RP: 5th XF Mission 004-03: Early Arrivals (YSS-Yukika)

Jatsu watched as the others left, then looked at Suika. He sighed, then walked up next to Aoiko. "I don't really think we need her...we can handle it alone," he whispered.


Aoiko leaned up to Jatsu's ear. "Now, now," she whispered, "her dossier claims that she knows what she is doing with a computer. I would like the two of you to work together on this, please."


"I assure you, Kimura, that I will not be any sort of hinderance with this project,"she said, showing little facial response to the attempt to oust her from the project.


Jatsu looked into Aoiko's eyes. "Okay...fine." He looked at Suika and thought, Damnit, I really need to get encrypted telepaty installed in this body on my next leave.


Aoiko stared back for a moment, then patted Jatsu's arm. "Good show," she said. Gesturing over to the nook just to her left, she continued. "I believe you should be able to use that console to work. The permissions are already granted. Do have fun."


"Well, I think we first must expand on this artistic idea of snow," Suika said, "if it is to be the basis for the personality, before we do anything. While the idea Izusuhara presented is certainly a good one, it is rather abstract for our purposes here."


Jatsu smiled as Aoiko touched his arm, then quickly frowned. "Wait, aren't you going to work with us?" He turned his head to Suika and said, "Yeah, that's true. We should probably get a name first, then determine the personality specifics from that." He looked back into Aoiko's eyes, then motioned toward the console.


Aoiko swivelled her chair around to her left, following Jatsu's gaze. "I am right here," she said, then looked to the console. "Will you be performing the randomised-list selection? I have a few names that I like, if you wish."


"Will we be making the list a compilation of selected names, take them from database, or compile them from phonetic components? I would imagine simply retrieving them from the database would be easiest, but it does lack a degree of uniqueness."


"We just took the names from the database for the Akuro," Jatsu said as a window materialized in front of him. He started typing into it, then continued, "But if Ao... err... if our CO has some names in mind, we should limit it to those." He moved the window over to Aoiko, Can we talk alone when we're done here? written on it.


Tilting her head slightly to regard the window, Aoiko said, "Hai, Kimura-san. But I should mention that I only had the names 'Kaede' and 'Yukiko' in mind. I rather like them. Do feel free to expand the list somewhat."


"Hmm..,"she said as she synchronized herself with the core's interface. While it certainly lacked the tactile stimulus of tapping thingsout on a keyboard it was ever so much faster, more efficient as she saw it. "Since this a exploratory vessel first and foremost, perhaps we should include the names of prominant scientists and the like from history, such practices have always been popular in the naming convenctions of ships."


Jatsu smiled, thinking, Finally, some time to ourselves. "I rather like those names. Yukiko's pretty similar to Yukika, though...still, it's cute." He looked at Suika. "Well...I don't know, maybe. The most important thing about the name is that the CO likes it."


Aoiko raised her eyebrows slightly. "Whatever MEGAMI decides on is fine with me. A scientist's name is alright as well."


"Not to imping on the CO's authority nor the freedom of action granted to her by the Star Army",she said, nodding her head respectfully towards Murasaki," but we must keep in mind that none of us here will likely serve aboard this ship for more than a few cruises, 6, 8 years at most. No where near this classes projected lifespan.Iwould say that, therfor, we must choose a name that will be acceptable forall those who will serve beyond us."


Jatsu scoffed. "When the ship gets a new CO, they can redesign the AI however they want. But if she says she's fine with MEGAMI deciding, let's just hurry up and let MEGAMI decide." Damnit, if she weren't here we'd probably be done by now.


Aoiko waved a hand dismissively. "The name does not matter to me, nor do the wishes of whomever sits here next. Select one, or let MEGAMI select one. Either way is fine."


"Very well," she said entering the last in a series of paths of name databases for the simple program she and Kimura had been creating. "That should do it. The computer should take but a second to run the algorithim."


A moment later, a single word was displayed on the console screen. "Meitner?" Aoiko read out loud. "Interesting. Do proceed."


Jatsu quirked his brow. "Huh...two weird names in one day. Well, works for me. What's it mean? Let's get to work on the personality." He opened a new window with the AI control algorithms, and added 'Meitner' as the primary identifier.


Running a quick search of the older archives, she found a small snippet about the name,"Hmm, it seems she was a physicist back before the colonization of Yamatai. Unfourtunate that I can't find much on her... Yes, on to the traits for the personality. Good thing Kessaku includes a utility for this sort of thing. We would be here for a long time if they didn't."


"Well, that doesn't really help us with the personality," Jatsu said. "Whatever, let's just finish this already. The personality needs to show strength, concern for the crew...stuff like that."


"Indeed; Though this ship is currently engaged inexplorative activities, I would suggest the personality be something between a inquisitive explorer and a firm, logical warrior. Unlike the name, this is something that will be much harder to change afterthe changes are integrated into the core nexus."


Aoiko leaned back in her chair and clasped her hands in her lap, quietly listening to the two discuss their work.


Jatsu rolled his eyes. "Weren't you the one who just mentioned the utility Kessaku put in to make changing the personality easy? Trust me, it's not hard to change, we can do whatever the hell we want...so let's just do it already."


"I am afraid you are in error in that. The personality is involved in the processing and understanding incoming data. It has a signifigant effect on how the AI will store and interpert data in its associative network. Changing it after the fact can have drastic, and sometimes seriously detrimental, effects in how the system behaves and even the total loss of large chunks of data. But that would be a discussion for another time i think."


"Soga-san is changing it right now, though," Aoiko pointed out. "Or am I mis-interpreting?"


Jatsu rubbed his temples. "The personality determines how it interacts with the crew. It's most like the user interface of other software. Data's stored the same way regardless of the personality, and the interpretations only affect crew interaction. We're not changing the kernel." He sighed. "Seito, what kind of personality do you want?"


"No, they do not. The MEGAMI AI, though not a true one, still operates much like any ascociative network. The system is currently operating with its default paramters and filters, which we are changing here. Once these are changed the systems maintenenance systems reconfigure the neural network to accomadate the personality. This personalityis how the system interperts data and judges the value and wisdom of choices and has a effect on where data is stored within the core system. Again, like any neural network, changes to how incoming information is interperted can have drastic effects elsewhere in the intellegence. But yes, no need to argue this here."


Aoiko tilted her head slightly. "I have made my opinion known. It is up to the two of you, now. I will not interfere with experts."


"Yes, lets. So, I would say it should be curious, logical, and scientific yet also posses afirmness of action and some maternal impulse, though not to much. It must not interfere with missions, even if they are dangerous."


"Such things are already hard-coded into the MEGAMI. She would complain to me if you try to touch them, so you need not worry," Aoiko helpfully pointed out.


"Yeah, fine, sounds good. Let's get to work already," Jatsu said. He brought up a window and started working on the personality."


"Yes," Suika said as she began to run through the utility, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused as she concentrated much of her thought on it. While the utility certainly sped things along quite a bit, it was still going to take a fair chunk of time to fully complete the alterations.


And time passed. The reprogramming continued smoothly, and Aoiko's interest drifted away to paperwork, and eventually, a copy of The Art of War. After some time, the program was finished.


Finally, Jatsu thought. "Okay, Meitner...say something. Tell me about yourself."


"Hello, Kimura-san and Soga-san!" a soft voice spoke from the console speakers. "I'm Meitner, MEGAMI of the Yukika. I hope we'll get along well, serve the Empire with distinction, and learn as much as we can about the reigon through our missions."


Jatsu leaned back in his chair. "Good. She works. Guess we're done here." He turned around and looked at Aoiko.


Aoiko nodded. "It sounds fine. Now then... Soga-san, would you please draw up the appearance? I am rather partial to floor-length white hair in this case. Besides that, it is up to you. Please pardon me, now, I have a bit of business to attend to." She rose from her chair and nodded to Jatsu, then walked towards the door to the hallway.


Jatsu stood up and stretched. "Well, I guess you can handle this. Wouldn't want to get in your way," he said with a hint of sarcasm, then followed Aoiko out into the hall.


Nodding towards the two as they left the room, then moved towards the center of the room. "Meitner, load Neko apperance generator and display in the center of this room. Set R-factors equal to 3.77615,7.43239, and 0.78502." One she finished Meitner acknowledged with a soft chirp as the holoemitters activated and a slightly transcluscent neko with gray,shoulder length hair and pale white skin appeared in the center of the room. As she looked the motionless avatar up and down, walking aslow circle around it," Restrict folicle length from 120 to 165 cm; hair color to 240-248-255 or higher; Bias height towards upper end; darken skin tone 35%. Rebuild model." The avatar lost cohesion for a second and then reformed; the cirsp white/white-blue hair now reaching down to just below the knee, theskin a healthier shade of white-tan. "Hmm, getting closer. Increase body differential to 3.67cm; change eye color to 50-205-50, +- 5%; Bias frame height towards 160cm; Rebuild." Again, the avatars form blurred out as the computer ran the calculations to generate a randomized form. As it reformed its lime-green eyes where just below Suika's eye level, the skin slightly darker and the frames buildslightly larger. "Good, good, I think that is just about it. One last thing to add," she said as she ran through a catalog of birth marks within the generation programs extensive library. She finally settled on a small, sylized flower. Reaching over she touched the avatars at the lower left of the crook of the neck and the small flower appeared. Swirling her finger around to gets its size and orientation to her likely, she stepped back, looking it over. As a final change she touched two locks of hair on the avatars front, changing both two a dark cyan. "There, I believe that is it, unless the captain wishes to change anything. Meitner, activate avatar and save changes to core databank."

The captain's quarters were dimly lit, the wood panelling and subdued upholstry lending a comforting feeling to the room. Aoiko stepped inside, and shut the door after Jatsu. "Ne, Jatsu-san," she said, clasping her hands behind her back. "Does this mean you have considered my offer?"


Jatsu smiled, tilting his head slightly and looking at Aoiko. "I already told you, Aoi...there's no way I could have refused. And you don't need to add the san." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least we finally have some time to ourselves...but I wonder if it was okay to leave her to work on that alone? I hope she doesn't screw anything up..."


Aoiko shook her head slightly. "I would not worry. She could not possibly be _that_ bad." She cocked her head slightly to regard Jatsu. "And you accept? Excellent, thank you! The inspection will come shortly..." Aoiko paused for a moment, squeezing her eyes shut. "But the mission itself should not take long at all. I will certainly look forward to it."


"Yeah, missions are nice," Jatsu said somewhat unenthusiastically, then changed the subject. "So...in your letter, you said something about having children..."


Aoiko just blinked. "Children?" she said, furrowing her brow. "I am reasonably sure I did not mention children. Did I mis-write a kanji? In what context was it?"


"Erm..." Jatsu stammered as his face gradually became red, "Well, it was something like you'd find the strength to bear my children by the next time we met..."


"Ah!" Aoiko glanced to the ceiling for a moment. "I believe I wrote 'strength to bear adversity.' Children, adversity... The same thing, really. Perhaps I miswrote it unconciously?" She looked back to Jatsu. "I am incapable of doing so, either way."


Jatsu nodded. "Yeah, I know that...that's part of why I didn't understand it..." He looked off to the side. Damnit, I hope there weren't any other misunderstandings, or this could get really uncomfortable.


Jatsu looked up at Aoiko and smiled. "Yes, yes you did." Well, at least that was accurate...it still seems like she likes me. Hell, she brought me to her room, after all...okay, time to find out for sure. "So, I take it that means you enjoyed our last date?"


"Very much so!" Aoiko said with a nod. "And it seemed like something I would like to repeat, though perhaps in a nicer setting. There are a number of very fine restaurants on the Hikari that we could attend."


Jatsu smiled. YES! "Definitely." He looked around, then smirked. "Of course, we're in a rather nice setting right now, as well."


Aoiko glanced down again, holding a hand to her mouth as she laughed lightly. "This is true," she said, looking back up with her neutral expression, "But it is more appropriate for after dinner, mmm?"


Well, I guess I have my answer, Jatsu thought, grinning. "Yeah, I suppose you're right..." He stretched, then said, "Well, the Taisho probably won't get here until tomorrow, and all the preparations seem to be complete...so what do you want to do while we wait?"


Ah, I see," Jatsu said looking at the book. I had no idea she liked those archaic devices, he thought. He grinned again. "Dinner, eh? Well, I suppse we could eat in here. The lighting's already pretty nice, just need a table and the meal, both of which Meitner should be able to take care of." I guess I could eat something light, the sashimi wasn't all that filling...plus, it's been a couple hours.


Aoiko nodded. "This is certainly true," she said. "But first, I would like to attend to the bridge, to ensure that they have not yet exploded _everything._"


Jatsu nodded. "Alright, then I guess I'll meet you there. First I need to head back to my room and change back into a normal uniform, since this is my only dress uniform." He laughed, "It's probably not a good idea to wear it for over a day before the Taisho gets here."

"NO, not there, THERE. Weld THERE. THERE, THERE, THERE!" Roger yelled at the lead minion, pointing very specifically at a cracked seam in the main engine support. One of these days I'm going to weld Stronach straight into the engine and be done with him! "And you, Minako, keep an eye on the lifiting arm and the strain gauge; if it goes over 1200KPa, the damn thing is going fall on my head and that will make me EXTREMELY unhappy, do you read me?" God, what I wouldn't do for a cig right about now... though kami knows my blood pressure would just be shooting out of my eyeballs.


"Yes, sir!" Stronach called, through gritted teeth. Minako just scowled over her controls.


"Darn it, babe. In top shape... yosha!. Im proud of you..." Hikomaru nodded repeatly while facing the motionless power armor. "We're about to be in some serious problems, so it would be wise to install a punch to the engines, because you know, ... just in case.". Then he turned back to the door of the bay, continuing his loud monologue while walking "Lemme ask the enginner if something could be done. Be right back, sugar". The geshrin rushed towards the engineering bay, seeking answers...


Hmph. See if you can put an overly happy shine on that one, screwball... "Watch the temp... good... go- eh?" Roger looked up to see Hiko running toward him. "HEY, slow down before you catch a displacer arm to the face! Right, now what do you want?"


"Whoa, it's ok. Its not like i haven't tasted even more distasteful things. Now, i was wondering..." Hikomaru looked around the working soldiers, holding his jaw with his right hand, with a ridiculous stare "Wee, things are busy around here. Anyways..." The geshrin looked back again at Roger "I was wondering if something could upgrade my armor's engine performace, because ithink we're going to need it"...


Hikomaru nodded to Roger, while grasping his wakizashi "Indeed, one of those lovely things. But i am refering to a FTL drive for tactical purposes."


Roger whistled. "Normally I wouldn't advocate that, as manuevering at FTL is something best left for navcomps which can handle it. But I rarely listen to reason, and if you're going to be the only guy out there saving our ass, I guess I may as well give you a fighting chance. Bring the suit here and I'll take a look at it; use the service lifts to transport it.


Hikomaru grinned towards Roger "Yosha! i knew i could count with you. Now if you excuse me, i gotta bring a cutie over here. Be right back!" the geshrin turned back to the bay, rushing again.


... wait, did he just call his armor... hokay, now I understand why he's the tactical officer. "Hey! Watch the bead!"


The rushed geshrin got out of the engineering bay, despite Roger warnings, he moved a bit too close to a dangerous thing or two. Quick movements avoided him to make a major mess, but something was for sure... his excitement. Some seconds were enough for him to get into the bay, where his super phalanx was still motionless. "ha! big news baby!" he shouted "You're about to make this man happier than he already is with a big FTL thing on you!..." he stopped for a second, focusing on the service lifts controls. "Argh, by the hell... where's the AI when you need her... anyways! if my memory serves me well, this is like this and this"... the geshrin started to move controls around, and with them, the service lifts, far from being precise, they were getting the job done. A


Roger gave a nod, and told Stronach to shut off the torch. "That should hold. Let off the tension, Haruo." THe crane arm slowly lowered, and it appeared the seam would be sufficient for the repair job. "All right, good job guys. Go get something to eat while I work on flyboy's suit."


With varying salutes, scowls, and silence, the three technical sentries shuffled up the stairs.


Hikomaru kept himself of the controls, occassionally getting closer to the service lift and the armor to calculate distances. He didn't want to do a single scratchto the armor. "Argh... well, no one said that this is gonna be simple... yosha! there looks good... man, it would be easier to me to plane it to the engineering bay"


Man, where the hell is that armor... As Roger mused this, he saw the armor slowly float in. Oh my god... "For the love of Kami, if you're that worried about your little armor getting scratched, how the hell are you going to cope when you actually get shot?!?


"Heh, armors are like katana. You wouldn't mind getting it shattered in battlefield, as it's spirit is made for battle. But the most detailed care is a must when you're not in battle, they're your companions and weapons, and you must take care of every aspect of them. So im trying to not scratch it because it would be dishonorable for it, but if it gets an arm ripped in battle, i would be proud. It's a bushi thing, that i wouldn't expect for you to understand." The geshirn replied to Roger, with a tone of both seriousness and discomfort at his comment. "but here it is, yosh!"


Holy frijole... he really buys into this whole "warrior spirit" thing, huh? Roger gave a quick sigh, and turned to the armor. "Well, I will admit that an insane amount of maintenance has gone into this thing. But with that in mind, I must warn you; the alterations that we'd have to make to give even a sliver of FTL capability will seriously uglify this sucker."


Hikomaru raised his eyebrow at Roger, barely understading his last statement "Well, do what you know. I'm not in a fashion mood, neither i am expecting to show off my armor to a damn mishu or a pirate. Im certain that you will do a good job, which in advance, i do thank you." the geshrin bowed towards ROger, having in mind the tsu within himself


"All right then. Just so long as we're clear on that. Now if you would, grab the latest shipment we got. I think that should have a lot of the stuff we need, and if nothing else, tell us what else we need fab'ed." Roger pointed over to the stack of crates which the last visitor to the bay had brought.


The pilot moved towards the aforementioned stack of crates, and started to line them on the floor carefully. "Nah, that would be good enough. a FTL drive will give me some advantage." Bringing his wakizashi out, ready to be sheated out, he asked "Ok, what do you need from these?"


"Well, I'll tell you one thing I DON'T need, and that's to have blades flying around my engineering bay; put that thing away before you stab yourself. I need the main drive, the two acclimators, and the power supply. The rest I don't think is designed to be clanked down on a bay, not a suit."


Hikomaru, beggining to feel a little upset about the engineer's comments, he added "Alright. I don't want to start a pointless argument about swords with you. Let's see... what you ask for is a little heavy, it seems, so I am using these lifts, but as you can see, I'm not so proficient with them. I am a soldier, not a worker ant."


Roger bit back another comment. At least he's competant, Roger... "... here, let me see those. I've had to use these things in the Akuro before." He strode over to the control panel and allowed Hiko to step aside. He toggled four switches, pulled an unlock level, and dialed the speed up, causing the four items to begin their travel towards Hiko's powerarmor. "Tell me when I'm within a meter; I really don't want to have to manually move it any further than I have to.


Hikomaru, however, didn't have the opportunity to say anything. The lights suddenly dimmed, and Meitner's voice resounded through the engineering bay. "Attention, all personnel. The Yukika is now on high alert." A window opened a moment later, displaying the image of a wide-eyed Aoiko. "A situation has developed. All senior staff to the bridge," she barked. "Now."