text ; mirrornet

[superposition]

[Qubit doesn't consider himself paranoid per se, but he is kind of a stickler for network security, so finding Mirrornet was a little like Christmas. So far he's been mostly lurking, but... after a surprise copious windfall of useful information, he's in a pretty good mood. Maybe it's time to throw his hat in the ring, see who picks it up.]

Evening, everyone. My name's Qubit. I know, I know, yet another newbie, but I have already looked over the FAQ, so no worries on that front. Fascinating stuff, really. Alternate timelines always are, but good heavens, if this one isn't a piece of work.

That said, I'd like to make a few requests. First: anything and everything you know about the Porter. Its operations, its patterns, any particular anecdotes... The more specific and technical, the better, but anything's fine. You never know; the most insignificant scrap of information might turn out to be the thread that unravels the entire mystery. [as an afterthought-] Don't feel obliged to repeat Miss Bishop too closely, though, I have that in front of me already.

Second: I'm looking for lab space for a large electronics project. I can tell you in advance it's going to take a lot of power, so if there's already something to that effect set up, that would save me a lot of time. Should be fairly short-term regardless, though - I'm estimating two, maybe three weeks. PM if interested.

Third (or second-and-a-half): Anyone know a bad junkyard? That is, one where they let people dump batteries, monitors, old electronics, etc., especially in bulk? Location doesn't matter, although apparently I could get in trouble for going abroad, and God forbid I do anything to get in trouble.

Anyway, thanks in advance. Sorry I haven't any cute ASCII animals to offer, I hope that won't cause too many problems.

Comments

he's here for the info, honest

[driftsintobuffetline]

Oh, dude, it causes all the problems. No information for you. Next time bring a cute ASCII animal if you wanna be part of the cool club.

i believe you implicitly

[superposition]

Fine, fine. But don't blame me if it eats yours.

[shuckit]

it's a few months outdated, not sure if they found anything else while i was out, but this is everything my notes have. sorry for any overlap with kate.

PORTER
» On Time, imPorting and exPorting: "When someone imPorts, they leave their world at a specific moment, right? The last thing you remember, that's the "moment" in time you left. When you exPort, you go back to that "moment," without any memory of this--that is, that place. If that "you" comes back, from a later "moment," then often when you arrive, you "regain" your memory of these worlds. Because it's still in your "past." Time is still linear. Does that make sense so far?" - Ruka
» On Patterns with the Porters: "... Couples often go together, even if they're not from the same world. And... sometimes a group all from the same universe, they'll leave in quick succession, like a drain being pulled. Kids don't usually stick around, but there's been exceptions. Goodhearted people are more prone to returning home quickly, I think." - Ruka
» On the Porter's origin in the present cities: "The Porter made its timely debut in 1986 by this universe's mortal calender, when the first wave of imPorts arrived. Needless to say, the anecdotal instances of the Porter go back further. Well, kind of, depending on how we see time, hm?--we'll talk about the larger, omniversal impact, if you'll leave it to the open floor." - Loki
» "Continuum"; what keeps imPorts getting resurrected. in the nanites they put in us? not used until after 2007.
» MISC NOTES: [ these are originally Hange's notes that were recieved from Roy Mustang, in this thread, however since Roy wanted to talk privately about it, Thomas isn't going to cite his name on this. ]

• - The Porter itself doesn't provide any background information on the imPorts it brings in, so what's in their files is all that the government has access to. Whether that information exists somewhere currently inaccessible within the Porter is unknown.
  
• - In the past it was possible to send people home at their request, although since the recent Porter changes that occurred in January it has been behaving irregularly. People being brought in and then sent home is currently classified as a malfunction.
  
• - After the Porter was synched up to by a sentient and nearly omnipotent program known as Lachesis, it has been able to instantaneously "scan" each imPort brought in through means still unknown and produce basic information such as their names and abilities. It is theorized but still undetermined this may be achieved by some sort of DNA reading or brain scanning.
  
• - It is thought that the radiation the Porter gives off is what gives imPorts their powers (or changes them, or allows them to keep them). ( NOTE: this is pretty much bullshit, though )
  
• - The technology in this world, Porter not included, has not yet advanced enough to the point of being able to give civilian powers. The Porter itself appears either disinterested or also incapable of this, and the Porter specialist Moira Nomos's hypothesis is that people native to this world are immune and incompatible with the Porter's radiation. Why this world is considered important by the Porter is still unknown. ( NOTE: Moira Nomos sounds like either an idiot or a liar. )
  
• - The Sidereal technology is very similar to virtual reality, but on more of an "astral plane" level than a truly virtual one. The "Quantum Zone" exists separately from said technology and is said to be a spiritual plane that exists directly above the normal one, though not "high" enough to completely separate the soul from the body.

» Info Leak From Hacker -

• - "It's been confirmed that the Porter has its own automated defenses that prevents anyone from prying too much information out of it."
  
• - "Its origins lead to the Atlantic Ocean where it was pulled near the coast in 1985."It is currently unknown why people suddenly go home. It is not the government's doing. They believe it is the fault of Lachesis."
  
• - "They have no idea how it works. It is a mystery to both the government and their scientists. They have no control over it whatsoever. Any control you might think they have is an illusion. I have seen their files. They know no more than us."

[superposition]

Ah, are you the Thomas who wrote this? I've actually looked over your report already, too, maybe I should have mentioned that. Thank you, though.

Out of curiosity, how long have you been here? On Earth-β, that is, if that's what we're calling it.

[shuckit]

yeah, that's me. sorry, i was gone about three months. loki's another good person to check with for more current stuff.

before i got ported out about three months back, i was here for seven months. the people who've probably been around longest are ruka, tony stark and edward nygma. far as i've heard, at least.

[superposition]

[He's heard a couple of those names already from stalking other people's posts, but not all of them. (He is absolutely assuming Loki's just a code name.)]

Can you describe being ported out in a little more detail?

[shuckit]

not really. i don't remember anything special. one second i was here, the next i was home, and i didn't remember anything about here.

[selfequipped]

Given the company that you have here (hint: some bad guys) you're going to want to be a little more open about what you need that space for.

If it involves the Porter, though, and I'm just making a leap here, you're a little out of luck.

If it doesn't, and it's not devious, I can point you in some general directions.

private, expert encryption

[superposition]

[What do you know, it's Miss Bishop herself. Assuming that's what her comm tag says. Since she's been indirectly helpful, he'll go out on a limb and share.]

Ah, sorry about that. Force of habit. Bad guys use the Internet too, unfortunately. Ever seen the ones who go trawling for human test subjects on Craigslist?

At any rate, no, it's nothing too devious. No death rays, no wanton genetic recombination. And it doesn't involve the Porter either - at least not directly. I've already asked and been turned down for that. So - well, I'm sure you've already inferred this from context, but I'm going to build my own.

private, expert encryption

[selfequipped]

They're both more and less subtle back home. Some of the both more and less subtle ones are here from my world, so that's why I wanted to be careful.

You're hoping to teleport around this world, I hope? I'm not just asking because I'm asking, but I hate to be the bearer of interdimensional bad news, but the Lachesis I spoke about? She's rather touchy about anyone trying to go from one universe to another.

But from one city to another—I'm sure you could pull that off.

[Of course, teleportation devices in this world may be limited. She waits to see his response before she goes on about it. Her research into Lana's work got ... cut short, with her absence, but she knows enough to understand that things like that work a little strangely here.]

private, expert encryption

[superposition]

Of course, of course. I understand completely.

[And haha... is that a challenge? Because Qubit is definitely taking it as a challenge. Nothing makes him want to do the thing more than being told he can't pull off the thing.]

Please. A few hundred miles is child's play. Not to discount your concerns, but if Lachesis has a problem with it, she can take it up with me personally.

private, expert encryption

[selfequipped]

It is absolutely child's play. Part of my understanding behind all of this is because I come from a world where people do this stuff left and right.

(Not me. But you know.)

You may be able to find a rather lucrative career in all of this by working with a man named Tony Stark. I think you might find him encouraging you to broaden your thinking a bit, too.

He's been around for a while.

comm id reads "Kasumi"

[stealwithit]

  /\_/\
 ( o.o )
  > ^ <

[superposition]

Yes, just like that. Thank you. Never fear, everyone, the ASCII art quota has just been met.

[stealwithit]

You're quite welcome. As for your actual questions:

1) I don't think I've got anything on the Porter than hasn't already been provided to you.

2) The accessibility of places like that depends entirely on what you're doing. [ You know, like whether it's legal or not. Not that Kasumi's in any place to judge the legality of anyone's actions, really, but she's just calling it like she sees it. ]

3) I'm willing to bet the Maurtia Falls dump has all sorts of things that you're looking for, but you'll probably want to make sure to watch out for needles and other suspicious things when you go dumpster diving. Wear gloves!

[superposition]

[You know, for all he tries to pass himself off as Paragon 'Til Death, "whether it's legal" falls fairly low on his list of considerations. I kind of doubt the Egyptian government knew about that lab he built under the Sphinx.]

2) So they tell me. I promise it's not a death ray, does that help?
3) I certainly will. Maurtia Falls in particular?

[stealwithit]

2) Then you might want to look into some of the tech firms around. I'm sure others know more about it than I do.

[ Possibly a lie, because in all likelihood she's done her due research on them. But she doesn't want to be that helpful! ]

3) Yep. People don't give a crap about what goes in the dumps over there, I'd bet. Other Porter cities are a little more uptight.

text

[pobrecisco]

there's a couple people with tech companies who can offer you lab space, but they want employees, too. i'm working freelance outta my own garage right now, so i can't say if someone's a better option than somebody else, but thats an option


out of curiosity: what kind of project??

[superposition]

Well, I'm not looking for a job. Technically I already have one of those.

[Which he preemptively called in sick to for the next three weeks. And garage space doesn't do him much good, even if that'd been an offer, so he doesn't feel he has to be too forthcoming here.]

Just a little quantum physics experiment, nothing earth-shattering.

[pobrecisco]

yeah everybody gets jobs assigned but a lot of them aren't exactly making use of our skills

like i'm a graphic t-shirt designer and while hilarious and fun it's KIND OF a waste of my engineering degree



also you have my interest now come on spill more than that!!

private + encrypted

[superposition]

That's the impression I'm getting. They want me designing roller coasters, because obviously that's going to stop the Soviets in their tracks. (Pun not intended, but left in.)

... Tell you what, I'm going to let you guess. See if you can do it in five or fewer questions. Yes-or-no, naturally.

text | id reads "karen starr"

[boobwindow]

What are you hoping to accomplish with this project?

[ This person sounds intelligent and resourceful, but if he's an evil genius she's got to know upfront... somehow... ]

private + encrypted

[superposition]

[Hey, at least he got the genius part across, he'll take that! Now let's see... Karen Starr => Starrware => tech company => lab space??? This might be an actual lead.]

Ah, Ms. Starr! I was actually thinking of getting in touch with you next. [Her and Stark both, but still.] The short version is, a way home. For obvious reasons, I'd rather keep the long version off the network.

private + encrypted

[boobwindow]

You want to build some kind of interdimensional device? Is that SAFE?

[ She doesn't think it is, but nobody's tried so far. ]

private + encrypted

[superposition]

[uhhhhh define "safe." she'll probably call his bluff if he says "of course it's safe," but maybe knowing there's negligible danger to her specifically...]

Well, naturally there's always some risk with this sort of thing, but it's nothing you'd need to worry about. I invented this technology, and I've devoted years to perfecting it. I promise you, I thoroughly know what I'm doing.