maskormenace | [Video] nanomachines nanomachines nanomachines

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[Video] nanomachines nanomachines nanomachines

[the video feed clicks on to Duncan setting up the camera. He pulls away, hands held up tentatively while he waits to make sure everything's working how it should and nothing's going to fall over. The setting behind him is obviously a science lab, and the camera is centered on a pair of double-sided portable whiteboards in front of the counter lining the wall, with a stool sitting somewhere off-center in between them.

Satisfied with the recording setup, Duncan turns around and walks up to the whiteboards, which are both covered in chicken scratch notes and hastily drawn science diagrams. If you can actually read his shitty handwriting, it's a lot of half-formed ideas about nanotech and genetics, and some of it is...concerning. like mad science concerning.

He pauses, staring at the board on the right, which is the one with all the potential mad science on it while the one on the left is mostly just note-taking and calculations. he scrutinizes it for a moment, absently biting his thumbnail, like he's looking for some kind of answer in what he's written there.

it's worth noting that he looks like hell. button-down collared shirt wrinkled in the manner of having been worn for a couple days straight, and he hasn't shaved since whenever he put that shirt on either. he looks exhausted but wired. manic, even, as he looks back toward the camera as if suddenly remembering that it's there. he turns to face it completely.]

So.

So, nanomachines, right.

Fuckin'. Fuckin' nanomachines. Nanites. Nano...tech. All that bullshit.

[he is definitely exhausted enough for his accent to be slipping. he's still trying to maintain the neutral American, but his Texas is showing through, and what he winds up with is an inconsistent mess of an amalgamation of the two.]

You know what I know 'bout fuckin' nanomachines? Fuckin'. NOTHIN'. [he smacks a hand against the whiteboard's frame and then is distracted for a second while he straightens it back out.] Nothing. But! I am also a goddamn grad student, so if there's one thing I know how to do, it's motherfucking research.

So. So nanomachines, alright, nanotech 101, tiny-ass fuckin' machines that can do all kinds of cool shit. They call 'em nanites here, but it's the same shit, it's all nanotech. And their nanotech progress would be fuckin' incredible if they used them for, you know, curin' cancer or what the fuck ever, but no! No, instead they just shove 'em into ImPorts for government surveillance bullshit. They can use that shit to bring us back from the dead but they can't be fucking bothered to--

[okay, no, deep breath. he holds his hands up like a signal to halt--to, uh, himself? inhale, exhale, lowers his hands, starts over.] Anyway. The government's use of nanomachines on us is irresponsible as fuck, and fuck you if you disagree.

And, uh, the government's hiring ImPorts right now to improve on their nanotech, so it can't get hacked by Russia again I guess.

But you know what'd work better?

Fucking not pumping us full of goddamn nanites in the first place.

So--so! With that in mind! [he snatches up a dry erase marker and flips the board over to its reverse side, which is...well, it's equally full of concerningly mad-sciency shit, but he swipes his sleeve across a big arc of it, clearing off a space. he decisively uncaps the pen and then...doesn't...write anything, instead standing poised with it as if he's going to start in a second here.] I say we put our collective science brains together and figure out how to fix this fuckin' nanite problem our own damn selves.

Like. Like would an EMP take them out? Not optimal for the robots, probably. Or we could, uhh, make our own nanites to combat the originals and take them out. Corrosive anti-nanite chemo mix? Find their resonance frequency? Lasers? Fucking. Science is all about lasers, we can probably solve this with lasers somehow.

Or. [facing the camera again, turning away from the whiteboard. no, he still hasn't written anything down yet.] Or we could engineer fake antibodies to bind to them. Or uhh genetically alter a virus--HIV, right? Perfect. Turn HIV onto the nanites instead of T-cells and let that dismantle 'em exponentially.

Or, um. I don't know, draining all your blood would probably work. I mean, you'd have to be willing to die a little, but I can resurrect people so don't worry about that. Honestly, that's probably the simplest answer.

[that sounds like maybe it should be a joke, but he definitely sounds and looks as serious about it as he did about every other suggestion he threw out. he hasn't slept in three days, his mad science meter is through the roof right now.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

For all the government is using them irresponsibly, there are those imPorts with pre-existing health conditions that do benefit from them, no matter the trade-offs concerning privacy and such. I'm not saying the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, only it's something to keep in mind.

I don't advocate removal, per se. Optional removal, if that's still possible. More importantly, I am for understanding these things ourselves, independently, since they are in OUR bodies, not the government's. And understanding how to control the nanites so that the nanites cannot be used to control us.

Yes.. Understanding them is something else entirely, although I can't say I particularly trust anyone with too much knowledge. They are certainly a significant security breach, and I'd almost be tempted to assist in securing them against future manipulations.

With the government?.

I'd need far more information before it became a serious consideration, of course. But I must say those shocks were exceedingly unpleasant; not to mention the kidnappings..

Private;-->

I'm not about to offer them anything without knowing the precise effects I can expect my work to have.

[As well as the ones they're not telling him of course]

Oh, sure, bring up the submarine. Good job on the guilt trip.

private

This is the government. Nothing is precise, there's a ton of red-tape and they bury the truth beneath a shit-ton of TOS bullshit. It's like when they pass a bill and all the other crap is tacked on underneath that no one bothered to read and they shoehorned in. Don't get taken for a ride, Hermann.

You do this, you realize they're not going to want you to disclose everything you see or do--or if they LET YOU disclose it, it's definitely NOT what they are really doing with those things. I'm not saying aliens, Skully, but ALIENS, Skully. (by which I do not mean aliens at all, Hermann, just, conspiracy theory etc). How are we even sure they'd let you work on the actual model of nanites present in our bodies? How are we even sure they won't test on YOU?

I'm not attempting any such thing. It's simply one extreme vulnerability we were forcefully made aware of, and not something we can risk happening again.

private;

Yes, I'm very aware of all of that, Newton. There are reasons I haven't gone ahead and volunteered already. We simply don't know enough, and they've given us fewer reasons to trust them as time goes on.

There are at least a dozen or so imPort programmers already here, however. I wonder how many of them have responded or intend to.

We won't let it happen again.

Private

I don't know, but...
How many of those programmers have a biologist in their back pocket?

[He may or may not have caught onto a bit of that thought]

Newton?

Well, you'd certainly be well informed.
But they could have power inhibitors.

I wouldn't necessarily need you feeding me information through an active link. Although even if I did, we could use the wireless network to communicate.

[what r doing]

A) Assuming they can't disable that mental network feature. They made it, they COULD know how it works. I say could because the someone made the LACKEY porter and I don't think any of those people knew how it worked.

B) If you go in and you have no powers, how do you get out if they don't want you out.

C) I am not Miles.

D) Why are all the good ideas also the worst ideas ever?

A- Possible, but unlikely. Less plausible than

B- Concerning, certainly.

C- I suspect I may know what this means, but it's still rather unclear.

D- I'm not taking credit for this.

A) Don't be an asshole with statistics.

B) "CONCERNING"?? EXCUSE ME? MR. THE SUB WAS A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE & I AM NOT LETTING THEM STEAL YOU AGAIN......THIS IS "CONCERNING"?!?!!

C) I AM NOT GOING TO SIT HERE LIKE A GOOD RECEPTACLE OF INFORMATION WHILE YOU GO AND PUT YOURSELF IN DANGER. MAYBE MILES COULD DO IT FOR GREG, BUT I REFUSE. AND!!! YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY OVER ME. WE ARE EQUALS, HERMANN, WE ARE FUCKING EQUALS. I AM NOT SOME DUDE WHO OWES YOU FEALTY.

D) IT WAS YOUR SHITTY IDEA. OWN UP TO YOUR SHIT.

[NOT EVEN BOTHERING WITH A]

B- Yes, concerning. In every sense of the word.

C- You'd need to talk to government about that.

D- It was my consideration to possibly offer my assistance to dramatically strengthen nanite security. This... conspiracy, was not part of it.

B) FUCK YOU.

C) FUCK YOU.

D) F U C K Y O U.

Like what?

Not, uh, that I'm questionin' yer veracity or whatever, just curious.

I'm sure we could find a way around that if we need to.

They've proven to halt the progression of chronic illnesses, for one thing.

Yeah like what illness though?

'Cause you sound like you got somethin' specific in mind.

[y u do]

Multiple Sclerosis, if you must know. It's a degenerative disease, but the nanites seem to prevent a worsening condition.

[whoa ok that's serious enough to warrant a real conversation and not half-crazy sleep deprived rambling]

No fucking shit, really?

MS is the entire reason I went into genetics. I was doing my thesis on a new genetic treatment possibility.

Sounds like they might be preventing any additional buildup of scar tissue, if I had to hazard a guess.

[Great. Text means he's not sure if sarcastic or not. At least the following messages aren't as ambiguous. Still, what are the chances.]

Is that so? Well they appear to keep the symptoms in stasis, and where RRMS is concerned at least, relapses are more predictable and perhaps even less severe.

Nothing to indicate any sort of reversal of course, but even halting the progression is.. well, progress, considering the lack of available treatments to do much more than manage and attempt to delay worsening symptoms.

Edited 2016-03-19 08:31 (UTC)

[wow hermann no, he would never be sarcastic about MS. that's some serious shit.]

Yeah, I get you. My best friend's been diagnosed since high school and I'd kill just to be able to halt her progression. Anything that helps is progress.

Thanks for pointing this out. We'll definitely have to find an alternative solution for folks in your position.

[He doesn't know!! But yes, he can see that now. No more inclination to smack a bitch]

Ah, yes..

[welp, that's out now]

The consideration is appreciated.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Video] nanomachines nanomachines nanomachines

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