Transcripts:13.02

Prev Chapter Prev Page [| Chapter 13 Page 2] Next Page Next Chapter

Panel 1: Joid Isiam, head to waist, roughly a 30 degree to the right perspective. He's looking slightly up, and either sitting up very straight or starting to stand.

Joid:

This sort of... complete infiltration and adaptability... chief, we could be looking at what hacked NavTrans...

Could this be a real artificial intelligence? This is something else entirely from what we've dealt with before... what do you even call this?

M.Y.M.:

May I recommend M.Y.M., Mr. Isiam? There are other things we could call each other, but that is the point of names.

Panel 2: Gelon Lebel, face and a little left shoulder.

Gelom:

Joid is right... This is something different than we've seen before... I've seen Avon's new A.I. toys and the like... but this...

We need to tread carefully. Something like this could only come from the big three, PACT, or the I.D.S..

Panel 3: Tamara Anseli, face and shoulders.

Tamara:

Probably not. If it is what it says it is, it belongs to hacker organizations called "CodeR" or "Code R" depending on how you read it.

Recent evidence suggests that that's most likely an alias for a man named Peter Kepler. He's an independent trouble-maker who dabbles in the A.I., information, and world logistics markets.

Panel 4: The Consul, face to waist. She appears to be standing, as there's no table or seat in the panel with her.

Consul:

Yeah... I can be pretty sure that it... he... ah, works for Mr. Kepler... That's where I got access to it from.

You seem... remarkably well informed... Tamara was it?

M.Y.M.:

Miss Porpita has tracked my movements for some time, Madame Counsul, but is ultimately harmless enough.

Consul:

I wasn't- Well. Hmm. Why do you call her "Porpita"?

Panel 5: A corner of the projection screen, where the Query logo is still on display, and a profile view of Tamara, head to waist. She is leaning slightly forward, and her hands and forearms are level, consistent with being on a table, though the table is an inch or two below the lower panel border.

M.Y.M.:

I'm sorry, Madame Consul, but that question is beyond your current authorization.

Tamara:

It concerns me that you would vouch for me. I hadn't thought you had infiltrated my data that thoroughly.

M.Y.M.:

I did not vouch for you. I said that you were ultimately harmless enough. This is an approximate of relevant threat.

Panel 6: Gelom, face and shoulders. His eyes are looking toward the Consul.

Gelom:

Madame Consul... with all due respect, might I suggest we move this conversation to a locale... ah... where it is not directly listening in? It would be hard to formulate a plan where it can hear us...

Panel 7: The Consul, head and shoulders, wearing a deliberately neutral expression.

Consul:

Ah, you mean like a room that has only a secure system that is not connected to the network?

I brought you all here to estimate its capabilities and tell me how it works, not try to get rid of it.

Panel 8: Joid, face to waist, presumably standing as the chair back has disappeared.

Joid:

The problem, Madame Consul, is that if we try to study him, he will simply show us whatever it is he wants us to believe he can do - it already admitted to being aware of our perception.

I think we should proceed with asking it questions - discern the scope of knowledge it is willing to divulge about neighboring countries, or even PACT and the I.D.S..

This is potentially revolutionary, Madame Consul... This thing's... M.Y.M.'s assistance could secure our dominance in the region if it will cooperate... even PACT probably doesn't have something like this.

Panel 9: The back of a soldier in a sea-green helmet and uniform and covered in something that resembles a bullet proof vest, from behind. Head to somewhere near the waist. To the right, a large hole in a low wall, with shrapnel and burning bits laying around. There's also a fairly heavy cloud in the air. It looks roughly consistent with a bazooka or similar device having been fired and hit the wall.

Soldier:

Did... did that get it? I don't have a visual on it anymore it might be -

Uh- oh...

Panel 10: The soldier from the front, face and shoulders. Flash protection goggles and no loose hair. Skin tone is somewhere around burlywood or fawn.

Soldier:

Sages' burning shit it's not even-

Panel 11: One of the legs from Interlude 4 Page 8 Panel 12, now sporting a translucent blue magic shield. Glimmers of magic dot the air behind the shield.

Panel 12: An armored or mechanized hand that matches the leg in panel 11, in an "about to fire a beam from the palm of my hand" pose. This seems slightly more likely to be the case, as it's decorated by a very complex mage circle image: two outer concentric circles quite close together, with approximately 8 spans of fairly dense glyphs around it (estimated, because part of it's off panel.) Immediately inside this is a distorted five pointed star. Overlaying the star, there is a concentric equilateral triangle, with more dense glyphs along each of its spans. At each of the corners, there's a pair of concentric circles with a large glyph in each. In the center of the inner equilateral triangle, there's another pair of concentric circles, with dense glyphs all around. This circle appears to be what is distorting the five pointed star. Underlying all of that, there is also a square and a rectangle. Magic glimmers all along the hand and arm.