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Nekovalkyrja Operating System

There is nothing as unexplanatory, and yet so perfect as a black box. This only serves to verify that women are incomprehensible wonders to the minds of mankind collectively. It is open ended, leaving much room for interpretation in a setting where a good deal of things are explained; there's lots of potential here with an idea such as this.

The only problem I can see arising is complaints about it's open ended nature in the first place, but seeing that there's no comment yet, I'll abstain for now.

I don't have a lot of clout, but long story short, I'm saying I like it.
 

Well yeah I have to agree with CadetNewb's assessment on the following points. I list these because I would like to refer to them later comments and add to them later:
  1. The concept of "black box" is perfect for this article as CadetNewb said. Taking CadetNewb's reason to a more general level, this is because the human brain is an incomprehensible wonders in the eyes of mankind collectively.
  2. One of the good things about the article is that due to its open-endness, there potential for individual "interpretation in a setting where a good deal of things are explained".
  3. One of the bad things is that due to its open ended nature their is definitely the possibly problems and complaints arising simply due to association of Murphy's Law with open-ended situations.

Ok, I personally think this article should be approved great simply due to (2) because I feel a lot articles have lacked of (2) and, therefor, not really been all that useful to any new player like I was in January. I also feel like (2) is part of what help to keep SARP alive even today.


I do think (3) should be addressed. In fact, I feel like most of the open endedness deal with the mainly these computer questions:
  • What is the purpose of the Neko OS?
  • What should the Neko OS be able to do?
  • What objects or processes must a Neko OS intended to control or manage?
  • How does the Human Brain of Yamataian factor in? Is the Yamataian brain replaced by a Neko OS or is the brain part of the OS?
  • If OS never explained to its users or syntax then how can Yamataian's heal a Neko OS or doctors do their job properly? Basically are their professionals that have a need to know how Neko OS works in order to their job? If so, how should those professional behave to keep the OS classified? What moral and ethical obligations do these professional have to keep the OS classified?
However, it seems to me that most of these questions are computing or computer science issues, field which I really don't have much expertise. Therefor, I think this article really needs to be reviewed by someone who works in computer science or a computing field and they should specifically address either publicly or privately the issue of (3) that I and CadetNewb raised.
 
Purpose: Easy, it's to provide an interface for the body's inhabitant to direct and control the neko body's less organic/natural functions and provide a framework for those functions (a computerized memory, hemosynthetics, gravity manipulation, subconscious/unconscious/autonomous functions foreign to biological systems, rapid systematic analysis, organization, and interpretation of sensory data for the user at speeds and detail beyond the capacity of an organic mind to perform on a conscious level, and more) to operate within.

What it should be able to do: See the above.

What it should be able to control: See this section on the mental features and this section describing the brain of the NH-7 user manual to provide a starting point. Adapt for whichever neko body you are applying the OS to.

Does the brain/mind change from Yamataian to neko? Yes and no. A neko is created and her brain loaded with a nascent personality and the OS at 'birth', but a human/Yamataian/other being transferring to a nekowalkyrie body has his or her mind copied, then implanted into the neko body along with the OS. The OS is an operating system for the body, not the mind itself. An example could be comparing a neko with Tony Stark's Iron Man suit. The suit has an OS to govern its functions, but Tony Stark still inhabits it and directs it, and his personality is still intact. A transferree into a neko body is essentially just "wearing" it. Also...I think Yamatians and current-model nekos share the same brain type (both are computerized). I could be wrong.

Note: You asked if the brain was a part of the OS or if the OS replaced the brain. I hope you meant "mind", not "brain", because the brain is the physical matter that the mind (which is nature's version of an operating system, actually) is stored in. The OS is stored in the neko brain and so is the mind of the neko born into or the human/other being that transferred into that body.

Wes should cover the next question. But, to my understanding, outside of the company who manufactures nekos and develops the OS, there are no professionals. Nekos self-heal physical wounds and any mental problems are mostly on the psychological level, not operational (OS) level. If there is a problem with the Operating System (I can think of one example right now), then they would probably save a copy of the body's inhabitant mind/soul and then transfer them to a new body with a new copy of the OS. The glitch would be incidental to that body, likely due to trauma, otherwise the entire neko line with that particular OS would be incapacitated.

Finally, on your last comment, no, this article does not need to be reviewed by a comp-sci technician simply because the OS is intentionally left vague. I say it should be reviewed by Wes, but with as much information that is available (assuming the OS hasn't changed much since the NH-7 series) I don't see why any more detail is needed. Also, the GMs should already be looking out for abuse of any purposely-vague system, whether it be this OS or not.
 
Wall of text attack! And crap, Missing jumped the gun on me - Grr! *shakes fist*

  • What is the purpose of the Neko OS?

Wes seemed to adhere to the concept of a digital 'mind'. I think one strong reason why it's even around is to provide nekovalkyrja a certain information-managing way to compete with nepleslian cybernetics - nekos are Wes' favored race and he hates having it play second fiddle to anything (I'm not saying this to be cynical).

More importantly, it reinforces their identity as artificially made lifeforms too with deep ties with the computerized world of their military.

  • How does the Human Brain of Yamataian factor in? Is the Yamataian brain replaced by a Neko OS or is the brain part of the OS?

There is no 'human brain of Yamataian'. Yamataian and nekovalkyrja brains are the exact same thing. The Yamataian one simply doesn't have the specialized features deemed reserved for military applications.

I'd like to interject that in my opinion, the distinction between Yamataian and Nekovalkyrja races is a little silly. For all intent and purposes... the nekovalkyrja are the 'Yamataian' - it'd be far more accurate to call them the 'valkyrja' subrace of the Yamataian species. I don't think the nomenclature held up well to the passage of time and that things have evolved significantly differently from when both were thought separate (from the racial 'distinction' between the civilian and valkyrja variant to the ship registry codes starting with NG for Nekovalkyrja Gunship instead of YG for Yamataian Gunship).


Yeah, of course. Wes stresses that the NH-29 is still a military weapon and Wes is also adamantly possessive of the nekovalkyrja race because it's so iconic to the image of his signature faction... so little knowledge of it leaks out, though I'm sure that intelligence agencies of other interested faction probably credibly found ways around that if we're realistic about it (even if we won't ICly acknowledge it) anytime it suits a plot's purpose. The acceptance of restraining devices made by DocTomoe underscores that, I think.

The technicalities are mostly glossed over, I think. The next paragraph after the next quote will likely explain why.

  • What should the Neko OS be able to do?
  • What objects or processes must a Neko OS intended to control or manage?

When we were working on the NH-29, Wes seemed determined to streamline the nekovalkyrja to make it more accessible, user-friendly and not bogged down in technicalities that players could 'exploit' to get around some GM-inflicted conditions made to hamper, challenge or disable them. After all, if you make something too perfect as a setting manager, then it becomes hard to bring about set backs in the face of adversity.

So, most of the neko OS is meant to be used intuitively, with gravity control a bit like learning to swim or ride a bicycle, and the texting, recording, file sharing options the more 'computerized'... but that's sort of like having an iPod's HUD in your head/field of vision.

There's likely much of what is passive, like healing, which is automated. Other things like nekovalkyrja eyesight probably is a mix of both - if a neko squints when she looks at something, wanting to see infrared the body probably follows up. Skin vision is probably treated as passive with the eyes remaining the primary sensors unless the neko wants to be alert, or wants to focus on a specific point of his skin vision just lie she would do if she willed her eyes to look up, down, right, left...

Skin stealth, which has become something of a rarity, likely has a very sophisticated interface open to those whom use it because it also opens up skin holography - creating a volumetric image of panties alone probably takes a whole lot of processing power to think up, which could lead us to either beleive the images are prepared ahead of time or 'crafted', or downloaded from some source to then be useable... then again, when skin stealth is in use, the neko effectively projects volumetrically what her skinvision sees at a certain angle and then projects that image on the mirror-opposite direction of herself to simulate invisibility (and this is supposedly good enough to not only fool visual light perception, but also infrared). It could be, in light of that, that the nekovlakyrja has the ability to think all of that up in exacting 3d perception just on the fly - which makes it a potentially very powerful way to structure and rapidly define what we call 'imagination'.

I sort of glossed over gravity control above, but it's probably one other function which is rather complex. It doesn't just involve 'flying', but also intuitively maneuvering, taking into account G forces, manipulating those to use it to influence body mass in order to perform special effects (punching someone while actually having five times your mass can be pretty punishing) while putting enough safeguards in so to avoid the nekovalkyrja user from going overboard and harming herself (the 100 kph speed limit is probably more a software one than a physical one - can you imagine the staggering damage/potential for injury a nekovaljyrja has if she could go and collide into something, make a hard landing, etc...).

The SPINE interface is likely a way to significantly expands on that, but really, all the user is doing is connecting his brain perception and decisional capabilities to the power armor or starships computer interface to take control of them. SPINE is for all intent and purposes a glorified, specialized, wireless networking function good enough to provide imerssive integration with quantum-computer-run vehicle command interfaces that compatibly expand on a neko's consciousness and task-processing capabilities (not that the neko is able to think faster, even though the SPINE connection is likely as fast as the you-don't-need-to-take-the-time-to-speak mind-to-mind communication, but that the vehicle probably seized the intended though and branches it out in other operations likely to meet the intended purpose of the neko's original command).
 
To be honest, dusk/phacon, those are questions I want explore and eventually answer in the plot.

Also, I need to somehow address in the article Doc's cursed Neko Bondage Device. I have a plan.
 
This thread is suffering a sudden, and malignant case of TL;DRitis. Terminal, I'm afraid.
 
If you want, Jimmy, next time I'll keep the information to myself rather than share it. I'm sure it would've taken less bother and effort for me to not to write the post above, especially if you weren't interested in the insights shared.

Seriously, your post above is only one thing: rude. I don't even understand why you bothered to post it, especially if you're not even interested in reading the thread's more detailed content, seeing that what this delves in is actually providing more detail and background information for the nekovalkyrja OS.

Doshii Jun said:
Also, I need to somehow address in the article Doc's cursed Neko Bondage Device. I have a plan.

SPINE typically doesn't offer room for any invasive communication inside for anything but certain medical interventions... and those are merely to help alter the growth and end development of a youngling - for example, Yukari could create a youngling on her own, but would need a medical intervention to have the youngling also 'share' in traits from Tom Freeman's DNA makeup.

It'd be silly to have the NH-29 created with SPINE being anymore of a vulnerability. Therefore, I myself consider the Neko Bondage Device to be a submission created on misinformed assumptions. Seeing that its creator (or anyone else) never seems to have ever used it, that Wes or any SAINT organization (including Helen) never seemed to field it... well, I've been 'conveniently' pretending it didn't exist. As far as I'm concerned it's just there to fulfill some of Tomoe's BDSM tendencies. *big flat shrug*
 
I think I can address it more directly, after reading the submission carefully.

The device can't access a Neko's memories or encrypted data, just motor functions and some other systems. Since it can't get at the soul of the Neko, it's really only using parts of the OS that Neko consciously uses anyway. I think that can be used in the OS article as an example of just how black box the OS is.

I don't want to go too deeply into it, but I'm not concerned anymore. I'll get it covered in future submissions.
 
I have always wondered about that, I never could understand how it would work, because the Neko controls the SPINE interface. After all, a Neko on a bridge with SPINE interfaces has to engage their interface. I do not see a prisoner willingly activating and reliquishing control of the their interface. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
To be brief about it: I'm going to operate on the idea that there is a emergency control mechanism within NH-29 that Helen happened to find (but wasn't supposed to find).

That mechanism is a holdover from the NH-7, left in the NH-17 and buried somewhere inside the NH-22. It was even farther buried inside the NH-29, which is why it takes so long to work on the 29.
 
So it's as if the OS versions were all built on top of each other, instead of the more recent ones being coded from scratch? Like Microsoft's use of MS-DOS for the Windows OS?
 
I Approve, however this is definitely something Wes needs to look at.

Awaiting Setting Manager Approval
 
The document to me is not really ready for approval.

It is more of what the OS isn't than what it really does. Bottom line what does it provide the average new person to help them understand how it works in game.

Examples to me of issues that the page should take care of:

The Neko OS is a black box that has never been explained to its users. Shouldn't then this page serve to provide some insight. At present it doesn't.

The NH-7 page 1-5. Mental Components gives a list of components and for lack of a better term subroutines and software modules.

From the page
The Neko OS, being a black box, has no traceable history.

The Entire line of Nekovalkyrja is traceable and so would the supporting OS starting with the:

NH-1 Warmaiden
And ending with the Current NH-29 series.

Pnugen and later KFY would have a complete copy / archive of the various forms of the OS. After all its only been around for 30+ years, and they are constanting adding and removing modules.
 
OK, I'll come as clean as I can. Also, I sent Wes a PM about this so I can talk to him candidly about my plans.

As I said in my first post for this topic, it's purposefully vague and purposefully does not state what it can do and how it has been modified.

I don't want to provide insight. We've had no insight for years; all I'm doing is coalescing everything we don't know.

I want to be the one to define this OS, taking into account as much history and player creation as I possibly can to do that. I plan to do this through a plot I am writing out, which I will unveil by next year, I hope.

ICly, the Neko OS is barely discussed anywhere, and nowhere is it discussed in-depth. There's no traceable history at all; most player experiences with the NH-17 are locked in an archive and some models before that have maybe one line of explanation to them (NH-3, for example).

No one has tried to truly take on the OS, define it, make sense of it, put it in the historical context of canon, and explore its seemingly endless possibilities.

I, and the players I recruit, are going to be the ones to do that. We're going to be the explorers of the Neko OS and what it can truly do, among other things.

OOCly, as well, the OS has been purposefully left vague to make it easier for players to just do what they want with a Neko body.

What this submission gives players new and old is a starting point. It's designed to tell the reader, "No one really knows anything about this, but its use is innate. Just act natural." That's exactly how I want to keep it.

tl;dr: I'm going to change things, and I'm asking for the trust of this site. I do not plan on invalidating anyone's previous posts whatsoever, only provide a potential way of viewing them.
 

I know this won't change anything; however, I did want to make a comment about the reason I posted before what I did. Instead of trying to change you opinion about something, I was mainly try to get you guys to think and discuss the technology issues that may arise from an OS. From the responses Doshii, Fred, and other gave I think you guys satisfied my original goal.

Overall I thought this was a good article when I originally read it, and it is probably even a better article with the changes that have been made.
 
Nashoba said:
The document to me is not really ready for approval.

Does this mean I'm being overridden?

If so... Very well.

Either way, I'm eager to see what becomes of all this.
 
My Statement still stands. As a document that 'defines' the Neko OS, this page is far from Approvable.

As for what Doshii wants to use in his yet undefined plot to help define the OS. It serves the point, but I do not see where it is really something canon. Its a starting point for the definition. That's what I'm saying.
 
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