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Michael from planet Dirt

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Started 1 year ago by Glantri
Latest reply from M. J. Young

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Glantri
Member

Summary from Ubercon continued from: http://gamingoutpost.com/discussions/topic/michael-warlock/page/6?replies=249

Versing in, awake but with eyes closed. I open my eyes and see what looks like a closed mall area, but with a lit section down one path. I only have my psionic drill (my wand) and the clothing I'm wearing on me and my scriff sense is tugging down and to one side of the hallway, towards the lit area of the mall.

I start heading down the hall and I see people moving around and an advanced looking directory.

I decided to check out the directory, manage to get listings for a half dozen secondary education locations after narrowing it down from the first try which returned all levels of education. Find a spaceship academy, which is on lvl 417.... 417?! Ok, well last world I was able to fly, so tall buildings are acceptable I guess.

I get the directory to instruct me how to get there and follow the directions. It's over a mile to get there. This is an impressive building, and the elevator is amazing.

I get to the academy and go in. I ask what it takes to enroll and the secretary tells me that they just have to scan me to get my records and check my bank account and they can enroll me. I tell her I don't think I have an ID, and she assures me I'm wrong and just to stick my hand in the machine. I do, it scans, I don't have an ID. She's shocked, I'm not. She asks me to put my other hand in, I comply and she continues to be shocked. I ask if there is any way to register other than that or any way for me to get an ID. She directs me to the administration office on floor 250 around the center of the facility.

I head to floor 250 and ask someone where the center of the facility is. They point in a direction that goes through a wall and I clarify if they could give me directions to get there. I follow the directions and get to an administration desk. I tell what I just went through up at the spaceship academy and ask if I can get an identity. They assure me everyone has an identity, and I assure them that I do not. They scan me, and indeed I do no have an identity. They ask for my name, I give them my name as Michael Washer. How did I get here? Teleportation accident (hey, it's not a lie.) Where was I from? Earth. I'm told earth means dirt, and I assure them it's a planet. The person talking to me repeatedly refers to my home planet as Dirt when calling other people for help on what to do. Are you sure you're from Dirt? I have no Dirt or Earth here, why would anyone name their planet Dirt? He moves on to clarify I was involved in a teleportation accident on Dirt, and I correct him that I wasn't on my homeworld when it happened. I was on Grammarye. Checks the system. There is no Grammarye, there is a ... (starts listing some).... Grady.. I say that sounds familiar, probably that. I then get an identity after 45 minutes of questions and hair/eye/genetic scanning. I then ask if he knows how I could get funding for going through spaceship academy and he tells me if I go to the docking boards I may find someone willing to hire me and put me through the academy.

I go down there and check the board.

GE roll 3(3 1's have never looked so beautiful)
Found a passenger company looking to hire, got a job as a cabin boy, working for pilot directly in cockpit.

And I'm still at the company where I started, I'm going to make my game post a second post so this is all just summary.

Sun Nov 7 2010 3:30 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

::He looks at you with a puzzled expression.::

(Doing Therapy)

Sun Nov 7 2010 3:49 pm #
Glantri
Member

I'll be asking when I can start work, and whether there I could get a small advance for me to get a room/food/clothing with as well as if I should have a uniform. Also the details of how it'll put me through academy and how often flights are.

Sun Nov 7 2010 3:56 pm #
JohnA1nut
Member

Oh sorry. It just said "Post to have a link" when I checked before. I thought you were advertising a link you were planning to post, if you got a good response. I didn't realize this was a game thread.

(Doing Therapy)

Sun Nov 7 2010 4:05 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

They will want you on board tomorrow at the latest; you can if you like be in your quarters any time from now until then. Uniforms will be provided; if you've a few minutes now you will be measured for yours, and they will be delivered to your quarters. Food is also provided in the galley. You are three days from departure, and will have some work to do in preparation starting tomorrow. They expect to train you in a cooperative program with the academy, and so you will have some coursework to complete while aboard the ship and have to attend some lectures and exams when you are in port.

--M. J. Young

Wed Nov 10 2010 2:59 am #
Glantri
Member

Sounds great.

I'll stick around for measurements and then head to my quarters immediately from there. May as well get situated.

I'll ask where I can pick up the coursework, so I can get started on that.

Did I get a key to my quarters? If not I'm assuming it's in some way linked to the identity I was just given.

What time is it? I'm envisioning late afternoon early night. I know the question is going to be how would you know, I'm going to be looking for a clock. Failing to find one I'll ask after getting measured.

Wed Nov 10 2010 4:39 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Your coursework will be delivered to the console in your quarters. Your quarters will open to your palm print or other identifier.

I, too, am envisioning late afternoon approaching evening; but it is all something of an illusion. There is a clock which ever twenty-five hours marks a change of day, and you are about eight hours from that change; but for some that change comes while they sleep, and for some when they awaken, or when they go to bed, or in the middle of work. The world is active constantly, and people who arrive from off-world tend to stick to their schedule and interact with whoever is awake when they are.

In any case, they hope you will be aboard within the next ten hours.

Also, you are reminded that you left something somewhere and have not yet retrieved it.

--M. J. Young

Thu Nov 11 2010 6:36 am #
Glantri
Member

By reminded did someone tell me or did I just remember about my gear that versed in with me?

If someone told me I'll ask them if they know where, otherwise I'll just follow the scriff sense to it. Lots of trial and error. Hopefully I can narrow it down to a floor easily enough, by just trying the elevator until I get to a floor where the scriff sense is horizontal and then hunt the equipment down from there.

After I find my stuff pack it up and head to my quarters. I'm excited to see what they look like.

Thu Nov 11 2010 3:32 pm #
Glantri
Member

Double post, sorry.

Thu Nov 11 2010 3:33 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator
By reminded did someone tell me or did I just remember about my gear that versed in with me?
- E) None of the above.
You are reminded by that nagging sense that you left something "over that way" that you get whenever you relax.

You follow the sense. Already you've crossed quite a few miles laterally, and gone up and down a few times, but since you are near the bottom of the station it is probably a relief to discover that the direction is above you. It is also more or less directly above you, which means either a very short distance laterally or a very long distance vertically.

You find an elevator and move until you're more or less level with it. You're close around the seventy-fifth level. This seems to be all corporate offices and light industry.

You eventually track the equipment to what appears to be a warehouse, door closed, no signs of anyone present. However, the door does not appear to be locked, and the warehouse appears to be available rental space.

--M. J. Young
Fri Nov 12 2010 3:42 am #
Glantri
Member

I'll go through the door and poke around inside. If I can find the backpack and it's not behind a locked door I'll put it on and head to my quarters to unpack. If it's behind a locked door I'll leave it to try and get later.

Fri Nov 12 2010 3:43 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You find yourself in some sort of huge machinery room.

Something tells you that this is not one of the public areas of the building; but this does seem to be where your gear is. You work your way around pipes and conduits and ducts, some hot, some cold, some neither, until you reach a place where your equipment is obviously directly in front of you.

Inside a thirty foot diameter air duct.

The duct is something like aluminum and plastic with something like duct tape at the joints.

--M. J. Young

Sun Nov 14 2010 3:28 am #
Glantri
Member

I'm ok with just knowing where my equipment is for now. It's unlikely to be taken by someone else if it's in there, and it can all be replaced without too much hassle.

I'll just go to my quarters, leaving my equipment where it is.

I'll take a nap until it's 1 hour into the next day (since 2 hours into the next day is when they said they wanted me.)

I'll get ready for work then.

Sun Nov 14 2010 7:06 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I'm assuming that your quarters are your room aboard the ship, and that means that you've already "reported for work" as it were. The main point was to make sure that you're aboard.

On the other hand, having slept maybe seven or eight hours and gotten up and dressed in one of the uniforms that were delivered to your cabin (and they fit well--you have three, white shirt, slacks, and jacket with some black trim, along with one very naval hat and one pair of black shoes, plus eight sets of undergarments which include something like a T-shirt, boxer shorts, and socks), it makes sense that you have just defined your sleep time, and as you report to the bridge they note that you will start your shift on the second hour. You are expected to clock in by putting your hand on any of several pads in critical locations around the ship and saying "Clock In"; and to clock out the same way but by saying "Clock Out". You work ten hours but get to eat during that time. You're then off fifteen hours during which you're expected to sleep and eat and do some of the coursework that has been delivered to your terminal.

Today you're going to be given a tour of the ship. Since there are a dozen new crew all on different shifts, that tour is going to start around the seventh hour to catch as many people in the first batch as possible. Meanwhile, you are given a brief tour of the galley, both because you may sometimes be assigned to food preparation and because you'll have to get your meals and of course your coffee there. (If you don't drink coffee, you probably will--the officer showing you around warns you that the stated hours are really not as regular as they sound, and in any case, trainees usually wind up using too much of their free time for fun and not enough for sleep, at least at first.)

The officer suggests that for the present you get coffee and a bite to eat, wander around a bit getting familiar with the layout, and be back to the bridge by the seventh hour for the official tour. Other than occupied rooms in the officers and crews quarters, you're free to go anywhere--just don't open any hatches to the outside.

--M. J. Young

Tue Nov 16 2010 4:55 am #
Glantri
Member

Well, I guess I'm going to start learning to like coffee.

I'll do as he suggested and grab some food and a cup of coffee and just meander around situating myself with where things are. Is there orange juice in the galley? If so I'll actually have a cup of that instead of coffee, it wakes me up well enough.

Just really biding my time until the tour at the seventh hour.

Tue Nov 16 2010 5:16 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

There are several varieties of orange juice plus several juice blends of which orange is a component, such as orange pineapple and orange banana and "squash punch" (a citrus blend).

It's a large ship, comparable to an ocean liner but slightly larger in the engineering areas.

Keeping track of the time, you find your way back to the bridge fifteen minutes ahead of time, and see that other new employees are gathering. For what it's worth, all are human, but they are about evenly divided between male and female, and of a fairly wide range of ages. Including yourself, seven of the twelve new crew are present; the other five will get the later tour and are now believed to be sleeping in their cabins.

The tour guide introduces herself as the Purser, explaining that this means she's responsible for overseeing the financial end of things and securing any valuables passengers wish to have protected, but that at the moment she has nothing to do until the passengers arrive tomorrow and so has the time to give you the tour. It starts here on the bridge, and will give you a look at the various passenger cabins, food service areas for passengers, entertainment areas, medical and other services, engineering, housekeeping and custodial supplies, and safety equipment such as fire suppression systems. Does anyone have any questions before the tour starts?

--M. J. Young

Tue Nov 16 2010 7:04 pm #
Glantri
Member

I'll have the orange pineapple juice today then, although all three of those choices sound good so I'll probably end up cycling through them instead of coffee. That was coffee can be held in reserve for days that I need an extra pick me up.

No questions for the Purser, just waiting for the tour to start and making sure to pay attention to everything she says. Never know what will be useful in a new environment.

Wed Nov 17 2010 5:56 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

There are five classes of passenger transport, the best, "first" or "luxury" class, having luxury suites, twenty-four hour fine dining buffet, and a variety of entertainment choices including access to an observation dome at the top of the ship. "Second" or "vacation" class has comfortable staterooms with gravity controlled beds and private bathrooms with showers, dining and entertainment similarly full time but not quite as elegant or varied. "Third" or "business" class has similar state rooms equipped with communication hubs for computer equipment, three meals a day on fixed schedule (the galley runs constantly because the meals are scheduled to the passenger's day) and a recreation center for active activities. "Fourth" or "transportation" class is dormitory-like, with private single-bed nooks and shared bathroom and shower facilities, three meals and a recreation center similar to the business class. "Fifth" or "steerage" class is ward-like, a score of beds in one room with several rooms sharing large bathroom facilities, cafeteria with limited menu open for one hour every fifth hour, used mostly by emigrants seeking cheap passage to other locales, and rarely on trips to or from TerraNova.

You are also shown the galleys, and told that anyone who will be cooking will be introduced to the equipment by the cooks in each galley, but that they are largely the same save where equipment is specialized for the needs of the class. (Luxury has special equipment for handling lobster, caviar, and other luxury foods. Business and transportation are better equipped for making individual meals instead of buffet quantities. Steerage has equipment for soups and stews and other inexpensive foods that can be made in quantity.)

Luxury class gets its laundry done by the crew, which means some of you. Vacation, business, and transportation classes have access to laundry facilities which only need to be maintained by the crew. There are no laundry facilities for steerage class, but although there are rules against washing clothes in the bathroom facilities these are only enforced if it becomes a problem.

Water filtration and recycling plants are included in engineering. You get a tour of the engine rooms, the computer systems rooms, habitat maintenance, and other systems; those with an engineering major will spend more time in these areas.

You are also shown around crew quarters. If your assignment has you in luxury or vacation class galley areas you can help yourself to the food there during your meal breaks, and can make food for yourself in the other galleys if assigned there, but otherwise you are expected to get your meals in the crew galley. The food here is of comparable quality to that in the vacation class buffet.

There are also crew recreation areas for exercise and game play.

Returning to the bridge, you are given a brief tour of the main systems for velocity and directional control, and also introduced to a security area which includes weapons systems. The weapons are not a priority, but piracy is not unknown and you might be called upon to help defend the ship. Your company training will include a crash course in firearms use for anyone who does not already have experience in these.

Any questions?

Did I cover everything you expected? I may have missed something as my own oversight.

--M. J. Young

Thu Nov 18 2010 3:15 am #
Glantri
Member

Nothing I was expecting that you didn't cover, but a few quick questions about what I observed.

When you say weapon systems you mean consoles to control the ships weapons or hand held weapons? Or both?

How long did the tour take? So far I've got it in my head that I showed up for work at 2, was told just wander about and become familiar with things for 5 hours until 7, and then this tour, which appears as if it would take a good deal of time.

No questions for the purser as of yet, just waiting to be told what to do or where to go next.

Thu Nov 18 2010 4:00 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Both types of weapons systems--some defenses for the ship itself, which also deflect and destroy debris such as asteroids, plus the individual weapons for use if the ship is boarded.

I figure it was between one and a half and two hours. Since you started work at two and the tour started at seven, you'll be free of it between eight-point-five and nine, and scheduled on duty until ten. One person apparently punched in at zero, and was free to go at eight, but stayed for the rest of the tour before punching out.

And since students will be assigned somewhat randomly to different departments, give me some idea of what your preferences would be in terms of where you would want your first assignments.

--M. J. Young

Thu Nov 18 2010 5:53 pm #
Glantri
Member

Engineering or the bridge would be my top choices, the galleys would be my next preference, with my preference in which galley being towards the higher classes of transport, and doing laundry for the luxury class being my least preferred.

Thu Nov 18 2010 6:04 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You are assigned to galley staff; the chief cook then assigns you to work in vacation class.

I don't see any cooking skills on your sheet. What can you tell me in that regard?

--M. J. Young

Fri Nov 19 2010 10:35 pm #
Glantri
Member

I'd say average amateur, I cooked in boy scouts a lot, but that was more survival type things like how to cook an egg in an orange peel. In college I cook a lot to save money and out of my friends I'm the better cook and I like cooking.

Fri Nov 19 2010 11:47 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The vacation level chief of galley questions you and then gives you a tour, starting with the primitive but still necessary tools--knives, spoons, colanders, pots and pans. Gas flames are used for broiling because you can't really flame broil without flames, but there are also electric ovens and stoves, microwaves, convection ovens, steamers, laser brazers, as well as tools that stir, crush, mash, and mix the old-fashioned way and those which do so by sonics or vibrations; slicers that use blades, lasers, microwaves, and sonics, in addition to energy dampers used to flash-chill foods that need to be cold.

Some of the food, including fresh meats, are kept frozen, and there are walk-ins of assorted temperatures for everything from frozen desserts to fresh produce, plus food dehydrated, radiated and sealed, canned or bottled, and otherwise preserved.

You barely get through the tour when he notes that it is quitting time for you and he expects you to report back at the second hour (which is when you reported today) when Little Joe will be running the galley and will be expecting you. Passengers board the day after tomorrow, so you don't have a lot of time to prepare for this.

It is the tenth hour of the twenty-five hour day, and you have slept within the past twenty-four hours sometime. What's your plan from now?

--M. J. Young

Sun Nov 21 2010 10:35 pm #
Glantri
Member

Well I'll want to get 8 hours of sleep, and I'll want to wake up at first hour to get ready and grab a small bite.

Is there a shower/bathroom in my quarters or is it shared between a bunch of crew members?

So right now I know from:
0-1 Sleep
1-2 Getting ready
2-10 Work
10-18 Free (what I'm figuring out what to do now)
18-25 Sleep

Well I'll eat another meal, I ate my first one around 2ish, so it's been a while.

Then I'm going to check out the crews recreation center.

Mon Nov 22 2010 3:56 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Easy enough to get a meal when you work in the galley. Shrimp, roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, and macaroni and cheese are all on the buffet today, and there are soft drinks, beers, wines, juices, and milk, in addition to coffee and tea.

Ten crew share two private bathrooms with showers. It's not too bad, because of course you're on a twenty-four hour schedule so at any given moment probably three or four of you are asleep. But it can create a bottleneck.

There are about two hundred crew, one hundred sixty of whom are in quarters of this sort, so there are bathrooms in the adjacent dorm sections. Technically you're permitted to use them, but crew members get more aggravated when they are shut out of their bathrooms by crew from other sections.

About half the people in your section are new students like yourself, and there are apparently students in some of the other sections who have already been through a year or two of the course and had experience on this or other ships.

The recreation center contains within it a large gymnasium and a medium sized swimming pool, something like a squash court, a variety of games ranging from something like air hockey (but gravity based) to video games to chess. It also has reading stations for accessing books, which you have in your quarters as well.

--M. J. Young

Tue Nov 23 2010 1:37 am #
Glantri
Member

I'll play video games for an hour, preferring rpg's>adventure/puzzle>fps but generally liking all types of video games. It'll probably take me a little while to get used to the control system and new games, but it'll be a lot of fun.

After that hour I'll go back to my quarters to check if there is any course work there. If so I'll do that, if not I'm going to dedicate my time to reading. I want to look up books on teleportation devices, to see where the universe stands with them since it was my excuse for how I showed up. Going to do that until hour 17, then take a shower and go to sleep.

If the shower is occupied I can just push the shower off until the morning, since I plan to wake up an hour before showing up for work.

Then I'll show up a few minutes before the second hour to clock in and meet Little Joe.

Tue Nov 23 2010 3:51 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The control system tracks your movements--in some games imply your hands, in others your body. Holographic images are projected around you with which you interact, and thus if you are playing a shooter you interact with the image of a gun that tracks with the movement of your hand and a firing system that responds to your finger, while dodging images of incoming fire and using images of cover for protection. In a martial combat game, you move as if holding a weapon, and the image of the weapon tracks with your movements.

The games have an option to reconfigure the controls to hands-only so you can play seated, but it takes some time to get it set for such a controller since you either have to design it or "borrow" one from another player.

There is no course work waiting, but your research on teleportation technology uncovers some papers in the field indicating that work using quantum non-locality to bypass Heisenberg (the principle has another name, but you recognize the concept) has led to promising station-to-station teleportation of pure sample element objects.

You get the shower. It uses ultrasound to remove loose dirt, oils, and dead skin from the surface of your skin. It tickles a bit.

You arrive at the galley on time in the morning. The center of the action is a man with a red-blond pony tail and beard who is easily over six and a half feet tall and perhaps two and a half feet across the middle, who moves through the kitchen like some combination of dervish and swan. His eyes fall on you within the first minute of your arrival.

"You're Mike, yes? We make omelet pans every morning, so let me make sure you know what you're doing with an egg cracker."

--M. J. Young

Wed Nov 24 2010 4:03 am #
Glantri
Member

"Yeah, I'm Mike, it's a pleasure to meet you. Just show me what you want me to do and I'll get right on it."

I'll say this with a smile, being a happy person helps other people stay happy.

I'm also going to try reading his mind, so that I can hopefully pick up on a few things he's about to correct me on, and correct them myself first.

Wed Nov 24 2010 4:07 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You connect with his mind fairly stably. He's moving from thought to thought even faster than he moves from task to task, but keeps returning to the egg cracker.

The egg cracker is designed such that you can place a flat holding three dozen eggs in the frame and lower a rack onto it, then flip the entire batch, remove the frame and the flat and bring in a second rack, with one crunch split all the eggs, lift the top rack (which uses a light suction to hold the shells to it), and pour the contents of all the cracked eggs through a wide funnel into a bowl for beating. A few more movements remove all the shells from both racks to the trash, and rinse the racks in preparation for another batch.

He says on busy days you'll do batches of a gross of eggs at a time, but today there aren't many to feed so three dozen will do the job. You'll make another batch probably three or four hours from now when this one is mostly gone, because breakfast is always available in one section of the vacation galley. This works well for scrambled eggs and omelets, and for eggs for batter; fried or poached eggs require some extra steps and another rack, so that the contents of each egg are poured into individual cook cups.

While he's showing this to you he's also thinking about everything else that has to be done, but he manages to point you to a large electric stove with a frypan almost the dimensions of a wok and a batch of thawed sliced bacon. He asks if you know how to scramble bacon.

--M. J. Young

Fri Nov 26 2010 12:59 am #
Glantri
Member

I'll tell him I think I could figure it out, but if he has any pointers or quick instructions just to be safe I'd appreciate it.

Does he have me doing these as he explains it? In other words have I already used the egg cracker or is he explaining everything I'll be doing and then I go about it?

Fri Nov 26 2010 4:32 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

He talked you through the use of the egg cracker, although he only explained the part about making fried or poached eggs.

"O.K., scramble the bacon--it's only about a pound, so the small wok will do--then drain it, crumble it, blend it with the eggs plus pint of milk, a quarter pound of the butter, and half a pound of the shredded cheddar, pour it into one of those cook-and-serve pans, and cook it. Give me a shout if you've any questions. Oh, and you've got weapons training in about an hour, so if it's not going to be finished by then be prepared to report what still has to be done before you leave."

He's thinking that this should give him some idea of your ability in the kitchen.

--M. J. Young

Sat Nov 27 2010 3:16 am #
Glantri
Member

I'll do as he says. I've done this for omelette's before, but only when making one at a time. Hopefully I manage to do this well enough.

Sat Nov 27 2010 3:07 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I've already mentioned the variety of equipment available for the cooking part of food preparation. What are you planning to use to cook your eggs?

--M. J. Young

Sun Nov 28 2010 11:33 pm #
Glantri
Member

Going to use an electric stove and pan, since it's what I'm familiar with. I really doubt I'll finish in time, but at least he'll show me what I did wrong then. I could manage 2 pans at a time easily enough, and I'd rather not finish in time than burn the food so lets go with doing 2 pans at once on an electric stove top.

Mon Nov 29 2010 2:42 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Good approach. How many individual omelets do you expect to make from the quantity of ingredients listed?

--M. J. Young

Tue Nov 30 2010 1:06 am #
Glantri
Member

I was thinking 3 egg omelets, so with 3 dozen eggs a dozen omelets.

Tue Nov 30 2010 6:56 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Little Joe returns while you're making them.

"Yeah, that looks good. More work than you're going to be able to do usually, but nice omelets--the crew will enjoy them.

"Now, usually I'd say you want to put the whole batch in one of the big pans, and toss it in an oven for fifteen or twenty minutes. That'll cook it nicely, and people can help themselves to as much as they like. If you're ambitious you can cook it on the stovetop in the same kind of pan--probably faster, but you've got to watch you don't burn it.

"You'd better head to security--they're going to want you for weapons training."

--M. J. Young

Thu Dec 2 2010 5:28 am #
Glantri
Member

"Ok, thank you for the advice, I'll do that next time."

I'll say that with a smile. (I almost always smile while at work... or anywhere actually. It makes people happier to see someone smile and happier people are easier to handle.)

I'll head on down to security for weapons training then. I'm very interested in what's there and also whether there will be continuing training on the weapons or whether there is an optional program in free time to do so.

Thu Dec 2 2010 12:20 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

"Yeah, you can also microwave omelets, but you have to remember to stir them a couple times and do it on about half power, and you have to do it in glass or plastic, not metal."

*****

You find some of the same students at weapons training as were present on the original tour, minus a couple who are apparently on later shifts and plus a few who are nearing the end of theirs.

"Most of you will at some point rotate into security, at which point you will receive fuller instruction in weapons and defenses, including the ship's weapon systems. For now, it is sufficient for you to know that this panel manages deflective shielding, and this one is for targeted weapon systems. Mostly they're used for destroying space debris and asteroids that pose a threat to hull integrity.

"This is the weapons locker. There are a variety of weapons here, and some of you might be trained in more than one. At the moment, we are passing out laser pistols to each of you. How many have ever used a laser pistol?"

There is a pause for a show of hands; maybe a third of the students have.

"That's pretty good. We have preset the pistols for target practice level, a power level that will leave a mark on the heat-sensitive paper of our practice range targets but is only dangerous on direct hits to eyes--although my instructor was good enough to seriously cripple an opponent on such a hit. We have also engaged the safety. We are going into the practice range, through that door, where each of you will take a few shots in practice level at the targets, so you have some feel for the weapons.

"You are being taught to use this in anticipation of emergency situations. Pirates are rare, but neither they nor terrorists are completely unknown, and there is also the potential for criminal enterprise such as kidnapping attempts of wealthy travelers or robbery of the ship's vaults. You might never need to fire one of these again, but if we need to raise a tactical fighting group in a hurry, we want to know that you have fired one before."

He then explains how to deactivate the safety, saying you should not do so until it is your turn to shoot. He takes the group one at a time, picking someone (he starts with a girl), getting the name, noting it on an electronic clipboard, and talking the student through the steps of releasing the safety, checking the power level, targeting the target, and firing several shots.

"At practice level your power supply will let you shoot a hundred times before it's dead. You have three higher levels, each a significant increase in power consumption and in piercing force, which respectively give you twenty shots, ten shots, and five shots. Power level selection is something skilled users debate, but at your levels of ability you probably won't kill anyone on a single shot--unless we've got a marksman in the group I don't know about."

--M. J. Young

Thu Dec 2 2010 8:43 pm #
Glantri
Member

When he picks me to go next and asks my name I'll give it as Mike Washer and then mostly be quiet as he walks me through the steps. Not from being shy, but of respect of weapons and desire to listen closely to the instructions for them.

Fri Dec 3 2010 6:29 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You pick it up easily enough and hit the target a few times, and they go through the steps of restoring the safety. They then move through the rest of the class.

At the end of the session you're all told that you can use the shooting range and laser pistols for practice on your downtime, if you like.

You are then sent back to the galley. It's been about an hour and a half to do all this.

--M. J. Young

Sun Dec 5 2010 11:32 pm #
Glantri
Member

OK, I'll head back to the galley to get my instructions on what to do for the rest of my shift.

After work I'll check my room for coursework. If there is I'll do that immediately and go to the shooting range afterwards, otherwise I'll go directly to the shooting range and get 2 hours practice.

I'll go back to my room after that and get a shower when I can, and then do a search with the reading station for books talking about humans with telepathy. I want to get an idea if it's something well known here that I can read thoughts, or if it's going to be an ace up my sleeve.

Mon Dec 6 2010 1:30 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The rest of your shift is much like the beginning. You're not that far behind the curve on the equipment, because even if you were a twenty-year-old from this universe odds are against your having had any experience in a kitchen designed to cook for several hundred people at once.

There is a bit of required reading material on engine design. It does not assume you know much more than that certain chemical reactions cause the rapid expansion of gases and certain processes can cause propulsion by ionization and similar projection of energies. It doesn't take more than half an hour to read it.

You spend a couple hours firing off several pistols in the shooting range. You can see that, like many other things, it takes a few minutes to learn but a lot of time to become truly good at it.

Your searches of the reading materials suggests that telepathy is hypothesized but as yet never demonstrated. Mind/machine interfacing systems are in use in some areas, which are mentioned as models for how such telepathic skills might work. Otherwise, it is largely relegated to fiction.

--M. J. Young

Tue Dec 7 2010 3:48 am #
Glantri
Member

I'll exercise in the gymnasium section of the recreation room for an hour, doing laps and some strength training.

Otherwise just going about my daily schedule which has the following priorities:
1.Getting to work on time
2.Getting coursework done
3.Getting in 1-2 hours at the shooting range
4.Getting in 1-2 hours running/strength exercise.

My hope is to be noticed by the instructor or someone at the shooting range as being someone who shows interest and being taken under their wing and taught more, although this is a secondary goal to learning to become a pilot. I just want to know how to defend myself if the time comes which I hope it won't for a long time.

Tue Dec 7 2010 8:26 pm #

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