Re: Training Begins -Day 2 (Thread Closed)

[Solitair]

The brothers were too busy with their work to have heard Garran talk about his interest in their power armor design. They didn't notice the other people in their tent talk about collaboration, only to have the idea put on ice by the new supervisor who insisted that they work alone on their ideas for now. Lukas, Niko and Alec did this with their armor, slowly coming to a few workable designs. They came up with a huge set of armor twice the size of a normal person that could move boulders and assist with heavy construction, and a much smaller set that would only add a foot maximum to their height, one that would focus more on agility.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled, getting up to present their design documents to the new supervisor. Said supervisor was in a conversation with Gu Jiao at the time, though, so they would have to wait.

"Hey, um, Doctor Silver?" Niko asked. "It's fine if the three of us could work together, right? I mean, we can't exactly separate ourselves."

"Also, we have two designs ready," Alec added. "We weren't sure if the first one violated any of the mental safeguards that we heard talked about earlier."

"Let him finish that conversation first," said Lukas.

[Ezra Stewart]

Jiao nodded as the officer spoke. It all seemed to make sense now that it was explained to him. He leaned forward listening intently. Then, the man provided Jiao with this particular challenge, that being, a doctor who had nearly lost several patients, was hurting himself, and so on. Jiao leaned back, and stroked his goatee thoughtfully, as he thought about what the best way to help this man would be. After a minute or so, he leaned forward, and answered.

"Well obviously, I would talk to him. Not as a doctor, but as a person. First, I would talk to him about why he does the things he does to himself, why he feels the need too. Then I would go further, as I had this man examine himself, with me helping him along. With each reason why, I will ask him why he feels the need to do this, or why so on would convince him that he needed to act in a certain way. Until we eventually got to the root of the issue. The issue may not even be with the two patients he nearly lost, but something going deeper into his psyche that may not even be aware of. If he has trouble with his self destructive tendencies, than perhaps helping him change habits and certain behaviors that could cause him to be drawn to these things that hurt him, so on. I suppose the real challenge is if the patient wants help, if he doesn't, then there will be very little that I can do."

Jiao sighed slightly, and sat back, that was his best answer. He hoped it would be effective, he had tried this type of therapy, if you can call it that, before and they had worked. He believed that in order to help someone with their problems, you need to become very personal with them. You can't treat a patient like a patient, you have to treat them like a person. Though of course, if the person wanted no help, it is difficult to help them. Though, if the officer did not find this pleasing, then perhaps Jiao has been a little out of touch with the living world for far too long.

[Admin]

Silver gave a thoughtful grin. "Already so much progress. See All you needed was a gentle hand and a bit of guidance." He pulled out a green stamp and pressed it to his file, handing it to him. "I'll ask you to write down that assessment, I have it recorded on here so you can borrow this when you're ready to do that. For now you can go to the mess hall and get something to eat, be back with Sock for the group excercises." He smiled and got up from his chair as the three brothers came up to him. Silver had to do a bit of a double take when he saw them. And for someone that was, by all appearances human on an otherwise animal populated isle, that was something indeed.

"oh ah... yes you can work together. Um if I can ask which of you ah... three? is the most scientificially minded? I'd ask that he be your....um... group leader...." His eyes flicked to Garran for a moment. "oh and Stand behind him, he was next." He said pointing to the sphynx.

"Which reminds me, can I see your work there sir?"

[Solitair]

The conversation ended soon enough, but Niko and Alec heeded their brother's advice and kept their mouths shut while they looked over the design documents one last time. But then Gu Jiao's issue was resolved with some good old-fashioned lateral thinking and the brothers were called forth again.

"I am," Lukas said. "Research and Development was my first choice, whereas my brothers preferred other areas."

They were about to pass their design documents to Silver when he pointed out that they were not, in fact, last in line. Lukas looked sheepish while the three of them walked behind Garran and waited their turn.

[TheSphinx]

That woman proven more interesting the more she talked. Still, there was something... her character didn’t completely emerge.
“You’re a bit unfathomable” said Garran, staring in her eyes.
“My story? Well... I love science. I have the craving for knowledge, the burning desire to create. My mind is full with projects waiting that I bring them to life.
But back home I was constricted by the limited resources I have. And the more audacious I got, the more I got frustrated too, for my dreams couldn’t become reality. So when I heard of the Overlord I imagined that could be the occasion of my life and signed up for a job.”
Garran smiled briefly.
“I guess we are similar to this point. Still, I had the egotistic thought that I could just work to satisfy myself. Such an illusion. I’m requested to be useful. To work for the benefit of others. And that could be the a difficult point to overcome. My works tend towards the... flashy”
He instinctively reached for his metallic shoulder, looking away. “What’s funny in trivial?”

Just when the brothers went in line behind Archeus Garran noticed the officer calling for him. He got carried away a bit.
“I’m coming, sir!”
He nodded to Archeus.
“I’m really looking forward to work with you. It will definitely be an interesting experience.”

Garran then approached the officer.
“Recruit White reporting, uh... doctor Silver, sir.”
And he handed out the prosthetic’s blueprints to the doctor.

[Admin]

Silver carefully scanned the blueprints and motioned for Garran to sit where he'd been talking with Gu Jaio just minutes before. "Allright tell me about it, what does it do, what things do you want to improve upon? I can already see you have impressive prostetics, did you make these yourself?" He held out his hand to inspect the actual hardware with genuine curiosity.

[DeanFox]

Slinking off to stand over away from the door in the shadows the very bowels of the Latrines.  Don’t thank her as the walls of the latrines are muffling the noises from the boot camp allowing clarity to return.  Looking the place over again as Bane starts her inspection, slumping down flatfooted and slouching down a touch as the shameful thing I have done comes around again.  This time I might not successfully hold down my stomach and dive for the nearest toilet to wreck this stall.

[Archeus]

Archeus stood up with Garran. "Yes later then, you don't want to keep Dr. Silver waiting."

[TheSphinx]

Garran offered his left arm to further inspection.
"Yes, sir, I made it myself. That's just a scrap, though, as with limited resources that's the best I could come up with."
He unhooked a row of buttons on his uniform and pulled his left arm out of the sleeve, allowing doctor Silver to examine it up to the shoulder.
"This thing is really limiting. On a technical side a lot can be improved. Well, everything, to be honest. The first section of the blueprints describes a better version. But that's not the main problem.
You see, you can't rely on existing nerves to collect signals, not if you need to replace something damaged. Back to the hospital, when I lost my arm, we only managed to find part of the shoulder's nerves and the elbow's and ring-finger's ones. Other movements are simulated via software or come from signals from other muscles. If movements seem natural to you is not because of technology, but because of my experience at dissimulating.
So, the second part of the project, the more interesting to me, describes a signal collector. It reads potentials and brainwaves, with a subcutaneal set of sensors on the cranium. A software discerns the various signals and patterns and sends them to a second software that converts them in useful informations. Those, if standardized, can be used as a remote both for prosthetics or any piece of machinery you can build an interface for."
Garran took a deep breath before going on.
"If I manage to make it work, I mean if I can miniaturize the sensors enough not to be too invasive and work the mathematics out to make recognition precise enough, there may be an endless stream of possibilities. People with spinal damage or who had accidents can have a normal - really normal - life again. You can operate in dangerous environments via remote like you are there, control multiple machines at the same time... I have some ideas for the military branch too..." and here he grinned.
"I also sketched a prototype for a fabric here, that, among its many uses, can be used as a sensible skin for prosthetics, but... I'm a bit reluctant to the idea of sending feedback back to the brain."
Garran offered the second blueprint, much shorter, to the doctor.
"I'm not looking for a place in medical division, though." said with an embarassed smile.
"I mean, I can work in collaboration, but I'm definitely more a reality-probing mad scientist than a doctor. And needles terrorize me."

[Admin]

Silver chuckled a bit. "You can avoid some needles even in medical. I can't mostly because I'm in disease research, I stick lab rats all the time." His eyes flicked up to meet Garrans. "Sentient and non" He chuckled and returned his attention to the blueprints. "You'd probably be better suited for the medical side of it, or in collaboration with a nerve specialist either has a lab assistant or a collective equal give and take between a researcher and a Doctor." He squinted a bit at the bleuprints, again reading them rather slowly. " None of this is extremely far fetched, I might be able to find someone for you to work with as well. Allright... " He pulled out a green stamp and pressed it against his file, putting his blueprints into it and handing it to the Spinx. "You pass your first evaluation! congratulations. Go meet up with Socks and Gu in the mess hall and be back here with them. And we'll begin the group excercises." He inclined his head at Garran and gave another reassuring smile, before turning to the Cerberus. "You're next er.... all three of you, let me see what you've come up with."

[TheSphinx]

Garran took the paper back and smiled.
"Thank you, sir. You're right, maybe collaboration with someone on the medical branch is the best thing. After all I studied physics, not medicine.
Oh, I can't wait... so many ideas..." Garran murmured dreaming.
He bowed to doctor Silver.
"I'll be back in the afternoon, sir"
And went to the mess to join the others.

[Merrihop]

Sunny had followed Darius attentively as he greeted the strangers who arrived. In the hustle and bustle she may not be likely to remember their names, but they were clearly officers or some other important people from the lair. It appeared the smaller red haired one was going to take over with the R&D training.

Once things seemed at least a little bit more quiet, and they were standing outside the tent, Sunny perked her ears at the commander and tilted her head curiously, "Is there anything else I can help with sir? I think I may have missed some of the other recruit's training..."

Her ears tipped downward a bit at that, concerned she was going to wind up lacking if she wasn't present for the other training aspects, but she hadn't wanted to leave the commander's side just yet in case he needed her to do another test or help with something else.

[Ezra Stewart]

Jiao grinned, he was glad he could at least help people. Though his technical mindset was a little... dated, being able to help someone who is desperately in need is a skill that can move entire empires. Writing down the assessment, he set it on the table near the officer, bowed, and then quickly took his leave. keeping his pace a little brisk, he quickly made his way back to his tent, and pulling out one or two of the snacks he had brought, he pulled out another small thing of tea, and another book, and then walked over to the mess tent. During his walk, he observed silently as he always did. Though, he wished he had his robes to wear still. He found these clothes chaffed a little. He sighed slightly, as his stomach rumbled a tad, and then walked into the mess tent. He walked through the lines, and got a few bites to eat, then silently sat by himself as he read. He was involved in the book, which oddly enough, looked like it had been custom made. Jiao however stayed aware, not at all opposed to friendly conversation.

[Admin]

Hector stretched and led Artemis to the mess hall spotting several graduates of Silver's first lesson already there. He couldn't help but notice the intricate book but didn't want to interrupt. Knowing how important it was when he himself was engrossed in a book. Hector rolled his shoulders and took a nip from his flask when his joints started to ache again.

He found a seat close to Jiao at another table and folded his arms on the table. "Looks like its a buffet style. Go get whatever you like, Artemis, and if you see anything I might fancy I'll do my best to try it."

[KeirStryker95]

Keir stepped up to Commander Tigermark and saluted.

"Recruit Mahlonne requesting permission to engage in activities in the mess hall sir!" he asked in a brisk tone, just as his stomach growled once again. He had been hoping that they could just walk over there, but seeing as to how things were beginning to pan out, it seemed like there was always a plan behind everything. So Keir thought it was better to as first than to just walk off.

Lunch would give him time to relax his muscles, regain his steady thought processes and allow him to mull over what Tigermark had said at the lance cleaning inspection.

[Akkarri]

Lex let her ears paint the scene about her, between the huffing and out of breath sounds of the recruits working though their exercises, to the same with the other two recruits returning to Lieutenant Areta.  Sometimes the sounds from the research tents coming by or the sounds of others chatting.  Either way, she took her time trying to distract herself from the moment, painting mental images of what was happening about her with her ears and from what her eyes were able to gleam in front of her.  She attempted to keep herself from shifting her weight about as she stood with her arms to her sides, fighting the urges to do more than shift and flick an ear in order to dislodge an irritating leaf or twig.  Overall, for her, she tried to get comfortable and relax mentally as she tried to forget her concerns from yesterday’s events.  At least it seemed that she was stuck with a couple people that she seemed to hit it off with, even if she may not have hit it off well with the lieutenant.

[tobi3B]

Angus got his breath under controll and overheard what Keir said to the commander. Hearing his stomach growl he thought that it was a good idea to join the wolf so he stepped behind him straigthen up and addressed the commander. "Recruit O`Brown likes to do the same Sir "

[Solitair]

Lukas took a deep breath and stepped forward. His brothers were prepared to let him speak for them, doing the talking and introducing their latest ideas. "The three of us made two plans, actually," he said, holding up both of the drafts for Silver's perusal. "Here we have a monitor designed to show the dreams of a sleeping patient, whereas these are plans for mechanical suits that augment the natural muscle movements and amplify them, effectively enhancing strength.

"For these suits, we had to determine how to ensure the safety of the person wearing the suits when they're surrounded by powerful machinery, and in addition a way to read muscle movements. At first we thought that we would have to make a mechanism to read the nervous signals much like the one in the dream monitor and, from what it sounds like, what Garran has planned for his advances in prosthetic limbs, but I think instead a sensitive interior which can sense the muscle movements from the outside would be a better solution. If the correct body suit is worn inside the armor, it could react to pressure in the armor's insides, causing the corresponding machinery to move in sync with muscles. Of course, we'll have to program the armor to reduce any lag in its reaction time as much as possible, as well as design a very intricate sensory array and find a way to account for different body shapes and sizes. We made plans for both a smaller model that adds as little to mass as possible and a stronger, heavy-duty model.

"As for the dream monitor, we designed it so that we could read the neural impulses that transmit through the brain during R.E.M. sleep. First of all, this here is the chemical formula designed to amplify these signals so as to make them more easily detected by the machine, but I would recommend further testing to ensure that it's safe. As for how we can translate these impulses to a coherent picture for the monitor, we would have to program the machine to make some sort of correlation between the visual data picked up by the eyes during waking hours and the impulses of the visual cortex during sleep. The other senses, with the possible exception of hearing, can wait until we have this prototype finished, at least."

Lukas looked at the reams of notes that his brothers held in their hands. "And if you wish to see us show our work, we took notes on the brainstorming process."

[Shard Loren]

Shard had noticed that Lexi had joined their little group but he was busy ridding himself of all the various twigs and leaves he had acquired during his escape from the creepy talking lizard thing. However, not that that was finally done he walked up to her and smiling said "I take it you're gonna be joining our merry little band eh?" he absently shook his still mud covered leg trying to shake off some of the larger clumps.

[Artemis]

Artemis helps Hector into a seat with the fussing a mother usually reserves for a sick child, making sure that he's comfortable and has some water to drink. Once he's settled she pats his shoulder and briefly follows his gaze to see what he's looking at. She catches sight of a few familiar faces from their brief time in the R&D tent including the snow leopard. Her head lifts as she takes a few light sniffs of the air.

"It smells like typical mess food. Meant to fill quickly and give you the energy you need to hike all day. I already miss the cook." The feline gives Hector's shoulder another pat and visits the line, returning a few minutes later with some fruit and a few particular cuts of fish as well as some oatmeal for Hector. She spoons a little honey into it as well as some of the fruit she fetches, cut up into smaller pieces.

"I wonder how long Garret will be conducting interviews," she muses to her companion. "Or if any of them are going to give him an idea or two. I think he could use a new pet project or three to distract him from the Sirenidae attacks."

[Admin]

Silver looked at both designs and bit his lip, again he saw some strange proclivity toward people being able to look inside minds. He feared the dream viewer could be abused or used to look into someone else's psyche. "while ah... an interesting Idea, I'm afraid the dream viewer is out for now unless its used exclusively by the person dreaming. It's otherwise a remarkable invasion of privacy if you're watching the goings on of someone's mind." He looked up at them sympathetically. "I'm sorry about that, and Fox would share my sentiments about that. It is a wonderful idea but I would be worried to see it to fruition I can only see how such a machine could be used against someone or how someone would be tempted to use it on a prisoner of war. Forgive me for my reluctance there. I came from a society where empathy is commonplace, to read someone else's mind is very easy and as such there are laws against it. If you entered someone's mind without thier consent no matter what the intention, you could be put to death. You can understand why I'm a bit squeamish about that."

He turned to the other design and looked at it a bit more carefully. "If we were to develop this I doubt it would be for those of us on the island. Fox wants us to be as non-invasive as possible on the local wildlife and this larger model would be rather detrimental to the surrounding rain forested areas of Aukate... I could see it being developed for her human allies in other countries perhaps, but I think a tank would be more effective than a giant destructive mech suit in this case. However we could let them be the judge of that. As for the smaller model, I still see the same thing happening. There's not alot of combat that goes on that would require these types of drastic methods of protecting yourself that a suit of armor wouldn't. And would function just as practically. If it didn't add so much additional mass to the wearer it probably would cut thier agility in half if not more. When we do fight we're in jungles and under dense foliage so being able to move quickly, quietly and silently is far more of an asset." He unbuttoned the front panel of his uniform and showed them the thickness of it before buttoning it back up.

"Our uniforms are made of spidersilk on the outside, on the inside the military versions are lined with a thin layer of protective material to ward off against minor cuts, projectiles, that sort of thing, without sacrificing mobility." He looked up at them again.

"These inventions are indeed plausible but unfortunately not quite practical for what we're needing in the feild. I suggest if you want to talk military weaponry you should talk to Darius as he knows a bit more about what they're needing than I do" He stuffed the blueprints into a folder and grabbed the stamp. "I would officially state if you are going to submit the mech robot that it be for the expressed purpose of being used elsewhere and not here otherwise that would be the sumission of your two that I'd choose. Honestly you could pass with the mech if it were presented as something we'd develop for our allies but if you'd like to go back to the draft board and come up with something else to submit I would understand that too, your choice."

[TheSphinx]

Garran straightened his uniform up and walked to the mess.

He had to realize a complete, working, interesting design in a few hours. And that was only the first part of the evaluation. Of the first day as a recruit. Things were working fast here, and Garran began to understand why Silver said that R&D was the favorite pet of the Overlord. Keeping this pace, by the end of the week they would request him to build a nuclear reactor from scraps.
Coming here was definitely the right choice.

The mess wasn't crowded yet. Garran took a plate full of raw, red meat and looked around. There were Gu Jiao, lost in reading an old book, and Socks working on her pasta.
He walked towards her table.
"Mind if I join you?"

[Admin]

Hector smiled at Artemis and nibbled on a peice of fruit. "Thank you." While he ate he peered around the rest of the tent. "Hard to say, I hope so, poor kid's been having a mess of it lately I really hope this helps him in the long run." He gently stirred the honey into the oatmeal and took a bite of that, trying not to pull a face. "ah... this is going to take some getting used to. At least we'll appreciate the cook a bit more when we get back to the library. Maybe before we leave we should get a plate of fruit or something for Garret."

[Admin]

Outside the tent Darius patted Sunny's shoulder and motioned she follow him to the base ops section. "Ladies and Gentlemen... Lieutenant Areta has to step out for a moment, while she's attending to other duties. Those of you who haven't yet, please go out and forage for food you have one hour to do so. GO. Those of you who have please just sit down and make yourself comfortable untill LT. Areta returns. Enjoy the break you'll need it for later." Darius pulled up a chair for Sunny and seated himself, holding his cane out before him, finally adressing her again. "Sorry for the lull in your training my dear, a million things to be done and not enough time. Now then what did you bring from the mess hall that we can enjoy while we wait for the others to return from foraging. "

[Ezra Stewart]

Jiao wiggled his whiskers as he read, taking an occasional bite of his food. He was rereading a book he had read many times during his period of isolation. He studied it with absolute fascination and wonder. It was the first of many books that his master had him read. To Jiao, this book was his glimpse into humanity, an idea of what it was like to be human. Though this book was merely a recounting of a ancient historical period. It was enlightening in it's own sense. Jiao believed wholeheartedly that this era of human history was the embodiment of what it meant to be human, and Jiao had already read several books on the period itself. Mainly because Jiao had always been fascinated with this period of human history, and he found it more and more intriguing as he aged. Though it was violent in nature, there was also passion and desire, ambition and conquest, love and hate. It was the product of human nature, all culminating into one incredible period of human history. Jiao took a deep relaxed sigh as he finished another chapter. He supposed it would be best for him too mingle a little, and maybe to find that fox he had spoken to earlier. The officer back at the tent asked for him to bring her back specifically when the time came to return. So he would do it, for now though Jiao put in a small slip of fabric to hold his spot, and then set the book beside him. Jiao took a small bite of his food, looked around, and saw another officer near him. An elf from the looks of it, he turned slightly to him, and nodded.

"Hello there" Jiao said with a polite bow "I am Gu Jiao, who are you sir? "

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