[Video] Egret Day 7, Morning

[wizard_redfive]

[As much as Dairine kinda wants to run right out to see what new space adventures await, there has been one issue nibbling at her mind for a while.]

[She really would have preferred to hold off on this until she had a working prototype to show off, but life comes at you fast. Ugggh. Being responsible is a pain. With a grimace, she flicks on the ICP.]

Hey.

So I've heard about our communication devices here. [A sour face.] A bit limited in their design, as far as I'm concerned. But we can get to that later.

It's come to my attention that neither the ICP or SCA have communication options once we leave the train. Which is, you know, a big deal? If we're heading straight into a combat situation, our teams have to be able to coordinate, right?

I have some ideas in the works for future options, but we kinda need a solution right now. Even a temporary one will do.

Well team? What've you got?

Comments

[tinkerheart]

[Fëanor doesn't immediately recognize who she is. Then he does. She's one of the new arrivals... not very new but there are so many people on the train now he's sure they haven't had a chance to speak before. Probably. Right. Not so sure.
They need better ways to disseminate information. Or someone needs to stop being so secretive about his work. Most likely both.]

As for in-between the teams' communication, there are four palantírí I made. Each team gets one. I will have the one for Red. So that part is covered. As for personal communication, Garret brought a couple of devices from our last mission but they're not in a working condition. So we may need to request something from people we'll be helping.

[wizard_redfive]

[In his defense, he has probably only caught glimpses of her going to and from places. Dairine has kept mostly to herself for the past half month.]

[They certainly do need a system for information, but that can come later.]

[She offers him a quizzical look.]

Palantiri?

[tinkerheart]

Yes. A communication device. They are independent of any train provided technology.

[He should have put a notice somewhere on the train. It's getting tiring explaining the same thing over and over again.]

What team are you on?

I'm sorry she's so nosy

[wizard_redfive]

I could guess that much. What does the palantiri look like? What kind of system does it run on? Is it common tech in your world?

[The techie in her wants to know.]

I'm on Orange team.

[tinkerheart]

Like this.

[The benefit of the video is that he can just lift the glossy, black orb to the camera.]

There is no system. [Fëanor smiles. A craftsman can recognize a fellow craftsman. Or craftswoman in that case. And actually there kind of is a system... Of sorts.] Unless you consider the will of the user a system. Then yes, this is its system. Yet it's easier to think of them as amplifiers. And no, they are not common. I can account for eight I made myself.

[Orange?]

Good. Then Curufin will have one for your team.

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine ogles at the sphere. It reminds her a little of Roshaun's version of the manual, but dark instead of white fire.]

Well yeah, the users' will can be part of a system, but generally not without some piece connecting it to the technology.

What's it made of? Glass?

[Ah yes, the Orange team's leader]

I know Curufin. Will he be sharing his palantírí amongst the team?

[tinkerheart]

[The swirls inside the sphere look like black smoke but it's just crystals realigning themselves over and over again.]

Close. It's obsidian. [It is sometimes called volcanic glass so her guess was not that far off the mark.]

Palantír. Singular. Palantíri is the plural form of the word. [He can't stop himself from correcting her, can he? Of course, he can't.]

He might. With those who have enough of the strength of will to actually make it work? I see no reason not to. [Because it takes no small amount of effort for someone other than the original owner to bend the device to your will. He never intended them to be shared. That might be something to improve in the future.]

[wizard_redfive]

Well, that explains the color. Does its volcanic origin help with transmission?

[That would be neat, considering her Motherboard planet also had a volcanic past. Helped make the layers of minerals thin and smooth—perfect for a naturally occurring computer.]

Oh.

[She's a little miffed at the correction. Seems that was also something he had in common with the Wellakhit royalty.]

That shouldn't be a problem. [Dairine says with absolute confidence. There are many traits that the Callahan sister's share, and willfulness is one of them.]

[tinkerheart]

It is a rock born in fire. It might.

[He never thought about it. Why obsidian? It just felt right. He's craft is equal parts art and science. Sometimes he doesn't even know how he did something. Well, no. Actually, that was just one time. The inability to replicate it bugs him still...but no. This would be a folly.
Now that the question was raised he'll have to investigate it. What if he made them from different stock? Would they still work? Would they work differently? Interesting.]

Then feel free to ask him. I am keeping the one for the Red team.

[He'll know if you succeed.]

[wizard_redfive]

I'd imagine the mineral's history probably has some effect.

[Like how specific materials are sometimes used for wizardry. It's not just the chemical compound that's taken into account. Their past and future duration also impacted how the spell would behave.]

[Too bad Kit wasn't there. Rocks were more his wheelhouse.]

Duly noted.

[tinkerheart]

History? Why?

[She surprised him. History has nothing to do with it. Time is, should be, irrelevant. True works of craft are eternal.]

I was mainly referring to the nature of the substance. Fire has created it, it has its likeness burned - if I may use the word [Of course he will. That is not a question even.] into its very essence.

[les_magique]

Is communication going to be a problem for this? Because I might have some ideas for that.

It'll be a little clunky, but it should be totally untraceable.

[wizard_redfive]

Honestly, I'm not sure. If the space force is as advanced as the briefing seems to imply, they should have their own system that we could use. But I wouldn't risk putting our eggs all in one basket here.

Untraceable, huh? Let's hear it.

[Because even if the ideas don't pan out for this mission, some more covert lines of communication could be very handy, especially on the train.]

[les_magique]

I'm a wizard. I can do magic.

I know a spell that lets me make a mark that is sort of like a eyeball that I can see through. And hear through. So I guess it's like an eyeball and an ear. And then I also have a spell that lets me project an image of myself elsewhere that will mimic my actions perfectly. It can talk too.

So...if I gave every team a plate or something that had both of these spells etched on them, I could pass messages back and forth without too much trouble.

[PLUS if she does this she'll be somewhere safe and away from all the guys with weapons, which sounds just fine to her.]

[wizard_redfive]

[Ah, another wizard! While Dair is pretty sure they're not from the same world (few wizards she knows refer to it as "magic"), she'll still give the standard greeting.]

Well met, cousin. You've got good company here.

[Dairine considers.]

So projected senses? That could work.

It seems there's already an option on the table for team leads. But it you'd like, we could trial your plates with other volunteers. It'd be worth having our choice of comms, especially if the teams have to split up at all.

[les_magique]

Metaphorical cousin, I'm assuming?

[Samata shrugs.]

I'm figuring things out as I go, so I probably wouldn't WANT to be the lynch pin of all our communication yet. We're still in the prototype phase.

[wizard_redfive]

[Ah. Another world's kind of wizard indeed.]

Yup, you got it. "Cousin" is what wizards call each other where I'm from.

Well... when we're being both formal and friendly.

[Dairine offers a slight grin.]

I think we're all figuring it out on the fly, so you're not alone there either.

I'd rather not have any single lynch pin in our communication plans. Best not to have all our eggs in one basket.

[She'll still be experimenting with her own possible solutions once the dust settles.]