NationStates Jolt Archive

Alysa's Office; Corporate Spire; Chiba City; The Hack

Carol blinked at the view from the office. While it wasn't at the top of the Spire, it still had a stunning view. Her reaction made Alysa laugh, "Sis, you were in orbit. The ISS must have a better view..."

Carol smirked, "Well, in a way. It's not like I could make out buildings from there. This is a lil' easier to grasp, ya know? Anyway... why'd you bring me here, sis? I doubt it was just for the view."

Alysa nodded, "Yup. We're working on a new project and are hoping you can give us some insight."

Carol blinked several times, "...help?"

Alysa grinned and flicked a switch. A large hologram filled the office. It was a sleek, white, delta-winged craft (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/GMCMA/Other%20stuff/Arkbird-02.jpg) with upturned tips (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/GMCMA/Other%20stuff/Arkbird-01.jpg). It was a massive thing, designed to enter orbit. "We want you to help design the cockpit and interior, of course."

Four technicians stood over the softly humming core that would make the heart of the `Bird's primary purpose. While the publicly disseminated information stated that the Arkbird was to replace the Hack's involvement in the ISS, the real reason was that it was to be, first and foremost, an orbital weapons platform. The unit was a massively over-powered laser. "Massively over-powered" was a colossal understatement. The mechanics of the device required that the laser be the pinnacle of Hacker technology. Because water disperses laser beams so easily, the scientists had taken things to the next level.

The Hackers had already mastered increasing the pulse rate of their lasers – to one pulse every atto-second – this would take something much, much more. The weapon would be useless if it couldn't be used through cloud cover. To help the beam bypass any potential obstacles, they increased the oscillation by a several factors so that it pulsed every yocto-second.

Creating the laser itself had been a snap. They had build large lasers before, this was just a point-defense laser on a larger scale. Creating the computer system to fire the laser every septillionth of a second, however, was a massive undertaking. At first, they were sure it couldn't be done: they'd expected the hardware to be the problem. As it turned out, the triggering hardware was easy, they simply couldn't get the processor fast enough. Anesca and Alysa had spent weeks on end trying to design a sufficient system, eventually enlisting the help of Josef and his wife for some of the more physical aspects of the system.

The end result was the most powerful and yet still non-sentient computer the Hack had ever created. Indeed, it would be sentient were it not for a few limitations placed on it, and the fact that they left no free cycles for it to develop a personality. With the computer complete, the laser was ready to go. The last major hurdle for the Arkbird was solved.

Hanger 18; Linux Military Base; Outside Chiba City; the Hack

The Arkbird gleamed softly, even in the unnatural glare of the mercury-vapor lights that flooded the cavernous building with light. Technicians in white lab coats worked tirelessly over computer diagnostic machines even as engineers and workers in deep blue anti-static uniforms set to installing the massive components of the orbital laser to the Arkbird's underbelly. Even as they near completion of their project, it seemed like they would never finish, there was just so much left that needed to be done. It hadn't even been coated in the experimental material created by Elijah in the Caloris Basin that would be used as heat shielding. The Bird was designed to enter and leave the atmosphere as much as needed, and standard heat shielding just wouldn't be sufficient. They didn't want to have to re-tile the whole thing each time it needed to pick up supplies or change crews.

And so the teams worked as a single unit, tirelessly tweaking, modifying and eliminating bugs. This was, quite possibly, the Hack's most ambitious project to date, and they weren't going to let anything stop them.


Anderson Estate; Outside of Marshall City; GMC

Carol stared at the ceiling, once again unable to sleep. The Cervidine next to her snoring softly, her chest raising and lowering with each deep breath. Carol sighed, trying to make sense of her life. She had come to grips with her parents sending her off to school. She probably would have achieved nothing had they not. Granted, Alysa was probably a member of the Oligarchy, and had done so going to a sub-par public school, but Alysa had always had more drive than Carol.

She smirked in the darkness. She was always too tough on herself, part of her mind said. After all, she was the Hack's longest serving astronaut. Hell, she had been the first astronaut. She'd done a damn good job on the ISS – as much as she could do, her mission parameters had always been a touch vague. And now she had been given command of the Arkbird for its maiden flight. It should have been enough to make her content, or at least make the source of her insomnia excitement, as opposed to a mild feeling of dread.

She glanced over at Shika, smiling to herself. If nothing else, this should be enough to make her feel better about herself. She'd met Shika at a college book-store, the young Cervidine picking up books on astronomy. Not surprisingly, Carol knew a thing or two about the subject, and the two hit it off instantly, talking in a near-by park for hours. She remembered how hesitant the woman who would become her wife had been at giving her name. Seems that Shika's parents had a wickedly evil sense of humor – who else would name their Cervidine daughter 'deer'? Still, silliness and serendipitous first meeting aside, the two had rather quickly fallen in love and been married mere months later.

As a student, Shika's living allowance was a tiny apartment, and as Carol was technically unemployed, they wouldn't have much of a chance at a nice place. Luckily, Carol had a sister with a huge family (who was also independently wealthy by nature of being paid by the Hack, and various quasi-legal adventures), so the two moved in to one of the largely unused portions of the Anderson estate. It reminded Shika of home, of course, as she was from a large family. It'd but Carol into a bit of stimulus overload, not being used to having so many people around all the time. Over time she'd gotten used to it, and now it was only her own insecurities that bothered her.

That, and a healthy dose of paranoia. She couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the Arkbird than she'd been told. "Why does it need the most powerful laser in the world?" she whispered to the darkness of her room.

"Because GMC's helping fund so it needs a bloody great gun," Shika murmured, having woken up at some point. She smiled sleepily at her wife, "You're cute hon, but if you don't stop fretting and go to sleep, I'm moving to the couch."

Carol smiled and kissed Shika, "Sorry…"


Conference Room; The Caloris Basin; Mercury

Elijah's shimmering form sat firmly in a straight-back metallic chair. Next to him stood Joshua, looking rigid and inflexible. Utilitarian was the rule in the Basin, and neither LiME had much use for cushions, comfort, or other such human indulgences. Their siblings tended to be more relaxed, especially Ezekiel, but the two denizens of the Basin wanted nothing to do with it. They largely couldn't feel comfort – or chose not to – and thus had no use for it.

Standing in front of them was a flickering hologram of Josef. The hologram was life-sized and three dimension, with substance. Normally, Josef would need to be fully jacked into the 2N for this to do him any good, but this was just a conference call. The LiMEs used the tactile hologram because it was the one that was currently set up.

"I want to thank you for this, Elijah," Josef was saying, "your research has always be valuable, but this coating will be a real life saver, if it works like you think it will."

"Thank you, Josef," Elijah nodded. He was often cool towards people he dealt with, but he always showed a great deal of respect towards Josef. In many ways, he still considered the earth-bound human to be his father, even if such human conventions were irrelevant. "It's an offshoot from the work I've done with the Solar Giants. Joshua?"

The standing LiME nodded seriously, "The hardest part was reduction in size. All of out solar probes have been quite thick, needing a great deal of the material to properly… wick away the heat. The vessels we're designing for the 'critters are also pretty thick, but that's more for pressure reasons. Luckily, we're dealing with considerably lower temperatures in your case, no offence."

"None taken," Josef grinned. He never imagined that temperature tolerances and requirements would become the stuff of jousting. Then again, it's not like they would fight for reproductive rights. Had to compete with something.

"At any rate," Elijah continued, "We'll be sending a drone craft with enough to perform a couple experiments and what should be enough to coat the Arkbird. Hopefully it'll be refined enough to deal with multiple re-entries. Anything else?"

"No, I think this'll be sufficient, thank you, Elijah. You're a life-saver."

Hanger 18; Linux Military Base; Outside Chiba City; the Hack

"Hey, you! Freeze!" The guard was holding one of the newer Hack rifles with an integrated smart link. The success of the Kitsune fire team had resulted in the military making minor cybernetic enhancements more common, especially with soldiers responsible for guarding highly sensitive items; such as the Arkbird. They also tried giving members of the Oligarchy enhanced bodyguards, but that was almost universally shot down, partially because many of them lived in GMC, where is wasn't nearly as needed. "Come out of the shadows, and identify yourself!"

A tall, young Kitsune, probably about sixteen years old, wearing an impeccably maintained Air Force uniform, the most striking thing about it being the golden oak leafs on his lapels; which, when combined with a lack of other decoration, made him look curious indeed. Squared on his head was a cap with a pair of cut-outs for his ears. Despite the incongruous nature of his appearance, he still looked like a propaganda poster come to life; it almost seemed like the was a faint breeze outside the hanger to provide proper dramatic emphasis to his heroic appearance. He bowed slightly to the guard, even though he greatly outranked the MP, and smiled thinly, "My name," his voice was smooth, soft, and oddly deep, "is Tokaji Hayashi." He grinned, his eyes twinkling mischeviously, "But you probably know me as 'Arkbird'."


"The Penguin" Officer's Club; Linux Military Base

Tokaji sat ramrod straight in the soft leather chair, looking mildly uncomfortable, only partially from the miserable job the chair did in accomidating his tail. Sitting across from a little end-table was Carol who looked completely out of place. Tokaji smiled at her, "So, you'll be my Captain, hmm?"

Carol laughed softly, "No, more of an advisor. Besides, I'm just a civilian."

Tokaji nodded, chuckling a little, "Leave it to the Hack to do this slapdash..."

"Oh, it's not that bad. You've just been studying too much GMC military stuff."

"There is that, yes. Still, it's an honor to meet you, Carol. Alysa spoke highly of you when I was... ah... created."

Carol blushed slightly, "She always exaggerates what I've done."

"Not at all, Carol. You were with the first team sent to the ISS and have logged far more time in space than anyone in the country. You probably know more about space than any other Hacker; your experience will be invaluable. I may be the AI for the 'Bird, but I've never been in space." He smiled, "Who do you think first forwarded your name?"

"I... I thought Alysa did..."

He shook his head, "No, it was me." He smirked, "Besides, it's not like Alysa really needs to get anyone's permission for anything, you know..."

---

A few hours later, the two said their goodbyes. Carol went home to Shika; Tokaji returned to his decidedly spartan quarters. With the laser complete and staffing issues resolved, the Arkbird was ready for launch.

Despite Carol's protestations, she really was the captain of the 'Bird. While Tokaji was considered to be the heart and soul of the Arkbird, he was really created to help with the laser. The supercomputer that controlled the pulsing of the laser was indeed nonsentient, but its processing power was wholly dedicating to the pulsing pattern. Tokaji was needed to aim and instruct the computer in pulse rates. He would certainly help with piloting and other such tasks, but if the laser was ever needed, he would quickly become very busy.