onemorebounty | Radio Free Tamriel

Entry tags:

samus,
stratos

Radio Free Tamriel

*Two weeks can pass surprisingly quickly with a project (and the malleable relationship with time that access to the Nexus makes possible). Samus had acquired a large storage container and assorted life-support equipment, and set about installing the one in the other, before burying the whole affair deep beneath the surface of an airless planetoid in an unpopulated system in some random universe. It wasn't the first such bunker she had built or installed somewhere, but it was the first time she had intended one for demonstration purposes.*

*She had partitioned the container's interior into two rooms, one a small booth overlooking the other, which takes up the bulk of the container's interior. It may be noted that shipping containers for interstellar freight come in some fairly large sizes. The booth has been extensively rad-shielded and outfitted with some basic computers and interfaces, while the larger area has been stocked with the implements for a series of experiments: emitters for various wavelengths, movable screens with a radio-florescent coating, and armatures for holding objects in place. Passage between the booth and the larger room is managed by a wire staircase along what might be considered the back wall of the container. Rad-shielded containers tucked under the booth house a miscellany of other supplies, essentially anything Samus could imagine needing for any further experiments along the lines of the initial set--including her idea of an "extensive" first aid kit.*

*With everything as ready as she can think to make it, she PINpoints back to the Nexus, lingering in the forum to wait for some sign of Stratos.*

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*Well, since it's about computer people and computers are the Internet, there will probably be both math and cats at some point.*

Is there a veiled implication that a trained imp would kill everyone around them in blind pursuit of a simple order?

*His answer about the items gets a satisfied nod.*

Good. What qualifies as standard, for our purposes today?

He's probably not ready. Oh, well.

"...Ah. Not really. Animunculi do exactly that, but most people would refer to the undead for their insults."

Downstairs, the last crate contains a trio of items untested: a steel plate cuirass, a dark red mage's robe with rather nice stitching, and a pair of light gloves. Stratos pronounces their respective effects as he lifts them out and hooks or drapes them over his arm: "Magic resistance, spell reflection and spell absorption."

He also fishes out a short staff, thick and carves with intertwining lines. The top curls into a knot of twigs that almost meet at the tip, but otherwise it's quite plain.

Animunculi?

*The items get looks of interest as Stratos shows them off and explains them.*

All dealing with protecting from exotic energies, it makes sense. What's the stick do?

*Preparing armatures and screens for the new items isn't difficult.*

"The Dwarven machines I mentioned - that is, the ones which operate like living things."

Even more than the other samples, these are scrounged up from wherever he could obtain them. Spell absorption is a fiendishly rare enchantment these days. The robes in particular are a tad moth-eaten, and smell like someone's tried very hard to prevent it getting worse.

"It's a staff carrying a minor enchantment, but drained of charge. Since neither of us is going to be wearing the gloves, I'll set up the staff to receive the energy from the absorption enchantment. Otherwise it's unlikely to activate properly."

Ah. Oh, I think I see. A make-word with roots of animation and an assembled, artificial being?

*The moth-eaten robe gets a sniff from a distance and a wary look, but Stratos' explanation claims her attention in good order.*

That makes sense. Does it need to stay close to them, or can you have it with you in the booth?

"Indeed. I assume it was translated from the Dwemer term, but I have no idea how they referred to their creations. They were extremely insular people."

Given their treatment of house-guests, this is for the best, but Stratos knows nothing of that. His mouth twitches a little at the look Samus gives the robes. He knows. But it's what they have.

"I'll need to leave it beside the gloves, but I can place it on the floor if that will prevent it interfering with the radiation."

Mm. Well, with the Nexus, you might be able to go back and ask some of them.

*No, she doesn't know how bad of an idea that is.*

The floor is fine. It should be well out of the beam path, there.

"Every archaeologist's dream, hm?" He's not an archaeologist. But he's not averse to the chance of gaining vital knowledge. It wouldn't be the first time recovered Dwemer tech has been instrumental to the Empire's ~~screwing up the timeline~~ success.

When the other items are set up, he holds a hand over the gloves, weaving strands of glowing energy between them and the staff. The light fades when he's finished, so that one mightn't even guess at the connection. He leaves the staff down and nods for them to return to the booth.

Well, every archaeologist except the ones who prefer dry bones to the living.

*She watches the magic, because who doesn't enjoy a good light show, before returning to the booth for the next round.*

This should be interesting.

“Settling arguments with skeletons is a little easier, I suppose.”

He simply nods to her latter remark; he has high hopes for this batch, indeed.

They don't look like disappointing, once the beam powers up. The armor with its resistance effect simply deflects thirteen percent of the energy directed at it, across the board. It’s consistent, and probably the most exciting in terms of potential shielding. With the other items, things get a little weird.

Right from the start, the gloves suck in the energy thrown at them, while the robes appear to do nothing at all. But as the wavelength is shifted, the beam swiftly changes enough to look like a different inbound spell. The gloves stop working. Shortly thereafter, the robes start throwing the light back. Not reflecting it at different angles as one might expect of light bouncing off rumpled cloth: they funnel it straight back at the emitter. Then the gloves work again, then both stop…

*Samus watches the results with interest, although the first time the robes start that perfect reflection of theirs, it takes her a little while to figure out what the scatter pattern means, since waves are now rebounding off of and passing through the emitter. Still, everything is studiously recorded.*

Well! We hoped for interesting, and these didn't disappoint. Good finds.

Being less familiar with the equipment (he’s still getting used to all the new concepts behind them, for that matter) Stratos takes a bit more frowning at the screens before he’s sure of what they’re telling him. Samus may need to explain what’s going on with the robes, although in hindsight he’ll feel silly for not recognizing it.

Gloves and robes both keep functioning apparently at random – and if the experimenters go backward, their effect at any given wavelength appears to be random too. The only consistent spot is the optical-infrared range, where neither does anything… unless the intensity is raised.

“I’m pleased that they work,” Stratos says, peering from one display to another. “How strange to see it act, though. I knew that certain enchantments – reflection and absorption – react in this… all-or-nothing fashion. But seeing it so clearly is impressive.”

*That randomness doesn't go unnoticed. Samus frowns the first time she notices that it's catching at different bands on the way down than it did on the way up.*

Huh. I'd been thinking we might have an interesting discussion about the relationship between magic and the EM spectrum, but these reactions aren't consistent. Is that normal?

"I believe so. Typically the response of these enchantments doesn't depend solely on the type of spell directed at it. That is, the stronger the enchantment, the more likely it is to be activated, but it's not guaranteed." He considers. "The fact that they've reacted so many times already certainly suggests that the energies of these different bands register as entirely separate 'spells'."

Interesting. It prompts a few follow-up questions. How much of a variation in wavelength, or time, before it registers something as a different spell? Do all spells have a wide and random EM splash, or do specific spells have a specific EM signature unique to themselves? Do certain categories of spells tend to stay within a certain range?

*She catches herself, and chuckles quietly.*

Sorry. I was getting a little carried away, there.

Stratos rather approves, though. "They are questions worth pursuing. On the matter of spells, I can say that their energies certainly aren't random. A given spell may unite some very complex energies, but they are consistent. I'm less certain how those energies appear in, ah, the form of EM. But related spells, or those of the same school of magic, tend to feel similar to a mage."

*She nods, thoughtful.*

Well, ideas for future experiments, perhaps. You set the gloves to recharge the staff, right? Is there a way to measure how much of a charge it's picked up?

"Oh, certainly. The technique for checking an enchantment and its charge is quite simple-" and then he hesitates, realizing his oversight. "At least... when the observer is a mage. I, ah, didn't think of bringing more delicate instruments that would make the measurements visible. But failing that, we could simply use the staff and use the number of castings it holds as a crude measure. It only carries a minor light spell: nothing dangerous."

Well, we do have a mage here. Is it something you could quantify, if you needed to?

*She pauses, for that raises a point of consideration.*

Is there a standard unit of magical energy that can be used for measurements?

He nods, at her first question. "No, not really, although within the Legion we have our own particular standard. It's difficult to achieve any consistency outside our own ranks. Most spells are compared by the demand they place on their caster and the energies they direct toward a target, but both depend heavily on the particular talents and condition of the mage in question. Thus, any measurements will be relative.

"In the case of the staff, I can detect the charge it holds as a fraction of its total capacity. If I want to put that in more absolute terms, I'll consider the estimated cost of the output spell, and how many castings it holds the power for, and scale the staff's charge accordingly." Got all that? "It's rather arbitrary at the core. But such is the state of research."

And politics. Because everything is politics, hurrah.

Hm, that sounds frustratingly vague.

*Poor Samus, accustomed as she is to having standard scales of measurement for everything.*

Would the staff hold enough power for a different number of castings, depending upon the abilities of the user? Or is that, at least, consistent from person to person?

"It is, sometimes." You just get used to the everyday hassle, when it's always been that way.

Still, there's some good news. "That will be consistent. Enchantments of wood and metal are reliable as mortal flesh is fickle. One of the reasons that the Legion is able to maintain even a rough standard is that we have the organization and funds to produce devices like that with standardized qualities. We can't always make a precise spell, but we can make excellent measuring sticks."

*"It's always been that way" only lasts until someone stubborn changes it. The idea of consistent tools, at least, is a relief.*

Well, that's good. Perhaps there's some potential for a basis for a standard, there.

"In time, perhaps. The practice of magic being very fragmented these days, you can imagine there's a great deal of argument as to whose standard should be popularized." Guess which group thinks they're Auri-El's gift to magecraft, too? "Would you like me to examine the staff now?"

Please.

*She double-checks that the emitter is in a safe state.*

Out of curiosity, what kind of work goes into making up a new spell?

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Trying again, from the right account.

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