That's right. I want to know where it came from. I've been doing some research, but it sounds like no one really knows who designed or built the thing. I was hoping you could help me out.
Help y'out with what, exactly? I can't direct you to the folks that built it -- what d'ya think, we knew this whole time and just aren't sharin' the information?
I'm just trying to figure out what you already do know. I'd like to get into how this all started. Was the Porter found? Was it dug up somewhere, like an artifact?
[Jacob's thinking of the discovery of ancient Prothean technologies on Mars, and what it meant for humanity's development in his own world. It's the closest parallel that comes to his mind in this situation.]
Guess we do know that much, yeah. [ She utters a faint chuckle. ] Frankly, we're thinkin' it's somethin' like that. We've been able to replicate parts of the tech, as ya've probably seen -- the Porters what take youse guys from city to city, those are ours. We can get the teleportation outta it... anythin' more's still alludin' us. Cross-universes is a code we can't seem to crack.
Not only that, we aren't sure it is technology only. It might be a life form unto itself.
You know how powerful it is, and we're all living proof you're not in control. What if it turns out to be alive and hostile? Have you got a way to kill it?
If that thing ends up being anything like what it reminds me of? You might end up wishing you never found it. Maybe you and the whole planet.
What would it take for some ImPorts to get access to the Porter? A lot of us are familiar with advanced technology, or are from the future. We could help figure it out.
If ya ask me, if not us it'd be in someone else's hands, or operatin' just the same without our systems in place. It's for the better we got ahold of it.
[ kanaya called at 10:30a on monday, and so she gets voicemail. she should have paid better attention to the scheduling. ]
Ms. Noimos, [ she wonders for a second if that should be "dr. noimos" ] my name is Kanaya Maryam, we met...about a year ago. I was hoping to ask you just a few questions, related to chronology. Sorry if this is a bother, but I do hope you'll return my call when you have the opportunity.
[ tuesday's a big day, big things going down tonight and now feels like the calm before the storm. the next few hours leave her anxious, but she can keep collected for this. ]
Thank you for calling me back, Ms. Noimos. I only have a few questions, so I'll try not to take too much of your time. If you don't mind, how long have you been a technician working with the Porter?
Just trying to establish a timeline, determine a picture of previous conditions from those who experienced it firsthand. One gets curious after a year. [ and just trying to determine possible leads to investigate question recently arising. ]
That means you'll have been in the department longer than many of the other high-ranking officers, doesn't it. How much would you say it's changed in that time?
Yes, I think she rather enjoys maintaining that image, in my experience with her.
[ and, cautiously, delicately, she gets to the point. she has a lot more to do today, and doesn't expect to get very far with this, but it's at least worth asking. ] During that time, had you ever encountered an imPort named Salvatore Quisma?
Yes, I suspected that might be the case. I can't imagine how many must have passed your halls in that many years. [ and even if she did recognize him, she almost definitely wouldn't be allowed to tell kanaya his powers. still, having the chronology doesn't hurt. it's very possible quisma was never ported in or out after 2000. ]
Do you know of anyone else who worked with operations, from before you came to the department?
That...is perfectly fair, Ms. Noimos. I would imagine any information may be too sensitive to share as it is, and I apologize if I've overstepped a boundary there. [ fucking freddie lounds. ]
I suppose I'm just trying to understand what is known about the Porter compared to what I know already from my experience with her. The two seem so often at odds, from what I have encountered.
[ which isn't entirely untrue, though not really the reason she started this call, either. ]
[ If she's bothered by the line of questioning, she doesn't let it show much. ]
What we do know is what imPorts generally know as well: it's sentient and it ain't hostile, but if it's friendly is still somethin' I'm not too sure on either.
Mind if I ask what your own experiences with it back in that other place some of you were brought from were?
Well, for one, friendliness isn't something I would count on. On the infrequent occasions Lachesis would address us, she was more...domineering, but in a way expressed by an inexplicably mad personality.
We were her "heroes" but she treated us like playthings, more often than not.
That aligns with our own speculations with this Porter havin' its own agenda.
Can you describe how exactly she treated y'all as a group? [ "Playthings" is an interesting word, though she's looking for details. ] Or if there were individuals with any sort of connection to her?
I can't say that any of them had a particularly strong affiliation with her. She could be said to have been fonder of the ones who were there longer, just for the fact that she kept them, but in practice that wasn't really true.
It's...weird. She saw us as her agents, perhaps. Or her very slow-witted children. I didn't see her often, but when I did it was generally in derisive vagaries. She didn't seem to like us very much, but...she did save some of us, in the end.
[ There's the soft rustling of paper and something being jotted down: she's taking notes as Kanaya talks. ]
Hope you don't mind a few more questions: was there anythin' she ever did that might have been odd for her to do? Was she always fully functional? Spikes in her activity or a decrease maybe?
She was inexplicable in many ways. For as many patterns she set, she had just as many instances where she eschewed patterns. They were more of a guideline than a hard rule.
But no new imPorts wasn't irregular in December. She might still port out, but very few ever ported back in at that time.
[ she pauses, wondering how delicate the segue may be, considering the source. ] That's why the question was raised, yes? The has been news going around that the radiation levels have decreased, and given some other things I've heard about your thoughts on that radiation, I wonder if perhaps the topic hasn't been approached the wrong way.
The current theory is that the radiation output is the source of imPort abilities, am I correct?
Sounds almost... intentional. Fascinating. Irregularities to throw folks off.
That it is, hon. The levels have increased since the beginning of January. It's showing the standard output it was before it dropped throughout December.
Sorry if it worried any of y'all. There'd been talks about discussing this openly with imPorts, but looks like one of you got the drop on it first before anyone could make an official statement.
It's just that as an imPort with said abilities, that theory seems to me a bit...implausible. The majority of the abilities I've encountered are too deliberate to result from random mutation. Not even to mention those who retained the powers they had prior to being imported.
You might have noticed when we met, but I'm not particularly human. But in a majority of occasions, my appearance doesn't really reflect that. It isn't a skin-deep change, but a full physiological alteration. Radiation isn't that comprehensive. Even in my proper form, my abilities aren't the same as they would be otherwise, but augmented and annexed into something I suppose Lachesis felt would be more useful.
From what I've seen and experienced, I find it more likely that she has to convert us into a different form en route, energy conversion, and whatever changes she makes are done during the process to translate us back into a cohesive form. She does more than introduce or alter abilities, there is also the potential for memory alteration, be it the removal of these on export, or the possible reintroduction of them on return.
So, I have my doubts that radiation plays much of a role in the process. Now, I'm not a physicist by any means, but I wonder if the radiation isn't more a byproduct of her operations rather than any source of its energy. As you said before, an output, perhaps like the exhaust from a car. If that may be the case, the decrease in output would be the logical result of diminished use.
Does any of this make sense? [ she sure just said a lot of words, some of it about shit she doesn't even know about. ]
We're still not sure how or why exactly those with powers are able to keep 'em with little to no change. The method of power giving -- and taking if it's doin' that, too -- is still far too unpredictable. Personally I wonder if some imPorts are more susceptible to these kind of changes, physiological or otherwise than others.
[ Her voice has perked up a little and the rushed scribbling on paper grows a tad louder. ]
Something in the imPort structure is changed. I'm sure you know when radiation comes into contact with human tissue it's damaged in the process. High enough levels of radiation cause burns and even cancer. Long story short, it can be fatal for... well, I guess in this case anyone who ain't immortal or got some kind of tissue-based healing power. But the radiation isn't harming any of y'all. It's had the reverse effect, but it also isn't the kind of radiation you'd find in this world.
So it's possible this radiation doesn't work the way it should.
'course it's all speculation. It defies everything we know, all we can do is theorize. Most discoveries aren't made in as little time as we've had, so arguin' about it won't get us nowhere.
Normal radiation, certainly, to those who are susceptible to it. And uh, I'm pretty sure an imPort would still be just as affected by that. You don't think it may be that the radiation is the difference, over some generalized imPort immunity? Has anyone on your team ever experienced damage from Porter emissions?
[ come on moira, it's so totally obvious to her, not knowing physics whatsoever. ]
What I'm saying is I really don't think the radiation has anything at all to do with whatever changes come from importation. I'm saying it's more likely a full molecular rewrite. If it's a matter transference that works through energy conversion, she can do really whatever she likes with us when that energy is converted back. It isn't about susceptibility at all, if you look for scientifically based patterns, you won't find them when they're resulting from conscious deliberation.
You keep sayin' she. Lachesis? [ She arches a brow. ] We're not certain it's all her or her at all giving folks superpowers.
Or if she's in the Porter at all anymore.
The radiation has some kinda effect on y'all, otherwise it wouldn't work in conjunction with de-powering criminal imPorts. How much of an effect, we don't know and likely can't know at this time. What really causes the powers will be up in the air until we find whatever factor we're missin' now that'll actually let us run tests on their origins. Like I said, working theories we can't back up with evidence.
So I know you're tryin' to help, but nothin' you're saying is anymore provable as a direct cause, just like there's nothing to suggest "intelligent design" might be the case applied to individual imPorts.
[ it's part of the nullifying process. so that's why they've always thought it must be connected. it always seemed like such an inexplicable idea to her before. ]
Personally, I have little doubt she inhabits it. We have examples of her old database still existing, and for a being who is very potentially comprised of data, there would be no reason for her not to herself abide during the synchronization process.
It would certainly account for the inconsistencies you've experienced in her operations over the past year.
Consider this, if the abilities were merely the result of mutation, would we not encounter a higher frequency of...imperfect compatibilities? For every case to result in whatever change being made to be beneficial, however inconvenient, is a total biological implausibility.
I would think us to be more likely to emerge as a population of lumbering irradiated monstrosities, at least in the majority. That we haven't means there must be far more to it.
I ain't too sure these days. No word from her, if she's there, and there's the possibility she might have accidentally short-circuited somethin' in the process of her synchronization... if it was a success.
Hmm...
[ She hums quietly in thought to herself, lightly tapping her pen against the notepad. ]
Tests would have to be run to confirm it. 'Far as we seen, imPorts don't have much difficulty adaptin' to their powers or any biological restructuring.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Forward-dated to Wednesday
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[Jacob's thinking of the discovery of ancient Prothean technologies on Mars, and what it meant for humanity's development in his own world. It's the closest parallel that comes to his mind in this situation.]
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It was recovered in the Atlantic back in '85. We pulled it from the coast and brought it into the labs to examine it at the time.
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[He pauses.]
Have your people ever looked into the possibility that it might not be human technology? If it's so advanced, maybe it didn't come from Earth.
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Not only that, we aren't sure it is technology only. It might be a life form unto itself.
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[SCREAMING INTERNALLY FOREVER.]
You know how powerful it is, and we're all living proof you're not in control. What if it turns out to be alive and hostile? Have you got a way to kill it?
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Not that we know of yet. We've been analyzin' it for weakness, but we haven't been able to do a thing to influence the thing yet.
We don't think its hostile, but we don't got a clue as to what its agenda might be, either.
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What would it take for some ImPorts to get access to the Porter? A lot of us are familiar with advanced technology, or are from the future. We could help figure it out.
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We'll see what we can arrange.
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But I appreciate you taking the time, Moira. I know how the military works- you've got to ask your superiors about making any actual decisions, right?
Just let me know if you're able to arrange something.
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Ms. Noimos, [ she wonders for a second if that should be "dr. noimos" ] my name is Kanaya Maryam, we met...about a year ago. I was hoping to ask you just a few questions, related to chronology. Sorry if this is a bother, but I do hope you'll return my call when you have the opportunity.
call back!
'Mornin', hon. Been a while, but I remember you.
What's on your mind?
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Thank you for calling me back, Ms. Noimos. I only have a few questions, so I'll try not to take too much of your time. If you don't mind, how long have you been a technician working with the Porter?
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And since 2000. Any reason you askin'?
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That means you'll have been in the department longer than many of the other high-ranking officers, doesn't it. How much would you say it's changed in that time?
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Had you started from your current position, or did it take some climbing at first?
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Was there someone else working as Head Engineer prior to that?
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'Course, that machine's still an enigma to me after all this time, which makes it difficult to give folks the answer they want when asked.
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[ and, cautiously, delicately, she gets to the point. she has a lot more to do today, and doesn't expect to get very far with this, but it's at least worth asking. ] During that time, had you ever encountered an imPort named Salvatore Quisma?
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Oh, hon, can't tell you the number of imPort faces I've seen. Kinda embarrassed to admit how many I don't remember.
Quisma's not ringin' a bell, though. Think I'd remember a fancy name like that.
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Do you know of anyone else who worked with operations, from before you came to the department?
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I ain't at liberty to say, Kanaya. Not after the information leak last month courtesy some imPort tabloid.
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I suppose I'm just trying to understand what is known about the Porter compared to what I know already from my experience with her. The two seem so often at odds, from what I have encountered.
[ which isn't entirely untrue, though not really the reason she started this call, either. ]
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[ If she's bothered by the line of questioning, she doesn't let it show much. ]
What we do know is what imPorts generally know as well: it's sentient and it ain't hostile, but if it's friendly is still somethin' I'm not too sure on either.
Mind if I ask what your own experiences with it back in that other place some of you were brought from were?
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We were her "heroes" but she treated us like playthings, more often than not.
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Can you describe how exactly she treated y'all as a group? [ "Playthings" is an interesting word, though she's looking for details. ] Or if there were individuals with any sort of connection to her?
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It's...weird. She saw us as her agents, perhaps. Or her very slow-witted children. I didn't see her often, but when I did it was generally in derisive vagaries. She didn't seem to like us very much, but...she did save some of us, in the end.
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[ There's the soft rustling of paper and something being jotted down: she's taking notes as Kanaya talks. ]
Hope you don't mind a few more questions: was there anythin' she ever did that might have been odd for her to do? Was she always fully functional? Spikes in her activity or a decrease maybe?
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But no new imPorts wasn't irregular in December. She might still port out, but very few ever ported back in at that time.
[ she pauses, wondering how delicate the segue may be, considering the source. ] That's why the question was raised, yes? The has been news going around that the radiation levels have decreased, and given some other things I've heard about your thoughts on that radiation, I wonder if perhaps the topic hasn't been approached the wrong way.
The current theory is that the radiation output is the source of imPort abilities, am I correct?
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That it is, hon. The levels have increased since the beginning of January. It's showing the standard output it was before it dropped throughout December.
Sorry if it worried any of y'all. There'd been talks about discussing this openly with imPorts, but looks like one of you got the drop on it first before anyone could make an official statement.
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You might have noticed when we met, but I'm not particularly human. But in a majority of occasions, my appearance doesn't really reflect that. It isn't a skin-deep change, but a full physiological alteration. Radiation isn't that comprehensive. Even in my proper form, my abilities aren't the same as they would be otherwise, but augmented and annexed into something I suppose Lachesis felt would be more useful.
From what I've seen and experienced, I find it more likely that she has to convert us into a different form en route, energy conversion, and whatever changes she makes are done during the process to translate us back into a cohesive form. She does more than introduce or alter abilities, there is also the potential for memory alteration, be it the removal of these on export, or the possible reintroduction of them on return.
So, I have my doubts that radiation plays much of a role in the process. Now, I'm not a physicist by any means, but I wonder if the radiation isn't more a byproduct of her operations rather than any source of its energy. As you said before, an output, perhaps like the exhaust from a car. If that may be the case, the decrease in output would be the logical result of diminished use.
Does any of this make sense? [ she sure just said a lot of words, some of it about shit she doesn't even know about. ]
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[ Her voice has perked up a little and the rushed scribbling on paper grows a tad louder. ]
Something in the imPort structure is changed. I'm sure you know when radiation comes into contact with human tissue it's damaged in the process. High enough levels of radiation cause burns and even cancer. Long story short, it can be fatal for... well, I guess in this case anyone who ain't immortal or got some kind of tissue-based healing power. But the radiation isn't harming any of y'all. It's had the reverse effect, but it also isn't the kind of radiation you'd find in this world.
So it's possible this radiation doesn't work the way it should.
'course it's all speculation. It defies everything we know, all we can do is theorize. Most discoveries aren't made in as little time as we've had, so arguin' about it won't get us nowhere.
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[ come on moira, it's so totally obvious to her, not knowing physics whatsoever. ]
What I'm saying is I really don't think the radiation has anything at all to do with whatever changes come from importation. I'm saying it's more likely a full molecular rewrite. If it's a matter transference that works through energy conversion, she can do really whatever she likes with us when that energy is converted back. It isn't about susceptibility at all, if you look for scientifically based patterns, you won't find them when they're resulting from conscious deliberation.
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Or if she's in the Porter at all anymore.
The radiation has some kinda effect on y'all, otherwise it wouldn't work in conjunction with de-powering criminal imPorts. How much of an effect, we don't know and likely can't know at this time. What really causes the powers will be up in the air until we find whatever factor we're missin' now that'll actually let us run tests on their origins. Like I said, working theories we can't back up with evidence.
So I know you're tryin' to help, but nothin' you're saying is anymore provable as a direct cause, just like there's nothing to suggest "intelligent design" might be the case applied to individual imPorts.
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Personally, I have little doubt she inhabits it. We have examples of her old database still existing, and for a being who is very potentially comprised of data, there would be no reason for her not to herself abide during the synchronization process.
It would certainly account for the inconsistencies you've experienced in her operations over the past year.
Consider this, if the abilities were merely the result of mutation, would we not encounter a higher frequency of...imperfect compatibilities? For every case to result in whatever change being made to be beneficial, however inconvenient, is a total biological implausibility.
I would think us to be more likely to emerge as a population of lumbering irradiated monstrosities, at least in the majority. That we haven't means there must be far more to it.
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Hmm...
[ She hums quietly in thought to herself, lightly tapping her pen against the notepad. ]
Tests would have to be run to confirm it. 'Far as we seen, imPorts don't have much difficulty adaptin' to their powers or any biological restructuring.
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But if you do move forward with testing, and have need of volunteers, do let me know. I could be of some use to you on that front.