Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts

[Kantaki]

You know, the words "everything is fine. No one is in danger" usually translate to "time to run away screaming passed ten minutes ago", but I'm sure this guy is highly capable and knows what he is doing.

On a unrelated note, where's the escape pods?

[sihnfahl]

On a unrelated note, where's the escape pods?

At the shop, awaiting repairs that won't be done until the administrator pays for them up front.

Which will be sometime next year.

After all, he has his own private shuttle out.

[Rakaydos]

At the shop, awaiting repairs that won't be done until the administrator pays for them up front.

Which will be sometime next year.

After all, he has his own private shuttle out.

...and who's in charge of maintaining that private shuttle, and how well has he been treated in this debacle?

[Fyraltari]

At the shop, awaiting repairs that won't be done until the administrator pays for them up front.

Which will be sometime next year.

After all, he has his own private shuttle out.

...and who's in charge of maintaining that private shuttle, and how well has he been treated in this debacle?

You guys make me wanna play Prey again.

[sihnfahl]

...and who's in charge of maintaining that private shuttle, and how well has he been treated in this debacle?

A robot specifically trained so, and when it comes to your own safety, there's no cost you won't get your employer to fork over.

Even if they don't know they're paying for it.

[Rakaydos]

A robot specifically trained so, and when it comes to your own safety, there's no cost you won't get your employer to fork over.

Even if they don't know they're paying for it.

What's the Union got to say about that?

[sihnfahl]

What's the Union got to say about that?

What makes you think the Union knows?

[Gez]

He wants to replace the human workers with robots, the Union is trying to prevent that by demanding equal pay for robots, he retaliates by making the job miserable and the pay late so that human workers work less, the result is that the station becomes less and less functional to the point where life support systems may fail. And that's part of his plan.

Why?

Because life support failure would be a threat to the lives of the humans on board. And robots are programmed to act when human lives are threatened. And we know, and De Morel presumably also knows, that there are robots on the station, hiding from the workers. Basically, it's a blackmail. He's letting the situation rot until robots arrive to work for free, and the human workers will have to let the robots work for free because it's either that or risking death. And then he'll have replaced the workers with robots, without having to pay them.

The hydroponics may have been a proof of concept for the whole scheme. The plants were dying, a robot volunteered to do the work, without getting paid for it.

[lord_khaine]

So.. making the prediction now. Sam will end as replacement manager.
The next chapters will take place as he tries to get the station running again.

[Kantaki]

He wants to replace the human workers with robots, the Union is trying to prevent that by demanding equal pay for robots, he retaliates by making the job miserable and the pay late so that human workers work less, the result is that the station becomes less and less functional to the point where life support systems may fail. And that's part of his plan.

Why?

Because life support failure would be a threat to the lives of the humans on board. And robots are programmed to act when human lives are threatened. And we know, and De Morel presumably also knows, that there are robots on the station, hiding from the workers. Basically, it's a blackmail. He's letting the situation rot until robots arrive to work for free, and the human workers will have to let the robots work for free because it's either that or risking death. And then he'll have replaced the workers with robots, without having to pay them.

The hydroponics may have been a proof of concept for the whole scheme. The plants were dying, a robot volunteered to do the work, without getting paid for it.

Sounds like the kind of plan where you loose your head. Err... hat.
Though I guess the former works too. Always weird when a typo's still right.

So.. making the prediction now. Sam will end as replacement manager.
The next chapters will take place as he tries to get the station running again.

Don't you mean "as he tries running from the station"?

[halfeye]

So.. making the prediction now. Sam will end as replacement manager.
The next chapters will take place as he tries to get the station running again.

I'm fairly sure that won't happen. Sam is a continuing character, and being stuck out in space wouldn't suit his role.

[theangelJean]

I'm fairly sure that won't happen. Sam is a continuing character, and being stuck out in space wouldn't suit his role.

I dunno. The story is about Sam (and Florence, and Helix). Florence is having a station-based story arc, and the robots wanting to build her (and themselves) a ship ties into that. Helix is happy where Sam is. And what more does Sam need than people to annoy and steal from, long corridors for being chased, and interesting terrain to be chased through? (And ice cream.) Looks like the station has all of those, plus a mystery to solve. What's the downside?

[Radar]

He wants to replace the human workers with robots, the Union is trying to prevent that by demanding equal pay for robots, he retaliates by making the job miserable and the pay late so that human workers work less, the result is that the station becomes less and less functional to the point where life support systems may fail. And that's part of his plan.

Why?

Because life support failure would be a threat to the lives of the humans on board. And robots are programmed to act when human lives are threatened. And we know, and De Morel presumably also knows, that there are robots on the station, hiding from the workers. Basically, it's a blackmail. He's letting the situation rot until robots arrive to work for free, and the human workers will have to let the robots work for free because it's either that or risking death. And then he'll have replaced the workers with robots, without having to pay them.

The hydroponics may have been a proof of concept for the whole scheme. The plants were dying, a robot volunteered to do the work, without getting paid for it.

You might be right on the money here. This is the best case ruthless savings scenario for him. It also has a significant risk of blowing up in his face.

The space station has some owner (most likely Ecosystems Unlimited) and their reaction to the state of the station might be also important in how things would unfold. Since the station served its main purpose already, it might be of little value to the corporation, so when they see it in a run-down state and poor finances, they might opt to sell it off cheaply as a liability. The manager might be aiming to buy it off of them. If on the other hand they still have plans for the station, they might simply kick out the manager and put someone else in place before his plan to replace everyone with pay-less robots kicks in fully.

Sam was hired to investigate unusually high maintenance costs of the station, so whoever owns the station, is still interested in how it is run.


Also, I wanted to comment that being aware of ones own limitations and actually listen to experts is remarkably smart if you compare to many people who should never be given managerial positions.

edit: As I read the archives, it seems it's the station manager who asked for the costs investigation.

[lord_khaine]

Sam was hired to investigate unusually high maintenance costs of the station, so whoever owns the station, is still interested in how it is run.

That in turn is the reason for the theory about spending some more time at the station.
It seems clear the current manager is going to be replaced.

Likely by evidence Sam uncover. In turn proving his own fitness for the position.

[Radar]

That in turn is the reason for the theory about spending some more time at the station.
It seems clear the current manager is going to be replaced.

Likely by evidence Sam uncover. In turn proving his own fitness for the position.

Being a good auditor does not translate to being a good manager - the required skillset is different. There is also the fact, that Sam most likely would not want to be in a position of authority as this kind of responsibility would detract him from his usual antics.

[Fyraltari]

Is it really that easy?

[Radar]

Is it really that easy?

First, you have to know about this trick. Second of: you have to be helping Sam. For many people this would be too difficult to stomach. In many other situations, it might not be easy to find something to help Sam with. The workshop manager was lucky that Sam actually wanted something from him.

[Rakaydos]

Looks like we may have a candidate for next station administrator?

[Radar]

That maintenance shop manager makes a very good point that is actually reinforced by what we have seen about motoric abilities of the robots: stairs, jumping.

[Pax1138]

And about the people who design everything. As a computer repair person, I don't know how many times the tear down procedures for a given device have made me want to throttle the person who designed it.

[Radar]

And about the people who design everything. As a computer repair person, I don't know how many times the tear down procedures for a given device have made me want to throttle the person who designed it.

At least you do not have it as bad as car mechanics. Changing a lightbulb should be a simple task anyone could do on a roadside, right?

I assume that the teardown procedure is often an afterthought once the design is mostly already decided based on other factors.

[Rockphed]

And about the people who design everything. As a computer repair person, I don't know how many times the tear down procedures for a given device have made me want to throttle the person who designed it.

In theory a well designed piece of electronics does not need to be taken apart. I remember a story from school about how TVs used to have easily accessible hardware. Then somebody designed a solid state TV tuner and put it in a TV such that it was impossible to repair. People were a bit leary until they heard that the TV never needed repair.

That said, computers do tend to have ongoing maintenance and upgrade cycles that require access to various internal parts. It is nice when the process is "remove cover to access part" instead of "remove the keyboard and motherboard to access part".

[Radar]

In theory a well designed piece of electronics does not need to be taken apart. I remember a story from school about how TVs used to have easily accessible hardware. Then somebody designed a solid state TV tuner and put it in a TV such that it was impossible to repair. People were a bit leary until they heard that the TV never needed repair.

That said, computers do tend to have ongoing maintenance and upgrade cycles that require access to various internal parts. It is nice when the process is "remove cover to access part" instead of "remove the keyboard and motherboard to access part".

This actually reminds me how I was searching information on replacing broken keys (as in the actual piece detecting that you push the key - not the external piece of plastic) in my previous laptop: You have to pull all the hardware from the laptop to even get to the keyboard, which is basically a piece of foil with some electronics on it. Getting it out and putting a new one is too much of an ordeal to consider for me - there are external keyboards, they work, end of problem.

[hajo]

In theory a well designed piece of electronics does not need to be taken apart.
I remember a story from school about how TVs used to have easily accessible hardware.

For my previous laptop, I looked up the procedure for changing that small battery for RTC and bios-settings.
About 3/4 of the laptop had to be taken appart, just to get at that battery

It is nice when the process is "remove cover to access part" instead of "remove the keyboard and motherboard to access part".

Devices a few years ago had such a small cover at the location of that battery

[Fyraltari]

Wait, if the station was built specifically for the moon project, how was that project it's "main source of income" why is the station making money at all, instead of simply being an expenditure for that project?

And maybe, if it's no longer needed and may not be viable any more, just scrap it?

[Willie the Duck]

Wait, if the station was built specifically for the moon project, how was that project it's "main source of income" why is the station making money at all, instead of simply being an expenditure for that project?

Independent contractor.

And maybe, if it's no longer needed and may not be viable any more, just scrap it?

Someone call Larry the Liquidator.

Seriously, that's a question any struggling business should at least quietly ask. I guess the question becomes, what exactly do they do out here now, and if they just shuttered themselves, who would suffer -- and/or would something else (perhaps more fly-by-night or expensive) spring up to service such and such an industry.

To be honest, I'm a little unclear on what industries exist in this universe. There appears to be terraforming interests, an AI company Florence wants to convince not to let her species disappear,... and then bakers and mayors and ice cream venders and so on that Sam gets to chase him. The in-between stuff is kind of not well fleshed out.

[Fyraltari]

Independent contractor.

But there wasn't a station to contract to.

Seriously, that's a question any struggling business should at least quietly ask. I guess the question becomes, what exactly do they do out here now, and if they just shuttered themselves, who would suffer -- and/or would something else (perhaps more fly-by-night or expensive) spring up to service such and such an industry.

What bugs me is that this problem should have been obvious frol day one. Either they thought they'd be more business opportunity in space that could fill the gap.(and in that case why were they wrong?) or the people who decided to have this thing built are very myopic in their planning.

I think this would have made more sense if the station had been a pre-existing thing that had a sudden influx of money thanks to the moon project and is now struggling to get back to its original economy.

[Willie the Duck]

But there wasn't a station to contract to.

I think an independent contractor bid on the task of supplying a necessary space station to the terraforming project.

What bugs me is that this problem should have been obvious frol day one. Either they thought they'd be more business opportunity in space that could fill the gap.(and in that case why were they wrong?) or the people who decided to have this thing built are very myopic in their planning.

I think this would have made more sense if the station had been a pre-existing thing that had a sudden influx of money thanks to the moon project and is now struggling to get back to its original economy.

I think that could be an interesting story. The core of this story is 'company town struggles after business dries up (and company that wants to turn a profit isn't wholly a bad guys here,' but to me it also resonates strongly as a 'boom town still exists after the gold/oil runs dry, and needs to figure out what to do next' story. In that story, that the role of the station was going to end was obvious from day one, and the people that built the thing knew it. No myopathymyopia necessary -- the planners saw the end of the money times, it's just that now there are a bunch (few? some?) people still there that don't want to move away* that would really like to keep the thing going (somehow). That undoubtedly fell into the planner's 'not my problem' bin.
*Although, honestly, why not?

[sihnfahl]

Wait, if the station was built specifically for the moon project, how was that project it's "main source of income" why is the station making money at all, instead of simply being an expenditure for that project?

All the associated services and manpower beyond what Ecosystems has on the expense table.

The ancillaries that go along with it. For example, what is the likelihood that 'trade for spices' on the line item budget?

Then there's the settlers around the station that use it as a transfer point.

it's just that now there are a bunch (few? some?) people still there that don't want to move away* that would really like to keep the thing going (somehow). That undoubtedly fell into the planner's 'not my problem' bin.
*Although, honestly, why not?

Adventurers, folks who like pushing the boundaries, folks who don't want to be around other people...

[Radar]

Then there's the settlers around the station that use it as a transfer point.

Which might be a piece of a solution. Currently there are not that many settlers as deep space or even an asteroid field are not exactly human-friendly environments. Robots on the other hand might be fine out there and with them becoming citizens, some might want to go out to explore the local star system and start building infrastructure around it.