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[Video] un: sciencepunk

Hi. The name's Gandra Dee. I was too busy healing people to reply to some of the network posts from before. I saw a couple of people making good points and I wanted to address them and add in a couple of ideas of my own.

[Though she's seen people giving her odd looks, at least Della, Drake and Fenton being here months before her means that the humans here are probably relatively used to non-humans by now.]

I'm all for helping, but we really should make sure we're better informed and not just blindly taking marching orders.

[She doesn't need to underscore how much of a disaster recent events were.]

Along with the news network someone suggested, I'm thinking a searchable database would be a good project. People with technomancy can work together on the coding, and anyone else who wants to help can gather information and write things up.

[And before she disconnects, she mentions one last thing.]

Also...healers. I've been working on a learning app and it's in the beta testing phase right now. I'd like to send it to a few of you to test and see if it's useful. Let me know.

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[No odd looks here, but he's talked to Della a few times, has his own wings, and his allies back home had weird inhuman traits too.]

I'd actually thought the same thing. Searchable sounds nice, but with our lack of knowledge how shit here works I think we should have an old fashioned backup. You also got any ideas for keeping things up to date?

[Because with how this place is, who knows if the network won't just up and stop working some day.]

Considering what we've seen is possible in Lestari with technomancy, I don't think it would be too hard to build a server as a backup. Some of the technomages of Lestari might even be willing to help us work on it.

[Sometimes, being busy was an excellent distraction, after all.]

For keeping things up to date, I think allowing everyone to post to it would be useful, and ensuring it auto-saved regularly. Ultimately, something like this would be a big group effort, but I think it would be worthwhile.

I admit, I come from a place that is far less advanced than this. But one thing I've learned since coming here is that just when you think you got this place figured out, shit happens. Plus you got the issue of people being able to vanish at any time, and so on.

Not against your ideas, just stuff you need to be aware of.

If everyone is able to add information to it, that makes people vanishing less of an issue where the database is concerned.

Do you plan to also leave it to everyone to ensure all information entered is actually accurate and current then? And to ensure new arrivals are told of its existence?

[He's hoping not, because that would make the database worthless from day one. People may have ideas here, but the issue is more getting people to actually keep working towards those goals.]

One option would be to have different tiers of account access, where a core group fact checked the information and edited for clarity, but anyone could initially make a submission.

[There are a few tricky issues at play here and she wants to make sure she balances doing it well with making it accessible.]

I've never really had to work with a situation where people come from different worlds and can just suddenly vanish.

A searchable database would be useful. But what kind of information would we make available to help for something like this?

Anything and everything, really, but especially information about various potential threats we might encounter. We can cover cultural traditions, information about important people, and anything that seems worthwhile documenting.

Ah, okay. It would make sense that having information about the culture and practices could help prevent some of these problems in the future.

Oh, but Gandra! There's something else I wanted to ask you about.

Not to mention, it would give us some insight into what was significant so we could prioritize accordingly.

Sure, what is it, Fenton?

Okay well, I was thinking about the virtual reality cloud that we had been working on together from the time you came from, the one you were telling me about? And I was wondering, do you think it might be possible to replicate it here?

Especially with some of the technology from Lestari. I know it'd probably be quite a bit of work trying to figure out the magic interlaced within all the technology, but given that even video games are able to transport someone's consciousness into a digital field, it must be feasible, right?

[At that, Gandra's expression lights right up. She looks positively delighted at the possibilities Fenton's just presented to her.]

You're right, and that's perfect! We could use it for people running training simulations and make it kind of like a virtual MMO. I bet some of the technomages from Lestari would be happy to help us work on it, too.

Exactly! Training simulations, or even another virtual laboratory. There aren't any proper ones around here, at least not for ones strictly for scientific research, and I've been trying to earn enough money to start one. But if we could replicate the virtual reality cloud, it would be such an accomplishment!

It would have so many applications for research, for tactics...

[She's giddy at the prospects.]

Sounds like something we should discuss in depth over dinner.

[ He can't help the warmth spreading across his cheeks at her choice of words. He doesn't know if she meant it that way, but still. ]

Y-Yeah...dinner! We should...We should do dinner.

[Oh, she definitely meant it that way, and smiles at the endearing flush and ensuing awkward reply.]

You've been here longer than I have. You can pick where we go.

[ He chuckles sheepishly. ] S-Sure...okay! Um...do you have any preferences or anything?

[ He does know several places, but maybe she had something in particular she felt like eating? ]

As long as it's got a casual dress code, it's fine. I trust you, Fenton.

[Whether he's viewing it as a date or a friendly chat about a mutual interest over dinner, she knows he won't pick a questionable dive of a restaurant. Beyond that, she's not picky.]

[ Wow that sure is his heart skipping a beat. ]

C-Casual dress code...got it. I think I know a good place. Do you...wanna meet there, or...come over to my place first so we can go together?

I think the news network and searchable database are both good ideas. I could help with those. However, I have a concern:

Namely, the identity of those who were first to take to suggest similar things. Someone with obvious disdain for us all... A demon king with a history of conquest... In a few words, people with a history of disregarding lives for the sake of their own ambition.

That they immediately took to the network in the wake of a tragedy indicates to me our predicament did not put an end to their senseless desires. They wish to exploit our pain and make use of it to further their ambitions. So I believe we should be careful in our endeavors, lest our efforts to prevent another tragedy be used to make further tragedies happen.

One of the people who seemed to have disdain for everyone did make a valid point in that people all rushed in blindly to help without knowing what we were getting into. Jerk attitude aside, they weren't wrong about that part. I do see your point, though, and one of my plans for the database was to ensure that it wasn't possible to add to it anonymously. Then people could be skeptical if someone known to stir up trouble had added information because we would know the source wasn't necessarily credible. I'd have to give more thought to the issue of preventing the information from being used to cause more tragedies. That's a good point.

Right. There is a middle ground to be found. I'm not sure to be the best qualified person to judge of what that middle ground is. And blacklisting individuals would be, in itself, a slippery slope.

I suppose we ought to remain vigilant and do our best. Inactivity would be worse.

I think blacklisting should require some specific criteria to be met, and a majority vote from the core administrators of the project. It's definitely not something to do lightly, and in order to be fair, it should be done on the basis of a person's actions here. I had been thinking of different levels of account access, so perhaps different levels of restrictions based on a person's actions would be warranted. A person who keeps submitting offensive content and nothing helpful might be given read-only access, for example.

I agree. Even if someone did horrible things back home, they may decide to turn on a new leaf in this world. They should be given a second.

[ Whatsoever nothing personal here, noperino. ]

Such a system also implies it would need one, or multiple, administrator. I think the most skilled people who have proved themselves trustworthy should fulfill such a task.

Especially since circumstances have a big impact on the choices people make. Their situation here might be completely different than back home.

[Definitely no personal reasons for being pro-second chances. Not at all.]

I agree. And I do think multiple administrators would be best, just because of the possibility that people can randomly disappear.

Indeed. The wrong set of circumstances could turn even the purest of souls into an hideous monster.

[ Monika had to pause after writing that. Was it the truth, or just a comfortable lie...? ]

There is that to take into account, too. It would be good if we had a native we could trust for this as well... Someone we'll know beyond the shadow of a doubt won't randomly disappear.

I've been talking to a few of the Lestari technomages. I'll get to know them a little better and see who might be a good candidate.

[Allura personally finds it nice to talk to more non-humans, really — it reminds her of being back out amongst the stars, and living amongst the wide variety of alien races.]

I think we've come to similar conclusions through different means. We absolutely need to work on our disaster preparedness — but I'm not sure if leadership alone should be held accountable for the failure.

None of us were coordinated enough for that level of disaster. Up to this point, we've only fought smaller threats and thus focused on training our skills as individuals, and it shows. Roles were still being worked out, our strategy focused on bringing down enemies with might when our forces were split and weakened... as a coalition, our teamwork is severely lacking.

[So why respond to this one, specifically, and not the others 'making good points'? She pauses here, as if she's trying to figure out how much of what she's going to suggest is even achievable with their resources.]

On my ship, we used to have a holodeck for training purposes. We stored biometrics on different lifeforms that would allow us to replicate different scenarios — everything from combat training and obstacle courses to large-scale war simulations. I'm not sure how much we would be able to replicate without Altean hard-light technology, but...

Perhaps there's other ways we could make the data more actionable? ... after the database is up and running, of course!

[Congratulations, Allura, you've drawn out Gandra's nerdy side.]

Well...it is possible for technomancers to store and send spells so that people who don't even have a particular type of magic can use that spell. I'm still getting used to how that works, but since you called it hard-light technology...theoretically technomancers working with light magic users might be able to achieve something comparable as long as we had sufficient data to craft the simulations from.

[That sound in the background? It's Gandra rapidly jotting down notes.]

Your ship sounds amazing, by the way.

[She looks a little nostalgic.] It was. I wish I could show it to you, and all of the technology aboard. But unfortunately, I doubt the traders could bring it here, even if I offered them every last coin in Camelot. [A beat, before she quietly notes,] There wouldn't be much room to land an entire castle-ship, anyway...

[Still, if they can recreate even part of the Altean technology using technomancy, then there will be that much less to miss about it.]

Can light magic actually create hard-light models on that scale? I've only ever seen it used for barriers, but I cannot claim to have studied it in depth.

It's not one of my magic types, but I do know someone that has it. I'm pretty sure I can persuade him to experiment with it.

[And knowing Drake, it will probably involve Darkwing Duck in some capacity.]

Something like a battlefield might have to be scaled down to miniature form. Still, even that would be better than what we have right now.

Actually, battle simulations might be the most important aspect. From the sound of it, teams were putting together strategies on the fly, and focused on trying to overpower the enemies. We need to start practicing alternate tactics. For example, stalling the dragon might have been easier than slaying it, and would have given the people of Celliwig far more time to evacuate...

But it would be far easier to make that argument with the data and demonstrations to support it.

Of course, it should without saying, but if you need any assistance from me I'll be glad to provide it. Though I'm not sure exactly how useful cognitive magic would be. Maybe there's some way it could help with gathering data...?

I'll admit that I don't know very much about cognitive magic at all. I haven't researched it, since it wasn't one of my two magic types. How does it work?

As you might have gathered from the name, it's all magic that deals with the mind itself. From there, the spells tend to fall into one of two groups.

First, there are some spells that extend the user's awareness. For example, touching an object can show me things that happened nearby in the recent past. Or by astral projection, I can extend their awareness beyond their body. That might be the more useful side of it, at least for this project.

The rest primarily deals with manipulating the minds of others. At its most basic level, it can project my thoughts into the minds of others, or allow me to enter someone's sleeping mind and see their dreams... or, if need be, make hypnotic suggestions to control the actions of other people.

Edited 2021-10-14 00:42 (UTC)

The first part definitely sounds more useful for this project. The second part could be a useful way to communicate to allies. Have you tested the limits of how far away you can reach someone with that?

It's hard to say, since the range has been growing as I become better with my magic.

Right now, I can easily send messages to people who are close enough to be identified... even if that's only hypothetically. Actually seeing them isn't necessary, as long as I know roughly where they are.

It would be far more useful if they could send any sort of reply, though.

I haven't gotten there yet, but I heard it's possible for someone with technomancy to send people spells like a file, even if the person doesn't have that magic themselves. It might be possible to send someone the ability to reply with that method, although I'd imagine it would be a one-time use.

Really? That does sound promising. The limitation might mean that it will have to be saved for emergency use only, but we do have our phones for everything else.

Would the technomancer need to have cognitive magic, though?

Edited 2021-10-25 22:42 (UTC)

That I'm not sure about, but it's worth experimenting with. And considering that we all get two different kinds, there's a chance there might be a technomancer who does have cognitive magic.

Yes, that's exactly what I would hope for.

That might be another thing to track in the database. What sorts of magic everyone has, and the uses they've found... including combinations of different magic types. Technomancy alone must have plenty of combinations from the remote casting.

Good idea. Most people seem reasonably willing to help, so I doubt they'd mind. Knowing what magic everyone has would make it easier to coordinate teams for things. For some things, it might be better to have a lot of people with the same type working together, but for other situations, a range of magic types would be more important.

Ooh, ooh, I'm a healer!

[ Eri hadn't been involved with everything that happened... which was reasonable, since every option was ripe with danger and Eri was only 6. Still, while she's been progressing slowly with practicing her healing, it hasn't exactly been 'fast' either. ]

[Gandra's still getting used to humans, but she can tell immediately that this human is a child, and thus, she offers a pleasant smile.]

That's great! Would you like to try this learning program? I'll send it to your phone and you can let me know if you're having any trouble using it.

Mm, okay!

[ It'd definitely be a good sign if it's easy enough for a 6-year-old to use it, after all. ]

So it'll help me be a better healer?

Yes it will. It helps to teach you all about the body, and how it heals over time. The idea with healing magic is that you use the magic to speed up the body's healing so that they'll feel better much faster.

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