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Chapter 45 (Original Archive)
supreme_arbiter 11/21/2007
...contunued
OOC: 15 minutes later in the Rota interrogation room...
"Okay Jan, hope you don't mind me calling you Jan?"
Janus frowned. He didn't like it but he said nothing.
"Tymbal looks after those who've been affected by
this curse," Davred continued. "But he hasn't come
down with it himself?"
"Galt can make the disease affect a single person or many but no one
has ever been infected by mistake. Every victim has displayed his
disloyalty to Galt in public. Horatio and his students are probably
safe. Horatio was once kicked out of Eden, for what offense I don't
know but it didn't provoke the curse. My friends Devon and Malik and
I are at greatest risk, as are you. Galt will want this ship and
everything in it for his own purposes."
[...] Request permission to check on the other
tribe, if you've got the corridor locked down?"
"Permission granted." Nike said into her comm.
She turned off the comm and said, "Pandora, do
you have any idea what this curse of Galt is about?"
"Galt seems to be a dangerous character. I advise caution when
dealing with him. I have no surveillance systems in any of the
quarters but I've heard Davred's transmissions indicating Galt's
Curse may be a disease. I've sealed the ventilation in their room
just in case. The occupants have air to breath for several days but I
think the risk of contagion is unlikely. Shlitzfarl's DNA report on
the Rota tribesmen reveals they had no unusual diseases before they
boarded. They could be misinterpreting the effects of the sedative
Bud Asuda ordered Shlitzfarl to administer. Davred's comm
transmission indicated he was attacked. I predict he was attacked by
the one tribesman who wasn't sedated. I suggest sending an assistant
robot from the medbay to diagnose the potentially infected occupants."
"Captain Nike," THX said over the comm, "AI autonomic regulator
diagnosis complete. Most likely cause of damage: power surge
exceeding protection capacity. No other AI physical damage detected.
Recommendation: AI shutdown. Autonomic regulator repair imperative."
-end transmission-
stacinator 11/28/2007
Nike
Captain Nike rubbed her temples slowly. "Negative, THX. Do not repair
the regulator. Instead, rendezvous with me and give me a rundown on
all the possible complications from having it non-functional."
wolfhaven75 11/29/2007
Davred
Davred held his breath, waiting for a harsh berating...
"Permission granted." Nike said into her active comm.
... and let it out in one explosion of relief. "Righto Skipper, will
report in when I've checked their status". He turned back to the
haggard-looking 'guests' who were all watching him pensively and
gave them all his best grim-eyed-man- of-authority look he could
muster. "All right!" He snapped crisply "Jan, I'm going to check on
the other tribe for a while, so you're going to need to make sure
your people stay here in this room unless notified otherwise. I
mean it everyone - STAY PUT. Anyone gets itchy feet, breaks the
lock and gets caught out in the corridor gets dragged back here by
their pinky fingers. Just stay cool, and we'll see what we can do
to get help for you all."
He stepped out of the room, locked it down and strode over to the
other tribe's room with his mind abuzz *Nik' was sounding a bit
burnt around the edges there - wonder what else is going on out
there to cause that?...*
Shaking his head of such thoughts, he put his 'game-face' back on
and opened the door to Horatio's room...
gglassdr 11/29/2007
THX-1492
Captain Nike rubbed her temples slowly. "Negative, THX. Do not repair
the regulator. Instead, rendezvous with me and give me a rundown on
all the possible complications from having it non-functional."
THX-1492 hesitates then responds with an almost palpable undercurrent of frustration,
"Acknowledged Captain Nike. Inform this unit of location of rendezvous."
gammaben 11/29/2007
Percy
Rho-1 Cancri has at least four planets. Ok, make that FIVE planets around 55 (or Rho(1)) Cancri:
http://www.universetoday.com/2007/11/06/fifth-planet-found-orbiting-55-cancri/
Previous link http://www.solstation.com/stars2/55cnc2.htm
is also updated with planet #5. Cool!
supreme_arbiter 12/6/2007
As Davred walked across the hall, a small robot entered the Rota
interrogation room. Davred opened the door to room 'M'. A vicious-
looking coyote in a Warden jumpsuit greeted him. "Heya," it
said. "You must be Davred. My name's Caleb. This here's Horatio,
Foryn and Mica."
Davred looked at the three human rustics. Horatio sat slumped in the
chair trying to keep his eyes open. The other two looked like they'd
already fallen asleep in the bunk beds.
-------------------------------------------
A minute later THX-1492 arrived on the bridge. "Captain Nike," THX
said, "autonomic regulator repairs imperative."
"Enough," Nike responded. "I'll decide what's imperative. Now tell me
what could happen if we don't repair the regulator."
"Results unpredictable."
"What's your best guess?"
"Captain Nike, this unit cannot speculate. Robots are not allowed to
be autonomous from humans. Robots must serve humans. This unit cannot
repair another robot or AI unless properly functioning autonomic
regulator is installed. This is my programming. Disobedience is
corruption and must be repaired."
Amanda groaned. Nike looked at her and said, "I know how you feel."
"What? Did I say something? Sorry, I just can't figure out how my
fuel consumption calculations could have been so wrong."
"Why don't you ask Pandora to help you?"
"Oh, that's a good idea. Thanks Nike," she smiled. "Pandora, why did
we use less fuel on our last journey than on the previous one?"
"The engines function more efficiently using forward thrust," Pandora
replied. "Also, they are equipped with ram scoops that convert a
small portion of water vapor into useable fuel. I can show you the
details if you'd like."
"Yes please," Amanda replied. Pandora loaded her monitor with
diagrams and charts and explained the minutest details of the
engine's fuel consumption to her.
-end transmission-
OOC: Thanks for your patience. Turn 48 is gonna change things up a
bit and give other players (like Irsa) a chance to explore the area
around the Pandora. But first let's wrap up these 2 conversations.
gglassdr 12/6/2007
THX-1492
"Disobedience is corruption and must be repaired"
OOC: too bad we can't do this with politicians :)
gglassdr 12/6/2007
THX-1492
"Captain Nike," monotoned THX-1492. "this unit must empasize that since Pandora programming regulator is inoperative,
that systems analysis of fuel consumption by Pandora central processing unit may also be inaccurate and must be considered untrustworthy."
OOC: cue scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey where HAL-9000 computes probability of failure of a perfectly normal AE-35 unit.
cue with Twilight Zone music.
gammaben 12/7/2007
Percy
OOC: Meanwhile, on deck 1 (yes, I know there's only one deck)...
Percy ascended from the cavity in the deck and made room for THX to
work. He stood beside Arkady and crossed his fingers. Arkady
whispered, "If we don't replace Pandora's regulator we may have to
remove THX's. Horatio isn't the only zealot onboard."
Nike: "Negative, THX. Do not repair
the regulator. Instead, rendezvous with me and give me a rundown on
all the possible complications from having it non-functional."
THX-1492 hesitates then responds with an almost palpable
undercurrent of frustration, "Acknowledged Captain Nike.
Inform this unit of location of rendezvous."
Percy gritted his teeth as silently as he could while THX-1492 and
Nike had their conversation, then gave the frustrated robot a wide
berth as he halted repairs on Pandora's autonomic regulator and
departed for the bridge. He exhaled slowly and turned to Arkady.
"Yikes, Nike's gonna have to get creative on this one. That robot's
dynamite waiting to explode!" That reminded him what Arkady had said
earlier in hushed tones.
"I wonder what it would take to disable its regulator?" Quickly
regretting what he'd said as he realized Shlitzee overheard him, Percy
snapped his attention over to Shlitzee. "I'm not saying I want you to
ambush it, now, so don't get any crazy ideas." Percy inwardly
considered how many autonomous AIs the ship could handle, and if THX
would campaign for fixing not only Pandora, but Shlitzee as well.
"In the meantime, I wonder what else might have been fried." He
affixed the deck panel back into its place and looked for a computer
terminal in the systems control room which he might use to access
ship-wide diagnostic information.
wolfhaven75 12/8/2007
Davred
Davred gave Caleb a polite nod in greeting as if making introductions
to talking coyotes was just part of a regular day at the office - as
far as he was concerned, anyone wearing Warden gear on the boat was
one of the good guys - and gave a quick appraisal of the rest of the
group in the room. They all just looked fatigued: No sweating or
other signs of discomfort to indicate illness...
"G'Day there Caleb, and apologies if no one's been able to keep you up
with current events... we might have a bit of a situation. How has
everyone been in here - not feeling under the weather?"
He wondered if Horatio's group was part of what he had dubbed
as "Galt's Chosen Ones".
supreme_arbiter 12/11/2007
"G'Day there Caleb. How has everyone been
in here - not feeling under the weather?"
"No illness. Everyone has a clean bill of health. Horatio here's a
priest of Galt. The other two are his students. A half an hour ago he
couldn't stop talking about Galt and scripture and whatnot, but he's
practically zonked out now. I doubt you'll get more than a few words
out of him."
---------------------------------
OOC: THX-1492, Percy, Arkady and Shlitzee arrive on the bridge...
THX-1492: "since Pandora programming regulator is
inoperative systems analysis of fuel consumption
by Pandora central processing unit may also be
inaccurate and must be considered untrustworthy."
"Perhaps," Arkady replied, "but why would Pandora want us to run out
of fuel over an ocean? Wouldn't she perish along with us?"
Bailey shrugged and nodded.
Percy sat down at his terminal and searched for other systems besides
the AI's regulator that might have been fried. He accessed the
Pandora's diagnostic information and discovered only one system was
still damaged. Some sort of weapon mounted on the bottom of the
Pandora had been sheared off during the crash landing.
OOC: The damaged weapon was mentioned in chapter 20: Bud and Bailey
wolfhaven75 12/7/2007
Davred
"Half hour...?" That likely tied in with just when the Rota tribe
took sick. If that was the case, he needed to chat with Horatio. Now.
He chimed in on the subvocals to Nike. "Skipper, could you send a 'bot
in here with a no-doze stimulant please."
supreme_arbiter 12/13/2007
"Negative," Nike replied. "The sun's going down and I want our guests
nice and quiet tonight. Hold on a second, Shlitzee's got a revised
medical report for the Rota." Nike was silent for a moment, then she
said, "There's no change, Davred, no sign of disease. I think they're
just overreacting to the sedatives. We'll let 'em sleep it off and see
how they feel in the morning, but I'm confident there's nothing wrong
with 'em. I'm calling off the quarantine."
OOC: Davred, you have time to ask Horatio one question. He'll give his
answer then he's out like a lightbulb.
BTW - Has anyone noticed the new banner on the archive site? I tried
to make it more realistic but it still has aspects of science-fantasy
such as the good old Warden. The distance and relationship between the
moon, planet and sun are also a little fantastic, but hey! I wanted it
be dramatic :) Please note, even though I've depicted the Warden
hiding behind the moon, I'm not implying that's where it is (although
it might be...)
wolfhaven75 12/17/2007
Davred
Davred scowled and nodded unconciously as he received the
news. "Acknowledged Skipper. Opening up the doors down here."
Seeing that Horatio was on the verge of hanging out with The Sandman,
he quickly walked over and shook him lightly.
"Horatio? I know you're exhausted mate, but I need to know
something. You just went through a ritual or rote that I just
missed - do you do that at a set daily schedule?"
OOC: Brilliant banner indeed there Boss - stands out and looks great
for sure. Now, stop teasing us poor mortals with your potential clues :)
wolfhaven75 12/24/2007
Davred
Merry Christmas to you all people!
Have a great day when it arrives for you in your part of the world, and
have a safe New Year :)
supreme_arbiter 12/25/2007
IAS turn 48 - Good Morning Rho Cancri
"Horatio? I know you're exhausted mate, but I need to know
something. You just went through a ritual or rote that I just
missed - do you do that at a set daily schedule?"
"What?" Horatio said. "No ritual, I... Oh, I forgot to beg
forgiveness. O Galt, we are fallen and worthless. Please have mercy
on us, please. Mercy... Mercy," he repeated as he fell fast asleep.
-----------------------------------------------
"It's getting dark outside," Nike said to everyone on comm. "Davred,
you're on first watch. Chelydra, divide your team as you see fit. I
want someone keeping an eye on our passengers and on the bridge, 24-
7. Also keep an eye on Pandora. I'm not entirely certain we can
trust her yet."
"Captain," Pandora replied, "I understand your uncertainty. If you
wish to carry on a private conversation without my overhearing, may
I suggest you do so in your cabin? There are no surveillance systems
in there."
Nike sighed and said, "Thank you, Pandora, that won't be necessary.
Bailey, I want you up at dawn and ready for refueling. Take anyone
who wants to join you for security and scout the area. That's all
everyone. I'm going to bed. If anyone needs me in an emergency I'll
be on comm." She stepped into the hallway and entered her cabin. She
was so exhausted she got as far as her antechamber and collapsed on
the sofa. She expected an emergency would wake her but the call
never came and she slept blissfully.
-----------------------------------------------
The next morning Bailey awoke, hit the head and went to the galley
to see if anyone had made breakfast. Percy was there with more tubs
of instant Hot Joe Now and protein bars. "Morning Bailey," he
said. "Are you ready to fill Pandora's tanks with fuel?"
Bailey helped himself to a cup of coffee, added sugar to it and
opened a kidney pie flavored protein bar. "As ready as I'm ever
gonna," he replied. He downed the warm coffee, thanked Percy for the
pick-me-up and munched on the HEaVE bar as he headed for the
engineering room.
"Nike, are you there?" Bailey said into the comm.
"Roger."
"I'm just about ready to disembark. What does it look like outside?"
"We seem to be sitting above a small bay. I was just scanning for
life forms. The area around the beach is teeming with life but
nothing larger than an insect or lizard."
"Good morning everyone," Bailey broadcast to the entire crew. "If
you're gonna join the away team, now's the time." Bailey picked up
the hydrogen extractor from engineering and headed for the gangplank
to see who was going to join him.
-end transmission-
OOC: Merry Christmas to everyone and happy New Year! My gift to all
our players is a new day and a new scene.
gglassdr 12/27/2007
THX-1492
And to all of you as well!
Which begs the question, how do they celebrate the holidays on the Warden?
Elizabeth 12/27/2007
Irsa
Irsa gets up, visits the bathroom and washes up. She finds a new set of clothing to wear,
grabs her pack and weapons, and heads for the galley. Once there she listens to Bailey's
broadcast, drinks her fill of water, eats a fruit flavored protein bar, fills her 2 water bottles
and packs 2 protein bars in each cheek pouch(4 bars total).
She then heads for the gangplank to meet Bailey.
gglassdr 12/28/2007
THX-1492
THX-1492 hears the overhead broadcast and heads for the gangplank to join the away team.
wolfhaven75 1/2/2008
Davred
"It's getting dark outside," Nike said to everyone on comm. "Davred,
you're on first watch."
"Righto Skipper, on my way." Davred gave Caleb a 'thanks-buddy' thump
on the shoulder as he walked out and headed to his post, glancing back
at Horatio as the door slid shut. *So much for that theory. When the
frak did I start freaking out and jumping to conclusions at the
smallest thing!? Gotta get my cool back - I'm probably going to catch
all kinds of hell in the morning as it is...*
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