PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Jan 20, 2020 6:21:52 GMT
"That long, da? Oh well, time was productive at very least." Isaac mumbled to himself as he stepped around the first table and quickly flipped the other back into place. The bot nodded in response to Isamu's mention of the incident report as he moved, and a part of Isaac's mind instantly went to work composing one of the forms for himself. Rampaging equipment in the lab was nothing new to him, and this particular incident didn't even leave any lasting damage behind. 'One experimental intelligence program gets a little excited and tips a few things over. Is no big deal.' He mused to himself while the form appeared in his periphery and began filling out. Being able to write to the document directly with his mind it only took a few seconds to do the job. He gave a fairly detailed account, as he usually did, though he did leave out that part about how it had all been caused by his own momentary lapse in attention.
"Yes, yes, feel free to use solvent, there is no danger from drone anymore, she is not in there." That would clean up one mess, which just left the scorched walls. Luckily, the panels were meant for this sort of thing and were designed to be easily replaced. After submitting the report, he quickly accessed the network and one of the machines in the back of the lab whirred to life as it began to fabricate a set of replacement panels.
"You see," Isaac began, addressing the other student's concerns about the dangers of the AI. "I'm afraid you caught me in middle of early experimental pass, had not gotten to setting up fail safes yet because I had not expected, well... anything really. Quite unexpected results, I must say. Got incredible amount of useful data.... In any case, believe it should be fine now. I further stabilized basic network and added global override command, so we should not be having any more problems, da?" As he spoke, Isaac walked the Raiju back over to his work station and flicked on the monitor. "And now that we are stable, perhaps I can properly introduce you."
A cable once again sprouted from the bot's hand and connected to the input port on the monitor. After momentarily filing up with static, the picture resolved itself into what looked like... nothing actually. It was just black. At least for a few seconds anyway, before a glowing blue light appeared along the bottom and a figure popped up from beneath the edge of the screen. "Isamu, meet Nadya. Nadya, Isamu." The creature on the screen chirped excitedly. Her form had further resolved as a result of Isaac's work over the last half hour or so, now more distinct and appearing quite solidly as a sort of hybrid between feline and fox. She hung onto the edges of the screen as if peering out from within... which wasn't entirely inaccurate, as he was giving her a feed of the room from the computer's webcam. From within his mental landscape he watched her cling to the window and stare out at the first year student. "Apparently she has decided she likes the way you look." He added, chuckling softly to himself and grinning, although the cat would have no way of seeing the expression.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Jan 21, 2020 17:55:34 GMT
Isamu decidedly did not leave the part out about how it had been Isaac’s lapse of attention that had caused the incident, but that was something for the staff to handle. When the other student confirmed that the drone was safe, he nodded and retrieved a single capsule from beside his laptop—the vest was nowhere in sight, likely stored away again—and flung it at the gooey mess, which began to bubble and dissolve. “If you need more the universal solvent in the chemical closet should do the trick. Now, where exactly is this runaway AI of yours, if it’s not in the drone?” He wasn’t terribly thrilled about the idea of it being hosted inside a much larger robot body, even if Isaac could presumably keep it under check while inhabiting the same body.
The whirring of machinery in the back caught his ear, and he turned his head briefly to scrutinize what they were making, and then relaxed again once he saw the wall panels taking shape.
He listened attentively as Isaac explained what he had done, following him over to his workstation and hopping up nimbly and carefully onto a clear patch of desk space. “Maybe next time you can install the overrides first.” He stays quiet at the mention of introductions, entirely unsure of what to expect… but it certainly wasn’t an odd blue creature poking its head up from out of frame. He glanced at the Raiju when Isaac made introductions then back to Nadya. “Hello, Nadya,” he said cautiously, a little unsure how to address an apparently nascent artificial intelligence. “It’s—” interesting “—nice to meet you.” He continued studying the creature, though an ear turned towards Isaac as he further explained that the AI was apparently mimicking his form. “I’m… flattered, I think.” He frowned a little. “Are you saying she… chose her own appearance? Or is it more of a case of some kind of… imprinting? Either way, that’s very impressive. I’ve never generated anything as far advanced as this. Are you using a neural network-based approach, or is this an application of your quirk at work?”
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Jan 22, 2020 5:15:20 GMT
"Come now, friend, who starts design with emergency off switch? No one. You start with structure, then functionality, then supports. Off switch only comes when it is reasonable to expect danger. As I said, was not actually expecting her to be able to control drone yet. Should not have had enough data... unless..." Isaac trailed off as Isamu approached the monitor. He had mused before about the possibility of more data having survived the previous experiment, but it hadn't seem too likely. That program had destroyed itself, completely and utterly. The only way something could have been carried over is if the program had somehow managed to back up the data in the two seconds after it started to break down. Not only that, but it had to have done it in a way that Isaac himself hadn't noticed. That didn't seem particularly plausible to him, and yet...
When Isamu greeted Nadya, the AI let out another cheerful chirp and her body pulsed green from within. As she stared out at the first year, her form began to stabilize even further, appearing practically solid in the span of a few seconds. It took a moment before Isaac realized that the cat was asking him a question, but eventually he managed to shake his head free from his pondering and respond. "That is... good question. Stands to reason that she had access to Hephaestus memory and all designs and images stored within, but besides me, you were probably first living thing she actually saw. Technically she could have based appearance off any of the data, or even something entirely new, but for whatever reason she chose feline form. Rather curious, da? As far as how she was made..." He continued, leaning back slightly against the desk and crossing him arms. "A bit of both. I learned how to program early, though I supposed probably not in way you are familiar with. A bit of, how do you say..." He cocked his head to the side as he searched for the right words, a very human gesture from what was a towering robotic frame. "Unfair advantage? Yes, I think that is right..."
"As I explained earlier, being inside machine is not just control, is understanding as well. Think of trying to solve math problem in head, but your mind is connected directly to calculator. Answer would come instantly. Now, apply that to computers and programming. Just thinking can write code, though still have to be somewhat careful about it." It was a pretty hard concept to communicate properly, and he had tried explaining it to others before, but it's not like they had a frame of reference for what it was like having their mind fused with a computer. "Short answer to your question is that Nadya started with seeded neural net to comprehend language and behavior patterns, but net was then shaped and reinforced by quirk-based programming." Within the Raiju, Isaac glanced over toward Nadya as she was prodding experimentally at the video display, almost like trying to reach out to touch the other side. "If you told me to make same thing with only normal coding methods, I do not think I could."
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Jan 23, 2020 15:15:26 GMT
“Thank goodness an artificial intelligence taking control of an industrial welding drone wasn’t dangerous,” remarked Isamu dryly in response to Isaac’s reasoning about not having installed an override previously. He glanced over at the other student. “That ‘unless’ is why you should be putting safety first… or at the very least sandboxing your work.” However gruff the feline-like student normally was, however, his gruffness was a bit undercut by his fascination with the nascent AI on the screen as he studied it, watching it move, chirp, and react to his presence.
“… You get to eliminate the physical interface, going from thought to code instead of thought to keyboard to code,” he offered as a summary, as Isaac explained his quirk again. Logically, of course, he knew that whatever Nadya was made of, she still had to exist as normal computer code, and Isaac’s quirk aside wouldn’t be able to actually reach out and touch him, but despite that… he decided to at least reciprocate the gesture, reaching out a paw to touch the screen in the same spot that the construct was touching. “Hi there, Nadya…” he said softly, far more like one might talk to an animal or a child than his usual snarky or grumpy self. “I know we can’t touch for real, but it really is nice to meet you. How much of what I’m saying do you understand? Do you know what your neural net was seeded from?” Sure, he could just ask the creator, but it felt… a little bit rude to be discussing Nadya in front of her. On the other hand… “… or is that an odd question to ask you? I’m not sure I could adequately answer how I worked if I were asked.”
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Jan 24, 2020 3:58:52 GMT
Isaac paused for a brief moment at Isamu's obvious sarcasm. One might expect him to be annoyed or insulted, but he actually seemed to be thinking about it. "Point taken." He answered with a nod, it wasn't like the cat was wrong after all. "We will have to make her new body while we iron out kinks. Something with less.... destructive potential, da?" Even as he spoke the words, a few possibilities popped into his mind. It took a fair bit of effort, but he pushed them away for the time being, instead doing his best to keep his attention on the conversation.
"Well yes, but that is only part of it. Removing interface is just aspect of control again. However, understanding means that process is almost intrinsic. If I tell you to reach out and pick up screwdriver, you do not think about specifics of controlling muscles, body just knows what brain wants it to do. When I program with my quirk, is similar phenomena. If I know what I want to do, my 'body', that is to say the computer, is figuring it out eventually. Can still get it wrong though, like how you have to train body to move certain way for martial arts." He could have kept going, it was very easy for him to talk at length when explaining something or discussing a topic of interest, but before he could a chime sounded from the other side of the lab. One of the large scale 3D printers had finished fabricating the replacement panel for the wall.
Leaving one limb connected to the monitor, Isaac reached out with the other to where a phone still rested on his desk. Another cable deployed and connected to the device, allowing him to access its functions without having to swap 'bodies'. Now that Nadya wasn't in control of it, he could actually remotely pilot the Hephaestus with an app he'd written. Controlling multiple bodies simultaneously wasn't exactly easy, but he'd been practicing for awhile. The drone on the floor once again powered on, and he moved it to go retrieve the panel while Isamu continued to interact with Nadya. She was practically bouncing with excitement as the cat reached up and touched the monitor, apparently overjoyed that he'd returned the gesture. The near constant chittering only stopped when he started to ask her questions.
At first she just responded by tilting her head to the side curiously, almost as if she didn't understand, but after a second she turned her head toward Isaac, almost as if asking permission. He glanced away from a second monitor, where the drone was in the process of prying off the damaged section of wall, and gave her a nod. "Go ahead." She nodded and turned back, moving her hands to the sides of the display window experimentally. A wash of static passed over monitor as she took control of the input, only to fade as she gradually figured out how the feed worked. After a few seconds, brief flashes of images and recordings started to appear one after another in short cuts. A flood of street recordings from CCTV systems, snippets of documentaries, talk shows, news reels, and the occasional movie were accompanied by walls of text taken from news articles, online chat rooms, scientific reports, essays, magazines, and more. "UA has quite impressive digital archive, supplemented with free data collections I found online, and actually some of school chat client's logs. Ended up pruning down quite a bit to reinforce certain areas, but still plenty of material to learn linguistics and behavior patterns." Isaac added to give a bit of context to the images. The montage lasted about twenty seconds before the monitor returned to the view of the dark space, Nadya standing before the window and looking rather proud of herself.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Jan 27, 2020 15:08:09 GMT
“If you need a temporary body for her, you could put her in a camera drone… I’ve built a few, if you want assistance with it. Rig it with a small display and a speaker for output. Though you’d want to make sure the antenna couldn’t connect to wireless a network, just in case…” He pondered that for a moment. “On the other hand, something terrestrial might be better. Less chance of losing it if she has difficulty controlling the flight.”
One of his ears twitched as he caught the chiming of the 3D printer, but he turned his head and warily watched the Hephaestus rise again when Isaac took control of it… just to make sure nothing went wrong with it. And to quickly take cover in case it did. “Either way, I suggest no lasers. Or anything that generates flame. Or sparks.”
Nadya taking over the video display drew his attention back to the screen, and he watched with great interest at the deluge of information, able to pick up the quickly changing graphics with greater ease thanks to his quickened perceptive abilities. Not needing to blink also helped. “So you did understand my question… Fascinating.”
An ear flicked in Isaac’s direction as the other student explained about the U.A. data archive, and he nodded to himself. “I should have thought to check for that. I’ll have to make a note.” He pulled out his phone, navigating into a note-taking app and not taking any particular care to hide his screen. ‘N.I.C.O.L.E.’ briefly appeared at the top before he scrolled down and added in a note about the extra data source, then put his phone away.
Isamu rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Nadya on the screen. “I suppose turnabout is fair play. Nadya, do you have any questions for me?”
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Feb 11, 2020 4:23:20 GMT
"Da, is probably good idea..." Isaac nodded to himself at Isamu's suggestion. He had a number of drones that he could use for the purpose, but until he was certain that she would be stable, and until he learned more about her behavior, it was probably best to keep Nadya that couldn't fly away. "I have few things I could use, but now that I know more what I'm dealing with, might be prudent to get her used to interaction with people and world before starting the wandering again..." He paused for a second as the Hephaestus lifted the replacement panel into place and one of its arms folded in on itself, swapping out the welder for a drill. A moment later a mechanism loaded a screw onto the bit and it whirred to life, beginning to fasten the panel to the wall. "..And yes, no power tools or weapons... for awhile at least. Did originally start project to help test equipment after all."
Back on the monitor, Nadya continued to cling to the screen as she observed the cat, watching with curiosity as the student flipped out his phone. Once again she prodded at the screen, as if trying to reach out and examine the device, and Isaac could feel her gently trying to probe at her surroundings for some sort of limb to manipulate. With him there to limit her exploration however, the only thing she had access to was the monitor. The screen flickered and warped slightly as a result of her experimentation, but only for a brief moment before Isamu once again posed a question and grabbed her full attention.
Once again the feline-like avatar cocked its head to the side, but this time the almost confused expression didn't fade immediately. As the moment of silence lingered, Isaac found himself pausing mid drill and turning to face the exchange with great interest. While he was pretty confident in the AI when it came to understanding and answering questions, neural nets like the one she was based on weren't designed to truly ask questions themselves; they were meant to amass data and give answers based on trends in that data. From within the shell of the machine he could practically feel her trying to process the idea of having her own agency. After a few more seconds of consideration, she tilted her head to the other side and started chattering rapidly, staring at the cat with a notably blank expression.
"N-no, not like that Nadya." Isaac shook his head with a chuckle and Nadya immediately cut herself off, turning to face him with curiosity. "I doubt he can tell you about outcomes of advanced molecular physics simulations. No, he is asking if you want to know something about him. Or at least something he would know... Also, he cannot understand you, need to use words." She cocked her head again and stared at him for a few seconds, but eventually responded to the boy with a nod and a pulse of green through her body. When she finally returned to the screen, she seemed to consider the cat for another moment or two, and then text began to form along the top of the monitor.
"What is Nicole?"
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Feb 17, 2020 6:52:15 GMT
Isamu caught the AI’s motions as she pawed at the screen while he was making his note, and he turned the phone screen to face her. “I’m just making a note on my phone for later, so I don’t forget.” Note done, he put his phone away in his pocket again. Though he made a mental note to make sure he wasn’t showing his unlock methods to a camera in the future. Nadya was fascinating, but he didn’t really trust anyone with access to his devices.
He watched as Nadya tried to process his question, well aware that it likely wasn’t designed for that, but admittedly rather curious about what the result might be. It wasn’t terribly often that he interacted with a nascent AI in this way, so he was very curious to see what the limitations of it might be.
And just when the silence had stretched on long enough, he started to say, “You can disregard—” only to be cut off by the AI chittering at him in a way that he couldn’t understand, looking back at the other student for a bit of assistance translating. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand her.” He waited as they had an exchange, and then Nadya returned to the screen and this time formed a question out of text.
“Oh, that’s an A.I. project I’ve been working on. It’s not constructed in quite the same way you are, however. I designed it for image and audio processing to help me out in the field.” That and a few other things he was tinkering with, but no need to go into all of that just this moment. “I suppose you saw that text on phone screen, hmm?”
Not having the advantage of becoming a living computer, he had to content himself with doing it the old fashioned way, albeit with the assistance of a number of kits that took care of some of the basic boilerplate functionality like speech recognition and the like.
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Feb 21, 2020 3:36:48 GMT
So, the cat was in the process of trying to develop an intelligence system himself was he? Well that was certainly interesting. As much as Isaac enjoyed working on his own projects, he liked hearing about other people's work just as much. Analyzing their data and experiences was an exercise that was almost always full of valuable insight. As much as he would have liked to delve into that particular topic more, perhaps the more important take-away here had been Nadya's response. From his vantage inside the computer it was rather obvious that she had merely ended up asking something to fill a blank in her data set, but the fact that she'd been able to come up with a real question at all was quite promising indeed. If she was capable of asking her own questions, then she was capable of self-growth. Perhaps as she continued to develop, that innate curiosity would develop into a full personality... Now that would truly be something.
"Da, I'd say is quite likely." He answered the hero student's question about seeing the notes as he returned to his work on the wall. "After all, Nadya is having access to all of same feeds I am at the moment." The AI nodded, and as if to prove the point the screen briefly swapped to a grid of 8 different displays, each showing a different camera's view of the room. Those of course included both the Raiju's own optics and the Hephaestus' camera as Isaac finished fastening in the last of the screws. As the view on the monitor switched back to Nadya, the drone backed away slightly so that the boy could inspect his work, and then it seemed to fold its arms in a rather satisfied gesture. "There... is, how do you say... Good as new, da?" He chuckled and swapped on the drone's auto-pilot so that it would return to its charging station, reasonably sure that they'd managed to undo all the damage from his new companion's brief rampage.
"In any case.." Isaac continued, actually stepping into view of the monitor himself this time. "Is rather impressive to see hero student working on such projects. I suppose I haven't been here much longer than you, but you are first I have seen. Important lesson I have learned though, is vital to take advantage of expertise of fellow students, helps you learn better when you hit snag, even if you would perhaps prefer learning lessons yourself. If perhaps you run into such issue in your projects, feel free to ask support, eh? I for one would be glad to be assisting you."
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Feb 24, 2020 2:07:43 GMT
Isamu nodded as Isaac mentioned Nadya having access to all of the same cameras system the Russian boy did, and he couldn’t help but glance around as the multiple feeds sprang up on the screen, just to see if he could spot all the cameras in the classroom. Being properly observant was a valuable skill.
“Huh… didn’t realize that was a camera. Good to know.”
He turned his attention over to the wall panel when the drone stopped working, nodding a little bit. “Much better,” he agreed. “What are you going to do with the old panel?”
He shrugged a little as Isaac expressed his admiration of a hero student being in the support lab. “I’m just continuing with something I enjoy. I’ve always been curious about how devices and computers worked, so it’s been a favorite hobby of mine for a while now. And if I can use it in some form in my future heroics, then all the better. I need to have some versatility on my side to stand out.” He then nodded as the other student continued on to make the offer of potential future assistance. “I’ll keep that in mind. Actually…” He glanced over at the Raiju thoughtfully for a moment. “… you built that yourself, correct? I might need to borrow your expertise for some of the future ideas I have.” He turned his attention back to the artificial intelligence on the screen. “And of course, I’ll also be interested in following Nadya’s progress, as well.”
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Mako
N/A
quirk Technogeist
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N/A
alias Variable
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Post by Isaac Korzhakov on Mar 12, 2020 2:37:55 GMT
"Old panel?" Isaac mused as he opened up a display beside him and made sure that the Hephaestus had successfully switched to standby mode on the charging station. "Maintenance crew will take damaged panel away to be broken down. Materials are recycled, so will be used to make another replacement next time we need one." Which, due to the nature of the work done within the lab, probably wouldn't be too far in the future. As careful as they were supposed to be, experimental tech just had a tendency to bring about unexpected, and the fact that said tech was often combined with still-developing quirks just added to the carnage.
The cat's response to his compliment was a rather humble one, but regardless of what he said Isaac was still impressed. "Is a good way to look at it, I think. Better to take advantage of your abilities, da? I actually wanted to be hero when I was younger, but came to decision that I could do more good in lab. You see, One strong hero on streets is not as effective as 10 well equipped heroes of lesser strength. We have ability to use our talents and technology to balance scales in our favor." The young Russian nodded as he spoke, as if reaffirming his own beliefs on the subject. His recent participation in the senior hero course's activities proved that he'd had what it took to pursue his original dream, but it hadn't changed his mind about what the more effective course of action would be. On the streets he could potentially save hundreds during a full career, but working from the lab? Tens, even hundreds of thousands? Perhaps more? His ego could easily take the hit of not being the center of attention for that level of trade off.
At Isamu's mention of the Raiju, Isaac gave a bit of a shrug and shook his head. "Is good machine, but cannot take full credit for building it. Raiju was built using frame from one of school's training drones. You have probably seen them, large fellow, stun rods, used for higher-mid tier combat simulations." Despite his words, the mech that stood beside the monitor was almost completely unrecognizable from the drone that had served as the base, with a shrunken frame a completely new set of armor and joints laid on top. The only visible remnant of its old form was the head piece, which had a large gash running across the metal plating. A sort of badge of honor, he figured, from it's service to the school. "All drones I built before were more like Hephaestus there. Small, utility based. Raiju is good prototype though, learned many lessons from it. Power consumption issues, fuel storage, maneuverability limitations, load capacity, lots of things I did not have to deal with due to output of smaller frames. I think I can be building my own soon..." He waved his hand and a few images of blueprints in varying states of completion appeared on the screen next to him for the cat to see. "Perhaps Nadya and I can show you when it is finished, da?"
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY Alphacat
N/A
quirk Cat
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N/A
alias Shadowkat
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Post by Isamu Suzuki on Mar 27, 2020 5:23:34 GMT
Isamu mostly kept to himself, visiting the lab on off hours or even in the dead of night when he could manage it, so he had yet to see significant damage to the workshop and the subsequent repairs that went into that. Even so, the recycling of the old, damaged panel certainly made sense.
When the other student mentioned having a desire to be a hero at a younger age, but instead deciding to be support instead… that just brought up his own past desires to be a hero that had temporarily been dampened—though, admittedly, for slightly different reasons. Still, it was enough to render him silent and thoughtful for a moment as Isaac spoke. After the other boy finished explaining his goals, Isamu let the silence drag on for a few moments too many, looking a bit lost in thought before dragging himself back into the conversation with a small nod. “They also serve, who stand and wait. Or develop hero gear, in this instance.”
When Isaac explained how the Raiju was a modification of the school’s standard drones, that piqued Isamu’s interest. He left the tabletop where he had been standing, leaping effortlessly across the gaps of the aisles until the could circle the mech to take a closer look, dropping first to the floor and then delicately jumping on top of and perching on the mech itself. “Hmmm… Okay, I see it now. Still, you’ve made extensive modifications. Aside from the head it appears to be nearly bespoke.” When Isaac brought up the blueprints on the screen he made his way back over, giving them a glance over to absorb as much detail as possible. “I see, I see,” he murmed softly as he reviewed them. “Yes, I would be very interested in seeing the next version. I’ll be honest, I had toyed with the idea of creating something similar… Though geared more towards disaster and rescue work than combat.” And with a cockpit. Because honestly it’d be cool to just pilot something like that.
He glanced at the wall clock and frowned a little, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket to check on something. “Unfortunately, I have other business to attend to. It was a pleasure meeting you, Khorzhakov-san. You too, Nadya. Do let me know when your next build or prototype is ready. I’ll be interested to see it.”
And with that the feline student made his way over to where his laptop and equipment were set up, carefully packing everything into his backpack and heading for the door.
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