[handmaiden of unsheathed swords] audio posted:

[darkeststars]

[ There's a businesslike voice on the network that only some of you will recognize -- clearly filtered through the translator, and fortunately not interrupted by too many moans. ]

So I imagine I probably know the answer to this, but hope springs eternal: Did anyone else come here with technology?

Not all of my things are useful at the moment, but they do appear to be working. We should continue to keep proper tabs on our collective supplies.

Comments

un: Taste of twilight’s trickled honeydew

[pinkxeno]

Technology? Like what?

[darkeststars]

Whatever might have come with you? [ dryly ] Don't know that I expect it to be any more helpful if I instead ask everyone to show me their commlinks, holoprojectors, in-ear implants or jetpacks.

[pinkxeno]

[ she thinks for a second ] I guess my hero suit is tech. [ it's specially made to be acid resistant and keeping her safe, too. ]

I don't have any of the things you just said, tho.

[darkeststars]

A hero suit, hm? What makes it heroic? [ His voice still has that dry note to it. ]

[pinkxeno]

It's the suit I use during my Hero work. [ naturally ]

un: undaunted snake in lonely gardens

[descendency]

[ Were you hoping for this asshole to be on topic? Sorry. ]

Oh fair handmaiden, you've looked a fair bit less fair as of late. Run out of makeup?

Your face is uncomfortably naked. It's scaring the customers.

[darkeststars]

[ There's about a half-second of sputtering from the other end of the line. Direct hit, apparently. ]

Y-- I somehow doubt that my "naked" face is cutting into your business. [ He grits this out at last with an irritable sigh. ] Yes, I've run out of my dab of kohl, so what? Did you have something actually useful to contribute or not?

[descendency]

You were using coal? Disturbing.

Do you know where my quarters are?

[darkeststars]

What? You know, kohl, the cosmetic, it goes around the-- Why am I discussing this with you. [ deep sigh ]

I've seen you in and out of one particular room, I assume it's that one? [ his voice is a low, sardonic drawl ] Do you feel a deep need to insult my looks some more in private? I didn't expect that to be your speciality here.

un: heart-fluttering hummingbird

[downswing]

A sword.




( #technology. )

[darkeststars]

Well, I can't argue with that. [ You can't hear his amusement on the other end of the text post, but it's definitely there. ]

Our foe has gathered more swordsmen here than I would have expected. Suppose that leaves me to be the distance fighter.

[downswing]

It does not.


( Plan to... say more, Wangji? No? Thank you. )

[darkeststars]

Oh?

You remind me a bit of an apprentice of mine. Man of few words. Can clear a battlefield in twenty seconds.

un: dappled pearl of the parted seas [voice]

[beitangmoran]

What is 'technology', exactly?

[darkeststars]

...is the translator malfunctioning?

[ Oh boy, he certainly hopes that's the problem. ]

It's, erm. [ maybe he should've switched to text for this ] Devices? Tools? Useful equipment that we might deploy to our advantage going forward? I expect not much made it over here with our little group, but it seemed prudent to find out one way or the other. [ He may have gotten a pointed earful from certain people the other day about not just assuming things without asking first. ]

[beitangmoran]

[It's not the translator, Archeval.]

Well, if it's tools we are speaking of, I have my sword, and my guqin, and my brushes and ink? Is that what you were inquiring about?

[darkeststars]

More or less. [ his voice is very dry, but he just moves right along from there ] Another swordsman, hm. We're acquiring quite a list of them at this point. I suppose I don't have to wonder what weapon our gracious host favors.

The other thing is... a... musical instrument? [ so he gathers from the vague translation into Galactic Basic. ]

un: first blush of tender youth

[somebadnews]

[ Five might be looking at a certain useless time traveling briefcase that he's stubbornly holding onto when this comes up. Broken worse now than when he first found it. So much for them being more reliable.

He's distracted though. Remembering when he saw that name... he could brush it off, but he asks anyway. ]

What is it you're offering? [ He's curious what they use in other galaxies, okay. ]

[darkeststars]

[ Yeah, he hasn't exactly been that cautious with bandying about where he's from on the public network. He can manage in a pinch, but subtlety was never really the Dark Lord's style. ]

I don't know if 'offering' is the right word, but pooling resources seems like the prudent course here -- at any rate, it's not much, but some incompetent left my commlink here with me. Not that I am any kind of expert engineer, but sometimes these things can be coaxed to work together even across incompatible frequences or models. It would be a nice bit of serendipity if we could put together a means of remote communication less open to all and sundry.

[ pause, his tone going very dry ]

And I'll be deeply gratified if you actually understood any of that, because I just had to explain to someone what 'technology' is.

[somebadnews]

[ He won't hear a word about it from Five. This one likes taking notes, and it's better when he doesn't have to work for information. Especially when it involves impossible theories that keep him spiraling into crazy tangents... like you do.

And yes, he may have spent decades living in an apocalyptic wasteland, but he does know about technology thanks. Not even bothering to confirm that he understands. ]

I expected something more advanced, considering the source. [ At least basic science is a universal constant. ] Can you keep it running without a charge?

[darkeststars]

[ he sounds amused ]

I am the charge. Do you have need of a power source?

And by that I take it you've been keeping tabs on these transmissions, hm.

Audio; un: maiden voyager of a hundred peaks

[soulsrob]

I’m afraid most of the technology I’ve seen is far beyond what I know, and I only arrived with the clothes on my back. I can’t even find my gun! I hope that just didn’t come with me and isn’t lost in someone’s hands...

[Do not give the zombies guns, thanks.

Cheerful, eager, she continues:] What do you have with you?

[darkeststars]

[ dryly ] You sound quite excited about all this. Personally, I have some communications equipment mainly. It would be useful to set up a means of relaying messages that can't be monitored by the powers that be around here, but time will tell if there's any chance of that happening.

[ yes we are not a fan of the thought of giving zombies guns. Curious that this girl is familiar with more advanced weapons than all the various swordsmen and yet apparently finds Sa-Hareth to be full of high technology, though. ]

I don't think we've spoken -- might I have your name?

[soulsrob]

Isn’t it a little exciting? It’s not every day I get kidnapped to a totally different world from my own, and possibly a totally different time! I mean, once the panic and all wore off, it’s really very interesting!

[She pauses a moment, thoughtful] Can they monitor over this? I wouldn’t think anyone would be that interested in looking in. I suppose we could all go to corresponding through letters and secret meeting rooms, but few of us can write in the same language...

[oh, right, names though!] I’m Winnifred Prismall. But please, just call me ‘Winnie’! What’s yours’?

[darkeststars]

[ his voice is still a low drawl ]

Darth Imperius. But please, just call me Archeval. Don't think 'exciting' is the word I would use, but I suppose there's something to be said for enjoying the ride. [ when life hands you freezing, deadly, zombie-infested lemons and all that. He definitely sounds a little amused. ]

And I don't know that the enemy is paying attention, but I do know these things aren't private. Better safe than sorry. [ Case in point, the nosy fellow kidnappee who Arche still knows nothing about besides his number name, some vague allusions about time travel, and the outsize chip on his shoulder. ] Seems to me that some of us picking up a few language skills very soon may well be in everyone's best interest.