NationStates Jolt Archive

We have prepared a preliminary contract and a series of possible colony designs. Please respond when you are ready to send or recieve a representative.

-Guild Knossos

(OOC: My apologies about the delay in my reply.)

IC:

We would delight in receiving a sales delegation from the Space Guilds. Due to our rather limited space flight capabilities we would appreciate you coming to us. Our capital of Genisk would be a perfect point to start looking into the different options you have available for us. When could we expect your sales delegation's arrival?

Gregor Metis
Head of The Platonic Astro Division

(OOC: No prob.)

Allow us one day's time. Negotiations with Quintonnia have allowed us to keep the Klytemnestra within that range.

A Waverider supersonic spaceplane left the Klytemnestra and began a quick descent towards Earth. When it first entered the atmosphere, the high temperatures caused the air around the craft to ionize and turn to plasma, tracing the firey line of a meteor across the sky. When the temperature dropped, a scramjet was activated, and the spaceplane rode its own hypersonic shockwave over Platonic. As it neared the airport, the scramjet switched off, and the spaceplane came in for a rather conventional landing.

(OOC: busiest day of work in probably 2 or more months, it's crazy)

IC:

A small group of people wait near the landing point. One of them is holding a sign that says "Spacer Guild Delegation". Another one is holding a collectible gift basket. The airport stretches out behind them as a bizarre bizarre combination of a fairly modern airport and what could be called a huge natural looking garden. In reality the only thing that makes it look like a garden is that no one in their right mind would allow a forest to overgrow an airport... right?

A long ramp lowered from the underside, down which proceeded what could only be called a powered wheelchair. Riding the contraption was a woman with seemingly Arab features, but with much lighter skin tone and hair color than would be expected to go along. An air tank affixed to the back of the chair connected with a translucent plastic breathing mask, like those usually found on nebulizers.

All the while wondering at the odd scenery, the woman directed her chair towards the waiting people.

"Zdravstvuyte. I am Minerva of Minoa."

IC:

The man holding the gift basket steps forward and offers it to her (it appears to be brimming with delicious items)

"Greetings Minerva, I am Gregor Metis and I would like to give you a warm welcome to The Common Wealth of Platonic. There is a small amount of paper work we need to fill out and then we can show you to the hotel, unless of course you would prefer to get started right away."

You probably notice that the airport appears to be wheelchair friendly and has a rather interesting flow of archtecture that seems to fit well with the general forest like area around it.

If you check there is nothing especially unusual about the basket with exception of the quality of it's contents which appears to be fairly high quality fare.

(OOC: Evil post-eating forum....)

Minerva carefully accepted the basket with both hands, took a quick look at its contents, and stowed it in a small compartment beneath the seat.

"This is most generous of you. Paperwork... ah, I suppose that is to be expected. Well, if you have the documents with you, I can take care of that right now, and then we may continue at your convenience."

---Post deleted by NationStates Moderators---

I ask what experience any of your construction companies have and why they should construct this colony instead of my company. My construction companies require masters degrees in engineering and many of the higher ups have doctorate degrees. Besides we provide for the losers that would be on the streets, they do the dirty work.

What experience do we have? Well, only constructing cityships and support vessels to hold and supply our entire population. Our standards are likely the highest out of any. They have to be, when 716 million lives depend on the reliability of our structures, and ought to be, when you have over a century of experience.

IC

"Don't worry the paper work is very short and for the most part to ease your stay here." Says Gregor as he leads Minerva under an ivy overhang and into the airport proper.

The "paperwork" as Gregor puts is ridiculously simple and consists of a photo being taken of Minerva then the woman acting as an apparent customs agent taking down her name for a very simple ID card being printed out with a blue border.

After the ID is printed Gregor says "May I be the first to welcome you as one of Platonic's citizens, of course your not a full citizen yet and this is mostly a formality but you know have all the rights of any other Platonic citizen with an exception of economic privledge since you are currently just a visitor"

"Please come this way, we have an e-tram waiting to take you to the a local hotel thats quite nice." he adds as he motions towards the front of the airport. "I believe it has a sizable swimming pool"

OOC: Blues Island, if you want to submit a bid, catalog and or salesperson Platonic would be definately willing to listen.

After the ID is printed Gregor says "May I be the first to welcome you as one of Platonic's citizens, of course your not a full citizen yet and this is mostly a formality but you know have all the rights of any other Platonic citizen with an exception of economic privledge since you are currently just a visitor"

"Please come this way, we have an e-tram waiting to take you to the a local hotel thats quite nice." he adds as he motions towards the front of the airport. "I believe it has a sizable swimming pool"

Minerva turned the card over in her hands a few times. "Thank you. Not the usual procedure, but I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not buried in visa and passport forms."

Her thumbs manipulated miniature joysticks on the armrests as Minerva directed her chair to follow Gregor. "As swimming pool sounds very nice. I don't suppose there is any chance of performing business in there? Ah, just a silly thought, pay no mind to my ramblings."

Gregor nods slightly. "We may be able to make arrangements to that effect. I'm just sorry we didn't have the forsight to make arrangements regarding your enviromental needs.

He turns suddenly "Make a note of that Jack, we need to be more effective in our hospitality preparations for visiting guests"

"Ahhh here we are" as he gestures towards a nearby vehicle. It looks a bit like an Astro mini van but slightly lower and about half again as long. Gregor slides open the right door and then pauses and turns back.

"Although it's not that high it is definately not going to work right for a wheel chair. Could we give you hand into the tram?"

(This next part assumes we make it into the e-tram one way or another, there is plenty of space in the back for a wheel chair. Also other luggage)

A short drive later the tram pulls into the hotel area and the passengers disembark. During the trip Gregor tended to prattle on about the quality of the tram and how it's electrical engineering was some of the most efficient and enviromentally friendly technology available in Platonic.

The hotel staff showed Minerva to her room and helped her with her luggage.

Meanwhile downstairs Gregor made arrangements for a meeting conducted poolside.

OOC: Feel free to browse through the hotel or similar, it also is wheelchair friendly. It isn't quite luxuriant but it is very comfortable with room service, wired/wireless net access and similar amentities.

Gregor nods slightly. "We may be able to make arrangements to that effect. I'm just sorry we didn't have the forsight to make arrangements regarding your enviromental needs.

He turns suddenly "Make a note of that Jack, we need to be more effective in our hospitality preparations for visiting guests"

"Oh, really, no need to worry about it. You couldn't have known, and you've been quite hospitable already. Although the swimming pool would be nice...."

"Ahhh here we are" as he gestures towards a nearby vehicle. It looks a bit like an Astro mini van but slightly lower and about half again as long. Gregor slides open the right door and then pauses and turns back.

"Although it's not that high it is definately not going to work right for a wheel chair. Could we give you hand into the tram?"

(This next part assumes we make it into the e-tram one way or another, there is plenty of space in the back for a wheel chair. Also other luggage)

A short drive later the tram pulls into the hotel area and the passengers disembark. During the trip Gregor tended to prattle on about the quality of the tram and how it's electrical engineering was some of the most efficient and enviromentally friendly technology available in Platonic.

The hotel staff showed Minerva to her room and helped her with her luggage.

Meanwhile downstairs Gregor made arrangements for a meeting conducted poolside.

OOC: Feel free to browse through the hotel or similar, it also is wheelchair friendly. It isn't quite luxuriant but it is very comfortable with room service, wired/wireless net access and similar amentities.

Minerva listened politely, putting in the occassional, "oh" and "uh-huh", and generally trying to not show off a total lack of knowledge about ground vehicles.

In her hotel room, Minerva took a quick survey of the surroundings. Looks good. Not quite what I'm used to, but what can you expect. I shall have to get down and try out that swimming pool.

Not wanting to bother with the effort of getting out of the chair and into a bed, she simply reclined the wheelchair and took a quick nap. Then, picking up the room telephone, she dialed the front desk.

"Hello. Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the swimming pool. Oh, and could you send up an attendant or whatever they're called, or do I call room sefvice for that? Preferably female. Thank you." *click* She hung up, opened a small suitcase, and began rummaging around inside.

Now then, I hope I had the presence of mind to pack a swimsuit.. or something like it. Hm. I wonder what the standards of dress are around here. I'll have to ask.

---Post deleted by NationStates Moderators---

*bump*

(OCC: My apologies for the delay on this, it seems that my weekend was exceptionally busy.)

As you likely noticed in the airport and on the ride to the hotel the standards of dress are pretty much whatever you feel comfortable wearing. There were even a few people wearing absolutely nothing.

After just a minute or so a young woman arrives at the door.

"Hello Minerva, how can I help you?" she says

About the same time Gregor calls from the lobby letting her know that he could reserve the pool for any time she wanted either later today (its currently shortly after noon) or sometime tommorow if she would prefer.

The view from her window would normally be considered beautiful by both Earther standard. Who knows if Minerva feels the same way though.

-------------
Blues Island:

We appreciate the offer but currently we aren't in the market for tanks, but if we do need tanks in the future we will be sure to contact you for more information. Thanks!


Maurice Centra
Defense Minister for The Commonwealth of Platonic

After just a minute or so a young woman arrives at the door.

"Hello Minerva, how can I help you?" she says

About the same time Gregor calls from the lobby letting her know that he could reserve the pool for any time she wanted either later today (its currently shortly after noon) or sometime tommorow if she would prefer.

The view from her window would normally be considered beautiful by both Earther standard. Who knows if Minerva feels the same way though.
(OOC: Perfectly understandable. Ack! I don't think I ever mention Minerva's age... looks to be around thirty.)

When the young woman arrived, Minerva had finally removed the air mask. "Hello. Well, I feel rather... heavier than usual. Oh, to heck with dignity, I'll just say it. I can't get up. Getting used to the air doesn't take too long, but the gravity is quite another story. I could use some help getting changed into a swimming suit. Unless, of course, it wouldn't be too terribly offensive if I were to just forego that altogether?"

As the phone rang, Minerva interrupted herself with a quick "just a moment" and rolled over to pick it up, informing Gregor that this afternoon would be just fine.

The hotel attendent says "My name is Linsey I can help you out with that. Our hotel does not have a dress code, even for the pool. If you prefer to go nude thats fine or if you want to we have suits at our hotel gift shop. Since you are here as guests of Platonic there would of course be no charge. Either way I am more then willing to help you."

(OCC: Minerva has 2 good hours until the meeting time of 3pm that Gregor gave her, feel to arrive however you feel appropriate. From either casual conversation win Linsey or observation of other guests Minerva will probably rapidly realize that at least clothing taboos are either non exsistant or pretty close to it. The hotel staff can also help with any special equipment you might want for a presentation like projectors or computers. Assuming there isn't anything special you want to do should we continue starting into the meeting at 3pm)

"Ah, very good. I think I'll just forego the bathing suit, then. Anyway, I'll need help out of my current attire, and likely getting into the pool as well. Oh, one other thing- I'll need a projector screen. I wasn't sure about compatibility, so I've got a portable LCD projector with my laptop, but I'll need a screen. I think that's everything..." Minerva began to carefully undo the buttons of her vest/blouse. "So. You can help me out of these, and then I should start getting things set up. We have about and hour and a half, two hours, I think. Gives me some time to do a little free swimming before the official business."

Some time later, Minerva was doing a lazy backstroke back and forth through the pool. Her laptop and projector sat at the edge, pointing at the projector screen, along with a waterproofed (i.e., wrapped in a plastic bag) remote control.

Gregor arrives a couple minutes early with a single male assistant and seems pleased to see that Minerva is already there and setup.

"Ahhh I'm glad you've made yourself comfortable. I'm going to give you a quick run down of our needs and then I'll let you do your sales pitch" He says with a friendly smile.

"I see this as at least a two stage venture, our first stage is to establish a semi permanant to permanat orbiting space station of small size strictly for research purposes. The second stage would be acctual habitats of one type or another on the surface of The Planet Mars for very large populations on the order of millions. Since the second stage is still a ways down the road for our current technology I would like this meeting to focus primarily on the first stage. Basically what we are looking for in this stage is primarily knowledge, expertise, and plans. It's to a great extent a matter of national pride that we acctually make the spacestation ourselves. To that effect although we will be able to supply building materials and personpower for the construction and even to a certain extent scientists and engineers for design we are are looking to contract with you to provide engineers, scientists, and simple but effective design plans. Does this this fit with what you can provide us?" says Gregor expectantly.

The assistant has been taking notes on a vaguely unusual looking notebook computer. Paying closer attention will reveal that not only is the casing made out of wood but there appear to be small branches growing out of it and a small amount of moss growing on the top.

"We can accomodate those needs."

Minerva clicked the remote, and a dodecahedral logo appeared on the screen. Down and to the left was a spoked elipse, and down and to the right was a cylinder with rectangles atached.

"As the orbital station is your first priority, we shall start there. Do you intend to have artificial gravity, or a microgravity environment?"

"Excellent, excellent"

"Basically the simpler the better, after all we can always update that later. Speaking of which we would prefer a modular design if at all possible. It doesn't need to be entirely modular but every bit would make potential expansion and alterations easier. So yes microgravity would be best (OOC I am assuming micro gravity is gravity produced by centripital force or is it vice versa? Gregor would undoubtably know the difference but I can't recall :-) ) for what we need.

(OOC would it be best to take this to telegram as there doesn't seem to be any outside interest?)

(OOC I am assuming micro gravity is gravity produced by centripital force or is it vice versa? Gregor would undoubtably know the difference but I can't recall :-) )
(OOC would it be best to take this to telegram as there doesn't seem to be any outside interest?)
OOC: Microgravity is freefall. Artificial gravity could be anything that will make stuff fall, which, in the case of the Guilds, would be centripetal force. Telegram is fine with me.
IC:
"Basically the simpler the better, after all we can always update that later. Speaking of which we would prefer a modular design if at all possible. It doesn't need to be entirely modular but every bit would make potential expansion and alterations easier. So artificial gravity would be best for what we need.

"In that case..." the image changed to one of a dumbbell shaped station with solar panels extending from the center of the bar. "This is the simplest station that will allow for centripetal gravity. Two docking points can be located at the axis, in the center of the bar, where the solar panels attach, and the amount of artificial gravity possible is dependant on exactly how long you want to make it, up to about 2/3 of a gee. Crew is minimal. This could support twenty, at the most."

The image changed again toa picture of a toroidal colony. "You have likely seen these before, Standford Torii. They are the most common large-scale space colonies. They can support large numbers of people, and are simple, but, unfortunately, not modular. But we do have a compromise."

The image changed again, this time to a dumbbell with arcs extending from the ends, looking something like an integral sign. "The Integral Station combines the best of both worlds. You can begin with a basic barbell station, and add arc segments as your requirements increase. Eventually, it may be expanded into a small Standford Torus."

*bump*

*bump*

OOC: did you get my telegram? I thought I sent it, but I didn't get a reply so...

OOC: I did not recieve a telegram.