Gunther nodded, to both Hex5's holographic eye and Jasmine, then chuckled at the latter's comment, "Oh, that's not anything new for me. I got my start in with more mechanical things and that realm has its share of brain-benders too. I once worked in a nano-lab, it get's pretty weird when you make a rectangular metal rod so small is won't stay rectangular."
"Bah, you likely don't want to hear about that. Hex5, miss Jasmine, what about processing requests that have no correct answer? A question we would say is subjective or a matter of opinion. Something without probabilities giving an edge to one outcome or the other, where there might be engineering trade-offs that have to be chosen from."
Joao and Catalina were both doing their best to keep abreast of the conversation, sometimes with a smiling glance to one another. They were both used to Gunther and his toys. Overall, both the captain and the executive officer were intelligent enough to understand the main points, if not the details as Gunther, Jasmine and Hex5 continued.
"Well, in that case, Hex5 takes the outcome that ensures the least conflict or damage, whether it be structural or human life. However, sometimes these laws don't apply...to the Royalists, for example."
Jasmine walked as she talked, examining the cable connections around the room and working at the console, generally keeping herself busy. She seemed to find it easier to think when she moved, and didn't enjoy having idle hands. This was a girl who worked for fun.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Gunther grunted in a laughing sort of way, "I can understand that. There's a few choice groups we'd like as make the same exception for." Gunther shadowed Jasmine, following her hands and her eyes, trying to see what she saw; he tried to note what he could, how many connections, what gauge connections and so on.
"Excuse my looking Ms. Estelle, I'm just curious to see as much of Hex5 as possible. How do you ensure he has enough storage for all the data he brings in? And how have you been able to provide connections fast enough to carry all that data at peak load from all those drones?," the chief engineer said, numbers spinning through his head. Each drone like as not had some operational independence, but Hex5 was controlling all of it, based on a truly massive amount of sensor data. And all this was being decided upon by drawing on a database Gunther couldn't really begin to conceptualize the size of in numbers.
Catalina also decided to speak up, "Perhaps a less technical question, and I mean to imply nothing by this. Why show us all this? It's incredible, I can think of many uses for this type of construction ability. But if people know about it you lose your advantage do you not? Of course we'll keep anything you wish confidential on our honour, but in general, why trust us unknown freelancers?"
Joao raised an eyebrow at the question. It was blunt for Catalina, usually the one person on The Diomedes that had a knack for subtlety. But then, it was phrased innocently, her tone conveying purely interest rather than real questioning. There was a reason she handled the politics.
Jasmine looked up at Gunther first. "While the technology we have here is Sirian, some of it is Gallic. The coding is a mix of minds from me and my sisters, it is advanced even for Gallia. The data stream would be massive, but at such a short distance, its a lot easier to manage...You shipped us at least a tonne of optronics, this node is just the start. We could easily expand it if we needed to."
She then pondered the second question, seeming stymied for the first time since she'd met them. "I never really considered it before. But the advantage is not secrecy. They know of my drones, it does not mean they know of their capabilities. Underestimation is the key to success in such a game...Both military and commercially. For instance...Hex5. Pod 4, Release."
One of the guard drones slid from a hole in the floor, activating immediately. "It seems docile, does it not?" She waved over the abstract-looking white metal body, before saying one word. "Engaged" She muttered, and suddenly the drone hunkered down, its legs compresing to become heavier jointed, and the two strange protrusions where the arms would be slid outward. One side appeared to be a pack of grenades, lined up in a circular fashion, whereas the other appeared to be a high-powered cannon of some sort. A previously hidden panel in the chest slid open, revealing a large gattling gun that folded out to face straight ahead. "The most docile things can hide deadly weapons. This is the secret that our advantage lies in...but, ah, this is only a minor advantage. The most powerful weapon is having such a massive workforce contained within a single entity." She said a line in french, and the drone went back into standby, the lethal weaponry folding back into the seemingly simple machine.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Gunther grunted his approval, still running his ice-blue eyes over all the components in the control room.
Joao almost chuckled with the guard drone's demonstration, reacting with slight surprise but also approval, "Now that could be a useful thing. And your tactics make sense, it's much more difficult to hide something completely than to downplay. And the single control interface is, at it's core simplicity and control. An awesome advantage to have."
Catalina nodded her approval, shooting Joao a slight look; she had been about to respond when Joao began speaking. For now though, he has said the bulk of what she had in mind.
Jasmine smiled at their approval. "There is much to do, however." She said, tapping at a console. Immediately, the small lights on the room's camera drones winked out, and they gently floated to the floor. "With the ability to think for himself and change himself, Hex5 can operate freely of me and mine...I know he will never betray me, it is the one code he cannot change, but we need to be able to monitor Hex5 actively. We've yet to devise a way to do so."
She turned the cameras back on, and they went about their business. "Though recently i've heard of something that could be useful in Sirius, called holo-tainment headbands or somesuch...Have you heard of such a thing, mes amis? And before I forget, your ship has logs of Sirian commodity lists, does it not?
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Joao answered Jasmine's questions, "Tainment-bands yes. I've seen them for sale here and there in Sirius. They're not too common, but not rare either. And yes, we have commodity lists. I won't say they're complete, far from it. I have too many enemies to get you a list of all Sirius, but between The Diomedes and my own fighter there are a good number of stops logged. Mostly house space, the lower Omicrons and Omegas."
"Ah. Good. Well, any time you can, I'll need Cinq-centaine (//five hundred//) units of Holotainment bands...This is optional, whenever you have the time. If you don't mind, though, would I be able to download the commodity lists from your vessel?"
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Joao smiled, "I'll get you those 500 units Ms. Estelle. I'll either bring in two loads off The Diomedes, or I'm sure I can find myself a transport vessel to bring it all at once. You said there is no rush, so I'll take my time and be sure to find a quality supplier in Sirius."
"Also, I'll upload our commodity lists for you. There's nothing secret in them anyway. Just let me know the best way to connect to your system."
Jasmine looks at Hex5, and nods once. The orb immediately disappears, the dull red light disappearing to leave the room in the cool white light. "Hex-Cinq can access your ship's drive directly, now that you've confirmed it. He'll retrieve the files himself, unless you'd prefer to upload them to the Neural yourself later."
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.