Eye of the Storm - Prelude 1 - RPLOG
Participants
Date
3/7/2016
Log
Laurel enters the room, taking a deep breath, remembering what happened last time. Similar to last time she carried her .44, but wearing casual jeans and a light blue T-shirt instead of her standard combat attire. She spoke more seriously than she tended to around others as well, a hint of steel in her voice. "Hello Hisoka, you wanted to talk?"
Hisoka nods "We are waiting on Astara." He had set up a small circular table for an impromptu conference. With chairs and a bottle of iced cold water. "I want to go over what we talked about. So come join me." He walks over to the table. As he does this he assumes his more human appearance.
Laurels expression softened a little further and the steel barely remaining in her voice as she nodded. She moved over to the table, pulling her legs up and crossing them under her on the chair, pushing her height to a slightly more normal level as she sat. She thought about asking if he'd mentioned any of it to her yet, but that would be foolish. If we went to such measures to keep the information hidden, this was probably the first meeting in person since last night. Of course she could be wrong.
Astara ducks through the entryway, immediately presented by the sight of Hisoka and Laurel sitting all business-like at a table. "Oh! I hope you weren't waiting too long for me," she comments as she approaches and sits in front of the table herself. "So. What are today's matters?"
Hisoka waves to Astara, then leans to nuzzle her affectionately before his expression changes to more business like once he leans away from her. "No we didn't wait much. You have always been rather punctual." Then he rests his hands on the table and crosses them together at the hands, interlacing his fingers lightly. "Laurel, you seem to have your head set straight. Before we pass on to the other matters I would like to know if you are interested in becoming the RSX head of RSX members of the Eye. Kind of like a liaison and kind of what Astara is currently."
Laurel was immediately thrown off by that. She took a deep breath, folding her hands in her lap. So much progress so quickly. "J-just like that?" she said, obviously unable to contain her surprise, but managing to keep her voice under control. "Of course. I mean, I'd be honoured." She took another breath, one hand moving just under her collar bone, pressing her palm down gently.
Astara looked a little surprised - but she was smiling right after that, wrapping an arm around Laurel's back and rubbing her arm; "Congratulations!" After bringing her arm back to her side, she went on to say "Well, you're clearly quite competent; it's a big reason why I brought you into our fold to begin with. We're a very fledgling organization, so we need all the help we can get."
Hisoka nods towards Astara "That. And we really need people who are competent." He gives a wide grin "I don't mind if they want to fuck but at least be productive. At any rate let's go over the first business: a viable Power Grid for the Eye's HQ. I may have come with an idea based on the Maison tour. We need at least a very competent crafter so Otto and Light would have to work together. We need a nanite shielded power plant. Not just any power plant, but an industrial level power plant. As in enough to power the whole building during the night. We would have to use nanite shielded copper wiring. And then comes the kicker. The power source has to be Mako Batteries. Also even with nanite shielding to the whole power grid, we still require to give it maintenance to make sure nanites are not eating through it."
Laurel nodded, understanding the basics, though she still didn't have a comprehensive understanding of how nanites actually worked. "I can't do a whole lot in regards to construction." she said, thinking for a moment, moving her hand back down to her lap, folding them again. "I think I understand, well enough at least."
Astara shrugs. "I understand what you're getting at, but electrical engineering isn't my expertise. I know enough about how electrical components work and how they're generally designed to be able to figure out how systems work, but that's about it." She rests her chin in her hand, thinking. "Running on mako batteries sounds like it'll be... expensive. /Really/ expensive, and an ongoing expense at that."
Hisoka smiles at Astara "It isn't expensive. Actually it is less expensive then our next plan. Which I will let Lorrie go over it. As for the power source I'm letting both of you know, since you are effectively Quartermasters of the Eye. Which means aside from me you have the same power I have."
Laurel smiled softly at Astara's compliment, looking more serious as soon as Hisoka mentioned her plan, and taking a long breath, drawing her thoughts together. "Alright. I want to create a large, open communications system within the city. WLAN doesn't seem like a very good option, so most like it will work in a similar way to old dial up, but without the phone lines. We'll broadcast information with radio waves, under an encryption that will only allow the intended receivers to read the information, since radio waves can be read by anybody. In essence, we're making the internet again, just within the current restrictions caused by nanites, and the connections will be super, super slow." She took a deep breath, "If I remember correctly, we'll be able to keep our own servers private, but at an extra cost. We can make it doubly so as I can write an encryption myself... with some practice. I haven't touched a computer in eight years." One of her fingers wrapped around another under the table softly. "Have I missed or misinterpreted anything?"
Astara's eyes widen as she hears the rather ambitious plans Hisoka has cooking. "That's... a lot to take in." she mutters, looking over to Hisoka to gauge his reactions. "I'm still curious how we shield computers from nanite degradation; they're by far the most delicate pieces of machinery we have, there's /viruses/ bigger than the individual transistors in there. But, besides from that... it could work. I suspect there's two paths to go down here, both with their own specific challenges: we either need to construct one or a handful of large communication towers, or many more smaller ones." A look dawns on her face, what clearly must be the look of an idea. "What can we learn from our comm units about this? They can transmit a respectable amount of data - voice and text, at least - and have damn near a universal coverage... at least inside of the bubbles. To be frank, I only really know for sure they work in Fairhaven and Woodfield."
Hisoka remains silent for a while. Then he speaks "Well there is a similar option that uses the bubble to bounce communications. My radiotelepathy works that way. So does every other similar thing like a cell phone. At any rate..." He gestures to the computer he has and his computer wrist watch "These are both nanite shielded. Obviously they were given to me by Zephyr. So here is the thing. I -can- get one encrypted comm relay at a whopping one hundred mako. In theory this means we can use our HQ as the server. I call it..." He chuckles a bit at the next thing he is about to say, considering the pun, which was not intended "...the EyeNet." He smiles now. "There is a catch though. We would have to actually serve as an ISP. And allow people to have access to it freely. Encrypting between points would have to wait as I am not sure it can be done. Furthermore without the go ahead from Zephyr building the relays can be..." He clears his throat "...not a good plan. Zephyr hates competition." He extends his hand creating an illusion. In it he shows the position of their HQ as a red dot. Then a blue area circle around the red point extending. "On the other hand my next plan is to slowly build the relays purchasing them from Zephyr. So that means a small deed for the place and an encrypted comm per place. A whopping one hundred and seventy five mako nanite charged. Obviously this is done once a month or so." The map shows the points being established as small red dots with a small circle extending. "Kind of like a wireless server."
Laurel nodded, pushing away her still-present awe for nanomagics and taking it in. She pshh'd softly at the pun, not even realizing her response, and spoke. "That's probably a lot faster than radio as well. If it's not too much trouble I'd like to learn more about the specifics of nanites. I'm convinced that there is always a way to secure information, even if it doesn't seem possible up front. Of course, I don't expect you to give me a lecture right here, even just pointing me towards someone with the information would be greatly appreciated." She didn't feel the need to respond to Zephyr not liking competition, having been warned enough about them lately that she would be careful not to step on their toes. The next part of the plan made her eyes widen at the cost. "I'm far from an economist Hisoka, but that sounds /incredibly/ expensive."
"Yeahhh, pissing off Zephyr is not a good idea no matter /where/ you are, but especially not when you're just about literally in the shadow of their tower. Whenever Aaron's work pays off and expands the safe zone... we'll be just on the outside border of it." Astara muses, nodding along with the others. "Mako certainly ain't cheap. I have my... sources, shall we say, to gradually attain it; but it only yields about 15 to 30 mako a week, depending on how the cards play out."
Hisoka nods with Astara "Yeah. Mako is not exactly cheap. But I do have my sources as well." He smiles a bit "Also we can't really hurry these things up. Even if we are..." He pauses to find a good allegory and grins with what he is about to say next "...cock blocked..." he laughs softly "...at least we tried. We learn from it and we attempt something else to better this world."
Laurel huffed, letting her shoulders roll a little to stretch them. "Well, at the very least I can look forward to what the results are. That's a nice change." She said, thinking of something and looking at Hisoka again. "Is there anything you need me to do in the mean time? Hell, anything I /can/ do?" Her focus snapped briefly, adding towards the end, "I also have a question, if you don't mind. What exactly would I need to do in order to get my hands on a nanite-shielded laptop?"
Astara smiles lightly at Laurel's statement. "Well... I've wondered about that, too."
Hisoka smiles "Well how about we deal with that after the HQ is established? I'm thinking we will inevitably have computers though to our specific needs. Plus as a roboticist its easier for me to just have one available. Techno nanomagics are great but some things are better with the actual thing on hand." He gestures to the nanotech computer "That one serves a s a tether for my watch one. It's how I make use of builder nanites, though I'm not a crafter, yet."
Laurel nods respectfully. "Very well, afterwards then." She said, smiling softly, letting her mind guess at what it might be like should the plans actually go their way. "I'd like to add that it's a pleasure working with you Hisoka. This is already more than I've ever dreamed of."
Astara pats Laurel on the back. "It's a pleasure to have you, Laurel; as an associate and a friend." She looks back towards Hisoka; "Well, sounds like everything is at least thought-out! Do we have any other matters to attend to tonight?"
Hisoka looks at Astara and smirks at her. "Actually we do!" He then winks at her "Not tonight though. Don't want Laurel here to stereotype us as a bunch of horny bastards."
Laurel huffed a little more loudly at that one, grinning, "Oh don't worry Hisoka, I think I've already passed that point" she said jokingly. She let herself glance quickly at Astara, taking a slow breath. "Not that I blame you. Anyway! It's a pleasure to work with you to Astara." She scratched behind her ear, suddenly nervous again. "I don't really know how to express how thankful I am for you taking pity on me."
Astara snorted and started giggling at Hisoka's comment; "Oh, most definitely another time! You've got my promise." When Laurel looked over to her, she gave her a smile... and a wink, her teasing nature melting away as she became genuinely moved by her friend's thanks. "Oh gosh, you're so cute..." Astara says, moving quickly to give Laurel a bear-hug. "You're welcome, sweetie; it means a lot to me when I can make a real difference to someone. Yer about to make me tear up!"
Laurel grinned wide, letting out a soft laugh and hugging her back. "Normally I wouldn't let people call me cute, but I guess I can make an exception." she said softly, her focus melting away in the spiders embrace. She just let herself stay like that as long as the arachne allowed it, nuzzling against her softly.
Astara continued snuggling, before letting out a long yawn. "Ah... I think it's time I called it a night and get some sleep. If you want to sleep together again, I'm fine with that. Err... sleep together in the literal sense, not the other."
Laurel grinned, looking up towards her, eyes bright. "Pshh, I can put context together Astara~" she said teasingly, sobering up a little as she spoke again. "I think I'd like that."
Giving Laurel one last squeeze before letting go, Astara got up and stretched her legs, before offering a hand to help her up. "Well, away we go~"
