<Little.Trashmaid> What will we do with a drunken spessmen, what will we do with a drunken spessmen~
<Little.Trashmaid> Early in the mor... ning.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh... now what were those beeping sounds?
<"Fairchild"> "Beeping. It was beeping."
<Little.Trashmaid> Good, thank you. Now i know... hey, that wasn't really explaining anything, was it?
<"Fairchild"> "The question was unclear."
<Little.Trashmaid> Damn, it's still beeping. *Checks the console.* NOW what...
<Little.Trashmaid> Hey, think you could be smuggling something?
<Little.Trashmaid> Somehow, the AI thingy is all hyped about you.
<"Fairchild"> *the voice coming from the comms is unnatural - human, but emotionless and nearly hyper-correct* "No."
<"Fairchild"> "I do not smuggle. Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Then maybe you are someone important?
<Little.Trashmaid> Or, like, someone i know?
<"Fairchild"> "It is the first time I see your ship."
<"Fairchild"> "I do not know you."
<Little.Trashmaid> That's... huh. Well, i suppose you don't, then.
<Little.Trashmaid> Still, you are in the toaster's database for some reason. Any ideas why? Like, even wild ones.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe you are well-endowed ro something.
<"Fairchild"> "I have not eaten bread in a very long time."
<"Fairchild"> "Toasted or not."
<Little.Trashmaid> I... don't think that could be the reason. *Shrugs audibly and taps the console.* Should i share, then? I have some snacks.
<Little.Trashmaid> Crackers, onion and cream flavor.
<Little.Trashmaid> Should not be expired yet.
<"Fairchild"> "Reaching across the vacuum of space would not be very wise."
<"Fairchild"> "And, there is a terrorist here."
<Little.Trashmaid> Why, the thingy has external pods for fast access.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh. Eizo.
<Little.Trashmaid> For a moment i thought it is a space roach.
<Little.Trashmaid> But that's just you.
<"Fairchild"> "Upsetting."
<Little.Trashmaid> You know Eizo, eh?
<"Fairchild"> "I do not know the Outcast."
<Little.Trashmaid> Not Eizo? Umm... Maybe that Emma Toyota? No?
<"Fairchild"> "I do not know any of them."
<Little.Trashmaid> So... want the crackers or not?
<Little.Trashmaid> They are free, i got too many anyway.
<"Fairchild"> "I do not want the crackers."
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* Synth paste, maybe? Anything at all?
<"Fairchild"> "I have synth paste on the station."
<Little.Trashmaid> *Taps the console again.* Hell, that thing sure is hyped. Sure you are not some celebrity?
<"Fairchild"> "I am not."
<Little.Trashmaid> But it is suggesting me taking shots of your ship and all...
<"Fairchild"> "I am... lost... ghost... spectre..."
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Spectre... what?
<Little.Trashmaid> Aww, but you do not look like you'd glow when you go pee at night.
<Little.Trashmaid> Nor are your eyes pink.
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, whatever. If you are lost, i can tosss you a map, though. Might be old, but still is a map.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Mubmles to self.* Lost, lost.... huh...
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh!
<"Fairchild"> "I am not lost. I am... here... inside... inside?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Hey, thanks for reminding me! Jeez, thought i could be more productive than that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Say, i was supposed to look for some fair... child. Seen any blonde kids around?
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek again, seemingly unaware of the lich callsign.*
<"Fairchild"> "Fair. Child."
<Little.Trashmaid> Fair. Like blonde, i suppose?
<Little.Trashmaid> Some weirdo in a yacht asked me to look for his lost kid or something, now that i recall it.
<"Fairchild"> "Fair. Child. Separate... Together...? Twins? Brothers?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those things."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Somewhere around here, too.
<Little.Trashmaid> And i was about to annoy that bald lesbian anyway. Did not see her around for quite some time, so...
<"Fairchild"> "Yacht."
<Little.Trashmaid> Twins, brothers? Umm... no, he did not say anything like that, i suppose?
<Little.Trashmaid> Just a fair child.
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm. A Democritus. Pho... Phoenix?
<Little.Trashmaid> No, not like that. Pal... paladin? Still not it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Something Pala-ish.
<Little.Trashmaid> CV-Pala-something.
<"Fairchild"> "Round, crystal, far seeing, observant. Far. Distance...?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> You don't have to apologize every time, you know.
<Little.Trashmaid> By the way, did anyone tell you that you are slightly more weird than usual, for an Omicroner?
<Little.Trashmaid> Round, crystal...
<Little.Trashmaid> Hey, yeah! Thanks! CV-Palantir, now i remember!
<"Fairchild"> "Round, crystal, far seeing."
<"Fairchild"> "It is correct."
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm. Prophecy ball. Palantir.
<Little.Trashmaid> That was the callsign of the buddy who asked me to look for a blonde kid when i am around Omicrons.
<"Fairchild"> "Crystal ball... Fortune teller? Cards...?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Fortune teller? Suppose so. He said he was poor, so... Given that he lives on a yacht, could be a wandering -
<Little.Trashmaid> fortune teller indeed.
<Little.Trashmaid> Got a name, by the way? Kind of late to ask now, but still...
<Little.Trashmaid> Mine's John.
<"Fairchild"> "Fair. Child."
<Little.Trashmaid> Yeah, that's what i was supposed to look for.
<Little.Trashmaid> So, your name? John Silverstone, if i may. Please, don't creep out.
<"Fairchild"> "Fair. Child."
<Little.Trashmaid> What, that's your name?
<Little.Trashmaid> Jeez, now WHAT do you want from me? *Sighs and taps the console again.* Sorry, hope that beeping's not distracting.
<"Fairchild"> "Crystal, round, far seeing. Fair. Child. Twins. Brothers."
<"Fairchild"> "Stars. Constellation. Gemini...?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of these."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose i'll just be calling you Fair. You don't mind, do you?
<"Fairchild"> "I do not."
<Little.Trashmaid> Good! Got a story then, Fair? Or maybe a joke? I love stories.
<"Fairchild"> "I do not know stories."
<Little.Trashmaid> Not a single one?
<"Fairchild"> "I do not know."
<Little.Trashmaid> Hmm... How about that one, then...
<Little.Trashmaid> Some scientist say, some aliens around here are actually mutated space squids from lost space food haulers.
<Little.Trashmaid> Those grow somewhat huge in zero-g, did you know?
<Little.Trashmaid> The again, it may be a stupid kusarian joke, too. Those lads are fond of things with tentacles.
<"Fairchild"> "Tentacles... Spiders? ...Robot spiders?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of these."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Not even a giggle? Oh come on, you know how to laugh, right?
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, maybe it wasn't a funny joke.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* So, what are you doing around here, Fair?
<"Fairchild"> "Lost."
<Little.Trashmaid> For real? Locals sell maps, though. But you probably know that already, so...
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, allright, let's assume you are lost.
<Little.Trashmaid> Want me to get you back to house space or something?
<Little.Trashmaid> Or... i suppose, you can safely stay here. Or in Theta.
<"Fairchild"> "Round, crystal, far seeing."
<Little.Trashmaid> Max Cosmo-something is in Charge of 11. And Sun Ko-something is in charge of 9 in Theta. Just tell them i ask them -
<Little.Trashmaid> - to keep you safe and well-fed. First they may seem mad, but they are actually nice ones.
<Little.Trashmaid> How did you get lost anyway?
<"Fairchild"> "I do not remember."
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, umm...
<Little.Trashmaid> Happens, i suppose. Remember anything of the system you were at before you got lost?
<"Fairchild"> "Desert. Moon. Morning...? Good morning...?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Desert moon, desert moon... Well, there are lots of those everywhere.
<Little.Trashmaid> Righty. Want to go somewhere else, then? Where you'd be... well, less lost.
<"Fairchild"> "Planet of deserts and a moon that said good morning...?"
<"Fairchild"> "Round, crystal, far seeing."
<Little.Trashmaid> You remind me of Shiro, you know. She loved to talk in riddles, too.
<Little.Trashmaid> What's a moon that says good morning?
<"Fairchild"> *after a longer pause the voice seems to have finally constructed a proper sentence*
<"Fairchild"> "Tell the crystall ball of a moon that says good morning around the planet of deserts."
<Little.Trashmaid> The crystal... eh? What, that buddy that asked me to look for a kid?
<Little.Trashmaid> Allrighty, but why?
<"Fairchild"> "Fair. Child."
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly and yawns.*
<Little.Trashmaid> A gaul, here?
<Little.Trashmaid> Now that's what i call lost.
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, i still have the feeling that you are somehow important.
<Little.Trashmaid> But i don't really remember why.
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose i should not have been drinking and sleeping all the way here.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs* But what else is there to do when you fly alone?
<Little.Trashmaid> What do you do when you fly alone, Fair?
<"Fairchild"> "I forge stars. Sun... Stars?"
<"Fairchild"> "Not any of those."
<"Fairchild"> "Sorry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Forge... stars? Not sure what's that supposed to mean.
<Little.Trashmaid> But go on, i would not mind a story?
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh. You said you have no already.
<"Fairchild"> "No stories."
<"Fairchild"> "It was incorrect."
<"Fairchild"> "Tell the crystall ball of the moon that says good morning near a planet of deserts."

<CV-Palantir> Nik: Good day, Silverstone.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> So you are actually still alive!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In a sense.
<Little.Trashmaid> I thought you went missing or something like that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Why would I go missing?
<Little.Trashmaid> Beats me. You just were not around for quite some time.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not sure what to respond to that. I haven't gone away from Liberty.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you wanted to get in touch, you could have just sent a comm on the Net, you know.
<Little.Trashmaid> I am not fond of that idea, really. I prefer not to use Neuralnet if possible.
<Little.Trashmaid> Anyhow, i suppose i found your little cute weirdo.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You would have saved yourself some hass-- Oh!
<Little.Trashmaid> Hah. That sure makes you hyped.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Please tell me she's okay...
<Little.Trashmaid> Depends on what you consider to be okay, really.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Tell me everything.
<Little.Trashmaid> Her ship did not have any additional holes in it, i suppose
<Little.Trashmaid> But she has some funny manner of speech and is somewhat weird to talk with.
<Little.Trashmaid> Not much to tell, really. I was drinking the whole time on my way to Delta, thinking i should start looking from that freeport.
<Little.Trashmaid> Or at least stare at some zoner cuties while i was at it.
<Little.Trashmaid> By the time i arrived i was somewhat tipsy and my head hurt like hell.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Delta... Damn, that's far.
<Little.Trashmaid> So i did not realize it was her first.
<Little.Trashmaid> Is it?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, it's the Omicrons, no?
<Little.Trashmaid> Yep. Then again, it depends on your definition of "far".
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I guess.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Has she told you what she'd been doing all the way over there?
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, the amount of time you waste to get there is not that horrible, copmared to your normal lifespan.
<Little.Trashmaid> No idea, really. She wasn't THAT talkative.
<Little.Trashmaid> I suppose, all she said about it is that she was lost.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: She might have sustained some brain damage, just so you know. So be courteous.
<Little.Trashmaid> But i am not completely sure, since she talks with riddles all the time.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Riddles?
<Little.Trashmaid> Ugh... No, she did not look brain-damaged in any way.
<Little.Trashmaid> If you omit her manner of speech, she acts sort of logical.
<Little.Trashmaid> And yeah, riddles.
<Little.Trashmaid> You'll get it if you talk to her.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That might be complicated given that she is in Delta and I am here.
<Little.Trashmaid> What's the problem, really?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am... a little more paranoid than usual about leaving the safety of Liberty.
<Little.Trashmaid> *He scratches his cheek.* Now when i think of it, i was supposed to pass you a message.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: A message?
<Little.Trashmaid> Give me a moment to recall where did i write that down.
<Little.Trashmaid> A riddle, a message, a tiny useless something. Call it however you like.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, there! Umm...
<Little.Trashmaid> Jeez, is that even my handwriting? More messy than i expected it to be.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: At least you have hands to write with...
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Anyway, carry on.
<Little.Trashmaid> "Tell the crystal ball of a moon that says good morning..."
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh, how do i read that...
<Little.Trashmaid> Something-something deserts.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Interesting.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Oh. That's...
<Little.Trashmaid> Around deserts. Yeah, that's what it says.
<Little.Trashmaid> Good morning around deserts.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well. I understand that part.
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose i should not spill alcohol all over the place.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I think I get it.
<Little.Trashmaid> You do?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes. At least I think so.
<Little.Trashmaid> Like, it actually makes some sense?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, the second part. Not sure about the ball.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: "The moon that says good morning" would be the moon of Planet Crete.
<Little.Trashmaid> I somehow think she meant you by that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Eh?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It's called "Kalhmera", meaning "good morning" or "good day" in Greek.
<Little.Trashmaid> How does THAT ONE say good.... oh.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Which would make sense given the deserts of that planet...
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose you are some sort of a scientist, afterall.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am. But the location is significant for another reason. That's where we last saw each other.
<Little.Trashmaid> She was at the freeport, though?
<Little.Trashmaid> I bet she still is.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Have you told her that I've been looking for her, though?
<Little.Trashmaid> Err... i am not sure about that, sorry.
<Little.Trashmaid> Drank too much, afterall.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: What do you mean you are not sure?!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You either did or not!
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm, and i am not sure if i did?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I need to think about this.
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, onboard AI takes a detailed record of my every breath, but i am not fond of interacting with h... it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Interacting with IT.
<Little.Trashmaid> Damn ions.
<Little.Trashmaid> Anyhow, as i was saying.
<Little.Trashmaid> Onboard AI keeps records of everything. But i am not fond of interacting with it.
<Little.Trashmaid> And hey, what's there to think about? Didn't you plan to pay her a visit?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: As I have already told you, I am quite paranoid about leaving the safety of Liberty.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I would much rather have her come to me... But I don't know how to convince her to do it.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: From what you told me it seems like something is seriously wrong with her and I don't think she would-
<Little.Trashmaid> You can stay at the freeport in Delta, it's pretty safe. I know the one in charge of it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Or you can stay on Crete.
<CV-Palantir> -even know if I sent her a message through the Net or not.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: No, aboard... No, no. That's not really possible.
<Little.Trashmaid> Why not?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I can't really leave this ship. That's why I cannot risk it getting shot down or damaged or anything.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> What, are you telling i should capture her and bring her here?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I sincerely doubt you would be able to capture her.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: But perhaps you could... convince her, somehow, maybe.
<Little.Trashmaid> Eh? Why not?
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, right. No CD on this toy, she can just run.
<Little.Trashmaid> Convince her, eh?
<Little.Trashmaid> Hell, given how she acts... I am not even sure where to start.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Uh oh.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That's...
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You know what, on a second thought, maybe going to the Omicrons would not be that bad of an idea.
<Little.Trashmaid> You can call that freeport cutie, she will sure tell you a good route to get there.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I would have to hire escorts, though... Oh, what a hassle.
<Little.Trashmaid> Name's Max Cosmo-something. FP11 admin.
<Little.Trashmaid> Just tell her i sent you.
<Little.Trashmaid> As for the escorts, umm... Let's see...
<Little.Trashmaid> Depends on the path you are willing to take.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That's the thing. I cannot go without anything short of a good escort, and I cannot get a good escort
<CV-Palantir> -because I haven't got money for one.
<Little.Trashmaid> If you are fine with getting there through Rheinland - i suppose you can use my name for that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Guys owe me one anyway, so it will be free. I suppose.
<Little.Trashmaid> But they are a bit shady, so i wonder if you are really fine with that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am not sure about your Rheinlander friends.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I asked around about the people you told me about last time we talked.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Reeves... Unfortunately, as I was told, my good friend Avery Reeves is dead.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, those WILL obey if you ask properly.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe just once, but they will for sure.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And that other name, Jeff something. He hasn't replied even though I asked repeatedly.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: So I don't really know how reliable that is.
<Little.Trashmaid> Say, ever heared of the Syndicate League?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Rings a bell but not really.
<Little.Trashmaid> They are reliable, i am telling you.
<Little.Trashmaid> Just call Gunda Rheil. Or anyone of the Unioner Syndicate Leagues.
<Isla.Nazumaki> Hey there.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Oh, yeah, Unioners. That's definitely a good idea.
<Little.Trashmaid> Tell them you need escort. Tell them i sent you.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hey, no sarcasm.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I like your ideas sometimes, Silverstone, but this is not one of those times.
<Little.Trashmaid> I am telling you, they WILL listen and obey if you mention me.
<Little.Trashmaid> Just tell them i asked.
<Little.Trashmaid> And hey, boobies. On your day off?
<Isla.Nazumaki> Eh... not exactly.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Good evening, Miss Nazumaki.
<Isla.Nazumaki> I quit.
<Isla.Nazumaki> Good to see you again Doc.
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm, funny joke.
<Isla.Nazumaki> Been a while.
<Isla.Nazumaki> It's not a joke, Silvy.
<Little.Trashmaid> Anyhow... Nik, was it?
<Isla.Nazumaki> I couldn't really take it anymore.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yeah.
<Little.Trashmaid> Just call Gunda Rheil and the Union.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I don't think I will.
<Little.Trashmaid> They will listen if you mention John Silverstone.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Look, I need an escort, not a God-damn labour strike.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* Up to you, really. Just telling you the easy way.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Chuckles.* Woah, that was one funny comment.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Hm.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I wonder, though, if you tried tallking to Fairchild, she might be able to make the journey.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you haven't told her that I'm alive and looking for her, that is, she might not even know.
<Little.Trashmaid> Talking is the problematic part, really.
<Little.Trashmaid> She is... well, you know.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, that's the thing, I don't really know.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I would need a... let's call it, a closer look.
<Little.Trashmaid> What happened between you two, anyway? Some lovers quarrel?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not exactly.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not at all, actually.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I guess I can tell you a part of this story now, as payment for finding her, I suppose.
<Little.Trashmaid> Sure, i love stories.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: She is, in a way and by her own volition, a test subject.
<Little.Trashmaid> Wait a moment, you experimented on her - and she ran?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In short, yes.
<Little.Trashmaid> Woah.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: But I wouldn't really call it "experimenting".
<Little.Trashmaid> I am not sure if bringing her back would be a good idea.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: "Experimenting" invokes imagery of sawblades and blood and stuff.
<Little.Trashmaid> She may hold a grudge agains you, you know?
<Little.Trashmaid> Well yeah. Isn't it usually sawblades and blood?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not in that case. In that case it was a computer program and a few electrical impulses that went the wrong way.
<Little.Trashmaid> A shocker and electrical chair, eh?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: No, no...
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Look, the long and short of it is that I broke her, so to speak, and I'm the only one who can fix her.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: The other two people capable of this would have been Reeves or Stenn. Reeves is dead. Stenn is missing.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I'm the best hope she has.
<Little.Trashmaid> Still, she'd probably not be happy to see you.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And for what it's worth I am /very/ sorry this has happened.
<Little.Trashmaid> How am i even supposed to convince her?
<Little.Trashmaid> Stenn, eh?
<Little.Trashmaid> Wait, Nick Stenn?
<Little.Trashmaid> Blueberry's boyfriend?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That one.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Of the Forlorn banner.
<Little.Trashmaid> EEEEEEW!
<Little.Trashmaid> Gross.
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, what could possibly be worse? Auxesia?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Oh, Auxesia would definitely be worse.
<Little.Trashmaid> So he was into experiments on humans. Hah, knew that!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Bloody chromeheads.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not really.
<Little.Trashmaid> What do you mean "not really"?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If Fairchild was the alpha subject, Stenn and Reeves were the beta ones.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: They had the same tech that Fairchild uses. And that, coincidentally, keeps me alive and able to talk.
<Little.Trashmaid> Stenn has... Hah!
<Little.Trashmaid> Let me guess it.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You aren't going to guess right.
<Little.Trashmaid> Nanites in his head or something? Like Birdy?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: --Oh.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Although "nanites in his head" is a bit reductionist.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am, however, the humble creator of that technology. Although we call it "Vergil".
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, that was sort of Sapphire's and Hunt's idea.
<Little.Trashmaid> Along with huge alien tentacle guns.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I don't know who these are.
<Little.Trashmaid> Did Stenn get to that part, too? I bet he did.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I mean, I heard of Sapphire Raven and Auxesia. But no clue about the other one.
<Little.Trashmaid> Those two are the lover-birds who founded Auxesia.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Interesting.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly* And i was the idiot who sold Josh a functional tentacle thingy.
<Little.Trashmaid> But let's not get to this part, i suppose.
<Little.Trashmaid> And Birdy was the idiot who forgot that i hired her to spy on Josh and banged him instead.
<Little.Trashmaid> And so it became their private tea club, which became Auxesia later.
<Little.Trashmaid> But let's not get to that either.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Auxesia and their approach to technology is frightening me, to be honest.
<Little.Trashmaid> Jeez. I swear, all the idiots are somewhat alike. I knew someone will try that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am definitely not looking to associate myself with chromeheads of any kind.
<Little.Trashmaid> Someone else, since Josh failed.
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, the nanites thingy.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I'm a regular scientist, not a mad one.
<Little.Trashmaid> Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say!
<Little.Trashmaid> *Chuckles.* Really, jeez.
<Little.Trashmaid> So, basically, you put nanites into poor thingy's scull, failed to use proper software, messed her up - and then she ran?
<Little.Trashmaid> And now you want her back?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It was an accident, for crying out loud.
<Little.Trashmaid> Still, i can sort of understand why did she run away. I would, too.
<Little.Trashmaid> Why are you sure she'd be willing to come back, though?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: First of all, I was not the one who "put nanites in her".
<CV-Palantir> Nik: She took Vergil herself, without any kind of coercion or anything, she was instrumental in its development!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: She pioneered this technology as much as I did, or even more so!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Look, the fact that she mentioned me and that she wanted a message passed to me means that she-
<CV-Palantir> -at least remembers and wants me to know that she remembers. If you tell her that I can fix her up then she-
<CV-Palantir> -will probably want to talk to me. And I can get through to her more efficiently than you with your words and speech.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hmm. Fine, allrighty. And what happens after you patch her up?
<Little.Trashmaid> If you want her back - it means you have some plans for her.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I don't know that. I hope that she forgives me. Or she kills me.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Either way, if I have no hope of having her on my side again, I am as good as dead anyway.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek.* Still, i think it would be way, way more easy to simply capture her.
<Little.Trashmaid> Any hints, then? How do i even convince a former test subject?
<Little.Trashmaid> Or do you actually expect "come back, he can patch you right up" to work?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I... Yeah. I kinda hoped that it would, yeah.
<Little.Trashmaid> Given how it sort of failed before, you could at least add a canty to the list.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It hasn't really failed, I haven't talked to her since that incident.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Until thirty minutes ago I didn't even know she was alive!
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, didn't it? How did it -become- an incident, then, Sherlock?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I was going to tell you but you kept interrupting.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: She wanted a more fine-grained control over her ship with Vergil. An upgrade, basically.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: So, we tested the software "dry", so to speak, on simulators and what not.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: But when the push came to shove, she went into the craft and ran it, it worked for about three seconds.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shakes his head for some reason.* Believe me, a more... fine-gained control is not a good idea. Was there, did that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hell, i was still in that test group from The Order when they tried it first.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: After that, she had a seizure, epilepsy kicked in. Then all comms cut out and her Lich just went into the distance.
<Little.Trashmaid> And not even a single time since then it ever did end well.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It works for me.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I've since adapted it to run it. And it enables me to pilot this Democritus without a single crew member.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In fact, there is not a single body on board this ship at all.
<Little.Trashmaid> Took us four men to manage a Reseph back then.
<Little.Trashmaid> One is in front of you. Guess what happened to other three.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well.
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Testament to the poor engineering of the Order, I guess.
<Little.Trashmaid> It wasn't exactly poor.
<Little.Trashmaid> It's just that...
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, letting an AI become something more than it is supposed to be never ends without troubles.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Ha, that's your problem then.
<Little.Trashmaid> Using a direct interface to interact with AI is even worse.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: AI is a technological dead end.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It never ends well.
<Little.Trashmaid> Just look at the birdy. Sapphire Raven, i mean.
<Little.Trashmaid> She is coo-coo.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yeah. Well.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That's why I don't touch AI.
<Little.Trashmaid> Look at Joshua Hunt. He has metal hips.
<Little.Trashmaid> Look at Jeremy Hunter, Gwyn Archer, Audrey Hudson.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I don't know these names.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe at Kate Miller or Chris Dangen.
<Little.Trashmaid> Of course you don't. Guess why. *Shrugs audibly.*
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Look, Silverstone. I'd love to explain to you the intricacies of why flexible logic of machine-
<CV-Palantir> -learning artificial intelligence is never going to work properly, but we'd be here all day.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And maybe we can do that, but to be honest finding Fairchild and getting her to the Palantir is a bit of a bigger-
<CV-Palantir> -priority for me.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, you don't have to. I have a toaster talking to my head 24/7, i guess i can figure the flaws.
<Little.Trashmaid> So yeah. Suppose i'll try.
<Little.Trashmaid> But if it were me, err... Well, in best case you'd be troubled when i find you.
<Little.Trashmaid> As i was saying, i am not sure that's a good idea.
<Little.Trashmaid> But fine. At least that's promising, as a show.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I appreciate it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Jeez. I wonder if she'll even understand if i talk to her.
<Little.Trashmaid> And if she will try to shot me after, hah.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Your guess is as good as mine.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> And what if she doesn't?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Let's just hope she does.
<Little.Trashmaid> Should i actually seize her?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you manage that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: But I'd really rather this done gently and persuasively rather than by force.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs* If she'll be foolish enough to fight me, suppose i can snatch her without hurting her much.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Back when we worked together, she was one of the best pilots in Sirius.
<Little.Trashmaid> Unless she gets hurt from wrecking her ship, that is.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I'm sure you'll figure something out.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Anyway. Nice talking to you again.

<Little.Trashmaid> Oh hey, you are actually still here? That's some patience.
<Little.Trashmaid> Guess who is back.
<"Fairchild"> "Cannot go."
<Little.Trashmaid> Eh?
<Little.Trashmaid> Why?
<"Fairchild"> "Navigation impossible."
<Little.Trashmaid> Yeah, why?
<"Fairchild"> "Only eyes. No systems."
<Little.Trashmaid> Wha... what do you mean by that? Every ship has a sensor array or two.
<Little.Trashmaid> Did you break your thingy or something?
<"Fairchild"> "Navigation impossible, need guide."
<"Fairchild"> "Only eyes."
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> That's a bit sudden, but... want me to guide you back to New York?
<Little.Trashmaid> I've met your oddball buddy, he says he sort of wants you back.
<"Fairchild"> "I want to go back."
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm. Figured.
<Little.Trashmaid> Think you can follow me there?
<"Fairchild"> "Formation only. Cannot navigate with systems."
<Little.Trashmaid> Yep, sounds fine with me.
<Little.Trashmaid> Do you have cruise engines working?
<"Fairchild"> "Yes."
<Little.Trashmaid> So hey, the Oddball told me a story about you two.
<"Fairchild"> "Round, crystal, far seeing."
<Little.Trashmaid> Mhm. Oddball. How did you two even come to know each other?
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, before stuff happened.
<"Fairchild"> "Crystall ball is able to tell you."
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose so.
<Little.Trashmaid> Thought we may have a little talk on the way, but whatever. Bringing you to where i last met him, i suppose.
<"Fairchild"> "I want to say. I can not say."
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh, now when i think of it, he also gave me this... what was the name for that thingy...
<Little.Trashmaid> Memory-diamond-something. Does not look like we will need it this way, but i suppose you should have it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Some snacks, too.
<"Fairchild"> "Thank you."
<Little.Trashmaid> The diamond stuff is supposed to keep whatever you record on it. Might be useful sometimes.
<"Fairchild"> "I know."
<Little.Trashmaid> You seem to speak surprisingly better now, hey.
<Little.Trashmaid> So, what do you plan to do when you meet him?
<"Fairchild"> "Meet him. See what went wrong. Retry."
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh. Aren't you even a tiny bit angry?
<"Fairchild"> "Angry with me."
<Little.Trashmaid> With... yourself? You are funny. Why would you be?
<"Fairchild"> "Loss of control. Bad ideas."
<Little.Trashmaid> Yep. You -are- funny, afterall. Suppose i'll add you few points for that answer.
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, normally one would be scared, mad...
<Little.Trashmaid> Anything but willing to try again.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Oh good Lord.
<Little.Trashmaid> She landed on Trenton.
<Little.Trashmaid> Was surprisingly smooth. Almost felt like a trap.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes, yes.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I cannot thank you enough.
<Little.Trashmaid> No arguing, no attempts to run away, nothing.
<Little.Trashmaid> What did you do to have her that obedient?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: My God... I was so scared.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I have to see what happened.
<Little.Trashmaid> Eh, why?
<Little.Trashmaid> Not much to be scared about, really.
<Little.Trashmaid> Congrats on your reunion, i suppose.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes, yes...
<Little.Trashmaid> I guess i'd stalk some cuties while you are at it.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: "Thank you."
<Little.Trashmaid> Welcome.

<Kira.Walargo> Good day.
<Kira.Walargo> Taking a look at the other side of Manhatten? Considering it's rotating, I don't think the view is much different.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Oh, it's just a little more quiet on this side.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hey, Oddball.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Good day, Silverstone.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Greetings.
<Kira.Walargo> Probably true, although you still get the transmissions.
<Little.Trashmaid> Still celebrating your reunion, i see?
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Depends, have you got any alcohol?
<Little.Trashmaid> WOAH!
<Little.Trashmaid> She can talk now!
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Indeed.
<Little.Trashmaid> A proper sentence, that was a proper sentence!
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: When you use an AI language model with no proper nouns, it is quite hard to talk properly.
<Little.Trashmaid> Alcohol, alcohol... hell, i suppose there is some in those crates.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Also, I feel like I should thank you for getting me here.
<Little.Trashmaid> Aww, now you look a bit...
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, that was cute.
<Little.Trashmaid> Now you are less cute. I suppose.
<Little.Trashmaid> Wasn't that hard really, i wonder if there is anything to thank me for.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek.* I wonder if i will miss that weird part of you.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, even if the deed was not particularly great, the results are still very good.
<Little.Trashmaid> Good to see you are doing fine.
<Little.Trashmaid> So, what are your plans now?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well. Good question.
<Little.Trashmaid> Don't tell me you did not have any plans other than saving her.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That was the highest priority, of course.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: We should probably focus on rebuilding the Foundation.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh come on. I don't know, ask her for a date on some resort planet... huh?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes, with Avery's death and Forlorn's shattering, there isn't much left of it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Foundation?
<Kira.Walargo> Forlorn?
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: The Vergil Foundation.
<Kira.Walargo> And.. "shattering"?
<Little.Trashmaid> Don't tell me you are going to repeat Stenn's and Blueberry's thingy.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, perhaps too much of a poetic way to put it.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I was not around when Forlorn decided to disappear, you know.
<Little.Trashmaid> What's Vergil anyway? I don't think Blueberry ever told me about it.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: It's a brain-machine interface.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> I am... not sure what to think of it.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: It's not complicated, really.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* If you say so.
<Kira.Walargo> Just a few wires in your skull.
<Kira.Walargo> Hah.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not wires, nanites.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe you'll be of more use to me than Nicole was.
<Kira.Walargo> I'd rather try that on someone else first.
<Little.Trashmaid> Sometime.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Vergil is the only thing that really keeps me in touch with reality at this point.
<Kira.Walargo> Oh, of course, my bad. Nanites.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Speaking of, Miss Walargo.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Why did you seem surprised at my mentioning of Forlorn?
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose i'll be calling you Riddle for a while now.
<Kira.Walargo> Uh... hard to describe. That word means something, but I can't put my finger on it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Say, Riddle, how good is that nanites thingy?
<Little.Trashmaid> Or, rather, how finished is it? I might habe some use for it.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I was referring to Forlorn Hope, a mercenary group that was active a couple of years ago.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Vergil is quite finished.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: The whitepaper and technical spec is open-source and freely available on the Net.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh. Can it dig up one's memories, then?
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: As long as you have the appropriate materials, you are able to make your own.
<Kira.Walargo> Yeah, yeah... makes sense. They disappeared, then?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yeah. Well. At least I think so, I haven't heard from Stenn or the rest.
<Kira.Walargo> Stenn was the leader?
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Depends what you mean.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Seemed like one.
<Little.Trashmaid> He and Blueberry. His girlfriend.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: We haven't had much contact with them individually, Stenn was something of an interface between-
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean making one remember things one does not.
<CV-Palantir> -me and the rest.
<Kira.Walargo> Hm. Well, thanks. Maybe I'll figure out why that feels familiar.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Err...
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yes... somewhat.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Memories are a rather complicated beast, but it can extend your memory capability somewhat.
<Little.Trashmaid> No-no-no. I don't need to extend it.
<Little.Trashmaid> It is as extended as it gets, i suppose.
<Little.Trashmaid> I just need to sort up things that do not make sense and recall things i don't.
<Little.Trashmaid> Used to bother Nicole with that, but now she is not around.
<Kira.Walargo> You really wanna let some robots dig around in your brain?
<Little.Trashmaid> Why not?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, if you want to recover something that's from before you ingest Vergil, I'm afraid that's not possible.
<Kira.Walargo> I value my brain, I'd be in big trouble if it got damaged.
<Little.Trashmaid> Aww, hell. Like, really-really impossible?
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* Well, if anything, i suppose noone will miss me.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, I don't know of anything that would work, let's put it that way.
<Kira.Walargo> That might actually be true.
<Kira.Walargo> Maybe put in a custom order, you said you got enough cash.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh. Slightly more problematic than i hoped it to be.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Though, well.
<Little.Trashmaid> Suppose i still have a couple of billions, why?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Vergil is an open standard, if you can find capable programmers who can somehow use it to retrieve-
<Kira.Walargo> *She shrugs* Can't you use that to pay people to work it out?
<CV-Palantir> -memories from a mindmap, that might interest even me, because I don't know how such a thing could be done.
<Little.Trashmaid> Look, sweety. The only one i knew and wished to work with was Nicole Hunter.
<Little.Trashmaid> Egg-heads of her scale don't just grow on trees, you know.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: I would caution against dealing with Cardamine-infested scum.
<Little.Trashmaid> She wasn't a scum, though?
<Kira.Walargo> *She chuckles* I'm not familiar with her.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Except with tachyon to the face.
<Little.Trashmaid> Aww, we tried to kill each other a couple of times. But we grew bigger than that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Besides, i am not into killing.
<Kira.Walargo> In any case, you can either use that cash to figure out who could solve the problem and pay them to solve it, or you can just-
<Kira.Walargo> sit on the problem that seems to bother you so much.
<Little.Trashmaid> Been bothering me for a while, really. So i am sort of used to it and not in any kind of hurry.
<Kira.Walargo> Fair enough.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Also, not to rain on anyone's parade, but we can't make any Vergil nodes at the minute.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hmm.
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, whatever. Do you know a... hell, how do you even call those people?
<Little.Trashmaid> Brain-doctors?
<Little.Trashmaid> That kind of a person.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Neuroscientists.
<Little.Trashmaid> Yep.
<Little.Trashmaid> Do you know any?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I only really know myself.
<Kira.Walargo> Oh, that's a lot of Rheinbeer!
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: I remember one from the Foundation days called Regis. Nerva Regis. I'm not sure if he's around anymore.
<Kira.Walargo> I'm sure they are.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek once more.* Suppose it's easier for me to find a way to use it than to look for yet another Nicole,
<Little.Trashmaid> afterall. Surroundings seem to run dry on Nicoles anyway.
<Little.Trashmaid> And no, i'd rather not work with Nerva, if possible.
<Little.Trashmaid> Neither this one, nor Hans-Von-Something, nor... well, you get the idea.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Never heard of that other one.
<Little.Trashmaid> I prefer those who are allergic to tentacles, thank you.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, I mean...
<Kira.Walargo> Hello there.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In terms of neuroscience and microbiology, you would be hard pressed to find a scientist with more experience than myself.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I am /fairly/ certain that with the current understanding of the human brain, the operation you're interested in
<CV-Palantir> -is not quite possible.
<Little.Trashmaid> You are too young to know, sweety. But if you are really interested, look for "KNF-113th-cutie-and-a-squid" on neuralnet.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: /However/ if you found an expert in AI, you might be able to construct a model that analyses a brainmap retrieved from-
<CV-Palantir> -Vergil and derives something meaningful from it.
<Little.Trashmaid> No-no-no-no-no.
<Little.Trashmaid> Very no.
<Little.Trashmaid> No experts in AIs any more, thank you.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Hm?
<Little.Trashmaid> I have enough problems with my own toaster, no need to add another one.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Not every AI is the same, you know.
<Little.Trashmaid> That's what she... IT says.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, call it what you like, AI, machine learning, neural network algorithm...
<Little.Trashmaid> So yeah.
<Little.Trashmaid> I'd rather work with human beings.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hell, ain't i picky.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: You seem to have a rather science-fiction understanding of what AI is.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: I don't believe Nik is talking about a general AI with a language model like your on-board secretary.
<Little.Trashmaid> Look, it's hardly a laughing matter, but i had one run away from me back when i retired.
<Little.Trashmaid> AND it took my whole damn cruiser along.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I was not tallking about that kind of AI.
<Little.Trashmaid> So no, no more AIs.
<Little.Trashmaid> I have a messed up and moody flight assistance system here, and it's more than enough troubles already.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Your loss.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe. But i had Nicole trying to fix that thing.
<Little.Trashmaid> And after that it's even more problematic than it is technically supposed to be.
<Little.Trashmaid> So yeah.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You could just turn it off, you know.
<Little.Trashmaid> That's what i thought, too. Turned off lifesupports, comms and pretty much everything onboard along with it.
<Little.Trashmaid> Damn spacesuit servos, too.
<Little.Trashmaid> Why does it even have any access to my spacesuit servos?!
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Eh, corporate software.
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, maybe.
<Little.Trashmaid> And after i did that and grabbed a smaller craft - the damn thing kept following me -
<Little.Trashmaid> for a whole day, Playing a buzzer non-stop.
<Little.Trashmaid> So yeah, suppose i can call it childhood trauma.
<Little.Trashmaid> Imagine you former craft, following your new ship and buzzing.
<Little.Trashmaid> Till you board it again.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: To be clear, AI in its basic meaning is nothing like what you're dealing with.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And it might be the solution to your problem.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In fact, as far as I can tell, it might be the only solution to your problem.
<Little.Trashmaid> How's that even supposed to work, then?
<Little.Trashmaid> Like, in your opinion.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, all right. This might take a moment to explain, but bear with me.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Conventional, algorithmic programming is concerned with using a mapping to find outputs for given inputs.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Machine learning is concerned with using inputs and outputs to find a mapping for given inputs.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: In simple terms, it means creating a model that can understand a particular kind of input and a particular kind of output.
<Little.Trashmaid> So, you are saying, your daily onboard AI is supposed to do B when you press A.
<Little.Trashmaid> Maybe a complex B for a complex A.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you feed it enough data, it will eventually be able to more-or-less accurately predict an output for a given input.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That's what specialised AI is for.
<Little.Trashmaid> And what if someone programs it to... well, do stuff?
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: That's what we, in the business, call a "big no-no".
<Little.Trashmaid> You know, corporate guys, private military engineers, anything.
<Little.Trashmaid> Eh? How so?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: AI models are ultimately based on probability.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And the probability is never 100%.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* Suppose my toaster never acted the way you describe, then.
<Little.Trashmaid> But what of it? And what am i supposed to do with it?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: What do you mean?
<Little.Trashmaid> Exactly wha i asked.
<Little.Trashmaid> What am i supposed to do with my junk in that case?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Are we talking about your broken onboard AI or your memories now. I stopped following.
<Little.Trashmaid> It runs all of the toys i own. And i don't think it acts like what you described.
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, both, why not. You seem to be a scientist, so do science?
<Little.Trashmaid> My memory is one thing, my property is another.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: As for the AI, buy a new ship. Preferably one that's not powered by corporate software.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well... That.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* Blocks my access to bank account each time i try to do that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And, as for the memories, the path I would pursue would be to find someone versed in programming machine learning-
<CV-Palantir> -models.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: So, if you recall what I said what machine learning is, it's using inputs and outputs to find a mapping.
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, i can technically get some actual cash and try to buy a new ship. But i should leave the old one somewhere.
<Little.Trashmaid> Last time i did the thingy ran and followed me.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Inputs are raw brainmaps from Vergil at any given moment, outputs are feeds from the interfaces that you-
<CV-Palantir> -are expecting to get. So like, if the memory you need to find is what you saw in a given moment, you'd correlate-
<CV-Palantir> -the mindmaps with feed from your eyes that Vergil can capture and save as regular data. Like photos, essentially.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You feed those through the model and eventually you'll be able to map stuff that you don't remember.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: At least that's how I would go about that.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh. *Sighs.* Suppose i need a more practical example to understand it properly.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, the high-school-course example in modelling machine learning AIs is recognition of handwriting.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You create a model that is fed /known/ pictures of digits along with the information what that digit is.
<Little.Trashmaid> That's simple, i can understand that much.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: So a picture of a crudely drawn six is your input, and the literal number six is your output.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You feed those enough, eventually the model will be able to accurately predict handwriting that you haven't given-
<CV-Palantir> -it previously.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Substitute the handwriting for a mindmap and the digits for raw pictures or sounds, and you get a model that-
<Little.Trashmaid> But what if i have no idea of what would the proper input or output be?
<CV-Palantir> -can, in theory, predict memories from mindmaps.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, you'd need a machine learning expert to help you figure that out, I'm not one.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh. Even if i do not remember anything past a certain point in the past?
<Little.Trashmaid> Jeez. So i -will- need another Nicole, afterall.
<Little.Trashmaid> That's problematic.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: I mean, there is also a possibility that it's just not there.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you underwent some kind of electroshock therapy or other barbaric practice of that sort that wiped a part of your brain
<CV-Palantir> then that's that.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You can't make something out of nothing, that's the domain of the divine.
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek.* Well, that might be it, but...
<Little.Trashmaid> Ah, no point in thinking about it too much if can't do a thing.
<Little.Trashmaid> What about the property stuff, then? Selling it would be the only option?
<Little.Trashmaid> I mean, those are nice crafts and i am sort of used to my toys.
<Little.Trashmaid> It's just that they sometimes act weird.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: That's how using proprietary software ends.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: You're at the mercy of whoever sold it to you to fix it.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: If you can't find them or they're out of business, you're out of luck.
<Little.Trashmaid> Well, it wasn't really "sold", but still...
<Little.Trashmaid> Na-ah, i'd rather not go and start looking for the developers.
<Little.Trashmaid> Sounds more of a problem than what i already have.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: That's somewhat of a reason why Cryer still tries to hunt us down.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Scratches his cheek.* Stalemate, i suppose. A stalemate that somehow sits nicely within me.
<Little.Trashmaid> Oh? What did you do?
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Well, Vergil was originally a Cryer-Ageira joint venture.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Or rather, it originated in a subsidiary of Cryer called Wisp Innovations. And Ageira was brought on board.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Long story short, they wanted to keep it closed down. I figured that'd be quite disastrous and I did not want that-
<Little.Trashmaid> Huh.
<CV-Palantir> -responsibility.
<Little.Trashmaid> Means we both snatched our things somewhere.
<Little.Trashmaid> Hah!
<CV-Palantir> Nik: When Wisp was took over by Cryer, I deleted their backups and took the code with me to finish it on my own.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: And with the Foundation's help we released it into the wild. Sort of.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: It still requires some specialised material to manufacture, but the underlying hardware schematics,-
<CV-Palantir> -firmware and basic software is free and open source.
<Little.Trashmaid> Does not matter much when you don't know what to do with it, i suppose.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Well, Vergil is why I can talk again.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Granted, it was also the reason why I could not talk for a while, but bygones.
<CV-Palantir> Nik: Yeah, I'm still not a hundred percent sure how I feel about that.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Shrugs audibly.* I still find that weird manner of speech cute and miss it.
<Little.Trashmaid> But yeah, good to know you are all better now.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Wire a crappy BT-2 language model to the constellation AI and you can get one all on your own.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: For me it was torture, so I'm glad it's over now.
<Little.Trashmaid> *Yawns* Well, suppose i'll take a nap now and get back to stalking you two a bit later.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: Enjoy.
<Little.Trashmaid> Take care, don't do anything way too weird.
<CV-Palantir> Fairchild: And thanks again for getting me out of Delta.
<Little.Trashmaid> Was nothing, really. Welcome.