2022-01-20: Our Aimless 'Directions'
- Log: Our Aimless 'Directions'
- Cast: Mayvy Hawkins, Ruri Hoshino
- Where: Nergal Networking System (The Dreisstrager; the Nadesico)
- Date: 20-01-2022
- Summary: Mayvy and Ruri log onto the company usenet to discuss some recent strange events on their respective ships. But it's not just Alexis Kerib and Caruleum, bothering them.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
It's a beautiful day aboard the Dreisstrager.
Or is it night?
"... Haro, what time is it?" Mayvy Hawkins asks a pale purple sphere, currently rolling around near her cluttered 'nest' in the ship's AOS core. It stops rolling, its little cartoon-dot eyes looking up at her, and flaps a pair of circular panels on its upper half. It bounces a couple of times. "Sixteen-thirty JST! Sixteen-thirty JST!" it repeats in a saccharine, childish voice.
Right. It's daytime.
She puts aside her current project. Time for a break. She dials into Nergal's corporate network. Even if there's nothing fun in the academic pre-print server... well, she'll see if anyone interesting is online.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Here on the bridge of the Nadesico, everyone is on standby. Someone is playing Kaiju Fighters on a screen; two of the older adults are playing Go, instead. There's the noise of a magazine being flipped. It's a remarkably casual atmosphere, for the command centre of a warship.
Ruri, hands to the console, is currently encircled by a data bowl, a few dozen screens all floating around her. She... looks much busier than she is.
Because in the background of all this data she's processing, which is really quite boring and routine, she pulls up another window. A large brass bell emblazons on it, before Omoikane replies:
< SCANNING NETWORK . . . . . . OK ! >
< OPEN PORT 0x8931 >
< COMMUNICATING . . . . . . . PARTICLES OK ! >
< SAY HELLO FOR ME >
"Okay," Ruri agrees, friendly, as the light streams through her connector, and she logs into the network.
ALERT: USER 'RURIRURI' IS NOW ACTIVE
ACTIVE USERS . . .
Ruri takes note of the list, and types.
> Hello. Some very interesting things have happened, lately.
> Of course, Omoikane says hello, too.
> Are you well today?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
ACTIVE USERS >
...
CallMeMayvy
...
> hi, Ruri and Omoikane! :) i'm pretty good today, and i hope you're both doing well too
> and you're not the only one, trust me. picking apart the AOS is an adventure in itself, but... the shortest version of things is that Dreisstrager R&D is now in possession of nine haros
> anyway! i'll let you go first if you want.
Mayvy takes a sip of coffee and sits back.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri pauses, for a moment, before she encodes a reply through her Connector.
> We're all right, more or less.
(Granted, there's a lot encoded in that 'more or less', but it's hard enough to get Ruriruri to talk about the emotional layer of anything, so it's probably the best she can offer.)
> But, nine Haros? Do they have personal designations?
> I'm sure they'll be very helpful with the AOS.
Here she pauses, for a moment, glancing aside to some of that processing data. She's running a few fuzzy matches to see if she can pull up any pertinent information, but...
She returns to this screen, looks up to the top to check the clearance level, and shrugs her shoulders a little as she inputs something else.
> ... to be honest, we had a strange visitor the other day. He was very tall, and in a mask... I guess he was smoking in here. He said he was an alien. A seijin, to be specific. Have you ever met anyone like that?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy pauses, gulping down her current mouthful of coffee as she reads the last message.
> seriously, you too? i'm starting to wonder if nergal ships are trouble magnets, honestly
> we met one earlier this week
> he's why we have the haros, actually. most of them don't have names yet but i want to make one into a telepresence unit, provisionally named 'Mayvy Harokins'
> anyway, he looked pretty human, but he had horns. not quite seijin material. no mask either but he definitely thought he was a big shot
> so what did he want?
> wait, what do you mean he was smoking
> did he set off a fire alarm?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
> Please say hello to Harokins for me. And the other Haros, too.
Ruri takes a moment to be disappointed that their alien visitor didn't leave them with robot buddies, but just a moment, because Ruri is very mature, and doesn't need little robot buddies to play with any more.
> Nergal attracts trouble because Nergal only hires troublesome people.
... even on the network, Ruri is still Ruri, evidently.
> As for our visitor, he didn't set off any alarms, even though there was a lot of fire back there. No intruder alarms, either. Even when he left, he disappeared quickly... I guess he's better at hiding than he looked.
> He wanted _
That's an input she doesn't send, immediately, as she looks at the screen and weighs up precisely what to say. He wanted her, specifically, despite all her efforts to get him to speak to the Captain.
Ruri still doesn't feel good about that.
She shakes her head, and keeps typing.
> He wanted to warn the Nadesico about the negative charge of the universe. He said it was 'Cosmic law', and it would make people stronger and then kill them, because it doesn't like people being alive... or something like that.
> He was very insistent it was a threat, but he wasn't very good at not looking like a threat himself. I don't think he's very used to talking to people.
> I wonder why all these strange people are visiting all a sudden?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy smiles a little at the request, then glances over toward Em's station, where seven Haros are lined up on the table, sitting idle. "Hey, Haros. Ruriruri says hi." She braces for impact as seven pairs of eyes light up and seven pairs of Haro-wings flap, as the room fills with "Haro, Ruriruri! Haro, Ruriruri!" repeated over and over for several seconds, much to the annoyance of a couple technicians. She just laughs.
She peeks down under her desk to find 'Mayvy Harokins' rolling around underfoot now. "She says hi to you too." It repeats the same greeting, sounding perhaps slightly more animate.
> they all say hi
> but i think they, uh, startled some of the techs, haha...
> yes, I suppose that's true. the Dreisstrager feels like an exception, but that's mostly thanks to them contracting a schoolful of cadets, and we've got some *interesting* pilots
> hmm. negative charge of the universe... like, an inverse-polar charge to some force, or...
Mayvy sits back, closes her eyes, and thinks a moment, racking her brain for anything that might fit the description.
> hmm. i don't know what that'd mean! i feel like the normal thing to do when a masked man with a full head of flames tells you the laws of physics want to kill you is tell him to fuck off
> but i feel like it's been a few years since anything's been normal, tbh
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri's expression gentles, when she reads that first response. She's always been fond of Haros, for some reason. Maybe it's just because they are computers who are shaped like friends.
Of course, she's never actually been aboard Dreisstrager, but she has no reason to disbelieve CallMeMayvy's accounts. Even of their crew!
> I'm glad you have sensible people aboard your ship, even if your pilots are foolish.
> I tried a lot of models to figure out how it worked, but he said I was thinking too narrowly, so I guess I need to learn more.
> I told him he was a fool. I guess I could have said that, too...
She shrugs, with a little puff of a sigh. Ruri doesn't mind being rude, but she's fond of her F-Bomb, personally.
(It's the fool bomb, and if Ruri had noticed a different rude word in the kanji listing first, the world might be a very different place.)
> To be honest, I don't really know if this is normal or strange... I guess it's all strange to me.
> But, what did your stranger want? It doesn't sound like he was talking about Triple Zero, or Oath Over Omega.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
> you'd like captain greyvalley a lot, I think
> she's principled; she's determined and dedicated, and she works hard to bring out the best in us
Of course, it's an open question whether Ruri would like HER in person... one she tries not to think too hard about. She's not sure she wants the answer... Mayvy frowns thoughtfully, taking a drink of coffee as she mulls over this force. Thinking too narrowly...
> maybe it's a more general existential threat--a different set of physical laws incompatible with our own, like in the "false vacuum" doomsday scenario?
> and really, i don't think i'm really qualified to say what is or isn't normal either
> well, he wanted to scope out the Dreisstrager, i know that much. he was using haros as spy units--teleported them into critical parts of the ship. i'm pretty sure Harokins here was supposed to teleport into AOS core here, but... it might be teleport-proofed??
> he shuffled pretty much all of the mechs around between hangar bays
> not sure what THAT was supposed to accomplish besides making us redo our inventory... but, uh, when he finally decided to show himself, he wanted to ask the captain a question. you know the 'trolley problem'?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Imagine having a responsible Captain..? Ruri looks back over her shoulder to the upper levels of the bridge, through the screen of windows she's currently encapsulated in.
"Oh, well," she says, to herself, in mild amusement.
From her side, she hears a vague: "Hmm?"
"It's nothing," Ruri assures her fellow bridgeman.
(It's not like they don't gossip, when they're all seated at their stations like this. Well... to be exact, the people around her gossip, and Ruri listens in. But she'd hate to distract them from their magazines, or whatever it is they're doing.)
She returns her attention the window at eye-level, most convenient for her to watch. Doomsday scenarios, and philosophical scenarios...
> I think it's important that the AOS core doesn't allow teleportation. It's a strange thing to be protected against... even the Jovians need Chulips to come through, to get here.
But that's a puzzle which doesn't need to be solved today. It's a big puzzle!
> A principle of accounting for styles of judgement from the Pre-Universal Century. Framing an innocent person so that rioters would not take revenge on a community, or a crashing ship deciding where to crash, or a runaway tram with no clear tracks to drive on because each path is occupied with living persons.
> Designed to explore the values of the answerer, it led to research in moral judgement and psychology and has particular importance in the philosophical field of utiliarianism.
> It has been criticised for its extreme perspective for encouraging a cold outlook and reducing human empathy.
Here, Ruri pauses in her input, looking at the screen.
> So, after coming and messing everything up, that man asked the Captain about the trolley problem..?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
> that's right. the hypothetical was basically
> godlike aliens--basically Kardashev Type-3 or Type-4--show you they can solve all of your civilization's problems, resurrect the dead, and unveil basically any knowledge. they offer to share this power if you defer to them and acknowledge their divinity.
> but if you don't, they tell you your civilization will be subjected to posthumous and eternal punishment.
> it's gunboat diplomacy. colonialism. false divinity, basically
> we were all giving our answers when i found out what one of the incursions was
> he set up a literal trolley problem for me. with Haros. D:
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri reads the window, and frowns. To her, a Haro is just as much alive and worthy of consideration as anything else; while she admits it's true that not all Haros are as curious as a person is, it's wrong to be cruel to dogs or cats, too.
She's troubled by that scenario for her own reasons, of course --
('Should you come to understand the help you need, Ruri-san, you need but cry for it, when you need it.')
-- but the hypothetical isn't as important to her as the actual beings put in danger.
There's a long pause before she replies:
> Oh.
Minato would know what to say about this, Ruri thinks. But... she doesn't want to trouble her, either.
Unsettled, she settles on honesty.
> I don't like that.
> He sounds like a cruel person.
> What did you all do?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
It had troubled Mayvy, of course. Not as much as it would have Ruri--her feelings toward virtual intelligence weren't as strong. She looked down at Harokins, and gently scooped it up mid-roll with her feet. It chirped once, and haro'd at her as she moved down to pick it up, giving it a couple of gentle pets.
She would've taken it more seriously if she'd had someone like this rolling around the lab before, she's sure. At this point her writing quirks shift a bit. Full grammar.
> By the time we picked up on it, we couldn't have stopped the trams in time. True to the problem, I guess...
> We redirected the trams. Besides for Harokins here, the eight in the lab are the survivors.
She neglects to mention that Lune sliced one in two, thinking it was a bomb.
Glancing over at the line of semi-dormant Haros, she smiles as an idea comes to mind.
> Hey.
> Do you want to adopt one?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
So, they were made to participate.
It's not like answering those questions is unthinkable to Ruri; there's got to be a reason she can execute orders without wavering. But... even so, it still doesn't feel good to hear her contact on the network experienced something like that.
It's uncomfortable, like watching everyone mope around after all those people...
Anyway, Ruri doesn't ask what was on the track they redirected onto. She doesn't say anything for a few moments, in fact -- which is enough time for another mesasge to flash up on the screen.
Her eyes widen, slightly.
> Me?
> Would that be all right?
She pauses, for a moment more, before she commits to:
> So long as the Captain says it's okay, I'd like to help.
(Actually, adopting a Haro is very exciting, but Ruri has to stay composed...!)
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy watches the window a long moment. This was a lot to load onto someone who thinks like this girl does... and she feels a little bad for it. She sighs a little, but the smile returns a moment later as Ruriruri's response comes through.
> i think it'd be more than all right. I can't think of anyone who'd be better. check with the captain and get back to me, okay? we're going to be painting most of them--if there's a color or a pattern you want, I can do my best to get what you're looking for
> and of course, I can include some custom programming, too, if you'd like
> they're educational models, by the way. mostly Caruleum's weird philosophy. it's flashed on the backupreset ROM--probably Caruleum's fault, but as far as i know they'll be safe
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Here, Ruri turns to another window, quickly.
SET SCENARIO ADOPT_HARO TRUE()
QUERY SET CARE
GOOD FRIEND?
< OK ! >
< SET ASSIST >
< GOOD JOB! >
"That's right," Ruri replies, and for her, it's positively cheerful. She switches her input back to the network window, feeding through her IFS.
> If it's all right with them, how about silver?
> Omoikane would like to help too, after all, and he prefers bronze.
Ruri considers their perspective, for a moment; programming is an act of negotation, for her, so she's always a little shy about other people's, because a lot of people don't view it that way. But everything she's seen of CallMeMayvy's work has been impressive, so she thinks she could certainly help them, too.
> If they're educational models, they'd enjoy the ability to connect to the communications system, I think. So if you can help them with that functionality, that would be nice.
(Ruri isn't thinking at all about how much this will annoy everyone else, of course.)
> I also think it would be good to connect them to our general encyclopedias so they can learn something else.
> I don't think they'd be very happy teaching people about that man's philosophy when he was willing to let them die.
There's a brief pause, before she adds a personal addendum:
> If you say they're safe, I believe you.
It feels a little strange to express something like that, but... maybe it's just something about how adverserial the trolley problem is that makes her want to smooth things over like that. It's a problem which assumes fault and asks where that fault will lie. She can recognise that intellectually, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
> i'll want to write a custom bios--or leave that to you if you'd prefer
> and i'll be writing one for harokins anyway! the uh, 'lessons' will be a lot easier to unlearn if we do that! i'll include nergal interface drivers, too
The last message doesn't strike Mayvy as the least bit weird--really, it brings a smile to her face.
> thanks. i appreciate that trust a lot, ruriruri <3
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri finds herself blushing with embarrassment, seeing appreciation like that said so straight-out. "Fool," she grumbles, but she doesn't bother translating it into the network.
> It's just a matter of capability. Anyway, I'll leave the basic inputoutput system to you.
> About that, how are your other projects? Has anything interesting happened?
It's not that she's trying to divert the conversation; it's just that Ruri would rather talk about scientific problems than human gratitude. If it's clever, it's an accidental sort of wit.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy perks up, scooting her chair in closer. Yesss, it's time to get into it.
> oh, yes, i've been feeding combat data through the AOS. it seems to have a very robust system for dynamically generating simulation based on gathered combat data. i think it can refine parameters based on pilot performance, too, but we haven't fired it up quite yet
> anyway, it started off giving me some weird results--one of them was versus three Big Zams
> but, during an
> impromptu meeting
> of me, the captain, and the A-squad in the core, it gave us the seed of something actually interesting: the pilots versus the entire Zeon force, during the battle of A Baoa Qu.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Combat data..?
Ruri looks to her left, where one of those screens is crunching through threat assessment logs. There's something there that bothers her, but she can't quite put her finger on it.
Omoikane is just... anxious, ever since they got back from Mars.
She looks back to the network window, and thinks.
> Maybe the AOS is lonely, so it thought of better ideas when people were around.
(It's hardly the first time Ruri has ascribed emotional interiority to computers.)
Here, Ruri cycles to another window, and does a quick lookup query for A Baoa Qu. She doesn't know very much about war, for someone who's fighting in one, but that's why she has the archives right here.
> If you were fighting Zeon forces, does that mean the AOS put you in the role of the Titans?
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
> ah, no, that was a few years later--this was the battle that ended the One Year War, with the original Principality of Zeon as the defenders. we would be taking the place of the White Base and the forces under its command
> and probably failing, but by the captain's logic, in failing, we'd learn more about our our weak points
> the rub is--the whole AOS is a black box, right
> so my project is to learn how to construct simulations
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
> Oh... I read the wrong entry. Okay.
It's a little disappointing, but mostly because she had to supply that negative reinforcement herself.
> Is your captain the sort of person to cheer you on even when you fail...?
> How tiring.
Ruri sighs, and can't entirely explain why it's annoying. Maybe it's just because everyone is so unrelentingly positive to her because they don't think she can handle the same things as adults can.
(She thinks of a splash, for some reason.)
> But I know what you mean, I think. By constructing simulations, you'll be able to understand the AOS better, because of its perspective.
> What it suggests can give you a lot of information about how it feels about it... or something like that.
> Well, it's just a simulation, so I'm sure it can't hurt either way.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
> no, it's not quite like that. it's... a loss that generates data is useful, right?
> the dreisstrager's mission is... big, and it's unorthodox. we need to be able to handle fighting under pressure. against long odds, and against larger forces. it's a proving ground, not...
> honestly i really have no idea what's up with captain Misumaru but i agree, *that's* weird
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
> I guess so.
The IFS doesn't translate Ruri sighing, thankfully. She looks down at the console, frowning, to herself.
> But sometimes losses don't generate any data.
> Mr. Yamada didn't die in battle, or anything...
Her lips press to a thin line; her shoulders lift in a shrug.
> Oh, well. That isn't really relevant.
> Anyway, I think Nergal likes unorthodox missions an awful lot. They say the Nadesico hired the best of the best, but I don't really understand what we're supposed to be doing. We're just fumbling around, causing an awful lot of trouble. Maybe we should have proved ourselves, too?
The Admiral said the Nadesico was their ship, but... Ruri isn't sure she knows what that means, not really.
It's so frustrating when adults tell her she'll understand later, and they can't just explain it now.
> And yes, our Captain is very weird.
Of course she had to add that.
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy stares at the screen a long moment. What happened out there...? she wonders. And her mind wanders to the Dreisstrager's own future, and what they might find...
> a lot of death is senseless... but it doesn't have to be meaningless. i didn't know Mr. Yamada, but
> maybe there's something to be learned if you look at it another way
> or maybe you'll learn something from it later on
> things make sense with context and experience, sometimes. layers of it.
> and really, if you feel like things are a bit aimless, maybe it's because the Nadesico's not in the right operating environment right now
> or maybe i shouldn't be giving advice while i'm five cups deep in my coffee mug
> who knows
> (it's just very strong coffee, before you ask)
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri inputs nothing, for a few moments, as she looks over what she's reading. Her first reaction is to feel embarrassed she's invited this sort of personal reflection; it's not like she's the sort of person who complains about her problems, like half of the people on this ship.
It's... embarrassing, to not know what to do. It doesn't feel important. It was never important before.
But...
> I'll take it under consideration. It's important to be able to look at things from a lot of perspectives.
... it's at least easier for her not to reject outright if she approaches it from the perspective of learning.
> But, I'm sorry to give you such a complicated question when you're so activated. It was inconsiderate.
> Well, what happened on Mars doesn't have much to do with life here, so we'll be all right.
She does not ask. (After all, there was a clear explanation!)
<Pose Tracker> Mayvy Hawkins has posed.
Mayvy sips her coffee. A fresh cup. This woman will not be stopped, even though she probably should be at some point.
She's about to start typing, when Harokins starts rolling (or attempting to) in her lap, flapping its 'wings' and posing a moral dilemma involving tight fuel budgets and stowaways.
> don't worry about that, i was more worried i might be giving you bad advice than anything
> i'm not exactly the most worldly woman out there, after all!
> but anyway... i'm glad you're back safe, and i'm glad we got to talk some more.
> but Mayvy Harokins may have just posed a troubling moral dilemma to me and i think i need to work on un-hardwiring that
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
> I don't think it was bad advice.
Ruri isn't entirely sure, but... well, she can think it either way, can't she?
> I'm not very worldly yet, either, so it's fine.
Growth mindset! (That's the growth mindset, right..?)
> Good luck with Mayvy Harokins. I'm sure she's doing her best, and doesn't mean to trouble you.
> We'll talk again, all right?
With that, Ruri issues the command to log off the network, and shifts another window to the front.
"Is it really about broadening your thinking..?"
She wonders, to herself, because if Caruleum was really warning Dreisstrager against people like Alexis Kerib...
... then maybe Mr. Kerib is more trustworthy than they thought.
Well, those are the sorts of thoughts she has time for, between the fighting.