voidtreckerexpress | [Open] It's Computer Time

Entry tags:

[Open] It's Computer Time

Who: [Dairine and you]
Where: [Standard carriage]
When: [Grasshopper, Day 20.]
What: [Dairine is setting up the desktop computer she got for the public.]
Warnings: [Not much, other than I've never actually set up a new computer.]

The purchase had seemed like a good idea. With the mission comms issue sorted by the train, Dairine was eager to find something else she could improve. Programming the ICP was so far a dead end, even as she learned more about its coding. So instead, she moved onto her next biggest issue: the lack of shared note-taking. Back in Paradisa, the journals ensured that most events had a physical record. But here, for better and for worse, everyone was left to their own devices as far as note-taking. She could rely on her sister to pass along her own findings, but what about the rest? What Dairine wanted was a system where anyone—or ideally everyone— could share their findings in a permanent database.

And thus, a desktop computer was purchased. Originally Dairine had planned on putting the computer in her room to start up the database, but the sleeping carriage proved far too small for a full sized PC setup (at least without bothering her fellow roommates). So she checked over the pieces with Spot, added the new SSD card, and then put them back inside their truck for storage.

The mission, her immediate disappearance, and Nita's big wizardly time-out had pushed the project to the sidelines for a while. But with Dair in need of a good distraction, now seemed like the best time to set things in motion.

[Start Up]

Those in the Standard Carriage will see the young wizard intently looking over the printer and checking out its power supply. After taking some notes on her laptop, Dairine nods, then sets the laptop down on a nearby table.

"This should do." She reaches to the side and... suddenly pulls a trunk out of thin air. This is shortly followed by a smaller box. Flipping the lid open, she cracks her knuckles. "Right. Time to get started."

[Power Up]

With the SSD already handled, the process barely takes long at all. She sets up the tower and monitor, then pulls out the keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, and webcam. One after another, each cord is plugged into the correct port with remarkable certainty. It's pretty obvious Dairine's done this before.

With everything connected and ready to go, she turns the system on. The whirling of the fans immediately fills her corner of the carriage. Dairine breathes out, the familiar sound relaxing her more than she would have expected.

"OK, buddy. Let's see what you can do."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Pulling things out of thin air? No longer as unusual to Webmind as it once was, but as he's walking through the Standard Carriage in the direction of Stores, it does catch his attention.

"Would you like assistance in putting those together?"

He nods to both Dairine and Spot. "If you'll forgive the presumption. I confess it is a relief for me to see something so familiar here."

"Hmm?"

She glances up from what she's doing. Then glances back down.

"I can handle it." For his credit, Dairine doesn't sound offended by his offer, which is saying a lot. "The difficult parts are already done."

Spot stands up on his spindly legs in order to 'nod' back at Webmind. Dairine on the other hand, answers excitedly, "I know, right? Powers be praised and all that, the train's power source is compatible with electric devices."

"You do look like an experienced hand at this," Webmind notes.

"And yes, I was pleased to notice that as well; while the Safety Control Apparatuses are still inscrutable, the rest of the train has not been devoid of batteries. Or plugs."

While his help is not needed, he is still happy to watch, and so he finds a convenient nearby seat from which to do so and still hold a conversation.

"This isn't my first time setting up a computer, no." She opens up the cardboard box and starts unpacking the mouse. "You get a reputation as the family techie, and suddenly everyone wants you to set up their rig."

Well, technically only one of the computers she fully setup was for her family. The first computer they got ended up being Spot, who she only half setup and very much was not responsible for building him. But she did have experience outside of that.

"Yeah, though I don't know if you noticed, but the outlets that the train provides aren't electricity based."

"Some schools do offer classes in that vein, as well - though not nearly enough, I should think."

Computers were important, okay? People needed to know how to maintain them, in all senses of the term!

"And yes, I have; they appear quite adaptable despite their shape. Perhaps the energy of the void itself is harnessed and converted?"

She scoffs a bit. "The classes they offer are subpar at best. I've had better luck learning on my own."

There's only so many times you can have someone try to handhold you through Word before you start losing your patience. Especially when you have as little of it as Dairine.

"Indeed. I suppose the train has some incentive to keep them as universally adaptable as possible." Given all the different worlds they came from and visited. "I could see it. That'd explain how the train can travel the Void so easily without stopping for fuel."

That's as may be; Webmind nods in acceptance.

"It's not as if we have design manuals on voidtrains. Some tidbits and trivia on how it's able to travel the void, but not much besides."

Dairine keeps working, but her interest has been pinged by potential new knowledge.

"Yeah? How many tidbits are we up to on void travel?"

"Nothing crucial along the lines of 'how to stop it' or an emergency contact, but one magazine did feature the creation of the technology behind bringing things into the void."

"Somehow I suspect we're not gonna get that kind of information so easily."

Honestly the provided topic sounds almost more interesting to Dairine.

"What volume was it?" Dairine admittedly hasn't checked the magazines quite as thoroughly as the books on the train—evidentially an error on her part.

"The fifth issue of Voidcraft Through the Ages; it only arrived this last platform."

Meaning it would be understandable why Dairine had missed it.

"Sweet, thanks." Dair will grab it once she's done here.

With everything unpacked and in its place on the table, Dairine takes a moment to step back and look at it all.

"Well, it's not much, but I guess it'll work for a start."

"One small step for computers, one giant leap for passenger-kind?" Webmind paraphrases.

Perhaps it qualifies as a joke...

Dairine's heard quicklife joke before, so she gives a wry grin.

"Not quite our own moon landing. Besides, we already have computers here making bigger steps than this."

By which she means the passengers. And also Spot.

Webmind gives an accepting nod towards Spot.

"Certainly enough, though I wouldn't try using this train's shop to bring another of him here, among other options."

It felt wrong, on several levels.

Spot nods back, an acknowledgement of the compliment while also tactfully including Webmind as one of those quicklife.

Dairine shakes her head.

"The train's shop couldn't bring another of him here even if it tried. There is nothing quite like Spot. Even his Cousins. And if they showed up, they'd probably arrive via the platforms."

Which Dairine wouldn't hope for, given all the good they were going back on the Motherboard. But if it came to that, she would be thrilled to see any of the Mobiles.

Webmind seems very interested. Not quite to the extent of flashing an exclamation point on his screen, but if anything he seems more animated.

"Would this be a species of computer-intelligences, that you are speaking of?"

Though he'd agree on the mixed feelings of someone else being added to the 'stuck on the train' tally.

"Yup! The Mobiles are all computer-based lifeforms. They aren't the same as Spot, who's my Wizard Manual, but he helped me make them. We had to transfer a ton of data to the Motherboard during the process, and that link kinda stuck with us after it was done."

Dairine speaks openly and enthusiastically, clearly proud of this accomplishment. She loves the Mobiles so much.

S'reee knows more about computers than she did a year or two ago, but they were still not something she thought much about. Especially as computer components and saltwater were not things easily brought together in constructive ways. So she asked, "Don't you already have Spot?"

"Mm?" Dairine looks up. "Oh! Dai, cousin."

She settles on a good spot for the tower.

"Yeah, but I can't exactly share him, can I?" Well she could before, but she wasn't exactly at that power level anymore. No more making copies of her Wiztech. Course that also had been for family, not a bunch of strangers. "Besides, a desktop has its uses."

Edited 2020-08-16 02:44 (UTC)

"Like what? Remember, I'm new to this."

"Well, for starters desktops are easier to upgrade than a laptop. Spot excluded." The upgrades for Wiztech were handled Higher Up, so they tended to be fairly automatic once both Spot and Dairine gave the OK.

"See this?" Dairine gestures to the computer tower. "This tower contains all the major components for our computer. Hardware, power, ventilation... Since it's so big, it is easier to replace or add extra parts. Whereas a more standard laptop has to fit all of that into a Spot-sized compartment. That makes accessing it all more tricky. Plus you can only fit so many fans in a laptop, so ventilation isn't as good as with a desktop."

"And they make ones that are even smaller, correct? I received one on the prior world I was on." S'reee sounds a bit smug. Look, at this point, she's the cetacean expert on computers.

"They do. Depending on how you look at it, even smartphones are tiny computers now-a-days. Even the non-Wiztech ones."

She glances over at S'reee. "How was tech in that other world you visited?"

Dairine remains ever curious.

"I couldn't exactly give you a detailed comparison, but it seemed... about the same level, but different, and more integrated to the local magic system." S'reee paused, opening an otherspace pocket -- a bit more clumsily than a human, as it was wizardry she used less often -- to pull out a tablet.

"This came with me. It was mine."

The device was branded an iMog Slate, the options looked like a cross between a tablet and a console RPG game's menu system (a lot more the latter, and definitely inspired by a certain franchise). S'reee had turned on accessibility settings to voice the menu options as one touched them. Most of the communications options were disabled, as S'reee was definitely not in range of the networks it was supposed to connect to.

"Same but different seems pretty on par for comparing these spaces to the train. At least you had tech as a default. The place I ended up was far more magic leaning. Any tech that I had was either thanks to Spot or wished up."

Oooooh, S'reee has it with her! Dairine's eyes grow wide with excitement, her hand reaching out but just barely holding back for decorum.

"May I see?"

She's not about to go snooping into someone else's tech without permission. But the possibility of digging into what other pocket worlds use for communication-!

"Certainly, Cousin," S'reee answered. "Especially if you can make it speak to the computers on the train. It would take me some time to learn that, even with wizardry."

"If you mean the ICPs, then that might take some time. They are remarkably stubborn tech." Even for someone like Dairine. "But I'll see what I can do."

She'll certainly try her damn best to get it working.

"If you can spare the time, I would appreciate it," S'reee said. "I know I'd be hopeless at it."

Was that a computer? How nostalgic.

He couldn't help but stop and lean against the wall for a moment rather casually. He wondered what kind of specs it had, after all one of his tech driven hobbies was modding his own machines.

He did ask really, the most interesting question.

"I don't suppose that has the iternet?"

She barely looks up from the screen, focused on her work.

"Nah, we're a bit out of range for the internet. I would have noticed if we had access to that here." He might notice the odd Apple laptop sitting nearby, with its biteless logo.

He looked like he was considering that. A laptop wasn't too strange to him either.

"What are you trying to do with it then?" He sounded more curious than anything.

This laptop would be very strange to the average person, but Spot tends to keep a low profile in public. So the only hint is the difference in logo.

"Ideally? Compiling data."

Dairine waves her hand as the computer starts booting up. "The ICP systems are sorely lacking in options for history or search functionality. And while we've all been given journals, they're not connected in any way, so how are we supposed to know if someone's taken notes on a particular event? As it stands, the only way is to compare journals, assuming you know the other person at all!"

"There's gonna be a better way. And while I could sit and hope the train eventually provides, a PC seems like a better start."

The logo wasn't enough to catch his attention though, his mind merely dismissed it as a laptop, nothing more. It was potentially a lucky thing, but Senku was also not much of a snoop.

"Ah, data. That makes sense." He said agreeably with a nod. "Even though it would be more interesting if it did have the internet."

He tilted his head slightly. "What kind of data are you looking for?"

Possibly. If he's lucky, Senku might get to see what makes Spot special during a mission sometime. Their on the same team after all.

"Yeah. Maybe some of the quicklife passengers could help us rebuild it from scratch?" She sighs, "Then again getting enough routers and other hardware for the job would really eat into our points."

They might be better off focusing small, at least until other more urgent concerns were handled.

"Everything," Dairine answers automatically with zero hesitation. She might be older, but some things stay the same. "The environment and cultures of the places we visit during missions, any anomalies that happen on the train, passengers who have come and gone, how many have died and if they came back changed, anything we find about the Voidtreker itself..." She waves her hands in emphasis before realizing that she's getting a bit too keen. "...Stuff like that."

"We're not really in a position to be launching satellites, but something more local could potentially be doable, hardwired in." Senku mused thoughtfully.

"Making computers talk to each other isn't intrinsically that difficult, but then you'd still be dealing without having access to the outside world which is kind of the biggest benefit of the internet. If you're going to have this sitting here for use, you could have some kind of local database people could access and contribute to."

He leaned against the wall, looking like he was considering her requests. "It would be vitally important to gather that data, I agree. I'm surprised no one is doing that already? At least it doesn't seem like it. I have a theory that the places we visit are connected to the rest of it, but I can't say much about it, my theories are in their infancy."

"Launch satellites where? The void?"

"A local database is definitely more along the lines of what I was thinking," she acknowledges. "As convenient as it'd be to connect it to the ICP system, figuring out the required permissions would be one hellva challenge. Maybe for the best. Having a separate system from the ICP could be more ideal, in case that particular network becomes compromised."

Or if the train turns out to be more untrustworthy of an entity.

"Oh, a bunch of people already are, myself included." Dairine gently taps on the laptop's lid. "The problem is, most of it is in isolation, and usually with the train provided notepads. Makes comparing notes pretty tedious, and that's if you know the other passengers. I mean, sure you can ask for more information on the ICP, but then you're rolling the dice on who's listening at the time. And if someone has the same question later one, they won't be able to refer to the answers you get."

"That was my point." He observed wryly, not polite enough to shake that off.

"I wasn't thinking of trying to piggyback on the ICP, although I mean, we probably could. In theory it's not too hard to make a local network, provided we have the necessary materials, which is probably where the sticking point is." He commented.

Senku nodded as she described the problem. "Ah, there does seem to be a lack of research just lying around. So, something like this could solve the problem if you got everyone to transcribe their thoughts in a communal terminal isntead."

"Sure, whatever," Dairine rolls her eyes, also not polite enough to just drop it.

"Hypothetically we could, but getting the necessary permissions to connect to the ICP wouldn't be easy. Even if you learn the system's code, finding a place to input commands is rather tricky." Especially since Dairine is averse to hacking, doubly so with a system that seems connected to an intelligence. "Materials is definitely the biggest sticking point. We still have very little information on how we collect points or why some get more than others. So purchases have to be pretty well thought out."

"Yeah, even if it was just a copy of their previous notes, it'd make things so much easier! And if they prefer, folks could print out what they want to review." She jabs a finger towards the printer.

"Tricky? Sounds fun." Senku responded, flexing his fingers. It had been so long since he tried to hack into anything and while she might've been averse to it, he certainly wasn't.

"I plan on keeping an eye on anywhere we visit to gather materials, but it depends, I guess, on what I can get my hands on."

He nodded slightly, glancing at the printer. "That'd be useful for some people, sure."

Dairine gives him a dark glare. Hack her computer, and she'll make you pay, mister.

"You make the train mad, I'm not cleaning up the mess."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open] It's Computer Time

[Start Up] In an attempt to minimize the tech-talk...

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Sorry this is so late, feel free to ignore if you want

[Start Up]

[Start Up]

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[Power Up]

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Sorry this is so late, feel free to ignore if you want