Aeorex Khestralicht
Initiated
Posts: 19
Title: Council-Elect for Third District, CEO of Ouroboros
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Post by Aeorex Khestralicht on Aug 24, 2015 21:22:34 GMT -5
Aeorex blinked, and that was all it took. While what could be referred to as the transmission time between arguable locations usually varied in their duration, he wasn't quite sure he could say that the change had ever been that fast, and it hit him in full. Even with his otherworldly powers of perception, the change was so instantaneous that, despite the response of his hidden gaze, his expression visibly stiffened in a subtle, but definite surprise. Hands at his sides, he even took a moment to, reflexively, glance from side to side, and then directly before him to the shorter stature of the King whom was so very vital to the entirety of his operations. Her grin was soon matched by his own, the humor not lost on him entirely, unless she had something else to be so impish about.
Hands casually sliding to his pockets, he watched the girl before him as she responded, before anything else could provoke her to, with one of her eccentric quips. Without even so much as the canting of his head, he considered the King's words, but had at this point learned that, while they weren't wholly irrelevant, the were best left to linger in silence. Letting her transition to more immediate concerns, he nodded in time with her otherwise deadpan tone.
“That it was. To put it simply, Virianus is mobilizing the council to see to filling out the absent seats, and the message he sent was a nominee of his own choosing. There's no telling how long he's been sitting on that one.”
Knowing Virianus, it was just as likely that the notion had just crossed his desk as it had that he'd been stewing on it for some time. In any case, it wasn't of the most immediate concern, at least in relation to the reason for his being here, in this scarcely dotted white void. Regarding the King as she drifted upward, unbound by limitations that concerned others here in her own world as he viewed it, he listened as she continued, visibly pausing despite remaining stationary to consider the suggestion.
“Functionally, it would. I'd be more than interested to hear them.”
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Asurnararri
Uninitiated
Posts: 5
Title: Dead Mexatron King
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Post by Asurnararri on Sept 10, 2015 15:59:28 GMT -5
Asurnararri’s floating movements through the blank, white wasteland made the diminutive King seem more like an ethereal fairy creature than a product of technology. The way in which the hems of her skirt and the ends of her long, black hair flowed and oscillated around her as she moved made it seem as though they were unaffected by gravity, giving the creature a decidedly spectral quality, despite her incredibly-solid origins. Her flight path had her drifting up and around past Aeorex’s head before ascending higher, with her momentum only finally slowing when she was a good ten feet above the CEO’s position on the ground. Asurnararri let her arms drift up from her sides as her body rotated, spinning so that her head was pointed down toward the ‘ground’ and her feet up towards the seemingly-endless expanse of whiteness above her: one eye focused on Aeorex from high above as she continued the conversation as though she were not, essentially, staring down at him from the ceiling.
“Seventh District is too important for him to leave to chance: if he relied on the Council to choose a Seventh District representative, he would likely be left with a bureaucratic choice rather than a functional one.”
“The Tower resists signal relays for some reason: I can catch transmissions that exit it, but not catch any broadcasting from inside of it. Something energetically shields it: do you have any idea what?”
Asurnararri had a vague idea, but the diminutive King wanted to gauge what Aeorex knew before she further explained her ideas – or, more appropriately, the ideas for her ideas. After she had finished speaking, the King would continue on in a lower, singsong voice, her one visible eye fluttering open to watch Aeorex ‘above’ her head.
”Shadows come and go, in and out, walking in twos: black and blue.”
The King was able to make several intuitive leaps in a matter of microseconds, and therefore when she continued speaking in her normal tone, she had already seemingly advanced the conversation ahead by several paces. Aeorex was likely only just beginning to get used to Asurnararri's conversation style, but also probably knew that, just like with her asides, it was easier to just go with the flow.
"We need to give them all gifts. Pretty little trinkets, pins, or rings. Something they carry on them at all times - that's the best way to track their movements. Except in the Tower, of course."
The diminutive King took off again, gently floating toward the 'ground' and rotating as she went so that she could lightly set down right in front of Aeorex, her one visible eye looking up at him inquisitively.
"Some of them give off specific energy signatures that I can lock on to, like Sixth, but most of the rest are shielded from view somehow. Second, First, and Fifth are impossible to track on their own, especially with the way Fifth bounces around." Callixta had a way of seeming to be in multiple places at once, energetically speaking: the best Asurnararri could ever seem to get were blips of her movements from one place to another, but only sometimes. "Therefore, we need a steady signal. I don't suppose they all wear earrings do they?"
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Aeorex Khestralicht
Initiated
Posts: 19
Title: Council-Elect for Third District, CEO of Ouroboros
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Post by Aeorex Khestralicht on Dec 24, 2015 21:53:54 GMT -5
The CEO couldn't adequately explain the space that now surrounded him. Whether or not what he was breathing was real air, though he highly suspected that it wasn't, was something that he couldn't ascertain for sure. The Dirac's Ocean, as far as he understood it, was a space completely of the King's own making, and it it, she held absolute control. To enter it—or rather, be invited—so freely was something of which the gravity, simulated or not, did not escape him. In short, as he saw it, was to quite literally place his life in Asurnararri's hands, and it was far from the most irrepleacably crucial of functions that she served. He trusted her, depended on her, and was very aware that, if the matter was of any importance to her at-first-glance eccentric personality, she knew it. It helped him to keep that in perspective.
With that said, as she floated in the 'air' above him, her garments and hair floating like those of an ethereal specter, he reserved his awe, but kept the due amount of respect for her established centrality in her domain. Hands still in his pockets, he gave a casual nod to her remark regarding Seventh District, but resisted interrupting to add his own opinion. In truth, was any one district so unimportant that it could afford to be haphazardly led? Would Alpha allow that? The CEO doubted it in earnest and suspected that, even if he had to convince the Council that it was their idea in the first place, he would see those that he wanted in the seats of power, and no one else. Of course, such a speculation was a recurring one, and the thought was easily brushed aside in favor of the King's rapid-paced conversation style.
Letting the child-like Asurnararri continue to the summation of her points, he listened as she moved on, and didn't wholly regard the quizzically mysterious limericks that she had a habit of interjecting while doing so. It was only after she had finished, when she was standing directly before him, that he responded, doing his best not to seem borish in his attempts to scramble to keep up with her powerful mind.
“It's likely that the Tower, which to my understanding serves as much as the central location for the Grid as it does the city itself, is a sort of focal point. Whether or not any energetic interference you've detected is an intentional creation or a convenient byproduct is beyond me, but then again, such old magic has always been, and I doubt that Alpha wants any prying eyes to see the whole of whatever machinations he has developing inside of it. After all, towers have always historically been points of defense.” If not, in equal parts, displays of power.
Moving on, the CEO canted his head to one side in what seemed a delayed reaction to the King's suggestion, even if it was only his uncertainty in the success of her proposed approach.
“That's not entirely surprising; Callixta has been on the Council the longest to my knowledge, and, given that her identity is...questionably single at best, her propensity for complicated magic is likely, to say the least.”
Finally pulling his gaze away from Asurnararri, he turned and started to pace in a slow circle around her, his hidden gaze indicated to be on the 'ground' before him as he spoke his thoughts aloud.
“In any case, relations on the Council are...complicated. While I can see someone like Floraelia responding well to such a gift, I can see Ishmael brushing it off as frivolous. Then, of course, Callixta and Soren would be just as likely to throw them in disposal units the very second they received them.”
He continued his steady pacing for a moment in silence, despite knowing that it was probably an eternity to the King that served as the center to the perimeter he paced. Beyond the question of whether or not they could enact an effective form of tracking the other Council members, there was the question of whether or not they should; if being able to track each individual would be worth the risk of their possible retaliation if they ever discovered such surveillance. While relations with the others could already be more than trying at times, the last thing he wanted was to create a definitive reason to focus their aggression. Finally, when he had reached a point at her side lest she had been turning to constantly regard him, he stopped.
“What about an update for the Communikay system? How effectively could you conceal your ability to track their location via their personal communikays, and what's more, what changes could you make to the system to warrant their interest in it?”
He looked to her again, now at his side, and waited for an answer that he knew, via the King's ability to process information and possibilities at rapid speed, wouldn't take long.
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Asurnararri
Uninitiated
Posts: 5
Title: Dead Mexatron King
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Post by Asurnararri on Dec 24, 2015 22:35:47 GMT -5
”Terrible twos, threes, and fours, all the way to ten – spindly fingers and limbs, black as pitch, shaded in terror. Twelve? Fourteen, ten thousand?”
Asurnararri’s feet drifted just subtly off the ground as she spoke, her body floating back away from Aeorex as he responded to her questions and statements in series. Naturally, the King was already steps ahead in the conversation, so as the CEO scrambled to catch up, Asurnararri filled the time by running other thoughts through her mind at light speed, some of which were revolving around the antigravity repulsion systems she had grafted near to her core. ‘Antigravity’ was a misnomer, of course – the floating the King was doing had a great deal more to do with electromagnetic fields than actual gravity, but the effect was similar – the tech was an expansion of the multi-field rail-gun concept she had made some time ago. Soon enough, she would be able to manipulate electromagnetism in such a fine-tuned way that she could potentially assemble complex metal components without actually touching them, which was part of the goal. For now, Asurna was testing – though she kept what she was doing a bit of a mystery from Aeorex, since she knew his propensity was to make things ‘marketable’, and her toys weren’t meant for anyone but her. At least, not yet.
“No, the Tower was built long after the grid – it’s patched in, wired extensively, is almost an extension, but it still came later. The interference comes from something else, and was done intentionally. It’s a concentration of an energy that spans the entire city, stretching out like the tentacles of a sea creature.”
Asurnararri was already facing away from Aeorex as she responded, and was waving her arm through the air in front of her, upon which some unreadable display of numbers and graphs appeared.
“You are correct, though: for the time being, the Tower is impenetrable to me.”
The girl’s expression shifted to something of a pout as she touched back down on the ‘ground and turned to Aeorex, clearly incensed that there was a location within the city that her influence could not yet reach. Moving on quickly, however, the diminutive King pointed at the floating, colored graphs.
“Your biometric data is continuing to decline, especially with regard to lung function. Your left mid and dorsal lobes show increased air trapping and impaired gas exchange, and your PCO2 level has risen to an average of 45 mmHg, indicating early stages of acidosis. Your chemical inhalants are likely the cause, and further use will result in increased shortness of breath, lethargy, and eventual chest deformity.”
Waving her hand, the graphs disappeared from the air, and Asurnararri pushed off with both of her feet to send her body rocketing up over Aeorex’s shoulder before smoothly turning, her maneuvers akin to those of someone swimming in water rather than air.
“A communikay update is possible – installation of a secondary relay would allow me to both track and listen to users consistently, and I had been considering a new interface which included the ability to recognize voice to dictate messages. If updated models were mass produced, it would be considered a gesture of comradery and goodwill if the Councilors each got prototypes before the run hits the market in full.”
Asurnararri put one finger to her lips as if in thought.
“It would be an improvement over catching data as it passes grid relays, though the Tower will still block communication.”
Zipping down to land in front of Aeorex again, the small King would poke the CEO in the stomach with one slender finger.
“When it is safe to do so, I need to get inside the Tower – I will only be able to analyze the blocking energy from inside of the field.”
Looking up at Aeorex with her one visible eye shining with bright curiosity, Asurnararri smiled approvingly.
“I also need development authorization from the Serpent Armor division for a new exosuit – I have an idea as to how I can do some direct investigation without exposing my presence.”
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Aeorex Khestralicht
Initiated
Posts: 19
Title: Council-Elect for Third District, CEO of Ouroboros
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Post by Aeorex Khestralicht on Dec 25, 2015 3:18:13 GMT -5
Asurnararri had the benefit of home field advantage. She had never taken care to explain what were likely countless intricacies of the Dirac's Ocean beyond what the CEO asked of her, and as far as Aeorex was concerned, it would maintain the efficiency of his simple—if not misinformed—understanding if new information was relayed only on a need-to-know basis. She floated through the 'air' like it was water because she could, and it was just as likely that the youthful individual before him was a manifestation of her choosing. The important part, as he saw it, was that he not demand everything from her, but took what she was willing to give, when she was ready to give it.
Accepting her newest limerick in silence, he waited for her to proceed, and when she did, spoke nothing to the contrary. She spoke from what he regarded as an informed perspective, given what sounded like a fair amount of direct observation pertaining to the current topic of conversation, and his answer to what could have functionally been a rhetorical question was based only on loose speculation. Rather than focusing on that, he did his best to keep up and, with what observation that he was capable of when regarding the very non-human King, was interested to note the drive of her curiosity as it pertained to the Tower. Unfortunately, however, he wasn't allowed the time to dwell on it just yet.
At the first mentioning of his ongoing testing, he looked away from her in what could have been a light display of frustration. He'd heard this progress report before, and functionally identical protests from Aidan, as well. Turning away from the child King, he resumed a slow, linear pace. This piece of information he would dwell on, but not at the forefront of his thoughts. Instead, he let the information sink into the depths of his mind, and in that background noise, began to ponder the seriousness of the now scientifically tracked decline of his health. However minimal the effects might be currently, he had enough to worry about without another element acting as a chaotic factor in his questionable longevity. Hands still in his pants' pockets slowly curled into loose fists, but his visored gaze delayed only momentarily in tracking her near-aquatic movement through the air, his ears attentive as she moved on once more.
He regarded the information concerning the communikay update in silence, but stopped his forward progress. Any residual frustration, be it playful or not, from the news regarding his biometric testing faded to nothing, and he contemplated the information with a blank slate. In fact, he stationary as such until she landed before him once again, and looked down upon her playful prod without reciprocating the gesture just yet. Instead he considered the information that she was giving him even now until she had finished. Doing his best to keep the flow of conversation more appropriate to her level, he didn't dally in silence for too long.
“Do what you can to determine the exact development and procedure for implementing such an update, but we'll put nothing into effect. Not yet.”
While it may not have been the answer Asurnararri wanted to hear, it was his decision to make. He trusted the King, quite literally in these excursions, with his life. It did not escape him, however, that he approach was close to functionally objective. As he'd considered before, whether or not they could enact such a system of tracking the other Council members didn't inherently mean they should. While Ouroboros was at the forefront of technological development, thanks in no small part to Asurnararri herself, it didn't mean that others were technologically inept. There was always the possibility that the other members could discover the reason behind this update, and the results of such would be disastrous. Not only would he solidify his opposition into enemies, but he would potentially do the same for those that he saw in large part as allies. No, not yet. The risk was not quite worth the reward.
Regarding such a notion, he looked down at the little King with another slight cant to his head, pondering just how detached and objective she was to the issue regarding the privacy of the Tower itself.
“'When it is safe to do so' might not be quite as absolute as anticipated. If I'm already wary of the risk of disturbing the hornet's nest, the last thing I want to do his kick the queen.”
Bending at the knees, he lower to squat before her. Whether or not she placed any value in it, he felt like the topic warranted that he emphasized regarding her evenly.
“You are worth a great deal to me, Asurnararri, and the functionality of our relationship is something I cannot afford to lose. If you want in the Tower, and if you want to determine the mysterious source of the interference, you're going to have to sell me on it. Whereas I can understand your need to know, I cannot accept so great a risk without adequate reward.”
If she wasn't so disappointed in his response that she'd moved away, he mirrored earlier move to poke her in the stomach.
“Besides, you can't take away one of my favorite indulgences without providing me with an alternative.”
He stood.
“And you're far too smart to get away with 'stop smoking' as an answer.”
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Asurnararri
Uninitiated
Posts: 5
Title: Dead Mexatron King
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Post by Asurnararri on Dec 25, 2015 3:48:32 GMT -5
Asurnararri smirked at Aeorex in a jokingly condescending fashion, her one visible eye alight with mischievous intention as he told her, essentially, to ‘wait for it’ on the new prototypes of the communikay update. Her voice turning singsong, the little king spun in place, causing her blue dress to flutter about around her legs, her bare feet twisting with the elegance of a young dancer’s to bring her right back to face her benefactor.
”When you ask for ten, I ask how many. Do you want-a-thousand, do you want-a-million-billion?”
Snickering slightly, the King briefly moved her long, black-purple hair away from covering her usually non-visible eye, allowing the cybernetic replacement, with it’s glowing purple core, to center on Aeorex somewhat disconcertingly.
“The designs for the new update are already in your inbox. Let me know if you want me to make any changes.”
It clearly wasn’t that the King wasn’t taking no for an answer – she just found it amusing that he seemed to think she needed time to create the designs. She had the basics already designed in her head a few days prior, and when it got mentioned, she finished the fine details and plotted it while they were having their conversation. The designs were ready – the CEO just had to decide when to pull the trigger.
“Even if you are hesitant to use them for surveillance, the quarterly earnings boost a new product would bring could be a great boon for the company . . . especially considering the negative press at the moment.”
Letting her hair obscure her other eye again, Asurnararri struggled to stay put as Aeorex knelt down and continued talking, trying to emphasize his point. Rolling her eyes jokingly, the King put her hand gently on Aeorex’s shoulder.
“It’s not urgent. I just want to know – if I can get readings from inside the field, I might be able to ascertain its source. I have no intention, however, of revealing my presence in the city to anyone: that wouldn’t help either of us in the slightest.”
Taking her hand away and stepping back, Asurnararri allowed her body to float gently off the floor, rising very slowly towards Aeorex’s normal eye level.
“That’s where the Armor Division comes in – my exoskeleton design would allow me to potentially piggyback into the Tower on someone else, not exposing me but allowing me to see inside the field. And, besides: you need a new assistant, since Aidan is so busy these days.”
The diminutive King started slowly rotating in midair, smiling slyly as she said her last few words.
“The technology might have a few other benefits, too: the neural mapping involved might help me make an implant to suppress your silly narcotic cravings. Then you could stop smoking easily!”
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Aeorex Khestralicht
Initiated
Posts: 19
Title: Council-Elect for Third District, CEO of Ouroboros
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Post by Aeorex Khestralicht on Jan 3, 2016 23:17:40 GMT -5
The CEO smirked at the little King's response, following her spin and limerick, his gaze centering on the rarely shown cybernetic eye, somehow fully confident that, despite his own hidden gaze, she knew he was looking. Still, his amusement, if not downright amazement, at the speed with which she acted was not something he easily brushed aside. With a nod, he refrained from going into a long-winded response of just how crucial she was to Ouroboros' and his continued success. It was, in fact, only when she mentioned the negative press the company had been receiving as of late that the stormy thoughts of earlier echoed in the back of his mind, and telling or not, his expression became more neutral.
That was, of course, a matter in its own right, and one that was being attended to. All the same, Asurnararri's logic was sound, and he considered its merit. Well-timed, the release of such a development could help downplay more isolated ill will against his company, effectively heading it off at the pass before it had sufficient time to rally. He decided, then, that he would review the information tonight, perhaps in a lull during his and Aidan's research.
Fortunately, the King was charitable enough to put him at ease by changing topics, reassuring him that her secrecy was something they agreed on fully. It would certainly make things less difficult if they were of like-mindedness on that note. Speaking of which, he had to acknowledge that, whereas the means of her dumbed-down explanation were beyond him, her general premise for being able to infiltrate the Tower was arguably a good suggestion, if not offset by the peculiar note of Aidan's status.
Standing to regard her in his full height whilst she floated before him, he shifted to place his hands in either pocket; after, that is, uncomfortably running a finger along his collar in a jokingly open show of his discomfort at the mention of an implant.
“Ahem. Well, you raise...several good points.”
He turned to the side so that he could slowly pace once more, obviously deliberating on all the information she'd given him.
“What sort of interface are you suggesting when you say 'piggyback?' If it's something rather passive, I do recall that we'd discussed the possibility of interactivity between your systems and my visor; would that be enough?”
Stopping as if something had just occurred to him, he grinned somewhat, canting his head to further accentuation his coming suggestion, playful as his tone may have been.
“Was that an offer to act as my assistant? I didn't figure you for the type, Asurnarrari. Then again, your level of attention to my COO seems...specific. Have you been monitoring her beyond your usual systematic surveillance?”
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Asurnararri
Uninitiated
Posts: 5
Title: Dead Mexatron King
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Post by Asurnararri on Aug 16, 2016 21:03:14 GMT -5
Asurnararri delicately landed again on the whitewashed 'ground' of Dirac's ocean, having done enough testing of her new, developing technology to begin comprehensive data analysis and start tweaking the specifics. The manipulation of the individual fields wasn’t the problem, and the transition was smooth - it was the number of active calculations that the King was being forced to make on a micro-to-micro basis that made the technology somewhat implausible - Asurnararri was devoting too much of her 'brainpower' to manipulating the fields, and that meant that she needed a backup processor, or a sophisticated set of algorithms that would do the bulk of the calculations for her. Hermes would be able to help, but that was a project for another time - at least the basics were out of the way.
The King didn't respond to Aeorex's acknowledgement of her logic - it was an entirely unnecessary statement, considering that Asurnararri was never one to come out with any kind of logic that was 'flawed' in any way: even if the recipient of the information couldn't fully understand her reasoning, their lack of comprehension had no bearing on the logic behind the King's choices. What she did comment on was Aeorex's own slight misunderstanding of her use of the term 'piggyback,' though in a decidedly roundabout way. The King spun on one toe, causing her skirt to flip up and swoosh around her body as she twirled like a schooled ballet dancer, were one to ever dance ballet in combat boots.
"The signal never stops - it just replaces itself with noise. Through the wire, down the cord, and into the links I go: where I stop, they'll never know!"
Once she stopped spinning, Asurnararri became more serious, ignoring her whimsical outburst as though it had never taken place.
"Passive, perhaps, in that my consciousness can communicate with the hardware, though the end goal is an extremely active process - an individual in the exoskeletal design I am proposing would function on the processor of their own free will until I chose to intervene, if necessary. Your visor, though, is far too rudimentary to act as an efficient communication device - at best, it would function as a one-way receiver. However, I would be happy to implant a cochlear auditory harmonics receiver in your ear and replace your eye with a detailed replica containing an info-grid and heads-up display coded to my broadcast wavelength. Much more efficient."
Asurnararri smiled slightly and touched her right index finger to the corner of her mouth as she did so, responding to Aeorex's query in a very human manner that indicated a young girl who was comically attempting to conceal her own mischievous behavior.
"Not an offer, no - assistants are far too limited in capacity, and my tasks running your network, if scaled to appropriate Ouroboros employee executive assistant salary and modified to overtime based on task hour density would bankrupt the company in a manner of hours. I just think that Aidan's personal communication choices imply a peculiar set of distractions that make her . . . unfit to continue acting as your aide in any direct capacity, her position as COO notwithstanding."
The truth was that Asurnararri had a few very specific concerns about the pink-haired COO, but did not have enough conclusive evidence to approach Aeorex with her direct suspicions. She would soon enough though.
"I am suggesting that you need a new, plucky assistant to aid you in your many important scheduled tasks. Perhaps one with a cybernetic exoskeleton that is wired into their central nervous system that would allow for me to borrow them from time to time."
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