Starpath: Scoundrels of the Interstellar Highway - Thread 2 - Games

"Lead the way, Captain. I'll follow."

Hariim lingers with Vaklyrie in the mesh a little longer. She begins to grasp the information structure of the place intuitively. She and Hariim are linked like computers on an internet, and all the other minds in the mesh are present like links and thumbnails. The background noise of the thoughtstreams and connections are possible connections, places Valkyrie can go and other people that she can connect to and speak with. As soon as she picks up on this, Valkyrie understands. The Mesh isn't a hive mind, it isn't collective in the sharing of thoughts. Rather, this is a nexus point, the lynchpin in a greater network. A place where all involved and connected can come to navigate the infoscape of the Culture, and to meet with its other participants. A lobby of sorts on a grand scale. With another click, Valkyrie is out. Gone from the starting point and in a new place. She's back in what she recognizes as a body; as is Hariim. The new locale they find themselves in is a place not unlike Hariim's home. Walls are pathways to other places, or are covered in a slew of tabs. This is a library. Hariim speaks: "You did well in the starting point. Most reel from the experience and want to leave as soon as they enter. We accessed this place, The Base, from the starting point. This is the third page that the Culture made at its inception. Here, information and places are shared. Everything from news stories to software drivers made for the most mundane devices. You're a drone engineer, correct?"

Taylor nodded, and they both traveled down to the cargo bay where the others were. - - - - - - - - "Yeah. Among other things." she said. She was building an AI of her own, based off her earlier work with her Adam line. She wanted something smarter than the mundane Adam series, capable of thinking for itself but still firmly under her command. Something that didn't require orders every five seconds to do what's needed. She looked around a bit more, taking in her surroundings. "So this is like some big ass collection of data?...Useful." she muttered.

"That is part of this place, yes. See the tab-wall to your left? Touch it." Hariim instructs. When Valkyrie does touch it, the whole wall reorganizes itself. Each tab serves as an access point to an area of knowledge, and each area of knowledge has tabs within itself to further divide and organize the information within. This is like a psychoreactive web browser that works on the current active interests of the user, oodles of data and news on AI, robotics, computer systems, and mesh navigation all pop up on the wall. "Start with the mesh navigation tab. Push your hand into it, you'll find something in there."

Valkyrie does so, pressing her hand against the mesh navigation tab.

Valkyrie suddenly sees something very odd. Her hand has reached into a book shelf, or rather, the tab wall has become a shelf in and of itself. On this shelf is one small book. When Valkyrie picks it up and pulls her hand back, the tab wall reverts back to its normal self. "Curious experience the first time, right? Objects usually don't change form to fill their functions." Hariim's words are the least interesting thing on Valkyrie's mind. The book is talking to her.... or perhaps [I]thinking[/I] to her. In the moment it takes to process a thought, Valkyrie is cognizant of the contents of the book in her hand. She knows what information is in there, but does not yet have the sum of its contents. What she has gotten so far is somewhat equivalent to the back cover text blurb. "That book contains the information you will need in order to reach The Base again. It will also tell you how to generally move around the mesh, and how to make your own places and things within it. All you have to do is flip the pages, Valkyrie." Hariim states. A letter materializes in the air next to his right hand. He takes it and reads it.

Valk looks the book over, front and back. "This is weird as hell..." she muttered to herself. She finally glances over to Hariim. "So where the hell do I put this? Too big to fit in my pocket. Or do I just stand here and read it?" she asked, before opening up the front cover. She was still thinking in physical, real world terms. "Or do I magically just download it to my implant or some shit?" she asked finally.

Jason started opening more crates and transferring them to Maddox. "Cool, I once worked as a Bounty Hunter but, I kinda got bored of it so I went back to being a Merc again, The guys back home insisted that I would stay as a Merc and so I did."

Maddox grunted and nodded. "Bounty hunting huh? Tough business I've heard. Don't think it'd be something for me, I'd rather enjoy a planet and all its details rather than be too focused on chasing some bad guy to even see what's around of me." He shrugged. "Oh well, mercenary work seems to have treated you well. You handled that last stand on Voyak pretty good." Maddox then picked up the [url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71236376/Starpath%20RP/Maddox%20Kratos%20AMR.jpg]large rifle[/url] from the table and grinned. "Want to help give this baby a try? It's a high-caliber anti-material rifle. I call it Kratos." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "I got some tables, a rangefinder and some dummy targets. Could set up a firing range inside the hangar."

Jason had a short smile in his face and then replied to Maddox. "Read my mind correctly" Jason then sets up the targets around the hanger and walks back to Maddox, still having the smile in his face. "Okay, that's that. now let's do this"

"Just open it to a page. Or skim through. Right now what you think you are holding in your hands is linked to the memory centers of your brain. It's a one-way transfer of the stored information. So, read. And the information will come to you." Hariim instructs. Valkyrie gets the first few bytes the book holds as soon as the cover opens. The more pages she turns, the more she gets. After just a cursory skimming she has all she needs. All relayed to her as intuitively as though she figured the whole of all the knowledge she just absorbed by herself. "Each 'book' is just a collection of memories that have been refined, distilled, and formatted to be absorbed by whoever opens to them. Really, we don't need to make them look like books; but it helps the uninitiated. Some memory-objects are shaped like coins. Others like whole worlds. But no matter what, each one contains as many pieces of information as they have sides. Books are convenient then, as their geometry is plain and easy to look over entirely; but you never know what side a memory might be imprinted on. A few of my friends and one of my spouses like to leave odd recollections around my home or on objects they leave me. As momentos or messages. The letter I just received is a timed message, my third husband just sent me his biweekly news letter you see. He sent along memories of his itenerary, he's aboard a long distance freighter on the Rimward Edge. I'm expecting news from my second wife as well, she's been intermittent lately since she's been in comas while she has some brain work done. She's a cancer patient you see, been immobilized for about 20 years. This place isn't just a library, it's a post office, a message board, a forum, even a school. As long as something can be passed along in memory, it can be placed in here for somebody to find. And don't worry about leaving anything out and making a mess. Just place it anywhere on your person to carry it with you. Memory-objects pulled out of the tabs will fit themselves to wherever you put them, or whenever you put them." Hariim walks up to a tab wall to his right. He selects one in an odd language and opens it. Valkyrie can't see a shelf like she percieved when she pulled her book out. It looks like Hariim is just reaching into a file folder that's sticking out of a wall of file folders. He retrieves a box.

While Jason placed out a dozen of targets, with a large protective wall behind them, Maddox positioned a table with one of the short ends facing towards the targets. Ontop of the table was the Kratos AMR in all its glory while on the opposite short end was a chair, allowing the shooter to sit down rather than go prone on the metallic hangar floor. Next to the table were two small military cases. One contained several AMR magazines and the other contained a military rangefinder. As Jason jogged back towards the table Maddox had just inserted the first magazine into the rifle. He then pulled back the bolt and smiled to the sound of a round getting chambered inside. After adjusting the scope he got up. "She's ready for you. Just don't forget to wear protection." Said Maddox while gesturing to a military headset lying next to the rifle. While waiting for Jason to get comfortable Maddox put on his own headset and adjusted the microphone so that Jason could hear him while also shutting out the sound of the rifle. He kneeled down and grabbed the rangefinder. "Wait for my mark before you open fire. Let me know first once you're comfy."

Jason adjusted himself to better suit the huge sniper rifle. then he replied to Maddox while still looking at the scope. "Do it."

Maddox nodded and zoomed in on the first target. "Target. One hundred meters. Twelve o' clock." He chuckled. "Weather is clear and wind is steady." "Fire when ready."

Jason turns to where Maddox directed the target and pulled the trigger. Jason felt like a Terran Mule kicked him in the shoulder. he then spoke up to Maddox while his focus is still directly in the scope "Holy shit, The recoil felt like I was between a Anti-Tank Gun, okay. Next target"

Valkyrie nodded, glancing back down to the book. "Ah, I get it now." she muttered. This will be very useful indeed. "Also...husbands? Wives? Spouses? You [I]really[/I] can't commit to one person, can you?" she said with a chuckle.

"Time stretches, and when you've lived how I've lived and work how I work; you learn that you don't need to love few to love much. Multiple marriages are common among people who live here in the Culture. Not all unions are romantic, not all loves have lust to accompany them. Really, marriage for many is closer in definition to patronage in here..." Hariim shrugs, opens his box and pulls out a slip of paper folded into a diamond shape. He looks at each edge and side and fold in turn over a few moments. "Hm, interesting." "Now then, since you know how to go to places and access information; you will want to learn how to make your own places and memory-objects. Consult the tabs again, they'll have what you need. You might even find something which will help you learn how to integrate with your drones better. Mind-machine operations are a commonly explored field, you ought to have luck with your searches."

As the shot landed right on the target Jason spoke up. Maddox chuckled. "That's why you never want to be in a standing position with one of these." After zooming in further Maddox could see a head-sized hole at the center of the target. "Good shooting." He zoomed out and scanned towards the left. "New target. One hundred and fifty meters to our front. Eleven o' clock. Conditions unchanged, fire when ready."

Jason redirected to where Maddox points the new target, Jason embraced for the recoil and pulled the trigger. Hitting the target straight right in the head. "Point precision"

Valkyrie smirked. Fucking cyborg Mormons. She reaching over and touched the tabs she needed. How to make memory items, information on advanced AI construction, and information on how to connect to her drones wirelessly using her implant. - - - - - - - - As Taylor emerged into the cargo bay of the Cataract, she could hear the loud bangs from the weapons testing. "Well, Mad's back at it, I guess." she said, glancing back at Frosty.

Advanced AI construction is oddly.... [I]lacking[/I]. There are some philosophical and historical pieces, but it seems that cyborgs don't have much of an interest in making AI. Why make a puppet smart when you yourself have the processing power to make it do what you want it to? Valkyrie does indeed find a lot on drone control. How to efficiently manage connections, actions, information distribution, automation. It soon becomes apparent that it's not as easy as one might think from watching Hariim. The act of controlling a computer is simple, you just mind inputs, outputs, and connections. Drones are different. They take into account spatial reasoning and physics. So, naturally, controlling them while maintaining some effectiveness in your own fleshy frame is tough. Valkyrie finds what she needs to do what she basically wants to do. And by the end, she is making a virtural drone do little loop-de-loops and whatnot. Making memory objects is also deceptively simple. It's a basic skill here in the Culture akin to learning how to type in regular "meatspace" as the real world is referred to.

Maddox leans in towards Jason and hands him a bullet with a red tip. "Try this. Explosive bullet with a N-X tip." He returned to his previous position and zoomed in on a third target. "You know the drill."

Bucky storms up the ramp into the carrier's hangar bay. She looks around for the source of the odd gunfire, bolt pistol drawn. She sees Maddox and Jason practically humping a rifle that seems especially made for those with particular insecurities. She strides over to them, visibly fuming. "[I]What the frak are you two doing?!?![/I] You're onboard a [B]STARSHIP[/B]. Inside its hangar bay firing a freaking shoulder cannon! No! Stop! Christ, it's like you two didn't even fucking bother to check if this place had a target range. I mean, did you?! What made you think this was a good idea?"

((Y'all need to start reading better. Mad & Jason went from the Cataract armory to the [i]Aurikha hangar[/i]. Not the cargo bay of the former.)) Maddox notices Bucky gesturing but he can't actually hear her. "Cease fire!" He yells at Jason as he removes his headset. "What's the problem?"

"Mad, did you get permission to shoot in someone elses ship?" Amy said as she aproached the argument. She had gone away to streach her legs and get the image of Jason's bufoonery out of her head. Only to come back at the sight of potentialy contract ending events. "Because I'm sure we're not the owners of said ship."

Bucky looks at Maddox like he's insane. "You're in a [I]hangar bay[/I], idiot! With an anti-material rifle. Why the hell are you shooting in here?! This is a workspace, and on top of that there's probably fuel stored in here too! Why would you take a frakking shoulder cannon like that into the hangar bay of a damned carrier?! This is't some skeet shooting range, it's a workspace with potential hazards!"

Maddox gestured towards the rather empty hangar which was occuppied only by the Muramasa, Sparrowhawk and the Cataract. "I don't know about you ladies but there's nothing over there to hit the targets." He shrugged. "Besides, we put up a reinforced wall with shielding behind the targets. If the bullets were to, for some reason, go farther than their optimal range they'd just bounce off." Maddox then turned to Amy. "I don't think miss Terika mind that we utilize [i]la casa[/i] for some practical training. But hey, if you two happen to have some spare EVA suits we could always go outside and shoot at spacerocks."

Moloch excused himself from Yanim, though he had a feeling she was ignoring him and not responding to his question. As he walked away, the sounds of gunfire rang in through the air. Sensing danger, his instincts kicked in and Moloch took out his sawn-off from his coat while running towards it's general direction. He pointed his sawn-off at Maddox and Jason. [I]"So [B]this [/B]was the noise disturbing the peace! What in the world are you two doing firing live ammunition inside a [B]hangar[/B]? Why are you two not able to use the damned firing range like you two should be doing?!" [/I]He was quite upset at this blatant discharge of firearms with personnel roaming about.

Amy got infront of Maddox when Bucky started to rail into him. "Hey hey, no need to get so mad at him, I'm sure there was a.." [URL="https://fearlessriot.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/alexa.png?w=720"]Then Maddox spoke[/URL] Amy turned around to face him. "Listen here smartdick! One, I am not mad at you, but I am very miffed that you had that thing around and you didn't tell me." She then rubbed her hands together while formulating her frustration into words. "How merc green are you? You do not! I reapeat, you do not get to make these calls! Especially when you are on a ship owned by your employer! I expect that from him since he's an obvious chucklefuck" She pointed at Jason."But you should know better! The employer/merc relationship is a sensitive thing. And you're over here loading an anti-materiel rifle with explosive rounds! Shooting in a hangar where there is explosive shit! I don't know about you, but I can tell you that getting blown up isn't a joyride. Maddox, not even the big crews get to do this shit without checking with the boss first! You do this shit, you risk not only your contract but everyone else's! The fuck man! If I had all the money I lost from every jackass move like this I wouldnt even be here! For fuck's sake, she is right there!"

Bucky crosses her arms and nods to what Amy lays down for Maddox's consideration.