Josh Herrick Posted October 8 Share Posted October 8 I thought this was a really cute personification of the ship's computer; was a delight to read! @Alora DeVeau Quote ((Main Engineering, Deck 11, USS Octavia E Butler)) The thing about computers was that 99.9% of the time, they really had no opinions. While artificial intelligence had been around for several hundred years (at least in the case of humans, shorter in some cases, longer than others depending on the species), it still was what it was. Artificial. Intelligent though it may be, it was silent in the wake of the events that had occurred, even as the inhabitants moved about and conversed, their emotional struggles merely silently observed, for thus far, the computer had not been givne a command. Caras: Are you ok, Kimonzi? Caras’ other hand rested upon Lahl’s shoulder as he spoke to the woman. Caras: Something tells me that there is probably more weighing on you than this mess in engineering and more with the mess we’re in. Silence fell, but it didn’t bother the computer. It could spend the entirety of its existence in silence and it would not matter one iota. Herrick: I’ll be honest with you; while things look dire now, I’ve been in worse situations. Whether we’re in the Alpha or Gamma in 2401 with alarms blaring, or 800 years ahead in the Beta, I find it helps to chop things down into objectives and focus on them one by one. Sometimes looking at the big picture can get overwhelming. Lahl: Response Herrick: For me, it’s restoring ship’s systems so that Ops and Sciences can stop hounding us and start running their experiments. That should be our singular focus right now. Lahl: Response The alarms were a concern and the computer monitored not only that but what had set off those alarms. As needed, it dispatched what it could to assist, mainly in terms of energy, but it was all limited to how it was programmed as well as one other factor - energy. Alas, the computer, though it felt no pain, had sustained quite a large quantity of damage, and thus, its processes were measureably slower. Herrick: Well.. we’re a 25th century ship with 25th century tools, so lets just proceed as if we’re in the 25th century albeit with limit resupply options. Personally, I’m not sure I’d want to be digging around any records here — who knows what we’ll find. (smiling) Maybe Trill beat Earth in the last Hoverball championship. Lahl: Response Caras: We should put on some music while we work here. Get everyone on the same page and brighten the mood a little. Want to pick the music, chief? Josh wasn’t sure what an inclusive selection might look like, but he tried his best. In Engineering, the Engineers engineered what they could engineer and the computer responded as best it could, even as the people continued to converse. Herrick: We could keep the Bridgerton experience alive, a collection of operatic-like music from different worlds? Lahl: Response Caras: Mixed feelings on that. But I follow the chain of command. Herrick: If anything, it’ll grow on you. The Orion peered outside of the immeidate area, giving a good lookover to see what they might need to do and how long such an endeavour might take. Caras: It’s going to be a long “night” for us. Whatever phenomena we went through it really put us and the ship through the ringer. We won’t have full mobility until everything on that list is acquired. But if we really need to move we could turbocharge the stabilizing thrusters. Or should we focus more on the EPS mess? Herrick: Let’s start with the EPS distribution; without the energy being output from the warp core, we’re getting into a pick and choose situation — safety versus science, when we need both. Suggestions on where to start? Herrick’s efforts were not in vain, though the computer could offer no encouragement. She was, after all, just a computer, and her own processes were not adapted for that sort of thing. Caras/Lahl: Response Herrick: ::walking to one of the rare nearby functioning panels and tapping:: We could do that… It looks like we’d be able to turn off life support on decks twelve through fourteen; I suspect that sciences will want to have shields if they try any experiments, and this might give us enough juice to run both. Caras/Lahl: Response Herrick turned to consider it. Herrick: So, we re-route it and the EPS grid overloads… are you thinking what I’m thinking? If he had asked the computer, she might have replied. Perhaps she would have said yes. More likely, she would have said no. If she’d had her full functionality, she might have even managed to quickly cross references the comment and find something from hundreds of years prior on Earth. But then again, four hundred years might have turned many of the commentaries unfathomable. Perhaps an updated version might make more sense. Are you pondering what I’m pondering? I think so, but how are we going to get seven Klingons to shave their legs? Caras/Lahl: Response Herrick: Let’s go! Computer, play an opera selection of random artists at your choosing at a reasonable audio level and also have it accompany us as we travel. (beat) Off to Deck 9 we go! There, it was finally given an actual command, something that it could respond to, at least something it could respond to there in that room. Certainly other people were demanding it stime and energy, but the Engineers were the masters of the computer, the nurses and doctors and psychiatrist that understood all its inner workings, and even when the OEB struggled, somehow, it always managed to pull out a little bit more for the Engineers. It chirped, then went silent and whirred. Caras/Herrick/Lahl: Response Computer: Processing. And it whirred again, making a rather uncharacteristic noise not unlike a mouse running in a squeaky wheal. Caras/Herrick/Lahl: Response Whatever had occurred, no one could probably say, least of all the computer, save that it managed to break through the fog in its circumes, clamour through an only partially working data base, then let out a blast of music filled with heavy, exuberant whines of guitars combined with the pounding of enthusiastic drums over which a surprisingly resonant voice toned its words. Caras/Herrick/Lahl: Response (Listen to the song playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4HaP8_nmkg) --- Computer USS Octavia E. Butler M239008AD0 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Alora DeVeau Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 And of course, all the typos that I didn't catch when I read through it before sending. XD Quote Link to comment
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