Beyond Alpha Centauri::::::::Discussion Thread 8

[Frankychan]

Originally posted by Lonestar
At least your active, unlike some pseudo-Americans who won't be named.
* Lonestar glares at FrankyChan.

Still coming with those potshots, huh?


Ok, twist my arm why don't you.....I'll start re-reading things and try to pick up where I left off...but since I don't have any net connection at home, I might be sporadic in my postings.

BTW, Merry Belated Christmas and Have a Happy New Year!

[Frankychan]

You guys are crazy....I thought Alive was the one about that soccer team that had to eat each other?

[Mr. President]

You know, I think you're right. And I should have known, because they mention it on the Simpsons episode where Marge is afraid of flying.

[Mr. President]

I suspect Mellian would have a thing or two to say about my most recent story.

"president ..... totally not realistic for TA battlecruiser to get beaten by just ONE drone ship! Terrans is not weak, to be pushed around. why eberything always negative with TA? TA would never run from university and believer invasion ......... you make all TAF look like cowards. Your thinking and creative skills really is low."

Somehow, though, I suspect I don't care.

[Lonestar]

I guess you don't know that earlier in the Story I had about 12 Terren ships (including at least one Battleship, the Madrid) taking refuge at Roving after Earth fell. (and were subsequently interred after the Terren Commodore wanted to leave and join the rest of the Terren Fleet remnants at Chiron under the peacekeeper's protection)

[Mr. President]

Oops.

I guess I'd better edit. So those ships are now in the possession of the Protectorate?

Edit: I think I've located the post you mentioned. Would other people know about those ships?

[Lonestar]

The Terran exile fleet at Chiron certainly would, I'll leave it up to you if you want word to have spread.

[Sprayber]

Sprayber has finally gotten his **** together after some difficult times. Is there room still left in this leisure-community fiction story thread?

[Mr. President]

Well, obviously.

Welcome back.

[Sovereign]

Posted.

Hope you like the slam bang.

Welcome back Sprayber and FrankyChan!

[Mr. President]

Wow!



I certainly didn't see that coming. Welcome back, Sovereign!



Say, can I ask a question about University things? Derek and Gary are in the UA now to meet with other researchers about the Caledon temple. So I had a couple of (trivial-sounding) questions about the situation in the University.

One is with regards to language. For example, are street signs and the like written in a script which Derek and Gary would be able to read?

Another is about a point I mentioned in the arrival post, namely Gary wanting to learn about University AIs (which are much more advanced than Drone AIs). Where would he have to go to do this?

Still another is regarding the setup of University cities (broadly). Specifically, what modes of transportation are common and where are the scientific buildings?

The final question is: Will the UA request that the Drone space navy hand over the Terran battlecruiser seized near Epsilon Eridani (see my most recent story post)?

Sorry for the long post

[Sovereign]

Hiyas, Mr. Prez!

No worries, I'm more than glad to answer your questions. After all, lets keep making a hell of a story.

The University language is "Basic" similiar to English, with some new words and stuff compared to today. After all, English can change quite a bit in 700 years. Many words we know in English didn't exist or had a different meaning 700 years ago. Instances include "electricity" and "tyre" (Tyre means tire in England, but it meant "tired" 700 years ago I think) etc.

Most of the advanced AI's in University territory are located in the science structures or areas, since most of the heavy duty computing occurs there. If Gary wants to learn about heavy duty AI's then he should visit the science areas. But if he wants to learn how AI's affect everyday life, he could visit hospitals, factories, law enforcement stations, emergency rescue stations, etc.

Most of the University's science buildings aren't located in cities. They exist in deserts, inside glaciers, in asteroids, or on barren moons to minimize civilian damage if an experiment or scientific research goes awry. Seen the "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" or those countless bug or mutant movies?

The University cities are mostly built in a circular shape, zoned in concentric circles, with the economic buildings in the center, and the residential buildings in the middle concentric circle, and the industrial buildings in the outer concentric circle.
Transportation is done by hover-cars driven across glass / crystal streets on multiple levels. Also, people use subways and ultra-fast commuter rail to connect to other cities. There's almost no airplanes, since the trains reach over 400 MPH. It's a lot like Amtrak's Acela express bullet-trains. Also, people can walk especially if its nice outside.

About the battlecruiser, a good question. Perhaps the UA will ask the cruiser to be returned in exchange for Derek and Gary visiting the research buildings and learning about AI's.
But the UA will also provide some research data on the battlecruiser for its return. What do you think? We can tweak this a bit, no problem.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

[Sovereign]

Oh, by the way, I'll try and include a couple of pictures or art of what the majority of UA cities looik like, within the week.

UA's major cities don't exist on Spira, but rather, are built alongside Spira's old cities. On Spira, the modern cities are very small compared to pure UA worlds.

[Lonestar]

Annexation by the UA?

[Mr. President]

Thanks Sovereign.

An idea I just had about the battlecruiser runs a little something like this: the authorities on Spira delay Derek and Gary's access to the research buildings (without telling them specifically why) while they're negotiating with the Drone embassy and government over the return of the battlecruiser. This will give them a chance to look around and see some of the things you described.

In the end, the Drone navy will hand over the battlecruiser if the University requests it. I think, though, they might remove some of its weapons and computers for their intelligence and research people to look at before returning it. Is that okay? Also, would the University request anything else in connection with the battlecruiser incident (eg. since it hasn't been repaired for ages they might want that done)?