Meeting Sylvia - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
20/8/477
Log
Sally passes through the door, lightning coming on as she enters, bathing the room in the flickering light of fire math. Perched on a pedestal in the middle of the otherwise mostly empty room is a single egg shaped object. A creator communicator. "That," she says, directing towards it. "We need to know what it can do, without actually doing anything. They're all tied together, we know that, so if we get reckless, it will be noticed, and they'll want it back."
The tiger stares for a moment at the device. "Should I ask how you got this?" Fenris asks, "Or am I better off not knowing?" Without waiting for an answer, he steps up to the pedestal and chants one of the most fundamental of the machine priest mantras. "Run local diagnostic code delta seven gamma," he intones, "Show data on alpha display!"
The device makes an affirmative beep, then fires a thin line at Fenris, running rapidly from his feet to his head. A soft and friendly voice, female, speaks, "Unknown user, Nya. Please offer passphrase or override credentials."
Sally raises a brow, then leans in to whisper, "I'll be just outside." And excuses herself, lest she mess up the thing with an inadvertent sneeze or other misstep.
Fenris hesitates a moment, nods to Sally, then resumes chanting. "New user," he says, slipping out of the chanting mode now that he is on his own, "Request user's manual." He had found out weeks ago that the chants were really just a memory aid for certain passwords, but he did not really want to guess at a Creator's password without a little more thought.
"Nya!" says the voice in a strange imitation of a house cat. "It's nice to meet you. What is your name? I wasn't told you expect you, so you will be treated as a guest. I love guests!" Much more cheerful than most techs as well.
Huh. This might be fun after all! Not often that Fenris got to practice SPEAKING Creator talk. "Register new user Sam Spade," he says, referencing an ancient Creator legend, "I am happy to be a guest."
"Nice to meet you Sam. Do you want to set a secret password? If you see Wide Tail, please remind him to have me inspected in exactly [Translates to 2 years and some odd days]."
Fenris nods at the machine spirit's response and tries to make his words more conversational. This thing was very different from anything he had seen in the Church vaults. "I will do that," Fenris says, "Set my secret password as A Light In The Dark." He thinks a moment, then asks, "What should I call you?"
"Password stored," it says in a more official tone before the friendly notes return, "That's a spooky password. Or is it hopeful, nya? I'm Sylvia! You have no messages. Error, I cannot locate your files. Please consult the nearest office. [untranslatable directions to a planet somewhere]."
"Thank you, Sylvia," Fenris says, "For now, disable communications, I do not wish to be disturbed." The tiger rather likes talking to tech this way, it seems much easier. "Please list available functions," he says.
"Aw," says the communicator. "Don't be a pouty face. Do you want to play a game? Or record something? Maybe take a picture? Most of my functions require the rrrradio," it says with a purr. Radio being a strange word for the way creator devices talk over distances without actual sounds.
"I am a new user Sylvia," Fenris says, "And I would like a list of all available functions. May I read your user manual?" The tiger is a little worried that the machine spirit is giving him suggestions. The ones in the vault never did that. "Did Mister Wide Tail have any special functions for you?" he asks.
"Oh yes. He is very naughty. But I can't share that with a guest no matter how cute you are!" says the device, "Have you never had one of me before? You poor thing!" The voice stills a moment, and a bar appears, empty, but filling up quickly.
Fenris ponders the device. He could try to override the security. There was a chant passcode that the priests used with uncooperative machine spirits, but he had no way of knowing if it would work on this obviously newer device. Best to get this information first, then try the override.
The bar fills up all the way, and an image replaces it with a creator with cat ears and tail, "Nya, hello kids!" says the virtual creator, "I'm here to tell you about your universal tool! Your universal tool is the last key you'll ever need. We send and get your mail, open your house, start your vehicles, and play awesome [unknown word] games!"
Fenris smirks. Did all creators use such silly tools? The tiger folds his arms and watches, hoping that this introduction does not take too long. If he took too long, Sally might burst in ready for a fight!
It drones on and on about how to properly register your new device(Which seems to require being part of the system creators are part of), and a reminder that [unknown] adjustments should be handled with care. "Remember kids, don't use [unknown] without proper training and practice! I'll show you an easy one!" And she begins to show a three step motion with her fingers across the eggs, which causes the fake holographic egg to glow, "Ta da! When you've practiced enough, you'll be able to do a lot more!"
This was going to take too long. Fenris would have to get permission to really study the thing. But first he needed results. "End playback," he says, "log out user Sam Spade." Now came the iffy bit. The tiger chants this one to be sure he does it right and prays to whatever gods might be listening that it does not blow up in his face. "Log in primary user, initiate override code," he intones, "Sigma seven theta lambda nine eight zero." He steps back a little, fearing the worst, but hoping for the best.
The device gives an unhappy tone and Sylvia appears, shaking a finger at Fenris, "If you forgot your password, you should have just said so. Please answer this super secret question only my proper user would know!" This devolves into a back and forth, as Fenris struggles to get an override that functions while keeping Sylvia from getting too wary to work with him. After five tense minutes that feel more like negotiation than debugging, Sylvia relents, "I told you not to keep doing that. I didn't recognize you at all, Wide Tail! [Unknown] therapy is very dangerous!"
Fenris sighs in relief. "I know Sylvia," he says, "Thank you for the warning. Please scan me and set me as the primary user. Also, please reset my password to Sylvia Knows Best." Wow! That had been touch and go for a while. "Please show my personal menu after that," he says.
The thin line appears again, running over Fenris, "Permission to activate my radio? I need to register your new [unknown]. And that's a very sweet password, thank you!" She blows a kiss at Fenris and smiles at him.
"Not right now, Sylvia," he says, "please wait to register my new information." He smiles at the flirtatious machine spirit. "For now, just show me my personal menu," he says.
"Nyaaa, alright." Sylvia vanishes away, and a menu appears. It is not hovering, instead it seems to overlay Fenris' field of vision, as if it simply became part of his reality to have this menu there. No matter which way he turns, there it is, hogging up the bottom left corner of his field of view. It indicates he has ten messages waiting, has received 18 new 'commendations', and that there are fourty 'alerts'. It also shows vital signs and other esoteric information that is difficult at best to decipher.
"Remarkable," Fenris murmurs, "You are a wonder, Sylvia!" The tiger is tempted to read the messages and alerts, but first he needs something to show Sally. "Sylvia," he says, "show me a list of your specialized functions."
