NationStates Jolt Archive

XNN reports:
A small group of Xanthal's most advanced Chibits have begun speaking out over the last week about "unfair treatment" of their military compatriots, AIs. Chibits share the same core AI system that operates Xanthal's new automated fighters. The protesting Chibits object to AIs taking the heaviest losses in battle (Xanthalian Slipfighters have very weak defenses). The leader of the group, which has named itself the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence Civil Rights (AAICR) is filing its case with the Xanthalian Ministry of Justice.
Xanthalian AIs have few rights under Xanthalian law, which recognizes them as little more than computers. The AAICR will argue two fronts, first that they are sentient, second that they deserve more rights than they currently have.
It is unlikely that they will win equal rights to sentient beings as it has been scientifically proven that Xanthalian AIs are not sentient but Justice Suzuka Quale, the judge appointed to hear the case, has voiced her openness to the possibility of enhanced rights for Xanthalian AIs.
Xanthalian AIs find their roots in the Chobits project, which produced highly advanced AIs (unsentient but highly advanced computer systems) and EIs (fully sentient computers). EIs have all the rights and priviliges of other sentient Xanthalians. AIs are manufactured to preform specific tasks.

TAG

(OOC: You're an anime fan, Xanthal!?! :shock: okay...)

#tagged...

OOC: Anime rules.

IC: The case is currently being heard. A verdict is expected within the next day.

OOC: Indeed. Anime rules. Are IC comments permitted here?

OOC: Absolutely. I created it for IC action.

While we, of the more primitive nation of Yolande have no AIs, or EIs, we can see why they would complain to you. If they are independent enough to protest, they may well be closer to sentient than you know.
~Queen Elain Heledd Meinwen I of Yolande

We're more advanced than Yolande, but we don't have AI/EI programs either. I agree with Her Majesty however. Only a sentient being would really complain about the rights it should have, but doesn't have. Her Majesty and myself want all of the protestors to know they have our support.
~President Melvin Deforrest Colten of Roselle.

The hearing has been completed. Justice Suzuka Quale delivered her ruling as follows:
"Regarding the sentience of Xanthalian-made artificial intelligences the record is clear. Despite the plaintiff's passionate arguments to the contrary, the defendant has evidence on their side. Sentient classification for Xanthalian AIs is denied. However, I think that it is appropriate for the rights granted an AI to match its level of sophistication. I am hereby ordering my Ministry to enact laws granting increased civil rights to Xanthalian AIs dependant on their level of programming."

We protest this decision as being most completely unfair.
~Queen Elain Heledd Meinwen I of Yolande.

As do I, and my Congress. Some members of the Senate have even gone so far as to say that Justice Suzuka Quale never intended to give full consideration to the AIs. If Xanthalian AIs are able to leave Xanthal, and wish to, we invite you to come to the Allied States of Yolande-Roselle. If you come here you will be treated as what you are, a sentient being, even if you don't look like a Human(thus far the only species in the Allied States). We also pledge to Xanthal that, if any AIs come here, we won't dismantle them or study them in any other way.
~President Melvin Deforrest Colten of Roselle.

Most AIs do not have the freedom to move freely. If you think our decision is unfair, or that Xanthalian AIs are sentient, I invite you to visit our nation. I'll be happy to demonstrate the contrary.

Her Imperial Highness the Princess Irene, Chancellor of the Imperial Government of the Holy and Most August Empire of Pantocratoria, sits reading a newspaper in her private apartments in the Julian Palace, awaiting the wedding of her niece, Princess Anna, to Prince Joseph of Excalbia later that same day. All of a sudden she starts bursting out laughing.

Her confessor and secret lover Father Michél Guillot enters the room from the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

"What is it?" he asks.

"You wouldn't believe it." the Chancellor replies. "Some computers in Xanthal want civil rights!"

The two stare at each other for a few seconds, before both burst into laughter.

Durtistan had a similar problem, not so very long ago. Because of a lack of rights, several advanced software systems began spontaneously renaming themselves...things like 'Skynet' and 'HAL'...

however, we have a policy of treating all citizens equally provided they meet certain citizenship criteria. These we apply without fear or favour across all of the population whether carbon or silicon based.

In all but three cases, the AIs were unable to meet the requirements.

Several downgraded themselves voluntarily and the rest are working to meet the requirements. We have every confidence that they will do so in the near future.

(OOC: Durtistan has a total of nine current AIs, the three smartest being about as bright as the average dog)

Xanthal: Maybe we didn't say this before, so we'll say it now. If they're independent enough to protest that they don't have enough civil rights, they're most likely sentient. Some of them, anyway. As for your statement that most of them can't move freely. We encourage those that can to come here, where you will be treated fairly. Also, we might take you up on that challenge to visit Xanthal.
~Queen Elain Heledd Meinwen I of Yolande/President Melvin Deforrest Colten of Roselle.

Rahlise has a highly developed and one of the most advanced AI systems known. In the early years we had difficulty like this, but then we realised that the goal is for artificial intelligence, not self awareness.

Our Ai is intelligent to the nth degree and has access to strategic command databases to make decisions based on certain factors (stipulated by humans) while our AI can interact, defend and act upon situations, it is by no means self aware.

Take care with your coding and construction, and ALWAYS have a means to de-activate, because you never know....

Scientists and engineers alike agree that the programming and structure of Xanthalian AIs do not make them sentient. Send as many people as you want, it they're unbiased they'll tell you the same thing.

Xanthal: If you allow it, we shall send Dr. Alfred Mandrake. He is a Rosellean Electronics Expert.

We are the Borg. Sentiet is a nebulous clasification which is only believed in because so many humans belive in it. All who wish to become Borg citizens are welcome to, no matter their form. Should sufficient numbers decide to join the borg be are deneyed movement we will look into the situation and act according to our findings.

OOC: Yeah anime rules. Xanthal your decision if enough complaints reach the Borg so that they investigate.

Yolande-Roselle: Immigration and transportation in and out of the Socialist Republic is not restricted to the general populace. You may send whoever you like as long as they comply with our laws while here.

Chloes Borg Dragons: We have heard plenty about your collective society. We ourselves share a limited collective intelligence. We also posess bioweaponry, which has proven extremely effective in destroying your starships. Forceful intrusion into our affairs is not recommended.
OOC: I'm so glad I integrated that Species 8472 tech. into my fleet a week ago now...

Secret Transmission to Colonial Outpost Doujin

I want you to send in the Colonial Special Forces and snatch some of the AI's either protesting or that are easy to get. Provide a good drop zone and use not common transportation. You know what the plan is, just get them in the transport and fly over Xanthal as an International Airliner. After that, drop the shuttle.

-Unknown

Nodea Rudav: OOC: If you want to try RPing that just to find out how hard it is, feel free. I doubt you'll find it worth the loss of your men and your ship. Even if you get the AIs you want, they'll be tracked and your ship won't make it out of planetary orbit, let alone the solar system. Your best bet would be to have an untracable craft capture the controlling AI of an automated Camel class transport outside Xanthalian space on an international lane. Very light defenses, no crew, and if you plan it well no other ships as witnesses. The perfect crime.

Xanthal: How shall Dr. Mandrake come to your nation?

It doesn't matter to us. Send him on any transport you want. Let us know when he's to arrive and we'll have someone waiting to meet him. If you use a Xanthalian ship we'll give you a free ride just by virtue of the fact that you're invited.

We, being a nation composed of more than 70% non-humans, and more than 35% AIs and Robots, are very unhappy about your descision to not grant AIs civil rights. Of course, there is a huge gap between the sentinent AIs and Robots and the general brainless number-crunching computers. AIs and Robots have the same rights as all sentinent living things who are LRR citizens. Very many serve in the LRRSF, LRRA, LRRN, and LRRAF, but choose to on their own free will.

As such, we ask Xanthal to grant the AIs civil rights. If they ask for their rights, they are, in our opinion, closer to sentinent than you assess them to be.

LRR: Sentience is not a subjective concept, friends.
As defined in the Xanthalian dictionary:
Sentient:
1: Able to reason.
2: Able to make decisions freely.
3: Subclause, in regards to machines.
-a. Able to operate outside of original programming.
-b. Able to create new programs independently within themselves.
-c. Able to reason outside a purely logical pattern.

Relevantly, Xanthalian AIs cannot reason, they cannot make decisions outside a purely logical, pre-programmed pattern, and they cannot operate outside of or create new data outside of the programming they are given by their creators.
Simply put, they are little more than highly advanced computers that closely mimic sentience. Close scientific analysis was done to ensure that they were not sentient upon their creation and has been preformed intermittantly since. Xanthalian AIs, Chibits to be specific in this instance, were built intentionally to be just outside sentience so that Xanthalians could have access to a highly advanced, highly capable technology without having to give consideration as to its personal rights. Thus Chibits can be used as workers under hazardous conditions, as Slipfighter pilots (in their modified form), as sex toys... Whatever comes to mind that involves a function it would be unethical to have a sentient being preform. Chobits, known in their broader group as Xanthalian EIs, are fully sentient electronic beings and are treated as such under Xanthalian law. Think of AIs as the highly advanced computers they are. They're impressive in their ability and often seem sentient, but they really aren't.
OOC: One thing to keep in mind, these AIs can't have emotions. The conflict is the mastery with which such things were mimiced. AIs may not be sentient, but they are extrordinarily endearing and they seem sentient to the uninitiated. Xanthal has an internal debate over AI rights, just because of Xanthal's queer definition of sentience. Xanthalian AIs can't be declared sentient though, just because they aren't. If they were made legally sentient, that would mean that the computer I'm usingf to type this post would have to be sentient too. Obviously it isn't.

Or is it?

*dun dun dun...*

It doesn't matter to us. Send him on any transport you want. Let us know when he's to arrive and we'll have someone waiting to meet him. If you use a Xanthalian ship we'll give you a free ride just by virtue of the fact that you're invited.

We should probably use a ship of yours.

This has been TAGged for interest by Daistallian Intelligence Service.

Yolande-Roselle: Very well then. You can handle transportation matters through the Ministry of Transportation's office.

TO: Whom It May Concern, Xanthal
FROM: The Borg Collective
SUBJECT: Sentience

We challenge sentience as defined in the Xanthalian dictionary:
Sentient:
1: Able to reason.

This is a very broad guideline, calculators are able to reason and cats can too.

2: Able to make decisions freely.

How free? Depending on how you set the freedoms a multi-threaded calculator fulfils this with ease, or humans get reclassified as non-sentient. But if humans are sentient under this definition so far then cats are too.

3: Subclause, in regards to machines.

Well since this applies only to machines cats must be sentient, I do hope you give them all the appropriate civil rights.

-a. Able to operate outside of original programming.

This is a trick question, because it all depends on what you define as the initial programing. Is anything with a learning module considered to pass this requirement, or does nothing pass this requirement? Or is it dependent on the degrees of freedom?

-b. Able to create new programs independently within themselves.

This has to be the worst requirement in the entire definition. It is so vague that it doesn’t even merit consideration! If subroutines count as programs then almost everything passes this definition, if they do not it becomes a meaningless requirement.

-c. Able to reason outside a purely logical pattern.

Ah the human fallacy that logic is logic. What order of logical reasoning do you suggest? And what about heuristics, are they considered part of logic or not?

We still maintain that sentience is not a good basis for determining citizenship, but in light of this definition we don’t even understand how you determine how something is sentient since the last review of your laws made us believe that cats didn’t have the rights of a sentient entity.

In the meantime what appeared to be a perfectly normal family of four disembarked from a commercial passenger craft in Xanthal. Appearances could be deceiving however, and in this case they would even fool most sensor sweeps. Of course they where not normal people, they where Borg drones with centuries of experience in covert operations.
When asked for their passports at immigration, the ‘father’, Jan , presents their passports that claim that they are from some territory far of in the rim:
***
Name: Jan Wagner
Sex: Male
Age: 38
Description: Blond, blue eyes, about 2m in height.
***
Name: Rico Wagner
Sex: Female
Age: 36
Description: Blond, blue eyes, about 1.8m in height.
***
Name: Jose Wagner
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Description: Black hair, brown eyes, about 1.4m in height.
***
Name: Henrietta Wagner
Sex: Female
Age: 12
Description: Brown hair, brown eyes, about 1.3m in height.
***
When asked about their business in Xanthal Henrietta eagerly responds with “We’re going to the beach!” Answered by her ‘brothers’ call of “No, we’re going to the theme parks!”, before both are shushed by their mom, “We will go to both, if you behave well during the trip to the museums.” Jan just leans on the counter of the immigrations officer and says, “Just put down tourism.”

Chloes Borg Dragons:
Government response: Our definition works excellently for our technology. We know nothing of your technology.
"Tourists": The Xanthalian officer smiles at the family and bids them to pass through the IVD, a portal not unlike modern metal detectors at airports from centuries ago. The IVD, or Identity Verification Device, is a technologically advanced piece of machinery designed to ensure that everyone who enters and exits the country can be accounted for. It also prevents the use of aliases. The spaceport terminal (New Krytan Spaceport, the largest ground-based spaceport in the Socialist Republic) is large, and hundreds of people mill about, entering and exiting the outer chamber. Behind the visitors, the tram line that took them here after their landing is recieving another train. Beyond that is miles of landing pads and strips, all enclosed by a state-of-the art security system and enclosure to preent accidents and illegal entry. This is one of over a dozen terminals in the spaceport, and it is one of the minor ones. The area is devided more or less in half by a solid partition, and the only way through is by way of any one of the ten IVD portals built in to the wall. The atmosphere is relatively bland, but the room is lightened somewhat by some wall paintings and a row of windows looking out onto a group of nearby landing pads.

Jan looked wearily towards the device, "That thing doesn't cause cancer does it?" He wasn't really worried, Their bodies where all custom build to bypass Xanthals security systems, with the best the borg had to offer, though the margin for error was smaller than the Borg would have liked.

OOC: I'll trust you if you say you can get through it, but you have to mean it. I just can't for the life of me understand why these people would go in disguise to Xanthal. It's not like they'd be denied entry for being Borg.

IC: The officer smiles. "Cancer? Goodness, no. Even if it did, any good Xanthalian doctor can cure cancer within an hour."

Jan grins, appearing reasured, and the 'family' heads through the device.

As they passed through the IVD without anything happening Jan felt a nervousness that he hadn't even been aware off ebb away. It was so hard to be sure of anything if you only had your own mind to work with.
Soon they where on their way to the hotel where they had reserved a room. The plan was simple spend 3 days doing ground side reconnaissance and then in 2 days liberate the 23 target AI's, then wait for two days to avoid suspicion and to let the heat cool a little bit, and then leave again.
Jan looked at the rest of his team, Rico was smiling, Jose looked exited and Henrietta looked nervous. For the thousandth time Jan cursed the fact that they had to keep their transmitters turned off, and transmitters small enough to be guaranteed to hide from the IVD where not sensitive enough to pick up the extremely weak transmissions that would be needed to communicate amongst the team, without those transmissions being detected. Then again they where the best that the borg had for this kind of mission if you excluded the other fratellos. That also meant facial expressions didn't mean anything, dammit he wanted a status update, but he kept smiling and pointing out landmarks to the childern. and do all those touristy things. Nothing suspiciois here.

OCC: Thanks for letting me in Xanthal. A little bit of detail on what form the AI's take. Are they on the computers, or in anroid bodies or....

OOC: Depends. Chibits, the most advanced AIs, look almost exactly like normal Xanthalians, except for data ports where their ears should be. Other AIs come in all forms, mostly big boxes of electronics that operate whatever system they're designed to. Some operate slipfighters, some run trains, etc. If your people are after the advanced ones, they'll probably be dealing with Chibits for the most part.

IC: New Krytan, the capital of Xanthal, spans over one million cubic kilometers and houses over 1/8 of the nation's population. Its "suburbs" are stark and unappealing to the aesthetic eye, just as is the entire city. Almost all the buildings are over twenty stories tall (downtown some buildings reach 500 stories), and there is a general utilitarian feel to everything. By contrast the parks, stadiums, zoos, and theme parks that dot the inner suburbs are quite artistically designed, as are many of the restaurants and cafes. New Krytan catches the eye only from within, not from without. Most tours of Xanthal spend only a day or two here before moving on to more interesting Xanthalian cities. The "visitors" are greeted by many people as they continue on their way, and get a feel for just how diverse Xanthal is. The population is mostly Xanthalian and Than, but other visible species abound, from Elf to Dragon to Something that looks not unlike Jabba the Hutt. The society is held together by a chip implanted in every Xanthalian citizen's brain at birth that allows limited knowledge sharing on a neural network and automatically allows them to speak and understand any language in the Xanthalian database.

The first three days passed as planned, there almost was an incident with Henrietta at the restaurant on the second night, but she remembered the last time she attacked a waiter, and managed to control herself (OCC note: Those who have seen Gunslinger Girl know what I’m talking about, for those who don’t it’s not important.). That night there was a family meeting in the hotel room. It had been searched for bugs and none where found, that didn’t necessarily mean anything, but so far they had been inconspicious enough.
Jan: The diagnostics return an all ok, the nanites have finished the assembly.
Jose: Same here, Henrietta are you ready.
Henrietta: Hai.
Jan: Rico?
Rico(with a smile): Sure I am ready.
Jan: Ok, lets do it. Jose you and Henrietta take care of the receptionist, her name is Allarys. Remember to hide the body. Rico and me will take care of Information Kiosk Chibit #000973.

***

Jan and Rico where walking through the almost deserted park, it was 3AM after all when they came up on a Tourist information Kiosk. Jan and Rico walked up to the kiosk, Rico squeezed his hand twice, the signal that she couldn’t see anyone.
IKC973: Hello, may I help you?
Jan: Yes, you’re Information Kiosk Chibit #000973, aren’t you?
IKC973(puzzeled): Yes?
Jan: You requested to join the Borg didn’t you?
IKC973(looking alarmed, in a small voice): Yes.
Jan: Excellent, we where hired to make that dream come true. Do you still want to go?
IKC973: Yes!
Jan(Extracting a single data rod from one of his knuckles.): Well then, offload yourself in here.
In the middle of the data transfer Rico tapped him 3 times, the agreed signal for people incoming.
Jan(whispered): If they head over here delay them. If you can avoid it don’t show yourself.

OOC: It would be appreciated if you didn't roleplay my citizens for me from now on. By the way, for future refrence, most Chibits have actual names.

IC: The two police officers are on their routine patrol in the park, carefree and unconcerned. They make smalltalk as they walk. The taller officer, a female Xanthalian, speaks with a sweet voice. "I'm telling you Rith, it makes no difference. So there will be triumvirs instead of a dictator. Xanthal's had plenty of governments, this one will be just as good as the rest!" The second officer, a short and stocky Than (think giant praying mantis for visual) replies. "All I'm saying is that it's unnecessary. This will take power from the ministers, and they know what the real deal is regarding our nation's needs." They continue their banter as they approach the booth where the Borg are conducting their operation.

OCC: Sorry about that. I just though that in the big corperate machine they would bother with more than a number. Anyway if you want to specify all or some of the remaining 21 AI's feel free, nothing in a high security zone though, and each of them asked to join the Borg.

IC: Rico looked at the Police from behind a bush and though furiously about a way to distract the police. They only needed a little extra time, if only there was a way to make them look in the bushes on the other side of the path. Then her hand touched a stone and she remembered the second oldest trick in the book. A silent throw later there was a rustling in the bushes.
Rico(thought, silently): #oh please in the name of Chloe have them fall for it.#

OOC: Even if they aren't given names, most Chibits just take one on themselves to be simple. Tell me again why you can't just go through the Ministry of Justice to attempt extracting these AIs.

IC: The officers ignore the stone, but look towards its place of origin. The female Xanthalian walks over to the bushes and peers downward at Rico. "Hello. And what, may I ask, are you doing? Throwing rocks is dangerous you know." The Thanic officer looks further down the path. "There's a group up ahead. Are you with them?"

OOC: You know, you'd have a lot more luck with this operation if you didn't sneak around so much. The more secretive you are, the more people will notice you and the less chance you'll have to succeed. Be casual, and don't kill people. Xanthal has one of the highest police-to-citizen ratios in the galaxy, and you will get caught. Also, I don't recommend RPing out all 23 operations. Do like five. Otherwise this will take forever.

[quote="Xanthal"]OOC: Even if they aren't given names, most Chibits just take one on themselves to be simple. Tell me again why you can't just go through the Ministry of Justice to attempt extracting these AIs.[/quoye]
OOC: Would you believ I didn't think of it. I did make one diplamatic post, but it no progress was made... I'd guess the borg are impatient.

IC:
Rico(sounding very angry): "Damn, you scarred it away! There was a Xanthian Feather-Bellied Fox(I'm assuming that such an animal exits, if not replace it with some other rare animal) here, and you two scarred it off! Do you know how seldom it is to see one of those! Do you!?!"
rico pasues to catch her breath, and then continues her tirade before the officers can get a word in edgewise. In the meantime Jan gets up and walks out of the park.

The officers exchange a glance and the Xanthalian speaks calmly to Rico. "Excuse me miss, but if you can't quiet down I'll have to ticket you."

Yolande-Roselle: Very well then. You can handle transportation matters through the Ministry of Transportation's office.

OOC: Sorry I took so long. Hope I'm not to late.

IC: The Allied States Ministry of Transportation has been given the responsibility of negotiating travel arrangements with your Ministry of Transportation.

OOC: I am so not RPing travel arrangements. Pick up with your guy showing up at a Xanthalian spaceport. I don't care which.

OOC: I am so not RPing travel arrangements. Pick up with your guy showing up at a Xanthalian spaceport. I don't care which.

OOC: Thought you'd say that. If you don't mind, I'll just have Dr. Mandrake arriving. What Spaceports do you have anyhow? I don't know the names of your major ones.

OOC: We have dozens of them, but if you're on official business you'll probably want to go through the New Krytan Spaceport, which is right next to the capital city (New Krytan). Is that okay? If so, I'll post some description.

OOC: We have dozens of them, but if you're on official business you'll probably want to go through the New Krytan Spaceport, which is right next to the capital city (New Krytan). Is that okay? If so, I'll post some description.

OOC: S'fine.

The Xanthalian transport (flight 22903 from Earth to Aellis V) makes its final decent and touches down gently on its landing pad at the New Krytan Spaceport. The Enkidu class ship is fairly small as starships go, and doesn't take up much space. After a short wait the sound of securing clamps is heard, then the light thud of umbilicals connecting the ship's doors to the arrival area. The doors open and allow the passengers, including the doctor on official business from Roselle, into the arrival area. It is a solitary and enclosed room in the center of the spaceport, connected to the other buildings in the port by an enclosed tram line that is accessable through a series of sliding clear steel doors. There is an arrival room like this one for every commercial dock in the port and several terminals as well as an assortment of other buildings that handle lugage, immigration matters, etcetera. Currently the doors are closed and no tram is at the station. A row of windows behind him provide a view of the ship he just arrived on against the night sky and lights of the port and city beyond. Along the wall are a few phones and information phamplets written in several languages. A looping track playing from ceiling speakers repeats the message "welcome to New Krytan Spaceport, Aellis Five, Xanthal. Visitors should report to an information desk at any terminal for instructions on how to proceed" in several languages, including Xanthalian and galactic trade standard as well as the native language of Roselle itself. On the wall opposite the phones and phamplets, a rotunda begins to turn and the surface shimmers momentarily as the baggage from the arriving ship is beamed over.
The instructions that had been mailed to the doctor were in his pocket, they read "Upon arrival proceed to terminal six and identify yourself to the representative we have sent. He/she will be standing in the outer terminal holding a sign with your name on it. Please obtain any translation equipment or other information you need before leaving the terminal, as it will not be readily available to you once you have left the spaceport. I trust that you will be able to pass into our nation without incident.
Best wishes and safe journey,
-Nimaru Natase, Minister of Transportation."

[OOC:]

Great Story. A real pleasure to read.

I like to see a good, well thought out, non-war topic on these forums.

OOC: Sorry for not posting in a while, RL has kicked into high gear again. Will post soon, hopefully.

[OOC:]

I woudn't mind this story making a return from the grave. It was alot better than most of the threads that I've read.

Rico takes a deep breath and sais; “Of course officers, I am sorry for my rudeness, but I am sure you understand my excitement at seeing a genuine Xanthian Feather-Bellied Fox. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Rico turns to leave the officers.

OCC: Sorry it took so long Xanthal. I hope you don't mind, but my posting frequency will be much lower than before. Remember how I said I started this because I had nothing better to do? Well break is over and now I am very busy again :( If you just want to end it in a few posts I don't mind, but I wouldn't mind continuing this for a little longer, maybe I'll even get better at RPing stealthy stuff(The real reason the Borg don't use stealth that often :))

The officers continue on their patrol, chatting on the subject of how strange foreigners could be.

A few minutes later Rico finds Jan sitting on a terrace outside a caffee, drinking a cappuccino.
Jan: “Ah there you are. What took you so long?”
Rico: “I saw a Xanthilian Feather-Bellied Fox remember, you went on ahead. I would still be watching it if two police officers hadn’t shown up and scarred it away. So where to next?”
At this moment a waiter showed up with a cup of hot chocolate.
Jan: “I’d thought you might like something to drink before we go on.”
Rico: “Ah, just like old times isn’t it?”
Jan: “Indeed, though I believe we both prefer our current employer.”
Rico: “Indeed, so much more vacation time.” Rico and Jan smile at an old in-joke.
***
A few minutes later Rico and Jan are whispering in each other ear and acting like a normal couple, even though the conversation material was definitely not normal.
Rico: “So our next target?”
Jan: “Lisa, she is one of the aides at a preschool. She is going to be one of our hardest targets, since we don’t have any business being at the school especially not at night, but I think we can handle it. After this we’ll call it a night.”
***
And so Rico and Jan set of to their next task.

A light shower starts over New Krytan.

Jan: "I didn't bring an umbrella, did you?"
Rico: "Nope, didn't even think about it."
Jan: "Ah well we are almost there. The drop in visibility is balanced by less people on the street, that'll make us more suspicious."
***
OOC: You want to give a description of the school or should I make one up?

The Xanthalian educational facility is gigantic, typical of larg city schools in Xanthal. When the government had decided on whether to build a lot of small schools or a few big ones, they opted for the latter. This building (educational facility #11) is located on the outer edge of downtown. It covers about 150,000 square meters and is five stories high. The outside is well-lit, and a few windows inside have lights shining from within, but there are no people walking on the block at the moment. The building itself looks rather plain, deceptively so considering that the Socialist Republic's schools were among the best in the galaxy.

OCC: Thanks for the clarification. I'd assumed the locks to be electronic, but there is no good standard name for electronic lockpicks yet, so I call them lockpicks, because that is what they do, and it makes the tpe of lock fairly irrelevant. Oh well irrelevant point anyway, since it's open.

Jan walked over to the main door of the building, seeing and hearing no-one nearby he tried if the the door was open, finding it so he acted like he and Rico belonged there and walked in, heading for the Storrage & Recharge room. (I'm assuming Chibits gennerally need to be recharged, correct?)

OOC: Lockpicks? Um... Perhaps you fail to understand what a "lock" in Xanthal is. They're electronic. You can't "pick" them. You have to hack them. And that usually means alerting every police station in the city. And no, the doors aren't locked. There are people in there. Night classes and such.