Sixty-Fourth Theory [Action/Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

((First part is backdated to yesterday, November 10.))

[Would it really be so difficult for John's droids to just bring Don home?]

[Apparently, because they instead leave him in a side room of the barracks. On their way out, they drop his journal on the floor, just beyond his reach.]

[He can't feel his legs.]

[He woke up this way on John's table, and while part of his brain tried to assess the situation rationally and offer the mitigating factors that it's just for a week, thank goodness he didn't get this as his death loss, the rest of his brain was screaming too loudly to notice or care.]

[And now he's back in the village, half-paralyzed, still uncertain of his speech, and completely alone.]

[It takes a while, but he pulls himself together, drags himself a few feet across the floor, and painstakingly constructs a filter in the journal.]

Voice to Beast | Unhackable

Help. The barracks. Please...

[He closes the book when he's done. Beast won't get any reply from him through the journals, but will find him prone on the floor of the barracks, just wanting to go home.]



Voice for Everyone, November 11

[By the next day, Don has rediscovered his voice, and wants everyone else to hear it too. Being couchbound, he has nothing better to do than broadcast his every thought over the journal system.]

EVERYONE. Citizens, denizens, residents and inmates of our village of Luceti. Those of you who have just arrived, please find adequate shelter, because this is miserable weather to be out in. You're fortunate, though, to have missed our recent tornado. Also an infestation of ghosts and some messy business involving zombie viruses. Never a dull moment. I advise reading the guide, which can be found in your journal.

Those of you who are already jaded by such events, please entertain yourselves on this dreary day by suggesting a topic of interest: a fascinating subject, an intriguing project, or a hypothetical occurrence that you would find truly surprising. Jokes and stories are also welcome.

[He'll stop there. Finding words is still difficult and tiring, and like exercising any other faculty that hasn't been used in a while, he should take it slowly. Full recovery will come from patient practice, not from exhausting himself all at once.]


((Initial action is locked to Beast. Friends of Don are welcome to handwave hearing of his return and come visit, yesterday afternoon or any time during the week. Today's voice post is open to all.))

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

L- Likewise, Mr. Spock. [He feels like such a dork when he says that, and at the same time SO COOL.]

[spohkh]

[Spock cannot help but be curious about this being...]

Are there more like you here in Luceti?

[i_speak_softly]

[Did you really have to bring that up?]

Not right now.

[spohkh]

[Spock can obviously see that he has upset Donatello...]

My apologies Mister Donatello, I was merely curious and did not mean to upset you. Perhaps you would be amenable to meeting in person?

[i_speak_softly]

[Would he be amenable to meeting in person. Ffff.]

I can't walk right now, but you're welcome to come over.

[spohkh]

Very well, if you inform me of your location, I can be there momentarily.

[Spock is actually eager to meet Donatello in person...]

[i_speak_softly]

House 55. It's south of the village.

You can tell your housemate to get involved if you want. XD haha

[spohkh]

Very well, I will be there momentarily.

[The screen goes blank...

Donatello does not have to wait long before there is a polite sounding knock on the door.]

He will be delighted

[i_speak_softly]

[Some muted shouting:]

Anata, can you get that?

[The door should be opened momentarily.]

Indubitably!

[semper_cogitans]

[Sorry about the delay, Spock.

The door opens, to the tune of one very nervous-looking man.]

Erm...

... S-Salutations... [He dips his head respectfully once and ushers Spock inside, to where Don is sitting on the couch. The Turtle is probably visible from the doorway.]

~sorry about the late reply folks!

[spohkh]

[Spock bows his head in politeness and steps inside.]

Greetings, I am Spock. [He looks at Donatello then back at the man who let him in... ]

May I inquire as to your name?

[Spock looks to Donatello again...] Why are you not able to stand?

Ami says I should reply first |D;

[semper_cogitans]

[At least he's nice and formal. This sets Robert at ease, if only slightly.]

My name is... P-Professor Robert Alexander Hastings...

[... He realizes just how long it's been since he's said that. It almost feels surreal, even though it seems as practised as ever.]

It is... g-good to meet you...

[As for the rest, he'll let Don answer for himself.]

XD

[spohkh]

[Spock bows his head..]

It is well to make your acquaintance Professor Hastings. I am Spock.

[i_speak_softly]

[As for the other question:] Side effect. Should be temporary.

[spohkh]

That is most unfortunate Mister Donatello. [Spock steps closer to the turtle on the couch.]

I must admit that I have never met one such as yourself before. It is well to see you in person.

[Spock turns to the Professor again...]

May I inquire as to what you are professor of?

[semper_cogitans]

[Safe topic. A good topic, really.]

Ah... I am, or, er, w-was, formally employed as... an a-astrobiologist.

[He's honestly not sure if he should define the term yet, mostly because he doesn't want to be presumptuous, but it's hard to make out Spock's expressions. In fact, he doesn't seem to have much visible body language at all... not that Robert is particularly good at reading it in the first place, but Spock's expression is very noticeably... blank.]

[spohkh]

Indeed? This is most fortuitous. I am quite familiar with that area of study. [Spock won't get into all the degrees and doctorates he has...] I serve on board a space-faring vessel for an organization called Starfleet.
[Spock glances at Donatello who seems to be grinning quite broadly....] You have not familiarized him with the show?

[i_speak_softly]

I've tried. He's from 2332 and can't get past the historical inaccuracies.

[semper_cogitans]

[He's just going to look sheepish now.]

... I... did n-not expect to, er, s-speak to you so soon... [In retrospect, though, he probably should've expected it.]

[spohkh]

[Spock raises an eyebrow... 2332? Fascinating.]

May I ask for an example of what technologies you are used to dealing with?

[Time to get nerdy....]

[i_speak_softly]

[This is going to be the best conversation ever. Don settles in and listens avidly.]

oh you guys and making me make up technology :'[

[semper_cogitans]

[Indeed, it is going to be the best conversation ever. Robert brightens significantly.]

Ah - I h-have an example here in Luceti, actually. If you... wished to s-see it.

[In fact, it's not too far away, on the table close to Don where he was doing a little work earlier. Robert crosses the short distance to the table, picks it up, and presents the little computer proudly to Spock. About fifteen centimetres long, and half that wide, the rounded-edged nanocomputer certainly looks like something out of science fiction.]

... Th-This is... my nanocomputer, a standard-issue quantum computer... b-built primarily for scientific purposes. Nanocomputers come in thousands of... v-varieties, for different purposes... s-some are significantly smaller or l-larger than this, though quantum computers are... r-rarely very large. Most computers here are... e-easily double their size...

~I lurv tech. XD

[spohkh]

Fascinating. [Spock observes the device....] I have always been intrigued with the use of "superposition," where infinitesimal objects such as individual electrons or atoms can exist in two or more places at once, or spin in opposite directions at the same time.

The ability to calculate every possible on-off combination at the same time, making this technology significantly faster than conventional data processing.
A common use would be code-breaking correct? I realize it has a multitude of uses, however...forgive me, I have been living with a thief for the last six weeks.

[Spock takes his PADD out of his bag and shows it to the professor.] This is a similar concept device. However, the purpose for this particular device is rather simple... My more 'complex' technology are in the lab....

[i_speak_softly]

[Don listens to the two men geeking out, and decides not to interrupt yet.]

[He is reminded, though, that he may still have a tricorder lying around somewhere.]

So do I, admittedly |D; I just end up having to make up things /shot

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert nods at this.] Quantum n-nanocomputers on Terra generally use... the spin of individual e-electrons in order to codify bit states, but... some have used other f-factors, if I recall c-correctly...

... Additionally, not all nanocomputers are... quantum-based. Though qu-quantum computing is... certainly the standard, there are also o-optical computers, and even a few b-biological computers operating at the level of genetic code in several h-highly specialized applications and fields, such as... computers to test i-individual genes in bacteriology s-studies.

[... Okay, that PADD looks fascinating, and Robert definitely wants to study it more closely.]

... Wh-What is this device for, if... if I may ask...?