@ian.fowler | morningstar network

[wittingly]

Hey
Stop me if this is a stupid offer, I'm still trying to figure out how this whole thing works, but
I heard about the whole gate problem, and the whole simulation thing, there's probably more going on too that I don't know about yet
I'm an engineer
You guys might already have a few, but just in case you're shorthanded
If there's anything I can do to help, I want to

I can also apparently do a weird tools thing now so that's
something

edit: if anyone's in the market for crazy experiments in there
you guys glitch the sim when you do your chest thing, right?
anyone tried organizing a group glow-off? overwhelm the system with too much at once, DDOS it into crashing?

Comments

[hardwearing]

I get what you mean. I don't actually know if our implants are any different, or if anyone's figured that out. It's probably a question for El on the outside. But my gut instinct is that if there was a signifier in the implants, if we were different somehow on that level rather than just whatever's in our chests, he would've been able to compensate for it by this point.

AI are incredibly powerful at certain things, I feel like he would've tweaked things so we couldn't glitch it anymore. In here we didn't even have access to our implants at first, it was like they weren't there.

[wittingly]

you have to be right, if he could isolate you guys he'd eliminate the possibility for error
what he's doing is way too sophisticated for him to let something like that go if he could help it
really makes me think crashing it entirely wouldn't out you as a group

but I'll level with you, honestly man, I'm from the 21st century
the closest thing we have to AI is machine learning + this bot called Tay they tried out on social media that became racist in like 4 hours

[hardwearing]

We have them in the 26th century where I am, both human and alien made. Judas seems more on the level of the Sangheilli AI, honestly, but I don't know much about them or the tech required.

[wittingly]

sounds like you guys made friendly with your aliens
I've managed to get up close and personal with not a single goddamn piece of their tech back home in mine

is this your area?
or in more transparent phrasing, if I wanted to drill someone with 26th century mechanics and tech questions am I barking up the right tree?

[hardwearing]

Only kind of, we just got out of a 33 year interplanetary war awhile back. And I wouldn't call relations friendly. The AI my group found is... helpful, though.

I'm not an engineer, I'm a solider, but I might be able to answer some questions. What've you got?

[wittingly]

the fact that you guys were able to both keep up and fight a war with them is already answering a few of my questions, to be honest

I honestly want to know literally everything you can tell me about it, but since you're probably not in the mood to write a 500 page dissertation

how has travel changed?
what kind of weaponry are you guys armed with?
if you had to look back 5 centuries and go 'I can't believe those disgusting primitives used to do that' about something, what comes to mind?
teleporting, yes/no?
uploading your brain into the cloud to cheat death yes/no
any updates on dark matter?
does speech to text ever fucking work?

[hardwearing]

Okay, I'm going to do my best here.

The translight engine basically creates wormholes for faster travel -- was invented in the late 23rd century, and allowed us to colonize outside the Sol system. Since that's like 300 years before my time I only know the basics in the history books, but travel when I'm from is pretty quick to wherever you want to go because the ship travels through slipspace. Still not as fast as alien ships, they've been doing this way longer and have pooled resources for ages, they're smoother and more precise from what I'm told.

Unfortunately human weaponry wasn't all that different, more powerful but still based on ammunition rather than energy, which is what the aliens are using. Hybrid tech exists but it's unreliable and the people messing around with it are pretty untrustworthy. My squad actually uses a lot of alien weapons because we got them from that helpful AI I mentioned, but that's not normal at all.

...medical tech, I wouldn't have wanted to have a serious injury or health issue back then. Sorry.

Teleporting, yes, but it really isn't pleasant. It's also through slipspace and human tech is limited in where you can wind up. The hybrid tech is too, and I imagine if the Covenant could teleport to any coordinates they would have but again, they're more advanced. And it's not designed for us, the hybrid tech could kill you if you're not careful.

You can't upload your brain to cheat death, but technically -- this is illegal, AI are highly regulated -- you could have your brain turned into an AI after you die. All our AI are based on human brains. I don't actually know if you'd keep your memories, but I've heard horror stories of AI going rampant after their digital lifespan is up. You'd only get maybe a decade.

Can you be more specific on dark matter? It exists.

Nope, never.

[wittingly]

I probably already know the answer but I'd hate myself if I didn't ask:
you can't get me any schematics or a build path for that translight engine can you

what's special about your medical tech?

speaking of energy, fossil fuels I assume have been replaced - are most things powered by black hole manipulation or are there alternative energy sources now? then. now. whenever you're from. jesus fucking christ, time adverbs

can you tell me anything more about slipspace?

dark matter makes up like 5/6ths of our universe but we still aren't entirely sure what it's made of when I'm from
they simplify it saying it's full of atom counterparts but it's a mystery to us beyond that

fucking speech to text.

[hardwearing]

Sorry... I know someone who would probably be able to but it's not me.

I've never taken a medical history course or anything but our technology has advanced to the point of robotic limbs, organs, practically whatever you need, and we've basically eradicated everything that caused problems in your time, I think. It's hard to remember that part of history, I've probably never even heard of most common ailments from your time. Sickness isn't a huge issue -- age is, injury is, if you don't catch it in time, but if you're in armor you have stabilizers and biofoam and things.

We still use fossil fuels for some things, they're just coming from places that aren't earth. The really big alternative source is actually fusion reactors. They're in everything, even my power armor.

I probably can, but it's not going to be super technical. Same for dark matter, I've only had a couple astrophysics courses. Do you have any specific questions?

[wittingly]

That's freaking crazy, man. I am insanely jealous of how far your medical has come. You're not wrong. I lost someone to illness, it's a real problem in the world when I'm from. You don't even realize how common it is until it's effecting you, you know?

wow, yeah, I guess it makes total sense that fossil fuel harvesting can come from sources other than us, must be way more abundant.

this is probably a stupid question but like

how's pollution? not on earth, I mean
now that humanity's in the god damn stars, are they junking up space?

[hardwearing]

I'm sorry to hear that. It was war that killed most everybody I knew but I can relate to the loss if not the cause.

Of course we're junking up space. Humanity junks up everything -- there are entire floating junkyards out there, not just pollution. But it's still better than what happened to Earth.

[wittingly]

I can relate to the war part right back at you, man. Our alien guests weren't friends at all.

Fucking figures.
What happened to earth?

[hardwearing]

That was all our fault. Humanity, I mean. We used it up, wrecked it... lots of places are just off the map because they're underwater from global warming, the already hot spots are uninhabitable, that sort of deal. And resources have to be shipped in these days.

But it's the homeworld so we'll ever give it up. Humans will always live on Earth. I've never been there, though, and don't feel the need to.