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Thread: Home 27: Ward-bound
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2021-11-09, 04:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
"I've met a few androids and gynoids. There was one, I remember, who was... quite rigid, with her personality and reactions. Bit creepy, like a brass mannequin in an old dress, chugging steam and smoke everywhere. She used to be a waitress at a tea shop, before the owner was killed and she had to find her own way. She worked as an enforcer for a bit, paid in wood, but... Someone smashed her to bits and sold her for scrap. None had holographics. What's a holograph?" Mishnehel might know holograms, but hasn't connected the two. Vlad might be a little surprised at the fact the gynoid Mishnehel knew best was powered by steam.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2021-11-10, 11:43 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
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Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Mishnehel's Home]
"Now that's a crime." Vlad frowns. "And I don't just mean murder, either. Can you imagine how much work must have gone into designing an intelligent machine powered by steam?! She must've been someone's magnum opus." He takes a sip of his beer and grimaces.
"Right. Sorry, got distracted for a moment. Holographs. They're three-dimensional images resulting from the manipulation of light. Ours use photonic crystals to store a series of wave functions that collectively represent an image through the use of Fourier series which..." He pauses, realizing this was probably going over Mishnehel's head. "...Sorry. Pulled an Eun there. 3D images, that's what you need to know."Last edited by Ironsmith; 2021-11-10 at 11:43 AM.
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2021-11-10, 05:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
"Honestly, no I can't. I don't know anywhere near enough about steam or making intelligent machines." It's far enough beyond her capabilities she doesn't even know how to get there. She nods at the explanation, though. "Like holograms, right? I've seen some of those."Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2021-11-10, 10:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Mishnehel's Home]
"Oh. Yeah. Yes. That." Vlad replies awkwardly, realizing he'd just explained the concept redundantly. "Anyway, the reason they used them here is because a holographic image is much easier to alter than a physical object, so any given drone could be customized to its user's preferences... which is important when you're looking at a few hundred at once and you need to be able to tell them apart visually."
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2021-11-11, 12:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
Hunter has a concern, which is this peculiar robot she found in the woods that has repeatedly tried to kill her.
Asking around the marketplace got her nowhere.
Calling MERC didn't help, no one at the fort recognized it, and looking into random roboticists wasn't very productive either.
She's down to a thin lead - an acquaintance at HALO suggesting someone called 'Jade'.
Some time later, she realizes she didn't actually get a way to contact Jade, but it would be terribly embarrassing to go back and ask. And tracking her down could be fun. Besides, how many nine-tailed fox inventors could there be around here?
Thus, the first step is talking to actual foxes, finding out what they know.
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2021-11-11, 12:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
Foxes know surprisingly little. Those around the Temple of Inari in Inside can at least describe several multi-tailed foxes, some of which do have nine, but can't pin any as inventors, although the priests there, if asked, do know Jade; she stops by once a week. Otherwise, the city of Inside, where Jade purportedly lives, is not great habitat for foxes. This might be another dead end.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-11, 12:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
Well, of course asking for many-tailed foxes leads her back to the temple. Hunter doesn't know what she expected. Still, it can't hurt to follow up on it. Check back in.
Which turns out to be just what she needed!
Now they just need to catch Jade on her next visit to the temple.
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2021-11-11, 12:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
"Yeah, that makes sense, but... How can you know your anthroid is yours and not someone else's sent in to replace it and spy on you?" Which can probably be worked around, with specific questions and answers, or painting the chassis, or maybe just installing a transponder or something.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2021-11-11, 12:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Mishnehel's Home]
Vlad gives her a knowing smile. "And with that, you've just had your first taste of a world where cyberespionage exists." He jokes. "In all seriousness, there are a few methods. The first and simplest is a periodic check-in with an on-site server. Message gets sent out, the genuine drones reply and the fakes get ousted. Then some get fit with transponders or WORM scramblers, and of course there's always the Berlin protocol..."
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2021-11-11, 03:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
Mishnehel is lost by this, but she seems interested. "I don't know what a transponder is. I've seen worm eggs, and I don't think I'd eat them scrambled. And I have no idea who Berlin is, or what robots have to do with etiquette. Well, royal robots, and servants, obviously." Vlad is likely going to be disheartened by this ignorance, or else enthused with teaching. Or possibly both simultaneously.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2021-11-11, 04:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Mishnehel's Home]
Oh. Right. She had no idea what Vlad was talking about. Okay, from the top.
Vlad chuckles and shakes his head. "That's... not quite what I meant. A transponder is kind of like a name tag for machines. We're not good at reading them, but they are, so it works as an anti-tampering mechanism against the average layman. Then we have WORM scramblers; they cause a sort of selective amnesia for the robots, locking away certain memories so neither the robot nor an intruder can access it. And the Berlin protocol..." He shakes his head. "Nasty piece of work. See, back when we were making the transition from personal computers to automated assistants, we got a nasty reminder of just how easy it is to steal information from a machine that's right in front of you. Use the right hookups amd software, and you can basically read its mind whenever. That was actually a problem for a while before then, but the teams that made the Berlin protocol came to realize something." Vlad makes a gesture at his lap. "Your average laptop, no matter how well-programmed it is, can't do anything against an attacker. It can't run away or fight back or anything. But these anthroids can. Make an unauthorized attempt at accessing sensitive information on the wrong one, and they'll tear out your spleen. It's a thuggish, but effective system."Last edited by Ironsmith; 2021-11-11 at 09:31 PM.
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2021-11-11, 06:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
A few days later, Jade shows up again as expected. She's a nine-tailed fox girl, dressed in jeans and a simple blue blouse, with red hair and fur. She is, by most standards, rather attractive. Apparently, she's here for remedial magic classes; the class appears to be mostly for children and she sticks out there like a sore thumb.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-11, 06:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
"Right, I see. So don't try to steal the brains of a robot or it'll rip out your spleen. Hopefully it knows what your spleen's supposed to look like, frankly I don't." Nothing worse than being pulled apart by a robot looking for an organ it can't identify, particularly if it's an organ you can feasibly live without. Like a spleen.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!
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2021-11-11, 10:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Robot Repair]
Hunter will wait for Jade to be on her way out of class before approaching her.
She looks like an ordinary human, dressed in cargo pants and a hooded sweatshirt and of course wraparound sunglasses. She has spiky black hair, pale skin, and nails painted an odd shade of gold. Not particularly attractive, unexceptional except for being a bit spindly. She has with her a fox (in the hoodie's central pocket) and a snake (curled around her neck) and zero obvious weapons.
"Hey, Jade, right? I hear you know about robots and electronics."
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2021-11-11, 11:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
"Yeah. Why?" Jade looks curious. Someone looking for her? Specifically for her electronics expertise? She doesn't usually advertise that.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-11, 11:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
"Well, I found this lost robot in the woods, and it seems to have some problems with its memory system, and contradictory orders, so I was looknig for a specialist who mgiht be able to fix it up."
Hunter reaches into her pocket and takes out the detached head of a Galatalos robot.
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2021-11-11, 11:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
"Huh. That isn't even the first one of those I've been asked to repair. Weird." Jade considers. "Do you have the rest of it? And I should warn you, those things aren't safe. The company that made them programmed some back doors in so that they can convert them into killbots at a moment's notice. Not to mention that they're super racist. I wouldn't trust one."Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 12:05 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
Hunter nods.
"Yeah, I know about, well, at least of the back-doors. That's why she's in pieces. But I do have them all. And I know they're not all bad."
I'm sure it helps that Hunter is definitely a perfectly human person, unlike Jade.
"This one apparently has some secret she's supposed to protect. But also forgot name and owner and job?"
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2021-11-12, 12:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
"Of course it's not all bad to you, you're a human," Jade mutters. "Then I can fix it. I'm still not sure I should. Why do you want to put it back together? Other than to get at that secret, anyway."Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 12:27 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
"Oh, I don't need the secret. I admit I'm a little curious, but it's not important." Well, it's certainly important to whoever stored it, but they're not here.
Hunter breaks into a smile.
"It's just that she wants to be repaired, and get around her programming. I know, it doesn't really want anything, being just a medium-complexity automated machine, but still, it's just the proper thing to do, you know? To fix it."
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2021-11-12, 12:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
"Let me get this straight," Jade looks doubtful, "It told you it wanted to circumvent it's programming?" Now she's interested. "Fixing the problems in its code might be beyond my abilities, unfortunately. I don't work with AI. But I can put it back together, at least."Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 12:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
"Not in those exact words, saying which is probably forbidden anyway. But she suggested it indirectly."
Hunter hesitantly nods.
"Well, just replacing the power and reattaching the head won't be enough - I need that backdoor closed, or at least the secret memories erased."
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2021-11-12, 01:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
"I can try, but I can't guarantee anything. And if it seems like tampering will make this thing dangerous, I'm not going to touch it. Got it?" Jade explains. "With that said, I need to get some tools together."Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 01:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
"Got it. The main, uh, self-destruct mechanism is...out of commission, so don't worry about that." But the fact that she has to specify main self-destruct isn't great.
"Sure, take whatever time you need to get tools. I'm just glad to have your help."
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2021-11-12, 09:32 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
Jade's tools consist of a soldering iron, a number of wrenches, screwdrivers, and fasteners, and a bulky laptop. "Okay. The brain is in the head, so I'd like to start there." It's probably safest to perform any necessary reprogramming before putting the robot back together. Of course, Jade will first have to bypass whatever security measures are built to prevent the code from being edited.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 10:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- US
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
[Mishnehel's Home]
"I don't think it'd care. The point is that it'd tear apart any unauthorized user if it got the chance." Vlad shrugs. "Isaac Aasimov would have a few things to say about that, I'm sure." He chuckles, turning his attention back to the card game.
He hasn't been entirely focused on it, which might explain why he was in such dire straits. He'd already had two of his best options eliminated and was struggling to put up a good offensive. Mishnehel could probably beat him on the next turn.
[Robot Repair]
The primary problem seems to be a lack of any credentials; Hunter's the only registered user on this machine, and her privileges have been revoked as per the Berlin protocol. Fortunately, the same protocol doesn't kick in immediately when Jade goes to hook up her laptop; with the primary power cell removed, the amount of current that can be pumped through the processor is heavily curtailed. The computer doesn't think it can melt itself at the moment, so it won't make an attempt. Most of the external interfaces are out, too, for similar reasons. So all that comes up for Jade is a two-field input window, asking for a username and password.
Neither of which Jade actually has.
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2021-11-12, 01:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
"Of course."
Hunter will pull the rest of Haia's robot body out of her pocket, though. Of course there's no way it could have fit in her pocket.
"I'm afraid I know basically nothing about her old operator. Nexus portal weirdness, I think."
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2021-11-12, 06:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2018
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Robot Repair
Jade looks up from her console. "Speaking of that, you wouldn't happen to know the admin credentials, or at least an exploit? Otherwise, I'm going to need to do this the hard way." Hacking takes time, effort, and processing power.Awesome avatar (Kothar, paladin of Tlacua) by Linkele!
Originally Posted by William Shakespeare, King Lear, IV.i.46Originally Posted by Howard Tayler
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2021-11-12, 07:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Fever dreams
- Gender
[Robot Repair]
Hunter shakes her head "If you don't know an exploit from the other one you worked on, we know zero exploits between us. And the only credentials were cancelled."
"And it's sort of hidden from me, because, the hard way is kind of a matter of luck, right?"
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2021-11-13, 11:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- With folk in the North
- Gender
Re: Home 27: Ward-bound
Mishnehel's Home
"Isaac Asimov is another name I don't know, sorry." The Three Laws are less common in Skyside's robots, as very few people in Skyside are particularly concerned about the safety of other people.
Mishnehel's been trying to concentrate on the game, but with the conversation and the fact she's never played before, she'd be surprised to learn she's so close to winning. She places a card, and so beats Vlad. She doesn't seem to notice, so if he wants to take advantage of that to continue, he might be able to get away with it.Terrowin Avatar by HappyTurtle. Much thanks!