DocTomoe
Well-Known Member
There was a general air of vigorous activity which could be found within Lorath technological circles, especially with the flood of technology which was being delivered by the Lazarus Consortium. However, what remained constant was the technology which was being developed by the Matriarchy as well, not nearly as revolutionary, but to the royalty in charge, and the brass within the Lorath Self Defense Force, the technology was much more important; it was Lorath, and that was what mattered.
What Lorath R&D needed though were volunteers. Unlike some organizations which picked up people off the streets, or deceived people with questionnaires and bait, the Matriarchy was direct and forward in their recruitment process.
Such a statement at the header of every want-ad in the Matriarchy tended to scare off applicants, however, that did not stand in the way of progress, especially with a new piece of equipment that absolutely needed user-input.
--------
"You've signed the waivers, right?" Asked the pale-blue lab coat clad New Tur'listian, who stood with his head bent back, to look at the face of the Lmanel which stood before him, as he checked off the last formalities which were needed upon the document in his hand.
"Do I look like a chump? Of course I did," the burly, heavily built woman replied to the scientist, folding her arms over with a frown.
She does kind of look like a chump... I mean... she looks a bit primitive... but I won't say anything about it. Thought the male New Tur'listian, in a typical frame of egotistical thought which was the hallmark of his people. "Alright, then we'll begin. We have adjusted the personnel scale unit to your measurements... now let me go over just what you're going to be testing." Even though the explanation had been given at least six times, the New Tur'listian insisted on doing it again, especially with such a muscle bound Lmanel as a tester.
"What we're going to be testing will be a personnel-grade technology package. This unit will have control surfaces integrated into a set of gloves and shin-guards. Power will be supplied via umbilical, we're not testing the power module right now. Tests will be conducted on interface using a temporary neural interface device, as well as gesture-based command instructions." Started the New Tur'listian, as he gestured for the Lmanel to follow him to the thick hatch-like door which isolated the testing area. "This equipment will allow a user to do some obvious things, and not-so-obvious things, we want to get some user-feedback on the operation of the unit, and just how user-friendly it is... now, I assume you've read the primer on gravitic manipulation, EM projection, and field manipulation, so I'm not going to bore you with the details. We'll start small, and work our way up."
As the New Tur'listian finished speaking, he opened the hatch, and gestured the Lmanel to step inside. "The unit is in there, just put the core harness on, and put the gloves and shin-guards on, and we'll start from there."
Il'lana nodded, exiting one area and entering the other. She observed the test chamber with a bare minimum of interest. On the other side of the hatch, Il'lana found a series of metallic, plastic, and even wooden objects, some large, some small, mostly in the shape of 3D geometric objects such as cubes, spheres, pyramids, and other basic shapes. Though, immediately upon entering was a table, where the personnel-intended 'Unified Manipulation Technology Suite' device was placed, with a large label on it none the less, as if anyone would forget what was on the table.
The bull took careful, measured steps - something one wouldn't expect for somebody so imposing - towards the device and equipped it, taking care not to stress any of the components as she suited up. This was expensive equipment, and she was here to make money, not owe it. Once all was in order, she booted it up... or at least tried to.
There was a voice at that point, which originated from a set of speakers which were nowhere to be seen. "Il'lana, I see you're trying to engage the neural interface of the device. Don't worry, we're handling the boot-up and connection process remotely. This system will be embedded into other devices later on that will handle the boot-up, for now, it has some remote-controlled elements... prototypes, they're like that." It was the voice of the New Tur'listian she had spoken to, undoubtedly, he was in a control room somewhere, watching.
"And how will I know it's on?" Dancer asked, cocking her head towards. . . she decided on facing the hatch. Seemed like a good enough place to talk at since she couldn't see a window or anything from where she was.
"When it comes online, you'll be informed by a message from your temporary neural interface device, and, I'll just let you know..." There was a momentary pause, and as there was a break in the New Tur'listian's words, a message sounded in Il'lana's head, not so much words, but a feeling that the device was active. "It is online, we'll start with gesture-based control, while we complete hand-shake procedures with the unit and the neural interface. Does it feel comfortable on you? Took some doing to re-size it to your parameters."
"Fits like a glove. Ought to."
"Funny."
There was a small hum, which was likely outside of the range of New Tur'listian hearing, but, for Il'lana the sound was present, and it came from a low-intensity laser pointing device which marked a nearby cube made of some sort of dark-grey metal. "A laser is marking your first test object. We want you to use gesture-based motions to instruct the unit to aid you in lifting it, but without touching it. Be sure to point the projection apertures on the gloves at the cube."
Il'lana rolled her shoulders once and cracked her neck. A psyche-up gesture, obviously. One arm raised slightly, palm facing towards the cube. Her other remained at her side for now - better to just do one-at-a-time until it was tested proper.
What Il'ana's gesture resulted in was a sudden shift in the gravitational constant of the cube, and the surrounding space around the cube, causing it to lift... then tilt, and spin out of control before falling aside.
"Ah... two hands perhaps. One lifting, one stabilizing." Suggested the New Tur'listian. "We'll have to fix that in the next version."
The bull nodded, remembering a pottery class she took a long time ago. Her second arm met the first's height, but this time the palm was angled - like a potter stabilizing clay - at the cube as the first repeated its gesture.
With Il'lana's added effort, the cube again was brought airborne, and this time, it remained stable, guided by the Lmanel's most minor of gestures, almost an extension of her hands in a way.
"Looks good, if you were not aware, that cube weighs around three-hundred kilograms... but ah, put it down, we're reading a spike in the cooling system." There was a little annoyance in the New Tur'listian's voice, and, there was a soft sound, whispers, it seemed he was speaking to someone else with the microphone still on "It should not be doing that this soon, adjust the coolant supply through the umbilical... it should be moving over six-hundred kilograms for such a short period before overheating. Prototypes..."
Il'lana dropped it like it was hot. Which it would be, she considered, if she continued to do the action. In her usual gruff tone, she said, "Lemme know what to do when this thing isn't gonna explode."
"Don't worry, since we don't have the power on-board, it is very unlikely that it would explode. Though, if it does, you won't have time to worry about it." Came the New Tur'listian's reassurance... if it could be called that. "Cool-down has already brought the unit within operational ranges. We can start the next test." As his words came through the speaker, the New Tur'listian directed the laser-pointing device to rectangular box-like object, another metal one, but this one had a distinctively lighter grey to it, at a glance it was likely steel. Though, at a closer inspection, there were gaps in the box's surface, indicating that it was hollow. "Alright, we have a structure made out of a series of steel bars. It is welded together through molecular fusion, so the box is not going to be too flimsy... but, what we want you to do is lift it like you did the last one, but, we also want you to try to rip it apart, through gestures."
"Like a cardboard box? I can do that. . ."
The bull repeated the same gestures she made the first time, first lifting, then stabilizing. Then, her fingers curved a little, as if she were grasping something. Her hands flipped, facing outwards. Il'lana then pulled apart softly.
Almost as if possessed, the box lifted from the ground like the cube before, this time though, it remained stable, that was until Il'lana began to instruct the device through her gestures to exert a shearing force upon the box. There was a sound from the box, a humming, as if someone had struck a tuning fork. There was a vibration which resonated through the steel structure, as molecules were acted upon by electromagnetic waves, there was even a notable increase of heat from the box... until it began to spark and produced an arcing discharge between the glove and the box.
"Whoa there! Step back, hands down, we've got an instability in the EM field projector." Came the voice of the New Tur'listian engineer. It seemed, they had encountered a design limitation.The bull obliged.
"What happened.... what do you mean it 'went out of range'? Came the whispered voices again. "So you're saying it can't do it? Alright, fine, we'll focus on discharge capabilities then, and not on high-output systems."
"Alright, seems that I just lost a bet to someone down in the design room." Came the voice; "We're going to change it up though, we've determined the lifting capabilities, and the limitations of the shearing abilities. Now, we're going to test something more 'straight forward'."
"And it's fine to keep goin'? I don't drive a car after a tire popped."
"No worries, what happened was a EM discharge reaction with the ferromagnetic reactive item. In other words, it is like when you put a fork in the food heater."
"Alright. better not lose a finger. What's next?"
"What we're going to do is be a bit more direct." There was a relocation of the laser pointer, to a small bin which was filled with what appeared to be ball bearings. "We want you to pick up a few of those metal balls, and, gesture to throw them as hard as you can at that box you were trying to move... wait." There were more whispers. "Better make it that wood cube. We have some questions about velocity up here."
"Throw them with the glove abilities alone, or throw them with my arms, with the gloves too?"
"Just the gloves, we know you're a tough one, but we're not testing that yet."
Il'lana shrugged, rolled her shoulders once more. She made a coaxing motion to the bin of bearings, like she were telling a child to get up.
With the gesture of the Lmanel, a single ball bearing lifted from the bin.
"Try to grab a couple more, just like you were gesturing, it is recognized well by the system."
She nodded, then continued the motion - this time with her left hand added to the mix.
As Il'lana made her gesture, at first a single ball climbed from the bin, before it was joined by four more, making a total of six.
"Alright, now, we want you to direct one ball at a time to hit the wooden cube. As fast as you can direct each one to go. Really put a gesture to it as if you want that ball to do some hurt, alright?"
The bull used one hand to maintain the height of the lot while her other connected the nail of her middle finger to the tip of her thumb - a flicking gesture - and released, hoping to send one bearing off.
Just as gestured, a single ball left the group, whizzing through the air until it impacted the cube... and bounced off. "Uh, we think you have to put some more 'pep' into your gesture. More aggression." came the voice in a follow-up.
Il'lana backhanded the next gesture, as if she were swatting a bug away.
With the gesture from the Lmanel, not just one bearing flew, the whole remaining five of them followed the gesture, screaming through the air with enough speed to cause a distinctive 'crack', even before they impacted the surface of the wooden cube, and as the impact was made, the surface of the rather nicely polished wooden cube was rendered into five distinctive splintered craters as the balls embedded themselves into the wood.
There was the sound of a chuckle which emanated from the speakers "Too much aggression, would recommend some pointing next time, though, that was a successful test." There was a pause from the speakers at that moment, before the voice continued. "Alright, handshake and link-up is completed with your neural interface implant. When you think an intent, the device will respond, but it has to be a clear thought, we have the intention recognition threshold set high." explained the voice. "What we want you to do, is think back to your physics classes, or something similar, and think about what a microwave is, or does, just picture that bit of the EM spectrum, and point your preferred hand at that wooden cube, and apply an intent to project a microwave from the aperture. It sounds pretty abstract, but, that's how this works since we don't have you linked up to a cybernetic interface."
Il'lana aimed her palm at the crate and thought about a microwave. Not the signal, but the device that's used to reheat food inefficiently. The turning on. That time when she was a child and left the fork in the plate accidentally.
In the control room, there was a sensor read-out of the Lmanel's mind, isolating which parts of her brain were being stimulated, and, there was an extrapolation of the purpose-intent which was related to those impulses. Whispers sounded from the speakers again Hunger response is present... unknown reason. Minor anxiety. Within bounds.
Though, what was far more of an attention grabber was the smoke which began to rise from the wooden cube, and the start of smouldering flames where the steel balls had embedded themselves.
"Alright, now, we want you to change it up. We want you to think on a more intense form of radiation, ah, gamma-rays will work. Try to recall the explanations of that portion of the EM spectrum that were provided in your pre-testing primer materials."
This, thankfully for Il'lana, was a bit easier considering the material was fresh in her mind. She pointed her palm once more and thought hard about the information.
There was a high-pitched whine which sounded from the glove, before a narrow circle of space on the surface of the wooden cube erupted into flames, and then, the wooden cube let out a horrendous sound that almost sounded of thunder, as the wood gained heat too quickly, too unevenly, and splintered in half sending embers scattering about the test chamber.
"Terminate the projection, EM emitter test completed." Stated the voice, with a touch of hurriedness to his words. The bull obliged once more. "Ah, we're going to need to transition to field-projection testing on the fly here... ah... before that cube bursts into flames, we want you to project an EM field around it, a force field, to keep the air from it for... um... about ten seconds, just keep the field tight."
Dancer made a cupping motion with both palms, as if she were holding a ball out to somebody, and aimed at the incinerating cube. As she did this, thoughts of bubbles around objects projecting in her head. Her hands slowly pushed together.
There was an immediate response, as the smoke which climbed from the smouldering and soon to combust cube began to arc, then, halted on the force field's surface. "Tighten up the field some more." guided the New Tur'listian's voice. The bull's hands cupped together, holding a much smaller mental ball than the one she thought of previously.
With the adjustment, the smoke visibly contracted, and soon the glow of the embers ceased as the fire-to-be was snuffed out. "Alright, thermal readings indicate that the fire is suppressed. Vent systems on full. Though, we're going to need you to vacate the test chamber. Above you is an open hatch... twenty meters distance from you, we want you to think about getting up there."
Il'lana nodded. She thought about simply stretching her winds and lifting, though hers were smaller than most. Lift, lift, lift. . .
Almost as if the Lmanel were riding on happy thoughts alone, her feet left the ground, as a combination of EM and gravitic forces acted upon the area of her body, and caused her to ascend as directed. She decided it was in her best interest to not look down, and instead focused her attention on the hatch above her.
Upon ascending through the hatch, it automatically closed just as she cleared it, and an automated umbilical connection went about seizing the power umbilical which was connected to the device, and once on the other side she was face-to-face with something no one really wants to see upon entering a room... a remotely operated sentry gun, with six gleaming barrels, pointed in her direction. Only redeeming fact was that by the look of the barrels, it was a low-caliber unit, without the robust barrels needed for a high-velocity projectile.
". . . Did I miss something in the waiver?" Il'lana asked craning her neck around.
"Negative, you signed the death and dismemberment waiver." Came the voice, speaking over the next set of speakers. "Don't worry, we're not going to intentionally shoot you dead or something. Otherwise, we'd not be chit-chatting right now."
There was an audible beeping chime from the sentry turret, as a laser marker shined upon Il'lana's chest.
Il'lana raised both arms, hand perfectly flat, and thought about a perfect wall between her and the turret.
"Good initiative, thinking ahead like that. Hold steady." Came the New Tur'listian's voice, even as he documented just how that one gesture and command were so perfectly programmed and readily available.
There was another whine, this one more distinctive, as the barrels of the turret gun began to spin, and with it, came streaks of glowing white tracer fire which danced before Il'lana's gaze, streaking off into various directions as ripples of visible light bounded from each impact like a rippling pond moving in fast-forward. Though, what soon began to happen, was that the gloves upon Il'lana's hand began to get hot, hot enough to easily imply that something was very wrong.
"Doc, cooling systems!" Il'lana called almost instinctively, trying to maintain her focus on the wall.
What came from the speakers was a casual voice, nowhere near as much worry as should be attached to such a situation "Noted. We want you to deactivate the sentry, or disable it, your choice... you have seconds before EM projector burn-out."
The bull did the thing she certainly thought she could do and that was crush. Or, at least, smash the barrels together by crumpling her fingers into a fist with the right focus.
There was a momentary flicker of the shield which Il'lana had produced as the EM field projectors were reallocated to the projection of a manipulation field, which served well enough to cause the barrels of the sentry to bow slightly, enough to cause the trajectories of the discharged projectiles to waiver, sending them streaking past Il'lana just barely, but not enough to leave her without anything to show for it, as a round tore through her bicep.
"You already forgot the limitations- ""AH SHIT!" "-of the box test, didn't you?" Came the voice of the New Tur'listian.
There was a pause in firing from the sentry, as the laser-marker left Il'lana for but a moment, as the sentry aimed at a designated marker on the nearby wall, firing several times... it was recalibrating.
Il'lana focused her own L'manel capabilities for a moment, just a temporary shift in her muscle mass to stop the bleeding long enough to focus on stopping the machine. One hand raised, and she thought about all those stories she had heard of lightning hitting electronics and frying them to a crisp. She tried to focus that thought - electricity and fried wires into the Sentry.
There was a moment of unresponsiveness from the equipment which the Lmanel wore, it was interpreting her thought processes, and was having difficulty due to the pain impulses and the adrenalin which was present thanks to the situation at hand. Though, an interpretation was quickly made, as the built in processor of the unit evaluated the situation requirements, robbing some of the control from the Lmanel, as EM-based discharges were bypassed, in favor of an electrogravitic energy build-up, and discharge, as the release of energy impacted the sentry, causing it to spark and crackle, before some vital part within the unit exploded causing it to fall from its mounting in useless chunks.
"Test successful. Congratulations, you've completed the Beta test phase." Came the New Tur'listian's voice. "Medical personnel are on their way, just sit tight."
"I-I will!" The bull growled through grit teeth, slumping a wall and cursing profusely.
With a low hum, the capacitors within the tested device released their charge, and the power umbilical disengaged, leaving Il'lana with an unpowered device, which any Lorath knew was the sane thing to do before entering a room with someone who had just been unexpectedly shot at.
Elsewhere, in an adjacent room, a group of New Tur'listians exchanged an assortment of gleaming shining stones, with various bets on unit performance fulfilled by the testing procedures. Overall, the day had been productive, to say the least.
For Il'lana, it was just the first of many tests, since the job of test subject was one that was contract based, for a term of service... it was certainly not the last she'd be entering a test chamber.
What Lorath R&D needed though were volunteers. Unlike some organizations which picked up people off the streets, or deceived people with questionnaires and bait, the Matriarchy was direct and forward in their recruitment process.
Such a statement at the header of every want-ad in the Matriarchy tended to scare off applicants, however, that did not stand in the way of progress, especially with a new piece of equipment that absolutely needed user-input.
--------
"You've signed the waivers, right?" Asked the pale-blue lab coat clad New Tur'listian, who stood with his head bent back, to look at the face of the Lmanel which stood before him, as he checked off the last formalities which were needed upon the document in his hand.
"Do I look like a chump? Of course I did," the burly, heavily built woman replied to the scientist, folding her arms over with a frown.
She does kind of look like a chump... I mean... she looks a bit primitive... but I won't say anything about it. Thought the male New Tur'listian, in a typical frame of egotistical thought which was the hallmark of his people. "Alright, then we'll begin. We have adjusted the personnel scale unit to your measurements... now let me go over just what you're going to be testing." Even though the explanation had been given at least six times, the New Tur'listian insisted on doing it again, especially with such a muscle bound Lmanel as a tester.
"What we're going to be testing will be a personnel-grade technology package. This unit will have control surfaces integrated into a set of gloves and shin-guards. Power will be supplied via umbilical, we're not testing the power module right now. Tests will be conducted on interface using a temporary neural interface device, as well as gesture-based command instructions." Started the New Tur'listian, as he gestured for the Lmanel to follow him to the thick hatch-like door which isolated the testing area. "This equipment will allow a user to do some obvious things, and not-so-obvious things, we want to get some user-feedback on the operation of the unit, and just how user-friendly it is... now, I assume you've read the primer on gravitic manipulation, EM projection, and field manipulation, so I'm not going to bore you with the details. We'll start small, and work our way up."
As the New Tur'listian finished speaking, he opened the hatch, and gestured the Lmanel to step inside. "The unit is in there, just put the core harness on, and put the gloves and shin-guards on, and we'll start from there."
Il'lana nodded, exiting one area and entering the other. She observed the test chamber with a bare minimum of interest. On the other side of the hatch, Il'lana found a series of metallic, plastic, and even wooden objects, some large, some small, mostly in the shape of 3D geometric objects such as cubes, spheres, pyramids, and other basic shapes. Though, immediately upon entering was a table, where the personnel-intended 'Unified Manipulation Technology Suite' device was placed, with a large label on it none the less, as if anyone would forget what was on the table.
The bull took careful, measured steps - something one wouldn't expect for somebody so imposing - towards the device and equipped it, taking care not to stress any of the components as she suited up. This was expensive equipment, and she was here to make money, not owe it. Once all was in order, she booted it up... or at least tried to.
There was a voice at that point, which originated from a set of speakers which were nowhere to be seen. "Il'lana, I see you're trying to engage the neural interface of the device. Don't worry, we're handling the boot-up and connection process remotely. This system will be embedded into other devices later on that will handle the boot-up, for now, it has some remote-controlled elements... prototypes, they're like that." It was the voice of the New Tur'listian she had spoken to, undoubtedly, he was in a control room somewhere, watching.
"And how will I know it's on?" Dancer asked, cocking her head towards. . . she decided on facing the hatch. Seemed like a good enough place to talk at since she couldn't see a window or anything from where she was.
"When it comes online, you'll be informed by a message from your temporary neural interface device, and, I'll just let you know..." There was a momentary pause, and as there was a break in the New Tur'listian's words, a message sounded in Il'lana's head, not so much words, but a feeling that the device was active. "It is online, we'll start with gesture-based control, while we complete hand-shake procedures with the unit and the neural interface. Does it feel comfortable on you? Took some doing to re-size it to your parameters."
"Fits like a glove. Ought to."
"Funny."
There was a small hum, which was likely outside of the range of New Tur'listian hearing, but, for Il'lana the sound was present, and it came from a low-intensity laser pointing device which marked a nearby cube made of some sort of dark-grey metal. "A laser is marking your first test object. We want you to use gesture-based motions to instruct the unit to aid you in lifting it, but without touching it. Be sure to point the projection apertures on the gloves at the cube."
Il'lana rolled her shoulders once and cracked her neck. A psyche-up gesture, obviously. One arm raised slightly, palm facing towards the cube. Her other remained at her side for now - better to just do one-at-a-time until it was tested proper.
What Il'ana's gesture resulted in was a sudden shift in the gravitational constant of the cube, and the surrounding space around the cube, causing it to lift... then tilt, and spin out of control before falling aside.
"Ah... two hands perhaps. One lifting, one stabilizing." Suggested the New Tur'listian. "We'll have to fix that in the next version."
The bull nodded, remembering a pottery class she took a long time ago. Her second arm met the first's height, but this time the palm was angled - like a potter stabilizing clay - at the cube as the first repeated its gesture.
With Il'lana's added effort, the cube again was brought airborne, and this time, it remained stable, guided by the Lmanel's most minor of gestures, almost an extension of her hands in a way.
"Looks good, if you were not aware, that cube weighs around three-hundred kilograms... but ah, put it down, we're reading a spike in the cooling system." There was a little annoyance in the New Tur'listian's voice, and, there was a soft sound, whispers, it seemed he was speaking to someone else with the microphone still on "It should not be doing that this soon, adjust the coolant supply through the umbilical... it should be moving over six-hundred kilograms for such a short period before overheating. Prototypes..."
Il'lana dropped it like it was hot. Which it would be, she considered, if she continued to do the action. In her usual gruff tone, she said, "Lemme know what to do when this thing isn't gonna explode."
"Don't worry, since we don't have the power on-board, it is very unlikely that it would explode. Though, if it does, you won't have time to worry about it." Came the New Tur'listian's reassurance... if it could be called that. "Cool-down has already brought the unit within operational ranges. We can start the next test." As his words came through the speaker, the New Tur'listian directed the laser-pointing device to rectangular box-like object, another metal one, but this one had a distinctively lighter grey to it, at a glance it was likely steel. Though, at a closer inspection, there were gaps in the box's surface, indicating that it was hollow. "Alright, we have a structure made out of a series of steel bars. It is welded together through molecular fusion, so the box is not going to be too flimsy... but, what we want you to do is lift it like you did the last one, but, we also want you to try to rip it apart, through gestures."
"Like a cardboard box? I can do that. . ."
The bull repeated the same gestures she made the first time, first lifting, then stabilizing. Then, her fingers curved a little, as if she were grasping something. Her hands flipped, facing outwards. Il'lana then pulled apart softly.
Almost as if possessed, the box lifted from the ground like the cube before, this time though, it remained stable, that was until Il'lana began to instruct the device through her gestures to exert a shearing force upon the box. There was a sound from the box, a humming, as if someone had struck a tuning fork. There was a vibration which resonated through the steel structure, as molecules were acted upon by electromagnetic waves, there was even a notable increase of heat from the box... until it began to spark and produced an arcing discharge between the glove and the box.
"Whoa there! Step back, hands down, we've got an instability in the EM field projector." Came the voice of the New Tur'listian engineer. It seemed, they had encountered a design limitation.The bull obliged.
"What happened.... what do you mean it 'went out of range'? Came the whispered voices again. "So you're saying it can't do it? Alright, fine, we'll focus on discharge capabilities then, and not on high-output systems."
"Alright, seems that I just lost a bet to someone down in the design room." Came the voice; "We're going to change it up though, we've determined the lifting capabilities, and the limitations of the shearing abilities. Now, we're going to test something more 'straight forward'."
"And it's fine to keep goin'? I don't drive a car after a tire popped."
"No worries, what happened was a EM discharge reaction with the ferromagnetic reactive item. In other words, it is like when you put a fork in the food heater."
"Alright. better not lose a finger. What's next?"
"What we're going to do is be a bit more direct." There was a relocation of the laser pointer, to a small bin which was filled with what appeared to be ball bearings. "We want you to pick up a few of those metal balls, and, gesture to throw them as hard as you can at that box you were trying to move... wait." There were more whispers. "Better make it that wood cube. We have some questions about velocity up here."
"Throw them with the glove abilities alone, or throw them with my arms, with the gloves too?"
"Just the gloves, we know you're a tough one, but we're not testing that yet."
Il'lana shrugged, rolled her shoulders once more. She made a coaxing motion to the bin of bearings, like she were telling a child to get up.
With the gesture of the Lmanel, a single ball bearing lifted from the bin.
"Try to grab a couple more, just like you were gesturing, it is recognized well by the system."
She nodded, then continued the motion - this time with her left hand added to the mix.
As Il'lana made her gesture, at first a single ball climbed from the bin, before it was joined by four more, making a total of six.
"Alright, now, we want you to direct one ball at a time to hit the wooden cube. As fast as you can direct each one to go. Really put a gesture to it as if you want that ball to do some hurt, alright?"
The bull used one hand to maintain the height of the lot while her other connected the nail of her middle finger to the tip of her thumb - a flicking gesture - and released, hoping to send one bearing off.
Just as gestured, a single ball left the group, whizzing through the air until it impacted the cube... and bounced off. "Uh, we think you have to put some more 'pep' into your gesture. More aggression." came the voice in a follow-up.
Il'lana backhanded the next gesture, as if she were swatting a bug away.
With the gesture from the Lmanel, not just one bearing flew, the whole remaining five of them followed the gesture, screaming through the air with enough speed to cause a distinctive 'crack', even before they impacted the surface of the wooden cube, and as the impact was made, the surface of the rather nicely polished wooden cube was rendered into five distinctive splintered craters as the balls embedded themselves into the wood.
There was the sound of a chuckle which emanated from the speakers "Too much aggression, would recommend some pointing next time, though, that was a successful test." There was a pause from the speakers at that moment, before the voice continued. "Alright, handshake and link-up is completed with your neural interface implant. When you think an intent, the device will respond, but it has to be a clear thought, we have the intention recognition threshold set high." explained the voice. "What we want you to do, is think back to your physics classes, or something similar, and think about what a microwave is, or does, just picture that bit of the EM spectrum, and point your preferred hand at that wooden cube, and apply an intent to project a microwave from the aperture. It sounds pretty abstract, but, that's how this works since we don't have you linked up to a cybernetic interface."
Il'lana aimed her palm at the crate and thought about a microwave. Not the signal, but the device that's used to reheat food inefficiently. The turning on. That time when she was a child and left the fork in the plate accidentally.
In the control room, there was a sensor read-out of the Lmanel's mind, isolating which parts of her brain were being stimulated, and, there was an extrapolation of the purpose-intent which was related to those impulses. Whispers sounded from the speakers again Hunger response is present... unknown reason. Minor anxiety. Within bounds.
Though, what was far more of an attention grabber was the smoke which began to rise from the wooden cube, and the start of smouldering flames where the steel balls had embedded themselves.
"Alright, now, we want you to change it up. We want you to think on a more intense form of radiation, ah, gamma-rays will work. Try to recall the explanations of that portion of the EM spectrum that were provided in your pre-testing primer materials."
This, thankfully for Il'lana, was a bit easier considering the material was fresh in her mind. She pointed her palm once more and thought hard about the information.
There was a high-pitched whine which sounded from the glove, before a narrow circle of space on the surface of the wooden cube erupted into flames, and then, the wooden cube let out a horrendous sound that almost sounded of thunder, as the wood gained heat too quickly, too unevenly, and splintered in half sending embers scattering about the test chamber.
"Terminate the projection, EM emitter test completed." Stated the voice, with a touch of hurriedness to his words. The bull obliged once more. "Ah, we're going to need to transition to field-projection testing on the fly here... ah... before that cube bursts into flames, we want you to project an EM field around it, a force field, to keep the air from it for... um... about ten seconds, just keep the field tight."
Dancer made a cupping motion with both palms, as if she were holding a ball out to somebody, and aimed at the incinerating cube. As she did this, thoughts of bubbles around objects projecting in her head. Her hands slowly pushed together.
There was an immediate response, as the smoke which climbed from the smouldering and soon to combust cube began to arc, then, halted on the force field's surface. "Tighten up the field some more." guided the New Tur'listian's voice. The bull's hands cupped together, holding a much smaller mental ball than the one she thought of previously.
With the adjustment, the smoke visibly contracted, and soon the glow of the embers ceased as the fire-to-be was snuffed out. "Alright, thermal readings indicate that the fire is suppressed. Vent systems on full. Though, we're going to need you to vacate the test chamber. Above you is an open hatch... twenty meters distance from you, we want you to think about getting up there."
Il'lana nodded. She thought about simply stretching her winds and lifting, though hers were smaller than most. Lift, lift, lift. . .
Almost as if the Lmanel were riding on happy thoughts alone, her feet left the ground, as a combination of EM and gravitic forces acted upon the area of her body, and caused her to ascend as directed. She decided it was in her best interest to not look down, and instead focused her attention on the hatch above her.
Upon ascending through the hatch, it automatically closed just as she cleared it, and an automated umbilical connection went about seizing the power umbilical which was connected to the device, and once on the other side she was face-to-face with something no one really wants to see upon entering a room... a remotely operated sentry gun, with six gleaming barrels, pointed in her direction. Only redeeming fact was that by the look of the barrels, it was a low-caliber unit, without the robust barrels needed for a high-velocity projectile.
". . . Did I miss something in the waiver?" Il'lana asked craning her neck around.
"Negative, you signed the death and dismemberment waiver." Came the voice, speaking over the next set of speakers. "Don't worry, we're not going to intentionally shoot you dead or something. Otherwise, we'd not be chit-chatting right now."
There was an audible beeping chime from the sentry turret, as a laser marker shined upon Il'lana's chest.
Il'lana raised both arms, hand perfectly flat, and thought about a perfect wall between her and the turret.
"Good initiative, thinking ahead like that. Hold steady." Came the New Tur'listian's voice, even as he documented just how that one gesture and command were so perfectly programmed and readily available.
There was another whine, this one more distinctive, as the barrels of the turret gun began to spin, and with it, came streaks of glowing white tracer fire which danced before Il'lana's gaze, streaking off into various directions as ripples of visible light bounded from each impact like a rippling pond moving in fast-forward. Though, what soon began to happen, was that the gloves upon Il'lana's hand began to get hot, hot enough to easily imply that something was very wrong.
"Doc, cooling systems!" Il'lana called almost instinctively, trying to maintain her focus on the wall.
What came from the speakers was a casual voice, nowhere near as much worry as should be attached to such a situation "Noted. We want you to deactivate the sentry, or disable it, your choice... you have seconds before EM projector burn-out."
The bull did the thing she certainly thought she could do and that was crush. Or, at least, smash the barrels together by crumpling her fingers into a fist with the right focus.
There was a momentary flicker of the shield which Il'lana had produced as the EM field projectors were reallocated to the projection of a manipulation field, which served well enough to cause the barrels of the sentry to bow slightly, enough to cause the trajectories of the discharged projectiles to waiver, sending them streaking past Il'lana just barely, but not enough to leave her without anything to show for it, as a round tore through her bicep.
"You already forgot the limitations- ""AH SHIT!" "-of the box test, didn't you?" Came the voice of the New Tur'listian.
There was a pause in firing from the sentry, as the laser-marker left Il'lana for but a moment, as the sentry aimed at a designated marker on the nearby wall, firing several times... it was recalibrating.
Il'lana focused her own L'manel capabilities for a moment, just a temporary shift in her muscle mass to stop the bleeding long enough to focus on stopping the machine. One hand raised, and she thought about all those stories she had heard of lightning hitting electronics and frying them to a crisp. She tried to focus that thought - electricity and fried wires into the Sentry.
There was a moment of unresponsiveness from the equipment which the Lmanel wore, it was interpreting her thought processes, and was having difficulty due to the pain impulses and the adrenalin which was present thanks to the situation at hand. Though, an interpretation was quickly made, as the built in processor of the unit evaluated the situation requirements, robbing some of the control from the Lmanel, as EM-based discharges were bypassed, in favor of an electrogravitic energy build-up, and discharge, as the release of energy impacted the sentry, causing it to spark and crackle, before some vital part within the unit exploded causing it to fall from its mounting in useless chunks.
"Test successful. Congratulations, you've completed the Beta test phase." Came the New Tur'listian's voice. "Medical personnel are on their way, just sit tight."
"I-I will!" The bull growled through grit teeth, slumping a wall and cursing profusely.
With a low hum, the capacitors within the tested device released their charge, and the power umbilical disengaged, leaving Il'lana with an unpowered device, which any Lorath knew was the sane thing to do before entering a room with someone who had just been unexpectedly shot at.
Elsewhere, in an adjacent room, a group of New Tur'listians exchanged an assortment of gleaming shining stones, with various bets on unit performance fulfilled by the testing procedures. Overall, the day had been productive, to say the least.
For Il'lana, it was just the first of many tests, since the job of test subject was one that was contract based, for a term of service... it was certainly not the last she'd be entering a test chamber.
