I'd like to try and zoom in on the glass city and see how much detail I can see. In particular whether there are defined roads and if so what they're made of, whether things are moving or this is a stationary picture, and how many entrances/exits it has.
You start to close on the Glass City, but you are already losing your connection to the device. You can attempt to "chain" it so that you can continue your investigations, or let it go.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I'll attempt to chain it and continue what I was trying.
Also, sorry for the delays between my posts, with it being the beginning of the semester I'm just getting back into the swing of things. It should settle down soon.
You fail to extend the connection, and lose contact with the data system.
--M. J. Young
I'll try the psionic computer again, attempting to use number 6,martial combat games, if I can connect with it. If I don't I'll call it a day and head home and relax until the sun comes up then take out my contacts and then go to sleep.
You connect and move to the martial combat games within about a minute of reaching the directory.
The menu of the martial combat games directory allows you to select between various opponents, all of them seemingly representations of various alien creatures including trained kraal, bipedal hominoid, multi-armed crustacean, multi-legged insectoid, four-legged head butter, fire breather, and at least a score more. You can choose non-weapon or weapon for yourself, and for some of the opponents, as separate options. (Generally the use of a weapon requires that the adversary have a prehensile limb of some sort, which some do not.)
--M. J. Young
I'll choose non weapon combat with a bipedal hominoid. That being both opponent and myself not having a weapon.
A human appears as if facing you. He falls into combat stance.
You seem to have eight limbs, three of which you are using for balance.
The experience here is less like that of the sphere, where you had the feeling that you were subject, and more like a video game in which you are controlling the subject; yet the controls are all done mentally.
A start signal "happens" (it is not something you can connect with one of your senses, but you know that the fight has started), and the opponent moves forward.
I do not see any martial arts skills on your sheet, but they're only of secondary relevance here as you are not using your body for this. What do you want your avatar to do?
--M. J. Young
I'll attempt to grab his leading leg (the one he's stepping forward with) with one of my limbs and wrap around it. If I manage that I'll lift the leg straight up to knock him down
The opponent anticipates your incoming tentacle, blocking it with an arm and bringing the other foot up to hit you, knocking you down.
The game resets.
--M. J. Young
Assuming the same situation I'll try and wrap two limbs around his neck and lift him up, curious to see the correct manner in defending against such an attack.
You reach out with both limbs; he blocks one and ducks the other, but it sets him off balance. He recovers and comes in for a kick comparable to last time.
--M. J. Young
I'll attempt to brace myself for the kick and shield with two of my limbs dedicating the rest to balance.
I'm trying to figure out how stable these creatures are and how strong their limbs are compared to a humans, in case you wanted to know my motives.
The kick to your limbs registers as damage, but with the caveat that it shows some damage deflected. Six limbs bracing you makes you very stable. The kick deflects and the human stumbles back a step.
--M. J. Young
I'll try and run forward as fast as I can and ram him to the ground, trying to land on top of him pinning him. I'm trying to judge how fast these creatures are.
You lunge, and your somewhat greater size crosses the gap in a single bound, knocking down the human and winning you the round. It returns to the menu.
--M. J. Young
I'll disconnect from the computer and then try to activate the light panel. I'll try this twice if it fails at first, barring any success I'll get ready to go to bed.
The next day I'll try and activate the telepathic lifter, it's not one of the easier tools Paul mentioned but it sounds least likely to verse me out.
You attempt to contact the light panel, but are so far from getting anything that you realize a very different sort of contact seems to be required. You try again, and still don't manage anything.
With the lifter, what are you attempting to lift?
--M. J. Young
I'll attempt to lift a rock outside. The size isn't really important in my mind, just that it's something that isn't valuable so if I mess up while manipulating it that there's no big loss. While lifting it though I'd like to see how much control I have of the rock and how easily it responds.
Once done with the lifter I'd like to try to activate the telepathic forcefield and use it to form a forcefield about half a foot off the ground running parallel to the ground that's a 3 foot square. I'll try this until it either succeeds or something eventful happens otherwise. If it succeeds I'll see if I can step up onto the forcefield and stand there.
Oops--it may seem a little thing, but there are no rocks in NagaWorld. Outside the door of the museum is grass, and the plastic steel structures built by previous residents.
Find another target.
--M. J. Young
I'll use my keys as the target instead then, removing the bottle opener on the keyring first. Otherwise I'll try and do all of the same things but with the keys as the target.
You are able to lift the keys by pointing the rod at them. Lateral motion is then achieved by shifting the angle of the rod (that is, as you move the rod the keys move to stay in line with it); somewhere in your mind you find the ability to make the distance shorter or longer, at roughly the rate initially that you could walk. You can double or halve the speed each minute.
After five minutes, the control suddenly fails, and the keys fall to the ground, seemingly having no momentum from your movement of them.
What they call the forcefield rod appears also to require a target object. Are you using the keys again?
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I'll use my keys as the target again.
On this first attempt you fail to figure out how to make this rod work; it does not seem to work quite the same as the other.
--M. J. Young
I'll continue trying until I get a handle of it, get tired/hungry, or manage to botch it. In the case of getting hungry I'll go outside for a bit, eat some grass and then resume trying, and I'll take a half an hour break whenever I get tired.
You come back from a break with a snack. (I assume that in a learning attempt you do everything you can think to do, so you need a change of circumstance such as a rest to try again. Using such a skill, particularly a device skill, once you know how can be tried in succession, because you know how to do it and it's just a matter of how many tries until something happens.) You return to the task, and work at it for a while more, but with no luck. You take another break and come back a bit later, and still nothing.
Paul invites you for a bite to eat, so you take a break for that; returning, you still can't seem to connect with this rod.
One last try today, you fail once again.
--M. J. Young
Ok, I'll try again the next day then. If I have occasion to be around Paul again I'd like to ask about whether the item labeled the Psionic Drill is actually a ranged weapon or more along a literal interpretation of a drill. Other than that I'll repeat the same routine as today.
Paul laughs at the question.
"Maybe call it one of the Architect's mistakes. I think he's the one who dubbed it a 'drill', or maybe it was one of the elders. He observed that it put out a thin piercing beam with a relatively short range, that would cut through plastic steel or just about anything else we had given a bit of effort, so he decided it was a tool. He later concluded that the kraal never used tools, had no understanding of tools as such, and that all of these devices were intended as weapons. That apparently is the kraal equivalent of a sword, but you should be careful with it because it is rather longer than a sword blade and works as something of a short range ranged weapon."
You spend about six hours trying to make that forcefield generator work, without any success, although you started with a sense that you almost had it on the first try.
--M. J. Young
During the next tank cleaning I'd like to get some plastic steel and fashion them into 5 roughly fist like balls (fist like is describing the volume, not the shape). The shape is of no real importance to me, I'm making them to use the psionic devices on. While I may not have any use for my keys, I'd rather not lose anything I don't have to, and as I start using the other devices I'll need destructible targets.
The next day I'll try the forcefield generator again, this time on one of the plastic steel balls I'll have placed on the ground. I'll try this for half the day and if there is no success I'll try my hand at the psionic drill, also targeting the plastic steel ball.
You make your lumps of plastic steel easily enough, and they're hard by the time you need them.
Today you manage to get the forcefield rod working on the first try. It encases the targeted lump in a force wall, but otherwise allows you to move it as the telekinetic rod does. You manage to maintain control for about five minutes.
--M. J. Young
So just so I understand it right, this one did everything the telekinetic rod did but also surrounded it by a forcefield?
Was the forcefield visible by the way or could I just sense it was there, and if it was visible what color did it have?
For the remainder of the day I'll work on getting the psionic drill working, still targetting the plastic steel lumps.
That is correct.
The forcefield is visible as a sort of slight glow in the air, perhaps something like a bubble. It has no color, per se, but can be seen.
The psionic drill turns out to be very like the forcefield in terms of how it is operated; it generates a thin force coming in a line from the pointed end. Your first effort got you a flash of energy that drilled a dent in your plastic steel target.
--M. J. Young
I'd like to feel the dent in the plastic steel to see if it's warm/hot and also feel whether it's a smooth and mostly circular indent or more hyperbolic in nature.
Either way, after inspecting the plastic steel lump I'd like to try and activate the light panel. I'll stick with this for the rest of the day or until I get it working. I'm pretty much approaching this in the safest method as possible, wary of any of the items which seem more designed as weapons for fear of a failed attempt with them.
Whenever I have occasion to have dinner with Paul or if I see him and he doesn't appear overly busy I'd like to ask the following questions.
*So I understand the psionic blaster and psionic rifle are weapons, but what is the difference between the two? I don't want to start trying to activate them and wildly misunderstand and cause damage to my surroundings.
*Also, will the missile deflector only deflect material missiles or only psionic missiles or both? and do I have to be targetting a missile for me to activate it or does it form a shield around me that deflects missiles?
*I'm assuming the disintegrater disintegrates items, but does it approach it in the manner the psionic drill seems to or does it take larger chunks at one time? Or am I entirely misunderstanding it's purpose?
*Is the statuette actually a psionic item by the way or simply a monument?
*Finally, what does the combat helmet do? Am I supposed to wear it to use it?
*Thank you for the information.
Those are my main talking points, in the relative order I'd like to address them in case he gets busy at some point and I only get time to ask some of them at first.
The cut is smooth, but at least by the time you get to it it's not different from the warm air around it. It has the look of being drilled by a beam or laser.
It seems to be your day for psionic devices--the light panel lights on the first try. It is eerily similar to the plastic covers they put over fluorescent lights in suspended ceilings, but that it glows evenly with little effort.
The difference between the psionic blaster and the psionic rifle is mostly one of range. The smaller blaster is harder to aim as accurately, but it's lighter and easier to carry or store. Both fire something like a blast or ball of kinetic force, hitting something like a jackhammer or cannonball, although it takes practice to get that level of force from them.
The missile deflector doesn't really protect you at all. If you walk the perimeter of Umak Tek, you'll see that they're driven into the ground roughly every ten feet, and they seem to tap into some consciousness or unconsciousness. If an object flies above them within a certain altitude--maybe thirty feet or so--a force wall is created that blocks it. It works against wedge birds, at least.
If the object targeted by the disintegrator isn't too large or too dense, it will destroy it entirely. Paul's understanding is that the molecular bonds themselves are undone, causing the material to reduce to simpler non-solid forms such as gasses and free atomic particles. Pete Adams says that the really remarkable thing is that there isn't a nuclear explosion.
To ask whether the statuette is simply a memorial or a psionic device is to misunderstand the kraal who made them. It is indeed simply a memorial, and if you contact it telepathically it will tell you the significant heroic events in the life of the kraal whom it memorializes. This is a minor one, with only maybe an hour of heroic tales. In the hall of heroes in the center of the glass city there are said to be some in which the information can last several days.
Paul is not sure exactly how the kraal used the helmets, as their heads were considerably larger than human, but the helmets do appear to work when placed on human heads. It does a lot of things, but probably not many that are useful to you other than that the helmet will link as a targeting aid for the weapons. The thing is rather dangerous, because if it decides the wearer is not a member of the kraal army it self-destructs explosively. It has a map function, enhanced telepathic links between helmets, psionic defenses--he asks Annie if she remembers any functions of the helmet, and she adds that it has healing functions and a direct link to the Nash Far Kraal, which as far as she knows only the Architect ever used and he said it was pretty dangerous to use it. It's also supposed to have psionic attack modes, but no one has ever figured out how to access these.
--M. J. Young
Lets see if my luck for today continues, I'll try the disintigrator, targetting the previously targetted lump of plastic steel. I'll also make a routine of making as many of these plastic steel lumps as I can whenever the tanks are cleaned. Since I'm starting to get into testing the more destructive psionic items my plans are going to call for a larger number of destructible objects. My goal number is to have a stockpile of 20 of these, replacing them as I break them through experimentation.
I'd also like to ask Paul what the Nash Far Krall is as well as how dangerous the glass city is. I'm considering venturing up there to grab some copies of these psionic devices for my travels. Furthermore is it possible to learned how to perform the actions these devices do without the device themself and if so is it learnable from the devices?
You try to operate the disintegrator a couple times without success, but there is something familiar about it, like this is something you've used before, but different.
I should mention that the volume of "dregs" from the vats after distillation is significant. You could easily make thirty or forty lumps the size you describe from one good batch. You're welcome to use as much as you want; Paul and Annie are always looking for ways to dispose of it.
Paul says that his knowledge of the Nash Far Kraal is all second hand, but it seems to be some kind of intelligent creature that must exist somewhere in the universe. Its relationship to the kraal is unclear, and no one knows where it is.
As to the glass city, well, that's a more difficult question. The spiders are there, and when they are awake during the day they attack and destroy anyone or indeed any thing that is not part of the city itself. This is a serious threat--there's about one every block, they raise some kind of alarm so that others converge on an intrusion, and to date the only person who survived an attack did so by putting his foot to the floor in his Camaro and heading out of the city as fast as he could while it tore at his front end. On the other hand, when they are sleeping nothing seems to awaken them, and the Architect made a lot of people bold enough to explore, because he said with a twenty-five mile diameter city with a perfectly square gridwork of except for the court in the center, anyone can pick any direction and be out in less than ten hours, and the spiders are asleep all night. So as long as you manage to avoid the spiders, you're probably safe. On the other hand, there might be hazards as yet undiscovered, because the city is big enough and dangerous enough that it has not been fully explored.
Paul notes that people have learned telekinesis and telepathy, at least, but he's not certain whether they learned them from the devices. Probably anything the devices can do can be done without them, but on the other hand the devices probably make it easier to do them. The current theory is that the glass city and everything in it was built entirely by the psionic abilities of the kraal, so they obviously had great psionic powers; but they still chose to create devices which would enable these specific psionic powers, so it must be that it's easier to do them with the devices than without.
--M. J. Young
Wow, I didn't realize quite how much of the plastic steel was created daily. I'll still keep my supply at 20 though, can't see needed any more than that, it's probably already excessive.
So from what I understand since I already have the skill to operate the disintegrator I can attempt it successively until I succeed?
If this is the case I'll attempt to get it working until I either botch or succeed, still targeting the plastic steel lump.
After getting this to succeed I'll try to use the psionic blaster on another lump. (I'm assuming a successful disintigrator use will destroy the lump.) I'll try this for the rest of the day or until I succeed, whichever comes first.
You do get the disintegrator to function on the next try, but as formidable as it sounds on paper in your hands it only took the skin off the outside, as it were. Your ball is rounder and smoother and a very small amount smaller.
I'm going to need a score for your hand/eye to continue. Thoughts?
--M. J. Young
I'm not 100% sure how to rate hand/eye so I'll include as much information as I can, erring on the side of excess information as opposed to too little information.
Overall, I feel I have a significantly above average natural hand/eye coordination. I perform a bunch of minor actions with my hands and feet in day to day life in acts such as opening the door and slipping my foot into the crack in unison with pulling the door and seeing how well my timing is. I don't do this in any way because I think it helps me, or is more efficient, but it merely amuses me. There are a number of actions I do like this, that if you want I can list, that I perform regularly throughout the day more as an amusement and test of myself than for a particular reason. Despite constant use of this I practically never hurt myself (in this case if my timing were off, I'd stub my toe on the door). I have no idea how common this behavior is as I don't pay attention to other peoples small habits, as I hope they don't pay attention to mine.
I bowl regularly which I would consider hand eye coordination and can hold my own in state level tournaments for upper end amatuers or lower end professionals. My average was around 200 (203 if I remember the number correctly) when I first versed out. The reason I would consider this hand/eye is higher end bowling requires consistant awareness of where ones hand is and at what speed it is traveling, while still paying attention to footing and approach speed.
I can juggle 3 juggling balls with some concentration and 4 if I'm having a good day and not distracted by anything (I would need quiet and no visual distractions, so only really applicable in practice not real conditions)
I'm also very good at beirut/beer pong (sorry, I'm a college student so this is the type of hand/eye activity thats very common and the best example I can think of). I've won more than 75% of my games this year and can make many shots other people generally don't consider (I've made cups people were actively drinking, so that they were moving from resting to their mouth, at least 5 times this school year. Also, my college uses 9 oz cups as opposed to the generally standard 16 oz solo cups. The reasoning behind it is it reduces the amount of space a game takes up leading to more games being available at one time. Only reason I mention that is because it's a smaller openning on the top of the cup, demonstrating more skill when making a cup)
While swing dancing I pick up on aerials quickly because I can position my hands and lift/push/catch with the correct force with ease while concentrating on continuing the dance.
Sorry this is probably an excessive list, but I'm confident I fully understand what does and doesn't apply to hand/eye and I know I don't understand the numbering system well enough yet to assign a number to what I think I am. For example I can't think of what the amatuer/professional/expert levels of hand/eye would be represented by.
Sorry, had posted the above twice
:edit: