IC Contact: thisavrou

[notglitching]

ACE Messages:

There's no greeting voice when your call goes to message—only a short period of static. Or is it whirring? Either way, it might not be the device causing the sound.


[[Open for ACE calls, IC mail, or other spammy things!]]

Comments

text;

[alan_1]

[Since arriving on the Moira, Alan has avoided using the text function on his MID. The keys are vexingly small for one, and he’s limited to typing with one hand by design, which makes the process even slower. Because of this, all of his communications on the network and to other crewmembers have been exclusively in audio or video format.

Until today, that is. Now when Rinzler opens the message from Alan in his inbox, it's in text.]

Hello Rinzler

Sam and I have been working on a new application for the MID that could make text communication easier. It’s still in beta though and needs some field-testing. Would you be interested?

- Alan

text;

[notglitching]

[There's a momentary stall as the ID on the message parses. The oddity of the text is overwritten entirely by a slightly panicked review of Rinzler's own recent behavior. He can't come up with anything worth reprimanding, though—Alan-one had even approved of his skill with the bug-swarms. Instructions, then?

He opens the message, and if the mention of the Flynn earns a brief glower, the rest is... unexpected. Testing, but not for him. (Or not overtly.) Still, if caution is a default too thoroughly ingrained to lose, it's joined by a flicker of curiosity as Rinzler keys in his assent.]

Location?

text;

[alan_1]

Room 004, Moro Deck

-->action

[notglitching]

[There's no return text this time. But a little over a minute later, Alan will hear the door chime go off. If he listens closely, he might even hear the quiet rumbling behind it.]

[alan_1]

[Alan doesn’t need to hear the rumbling to know who it is. He’s already become accustomed to the programs’ prompt arrivals. The door slides open and Alan greets Rinzler with a quick smile before taking a step to the side.] Come in.

[The room’s other occupants are absent currently and Alan’s laptop sits open on one of the room’s four desks. He walks there now, stooping over the keyboard to make a few last adjustments.] I’ve got a local file-sharing server set up that should allow for MID connections. Your MID should detect it as a network post. [Accessing the network, Rinzler should be able to find what looks like an open post. The only differences are that there’s a download link rather than any message content, and the post’s creator is listed as “Alan-1” rather than “Alan Bradley,” the name attached to Alan's MID. Alan glances back at Rinzler.] Can you see it?

[notglitching]

[Rinzler keeps external output to his usual hunch, but eyes shift beneath the cover of his helmet, glancing around the room as they pass through its opening. The small console on the desk isn't hard to spot, and he stops a respectful distance away.

The instructions are simple enough. The program's fingers move quickly over the MID, bringing up the post and noting the download file. The black mask dips in a quick nod.]

[alan_1]

You can go ahead and download it. It won’t interfere with your MID’s default functions, it’ll just -- well, I can show you... [Saying this, he pulls up the prototype he has on his own MID. A push of a button and the glowing pane of a holographic QWERTY keyboard appears in midair before him. Alan can’t help but smile some when he sees it, still rather awed by the technology. It isn’t a projection; there’s no light source at all. And yet the MID is still capable of rendering the hologram in midair, as if the atmosphere itself is just part of its operating system.] It seemed like a useful addition. Especially for crewmembers who have to do more typing than others.

[Not naming any names. Especially since that description could apply to Alan just as much as Rinzler.]

[notglitching]

[Rinzler selects the download option as instructed, head tilting in curious inspection at his user's demonstration. The program's stare lingers a little longer at that last line. The reference isn't necessarily to him, and certainly assumption is unwarranted. Still... if Alan-one's sharing this with him at all, that implies at tacit acceptance of Rinzler communicating.

He's wondered about that for a while.

There's a quiet chime as the file finishes downloading, and Rinzler starts to reach for it before he stalls, mask turning toward Alan-one. Can he?]

[alan_1]

[Alan gives Rinzler a nod of encouragement.] Go ahead. [He’s become used to Rinzler’s frequent need for clearcut permission to carry out even seemingly trivial actions, and if there’s a hint of unease knowing the likely source of that tendency, Alan’s quickly becoming accustomed to providing that clarification as just a commonplace element of conversation with the program.]

Once it’s installed, you should get an option to pull up the keyboard for any text-input field. It’s a pretty simple program, but if there are bugs, they’ll probably be in projection stability and sensitivity -- can’t say I have much experience in coding holograms.

[Alan doesn’t even notice his casual use of the word “program” in its more traditional sense; it’s not exactly intuitive to come up with a synonym when coding programs was part of your job for a good chunk of your life. And still is given his position on the Moira.]