'Keys to the Kingdom' Discussion

[Seph OOC]

What's effectively going on, here, is that Machina, Wargear, Flicker, Neil, Mithril, and possibly a handful of other novas TBA may be getting together to form a consortium of novas with talents in tracking global patterns of business, politics, and culture in order to prevent wars, save lives, provide aid, and basically just help make sure the "good guys" win all over the world, wherever possible. The proposed group is an active force rather than a reactive one, using data accumulated from various global theatres to mathematically predict various global shifts and to take preemptive action to steady or derail those shifts before they happen.

What this means to the rest of you kind of depends on how well the idea is received by you, the players. Obviously, we can't run roughshod over everyone else's machinations, but it's reasonable also to assume that any such group watching so closely is going to get tipped off to a lot of events before they happen and going to take reasonable steps for or against those actions. My suggestion is that this would virtually eliminate The Game altogether, since said group would effectively be a "team" playing The Game, driving the single players either out entirely or - as in the case of the notable NPC Ping - provoke them to even greater secrecy, with the additional threat of being occasionally thwarted in their efforts.

In PC terms, this really won't affect the day-to-day operations of things as they currently stand. The watchers cannot watch everything; they're neither onminscient nor omnipresent, they merely watch global trends and make nova-intelligent educated guesses about the direction those trends are headed in. Such a group would never be able to predict, for example, White Rat stepping into a town in North Dakota and annihilating the population, but would be first to understand how various groups may respond to such an action and first to act upon that information so as to orchestrate the most beneficial outcome.

Anyway. If there are any questions/concerns/complains, this is the place.

[Dave ST]

Originally Posted By: Seph OOC

The proposed group is an active force rather than a reactive one, using data accumulated from various global theatres to mathematically predict various global shifts and to take preemptive action to steady or derail those shifts before they happen.

Sounds like Minority Report. Guess the future and strip away an individual's, city's, or nation's right to freely make their own choice to A) screw up, or not screw up.

So you call up nations and tell them that if A,B, and C happen problems will occur. If said nation doesn't listen you take measures to make sure things end up the way you want it too. What happens if they tell you to piss off?

Let me guess... you guys do it anyways and somehow no one every realizes they've been manipulated and you guys are never caught. Because essentially what you're discussing is a form of Robinhood Terrorism.

Sounds exciting.

[Seph OOC]

You know, Dave, I'm tempted to just say "Yeah, that's pretty much it, you can't do shit about it, suck it" and leave it at that, because it's become so very, very hard for me to take your criticisms seriously. It's like you've become a cartoon of a sane and rational person.

For starters, it isn't 'Minority Report' because we're not dealing with individuals, we're dealing with social groups, governing bodies, militaries, etc. You're talking psychology, we're talking sociology. So for starters, there are no "individual" rights to be considered, here. We're talking about influencing large groups, something that when it's done by corporations or activist groups is called "lobbying" and is perfectly legal.

Tell me something; if the Red Cross shows up to distribute food against the wishes of a sovereign government, you going to piss on their show, too? After all, they don't have permission, right? If Revenant punches someone's face in for getting a little too confrontational, at what point is he taking away that individual's "right" to be a jerk? Are the WCKs' every action truly sanctioned by the city of Chicago? What if someone travels out of their jurisdiction?

You seem to have made some pretty interesting leaps in logic, so I'm going to correct you. Such a group, if formed, would notice a trend, predict the likelihood of a particular event, and contact the parties they see as providing the greater service to the world. If such a group doesn't want help, that's their problem. Nothing inherent to the group says that they have to pull the strings for the entire world; the idea is to offer people who have the best chance of making the world better the opportunity to capitalize on the help of a nova think tank. If they opt to refuse that help, fuck 'em. You can't stop all problems, and there's no sense in trying to help someone who doesn't want it. So your second and third paragraphs pretty much fall flat.

Effectively, what I'm reading from you is that you chafe at the idea of a group of novas with that much investment and influence in baseline social, political, business, and military trends. Good. You should chafe at it because it is a fucking scary idea. Good thing we're the good guys.

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: Seph OOC

Such a group, if formed, would notice a trend, predict the likelihood of a particular event, and contact the parties they see as providing the greater service to the world. If such a group doesn't want help, that's their problem. Nothing inherent to the group says that they have to pull the strings for the entire world; the idea is to offer people who have the best chance of making the world better the opportunity to capitalize on the help of a nova think tank. If they opt to refuse that help, fuck 'em.

This sounds kinda familiar; doesn't John Argus already do this with the elite group, the Argus Agency?

Which is to say, I'm not dissing your idea completely. The biggest problem I see with it is that if a PC is planning something that falls under your influence, you'll basically be unable to act against them without their consent. You'll have the same problem that the WCK has, on a global scale. How are you guys going to handle that WHEN (because you know it will) comes up?

And who else are you going to be bringing on board? Or is that a secret?

[Seph OOC]

The notable difference between the Argus Agency and this is that Argus is set up as a first response agency, for reasons that are laughably flimsy (thanks again, WW). Furthermore, John Argyle's Pretercog abilities are limited to "bad and disastrous" events, and the writeup has him involved in invasions, kidnappings, national disasters, and so on. That is rather intimidating, but there are a few things to consider:

1. Argyle isn't omniscient or omnipotent, either. He can't possibly catch them all.

2. Argyle's powers are limited in scope, and the definition of "catastrophe" can only encompass so many global events.

3. We're assuming the Argus Agency is still in business in 2017.

4. If they are, nothing says they can't have competition.

5. Argyle cannot act on his information preemptively because of the nature of his revelation; he can't share his visions. A team of novas with a proven track record and reams of demonstrable statistical data doesn't have that problem.

As for your other point, you're basically right. We can't do shit to anybody without permission. Sucks. By that same token, nobody can do anything about the group's existence, aside from calling for a sitewide veto. Problems with other PCs will just have to be dealt with as they come. Admittedly, I don't envy anybody who has to butt heads with me, Nova, and WGs player.

Other members? That's a big UNK at the moment. I didn't mean to imply I had other people in mind, only that I wasn't ruling out the inclusion of more. Everyone currently involved has a specific role to play, and there are a couple of roles still vacant, but nobody I can think of would fill them adequately at the moment.

[The White Rat]

I understand what you guys are trying to do. I like the idea. You are essentially creating a global think tank, which looks at current trends to predict mid to long term events. The short term 'random act of chaos' would be undetectable, because there is no data from which to draw a conclusion. In that situation, the group could only react to the situation.

If I had White Rat blow up a bus, your group would not be able to thwart his attack. But if he started gathering an army, to carry out such bombings, then as a group, you would be able to notice certain 'activities' among the disposessed. With that information, you might be able to deduce what White Rat is doing. The long term trends would be the easiest to predict, then followed by the mid to sort term.

You might want to factor in the Intelligence and the strategic planning ability of a possible antagonist in any global situation, when it comes to the probability of detecting such activities. This would be due to an antagonists knowledge of your organizations existence, and taking steps to avoid detection.

The difference that the group has, from my reading of what they are, with the Argus Agency, is that Argus could detect the Bus bombings, but not the formation of the Army. Since the bombings are considered a bad act, it falls under Argus's abilities, but the formation of an army does not. Armies by themselves are not bad or disasrous.

[Hugin]

Interesting.

It would be nice to see some acknowledgement that the PCs aren't the only ones out there. Eliminate "The Game" , I don't think so. There are always people out there who are smarter and better than you are.

I don't know about Wargear but I've never bought Machina being capable of that sort of thing. Inventing and creating shit takes time and it's evident he spends a buttload of time at the workbench. Where does he get the time to do that, bitch out anyone who comes withing range AND solve the world's problems?

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: Seph OOC

The notable difference between the Argus Agency and this is that Argus is set up as a first response agency, for reasons that are laughably flimsy (thanks again, WW). Furthermore, John Argyle's Pretercog abilities are limited to "bad and disastrous" events, and the writeup has him involved in invasions, kidnappings, national disasters, and so on. That is rather intimidating, but there are a few things to consider:
1. Argyle isn't omniscient or omnipotent, either. He can't possibly catch them all.
2. Argyle's powers are limited in scope, and the definition of "catastrophe" can only encompass so many global events.
3. We're assuming the Argus Agency is still in business in 2017.
4. If they are, nothing says they can't have competition.
5. Argyle cannot act on his information preemptively because of the nature of his revelation; he can't share his visions. A team of novas with a proven track record and reams of demonstrable statistical data doesn't have that problem.

Thank you for the breatdown; I only recalled (as I'm at work and couldn't check) that Argus was a pretercog who intervened to stop Bad Things ™. As for point #3, was have a (even if he is absent because of computer issues) PC who works for them, so I think that means that they are around by default.

Originally Posted By: Seph OOC

As for your other point, you're basically right. We can't do shit to anybody without permission. Sucks. By that same token, nobody can do anything about the group's existence, aside from calling for a sitewide veto. Problems with other PCs will just have to be dealt with as they come. Admittedly, I don't envy anybody who has to butt heads with me, Nova, and WGs player.

I wasn't suggesting a veto, and I'm not sure I would support one if it came about. You guys have the right to do this thing, which can be considered to bubble along merrily in the background successfully. I mean, this is the kind of thing that can be assumed is just there and working. It doesn't even need further PC interaction. I'm not sure I'm being clear...

Originally Posted By: Seph OOC

Other members? That's a big UNK at the moment. I didn't mean to imply I had other people in mind, only that I wasn't ruling out the inclusion of more. Everyone currently involved has a specific role to play, and there are a couple of roles still vacant, but nobody I can think of would fill them adequately at the moment.

Thank you for answering my questions.

[Rush]

My only concern with this is that it kind of demands that any big action or plot by a PC (in relative terms) include some or all of those characters.

While I don't really care either way as I don't have any characters that would rally be affected by this, I'm sure there are some players out there that will resent the implied intrusion.

[Hugin]

Oh, and I agree, Argus is silly-ass WW shit.

[Velvet]

To be perfectly honest... I can't recall the last time I felt particularly pleasant, or was excited at the prospect of a new idea here, so I'll just say (sincerely) that I hope you can have fun with and take pride in your creation. I don't know Wargear, but Seph and Nova are very intelligent people and I'm sure whatever you create with this group of intellectual Illuminati will be a boon to RPG-Post as a whole.

[Dave ST]

Quote:

For starters, it isn't 'Minority Report' because we're not dealing with individuals, we're dealing with social groups, governing bodies, militaries, etc. You're talking psychology, we're talking sociology. So for starters, there are no "individual" rights to be considered, here. We're talking about influencing large groups, something that when it's done by corporations or activist groups is called "lobbying" and is perfectly legal.

My humblest apologies, I'm under this crazy assumption that organizations are comprised individuals whose leadership guides and motivates the members of that organization.

Again, sorry, my bad.

Quote:

You seem to have made some pretty interesting leaps in logic, so I'm going to correct you. Such a group, if formed, would notice a trend, predict the likelihood of a particular event, and contact the parties they see as providing the greater service to the world. If such a group doesn't want help, that's their problem. Nothing inherent to the group says that they have to pull the strings for the entire world; the idea is to offer people who have the best chance of making the world better the opportunity to capitalize on the help of a nova think tank. If they opt to refuse that help, fuck 'em. You can't stop all problems, and there's no sense in trying to help someone who doesn't want it. So your second and third paragraphs pretty much fall flat.

Now that you've taken the time thoroughly explain exactly what you meant by your first post in this thread, you're right it does make sense.

Damn, ya got me.

Quote:

Effectively, what I'm reading from you is that you chafe at the idea of a group of novas with that much investment and influence in baseline social, political, business, and military trends. Good. You should chafe at it because it is a fucking scary idea. Good thing we're the good guys.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. No matter what you posted, what you said, faxed, e-mailed, or whatever the case may be those nova wouldn't scare any of my characters in the slightest. They would only have the power to sway my PCs in the manner I allowed them too. If that means they have no jurisdiction to predict anything involving my PCs then so be it, all you could do about is accept it.

Quote:

You know, Dave, I'm tempted to just say "Yeah, that's pretty much it, you can't do shit about it, suck it" and leave it at that, because it's become so very, very hard for me to take your criticisms seriously. It's like you've become a cartoon of a sane and rational person.

It's shit like this from people like you that really makes it a waste of my fucking time to post here.

So fuck you guys, fuck your forums. I don't need the goddamn headache. Again I was under the assumption this was a place where I voice my opinions, criticisms, complaints, approvals, compliments and what not. So I did. You may notice the "Sounds exciting" part there on the end? Yeah, well, that's because it did. It's an interesting idea to juggle the world and see if you don't slip on a peel and watch how it was pulled off sounded interesting.

Now fuck it, I could give a shit less. About you, your characters, your plans, this whole goddamn place. I can be mocked and ridiculed any time or place, why should I take shit from pixels on a screen?

I have better shit to do.

[Wargear]

You know, after the breathtaking insight in this thread so far, I really feel I have an incredibly tough act to follow. Still, I suppose I should probably put a word in.

Several people has brought up the character contract already. That's fine and dandy, stellar really, but the fact is that the chracter contract is used to get away with such errant nonsense on this board that asking us to have a rational response to it, or to limit the stories we're interested in telling to things that couldn't possibly step into areas covered by the character contract is fairly nonsensical. Now, if your single nova wants to blow up Paris... well, I doubt this organization of ours is going to be able to do much about that, since you're a single individual acting (probably) without much in the way of external support. If you want to conquer a country, well, then we're probably going to have to have a talk with you at some point as to how our characters respond to that.

Setting that aside, from a moral and ethical perspective, what Machina and co. are doing is scary. Or would be, if they were sharing that information with anyone outside their little group. A small group of highly intelligent novas with impressive military, intelligence and economic resources have decided they're going to start considering it their job to see that the world functions efficently and with a minimum of wasted lives and resources. I'll repeat that. Three or four very smart novas have decided that it's up to them to make sure the world runs right. That their goals are mainly humanitarian, or at least agreeable (who doesn't like a more efficent world?), doesn't really change that they've decided to appoint themselves gods. And that should be morally questionable, because that's what makes the whole story idea interesting in the first place. Whatever OOC hoops or bending-backward we have to do to tell that story is pretty much beside the point: what's at issue is that it's a very interesting little corner of the Aberrant Universe to explore, and we're aiming to do exactly that. Maybe it'll actually work, maybe Machina and Wargear and Nova are getting in way the hell over their heads. We'll see.

Hugin: A word in response to your comment. Between Machina, Wargear and Flicker, this little group has a fairly impressive kettle of brainpower; unusually for mega-intelligent novas, they also have at least two Mega-Int 5 novas working together. Are there smarter people in the world? Well, Access leaps to mind. Divus "I AM GOD" Mal. The Mathematician. But you have to have Q6 to be smarter than either Machina or Wargear individually, and there aren't a ton of people out there like that. People with the intelligence community and geopolitical resources they've had time to assemble through working for the Directive and DeVries, respectively? Well, that's going to be a pretty short list. There may be someone out there better at this than they are, but if so, it's going to be someone. It's just not that big a field.

[Hugin]

Character Contract: Why bother bringing it up? I mean, it's not like, with the exception of the rare dumb-ass, that anyone doesn't know the limitations.

The Smarts: Wargear, from the sounds of Machina and Wargear they spend most of their time in the shop, making stuff. When I ran Prodigy as a member of the Game I basically accepted that the amount of time that The Game required would pretty much preclude him from being able to spend much time inventing. He's a MegaInt 5 too, with a 4 or more in EVERYTHING. That's his thing. He's fucking squishy and would have a hard time fighting a 30 pt nova all on his lonesome. But still, even at MegaInt 5 he was working with OTHER megaint novas, some of them very easily 5's. Competing with that took his time. A lot of it. With that and New Ground he had very little time at all to invent shit. So, are you and Machina going to give up the "We're Tesla, but smarter and better" stance? I know that's more Machina than Wargear but still, the point stands.

The Game: This is my only really concern. Get rid of the Game? Fucking please. The Directive hasn't and Utopia hasn't. You're talking about the ones so damn smart that they have to fuck with world politics to keep from being bored. Starting up, being a player even doesn't worry me. No biggie in wanting your character to swing a big dick. But it's the "I've got the biggest dick" attitude that accompanies the "Oh, and The Game will probably go bye-bye" that irks me. It's the "I have to beat canon things into the ground to prove how great I am." attitude that I'm on the lookout for.

Seph: I love ya man but you are such a fucking asshole sometimes. Dave gives you his take on what you're presenting because you guys didn't present a particularly complete mission statement and you attack him personally? Nice.

[Rush]

While I don't disagree with your sentiment about the nature of Mega Intelligence Wargear, I think you guys are simplifying how easy it would be to shut down the so-called "Game."

Considering the number of Novas that exist by this point it's more than reasonable to believe that there could be over a hundred Novas all of varying levels of Mega Intelligence involved in the Game on some level. So while I can see your chipper group of Novas making a big splash entry into the Game, even taking out a few of the big time players, in no way do I see you bringing it to and end.

What you will do is scare the shit out of a bunch of people. A goup of powerful Novas combining their intellects and resources to achieving the same goal is a frightning thing. Many players are going to start looking for allies to help insulate themselves from your organization. You'll probably see alliances develop between Novas who's goals don't conflict and otherwise might not bother with each other. The game will go on, just at a different level.

At least that's how I'm going to interpret things.

[Wargear]

Actually, I should take an aside to argue that "shutting down" the Game isn't part of my mission statement for the story and I'm not totally sure what Seph meant when he said it (ask him). If it has the meaning I think you guys are applying to it (the attempts of mega-int novas to manipulate the world of politics), then shutting it down would be the LEAST useful thing Machina and Wargear could do with it. Their interest is minimizing conflicts and collateral damage to baseline lives, economies and political processes for both baseline and nova led conflicts; why would they set out to effectively pick a fight with everyone else on the block on the first day when that wouldn't do a thing to accomplish their objective?

Now, what they're attempting to do will probably present all kinds of roadblocks to people who are trying to use "the Game" to further an agenda that involves major social, military or economic damage to the baseline world overall, and that's fine. But the idea that the entry of a small group of people into a project is going to suddenly stop a world full of novas smart or enough or charismatic enough to affect baseline society from fucking around on their own dime is just silly. That the Game is canon concerns me not at all: that it's the logical product of novas having the powers they do and is thus more or less a force of nature does concern me, and I think the idea that somehow Machina and Wargear put together could do shit about that is fairly stupid. (No offense to Seph if that's not what he thinks). That's not, as far as I know, the objective anyway. The objective is to make wars, economic and military, shorter and less costly by whatever means necessary so the world doesn't eat itself alive.

Hugin: I actually fairly fundamentally disagree with your idea of Mega-Intelligence or the amount of work that inventions take at high levels. Machina, I'll grant you, is primarily an inventor and spends a lot of time in the lab. If you've read anything about Wargear, you'll find she spends some time fighting wars and some time inventing weaponry and a great deal of time writing about and thinking about war and society level conflicts (you'll notice she's written quite a lot about that, if you check her profile). Frankly, at the mental level that Wargear (and in my view of his character, Machina as well) operates, their time spent inventing falls into the category of keeping their mental hands busy while they actually work. Techonologial advance is a side effect of their intellectual existence, not the prime goal of their lives.

That's my view, anyway.

[Seph OOC]

Alright, let's see.

I want to make clear to everyone that I discussed all this with the other players only in brief; a lot of what this group does and how it all goes down in going to develop in the process of writing the fic. It occurs to me that I inadvertantly presented a slanted view of this group viewed through the lens of the most beneficial possible outcome, but that might not be the case. Mea culpa. This group may end up confirming Dave's worst suspicions about removing the facet of free will from various global organizations while the members who comprise it play god behind the scenes. I guess that ramifications of such a scenario will have to be dealt with when and if we get there. Again, I apologize; it wasn't my intention to mislead anybody, but the idea is still in development, and all parties involved haven't had a chance to really weigh in on the matter.

Craig: Not surprisingly, it seems that we've got very different ideas about The Game, after all. I really never had any idea that Prodigy devoted so much of his time and energy to The Game; in fact, I was under the impression that it was mostly a pleasant albeit time-consuming diversion for all involved, in much the same way an ongoing and voracious game of chess would be. The Game, need I remind you, isn't a canon invention; it's a construct of this forum, and one that presently has few-to-zero active players. The idea of such a group eliminating The Game wasn't an attempt to thwack canon; it was my shot at tying up with a neat little bow something has, for all practical purposes here, run its course. That said, I really don't think it's all that outlandish an assumption that some people currently involved would quit while others would simply become frustrated. To go back to my chess analogy, what's effectively happening is that four or five players are getting together to form a team that will consult each other over every move across all games. Who has the advantage, there; one very smart player playing four different games of chess, or four very smart players playing four games of chess together? The reason that the Project and the Directive haven't been able to end The Game is because they have only a topical understanding - at best - of what The Game is, who the players are, or what it entails. Conversely, one of the members of this group is a former player, well-attuned to the vicissitudes of The Game itself.

All I am really trying to say in regards to The Game is that when a group of novas with knowledge of The Game start acting in concert in opposition to other players, it is going to make things considerably complicated.

Also, I more closely agree with Wargear's appraisal of the function of Mega-INT than yours. Certainly, Machina will be scaling back his time spent in the lab and divert a good portion of it to time spent poring over statistics, data output, and basically scheming/doing business. I don't see why that means he can't still invent, though; plenty of folks manage to have very demanding jobs and still hold down a hobby, and Machina doesn't even need to sleep.

Spartan: A hundred novas involved in The Game? I seriously do not think so. Even at a high estimate of 25000 active novas in 2017, you're talking about maybe 300-500 of them having M-INT 3+. Of that number, how many are going to even get involved? How many are here? We're not talking about some MENSA-style club that everyone with an IQ of XXX gigapoints is inducted into; The Game is a rather exclusive invite-only club of novas who have geared their impressive intellect into very specific directions and have attracted the attention of someone who was impressed enough to recruit them in. Then of course there's attritions, deaths, people who drop out... I just don't think that there are that many active players.

Having said that, I think you're right, that the dynamic of the game will change and that other "teams" might start cropping up. I also think a lot of people on the fringe - because they're new, because they're not doing so well, because they're tired of competing - will drop right out. "The Game" will always exist in some form even if it no longer exists as a formal entity, because novas are always going to be out there tinkering with global politics. What I meant previously was that I think this will do a lot to change the nature of The Game as a formal competition. I think this is going to cause a rather large rift in what is considered to be the "rules". Also, no "splash" need be made; one person in this group has been playing The Game rather actively for some time. As I said, what I mostly meant was that the dynamic of The Game may change considerably, going from a less-than-friendly open competition of wits to a more disparate conglomeration of clusters of novas working to achieve their various interests. In effect, taking the "Game" out of "The Game".

Dave: Okay, I might have come off as harsh, but seriously, I was just rattling your cage. If I really was interested in dismissing your points, I wouldn't have addressed them. I was civil throughout the rest of the post, was I not? You seem to delight in busting balls, and so do I. I thought that was all we were doing, there. I apologize if it didn't come off that way; I wasn't trying to be a total dick, but yeah, I thought a little bit of dickery was in order, because that's how you and I both are, or so I thought. So honestly, I apologize if you felt belittled or disrespected. It wasn't my intention, and I'm truly sorry.

[Charlotte]

I believe that Brainwaves is considered N!Prime canon, and although I don't have it in front of me I remember it featuring "The Game" - and not the slightly pish David Fincher movie either.

Granted, this does come from the end of Aberrant's development cycle, where the game line was so unstable it would take chatlogs hostage, and hide their bodies, declaring them "lost." (Though we can only confirm it doing this once.) Since Aberrant is a product of the X-Files generation, it loves its deep dirty secrets, so it's not a stretch to come up with it even if canon doesn't have it.

[Hugin]

Brainwaves is RPG-Post canon.

As for time, this simply comes down to a matter of expectation. It is my expectation that the process for invention would still be time consuming with the need for experimentation, the creation of parts A, B, and C that don't even exist in order to create device D. But that's my expectation. Seph, you have yours. I said what I believe you said what you did. Guess that's that.

[Fortune's Son]

Re: The Game:

Seph, is it possible you're making one or two unwarranted assumptions? If The Game is really being actively pursued ala Portman's notes on sphinx mindsets, its very possibly being played at multiple levels. The division in levels would be partly based on raw intelligence but also on experience. To put it in a crude way; until someone encounters The Game at higher and more subtle levels it's indistinguishable from the background "noise" of random events. Of course the truly intelligent could see unlikely trends and then be in a position to explore but that doesn't seem to be the position you're taking here. The lowest levels would be like the guy trying to use a gentlemans club in England to take over England followed by elevating England to the status of superpower. Not a bad bit of ambition but as part of The Game it's on the lowest and most crass levels.

Another assumption, of the bite you in the ass variety, might be about the response of players in The Game to both the formation of this group and their actions. While Machina and Company might feel they are the antithesis of The Game and its players, those players are likely to see them as just another faction. And while its a strong faction with great versatility, its unlikely the players of The Game would come at your group singly like a video game. At least not after they've decided your new group is annoying and/or dangerous.

Other than that, I think its a great idea that some characters are getting together and working towards a goal. I look forward to seeing what you as writers and players put together. It sounds really interesting.

[Seph OOC]

Wow, I need to read 'Brainwaves' or something. This is all totally news to me, no bullshit.

[Doctor Nova Madigan]

That makes two of us.

[The White Rat]

I don't even know if you can still get the Brainwaves E-Book (in PDF). I DL'd my copy for free, 18 months ago. All I can find now, online, is an HTML version: http://members.aol.com/talonstudio/brainwaves/

[Fortune's Son]

A better copy is here. Lot of people on the site, Chosen most of all, made it a thing of beauty.

[Hugin]

If you guys get an AI called Delphi I'm bringing back Michael.

[Seph OOC]

Delphi isn't an AI. No moreso than any other computer is, anyway. Delphi can't do more than it's programmed to do, bucko.

[Wargear]

*laughs* The proper term for Delphi (and the two related systems, Galatea and Athena) would be heuristic expert systems running multiple simultaneous and comparative problem sets. I will often shorthand them in fiction as AIs because that's the term used for many presently (2007) existing expert systems (Deep Blue, for chess, would be an example). They don't actually think or have personalities, they're simply highly advanced data processing systems which are capable of developing new modes of analysis based on the data presented them through self-correction. The technical computer term for their class of computing would be "weak AI".

/end lecture.

[Hugin]

Wow, look at the two different responses, one from a total ass and the other from Wargear.

Thanks Wargear, I appreciate the data.

[Hugin]

Wow. Poor Trooper. Gets his face melted off and now someone wants to steal his gal. Yer a mean one Wargear.

[Wargear]

*laughs* What can I say? "Ooops"?