Remote Correspondence

Participants:

gatter_icon.gif seren3_icon.gif

Scene Title Remote Correspondence
Synopsis Seren reaches out to Dr. Gatter for advice on what should be done about Project Rusalka with regards to Agartha.
Date July 13, 2021

SEA-TAC Safe Zone


Arms folded against the side of the desk in the pre-furnished apartment they're inhabiting since their move to Vashon Island several days ago, Seren shifts to make their posture as comfortable as possible as they lean down to look at the opened laptop screen before them. The screen before them dances with an icon that indicates the application is Calling, and they wait anxiously for signs of the other end picking up.

The time difference was still something to adjust to. Three hours wasn't much compared to coordinating with resources on the other end of the world like some in Yamagato had to deal with (Marlowe's patience and grace was incredible and to be emulated), but it's still enough that they're technically calling at what's past normal working hours.

Not that normal working hours apply to the person they're calling … nor apply to any of them now that they have their assignments for the end of the world.

Seren looks away for just a moment to consult Baird in silence where he sits off-screen, and the sound of a calling whale serves as their answer. They break out into a resigned chuckle, one that cascades into a small smile.

The call rings another four times before it is answered, the familiar face of Doctor Albert Gatter looming large on the screen, a pair of reddish goggles pulled down over his eyes. "Hello? Oh! Seren! Hello!" he exclaims, leaning back. He frowns for a moment, considering. "How's the site?"

Swiveling their head back to the screen, Seren brightens immediately. "I'm glad I caught you!" Their mood stays that way for only a moment, though. There are serious topics to be discussed, serious matters needing counsel. They settle down, leaning onto their elbows as they look into the camera. "There's a deep, deep hole out here– and it's going to get deeper still. Excavation is nearly finished, and then we start building up foundation and reinforcements. I'm in the process of confirming with all our involved parties that they don't have any additional requests like Raytech did which would need accounted for in final design…"

Baird's head slowly pops into view from the bottom of the camera's sightline, at first only wiggling fronds of something before the head of an axolotl, only down to its eyes, appears to peer at the screen rather than the camera.

Nonplussed by the invasion, Seren only tilts their head. "Which… leads me to wonder how things are going on your end. Has there been much or any luck with scaling the Siren designs…?"

That question makes Gatter grimace. "It's… hard going. This is… some really intricate machinery. Honestly it would be a lot easier if we had Warren Ray on this. Or Doctor Cranston. But I've been trying to get ahold of Doctor Cranston for awhile without luck," he sighs, pushing up his goggles to rub at his eyes; the bags under them are apparent. "There's a lot of rare earths involved, which is a bit of a bottleneck, and the more we miniaturize this the more aggressive we have to be with regards with cooling to avoid the thing melting itself and everything around it."

He sighs, shaking his head. "That's the problem, really. This technology, as we see it, was designed to operate as an area suppressor effect, and optimized for that; to do what Rusalka was intended to, I'm having to try to re-engineer it without breaking it." Gatter shakes his head again. "It's tricky. Which is not to say I'm not making progress! But it's tricky."

The appearance of Baird draws a smile to Gatter's face, though. "Hello Baird!" he says brightly, waving.

Baird croons in silence, the fronds on his head floating back and forth as he sways much the same. Seren is far more contemplative. They go on to gently say, "I'm– heading to Kansas City tomorrow to share our plans and get buy-in from the US government." Then why do they look so troubled?

"I'm… wondering if we should tell them about this, up front, or maybe wait til later." How much later? Not to mention, being sure there's enough to keep such protections going… "I think what we're doing is noble, but it'll have its draws on our energy that will make it hard to have it as a long-term solution." They lower one hand to run it across the top of Baird's soft head.

"I can see potential applications," Gatter agrees, speaking slowly. "But… I don't know. As you say, the energy concerns are… significant. And I'm about to be very busy with the ICI Program…"

Gatter frowns for a moment. "Maybe make a footnote of it as a potential option we're exploring," he says, shrugging. Then he blinks. "Oh! Wait. If you're going to Kansas City… if you happen to bump into Doctor Cranston there, maybe you can ask her for her thoughts on miniaturization. And also…"

Abruptly, Gatter's expression grows serious. "Also, if you should happen to see her… let her know that WRAY has picked up a transmission. Protocols say that we're supposed to contact her for that, but I haven't been able to get through."

Seren blinks once and then straightens their posture. "Wait, what?" they murmur, and Baird looks up to them then back to the screen. His mouth opens and no sound transmits to Gatter on the other side. "That's… interesting. Yeah, I… dunno if I'll see her, but I can at least ask. Or use my newfound clout to see if I can get her attention." They sigh and rub their face with one hand, looking off.

Tiredly, they propose, "Any Siren installation, I'd have recommended a disruption layer just on upper levels instead of creating total coverage. I just… if I even tell them about the plans, I didn't know how to frame it." A nervous chuckle rises from them. "I don't know if hey, so remember when Eve Mas did weird shit in Detroit really… vibes." Brow pulling together, they tag on, "Or how to sell the importance of it if they don't believe me."

Rubbing the side of their neck, they suppose, "… Maybe I could just sell it as anti-teleportation measures without talking all that? Making sure the only people supposed to be in are those on the list?" Seren looks uncomfortable even at that. "Or like– the other bit. Anti-transportation, anti-phaser jail cell."

"Yes," Gatter says grimly. "Anti-teleportation measures. Because as much as we hate it… the fact is that this place is only going to be able to sustain so many people." His eyes squeeze shut for a moment; he sees it still, the cold, uncompromising curves that dictate trajectories and intersections and… mortalities. "In a way, it's as if Agartha is a spaceship. There is simply only going to be enough for so many, and trying to exceed that will result in a death sentence."

Gatter lowers his head, eyes still closed. "I hate it. I hate everything about this. But what other options do we have?"

He takes a breath. "But if we're going to do this, we should plan to do it completely," Gatter says, looking back to Seren. "Protection is only good if it's complete, otherwise we're just rolling dice. And we can't afford to gamble with this."

Even Baird solemns as he and Seren face the unyielding math that challenges them. His summoner refuses to become constrained by them, chasing an ever-rising hope in the face of the flare to come. They let out a quiet hm which draws Baird to look right up at them, exposing purple-green underside of his chin.

"I'll bring up both our proposal and our current challenges regarding deploying those countermeasures in an energy-efficient way," Seren proposes. "They're the government– chances are they've had to run into these questions and issues before. Maybe they can help us bridge the gap quickly there." They pull their arms off the table, rubbing their hands against the top of their thigh.

"… We're doing the best we can," they reassure him more gently if directly. "We're going to save everybody we can, keep everybody safe the best we can. Nothing about this is ideal, but any of us surviving is a start." Seren gives Gatter a small smile, if a sad one. "We can work on making it perfect once we've laid down the bones of better."

Gatter musters a rueful smile of his own. "I know," he says, his voice quiet — a rare thing for him. "I know. What we're doing today is more than just shaping the future — we're making sure there will be one. We strive to carry on the hopes and dreams passed to us by our mothers and fathers, to carry them that we might pass them on to the next generation. That someday, down the line, our childrens' childrens' children might do the same, and perhaps, in some far distant future, humanity might reach to the stars themselves. Ad astra per aspera."

"Per aspera, ad futurum," Seren murmurs back their view on the matter. Baird's head bobbles, the sound he makes heard only to them, and they draw their hand back over his oversized lap puppy head, the fronds on it fwipping back up after their fingers clear the ends of them. They think on it a moment longer and then shake their head with a bit more spirit in their smile.

"I should let you get back to work for now. I appreciate touching base, Dr. Gatter. It– I needed the sanity check."

Gatter raises both eyebrows. "I believe it's the first time I've been accused of that, Mx. Evans… but you're welcome," he says, smiling… then he frowns, glancing off camera. "It appears I may have to cut this call short — the drone has chewed through its tether. Remarkable…" he murmurs.

He looks back to the camera again and grins. "In any case — thank you for calling. Don't hesitate to ring me up whenever — it's good to talk. Good to remember that none of us is working alone. Take care!" Gatter says with a smile, before the screen goes dark, displaying the message CALL ENDED.

Seren and Baird both look at the ended call window for a good, long moment after that, like somehow the blank screen might yet reveal more secrets to them. After a moment, Baird lets out an uncertain tone of inquiry as to what Gatter was doing, and if he's all right.

"… I don't know, Baird," his summoner admits slowly, awkwardly, not sure they want to. "Maybe it's best to stay in our own lane, there."


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License