Thanks for the honesty. I think it really will help me better decide how or if to use rolling :)

Post 188

>(Nanette) Is it possible to dedicate some nanites to a few really complex tasks on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, like a computer mainframe? It'd be great if we didn't have to send out for more specialized nanites all the time. Oh, and could your nanites destroy the ones inside Phil without hurting him?

Nanette designates some nanites to be dedicated processing power.

As for the Nanette's nanites destroying the ones inside Phil… not even Ruby's neutralizer does that. It might be possible for her to destroy the nanites by sheer force, but she would have to put so many nanites in Phil it would hurt him seriously and probably clot his blood, or the energy expended to destroy the nanites, at least, would give him a dangerous fever, and especially raise the temperature dangerously in his brain, since that's where most of the nanites are.

> Nanette: (Would it be practical for part of Nanette to help clean up the lab?)

Nanette can help with that!

So, Nanette is helping with the bio-contamination event and figuring out some things to do with her shiny new 'bots. What about Waverton and co.?

>(General/all) When's the last time we had a real meal, instead of roadtrip snacks? Sit down, eat some proper food and talk out the next step. Also, someone ask Ruby to update the blog.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

> Waverton: Introduce the members of the F.f.E.C. to Phil, and (if appropriate) begin discussions about what happened on Bintanni when he arrived. Just how much of a shift in culture was there because of the coup?

Post 189

>(General/all) When's the last time we had a real meal, instead of roadtrip snacks? Sit down, eat some proper food and talk out the next step. Also, someone ask Ruby to update the blog.

Waverton asks Ruby to update the blog. She has a hard time saying anything without giving away the (rather compromising) information that they went North to rescue a human prisoner from the government, but manages to hedge by simply saying they were away on an important mission, have been joined by someone who might have answers they've been seeking and hope to have some answers soon.

Using their disguises, they get a booth at a nice Bintanni restaurant that has plenty of options that won't irritate their human digestive systems. Over some fried appetizers (fried savory tree sap; it tastes a bit like a maple bacon jelly in the center), they wonder how much they actually know about the F.f.E.C, the Bintanni government, and the circumstances that brought them all to Bintanni in the first place. Should they do some further research? Who can they trust when doing that research? (Unsaid: How far can they trust Phil?) If they decide they can't trust the F.f.E.C., who can they trust, and where will they get any support? They've been using a lot of F.f.E.C. resources.

> Waverton: Introduce the members of the F.f.E.C. to Phil, and (if appropriate) begin discussions about what happened on Bintanni when he arrived. Just how much of a shift in culture was there because of the coup?

After that meal, they talk with Feer, who they've been in contact with all along. They nod and tell them to come back to their place, after leaving the vehicle a bit away so if it's tracked it won't immediately be tracked to Feer.

When you get there, you introduce Phil and Feer (of course). Then you have a small private video chat to introduce Phil to some of the members of the F.f.E.C. Feer deems trustworthy and need-to-know. Phil seems nervous, but gets through it. Afterwards, you privately ask Feer about the time just before and after Phil and his crew arrived on Bintanni. He says there was always a minority who were xenophobic, but it became institutionalized and normalized after the coup. Even if it hadn't, it was the will of the military government, and who could stand up to that? People remembered, and still remember, what it was like before, but fewer believed in reaching out. What did they need from outsiders? And getting anyone to act on their beliefs that they should be exploring and understanding others rather than cutting off contact, well. That was very hard.

What do you do – and who do you trust?

>(General) Continue to trust the F.f.E.C. They broke (most of) us out of jail.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

> General: Agreed. Also, someone talk to Phil and see if he's ok. He might be nervous around Bintanni, even ones on our side, and that's understandable. Ask him what would help him feel comfortable, and what he wants to do now.

Post 190

>(General) Continue to trust the F.f.E.C. They broke (most of) us out of jail.

> General: Agreed. Also, someone talk to Phil and see if he's ok. He might be nervous around Bintanni, even ones on our side, and that's understandable. Ask him what would help him feel comfortable, and what he wants to do now.

You decide to trust the F.f.E.C. They haven't let you down yet. On that note, you notice that Phil is still being nervous, especially around Bintanni. Lucie has a quiet chat with him. She reminds him that they helped Ruby rescue her, Aaron, and the Captain – and helped all of them to rescue Phil himself. But it's okay whatever he's feeling, and understandable. How can they make him feel more comfortable? What does he want to do now that he's away from confinement?

He says that he's sorry about being so jumpy. It's just, he's having a hard time trusting anyone after he found out that they were manipulating his thoughts and monitoring his actions. And the technology still exists. How can he be sure he's not being manipulated and monitored, even by people ostensibly on his side? He wants to be sure those nanites are gone. Preferably that it can't happen ever again. But at least that they're gone for now.

What's your first item of business about that? Anything else?

> Nanette: Clean up the lab as fast as possible so they can start working on Phil's neutraliser.

> Waverton: Catch up with Feer. Weren't you in the middle of some interviews so you could help with a big F.f.E.C. project, before everything with Nanette happened?

> (General) Call up the F.f.E.C. guys and see what they need done.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

Post 191

> Nanette: Clean up the lab as fast as possible so they can start working on Phil's neutraliser.

With Nanette's help, the lab is cleaned .

> Waverton: Catch up with Feer. Weren't you in the middle of some interviews so you could help with a big F.f.E.C. project, before everything with Nanette happened?

Yes, they do remember, you were in the process of getting formal top secret F.f.E.C. clearance. Waverton and Ruby have done their interviews, but not Lucie and Aaron. Feer would like to interview all of you before granting clearances, given how tight you are, and your crewmates are some of the only ones who can speak on each other's behalf and to their character. Really excellent work finding and rescuing Phil, though! Feer also noticed how jumpy the man is after all this time, and he's not sure a Bintanni team could have convinced him they were on his side.

> (General) Call up the F.f.E.C. guys and see what they need done.

While Waverton is talking to Feer, Lucie calls up Ro and Blu. They say they really appreciate Nanette's help cleaning up the lab, it's much better! If she'd like to help, though, they had to deep-clean some of their equipment and are in the process of checking that it all works again. Maybe she can help with that, since she's an engineer. And while everyone else is out because of the cleaning – or at least told they need to stay away for now — Ruby might be able to use the equipment…

Meanwhile, Waverton is asking Feer what they might be able to help with until they get secret clearances. Feer says that they're working on tapping more government information, but it's under quantum encryption which is theoretically unbreakable without revealing an information leak according to what they know. Unless their physicist Aaron has some ideas on that front?

What's the plan now? Do you help Ro and Blu? Is Ruby ready to use a lab? Can Aaron help? What about Phil, can he be left alone?

>(Aaron) Keep Phil company. He'll need a friendly face.

>(Lucie) Help putting the lab machines back together.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

> Ruby: Yes. (Would she need another blood sample from Phil, though?)

> Nanette: Split up to keep all the humans company.

> Aaron: See if Kif and their family are still around. Maybe seeing a child/family would help Phil become more comfortable around Bintanni? Also, think about whether it's possible to help with the quantum encryption.

I lost track of what I was doing and forgot to post this earlier today — sorry!

Post 192

> Nanette: Split up to keep all the humans company.

Nanette splits herself in at least five different sections to accompany each of the humans.

>(Lucie) Help putting the lab machines back together.

Lucie helps make sure all the lab machines are put back correctly. She has some trouble with two of the lab machines that make specialized small-scale nanites, though. The technology for this isn't something she's familiar with at home, it's more advanced and integrated into their daily lives. She'll decides to leave those ones for the Bintanni, although she'd love to learn how they work.

> Ruby: Yes. (Would she need another blood sample from Phil, though?)

Ruby asks for another blood sample from Phil before accompanying Lucie to the lab. He's not exactly overjoyed: who would be? But if it helps get those nanites out… She uses the equipment at the lab to generate a model of the nanites in Phil's body.

>(Aaron) Keep Phil company. He'll need a friendly face.

> Aaron: See if Kif and their family are still around. Maybe seeing a child/family would help Phil become more comfortable around Bintanni? Also, think about whether it's possible to help with the quantum encryption.

Aaron briefly asks Feer if Kif and their family is still around, and tells them about his idea to help Phil see the warmer, fuzzier side of Bintanni life. As it happens, they've moved to a different house under an assumed name so they can still have some semblance of the life they had before. Besides, it was getting rather crowded here. Maybe they can visit for dinner some time, though? Feer nods. He'll invite them.

Then, Aaron keeps Phil company himself. He works a bit on the quantum encryption problem, too, but realizes it's not an easy solution. Human understanding of quantum encryption might be at a higher level than that of the Bintanni, but it's still not an easy nut to crack – they believed not so long ago that it was infallible, too. Perhaps Nanette's new supercomputer mode might face it's first challenge.

Does Ruby start working on a neutralizer for Phil's nanites (Yes) or work on something to dismantle them completely that might be more risky (No)? What do the rest of the team do?

Edited by PointMaid on Feb 9th 2021 at 9:35:27 AM

>yes

> (Nanette) Help them hack the quantum computer.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

> Nanette: Just in case the computation requires enough power/focus that you're distracted from any other ongoing tasks, wait until Phil's nanites are neutralised before helping with that, or maybe just deliberately limit the effort you put in at first.

> Waverton: Try to arrange with Feer when the rest of the interviews will take place.

Post 193

>yes

Ruby begins working on a neutralizer for Phil's nanites. She can't test it until the machines for manufacturing custom nanites are up and working again, though. Then she should be able to test it using nanites of the same specification as Phil's.

> (Nanette) Help them hack the quantum computer.

'> Nanette: Just in case the computation requires enough power/focus that you're distracted from any other ongoing tasks, wait until Phil's nanites are neutralised before helping with that, or maybe just deliberately limit the effort you put in at first.

Nanette, limiting her power a bit so she can make sure Phil's nanites are supressed, is able to get a few bits before the hack is shut down. Not enough to get anything. They can tell the information stream is being overheard. A quantum link is nigh untappable without the tap being noticed. This might require a mix of human ingenuity and calculation, if it can even be done.

> Waverton: Try to arrange with Feer when the rest of the interviews will take place.

Feer says they should be able to take some time to interview Aaron and Lucie tonight, as long as they're back.

What next for our fearless humans and their allies?

[I obviously could not update this morning, since there were no responses]

> Nanette: Help fix the rest of the lab, starting with the machines Ruby needs now.

> Aaron and Lucie: Prepare for the interviews.

Post 194

> Nanette: Help fix the rest of the lab, starting with the machines Ruby needs now.

Nanette searches for and downloads the manuals for the lab machinery that still hasn't been put back together. She's not an expert, but hopefully it should work again?

Ruby's able to use it to make more nanites for experimentation. She certainly hopes the machine she uses for that is now working as it should.

> Aaron and Lucie: Prepare for the interviews.

Separately, Aaron and Lucie prepare for their interviews. They go over everything that's happened to them since they reached Bintanni… there's nothing to worry about since they're not trying to conceal anything, right?

What next?

> (Aaron and Lucie) The only thing to be done is get the interview over with.

Edited by dvorak on Feb 12th 2021 at 6:56:52 AM

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

> Nanette: Once the neutraliser is ready and used, pay close attention to Phil's nanites and only stop jamming the signal if you're completely sure they don't work at all. (Eventually anyway, if that's not happening just yet.)

Post 195

> (Aaron and Lucie) The only thing to be done is get the interview over with.

Lucie and Ruby return, Lucie having helped as much as she can, and Ruby having done some experiments on the facsimile Phil nanites but would like to do some more. Aaron, still at Feer's home and not having any immediate thoughts on how to overcome the quantum encryption with his physics skillz, although he's hopeful that something will come to him, is ready to talk to Feer.

Feer welcomes Aaron into their office and motions to him to sit down.

"Welcome! So you're the physicist, how wonderful. I had been hoping to learn more human physics since I learned of your faster-than-light starships. You were helping to build a mini version of one for communications purposes, weren't you? How has that been going? I hope we've been treating you well."

> Nanette: Once the neutraliser is ready and used, pay close attention to Phil's nanites and only stop jamming the signal if you're completely sure they don't work at all. (Eventually anyway, if that's not happening just yet.)

Nanette keeps jamming the signal from Phil.

What's Aaron's response? Anything else?

Aaron: Answer honestly.

Nanette: Make sure the signal jamming extends to the new copies of Phil's nanites that Ruby's experimenting with, just in case.

(General) Eat food

Try out my new forum game! Man this formating is hard.