Specor's Hub is the primary administrative level of the city, and as such people can be seen moving about at all hours, during which the lights are kept on. Administrative offices are built into the arcology structure itself, in some cases being 'buildings' that spawn several stories in height.
The height of the hubs is approximately 500 feet, in an attempt to make the city feel less cramped.
The lower levels of Fortrain City are home to the Svajone Coalition Research Institute. Outside one of the rooms on the lower levels Chirc is waiting. Leucohyle heads in from the shuttle bays, toting a couple of messenger bags on top of the crate that Iota the Conveyance robot is toting. Omicron the Security bot is patrolling as usual, and there is a cadre of walnut-sized Observational arachnobots tinily surveilling the surroundings. The little clone heads into the Research Institute eagerly, complete with rubbing her pale hands together and humming merrily, if a bit out of tune.
Kethren stretches a bit as he comes in with his usual penguin, ser, and cranky guard combo. The latter seems to catch him by surprise, hence the sudden stop "Oh for... you're still following me around? I've told you before, we're safe here. Go... take up macrame!"
Aina follows along behind Kethren, though she's back a ways. There's a tablet held in one hand, while the other taps away at it. She doesn't seem to have a parade following her, just one big orange orangutan. Oh, there's also the two critters atop her head, but they're hidden from sight in her hair.
Following behind this crew is a rather small woman. Her business style suit skirt and jacket look neatly pressed. Her blouse looks as if it were earlier in the day, but now is slightly rumpled and unbuttoned at the top. Her violet eyes scan the room from a distance behind the rest. In her right hand a cigarette rests between her fingers. It isn't lit...yet, but it's there just in case. She doesn't say a word just yet.
As everyone approaches Chirc looks over everyone, then she decides to speak up. "These are some of our earliest electronics that were recovered by Svajone teams on Nodina." she explains. "That means they are extremely delecate. This is a clean room. That means no unnecessary items." a pause, "No accompanying animals." then a look at Sarenity, "And no lighting that thing. If any of these items are damaged it will cause me a great deal of problems." then she smiles, "Though it seems a couple who have not been here before are here. This is research into Nodina history and an attempt to understand the motivations behind our creation, as you may well be aware. Good evening to all of you."
"Good good evening," Leu pipes, before removing her coat and packing it away in the conveyance-bot's cargo container. Her eyes drift out of focus, and the robot scuttles over to stand by the door. "I er, I -assume- it is safe to leave our extraneous belongings out here, yes?" Her nose wriggles, slightly, in a rabbitlike gesture. "I I have brought Observational Limbics; with your permission I will attempt to take three-dimensional mosaic scans of the items to minimise unnecessary handling."
Kethren kneels down by Kail for a moment so that Floriana can scurry over "Sorry bout this, but you know there are occasionally times hwe have to be apart. We'll get a good meal, later." That said, he stands back up and nods to Aina "Should probably have yours tag along with Kail. Don't wanna risk damage to the speciments."
Aina looks up from the tablet and blinks, then frowns as she turns to the big orange guy behind her. She gives him a few orders then reaches up to lift the two from her head, and place them on him, "Behave now. We'll get whatever you want later." One of the critters chitters before they both vanish into the orange fur, and the big orange guy just grunts before moving reaching out to scoop up Kail to keep him and Floriana safe.
The woman at the back of the group remains silent, simply watching the others as they interact. Her face remains expressionless as Chirc looks at her. Sarenity simply nods recognition. It can be seen now that she holds a single paper in one hand that rests at her side. near her hand and resting against her hip is a sheathed sword.
The cigarette remains unlit.
And with that, Chirc opens the door. Inside is a table with a various array of electronics. "These are the earliest samples recovered. To the best of our knowledge, they are our earliest efforts at electrical engineering." She walks inside herself as she comments, "I never understood the old Svajone generation's obsession with swords in this age. It certainly was not something we picked up on."
"Haven't the foggiest!" Leucohyle pipes, peering back at the woman with the sword. "We've not met," she says, before giving the people she -has- met a wobbly wave and a fluting "And and good evening to you, Mister-Kethren, Doctor-Aina. Isn't this -exciting-? Miss-Chirc do you have those medical records? Doctor-Aina is is the leading Danu Chroi genetecist; she er, she can most certainly offer viewpoints which I am er, am lacking." Social niceties completed, she pads into the clean room with her sensible non-conductive boots, readily submitting to whatever decontamination protocols are in place.
Having passed through the appropriate decontamination shtick, the architect takes a good look at the table of samples. "Interesting... earliest you say? Impressive. Would've expected more vacuum tubes. Maybe an interface to work the magnetic tapes. Or some sort of punch cards, even."
Aina puts her tablet away as she enters the room. Her eyes go to the electronics and a brow arches as she moves closer to get a better look, "Huh...Kethren's right. There's no tubes, nothing that should be there for something from that time...Where did you get these? Do any of them work?" Yup, she's lost in the electrionics, but a hand does lift to wave at Leu briefly.
Sarenity speaks up finally. "Swords were a favorite of Rachael Akari," she says in a matter-of-fact tone as she moves to approach Chirc. Her expression doesn't change, but her eyes betray a small amount of emotion, sadness or perhaps nostalgia at this. The paper is offered to the other woman. "My name is Sarenity Amherst. I wish to offer my services here. I believe you will find me more than qualified to be of use here."
Chirc takes the paper, though she doesn't look at it yet, "I am Minister Alizee Chirc." she introduces herself. "I know who you are, we read about you, of course." then she smiles, "Humanity was on the brink of extinction, humans treated as little better than beasts, and you were an integral figure in creating the Svajone." she pauses again. "I do not know if we share a genetic heritage, but I know you know things not even files could tell us." then she looks back at Leu, almost as an afterthought, "Let me have someone deliver some genetic files as she takes out a commlink and begins typing on it."
Leucohyle looks up from where she is setting up a small box, about the size of a small card-box, only made from polished solid-color polycarbonate. She unlocks it and flips the top, revealing a touch-screen on the inner lid and a holoprojector perched above a quartet of walnut-sized hollows. Four of the little Observational Limbics scuttle in from wherever they were investigating (one emerges from one of Leu's pockets) and settle into the hollows. As a little whirling synchronization meter hums to life over the holoprojector, she squints at the electronics. "Y-yes, I er, thought the er, lack of any sort of vacuum tubes was a bit -odd-." Sarenity just gets a blink.
Kethren nods idly at the mention of genetic samples, and continues to peruse the electronics. The master of a robot penguin has little understanding of biological thingies.
Aina looks up at the mention of genetic samples, "Ohhh. I'd like to take a look at those for sure. But I'm happy to look at this for now." She flashes a smile, then leans down to peer closer at the electronics, "Don't suppose you'd let me take one apart, would you? Imagine not. Probably rather protective of them."
Sarenity nods at Chirc, a hint of a smile just at the edge of her lips. She watches the others as she makes her way through the decontamination, "Tubes?" she asks, her tone still neutral as she approaches them. She has been relieved of her cigarette in the process of entering the room and it has left her with a hint of a surly expression to show for it. "What are you looking at exactly?"
"Those are the earliest electronics, none of our materials reference anything earlier." Chirc explains. "And by that time period we had the capacity to keep far better records than the far older material."
Leucohyle squints at Sarenity for a long, rabbity moment. "Leucohyle Amalia Hall, genetic offspring of Alastair Rhys Callum Hall. And and wh-what is it you -do-, miss?" Behind her, the synchronization wheel blinks cheerily, and the little Observational bots go a-scurrying delicately across the workspace, turning their lensed underbellies at the artifacts from various angles. With every tiny, electronic 'chirp,' the holodisplay fills with three-dimensional images of the electronics, square by square. "Doctor-Aina the er, Coalition requested that the er, the artefacts not be damaged; this may or may not include er, disassembly. If they are t-truly as old as indicated, any sort of separation of parts may result in seal or wiring breakage." There is a small, mournful pause. "Sadly."
Kethren nods at Leu's advice, smirking slightly "Probably voids the warranty, too."
Aina frowns and sulks a bit, "Aww...But I take stuff apart all the time and put it back together like it never happened." She sighs and straightens, "Oh well." She glances at Sarenity, "These items. From the time they're supposed to be from, they should have certain components, but they seem to be missing. Which is odd." She flashes a quick smile, "I'm Aina, by the way."
"I'm a lawyer," Sarenity says as the moves closer to Leu. "I helped Mr. Mikage start the Svajone. In my time and space I took care of a woman named Rachael Akari. She was batshit crazy and amazing at the same time." She tries to get a look at some of the items that are being scanned. "I think what you need to ask yourself when these items are from. If they came across the rift then you must realize that vaccuum tubes hadn't been used in more than a millenium at that point." She looks between all the people there waiting calmly for some sort of information on this.
"These are Nodina artifacts, there were no rifts." Chirc explains. "Though I am not familiar with the components you are talking about that are supposedly missing. As to the artifacts themselves, they were recovered by Svajone teams sent to the planet at the time they were current, which is why they are in such good condition."
Leucohyle opens her mouth, presumably to correct the 'rift' assumption and then closes it promptly when Miss Chirc does so instead. Her eyes drift out of focus, and the holoprojector shifts to show images of the 'missing' components. "a vacuum tube, electron tube, tube, or thermionic valve or valve, depending upon point of origin, is a device controlling electric current through a vacuum in a sealed container. A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contained either commands for controlling automated machinery or data for data processing applications. Both commands and data were represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions." Sniff.
Sarenity smirks at this, "The history lesson is appreciated," she says matter-of-factly. Her eyes shift to Chirc, "The civilization that Mikage created?" she asks. Her brow wrinkles at this and she looks back at the items. "Is this to say that during their accelerated evolution they skipped forward in the normal evolution of most civilizations?"
"Nodina means 'second child' if that means anything to you, it was given to us by the Svajone. As to Mikage creating the civilization, that is more complicated. Certainly he created us, but it is not as though he was amongst us often." Chirc says to Sarenity. "If you know who the first child was, that would be useful."
Leucohyle's little robots continue toiling away; the holodisplay shifts back to whatever artefact they are presently scanning. "Yes, that -would- be useful," the little clone pipes. "Also if if you have historical connections to the creator, perhaps you may be able to er, shed some light on the usage of the word, 'Longinus'? Etymology really is isn't my field and organic nomenclature tends towards meanings that are are societally or even individually-biased."
Sare looks between Leu and Chirc, concentration on her face. "Mikage had followers at some point during the fourth millenium of Earth. They were a crazy group that called themselves the Laters." There is a light sniff at this, "They thought I was some kind of goddess or something." She brushes a hand through the air as if to dismiss this. "They were his "children" before the creation of this place...so that must be who he means." There's a shake of the head at this.
"It really does not sound like our history at all. Deity worship was one of the few things that always got his attention. There are numerous stories of intervention when it came to deity worship. The attention was always the same though, suppression. There is no being in existance worthy of our reverence, that was the message." Chirc says. "And the use of a Terran word that none of us here seem to know. Longinus. We want to know why the operation that created us was that."
Leucohyle utters a small, affronted 'pip' noise. "Well," she pipes, drily. "No wonder he was compelled to try again." The tiny spider-bots, after photographing the first available piece from every available angle, scutter with delicate metallic clatters over to the next piece. "And and there -is- no being in existence, or fictionally created, especially-fictionally-created, that deserves -worship-. It's it's downright silly."
"Mikage wanted to create a new civilization. A few times he sent us down here to handle things, but it seems it was important to him to prevent any kind of interference." She looks to Chirc with this, "I imagine he did not even allow worship of himself," This is a statement rather than a question, but still she seems to want some confirmation of this. A hint of a smile comes to her lips at Leu's observation, "You sound so much like your father," she says a little more softly. "If the first child refers to a specific child I would think it would have to be one of those that first followed the Later tradition. It's not like any of us asked for worship necessarily." She touches the sword at her side gently. "He wanted to do better, so he created his second children," she adds with a shrug. "Longinus...This brings to mind two things. A sword or Andrew Long..."
"Well, there are some religious traditions on Nodina." Chirc explains, "But they lack deities. I suppose most humans would consider them popular philisophical beliefs rather than religious traditions." then she smiles slightly. "And our tests show that we are stronger than most of the Later traditionalists. We are able to use our psionic inhibition without a focus." a pause, "A sword or a man?" then she looks at Leu, "You did mention several men involved with the name when you first heard it."
Leucohyle looks up from her work again, tilting her head curiously at Sarenity. "Er, y-yes, yes indeed, Miss-Chirc, but there was no 'Andrew Long' on the list. If, er, if if you could -elaborate-, Miss-Amherst? Who is this, er, Andrew Long?"
Sarenity frowns at this, "Well...it's a long story...are you sure it's even relevant?" she asks.
"More specifically, we want to know why." Chirc says. "Well, we know we were created because humans were quite possibly below a sustainable level of population, but I know there is another reason. If creating humans was the only objective, we would have a genetic heritage that was directly linked to another human lineage. Instead we are from a heritage that is completely different. The primary clue is that the word Longinus has something to do with it. If that helps tell you if something is relevent. We never even heard of the person you just mentioned, so unless he created us it is probably not relevent."
Leucohyle's nose wriggles again, rabbitlike. "W-well I'm not able to judge the relevance w-without actually -hearing- the er, long story as it were... perhaps later over tea, if if Miss-Chirc is not interested..." She looks towards her belt, just about two milliseconds before it bleeps. "Oh, er, -bother-. It's it's a communique from one of my suppliers. With with Comorro's continued absence I've had to look into er, other lodgings options. Apologies, I I do need to take this..."