Original Archive - IAS Chapter 46

Irsa's people celebrated with simple chants and running events.

stacinator 1/25/2008

Nike

I think that Nike's family was probably highly traditional, and most probably stuffy, so she would mix her HO HO HO with some YO HO HO and a large bottle of rum. ;)

supreme_arbiter 1/25/2008

LoL - Is that what's in that eggnog?

wolfhaven75 1/28/2008

...Arkady smiled and added, "I can't wait to spend a night on the town together!"

Davred gave Arkady a bleary-eyed (he still hadn't slept properly yet, his brain abuzz with all the events that had transpired since he woke up in the clone-tube) half-grin. "You reckon that was fun - you should've been there at my 21st!"

He focussed on key points from Nike's rundown on events as they joined the group outside, letting the sea air invigorate him while doing a quick visual of their surroundings, making sure was all clear before relaxing.

A decent dip and shoving the real world and its troubles was sounding awfully tempting...

Back to the job.

"So... how are our guests this morning? Any highs or lows overnight?"

supreme_arbiter 2/8/2008

Nike turned to Percy and asked, "What's the status of our ship's systems?"

Percy sipped his coffee and replied, "All nominal across the board, Captain Nike! We're ready to lift off at a moment's notice if we have to. I hope Bailey can top off our fuel tank before we leave. There's only one system we haven't repaired yet. Last night I found out there was a weapon mounted below the ship. It sheared off when we crash landed. I think we can find the right templates in the matter compiler if we want to build a replacement. It might come in handy if we run into any more hostile natives."

"Really?" Bud said. "This lifeboat has a weapon system?" He was glad the creeps who had brought him and Bailey to this boat however many decades ago hadn't needed to fire it at them. "It most certainly was a custom job," he continued. "None of these birds rolled out of the assemblers with them."

---------------------

Davred scoped out their surroundings. The dunes and beach looked peaceful enough. He let the sea air invigorate him and relaxed a bit. A decent dip and shoving the real world and its troubles sounded awfully tempting...

"So," he said to Arkady, "how are our guests this morning? Any highs or lows overnight?"

"Nah, they were pretty quiet. They slept off the sedatives like a rock and woke up without any ill effects. Caleb and I gave them some HEaVE bars for breakfast and their stomachs seemed to take 'em all right. I think they'll be fine. For my sake though I hope we get some real food soon. Fresh vegetables may be hard to find but a little fresh meat doesn't seem unreasonable."

Irsa walked along the bay's rocky shore. Pools of water in rocky crannies held all manner of strange and colorful life she had never before seen. In the clear bay she saw swarms of creatures no bigger than her hand swimming beneath the water's surface. Turning this way and that, they flashed silver when the sun met their scaly hides.

-end transmission-

OOC: Real life is kickin' my backside and will continue to do so well through the Summer. I don't want to lose any momentum though so I'll continue to post a new turn every three weeks :^)

Elizabeth 2/9/2008

Irsa looked for some colorful rocks and watched the small fish swim. After a while Irsa goes in search of Davred. Finding him, Irsa tells him about the little fish and could he get some to study and for the more carnivorous members of the crew, check to see if they were edible.

gglassdr 2/12/2008

Having nothing else to do, THX-1492 initiates yet another self-diagnostic.

wolfhaven75 2/25/2008

"...Last night I found out there was a weapon mounted below the ship. It sheared off when we crash landed. I think we can find the right templates in the matter compiler if we want to build a replacement. It might come in handy if we run into any more hostile natives."

Davred's ears would've pricked up like a cat at attention as Percy said "weapon mounted" if it was physically possible for him, and eagerly jumped into the conversation at Bud finished his musings. "Well now, that could certainly give us an edge if we could fabricate or jury- rig something based off the original. Any idea on the specifics? Say, whether it was an infantry-type support weapon, or ship-to-ship ordinance?"

After a while Irsa goes in search of Davred. Finding him, Irsa tells him about the little fish and could he get some to study and for the more carnivorous members of the crew, check to see if they were edible.

As everyone's stomachs all gurgled in unison after Irsa's request, Davred quickly got his rear into gear after getting the run-down from Percy and headed off to help Irsa find something to help catch fish given that his mitts weren't exactly designed for hand-snatching them out of the water. Frank Dux he was not...

supreme_arbiter 3/11/2008

Davred: Any idea on the specifics? Was it an infantry type support weapon or ship-to-ship ordinance?"

"Where was this weapon?" Bud asked over the comm. "I'll go take a look." Percy showed him the schematics and a moment later Bud was outside inspecting the Pandora's undercarriage. "It looks like it was an infantry support weapon. It wasn't big enough to be anything else. The turret is ruined but if Hephaestus can fix it up we can probably install any type of small arms we want. If we have sufficient time we can probably install additional turrets."

Arkady joined Davred and Irsa by the edge of the bay and watched them try to catch fish with their bare hands. Arkady had never particularly liked the boney and tough fish that thrived in the Martian rivers but the thought of eating something other than HEaVE bars was delightful. "Hey Irsa," he said, "may I borrow one of your spears?"

[Assuming permission is granted...] Arkady waded into the bay, shoes, pants and all, and swam toward the fish. He had difficulty seeing underwater but he saw the dim shape of the fish as they flashed by. He thrust the spear, missed and came up for air. He tried several more times with the same result then found a submerged rock on which he could stand and watch for the school to pass nearby.

Having nothing else to do, THX-1492 initiated yet another self- diagnostic. This time the robot examined its hardware power consumption. All systems were operational but the numbers didn't add up. THX-1492 had two more systems than its original schematics claimed it could sufficiently power. The puzzled robot examined the last two devices installed in its chassis. Two days ago (or was it 235 years ago?) Lieutenant Matahachi had installed a GPS device and a secondary AI brain. The GPS had functioned without a flaw but the AI was a complete mystery. Was it a security model, or was it a medical AI, or something else? THX-1492 couldn't tell without first shutting down his primary AI and giving control to the secondary.

-end transmission-

OOC: That was longer than 3 weeks :^) sorry

gglassdr 3/14/2008

Ever mistrustful of unknown programming or devices, THX-1492 choses not to shut down his primary AI. He does decide to report to his commanding officer.

"Commander Nike. Self-diagnostic report: this unit has discovered the presence of a Planetary Positioning Device and an unknown secondary Artificial Intelligence Central Processing Unit. Status: GPS device functioning properly. Secondary AI offline at this time. Function and purpose unknown. Both devices installed by Lt Matahachi 235 standard years ago."

wolfhaven75 3/17/2008

"It looks like it was an infantry support weapon. It wasn't big enough to be anything else. The turret is ruined but if Hephaestus can fix it up we can probably install any type of small arms we want. If we have sufficient time we can probably install additional turrets."

Davred threw an evil grin at Bud before scrambling about for (non- existient) fishing gear - stacking additional firepower on a lifeboat tickled his sense of sardonic humour. "Sounds great shooter - keep me posted and I'll give you a hand with the installation. .. once we've had some chow, that is."

Arkady joined Davred and Irsa by the edge of the bay and watched them try to catch fish with their bare hands. "Hey Irsa," he said, "may I borrow one of your spears?"

Giving Irsa a waterlogged why-didn't-I- think-of- that look, Davred hunkered down at the water's edge near Irsa, keeping an eye out for watery predators. "If those oversized-lobsters- with-teeth Sikalas hang out in the desert, what's the population in the water going to be like?" he muttered under his breath...

OOC: That was longer than 3 weeks :^) sorry

OOC: Haven't been that active myself mate - Adelaide's fortnight heat-wave is a touch much, even for us stalwart Aussies! :D

Elizabeth 3/17/2008

Irsa to Arkady: Yes, you may borrow a spear.

Background: Irsa, being an herbivorous hamster, has no hunting skill to speak of, though she can defend herself if necessary. Her people traded the occasional dead body they would find to some plants for fruit or seeds.

supreme_arbiter 4/5/2008

Davred waded ashore and Irsa handed him her other spear. He found another place to hunt and waited with Arkady for the fish to swim within reach of his weapon. The sun descended toward the mountains in the west while the crew spent a pleasant day outside. Despite his efforts, Arkady was unable to catch any fish but Davred speared three fair sized specimens. As daylight faded he dragged his catch toward home and met Bud coming down the gangplank with his arms full of gear.

"What've you got there, mate?" Davred asked.

"A surveillance drone," he replied. "I figured we could use an eye in the sky tonight."

"Very nice," Arkady applauded.

"I haven't forgotten about our weapon turret. I'll set the compiler to cook up a stun rifle for us by morning, but intelligence comes first. That's my motto." Bud placed the gear on the sand and sorted through the pieces, assembling the wing, engine, fuselage and tail until it resembled a small airplane. "Pandora," he said into his comm, "have you made the connection to our recon drone yet?"

"Affirmative, Asuda. Navigation and surveillance systems are all online."

"Excellent, then here goes." Bud held the drone aloft, switched the engine on and tossed the craft into the wind. It made a faint humming noise as it floated up and away from them. "In a few minutes we'll have front row seats to the entire region, but don't let me stop you boys. Do we have other business to attend to? Perhaps you were looking for a bar-b-que?" Bud beamed at Davred and his armload of fish. "I'll bet there's something in the galley we could use to grill those bad boys up."

-----------------------------------

"Good," Nike said to THX, "I'm glad your GPS is functioning properly. We'll need it to find the dropship ruins in the jungle. It could take us months to get back to it if we have to use dead reckoning. Why do you have a Secondary AI? Why don't you know anything about it? Percy?"

Percy looked up from his documentation. He had been busy all day taking notes on what he could remember about the ship's computer systems and perfecting his knowledge with whatever Bud and Pandora could provide. "What is it cap'n?" he asked.

"Do you know anything about robotic secondary AI's?"

"Not a thing, why?"

"THX says he's got one that Matahachi installed and he doesn't know what it does."

OOC: Hmm...

-end transmission-

gglassdr 4/5/2008

"Commander Nike, origin of secondary AI Unit: installed by Lt Matahachi 235 standard years ago. Purpose: unknown. Status: offline. As unit appears to be functioning optimally without interference with primary operational systems, this Unit recommends maintaining current offline status for secondary AI unit. Removal of device is not recommended unless interference with primary operating systems or Prime Directive is detected."

Elizabeth 4/9/2008

While Arkady and Davred are fishing, Irsa will look for plants. She will collect samples of any plants found(including seaweed) and have them analyzed to see if any are edible. Any edible plants will become part of Irsa's food rations. (You people do know that hamsters are herbivorous.)

wolfhaven75 4/15/2008

Despite his efforts, Arkady was unable to catch any fish but Davred speared three fair sized specimens. As daylight faded he dragged his catch toward home and met Bud coming down the gangplank with his arms full of gear.

Davred shook his head in wonder at his new-found 'skill' as he examined his catch. They would help supplement their next meal at the very least... assuming they weren't going to do something lethal from the inside-out upon consumption of course. "Better get these little guys checked out before fanging out on them" he muttered to himself before bringing his attention back to Bud.

"...but don't let me stop you boys. Do we have other business to attend to? Perhaps you were looking for a bar-b-que?" Bud beamed at Davred and his armload of fish. "I'll bet there's something in the galley we could use to grill those bad boys up."

Davred grinned and brandished the speared fish like a triumphant barbarian from ancient times as he walked past Bud. "The mighty hunter returns to provide a bountiful feast for the tribe... and boy was it a fluke! First we'll be wanting to make sure that these bad boys aren't too bad going down. Call me paranoid, but when you're stuck on a planet with the local fauna being of the Giant Starfish With Teeth variety, you assume that most things are pretty hostile, especially to the digestive system."

Leaving the fish in the galley he went off hunting for an analyser, making a mental note to get himself suited up for a medium or heavy set of armour so he was ready to rock-n'-roll like the rest of the gang... if there were the materials available on the ship of course. Even a set of Plasticore would suit fine for this type of environment.

supreme_arbiter 5/5/2008

OOC: Sorry Davred, no medium or heavy sets of armor are lying about, Plasticore or otherwise.

Davred carried his fish to the galley, went off hunting for a genetic analyser and found just the thing he was looking for in a medbay drawer. He returned to the galley and found Irsa washing several plants she'd found outside. Davred tore off small portions of the fish and deposited them in the analyser. He pushed buttons and twirled knobs until the device made disconcerting noises. Just as Davred began to to suspect he'd broken it the readout displayed a message saying the fish was fit for human consumption.

Irsa asked Davred to analyse her plants. He repeated the process and discovered most of the vegetable matter was nutritious except for some yellow flower-bearing plants which might cause nausea or worse. Irsa disposed of the yellow flowers, ate her meal and made a mental note of which plants to search for tomorrow.

"Davred," Chelydra said over the comm, "I got something for ya. Join me in the garage."

Davred left his fish in the galley sink and met Chelydra in the garage next to two vehicles missing their tires. Chelydra tossed him a small plastic card. "That's your passcard," he said, "security clearance. It'll open anything except the door to someone else's quarters."

Chelydra opened the heavy door to the matter compiler and powered the device. "Your passcard'll give you access to the compiler as well. First order of business, we've got to make a stun rifle for our turret tonight." Chelydra browsed through the template directories on the compiler's interface and slid his passcard through the reader to access 'Weapons'. He selected a cybernetic, auto-adapting stun rifle and requested one.

An hourglass replaced the interface and displayed the message, "Contacting Warden central server."

"Frak," Chelydra exclaimed. "The Warden server'll never respond." A minute or two later it failed and displayed another message, "Searching for other servers... Contacting Alexandria central server. Success. Compile time remaining: [OOC: I'll calculate this later but suffice to say for the time being it takes a couple of hours to compile the rifle]."

"Excelent," Chelydra said. "Good thing the Alexandria is still up there. We wouldn't be able to compile most of the things we need without it."

-----------------------------------------

[THX:] "Removal of device is not recommended unless interference with primary operating systems or Prime Directive is detected."

"Keep it under wraps then, THX," Nike replied. "We'll take a look at it when we have the time and tools to better investigate your secondary AI." Nike turned her attention to the work Bud was doing on the computer beside her then something occured to her and she said, "THX, you said this secondary AI was installed by Lieutenant Matahachi 235 years ago. Do you trust Matahachi, I mean do you think he might have installed it for some dangerous reason? Do you think someone else may have tampered with it since his original installation?"

Elizabeth 5/5/2008

Irsa is pleased to have fresh food to eat. HEVE bars are emergency rations for a reason. At least the plants on this planet don't fight back. Irsa wishes she could evacuate her tribe down to this planet to live. Much safer, no insane robots or killer plants to deal with here.

wolfhaven75 5/12/2008

Chelydra tossed him a small plastic card. "That's your passcard," he said, "security clearance. It'll open anything except the door to someone else's quarters."

Davred nodded solemnly, thankful for the trust Chelydra was giving him. He considered himself a part of the team of course, being a fellow Warden escapee, but the rest of the crew woke up practically together and likely went through a lot more scrapes than he did when getting off of that mad hell-hole and had become a like-minded unit - a breed apart, almost as if there was one will directing them all at once. It was almost uncanny...

"...Excelent, " Chelydra said. "Good thing the Alexandria is still up there. We wouldn't be able to compile most of the things we need without it."

Davred frowned in thought, watching the compiler going through the numbers. "Hey Big Fella, what're the chances that those download requests could have been monitored by the Alexandria, or - God forbid - The Warden? Unlikely as it sounds, the last thing we want is unwanted visitors pinpointing our location, or copping the proverbial Death From Above. Being scragged by something I can't shoot back at would be... embarrassing"

gglassdr 5/13/2008

"Commander Nike, this Unit has no further information as to status or origin of secondary AI unit. This Unit has no factual knowledge to ascertain that Lieutenant Matahachi was unreliable. With considerations of failures and corruption of multiple AI's of mainframe CPU's, androids, robots, and other mechanical systems, this Unit estimates that the secondary AI of this Unit is a secondary backup copy of primary system CPU."

supreme_arbiter 6/9/2008

IAS turn 49 - Air Superiority

"what're the chances that those download requests could have been monitored by the Alexandria or, God forbid, the Warden? Unlikely as it sounds, the last thing we want is unwanted visitors pinpointing our location or copping the proverbial Death From Above. Being scragged by something I can't shoot back at would be... embarrassing."

"Good point," Chelydra replied. "The Alexandria got our message loud and clear. Maybe the Warden did too. We'd better check that out." They locked up the matter compiler and headed for the bridge.

"You're just in time," Bud told them as they entered the bridge. "Our eye in the sky is live and transmitting. " Nike, Percy, Amanda and THX- 1492 joined the security team at Bud's monitor. It displayed in shades of grey a dune sea bordered by coastline. "There's not much out there but sand and surf," Bud said. "I haven't seen any significant heat signatures. As long as it stays that way I'd say we're pretty safe here from the crazy locals."

"Chelydra and I started cooking up a stun rifle for the turret," Davred said, "and the compiler tried to connect to the Warden and Alexandria. Do you think anyone up there could use our position to cook our goose?"

"What do you think, Bud?" Nike asked.

"Communications are probably still down with the Warden. Unless someone's fixed her systems there's nothing to worry about from that quadrant..."

"The Alexandria's safe," Percy added. "I've got access to her computer and changed the admin password so only we can get in."

-end transmission-

OOC: I'll get out another turn this month. Sorry I've been so reticent. Most of the craziness for my year is over.

Elizabeth 6/9/2008

Irsa will collect edible plants, berries and seeds, storing some in her backpack among other places.

When Irsa rejoins the rest of the group, her cheeks seem noticably puffed out or swollen, like she has mumps. Anyone want to ask why and why she is smiling?

wolfhaven75 6/17/2008

"What do you think, Bud?" Nike asked.

"Communications are probably still down with the Warden. Unless someone's fixed her systems there's nothing to worry about from that quadrant..."

"The Alexandria's safe," Percy added. "I've got access to her computer and changed the admin password so only we can get in."

Davred raised his eyebrows and gave Percy a respectful thumb's-up for his creative foresight. "Thanks guys, there were a few 'what-if's' floating overhead like a Sword of Damocles for a while there. Glad that's cleared up. So, what's next on the agenda, besides finding out how much charcoal I can create when I try cooking those fish...?"

He then noticed Irsa's puffy, impish grin and cocked his head to one side in curiosity before mock-growling at her in his best I-am-a- stern-father- figure voice. "And what have YOU been up to young lady? You look like the proverbial cat that caught the equally proverbial canary!"

OOC: I'll get out another turn this month. Sorry I've been so reticent. Most of the craziness for my year is over.

OOC: Heheh - your craziness ends while mine's just heating up! Huzzah for Audit Reports... I'll be a tad busy for a while but will make sure to check in regularly people :)

Elizabeth 6/17/2008

"A canary would, yes, feed a cat for a week. There was a large high area with canaries and cats on Warden. I was there once. I traded weapons for grain with the cats." Irsa replied. "I've got my extra food stored for later use." Irsa indicates her cheeks.

supreme_arbiter 6/30/2008

Davred raised his eyebrows and gave Percy a respectful thumbs-up for his creative foresight. "Thanks guys, there were a few 'what-if's floating overhead like a Sword of Damocles for a while there. Glad that's cleared up. So, what's next on the agenda, besides finding out how much charcoal I can create when I try cooking those fish...?"

"What's next," Nike replied, "is we batten down the hatches for the evening. Radio on," she said into her comm. "Bailey, bring the mineral extractor thingee inside the Pandora. I don't want it out after dark."

"I'm already in engineering with it, captain," Bailey replied, "and I've unloaded the isotopes in the tank, 71% full."

"Excellent! Chelydra, lock the ship down and post a nightwatch. Bud's got an eye in the sky. Things are nice and quiet outside now, but that could change."

"I'm on it," Chelydra replied.

Irsa entered the bridge with her cheeks puffed out and swollen. Davred noticed her impish grin and cocked his head to one side in curiosity before mock-growling at her in his best I-am-a-stern- father-figure voice, "And what have YOU been up to young lady? You look like the proverbial cat that caught the equally proverbial canary!"

"A canary would, yes, feed a cat for a week. There was a large high area with canaries and cats on Warden. I was there once. I traded weapons for grain with the cats," Irsa replied. "But me I eat vegetables and I've got plenty stored for later."

"We eat vegetables but we also eat meat, no disrespect," Arkady said as he arrived behind Irsa with a plastik dish of skinned, deboned and steaming fish. "I hope they taste good out of the microwave."

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 6/30/2008