More than One Way to Skin a Cat

The site of the recently restored Braddock Lighthouse. Aircraft hangars and other X-Men facilities, including a Cerebra unit and the Danger Room have been constructed around the foundations of the lighthouse.

More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:11 pm

Cam had spent several days tinkering in the lab.

The problem, as he saw it, was two-fold. He had to interact with Nailah's power itself, and that was easier said than done. If she shot beams of prediction out of her hands, that'd be easy, but it was entirely an internal process. Now, Cam wasn't a telepath himself, but it struck him that the X-Men already had a way to monitor someone's mental patterns. The modern Cebera wouldn't work -- too stationary, too liquidy. The old-school Cebrero wouldn't really work, either -- it was far too powerful for what was required of it, for one, and too fragile -- one good smack upside the head with a 2-by-4 and the entire thing would go kaput -- but it was a starting point.


Which is why he had commendeered an equestrian sport-helmet and started welding and supergluing shit to it -- just for a prototype, you understand. The resulting monstrosity -- with antennae, digital readouts, switches and levers and buttons would not win any prizes for fashion or, for that matter, comfort -- the interior had three metal buttons, essentially, sticking inside that would rest somewhat uncomfortably on the subject's head -- but for a first-draft, it could have been worse. With the helmet, Cam was hoping to monitor Nailah's power's reaction, and translate that data into some sort of output framework for analysis. Wires and cables connected it to a bank of computers -- Cam assumed they weren't being used for anything -- and then into a laptop.


The second part of the problem was defining what was "good" and what was "bad", and that's the other aspect he hoped to test today.


With all that in mind, he paged Nailah to the lab, sat, and waited.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:47 pm

It doesn't take long for Nailah to show up, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She eyes the controlled chaos of various things rigged together and looks suitably impressed. Sure, it looks a bit ramshackle, but as far as she's concerned that's exactly what prototypes are supposed to look like. "Dang... you put all this together in just a couple days?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:45 pm

"Actually, I put it together in about half an hour. I did research for a couple of days so I knew what it was I was putting together."

He picked up the helmet and hefted it. "This is not going to be a final design at all, because I'm pretty sure it can't stand up to most focused blasts. But it's good enough for now.

It monitors the neurons in your brain and graphs the resulting brainwaves -- so we can get some kind of charting of what your brain does when you use your power. We can use that data to start coming up with a baseline as to positive and negative results. I also have some questions I want to ask you and monitor your brainwaves; those middling edge cases that don't have obvious right or wrong answers.

Go ahead, try it on, see how it fits."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:57 pm

Nailah picks up the contraption and carefully puts it on her head. "As long as it's not gonna electrocute me." she chuckles.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Wed Jun 21, 2017 10:54 pm

"There may be a spark or two as everything powers up. That won't be present in a finished product, of course."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Jun 22, 2017 7:15 am

"That doesn't sound particularly safe." she says, but makes no motion to take the thing off or anything.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:48 pm

"Science is rarely safe. You have to take risks to get where you're going."

Cam looked over at his monitor, and saw a thin line of data begin to roll in.

"OK. Allright, you see this green line? That's representing X-Gene related mental activity. Normally, that'd be telepathic output, but for you, we're trying to measure how your power works.

So..." he said, standing there awkwardly.

"Do...do the thing. You CAN just do a thing, right? We don't have to wait for the moon to line up or for someone to try punching you or something, yeah?"
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Jun 22, 2017 6:43 pm

"Oh yeah. Lemme try to think of something simple..." she closes her eyes and starts sprinting further into the room. Any time a console or strewn about stuff is in her way she somehow manages to step around it or jump at just the right moment to soar over it. As she does Cam's display lights up with activity. First bit of a baseline and then, everytime she executes a maneuver there's a spike in activity with an unique pattern to it. The actual signal looks similar to telepathic waves in some ways, but they're much more narrow. If regular telepathy is a spectrum, this is a single focused wavelength originating from seemingly thin air.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sat Jun 24, 2017 1:09 am

"Interesting," Cam said, scratching his chin as the data came in.

He watched Nailah running around the room like a crazy person. He then picked up his half-eaten cruller and threw it at her as she ran around.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:10 pm

Nailah is in the middle of jumping over a workbench and mid-jump suddenly pushes her foot down against the edge of the bench, going into a backflip to avoid the thrown pastries by mere inches. She doesn't even seem to notice.

The read-out doesn't differ at all during this. Whatever chain of events her power set into motion seems to have already anticipated he was going to do that.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Mon Jun 26, 2017 6:51 pm

"Interesting. VERY interesting," Cam said. "Disturbing, if it was able to predict a spontaneous unplanned interruption; says some nasty things about free will there and predetermination.

Try something else. Switch your power to something less...runny-aroundy. I want to see if the wavelenghths remain similar, or if they're different for every kind of action."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:04 pm

"Okay. Uhm... Oh, I know. Wǒ zhǐshì yòng zhōngwén shuō xiē shénme." she says, with horrible pronunciation and a completely wrong rhythm to it. The signal stops briefly, shows a very broad surge that quickly narrows into a signal like the one before, although this one cuts out quickly once she stops talking.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:19 pm

"And that means..." Cam said, gesturing with his hands.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:34 pm

Nailah shrugs. "No idea."

Now that she isn't using her power anymore the signal falls back to regular brain activity and idles at almost exactly half of what it had been when she was using her power.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:16 am

"Huh. You hear voices in your head or anything? Any history of dissociative identity disorder? Depersonalization? Ever enter some sort of fugue state or suffer from psychogenic amnesia?" he said, scrolling through the wave patterns and making notes in...some sort of script Nailah wasn't familiar with. Not English letters, at any rate.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:17 pm

"Uh... No, no, don't think so, not entirely sure what that is but I'm gonna go with no. I just get... deja-vus about what to do or how."
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Thu Jun 29, 2017 7:28 pm

"Hhhhrmmmm. Well, you're using a lot more brain activity when your powers go off, see? Here, here and here?" he said, pointing to the monitor at (apparently) random points. "If you could use that extra mental capacity in regular life, you'd be on to something there. As it is, I suppose it's good enough for what you do."

He scribbled some more notes down. "Hrm, alright, that...that spike seems to...yes, and then if we...of course..." he mused, ignoring Nailah for a moment. "It's really a probabilistic wave function, isn't it? Well, swings and roundabouts; less precise but easier to chart. I bet a probability manipulator would mess you right up though; probably give you a massive headache too, yeah?"
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:02 pm

"There's a couple people who screw me up just by... kinda being around, yeah!" she says, glad to be able to understand something of what Cam is rattling off.
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:36 pm

"Right. That makes almost too much sense.

Your power, essentially, homes in on a desired result and guides you through the proper steps to effect probability until it happens. It's flexible -- able to adapt to events as they occur -- but that also means, with our one-directional viewpoint of time, it's impossible to get an exact fix on the chronological or temporal instabilities..."

Cam trailed off at Nailah's blank expression.

"...Basically, the further out an objective is, the less accurate anything I give you will be. Long-term planning has lots of variables; short-term goals have fewer things that can go wrong. So, anything I give you won't be a "Yes, this is good" or "No, this is bad" -- it'll be more, like, "this is probably good, 50%, 60%, 84%, and so on, getting more accurate as you go along the path, right?"
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:12 pm

"Well... that's still better than nothing, right?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:52 pm

"Of course it is, don't be ridiculous. I just wish we could have a little more fine-tuned proficiency, but that would require...additional work..." he said, vaguely.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sat Jul 01, 2017 8:44 pm

"What do you mean with additional work?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:33 pm

"It would require a more hands-on look at how your cerebellum actually processes this information, and I don't think I could do that and still deliver you a functional prototype, in the sense that there may not be a you to deliver a prototype to."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:38 pm

"Wait what? What's a cerebellum?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:05 pm

"The part of your brain at the back of your skull. It controls and regulates muscular activity, which is what allows you to make those split-second adjustments before you even realize you need to do them -- the signal must be routed, at least in part, through there. The activity in your frontal lobe is, by comparison, slower and easier to chart."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:12 pm

"And why's that... Wait, you don't literally mean hands-on, do you?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sun Jul 02, 2017 11:24 pm

"The best way to learn, in my experience.

If you're interested, I do have an idea in mind that could create a temporary digital backup just in case of any accidents, and it's really hard to find volunteers."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:26 am

"Uhm... No kidding. That sounds kinda dangerous. And not in the fun way, more in the..." she stops herself before she says 'mad science way' and instead says "...dead and trapped in a computer after a crazy accident way."
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Mon Jul 03, 2017 6:04 pm

"You could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Life is dangerous! People you thought you knew could turn out to be other people altogether. If you're not moving forward, you're falling backwards.

But nevermind that! Important science can wait for another today. Now we need to figure out the edge cases."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:41 pm

"Right! How do we do that? You said you had some kinda test? Is it like an exam or more like a test at the doctor's office?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:45 pm

"There are a couple ways to do this, but no -- it's really more a series of scenarios. Questions, really. Without a right or wrong answer -- kind of a Rorschach test for the ethos, as it were.

I have a whole file of 'em; psychologists love rattling through them. You hear them enough times, you get to know what they 'want' you to say, and then you parrot that back to them, but if we're going to do this right, it's important to know that there are no wrong answers to any of this. I'll ask the questions, explaining the scenarios, and you tell me what you feel is morally right. That way, I can adjust the eventual search parameters to better match your specific definition of moral outcomes."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:27 am

"Alright, no trying to ace the test, got it. I guess that also means no using my power on it?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:08 am

"Would your power even work? They're just questions; I'm not actually going to kidnap people and put them into elaborate Sophie's choice death traps."
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:11 pm

"I dunno. It works on most things. I could ask it to ace the test."
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:37 am

"But there's nothing to ace. There's no right or wrong answers," Cam said, confused.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:35 am

"Oh. Right. Well it could still work out the best possible way! But then if I use my power to tune my power then... how's it getting sorted out in the first place and maybe it'll all be off cause... okay you know what, I'll just answer them normally."
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sat Jul 08, 2017 5:08 am

"Good. It was beginning to sound like your head would explode," Cam smirked.

"Are you familiar with the trolley problem?"
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:16 pm

"Maybe..." she says. She was starting to feel kinda stupid next to Cam. "Okay, no." she adds after a moments pause during which she realizes that a yes or no question isn't really something she can be coy about.
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Cam Beckett » Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:14 pm

"Simple situation.

You're standing by some trolley tracks. A streetcar is going out of control --going too fast, lost it's breaks, etc. If you do nothing, it will go and crash into five tourists, killing them all.

You're standing next to a lever, however. You can pull it, and it will divert the trolley onto a second track, away from the people.

Do you pull the lever?"

He went back to his monitors, and took out a pen, preparing to take notes.
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Re: More than One Way to Skin a Cat

Postby Nailah Weaver » Sun Jul 09, 2017 6:09 pm

"Well yeah, obviously!"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

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