor wing. He ingloriously upended the packet onto the table and began sorting the projects, first by their claimed knowledge of Katastrofi.

[nick012000]

Rob shrugs as he sees the girl walk off.

"Plenty of fish in the sea. Her loss."

With that, he sets off, marvelling at the displays of the Invisible Empire's peoples as he goes. He pauses momentarilly in front of one stall, where a giant robot is being erected.

Is that Liberty Prime? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=298Cw3_qGwE) Awesome!

Grinning he sets off again, before another stall down the row stops him, where a few Asians are erecting a giant banner declaring that they are the "CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY OF AMERICA".

He shakes his head.

"That is bound to work out well."

With that, he continues on through the bustling crowd, his shoes clicking on the stairwell as he descends to check into his room.

[The_Snark]

"I will have to look into those," Asmita replied seriously, after a short lull during which she tried to decide whether that last comment was a joke. "I've heard some people posit that humans are only very complex machines"—some of those people had been ordinary humans, even—"so the difference may be pure semantic inaccuracy. But I'd like to find out what the other theories are, too."

Pause.

"... really railcannons?"

[The Kings Raven]

Dr Caduceus looked in dismay, but not surprise, at the artfully created Junkyard built by the Artificers. In his opinion; for a group that was supposed to be building the future his fellows hadn’t really given enough thought as to what kind of future they wanted: he could think of a few worlds where technology was built from trash yet none he’d like to live in.

Travelling in Artificer country was far less eventful than the biodome, without the Progenitors fetish for growth and change the many robots and devises could be found doing useful work or loyally following their creators rather than wacky hijinks. Soon Richard reached the seminar and walking past many self upgraded cyborgs took a seat with the few serious medical practitioners.

”Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome!” A young boy of seventeen approached onto the stage, smartly dressed in a suit and tie. As he walked he twirled a pen between the fingers of his right hand. ”My name is Damien and I’ll be takeing this lecture.” At this Damien chucked his pen into the air, his right arm began to unfold, segments of “flesh” sliding between gaps of brutal metal and piping. A bust of flame shot from exhaust pipes at the shoulder as an ordinary arm finished transforming into something worthy of an Ork Warboss. ”Not a hologram folks.” At this he gave a cheeky grin ”but this is.” For a second Damien was covered in static and then his real style was revealed: ripped jeans, band t-shirt and short blue spiked hair. He takes a seat and leans back feet on the table.

”So we’re going to start with some basic Automata, how to build something like my beauty here then after that we’ll talk about the Consensus’ work and how to use simple Exelixi to help during the upgrade. It’s a nice permanent solution for those of us who aren’t quite able to make biology our bitch. For those who are interested I’ve got schematics and source code.”

[storybookknight]

ANTHEM waves as Victoria leaves. As previously mentioned, the Trash Praxis and Brutalist aesthetics are prominent this year among the Artificers hosting the event, though steampunk appears to be the dominant aesthetic among the unaffiliated or out-of-town attendees. The first available AI seminar is on machines and emotions, scheduled to cover a range of topics including which emotions AIs learn to feel first, which can be programmed and which evolve naturally, what happens when programming conflicts with higher awareness, and other sundries. As the room fills, a woman in her mid to late twenties sits down next to Victoria. The woman is wearing a blue Extraintellectual! '09 Convention Assistant shirt, and has a few minor technological and biological augmentations, the most noticeable being an earpiece that looks like it extends to produce viewscreen and mouthpiece for communications. Something about her demeanor screams 'beholden' - perhaps the slight hunch to her shoulders, or the near-total lack of the arrogant demeanor many mad scientists display. "Do you mind if I sit here, miss?"

Nathanial discovers that Katastrophi, as is fitting of the preferred Axiom of one of the most common Catalysts, is found in exhibits throughout the building. The most blatantly powerful weapons, however, appear to be relegated to a testing area somewhere in the asteroid belt, reachable by Skafoi doorway in the Navigator hall.

Rob reaches his room and discovers that Dr. Habibula likely had to save Mania somewhere, and the guest quarters appear to be that somewhere. While the accommodations are far from spartan, they are roughly equivalent to the sort of lodgings that might be found in an ordinary motel, if one discounts the small tool-bench against one mall for last-minute tinkering and late night invention. There were a number of questions about the types of accommodation attendees would require on the registration form; perhaps attendees with more difficult creations were assigned less ordinary rooms.

ANTHEM smiles wearily at Asmita. "So Dr. Habibula tells me. This is actually my first convention, too. Don't worry, though - we always install extra shielding on all the rooms and extra support braces on all the tunnels, so the debates are unlikely to spill over onto innocent bystanders or collapse any of the superstructures." ANTHEM shrugs. "And our con volunteers, of course, will be monitoring the debates to keep them from getting out of hand, hopefully stopping things before they reach that point." She pauses, and looks at Asmita. "We really do appreciate you volunteering, you know. We wouldn't be able to host this event without people like you."

Although strictly speaking even mechanical upgrades are the domain of Exelexi, there is a growing faction of Artificers who prefer to give their mechanical limbs some semblance of independent thought, claiming that in the situation where a limb is being wholly replaced many motor reflexes don't make the translation. From his language, Damien appears to be one of those people. "Being able to tell your arm to 'catch' and having it happen is very important, specifically if you work in a lab and want to avoid losing any *more* limbs." Damien knows how to work a crowd; he elicits a slightly larger chuckle than the joke likely would otherwise have warranted. "Usually with mechanical limb replacements, there's a period of adjustment - you have to figure out how to make it move, how to interpret the sensory data, assuming you've built it sophisticated enough, and never mind the fact that your new appendage may be a different length, weight, or both from your old arm. Introducing a helper thought matrix is exactly what arm replacement technology needs. With this innovation, you're back to doing precision circuitry work in no time at all. There are a few risks, of course - anyone else seen Idle Hands, or Spider-Man 2? But those tend to be exaggerated by the technology's incompetent and insignificant detractors." Damien looks a little embarrassed at that last outburst, and coughs several times before continuing with his lecture.

[The_Snark]

"I can see why," said Asmita, who then felt a bit embarrassed because wasn't that a little presumptuous? They might need volunteers, but they'd still done the lion's share of the work. "You're very welcome—you and the doctor do so much of the preparation, it seems unfair not to help a little in return."

She glanced down at the map again. "I should get going, or I'll be here until you have to send me away because I'm on duty. I can come back sometime—do you enjoy conversation?" she asked, cursing herself for delaying yet again but unable to resist the siren call of curiosity. This was the first time she'd met a machine intelligence, and it sort of was part of the display for newcomers like her, right? She'd move on to the Director's hall right after hearing this one answer.

Really.

[nick012000]

Humming the first few bars of Emiya (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUs8FEsDUZ4&NR=1), Rob copies the map off of the booklet, and then from there onto his PDA and has it display on his glasses. He then marks all the known transmitters and his current location, and whips up a program to calculate his position by triangulation and display it on the HUD map.

Then he drops his bag at the foot of his bed, grabs his helmet and keys, and makes his way back up to the parking lot, passing by Geniuses and Beholden and Manes, some of which he's never seen the like of before. He thinks one he passed was either a member of the Third Race or a Dinosauroid from the Hollow Earth, and he's not entirely sure which.

Once he exits the elevator and emerges into the ad-hoc parking lot, he wonders at the variety of, well, Wonders as he makes his way to where he left his hovercycle. Airships sit next to rocketships and hotted-up muscle-busses and giant hamster wheels.

Straddling the seat of his motorcycle, he straps on his helmet, and inserts the keys. Then he leans forward towards the small microphone, and adds, "Voiceprint authentication engaged. Password: SPESS MAHREENS." He then nods as the little green LED lights up, and revs the engine. The humming of refrigerator coils and microwaves is soon drowned out by the whine of the vacuum cleaner pumps he used to create the airflow for the hovering.

He kicks off, and his hovercycle is off like the rocket it is, as he races towards the yawning portal of the elevator shaft. A quick flick of the wrists and feet propells his hovercycle off the ground as it enters the elevator shaft, and he spins it through a ninety degree turn to adhere to the wall; the magnetic fields it projects around itself and him effectively negating the effects of gravity. Another hop, and anothe aerial turn, and he's on the ceiling, and surprising the occupants of the elevator car as he goes whizzing past.

Then he emerges into the main hall of the convention, the fruits of Mania near and far spreading out beneath them as he heads for the the wall nearest to the stairwell he wants. A bang, and he's racing diagonally down the wall. Another bang, and he spins towards the stairwell. With a rather slower speed, he sets out down the stairs; hovering over them as he descends and spins to face the next flight of stairs.

Finally, he emerges into the hall where the Seven Vertex Devils are getting ready. Starfighters sit next to ornithopters. Muscle-cars and Manic motorcycles sit next to robotic walkers. He thinks he can see a giant genetically engineered gerbil covered with cheetah spots in one case. He slowly floats forward, looking for whoever's in charge of this particular madhouse.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria sits down in her seat, setting her backpack-mounted Apokalipsi device at her feet. She leans back, sighing a bit. "I don't really know why I think I can attend a few seminars and suddenly know everything about AI..." Talking to herself! Well, all Geniuses are mad, after all.

The probable-Beholden causes Victoria to jump slightly, and then shakes her head. "Um, no, I don't mind. And it's not as if I could stop you even if I did."

[The Kings Raven]

”So, that was new arms one-oh-one, those of you who know a little of Automata should have learned enough to build your own and if you haven’t why are you calling yourself a Genius? Now we’re going to talk about the extras. Plenty of Geniuses like to build a few basics into their body and I can’t really say anything bad about that.” At this Damian gestures towards thick metal bolts and heavy wiring grafted into his shoulder. ”But you’ve got maintenance, upgrades and general tinkering. You might think a vulnerability to Barbie Pink isn’t a problem but then you’ll meet some Progenitor who's into age regression. Seriously for a moment if you meet a Progenitor twice your age in a frilly dress who’s flirting with you because they’re attracted to older people, run!”

Pausing only to spread a huge grin in response to the audience’s reaction Damian presses on. ”Don’t bother asking what happened, I ran. But seriously, keeping everything maintained requires a lot of surgery. Far more efficent to build one modular Wonder and even if you don’t go for the bulky look an artificial arm gives you plenty of room to attach extras. So next I’ll be teaching you how to delegate power and control upwards and design tricks for getting wonder’s to fit the shape of an arm, even a natural looking one.”

Even the serious medical folks who had no plans to amputate healthy limbs had to admit it was an informative session, as well as his casual charisma Damian was clearly the sort of person who understood how Wonders worked and how to squeeze extra performance out of them.

”For the final part of my lecture I'll be talking about the latest developments in the Consensus, which absolutely requires me write equations with my back turned to the audience" Damian gives a huge wink and turns to write common scientific equations on a holographic blackboard, a full third of the audience leaves. Most leave a compliment as they walk past. "There, we simply could not continue without the Fokker–Planck equation. There is some amazing work on artificial limbs using Brownian Motion coming out of Japan at the moment. So, Consensus tech, lets get started!"

[storybookknight]

ANTHEM smiles and nods at Asmita. "It's what I was built for, more or less. Come back any time."

The Navigators' hall is in fact almost utterly normal in comparison to the other wings of the structure; it is a simple flat-bellied tunnel, wide and open, with little to clutter up lanes of traffic. The true secret to this hall, however, lies in the doors. A portal in the floor leads to a subterranean jungle full of dinosaurs; off to one side a sunken city awaits. The surface of Mars can be reached through a cul-de-sac about halfway down, and a set of computer terminals with unconscious people reclining next to them suggests that cyberspace is equally well-represented in this area. As might be expected, there is a high incidence of manes running about the halls; automated turrets appear to be set up to discourage the bardos' inhabitants from entering en masse and devouring the Mania of everything found therein. Many of the manes who have entered appear to be wearing restraining bolt sized special con badges; this may or may not counteract their natural tendency for calculus vampirism.

The putative organizer of the NVD's exhibition is an aging japanese man in a silver bodysuit wearing a long red scarf. Under one arm is a sophisticated helmet; the other is currently gesticulating to and fro across the long hallway."Number 302! Stay in line, please. Number 66! Please proceed forward into the Mars gate." As the Orion Drive vehicle approaches, the organizer turns towards it. Though the scarf-clad speaker has no visible microphone, his voice is nonetheless clearly audible even over the noise of a hundred assorted means of propulsion. "You there! Have you registered your vehicle for the races yet?"

The beholden takes the seat gratefully, scooting it a little bit to make sure that Victoria has enough room. "Um, hi. I'm Jeanine, one of Dr. Habibula's assistants. I'm on break now, so I'm just sort of checking out some of the seminars, you know?" She pauses, as if waiting for affirmation, then barrels on ahead nervously. "Anyways, what do you think? Can AIs really feel things like people can? Personally I think they're just faking it, or you know, making us think they can think things beyond what we tell them to... 'cause it's not like machines are the same as real people, right?"

As the Consensus people get started, ideas are bandied about from the ever-popular 'caverns of socrates' debate on subjective reality, and how the Peerage might be able to dimly glimpse the 'real world'; to a neo-Jungian reflection on quantum physics, to the weirder 'we're all just part of an enormous game, pieces played by narrators beyond our understanding'. Most members of the audience seem to find this laughable, however. Damien, as the debate gets a little rowdy, begins to encourage some verbal competition. "I'm gonna start putting people on the spot, here. What do you think the reason is that so many of us can achieve the same or similar results with drastically different scientific fields? Anyone? How about you?" He asks, picking out Dr. Caduceus at random.

[nick012000]

Rob shakes his head. Kamen Rider? Awesome. He must be using an Apocalypsi communicator to make himself heard; I wonder if his Rider Kick is Katastrophi-powered.

"Not yet, no. I just got here. There any forms, or can I do it electronically?"

[storybookknight]

The silver man with the scarf nods. "We have forms; electronically is fine too. Whichever. The race isn't until tomorrow, but we have" He spins. "Hey! Please keep your vehicle from devouring the power conduits!" turning back, "slots open for people to try their hand at different bardos before the main attraction. The route itself is randomized and will include tests of riding skill, navigation, lateral thinking, and of course the performance of your machine."

[nick012000]

Rob nods, and starts humming the original Kamen Rider's opening theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNIo6mS1rw8), as he pulls out a plastic card from his sleek side-pouches to serve as a control surface, and logs onto the local network to look for an electronic form to fill out, which he promptly does.

Let's see... ground vehicle, hovering, jumping, clinging, propulsion is modified Orion Drive... top speed?

He then glances back up again, the form entry sparking a question.

"Are we classed into weight groups based on Inspiration or anything like that? I only really possess the minimum Inspiration to successfully build Wonders, and it'd be sort of unfair to go up against some Master of Skafoi who's completed half a dozen Theses and whose muscle car or giant robot or whatever is seven times faster than mine."

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria leans back slightly. Aaaah, Beholden. Always so fun to share your opinions with. "I don't see why not. You and I are nothing more than highly complex machines, after all. At least, physically. Metaphysically I'm filled with some sort of otherworldly power or anything. Uh. Maybe we should consider normal humans..." She frowns a bit.

"Okay. A normal human is nothing more than a highly complex machine. Why shouldn't we be able to make a machine that perfectly mimics the human mind? Mundane scientists should be able to do it, even. And what we do isn't exactly mundane science."

[The Kings Raven]

Doctor Caduceus took a moment to organise his thoughts. He'd studied mania-theory, most of the Peerage had but it did require the right frame of mind."If you look at how the Axioms are divided it's self evidently true that they work on fundamentally different lines to Consensus science."Supported by the natural confidence, perhaps arrogance, of a Genius Caduceus began to hit his stride. "In Consensus science how you are doing something is important, if you're using pharmaceuticals then it will work differently to surgery or cognitive therapy. With Inspired science the divisions between Axioms are your goals for the Wonder: Discover, Heal, Protect. The divisions between physics and chemistry, pills or diet and exercise simply aren't relevant to a Wonder, different paradigm. Our use of Consensus science in our wonders is no more than a mental framework, a reality proof packaging to allow other dimensions natural laws to apply within ours and ultimately no more important than the packaging in any other field. We all know that regular devices can get similar results with radically different packaging."

A rather lengthy way to say not all that much, but the Inspired always did love the sound of their own voice. Doctor Caduceus sat down certain that he'd convinced the room, was quickly shocked to realise he'd done nothing of the sort and embarrassed at his short moment of madness.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

Nathanial sighed as he glanced through the now semi-organized pile. He had one stack of forms dedicated to Geniuses (Genii? Genies?) that would most likely score a 'favorable' or 'excellent' rating, due to their ability to obliterate his home and workshop from orbit. Next up in his order of 'most likely to be rated favorable' were weapons that could also be delivered in tiny packages as a sort of 'thank you' bomb. Lastly, there were the demonstrations that seemed too unwieldy to work, or at least unlikely to scorch down his pawn shop. Nathanial shuffled that last pile repeatedly with no particular rhyme or reasoning, then gave an exasperated sigh. Well, it wasn't ExtraIntellectual Con until you were glowing orange at the after-hours party.

Nathanial sighed again, looking at the pile of papers. This work really was beneath him. Times like this made him wish he had an assistant or two that could take care of this menial work, but similar to his reasoning for not keeping cats: the damned things would probably want too much attention, and he probably wouldn't have the money to feed and care for them properly.

With another resigned sigh and another futile shuffling of papers, Nathanial shuffled his way to the Navigator hall, looking for transport to the demonstrations that would be going on before he needed to report for his convention group duties.

[storybookknight]

The jumpsuited organizer gives Rob a thumbs-up. "Right you are, son. Part of the registration will be comparing your vehicle against the schematics submitted to the NVD to make sure that everything's up to spec. We've also constructed the track to allow racers to make use of other Axioms - if you're confident in your Apokalypsi, the Labyrinth of Magnetic Mist is a good shortcut; similarly the lava fields of Io will save a Protasia-armored vehicle time." He turns around to give a pair of scorch-marked vehicles a stern look. "Please be reminded that use of Katastrophi or any other Axiom on another racer is grounds for immediate disqualification." He points with one arm towards a long queue. "The line for the test drives starts thataway when you've finished. Atmospheric rebreathers are provided for those who do not have a closed cockpit."

The beholden - Jeanine - nods. "That makes sense, sort of... but I still sort of feel like people can do things that creations can't. I mean, the really good scientists can build actual humans, never mind just machines that mimic them, but those will blow up if a 'normal', non-beholden person touches them. So... I guess what I'm asking then is, even if a Genius can make something as complex as a person, can it really feel things the same way as someone who wasn't made? Or... what's different between a Normal's brain and a Genius' brain, or a Mane's?"

Dr. Caduceus' statements are immediately supported, rejected, modified, and dissected by the audience in a fervor of free-for-all debate that Damien manages to rein in just before the audience starts to break out the viral weapons. "But we agree, I think, that Consensus science needs a specific paradigm to achieve an effect. So, trying to achieve an effect identical to Consensus science with a different paradigm typically falls into the category of Inspired work, right?" Damien looks out at the room and grins. "So... before the consensus shift and the resulting mania storm in the 1900's - did the luminiferous ether actually exist? Were devices based on etheric science actually 'normal'?" The young Artificer appears less interested in actually maintaining a cogent debate than he does at posing questions that would rile up an audience and get them to bicker.

Nathaniel finds a plethora of vehicles available in the Navigators' hall, leaving him with a wide array to choose from depending on his final destination.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria waves her hand idly. "Psh. Havoc. I hate havoc..." She sighs a little bit, resting her head on her hand. "What we do... it's not really real. You know? It defies reality, and normal people... are more grounded in reality than you and me. But, the thing is... human-like AI doesn't have to break the laws of physics. With a powerful enough mundane computer, you could do it. It's just easier to cheat like we do."

She leans back against her seat, and shivers. "Don't expect every Genius you meet to admit that they cheat, though. I hate it, and I know full well what I do is absurd..." She looks down at the backpack-like device on the floor. "I mean, this thing translates everything it picks up into Spanish or Finnish. What's up with that?"

[nick012000]

Rob nods again, as he finishes filling out the forms.

"So will the races basically be 'Get from Point A to Point B'then? Not a defined track to run, by the sounds of it? Or maybe some hybrid with a series of waypoints, I suppose." With a tap of his fingers, he hits the "Submit" button on the form, and adds, "That should be it for the forms, I think. Unless I did something wrong, anyway, but I don't think I did."

[storybookknight]

Jeanine, seemingly remarkably independent of thought for a beholden, nods in agreement. "Then, does that mean any thoughts or emotions that AIs feel, they can't be real either, right? If you took away the thoughts of the scientist who built them, they'd just crumble and vanish."

The man in the jumpsuit, now that Rob has gotten himself over to a line and filled out a form, has apparently forgotten all about him, and is currently reminding several mole machine riders that tunneling inside the base could probably kill everyone not inside of a mole machine if it caused a collapse, and was therefore strictly prohibited.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria is grinning. She's enjoying this. "But we don't even know why we can do what we do. What is Inspiration? What is Mania? We don't know. It could be magic, or it could be transcendental reality beyond the understanding of mere mortals. Who's to say we can't give an AI a soul?"

She leans back a bit in her chair. "Did you know some Geniuses can take the magical powers of metanormal beings and turn it into Mania? They can drain the Mana right out of a Mage's magical item and use it to fuel his death ray. Or drain the Essence from a ghost. Or even take Vitae from a vampire. I don't really think we'll ever really work out what it is we're doing.

She grins. "Awesome, huh?"

[The Kings Raven]

Doctor Caduceus raises his voice to be better heard over several other Geniuses, a plan which would have had a chance if he had been alone in applying it. ”Of course the Ether didn’t exist before that mania storm! The mania storm was the result of the Consensus disproving the Ether based on empirical evidence. If it existed before the mania storm it could not have been disproven and that means there would be no Mania storm!” He paused to take a breath before continuing. ”Technology based on the Ether were normal then, and can be normal now. It just won’t function unless it’s us building it.”

This time Caduceus had a much stronger support, or he was part of the support for someone else; Genius freeform debates were not known for clarity. A culture defined around the idea that we were Mad meant that when talking Consensus the audience was naturally predisposed to reject theories about flexible natural laws. It came uncomfortably close to the snakes in Lemuria’s trying to explain why they’re right and everyone else was wrong. Besides the Consensus was that that the Ether had never existed and they’re the sane ones. They know better than us about sane science don’t they.

[Kirindal]

"So as you see, all you need to do is pour a litte water in after you are done to flush the Rarifier. Then you'll be ready go with your next batch. It's quick and easy and the filters only need to be calibrated once on start up."

Daniel smiled as he delivered his spiel to a small audience gathered around the table. The Rarifier was one of his better works and it really was quite the aid for processing chemicals for experimentation. He looked around and watched if any of the audience was interested in buying blueprints.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

Nathanial selected a vehicle from the line-up semi-randomly. Generally is was a good idea to pick something that looked like it was actually space-worthy and sealed against atmosphere loss, radiation, and gremlins.

(OOC: are these things auto-piloted or manual?)

[storybookknight]

Victoria and Jeanine's conversation is cut short by the arrival of the main speaker, who proceeds to go over many of the topics the pair of women had touched on, except at much more tedious length. The beholden is called away by a pager mid-presentation, and she quietly slips away without anyone in particular noticing. Further presentations on the topic throughout the day are illuminating, if often contradictory to one another, and inconclusive in any case.

As the debate on consensus science begins to degenerate, a few ANT drones file into the room, reminding occupants that the debate period has ended (regardless of the time currently shown on the clock) and that the next presentation requires time to prepare. Those who continue to disregard the instructions are gently dissuaded by the reminder that violators of the convention's peace will be encouraged to stop by application of increasingly nonlethal force.

Daniel's invention is both admired and derided for its simplicity and practicality. Though a few people offer to improve the design by 'bolting a few death-rays' onto it, most see the design as clever and are willing to come to some sort of agreement. Money being often scarce among the Peerage, however, many of the 'arrangements' proposed include trading schematics, or the offer of various services, some definitely on the odd side.

Jack finds a needle-nosed 'rocketship' with an amicable pilot and spends a not completely unenjoyable time checking out the installations that are too large or too unsafe to be allowed into the convention hall proper. Among the many things he investigates are at least one weapon that, while it didn't sound dangerous on paper, was decidedly more so in practice. A 'wave harmonic amplifier', for example, appeared to be able to transform any cellular network into a carrier for a disintegration beam. Definitely worth better than a 'so-so', even if his house only got 1 or 2 bars of reception at the best of times.

As afternoon transmogrifies into evening and con attendees have the chance to try some of the more unusual concoctions at the local cafeterias and food stands (including some authentic Martian cuisine), the ANT system drones approach the members of Convention Group C. "Your attendance is required for a volunteer briefing meeting in sub-basement D. Please follow this unit to an elevator at your earliest convenience."

I'll give you one more post to finish up whatever unfinished business you all might have, and then we're off to the next chapter. Everyone gets 3 experience for this chapter, so good for you! Thank you all for your patience with me this weekend.

[Kirindal]

Daniel patiently ignored the geniuses who suggested that perhaps he should have welded on death rays to the Rarifier. Just they wait until they fail to feed it the proper coffee, then we'll see if they think the results are suitably death-rayish. He sighed, money was indeed a hard commodity to squeeze out of his fellow Geniuses. Perhaps some sort of mind control cologne that would loosen their inhibitions to spend money would do the trick.

Daniel filed that idea away and got into the haggling over what he would barter away schematics for the Rarifier for. Some of the trades were unreasonable, he had no space to built a Multimodal Transition Sphere nor did he have a need for a pneumatically powered space satellite designed to fire genetically-engineered giant chipmunk marines at targets on Earth. For that matter, where was he supposed to find giant chipmunk marines? Of course, there were the usual crank offers for trading secret formulas of enlightenment (some involving doses of radiation, others a 12 step program involving monetary infusions), V'rility enhancements, and little black books filled with all sorts of secret phone numbers.

Eventually he negotiated the trade for the Rarifier's blueprints for some personal research journals by some Professors of Exelixi and a few services to be called upon at a later time. Business transactions completed and at crack of evening, Daniel closed up shop and had some of the staff help transport the Rarifier to a vault for safekeeping while he went to get something to eat before attending to his volunteer duties.

[The Kings Raven]

On the way out Dr Caduceus pockets a DVD full of the latest proprietary secrets of Consensus scientists working on prosthetics. It had been an impressive session for both the Wondrous and mundane prosthetics, before the probably inevitable debate on the nature of mania. Looking around Caduceus didn’t see anyone who appeared to have damaged themselves in a poorly planned self upgrade so that meant it was time for lunch.

That was fun, looking forward to the next session.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

The ANT drones find Jack pretty close to the Skafoi vehicles, as he finishes writing down notes for his final evaluations.

"Ah, that time already?" Jack said. "Accursed non-relativistic drives." he muttered, following the ANT drone to where it would take him.

[storybookknight]

The ANTs escort the volunteers to the elevators, which descend deep into the bowels of Dr. Habibula's secret laboratory. Whereas the upper corridors have been transformed into a tourist's paradise, the level the elevators disembark upon is a paradise of a different kind. It is filled with row upon row of boxy devices with blinking lights, long coils of electrical wire festoon most vertical surfaces, and tubes of strange bubbling chemicals arc from one location to the next. Yet clearly for all that, this equipment is raw materials and diagnostic equipment, rather than a massive installation - many components are haphazardly placed, or clearly not attached to anything resembling a power source. While some mad scientists' aesthetics might permit such an arrangement, Dr. Habibula's tendencies appear to run towards a sleek elegance. In stark contrast to this aesthetic is the man himself, who is waiting in a cleared area amidst the chaos. Though he affects a military title and wears a WWII-era admiral's cap over his medal-strewn lab coat, Habibula is obese to the point of moribundity, and clearly bald save for an unkempt wispy white fringe. His ruddy face lights up as the volunteers arrive, and he extends a pudgy hand towards each in turn. "Welcome, welcome! So glad you could make it, and so pleased to have your assistance. Have you met my security chief, John?"

In contrast to his master, the beholden man who introduces himself as John Ulnar is young and fit, possessed of both a military demeanor and countenance. The blue 'Extraintellectual! Convention Security' tee-shirt fits him like a glove, and appears almost out-of-place on a form obviously more commonly accustomed to uniform. Like Jeanine and the other beholden of Dr. Habibula among the staff, John exhibits signs of minor mechanical and biological augmentation. "I look forward to working with you all."

Giles points to a large computer system. "I invited you down here to get your biometrics entered into the secure databank. I'll be making a presentation on the Auditorium level this evening, and in order to serve as effective security you need to be able to access some of the infrastructure in case of emergency." He pauses and puts his hands on his hips. "But that can wait. Tell me - how are you enjoying my little soiree?"

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria makes her way to Sub-Basement D when the announcement comes, wondering vaguely where that nice Beholden woman went. Oh well. Off she goes!

For a mad scientist, she's not really thate xciting. She seems just like a high-school student going to a lecture.

[The Kings Raven]

Doctor Caduceus descended the steps to Sub-Basement D sipping from a sparkly coffee cup with a “Mimetic Hazard” warning. He took a mental double take when he saw the colonel's bulk. As he shakes hands the Doctor repeats a mantra in his head “don't suggest treatments.”

"But that can wait. Tell me - how are you enjoying my little soiree?"

”It spoke vol. It was ilum... It was very nice.”

Desperately thinking of a way to salvage the situation Doctor Caduceus decided that maybe if he keeps stammering he might be able to blame it on a Wonder from the convention. and he had hoped to impress, deciding that the grapes were sour the Doctor concluded that he wouldn't have been able to impress the colonel anyway.

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

Nathanial nodded politely to both Dr. Habibula and John. For a moment, his response was going to be frustrated, but he quickly shelved that. Any problems Nathanial was having at the con this year wasn't the Doctors fault. "Well enough, I suppose" he finally said. "You've made quite a few improvements from last year, I see."

[Kirindal]

Daniel nods slightly,

"I've found it enjoyable, Dr. Habibula."

In truth, he hadn't seen much of the convention being busy in the dealer's hall. But he supposed Habibula wanted some ego-stroking and far be it from Daniel to offend his host. Besides building credit here and there never hurt future prospects. Daniel looked at the other volunteers in the group and sized them up.

[storybookknight]

The host booms out in a decidedly jolly laugh. "Good, good, I'm glad. In any case, if you could arrange yourselves over by the machine, there, we need to take some biometric scans for your security profile, as I mentioned. Just step into the booth, no need to remove your clothes or disengage any Wonders you might be carrying - it's a fairly sophisticated device, far superior to any of the security measures being devised by the fools upstairs. Sgt. Ulnar will explain the details."

John snaps to attention. "Yes sir. Here's the situation, for those of you not returning as convention security from previous years -" he checks a clipboard, frowning slightly. "Aha, you're all newcomers. In that case, I'll be thorough. The schedule for tonight involves Dr. Habibula making his yearly speech. Some of the less sane attendees have in years previous taken exception to Sir Habibula's statements of superiority and attacked the stage, but the podium is well-defended against all forms of Maniacal weaponry. Additionally the auditorium is built with a number of remotely deployable weapons, mostly nonlethal; your security profiles should keep them from targeting you as long as you yourselves don't engage the Doctor. Afterwards, many of the attendees typically take advantage of the convention nightlife; convention volunteers are encouraged to participate with security forces and the ANTs to help keep energy weapons and strong liquors from mixing too strongly. Again, the security profiles will allow you to access base defenses, remote scanners, and escape tunnels for exigency situations." He pauses. "Any questions so far?"

[The Kings Raven]

Dr Caduceus steps out the biometric scanner feeling pretty nervous, though not too nervous to nose around and see what he can learn. He was feeling even worse as John started using words like “security “, “attacked” and “weaponry”. It was one thing to know he was in a convention full of well armed madmen and quite another to be responsible for it.

When the opportunity to ask questions appeared he was the first to reply, entirely forgetting his decision to fake a stammer. “I didn’t realise I’d be in security, is there a lab nearby? It won’t take long.”

[Yuki Akuma]

Victoria raises a hand. "I have a question. You do realise I'm fifteen, right?" It's a perfectly acceptable question!

[ninja_penguin]

Nathanial 'Jack' Hawkins

"How heavy are the base defenses?" Nathanial asked warily. "Is there just a big stun ray we can start using if things get out of hand?" And, Nathanial mused , did Dr. Habibula believe in putting his 'stun' and 'kill' firing buttons far enough apart to avoid accidents?

[Kirindal]

Daniel steps out of the biometric scanner after the others are done. That wasn't so bad, although he wondered what principles did the scanner run on and did he get a high dose of radiation from the thing. Daniel paid attention to what Habibula's man had to say. After he was done Daniel asked,

"How will we be accessing the base's systems to activate the failsafes and what do you mean remotely-deployed weapons?"