A German, of course wrote:the stereotypical female interrogation officer
By playing good cop Beryl already managed to pull a lot of information out Alex, including the location of the solar system.
I also have a hunch that Fireblade will turn out to be important for our hero. No doubt he prefers her natural eye colour, not glowing green.
(+ never underestimate a German, especially not with footbal of the European kind)
boldilocks wrote:Plot-twist:
Fireblade (and Stillstorm, for maximum Shamalayan) turn out to be his only real ally.
As much as I would like to see Alex and Beryl becoming friends and Tempo - their and humanity's ally and protector, I also think the above to actually be the case in the end, with Beryl in the first place, followed by Tempo and Talon being the real "bad guys"
@cacambo - Fireblade is hostile and distrustful towards Alex, but that's her job as security chief. Nothing personal, just doing my job, you know.
I got the impression from the silent standoff on the bridge between Stillstorm and Tempo, that Tempo overruled Stillstorm as a Diplomatic Officer in a decision regarding Alex (probably keeping him alive), which is what led to her being sent with the rest of the crew on the shuttle. I would be surprised if Tempo turned out to be his enemy, but perhaps the Historians warning is more dire than I expect.
As for Fireblade, I could see her becoming highly protective of Alex, and her seemingly menacing attitude towards him is just Fireblade being, well, Fireblade.
Diodri wrote: [...] but perhaps the Historians warning is more dire than I expect.
I mean, given the dire straits the Loroi Union is in at present, I simply can't see them planning anything more nefarious than further forceful attempts to tap into Alex's juicy head meats. He's not a secret to other Union members, he's sharing information willingly, and he's generally compliant. The only thing the Loroi aren't able to get from him is an actual telepathic link, so unless there are some remarkably rash and unwise commanders in his near future, I think the Historian is either testing him or misjudging the Loroi.
If anything, I'd imagine the secretive Historians would like to abscond with him and learn how to replicate his telepathic inertness.
I'm pretty sure the next pages are important as they'd show us on which side individual Loroi stand. Here's my take on this...
Stillstorm: Pretty clear - whatever she had in mind would have been no good for Alex's health and maybe continued breathing. So much that even Fireblade urged him to get out of her sight right now.
Beryl: Either she's hell of an actress (given the Lori stance on deception) or she does have a genuine interest in him. Not just on the scientific level but to get him to know personally. As a Listel (and thus maybe widely regarded as the 'egghead') she might feel a bit isolated and relishes the chance to talk to someone on eye level.
Talon: The hotshot fighter pilot. Rather salient mouth and a dry wit. The tomboy you'd rather have at your side for whatever devilry you may have in mind. Note that she once said "unusually friendly", but didn't quite object to Alex's overtures. Perhaps he unknowingly did something that counts as showing that kind of interest in her in Loroi culture? In that case, still, Talon did not object.
Fireblade: "Cross the line and you'll regret it" - that you see on the first glance. But she actually seems to put some value into Alex's wellbeing, as seen during the egress from Tempest's bridge. Knowing her background we see that she is a character having her own demons and troubled past, and maybe she's the one being conflicted between doing her duty and doing what she feels is the right thing to do. I wouldn't be surprised to see her quietly helping Alex out of whatever bind he may find himself in, but never outright admitting to doing such a thing.
Tempo: She may have overruled Stillstorm for a time to save Alex from a grim fate, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's on his side. It could be that she sees more value in a living and tractable Alex than in a dead one. As long as he dispenses information freely, everything looks fine, but as soon as he clams up, I'm quite sure may try seducing him first (or having other try that, like using Beryl for that part) or skipping that level and go straight to brainwashing techniques as soon as analyzing his biochemistry gives an idea what chemicals would work on him.
So the construct could have told him the absolute truth - the Loroi as a whole may be NOT his friends, but individual Loroi could be. And Alex would have to be very careful about who he trusts.
novius wrote:[*]Fireblade: "Cross the line and you'll regret it" - that you see on the first glance. But she actually seems to put some value into Alex's wellbeing, as seen during the egress from Tempest's bridge. Knowing her background we see that she is a character having her own demons and troubled past, and maybe she's the one being conflicted between doing her duty and doing what she feels is the right thing to do. I wouldn't be surprised to see her quietly helping Alex out of whatever bind he may find himself in, but never outright admitting to doing such a thing.
I had a good laugh imagining her actions in the elevator as the telekinetic equivalent of a little boy pulling a girls pigtails because he can't express his feelings well. Gods help Alex if that's the case.
CF2 wrote:I had a good laugh imagining her actions in the elevator as the telekinetic equivalent of a little boy pulling a girls pigtails because he can't express his feelings well. Gods help Alex if that's the case.
Now there's a thought that didn't cross my mind but could be disturbingly close to the truth. After all, there is quite a communication barrier between those two....
CF2 wrote:I had a good laugh imagining her actions in the elevator as the telekinetic equivalent of a little boy pulling a girls pigtails because he can't express his feelings well. Gods help Alex if that's the case.
Now there's a thought that didn't cross my mind but could be disturbingly close to the truth. After all, there is quite a communication barrier between those two....
It even fits with her passing messages through Beryl so that she doesn't embarrass herself with how inelegantly she sounds speaking.
Victor_D wrote:So what did the construct mean by "aboard your ship" – did it mean the shuttle, as the context here seems to suggest? I am a bit confused.
Considering that the "flowerpot holoprojector" is carried as cargo on the shuttle and it did something prior to installing the "pocket historian", that is probably enough to count. The next question thou is who decided that the "flowerpot" should be brought along.
CF2 wrote:It even fits with her passing messages through Beryl so that she doesn't embarrass herself with how inelegantly she sounds speaking.
It is my understanding that Fireblade doesn't speak mostly on account of her status as an unsheathed. It would be considered a hostile act for her to speak.
That being said, I wouldn't think that discounts Fireblade-senpai from having a soft spot for Alex-chan.
Also, I feel like if Alex ever gets a chance to really prove himself, Stillstorm could possibly be a stalwart ally for him.
Victor_D wrote:So what did the construct mean by "aboard your ship" – did it mean the shuttle, as the context here seems to suggest? I am a bit confused.
Why would the construct refer to a Loroi shuttle to Alex as "your ship"?
How would being in the data banks of a Loroi shuttle teach the construct English?
icekatze wrote:
It is my understanding that Fireblade doesn't speak mostly on account of her status as an unsheathed. It would be considered a hostile act for her to speak.
As opposed to telekinetically pushing him in a elevator.
I guess she gets the "Stick and Stones" thing backwards.
Victor_D wrote:So what did the construct mean by "aboard your ship" – did it mean the shuttle, as the context here seems to suggest? I am a bit confused.
Why would the construct refer to a Loroi shuttle to Alex as "your ship"?
How would being in the data banks of a Loroi shuttle teach the construct English?
Surely there is only one ship it could mean.
Well here's my answer
What I meant was that saying "your ship" is a bit context dependent, but maybe that's just my imperfect feel for English. I assumed something like this:
The Historian trash-can-like device gets moved to the Shuttle's storage bay where stuff recovered from Bellarmine is also stored. It infiltrates Loroi systems to watch what is happening onboard the shuttle, including Alex's interactions with Beryl and his attempts to learn the Loroi script, then hacks the intact human electronic devices and leverages the knowledge of human letters to get an understanding of English. Then it contacts Alex.
Hacking of the shuttle systems might not even necessary (even if it happened).
Remember, the construct claims to relay a message from the Barsam ship, indicating a direct link between the construct onboard the Barsam ship and the copie in the container.
Actually, single direction transmission from Barsam courier to shuttle is possible without any magitech. Courier can just broadcast encrypted message that only Historians basket can decrypt.
Since the "Pocket Historian" identifies itself as "this construct" and the projection on the Tempest laments about its limitations I'm pretty sure they do act as separate entities and might just need short bursts of communication to sync up rather than having a full remote control connection.
Meaning, Historian AI's would be able to split off parts of their 'consciousness' and place them as copies on the intended target device. How sophisticated these copies are could heavily depend on the device - the "Pocket Historian" might barely qualify as a VI, only able to do some rote-response keyword driven dialog and maybe able to get updated by the instance in the projector can when it runs out of suitable answers.
After all, it was designed to be just a messenger handing Alex a note of warning, though the instance in the can had the foresight to equip its copy with some self defense and stealth mechanisms.
SVlad wrote:Actually, single direction transmission from Barsam courier to shuttle is possible without any magitech. Courier can just broadcast encrypted message that only Historians basket can decrypt.
Is that a good idea, though? Presumably the Umiak are just as interesting in destroying Barsam couriers as they are in destroying Loroi.
Depending on the assumptions you use, having an encryption that can't be decrypted is potentially very difficult if not set up in advance like a one time pad.
I would assume that the Umiak know exactly where the Barsam courier. The Umiak ships are in position to block the jump point, they might decide that patience is the appropriate strategy instead of trying in futility to chase down a courier vessel which would almost certainly have better acceleration and probably more fuel reserves too. If the courier knows the location and vector of the shuttle, they can afford to wait until it drifts far enough away from the jump point to pick up safely. As long as the Umiak don't see it first.
In that case, still, Talon did not object.
