"Patent? LLC? Proprietary? That didn't exactly make sense. He is a very advanced unit though. It is almost like a person. Does he have a spark or something?"
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"A patent is a kind of document it provides a record of who thought of a particular thing first, and it protects those ideas from theft everywhere that the patent is upheld, so Hermes is under emperial patent, so no one in the empire could make another one of him, frankly I doubt many would be able to, but still. LLC is a word denoting a type of company, propiatary, root word property, of or having to do with property, simple enough. Now then, what do you mean by "Spark", the only thing that immiedietly comes to mind is the fact that he is indeed powered by electricity, "
"Why would you dissallow others to make another of him? That seems rather oppressive and selfish. What does he, or industry, have to do with military unit structures? And proprietary is property, so you have knowledge owned by some guy guy named Works? That is ridiculous. How can you own knowledge? You have some sort of thought police or something?" She seems quite puzzled by all this, the question of sparks getting drowned in the confusion.
"Thank you, Sir. I strive to serve you excellence and efficiency," is all Hermes has to say on his assertions of more value to him personally.
A few minutes pass by through their walk, approximately 15, and Hermes plays a short audio clip of Ephebe saying "Melody is going to be ok."
He lets Arthur converse on the ethics of patents unless he's called on as a witness. Better not to interrupt.
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"Firstly because frankly I doubt anybody could. Hell I doubt I could make another of Hermes and I was the one to make the first one... Hmm though with the original as a reffrence... Beside the point, secondly for "ethical" reasons, I mean you wouldn't want another person exactly like you running around... Too weird. Thirdly because it's not the idea itself that's restricted it's the ability to market it. I was the one to have the idea, so I am the one to be rewarded by being the one to sell the idea and make money. That's what my family dose... Did... we came up with ideas, turned those ideas into a product and then sold them. If someone paid us enough, we'd sometimes sell them the rights to be able to sell the same product to other people. This system encourages competition and that competition mandates a continual improvement, or you'd go out of business" he composes himself as Hermes plays back the recording. He thinks it's odd that Hermes would do so, but the feeling of oddness nonetheless makes him pause and keeps him from shouting at the snake girl who refused to answer him "and for the record Barren Works, is the name of the company, my last name is Barren, or in full my name is Arthur Barren father's name is Antonio Barren, The empire has little to do with patents other than the fact that they're the one who enforces them and they are In control of that region of space. They might have thought police, wouldn't put it past them, but I don't think they have anything to do with this. Now then... What. Did you mean about "sparks"... not answering people's questions... It's rude"
A sudden breath, expelling the stale trapped air from her lungs and rapidly drawing trying to draw in a fresh breath, leading to a small coughing fit. Claws grow out from her fingertips as her eyes snap open, disorientation and confusion clear in her eyes until Krays’ black muzzle resoolves in her sight. The bewilderment doesn’t vanish but she focuses onto the recognizable face and the claws slowly retract. ”... Krays?”"Yes, Vai. Welcome back." he says with a smile.
Jiminy teleported into the lab, next to Ephebe. "No running away now," he said quietly, squeezing her shoulder.
"I wasn't planning to. At least not until I see for myself that Vai is okay," she said, stiffly.
"Your selfish competition of selling in the market is why we defeated the empire time after time. Even when they sent the Crown Prince on his slave dragon mount, we still prevailed with superior equipment, strategy, and training, and Sorenson even turned the dead dragon into the largest most powerful Reapling. Our military was built faster and was better equipped and trained because our entire society collaborated and worked together, freely sharing improvements and techniques. The empire was poorly equipped and spent so much time fighting between the guilds and enforcing the guild edicts that even their numerical superiority couldn't keep up with us neither in wealth flow nor in advancements in the sciences mundane and arcane. And from the sound of it, I wouldn't be surprised if your patents are used like the empire's guild laws to squash others from producing, to maintain their selfish and oppressive control of the populace through withholding power. Also, military units are based on family? Why, and what does that have to do with owning ideas? As for Sparks, they are the simplist form of artificial soul, a basic person though usually results in persons that aren't really fully capable in the head. Make great workers though as they have excellent focus." Vickory is not so sure about this new companion she found. Some imperials she new were just those from her own lands, but culture was a serious issue.
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"For the last time, Baren works is not a mitaty unit, they're a company. A company that has nothing to do with the empire other than what's necessitated by it's physical location. I don't give a rat's ass about the military capability of theAnd you think that all ideas should be free for all who want it? Fine! Step back and let me tell you a f+~!ing story. Imagine you designed a machine that would cure any disease, purify any poison, slow the damage caused by age to a crawl, even curing genetic disorders! got that properly fixed in your mind there? Well no need to imagine, because my family and some of their colleagues built such a device, it was going to revolutionize the quality of life world's over! But then information was leaked on the capabilities of the device and they saw potential for it to do even more. Ness the device was a modification to a construction and fabrication tool and by activating those features and modifying it further, those people saw potential for it to be used as a weapon, those same systems that should have been used to filter poison and destroy contagions would be used to shred cells and mutate tissues, making corpses, soldiers or monsters out of innocent civilians, pretty nightmarish eh? But ho I'm not done. Some empire Mage got the brilliant idea to enchant the thing so it could go one step further, a weapon capable of being fired at a planet and doing anything from turning it's population into monsters or just skipping any subtly and converting the raw materials of the planet into a fleet of battleships, in essence, a technological wish craft" He pauses at this point to catch his breath, suddenly feeling more tired than he can remember feeling in quite some time "my family did all they could to destroy their creation, but not before a planet got hit with their test fire, official designation Planet MIRA-1941, my brother managed to whipe the program imprinted on the payload, but was killed before he could stop it from launching, so a whole planet of people have to live with waiting to find out if the wake up tomorrow as a freak, Quarientied away from the rest of the world, my parents and their colleagues and I all have to give up our nice cushy lives to go into hiding or off to war because that knowledge wasn't kept in the hands and heads of those who could be trusted with it. And that is the cost of the system you propose" from the the medical read outs Hermes can tell that Arthur's adrenalin, norepinephrine, cratonin, testosterone levels are lowering from their massively elevated levels they were before, though whether he'll Plato or crash is uncertain at this point.
Vickory quirks a serious eyebrow, completely forgeting about the implication that a company could be anything but a military unit, "If you think they would not have done the same thing after buying your device as a 'legitimate customer' then reverse analyzing it, then you are the biggest fool I have yet met. And if you thought to keep the device to yourself forcing people to pay you in order to benefit from it without opportunity to have their own such device, then you are very greedy. So which is it? Foolish, or greedy?"
"Here is a story Shiara told me. One of the low magic worlds she went to was a place called Earth. There was this really smart guy that Shiara worked with for a while learning about how they dealt with a world without using mana. He created a way to extract massive amounts of energy from matter. Anyway, a giant world war started and one of the nations wanted to use his idea as a weapon. They turned it into a bomb that coukd destroy a city. They built and used it. Overnight the war ended. For a long time there were no major wars and his idea was used to accomplish his vision, to provide lots of power. It wasn't long before everyone else figured out how to make their own version, but there remained the fear of the consequences."
"Not what I meant. They had these super weapons but realized that their use could result in the total destruction of their world and none of them wanted that. More to the point though was that they still used it for generating power, not just weapons."
"If ideas are free, then many will become familiar with them. Bad guys will still try to do wrong, but more people will have the knowledge to recognize what they are doing and know how to fix it, reverse it, block it, or at least defend against it. Additionally, any beneficial effects are rapidly available to anyone as many craftsmen will be making products or using the idea responding to the new demand far faster than a limited group could ever hope to achieve. For example, while the empire constantly suffered a shortage of the equipment need for their soldiers, we had plenty of equipment and our military growth was limited only by training new people. Even as new equipment was developed, we produced what we needed in weeks for our entire force, while the empire would take a year or more before new items saw regular use."
"Sir, it is in your best interest to take a moment to compose yourself."
The robot addresses Arthur before turning his head towards Vickory.
"It is in interest of the current goal to desist from this conversation."
He looks back forward and after a few more steps, they turn the corner to the SIM rooms.
The recording of "Melody is going to be OK." Plays once again at the same 15 minute interval as they enter a room.
Vickory at first tries to enter the previously used sim room, only to find it locked still. "Odd. Did they not seal the portal or something?"
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"But the empire got new items more frequently, as the parable says, just as iron sharpens iron so too does one man sharpen another" when Hermes suggests that they break off their discussion right now Arthurngrumbles "bah" but lets it drop
At the closed door arthur rolls up his sleeves and cracks his knuckles saying, "allow me" as what appear to be blue glowing circuits make their way across his arms, accompanied by a quiet wirring sound. He places them on the door and the circuits spread out about a foot in every direction.
Isolation Lab
Vare hurries towards where they had left Rena and Tryko’Sam - the isolation labs, someone had called them. He stops short, finding the room empty. An uncharacteristic curse escapes his lips as he begins to dig in his spell component pouch, drawing out his silvered Mirror and squatting right there on the floor to begin casting a spell. ”I feel like I am going to need to study this spell more.” [i]he could be heard muttering to himself.
Vare's spell is cast, and within the moment of casting, he seems to instantly lock into and onto the target.
From the 10' outwards from Tryko'Sam, Vare can see and hear that Tryko'Sam's in some mountainous region, squatting atop some rocks, while gazing down and around, from up high. Tryko'Sam's fairly clean, devoid of any obvious wounds or blood. Dirty, yes, but unclothed and simply hanging out atop the cliff while hanging on tightly peering about. The landscape nearby is roughly pine trees and granite type rocks, from what can be seen. Tryko'Sam doesn't appear to be shivering, or discomforted. Just looking off, as if studying something in the distance.
Jiminy teleported into the lab, next to Ephebe. "No running away now," he said quietly, squeezing her shoulder.
"I wasn't planning to. At least not until I see for myself that Vai is okay," she said, stiffly.
Fei, still standing at the wall nearby, smiles to himself quietly. The door to the laboratory then slides open, and he exits the room to give the family the privacy they need for their (hopefully) joyous reunion. (^-^)
Vickory answers Arthur's question, "Sam and the others must not have closed the portal to the devil fanatic's city. That was the room we left from before getting separated. I got teleported back here by some sort of devil vs angel referee. I guess I sort of assumed the same thing happened to the others. Who are the authorized people that can open this door? Please note any that are likely able to seal the portal." The last two sentances are addressed to the hologram.
"Sir, it is more prudent to use an open Simulation Room than to question not being able to access Simulation Room three."
Hermes gestures towards a green lit room, 4 to be precise. While doing so, though showing no unnecessary outward signs of it, something connects in his memory.
"Sir, do you have the Journal Ms. Waverider gave to you before she departed? She requested that you cared for it."
Vickory looks at the robot, "Spontaneity? Seriously advanced. Perhaps I should crack that head open and take a look at how you work."
"This would be inappropriate. You are not my primary maintenance provider. The schematics for my hardware and operating systems are protected under Imperial patent 81539R. All rights reserved to Barren Industries LLC. In the event of Barren property being compromised, I am programmed to self destruct."
Hermes continues to hold the door to the SIM room.
"In addition to this, damaging me will not further the current object to rescue Ms. Waverider."
Vickory responds first to the hologram, "Yes. Thanks." then turning to Arthur, "I was just curious how he would respond. He could use a bit of work on understanding conversation, but still really up there."
A sudden breath, expelling the stale trapped air from her lungs and rapidly drawing trying to draw in a fresh breath, leading to a small coughing fit. Claws grow out from her fingertips as her eyes snap open, disorientation and confusion clear in her eyes until Krays’ black muzzle resoolves in her sight. The bewilderment doesn’t vanish but she focuses onto the recognizable face and the claws slowly retract. ”... Krays?”"Yes, Vai. Welcome back." he says with a smile.
The confusion lingers a moment or two longer before Vai instinctively reaches a hand up to her neck, where her Champion symbol used to hang...
Looking about, Midori is not with them, wait here, I think I have a little rescue mission he says to the others.
Lag slips in among the crowd. and is suddenly standing before Midori, Giving a modest bow, I believe I had promised you a dance. he says to her. Hoping she will catch the meaning that he intends to remove her from this uncomfortable situation.
Midori looks baffled at Lang for just a moment too long before jumping on the opportunity just a little too obviously. "Hai! Ahhh.... yes, of course Lang-sama. Thank you." she returns the bow and follows Lang away from the crowd. A few of them look put out but none are willing to question the Avatar at his own ceremony.
"Arigato-ne Lang-kun" she whispers under her breath as they walk away.
"Well, I know what protocol in the Empire would be, but I think Jiminy would find that a bit rash. How...off...does he seem, and in what way?"
Turns his head as if to look at the patient he was just tending, observing the creature in question in his peripheral vision.
"I merely mentioned a psychological assessment and he may as well have been screaming at the top of his lungs but for the fact that he seemed to afraid to even make a noise." Repp says as succinctly as he can manage. "I would suggest Avalon but even then he might be a danger to others there."
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Ace reverts back to his regular form, and all humor is gone from him. "I'm pretty confident that if this bastard falls for the bait, he's ours. I have several tricks up my sleeve, the least of which is protecting you and Keme via Mind Blank. If we can find scrolls of them, I can cast it on ya. That should either render you immune to whatever tricks he uses against his victims, or at least make you far more resistant to them.""It's getting them to take the bait that worries me," Keme said, agreeing with Illithia's concern, and trying not to get too distracted by the butterflies. It had been a really good illusion. "We may want those scrolls sooner rather than later. I don't want the plan spoiled because our mystery murderer read our minds and knows we're trying to trick them."
"And I suppose I don't need a boyfriend in the group if it's going to be too hard. I'll just hang around you guys, maybe he'll take the bait anyway." While she's speaking, a pair of butterflies resting on top of Keme's head takes off, one land on Keme's nose and the other on Ace's. Knowing that they are illusory only helps the tickling a little. She grins unabashedly at her handiwork.
"Let's get us some scrolls then. Assuming we can find some."
Asha's expression went blank for a moment. "Okay, I think we need to go get the teacher. The one in the SIM room who helped him before when he went kinda funny. She seems to know how his stuff works, so she can probably help figure out how to fix what's wrong. And she might know how to find him. They can do just about anything with magic, right? So there's got to be some way. If anyone will know what to do next, I bet she does," Asha said with more confidence than she actually felt.
"Okay, okay..." she takes a badly needed breath and then reaches for Asha's hand, her grip a little too strong to be comfortable. "What was her name again?"
The confusion lingers a moment or two longer before Vai instinctively reaches a hand up to her neck, where her Champion symbol used to hang...
"If you're up to it, there is a bit of a reunion in your mother's lab. Both she and your father are anxiously awaiting your arrival."
He watches her for a moment."Does Light still claim you?" he asks bluntly.
"I merely mentioned a psychological assessment and he may as well have been screaming at the top of his lungs but for the fact that he seemed to afraid to even make a noise." Repp says as succinctly as he can manage. "I would suggest Avalon but even then he might be a danger to others there.""Well, I know what protocol in the Empire would be, but I think Jiminy would find that a bit rash. How...off...does he seem, and in what way?"
Turns his head as if to look at the patient he was just tending, observing the creature in question in his peripheral vision.
"Interesting. Fear is expected, maybe even a little paranoia. Did he say anything threatening?" his eyes are now intently scanning the creature, looking for hints to his state of mind from his idle behavior.
Asha's expression went blank for a moment. "Okay, I think we need to go get the teacher. The one in the SIM room who helped him before when he went kinda funny. She seems to know how his stuff works, so she can probably help figure out how to fix what's wrong. And she might know how to find him. They can do just about anything with magic, right? So there's got to be some way. If anyone will know what to do next, I bet she does," Asha said with more confidence than she actually felt."Okay, okay..." she takes a badly needed breath and then reaches for Asha's hand, her grip a little too strong to be comfortable. "What was her name again?"
"Ummm......I'm not quite sure," Asha said, not even wincing as her hand was squeezed. She hoped that it wasn't broken, but it wasn't too much pain. Nothing that a little flame couldn't cure. "I ....think it was May? Maya? Something like that. But I think she lives in the SIM rooms. Like, I don't know if she can leave. I'm sorry. Most of this goes over my head. I don't understand as much as I should. But I know who I mean, so if I touch the wall and think of her, then the arrows should lead us there, right?"
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Satisfied that Ephebe wasn't going to run away, Jiminy walked over to Andromeda.
"Good to see you again, Annie," he said with a huge grin.
Andromeda's smile quickly turned to a frown at the nickname. She scowled at him and smacked him upside the head. "Idiot Jiminy! I haven't been back five minutes and you've already found an annoying nickname?!" she said with mock indignation and then hugged him. "I missed you too, little brother."
Looking about, Midori is not with them, wait here, I think I have a little rescue mission he says to the others.
Lag slips in among the crowd. and is suddenly standing before Midori, Giving a modest bow, I believe I had promised you a dance. he says to her. Hoping she will catch the meaning that he intends to remove her from this uncomfortable situation.
Midori looks baffled at Lang for just a moment too long before jumping on the opportunity just a little too obviously. "Hai! Ahhh.... yes, of course Lang-sama. Thank you." she returns the bow and follows Lang away from the crowd. A few of them look put out but none are willing to question the Avatar at his own ceremony.
"Arigato-ne Lang-kun" she whispers under her breath as they walk away.
Lang offers his arm to escort Midori out to the balcony to meet with the others.
whispering to her as the walk, maybe someday we will actually dance.
Once outside, Lang addresses all of his friends. I just wanted to thank you all for coming. it really means a lot to me. I don't think I would have been able to go through with this without all of you.
He gives a bow to everyone. I am indebted to all of you.
"Ah.. It's no problem.. It's not like the normal class would be less boring, and Mr. Krays wasn't mad that I skipped his class"
Tyrrin introduced herself in returning when introductions are exchanged but otherwise remains a distinct observer in the conversation, with the exception of a very pointed look at Keme. A look which is very easy to read: We should talk.
[Cold-noses Andromeda]
"Woof."
[Wags tail]
(^-^)
"Aww! I missed you too, boy," she said, stooping down to scratch behind Rune's ears, and scrunching up her nose in distaste when she got licked across the face for her troubles. "But maybe not the whole being covered in dog saliva thing," she added scrubbing a sleeve across her face.
"Aww! I missed you too, boy," she said, stooping down to scratch behind Rune's ears, and scrunching up her nose in distaste when she got licked across the face for her troubles. "But maybe not the whole being covered in dog saliva thing," she added scrubbing a sleeve across her face.
His tail slows for a beat at the mention of the three-letter word, but his happiness to see her again far eclipses the minor indignity. From the look in his shining emerald eyes, Andromeda gathers they will just call it even for the bout of overenthusiastic face licking she just got... ;P
Satisfied that Andromeda isn't going anywhere, Rune walks over to Ephebe and nuzzles her hand reassuringly.
Isolation Lab
Vare's spell is cast, and within the moment of casting, he seems to instantly lock into and onto the target.
From the 10' outwards from Tryko'Sam, Vare can see and hear that Tryko'Sam's in some mountainous region, squatting atop some rocks, while gazing down and around, from up high. Tryko'Sam's fairly clean, devoid of any obvious wounds or blood. Dirty, yes, but unclothed and simply hanging out atop the cliff while hanging on tightly peering about. The landscape nearby is roughly pine trees and granite type rocks, from what can be seen. Tryko'Sam doesn't appear to be shivering, or discomforted. Just looking off, as if studying something in the distance.
Vare lets out a breath and relaxes slightly. The lack of Rena with Tryko'Sam was some cause for concern but at least he was safe for the moment.
Keeping the mirror at hand (and occasionally glancing at it to ensure that nothing drastic happened), Vare stands and walks out of the Isolation Lab, towards his research lab.
The question remained of how they could contain Tryko'Sam's terrifying power without injuring or traumatizing the boy. The encounter with the Daemon and Empyreal Lords earlier had rattled Vare, and he was having trouble concentrating, and ended up getting lost in the ever-changing corridors of the school.
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The confusion lingers a moment or two longer before Vai instinctively reaches a hand up to her neck, where her Champion symbol used to hang...
"If you're up to it, there is a bit of a reunion in your mother's lab. Both she and your father are anxiously awaiting your arrival."
He watches her for a moment.
"Does Light still claim you?" he asks bluntly.
Vai's fingers come to rest on a small bump under her clothes. A few moments of fishing later, the glorious diamond that marks Vai's championship is seen pulled forth, still about her neck. Her focus tightens intensely on the jewelry.
"No. She doesn't." Vai says forcefully, cold fury traced in every line of her face, the earlier confusion gone completely. The anger boils near the surface for a moment before it erupts, manifesting in a hoarse scream.
"DO YOU HEAR ME LUMOS?! " Vai's wings spread wide at she shouts, blue scales rippling down her body before quickly reverting to her pink flesh.
There a few sharp breaths, and tears brimming in Vai's eyes when she continues, her voice just as hoarse but much quieter. "You already learned what happens when you try to force me. And I will die a thousand times over before I let you use me to hurt those I love. So you are playing by my rules now."
There's a pause and more sharp intakes of breath from Vai before she finally releases the tension and breathes more normally. Once she realizes that Krays witnessed that, she even manages a blush. "Heh, sorry. Give me a minute and then we can go see Mom and Dad."