Session Start: Sun Mar 05 16:29:19 2006 Session Ident: #lunar-iog2 * Logging #lunar-iog2 to 'logs\#lunar-iog2.log' * Retrieving #lunar-iog2 modes... * TheStoryteller sets mode: +m * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-=Interlude 6.2: Random Access Memories, pt 2 | Location: Old Capital Ruins, The Pentagon | 4185 § | 0 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/ | OOC chan: #iog-ooc ' == INTERlude START == >> Doctor Webbly sits in his 'recharging throne' chest plate eeriely hinged open, revealing circuit boards, and sockets, and a couple of bubbling tanks of green goo. So. Angie was it? I must say, awfully lucky you guys speak english, what? * Lucca (~lucca@staff.lunarnet.org) has joined #lunar-iog2 * ChanServ sets mode: +o Lucca * Peaches (~Mia_Ausa@pool-71-126-59-97.bstnma.east.verizon.net) has joined #lunar-iog2 «ooc: Am I doing something in particular at this point, or have we not begun yet » * Peaches is now known as Mia_Ausa << Whichever appeal to you more. But first, let us check on bacon. >> «ooc: Indeed. » * DooM_GazE (~doomgaze@staff.lunarnet.org) has joined #lunar-iog2 * ChanServ sets mode: +o DooM_GazE [21:30] == INTERlude START == [21:31] >> Doctor Webbly sits in his 'recharging throne' chest plate eeriely hinged open, revealing circuit boards, and sockets, and a couple of bubbling tanks of green goo. [21:32] So. Angie was it? I must say, awfully lucky you guys speak english, what? * Angie lays an armful of isntruments on the table one at a time, her back to the doctor. "Is that what you call it? It's just Lunarian." Mmm? Something to do with the moon? * Angie snickers and turns around, leaning back against the table. "Oh no, I forgot. This is going to take a lot of explaining!" Oh, why is that? Also, not that tool, the one size smaller. * Angie sets the instrument down and picks up another. "This?" * DrWebbly nods. "See the red tape around the handle? That's how I always rem-- eehh. Darn. One of those corrupted patches." * Angie nods and steps up to the charging throne. "You're going to have to tell me what to do here. This isn't really my area of expertise." * DooM_GazE is now known as DooM_BBIAF * DrWebbly points at a block of plastic in his chest. "Loosen those nuts first. So, what's this Lunarian thing?" * Edelritter (~saber@pc-16-8-104-200.cm.vtr.net) has joined #lunar-iog2 * Angie dutifully begins working at the nuts, standing up on her tiptoes to get the leverage to turn the higher ones. "We're from the moon -- from Lunar. A long time ago, something happened here, and Althena took us to the moon for our safety." She pauses in her explanation as she grapples two-handed with a particularly tight nut. When it finally gives, she nearly topples over. "Oof! But then something started to happen to Lunar, and That's quite amazing. You've been in a moon base? How many were there? Not a base, all over. It's...there's...I'm not sure! *She shakes her head.* Only a small number of people evacuated back to the Blue Star. The Blue Star? Is that your vessel? * Angie laughs. "This world is the Blue Star. We call it that because it looked blue in the night sky of Lunar." She stops in her work, and when she speaks again her voice is sombre. "Or so I hear. I don't really remember. I was very young." Ah. So you only came back in the last couple of decades? We called this planet Earth in our time. You understand planets, yes? * Angie teeters from one side to the other. "Sooort of. We have a few very old records explaining the old sciences, and some has been rediscovred recently. But I know as much about planets as anyone you'll meet, and lots of the time I don't feel like I know anything at all." Well. It's not like we'd visited them in person at my time. So how did travel to and from the moon? It was very hard to travel there. Only a handful of people went. I'm a little unclear on that! Originally, Althena took us. Coming back, we teleported using a special place on Lunar. I...don't know if we could get back if we wanted to. I'm not sure I now an Althena. Teleporting? My. Metascience has progessed. Do you teleport everywhere now? * Angie scraches her temple and laughs a ltitle self-consciously. "It doesn't mean a thing to me, personally. They teach it at the Academy -- that's the school I went to -- but it's mostly theoretical because it's so hard to do. So there are very few people who can manage it, and nothing on the scale of the crossing. I guess the place they did it was designed for that sort of thing?" Aww. I guess no flying cars either. * Angie 's eyes flash. "Did you have flying cars? Even the ground kind are pretty uncommon here!" No. But we were always told we'd have them in the future! * Angie snorts in laughter, nearly buckling with mirth. Despite the strength of her reaction it only lasts a second, and a moment later she's back to herself. "Oh man, I know what you mean! I've been hearing that sort of stuff since I was little." She clears her throat to get herself back on-brand. "But the progress of science really has been amazing!" * DooM_BBIAF is now known as DooM_GazE So.. ummm. How many.. people.. are left? It's tough to count, really. Maybe a couple million? The first generation is all grown up now. *She finishes tweaking the last nut.* Okay, what's next? So.. few. Over the whole world? Mmm. Have we removed the chip from the staff yet? * Angie looks up, staring sadly into the emotionless glass lenses. "That's the way it is." She looks down at her hands, sighs, and then puts on a smile. "But things are getting better!" she says, mustering an air of confidence. "We're all huddled together right now, we've only explored a tiny part of the world. I bet you there'll be lots of cities popping up in the next hundred years and you'll see that number get way bigger!" «ooc: transpose » I'm sorry. It's just rather.. shocking. Remove the front plate to the unit, and check if the wires are still in place. No, it's okay. I'm sure I'd be totally freaking! *She carefully pries off the plate and sets it down, peering inside.* Well. The fact I'm not sure all my systems are fully functional may be dampening my response. «ooc: How does the inside look? » * Lucca (~lucca@staff.lunarnet.org) Quit (Ping timeout) >> Lots of wires and jumpers around a chip-socket. * Angie laughs uneasily. "It looks pretty good," she says, refocusing her attention on the maze of circuitry. "It's a little hard to see, though." This.. I.. erm. Unit Homunculi was a prototype. It's not as elegant as it could be. What kind of things do you make then? Is that a lab coat? * Lucca (~lucca@staff.lunarnet.org) has joined #lunar-iog2 * ChanServ sets mode: +o Lucca * Angie steps back and fingers the collar of her coat. "Not exactly -- it's designed more for wear and tear than a lab coat, but it sort of has that aesthetic, eh?" She grins. "I'm not so much a maker. I've done a bit of it, but my main studies were in astronomy and math, so I'm really only familiar with basic electronics and with my instruments." Ah. Maths was my bachelors, but then I grew interested in pscho-kinetic physics, and entered meta-science in general. "Meta-science!" I like that. We call it "magic" since it's similar to the old magics. Really. Can you show me how you do some then? This unit was designed to hopefully analyze such energies, or even to augment a user's abilties. But.. we never found out if it worked. * Angie laughs nervously. "Ooh, I'm being tested, eh? Okay, gimme a minute to remember how this works..." * DrWebbly nods, and his 'eyes' glow softly and whirr as the lens rotate. * Angie closes her eyes and holds both hands out in front of her, palms facing down. She begins shifting her hands in rigid motions, keeping her fingers extended. Her mouth moves as she mutters softly to herself. The air in front of her shimmers as if seen through a lens. * Angie abruptly twists her fingers into a peculiar gesture and tugs her hands apart, and a shimmering green geodesic sphere appears in front of her. It is hollow, and inside it a tiny green fire burns. * Angie opens her eyes and sighs in relief. "Oh awesome! It's been ages since I've done that. The motions and stuff aren't necessary, it's just the mnemonic." Ah. Very interesting. You are taught this at a young age? * Angie inspects the construct, rotating it this way and that with her mind. "Oh no, I went to school for it." She taps the shape with the tip of her index finger and it ripples, then collapses in on itself. The green fire remains for a second, and then burns away. "Oh, frig!" She rolls her eyes and takes a second to compose herself. "Uh, but it's way more widespread than the old magic! Most people can do a thing or two, but it takes it takes a lot of training to get good at it." Ah. What is the old magic then? The old magic comes from Althena. Oh...you don't know Althena, do you? Hrm. * DooM_GazE is now known as Brand * Zack is now known as ZackGM Explain, or failing that, sum up. Is there a can of compressed air on the bench? * Angie drags a chair over, sits down, and leans her head on her hand. "Oh boy, I'm not the best person to explain this. Althena is the goddess. Well, she was. She's dead now. She brought life to Lunar and took humanity there." Long dead, I presume? Not so long. It happened before we came back, and a lot of people think maybe that's why the old world started to die. *She shrugs and grabs the can of compressed air.* It's sort of mysterious to me. Only a few people really remember the way things were back then. So... how long were you on.. Lunar? * Angie fiddles with the can, trying to figure out how it works. "It was a really long time," she offhandedly answers. "Like, thousands of years?" She shoots herself in the face with a blast of air and flinches back. Ah. How curious. Could you clean the socket, please? * Angie squirts air into the socket like a pro air-squirter, and is rewarded with a choking cloud of dust. "Ocheh! Uff. Too close." She turns her head away and lets loose wiht a hacking cough, then wipes her tongue on her palm. "Bualgh! Ugh." Ah. It takes a bit of practise to do it right. * Angie sprays a floating dust clot, breaking it into pieces. "To air is human. Chip go in now?" * DrWebbly chuckles. Put the red jumper in position 3, and the blue in position 2 first. * Angie looks inside the panel with a hunt of worry. "This isn't going to electrocute me, is it?" Hmmm. Check the isolation switch on the right side. * Angie leans in to take a look. >> There is a little switch. It's up. Is that yes-electrocute or no-electrocute? Memory sector unavailable. * Angie leans back and gives him a stern look. * DrWebbly shrugs. * Angie rubs her forehead. "Okay, I'll tell you what, give me a second?" She hops up and leaves. So, is this just a normal investigation? How much of the Pentagon is left? «ooc: oh shi. » <> The Elementalor seems to be done with his conversation with the two adventurers, Niri & Trune, as Angie walks over. [Jupiter] How is everything progressing? * Angie shrugs. "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I think it's okay! We're about to put the chip back in. I was just going to go ask for a favour from Niri." It's very strange. They said they were on the moon! * Angie goes to talk to Niri, giving Jupiter an over-the-shoulder glance as she passes. [Jupiter] Yes, Niri told me about it. It seems the old cult leader took them there in the aftermath of the battle. Sounds like they adopted her name as a title, and proclaimed them goddess. Athena or something? * Lucca (~lucca@staff.lunarnet.org) Quit (Ping timeout) [Jupiter] Althena. Though how this was exactly accomplished is very mysterious, and defies logic. Jupiter watches Angie with a careful eye, in case she misjudges any of her tasks. Do you think one of your siblings could manifest that kind of power? I know it's not what you were trained for.. [Jupiter] It's possible, if several of us worked in concert... That reminds me. You must take care. You are unlikely to have much resistance to any new ailments. I forget how well your body can deal with virii. * Lucca (~lucca@staff.lunarnet.org) has joined #lunar-iog2 * ChanServ sets mode: +o Lucca [Jupiter] *nods* I will only be making a short trip to the Southern facility. To see if my brother is alive. We may be able to reactivate the space catapult. * Angie returns. A palpable aura of energy surrounds her, and her coat sways of its own accord. "Okay, sorry!" She gives Jupiter a wide berth as she returns to the table. [Jupiter] And see just what has happened on the moon... Ahhh. Cape... something. I should come with you. In case you or your brother have another tantrum. [Jupiter] Canaveral, Doctor. And I hope you can. but your safety is my primary concern. Ah, Angie. What a bizzare energy matrix. Have you the chip? Yep, just let me tweak those jumpers first. * Angie sidles her way over and leans into the panel, setting the jumpers as directed. Ah, thank you. Now... Jupiter, be a good lad and check the orientation on the chip? I'm not sure this is the same one we had when.. ahm.. I.. err.. thingied. Jupiter walks over and leans in to inspect Angie's handiwork. The aura surrounding her body resonates with his, making you a bit jumpy. * Angie pulls out of the panel and takes two steps back to give Jupiter room to work. The swaying of her clothes intensifies as the two of them come into proximity, and what little hair she has stands straight up. She gnaws on her upper lip and taps her foot. Jupiter pokes several times with a static-charged finger, seeing how it responds. There some sparks as Webbly gets a jolt himself! The pathway must be functioning if it reached all that way. Ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-zzzzzz Pleassssse be careful. [Jupiter] It seems to be.. Doctor, are you alright? If you would step back. Jupiter dutifully obeys. * DrWebbly pushes himself to his feet with his one working arm. "Elementalor Jupiter. Initiate Single-Target Grade 1 strike against Unit Homunculi." [Jupiter] Very well. Jupiter takes a deep breath as he summons up the force of a thunderstorm from the conduits in the walls. Feeding into him, they lash out at Dr. Webbly! * Angie leaps aside, falling to the floor with her hand in her coat. Luckily she avoids bringing any of the shelving down with her. * DrWebbly hums loudly as a grid-lined sphere springs about him, scattering the force harmlessly. ECC Defense Matrix Activated. >> Jupiter attacks Dr Webbly with Thunder Bolt! No effect! The energy field blocks the entire force of it. Phew. That was scary. You can relax now. * Angie hauls herself to her feet and stomps her foot. "NO I CAN'T!" Oh. Weren't you expecting that, Angie? Jupiter nods, letting the lightning disappate again to a normal flow. He looks over at Angie questioningly. "Don't worry. It wouldn't have harmed you at all." * Angie grinds two fingers into her temple. "These aren't things I have time to think about! Eussh. Okay, so..." * DrWebbly rubs the back of his head. "Ah. My apologies, miss. I get a bit caught up in my work. What are you intending to do now? I do hope we won't end up on the run from the government wanting to control us, or something. It'd be like a novel then. Ha ha ha" * Angie picks up the toppled chair and drops into it heavily. Her gaze is detached, like she's not really looking at anythinhg. "That's a good question! This isn't my usual line of work at all, but I couldn't resist the opportunity. But this is way better than I expected!" She snaps around to stare intently at Webbly. "You're a scientist, right? You could tell us about the old age and tell us how to rebuild these things!" Well. I've a lot of corrupted data... If I have access to more files from my time it'd be easier. And still a long process. [Jupiter] Indeed. If we can get to the central network, I might be able to find some backups. * Angie looks crestfallen. "Oh, yeah...but still! Are the central networks here?" [Jupiter] For our project's purposes, this is only a specific laboratory. There is only so much we have access to. Where's the main lab, then? [Jupiter] The moonbase. Hence why I must travel there if possible. * Mia_Ausa is now known as Desdemona Hmm. Will you be able to get back down though, Jupiter? [Jupiter] Well, it's easy with the shuttle. There should be one there. If the facility is fully intact, there may be no reason to need to leave. Hmm. Selfsufficent? He nods. I hope there's enough fuel still though. It's been too long since I read my petrochem books. [Jupiter] It's a concern, yes. But we'll discuss this later. Ah. Fair enough. See if they have some spare clothes? [Jupiter] ...true. I suppose we shouldn't go like this. Jupiter promtly exist, going down the corridor, yellow hair trailing his movements. « er promptly exits » * Angie watches him go, then faces the doctor. "Was he ever...was he always like this?" She frowns. "I guess what I mean is...was he made from...a normal person?" Ahh. Not that I recall. All the subjects were modified in vitero. I think. I only joined the project later. The Elementalors weren't my idea. What were they for? You talked about a war. Ah. Well. I remember there was a war. Or at least, one on the horizon. The UN were trying to grab control of everything. Ah. *She looks away.* I'm sorry. The Elementalors were planned as an alternative to nukes. Less ahh.. long term effects. Well. I never saw much of it myself. It was all news reports. There hasn't been a war in a long time. Certainly not since the crossing. You hear stories, but I like to think we're past it. Intellectuals always like to think that. Do you have any other questions? * Angie buries her face in her hands. "Ohhh man, don't ask me that. There's so much I want to know. What was the old world like? How much did you know? How does all this technology work? ...but I don't want to put you on the spot." * DrWebbly chuckles a low synthesised chuckle. "Aren't you a scientist? Don't chase the past. Run for the future." All the same, there's gonna be tons of people with questions for you. Sometime you need to go to Vulcannon Labs -- that's where all the best research is happening right now. It will be interesting to see how your people's research is going. For instance, you bear a pistol, but your companions carry blades? Are they your own make? * Angie pulls out her gun, looking at it fondly. "Nah -- I can take it apart and put it back together again, but it's not my work. Mostly only folks from New Takkar use sidearms. Supposedly there were more of them in the old world, but we don't really have the facilities or technology to mass-produce them yet. I'd like to think that eventually everyone might have a gun." Mmm. America was like that, but my country wasn't so much. * Angie closes one eye and takes aim at a far wall, mock-firing. "Bam! People prefer swords because they're easier to make, easier to maintain, easier to enchant, and have whole techniques developed for them. None of that for me, though." Ah, bollocks. I can't remember my own home's name. Tch...I'm sorry. Is the information...is it lost forever, or can you get it back? Hmm. Unknown. Finding out some things might permit me to work out what other bits of data are real or not. So if I see a postcard, I might remember the place. Jupiter returns carrying a large storage box with him. Well, carrying might be a loose term, as it seems the metal box is actually being charged and repelling the floor, like it is floating. I need to get some reading done, to remind myself of what this unit needs to function. Perhaps you should go wash up? [Jupiter] I managed to gain access to the storage bay. There are plenty of acountriments there, including more parts for the Homunculi unit you might like to see when we get a moment. * Angie laughs and sticks her nose inside her coat. "Oof, perhaps I should. Unfortunately we don't have running water here, so I've been putting it off." She shivers. [Jupiter] You mean a washroom? There is one here for staffers that is operational. Though it may be a bit foreign to you how to operate all the conveniences. We'll see what we can do, and what we can take with us. If I can get my right arm working that'll be great. * Angie beams at Jupiter. "I promise you I will RISE TO THE CHALLENGE. lead on." * DrWebbly is now known as Huw Angie dashes for the distinguished honor of sampling an oldtech bathroom! Jupiter looks once at Webbly and sighs. It looks like there is much to understand yet how the times have changed. Or maybe they haven't. == INTERLUDE END == * TheStoryteller sets mode: -m Session Close: Sun Mar 05 20:03:55 2006