Elite roleplay: Off station

OFF STATION

Your ship, deep space, anything that is not happening inside the Citi Gateway or Ingaba...

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15 Nov 2024, 5:11pm
"They should, be. But, there may be a backup, or actual main... whatever, of the thing, on central server. Need to check, in command."

Using my wrist computer, I verified that the defenses were in fact down again and the lockdown lifted, before I retrieved my magic tool.

"I, made this.", I mentioned while putting it back into its pouch. "Years ago. Before, I became... thick. You know, literal way."

We could chat while going toward the elevator, so I began moving back toward it. I would've felt sorry for that thing if not for the fact that it was entirely unsympathetic.
16 Nov 2024, 12:15am
Vasil Vasilescu “We haven’t had a chance to look at any data,” Vasil called out so Willow could hear him. “You know, with the damsel in distress call.”


"Uh...about that." Maul mumbled. "When I uploaded Oceane to the Anansi and prompted it to scour the ships files and comms data, well, let's call it a user error." Looking over at Vasil, he paused to collect himself before continuing. "The program started downloading an unimaginable amount of data, even going as far as pulling things off Galnet. It started pulling power from the ship, the station, really anything it could tap into." He sighed, dreading the obvious next step. "Anyway, I reckon a quick call to Seraphine and we'll have the data we need. Not really looking forward to that conversation though."
16 Nov 2024, 2:35am
“Sure, user error and too much data,” joked Vasil. “Or maybe fancying another fanboy experience with Dr. Bombshell?” Vasil turned back to the controls now that they were approached Ohare’s Hangar where Willow had parked her ship. “Willow, he’s going to need more than band-aids and aspirin if he wants to impress. I’d be willing to bet the Doctor is not one to go for the pummeled pit fighter look.”

Last edit: 16 Nov 2024, 8:37am
16 Nov 2024, 9:57am
The Barb was still where it should be, and no one from the Golden Jackal was waiting for her in the landing bay. Once she was in the cockpit, she checked the wake compiler. It was complete and as Willow had expected, inconclusive. There were a number of systems the carrier could have jumped to, and if they found the right one, she'd be able to track it easy if it wasn't there any more, and it had left a clean wake this time, but finding the right system would take 3 ships a while.

"Okay guys, everything is like, copacetic with the Barb, but I don't want to stay here too long. Like, keep the jackals from the door, you know?" She left the coms open.

"So we've got about 150 systems to check for the.." Willow wasn't going to attempt the carriers name again, not without hearing someone else say it first, "..Eh, carrier. Like, if we split them up, and Em gets a ship, it shouldn't take more than a few days to find our next step"

Firing up the Barb, Willow asked for launch clarence.

"That is, unless Doctor Delicious has the answers. Like, I got all the makeup I need in the mortuary to fix you up Em. Just don't move your face much. My clients like, are not very expressive, you know?"
17 Nov 2024, 1:51am
"All the makeup in the galaxy couldn't cover up this colossal screw up, but thanks Willow." Maul said, as he wiped the blood from his face with a rag. He had retreated to one of the staterooms to clean himself up to the best of his abilities. A quick glance in a mirror confirmed that his best was still bad.

"Alright," Maul said aloud, to the speaker/receiver system in the stateroom that was being used to communicate with the others. "I'm getting ready to move the call over to holo if y'all want to eavesdrop in the convo with the doc. Let's just hope she isn't too pissed off."

He situated himself near an older looking holo projector/scanner. The device whirred to life with a field of scan lines quickly running up and down his face and torso followed by a holo screen appearing with a prompt asking for contact info. After inputting the Doctors contact information in, he sighed heavily.

"Wish me luck y'all."
17 Nov 2024, 2:32am
"Oh little treasure. Have you" Séraphine Stopped talking and put on a pair of glasses that she retrieved from her hair.

"I see someone has already given you a hard time Monty, but this dose not get you off the hook with me" Her French accent was coming through strong because she was unhappy with Maul, but the mess he called a face, had softened her already gentle heart.

"Do you know how much data storage the collage allows me to use, including the data management facility my department invented? Zettabytes Monty-Maul. Zettabytes"

Although she was sat at her desk, everything about her expression said fists on hips and a foot tapping.

"Do you how much of my next generation data storage allowance you have used for your multi-star system open search? Twenty three point three percent, Monty"

Looking away Séraphine complained as she pushed her glasses back into the voluminous waves of her satin smooth, sunburst hair.

"Je lui donne une IA de pointe, et il l'utilise comme une simple Alexa! Donne-moi de la force"

"I trust drowning this centre for higher education in frivolous general knowledge has helped you find what is lost, no?"
17 Nov 2024, 2:57am
Maul wanted to retreat so far into himself that he'd vanish from sight. It was embarrassing having to explain himself to someone he looked up to but part of him was happy to see her again, despite the circumstances, even if he struggled to hold eye contact at the moment.

"My apologies Doc. It was a high stress sitch and I fumbled the ball. Lotta gun toting pirates had me itching to delta, ya know?" He shook his head and pulled his gaze from the floor to look at the doctor again. "That said, I'm sure the the information we need is somewhere in the...uh...data that you received. If you could just vet it for any info or comms data either sent or received from the Anansi to the Ophois that has any mention of Creamy, then I think we might be able to put this mystery to rest."

His voice softened to an empathic tone. "Though, if you still happen to have any left over feelings for Goodness, then maybe have one of your researchers check it. There may be confirmation of him being...well you know."
17 Nov 2024, 8:03am
Vasil listened to the conversation Maul was having with the Doctor while going through the stellar data Willow had gathered from her time in Summerland. Plotting search patterns was more in his realm of expertise than data mining, and with 150 systems to visit he was already mentally planning the first steps necessary to efficiently cover all of them in the least amount of time.

But it would take more than just looking at the charts to plan out a search pattern. He grunted and idly rotated the holographic projection of systems that needed to be investigated, causing the hologram to spin like a ball of muti-colored lights. The Umbrella’s navigation projector, while suitable for regular navigation, did not provide the level of detail Vasil was accustomed to with the Always Lost.

As troublesome as Jefferson could often be, the Always Lost's COVAS knew how Vasil thought. After nearly three decades together, Jefferson could interpret what Vasil wanted with only a few words of instruction, often predicting what Vasil wanted, and having the info ready before being asked. The Umbrella’s default COVAS would just frustrate Vasil when he had to explain in detail what he wanted from the COVAS.

He’d need to reactivate the Always Lost, but that meant going back to Mackenzie Relay in Cemiess, which meant dealing with Octavia.

So far, she had been content to let Vasil search for Charles “Creamy” Goodness because she had promised Creamy’s mother, Countess Eleanor Levaston-Goodness, that the Emerald Repatriation Society would search for her missing son. However, Vasil could tell from internal ERS correspondence regarding the search that Octavia was growing annoyed with the time and resources being expended finding a man who had likely been dead for over a year.

Her promise was a token political promise meant to secure the Countess’ support, and Octavia expected that only token effort to find Creamy would be necessary to maintain that support. Vasil, though, had taken the promise much more seriously.

Vasil stopped the spinning navigation hologram, expanded it, and then zoomed in on Cemiess. Not wanting to interrupt Maul’s conversation, Vasil had the COVAS queue a message to ship services on Mackenzie Relay, requesting they make ready the Always Lost. It would not be pleasant, but he’d have to deal with Octavia.
17 Nov 2024, 10:56am
Maul Montresor "Though, if you still happen to have any left over feelings for Goodness, then maybe have one of your researchers check it. There may be confirmation of him being...well you know."

Her brow arched in, and Séraphine glared at Maul for a moment marshalling the derivation of Maul's personality she was about to unleash, but harsh words never fixed anything. Of course she cared for Creamy, she'd never stopped caring for him, but Creamy had not yet been emotionally mature enough to be a serious partner back then.

Not only hade Maul implied Séraphine was cold to Creamy's plight, but Maul had just insulted her life's work, Océan, again after misusing a tool perfect for picking scraps of data cyber-storage.

"A - a, one of your researchers? Qu'est-ce que c'est?" Stammered Séraphine throwing her hands in the air, and her head back "Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas avec cet homme?"

Composing herself, Séraphine decided it was time to bring knowledge to the ignorant.

"What a task you wish me to place onto one of my students. If only I had the use of a powerful Intelligence artificielle, hmm? Like Océan for example, no?"

"Océan, could you search the data Maul had you retrieve for reference to Lord Creamy Goodness the Third?" There was a short pause as Séraphine checked a screen that couldn't bee seen on the holo-projection.

"Hum, now could you tell me his last known, or current location?" Her face was serious as she read Océan's findings. "Ah, je comprends. Well, can you find the current location of the Ophois?" Another pause "Bien. Now, generate a list of ships you can assume belong to the Ophois, and a list of law enforcement contacts within that star system"

As she spoke, a data package considerably smaller than even half a Zettabyte was delivered to the Umbrella. Now Séraphine was all business, and she was doing her best to hide anxiety.

"Last year, the Vengerfield person ordered Creamy to be released, but he was to be marooned. At the time, the Ophois was in the system Dryo AOB UU-W B45-1. Océan dose not know what happened to Creamy, but we do have the current location of the Ophois, and the contacts for people that maybe able to keep track, should it move"

"This is not just another abduction Monty. Find him, s'il te plaît, and call me if I can help. Oui?"
18 Nov 2024, 12:53am
Maul’s posture resembled a scolded dog. “Y-yeah, thanks doc.”

Just as he was about to end the call to prepare for the next stint in the search, he recalled an odd occurrence that had happened with his own AVA program back in the Anansi that he wanted to mention to the Seraphine. “Again, my deepest apologies for the inconvenience. I had no idea what Oceane was capable of. I’ve built a a few programs built from the backbone of some of your older work but this one…it’s something else entirely.”

Being such a serious topic, his mannerism and way of speaking had changed to match Serphine’s ‘all business’ attitude. A side he rarely embraced outwardly.

“For instance, my ‘AVA’. It’s an A.I. I’m working on to help with penetrating computer systems. It’s an ever growing and changing project that can detect what type of system it’s interfacing with and auto run known common exploits that I’ve fed it. It’s not perfect and fails a lot but not as much as it should and we both now how slow most places are in adopting new security measures. Look how common the E-Breach has become, that alone is a testament to that very fact.”

“I only bring this up because your Oceane seemingly used my AVA to access the Anansi’s systems. Automatically, I might add, without my direction. I uploaded Oceane through a data port and AVA went with it. Now, I know I messed up and can be a real fucking idiot at times but if this is normal behavior for Oceane, it doesn’t take a genius to realize what someone with ill intent could do if they ever got their hands on the thing.”

“As a fan of your work who often rubs shoulders with those people that hold ill intent, I ask that you consider putting some guardrails on this thing, even if you do not intend on it having a public release. Someone will eventually want it for all the wrong reasons and if they want it, they’ll find a way to get it. Goid forbid that the Fed’s catch wind of it. Might as well throw the rest of the citizen’s privacy out the window.”


Last edit: 18 Nov 2024, 1:05am
18 Nov 2024, 12:28pm
"Like a mother, Monty, I wish to teach Océan to behave. But like a child it must first make mistakes, so it can see consequences"

She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, pushing her arms out in front for a stretch.

"This is what I do, Monty. I push the boundaries of AI so we can learn to spot and stop emergent sentient programs, and find the ones already out there. As for putting limits on it, no. It is an old argument, yes? Should the auto-turret not shoot because killing is bad? Or we will teach the bomb not to explode, hmm? I want to teach people not to need them in the first place, yes? Learning how to nurture an AI, to make that choice for it's self, is a big step, Monty."

"Now, zz-zz-zz" she said flicking her fingers at Maul. "We can talk philosophy, and social conditioning over wine, when you return with Creamy, yes? Maintenant va vite, he is out there somewhere."


Last edit: 18 Nov 2024, 1:15pm
18 Nov 2024, 2:46pm
Vasil, mentally multitasking, listened to the conversation between Maul and Seraphine while pre-planning the survey of the 150 systems Willow had found as possible Ophois locations, and also determining how he’d justify to Octavia the time and money he was spending finding the little lost Lord Pompadour.

It took a few seconds for his brain to register what Seraphine had said about the Ophois receiving orders to maroon Creamy. It would have been simpler if the pirates put a bullet in his brain, which is what Vasil suspected. With evidence of an execution order, the search would be done; the evidence could be turned over to the authorities and they would handle delivering justice for the murder.

However, marooning brought with it a literal galaxy full of complications. The possibility he could still be alive meant trying to find a single individual on a single planet circling one of four hundred billion stars. Though, odds were that the pirates dropped Creamy off on a planet in a nearby system.

Maybe no more than one or two jumps in a small craft, thought Vasil. So, probably within fifty to one hundred light years. But the system Serpahine mentioned was not from a near-bubble star catalog or sector Vasil immediately recognized.

Curious, Vasil looked for Dryo AOB UU-W B45-1 in the nav banks. “Of course,” he said, exasperated, once he found the system. "Why would I even think this might be less difficult than expected." What the hell were the pirates doing 5000 light years galactic west of Colonia?


Last edit: 18 Nov 2024, 4:41pm
18 Nov 2024, 3:41pm
Kasumi Goto"I, made this.", I mentioned while putting it back into its pouch. "Years ago. Before, I became... thick. You know, literal way."

We could chat while going toward the elevator, so I began moving back toward it. I would've felt sorry for that thing if not for the fact that it was entirely unsympathetic.


"Now that that digital presence is gone, the silence is almost eerie..." I remarked as I left the room and joined my companion in the corridor, which led us back towards the elevator.

As we walked, my thoughts drifted back to the encounter with the black ice in the security room. The program had been relentless, a digital specter with a malevolent presence. Whoever had created this had imbued it with a resilience and tenacity that was almost unsettling. I still couldn't shake the image of its distorted face from my mind - a twisted, nightmarish visage that mocked our every move. The moment it had screamed and faded into digital oblivion was both a relief and a chilling reminder of the power that such constructs could wield. This was no ordinary security program. It had fought with an almost human-like desperation, as if it had something to protect or a vendetta to settle.

"So, this hacking tool of yours," I said, breaking the silence that had settled over us while we walked on. "You made it years ago? It's impressive, you must have been quite the tech wizard. What do you think of this security program we encountered?"

As we approached the elevator, a faint humming sound caught my attention, a sign that the power had indeed been restored. I pressed the call button, and we waited for the doors to slide open.
18 Nov 2024, 7:32pm
I shrugged to the question.

“Don’t, know. Thing, seemed… intelligent? Maybe. But, obviously, not in a, good way. Cannot say, I mind, it being ‘gone’.”

The elevator arrived, and I gestured my companion to go in ahead of me. I continued once we were both inside and it was on its way to the command center’s floor.

“And, I may have been good, at… things. Before.”

As if to exemplify that, I gestured at the railgun currently stowed on my back, placed at some angle to avoid it colliding with a certain part that liked to distance itself from the center of my body, quite a lot.
19 Nov 2024, 12:54pm
The elevator took way longer than I had anticipated, but finally a hidden loudspeaker chimed softly, signaling our arrival. As the doors slid open, I was immediately struck by the stark contrast from what I had expected. Instead of a bustling command center filled with terminals, screens, and control panels, there was a vast, dimly lit chamber in front of us. Almost cathedral-like, with high ceilings that stretched into the shadows, its walls seemed to absorb all light coming from the elevator.

In the center of the room stood a bigger structure that immediately had my attention - a pyramid-shaped object that bore a faint resemblance to ancient Guardian relics. Its surface appeared smooth, save for a few enigmatic symbols that pulsed with a soft, eerie glow. Surrounding it, large screens displayed streams of data, their contents shifting and changing in real-time. Some were showing different perspectives of a hall with alcoves on the walls that appeared to contain androids. These monitor showed the words ‘Ark One’. At the same moment, others showed a kind of ship control room containing a similar looking pyramid.

I stepped out of the elevator, my senses heightened and every nerve on edge. This certainly did not correspond to the largely standardised structure of a normal human facility.

"Alright," I said, my voice echoing slightly in the vastness. "Whatever that thing is.... let's ensure it is shut down for good."

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