Wherein Raptor Perry is triumphantly resurrected.
He'd been turning the disk over in his hand for what felt like hours.
It had been just about a year since he'd effectively killed the artificial intelligence of his spacecraft, and he still felt horrendously guilty about it. At the time, there had been no choice--the computer had gone rogue, and even if the Captain and his ship had reconciled at the end, a rogue computer was a rogue computer, and rogue computers needed to be dealt with.
Deal with it he did. Falcon had backed up "Raptor Perry's" systems on a disk, then wiped the AI from his ship entirely.
Now, however, was the time to put it back. Despite efforts to convince himself otherwise, he needed Perry. Running the ship without his custom AI was, frankly, a pain in the ass. Still, he couldn't help but have his doubts. What if the computer decided it was going to do whatever the hell it wanted? Repeat the events of the war? There were only so many precautions Falcon could take. Perhaps the theft and mysterious return of the disk compelled Falcon to reactivate it. Maybe the AI could tell him if it had been in use while it was missing.
And Falcon had a project in the works. It was still far from complete, but it needed to be tested. He'd called in what felt like half a billion favors to get the technology and information he needed, but piecing it together himself and inputting the necessary programming had proved to be very difficult. A test run was necessary.
The transfer of information from the disk to the ship's mainframe took a fair amount of time, which Falcon used to tweak the device. Once the upload was complete, he powered up the device. A light shot forth, hovering above the circular contraption, wavering with static before taking a vaguely humanoid shape, blue and shimmering and featureless. Falcon sighed and furrowed his brow. It was a start. He could only imagine what it would look like after further customization.
The projection sputtered, as if struggling to keep itself together. Then, it spoke.
"Activation successful. Please hold for system analysis."
-------
[Perhaps you pick up this accidental public transmission on a headset/radio/codec/Pokedex/TV/spaceship computer/other such transmitting device. Or maybe you're just magic and/or made of hax. Whatever the case, there is static for a moment, and then whatever you were listening to/watching is replaced by two voices. One is a bit muffled, but unmistakably Captain Falcon's. The other is crystal clear but sounds rather artificial. It might be vaguely familiar to a few students and faculty.]
--ast recorded date: Fifteen March, two-thousand-and nine. This is unexpected, Captain.
I know, I know.
And this is not the same craft.
Uh...no. It's not. The Flyer...you're used to, I guess...it was destroyed. Back in June.
Destroyed?
Black Shadow.
You can't seem to keep out of trouble, can you?
My job gets me in trouble from time to time.
I trust you were not injured.
Of course I was injured. Anyway, I--
Yet you still remain here. I suppose it would be pointless to remind you to be careful.
Just a little.
And is this device an attempt to ensure my complacency?
Maybe.
I am glad to be back, Captain, if only to prevent you from indulging in the questionable decisions I assume you made in my absence.
Right. Thanks.
[The transmission dissolves into static.]
-------
I heard about what happened. Are you all right?
-------
Checking in as usual. What's up?
-------
I parked next to you. I hope that's okay.
-------
This might seem a bit random, but we have so many scientifically-inclined students and faculty here, I figured it was worth a shot. Does anyone know anything about hologram technology?
It had been just about a year since he'd effectively killed the artificial intelligence of his spacecraft, and he still felt horrendously guilty about it. At the time, there had been no choice--the computer had gone rogue, and even if the Captain and his ship had reconciled at the end, a rogue computer was a rogue computer, and rogue computers needed to be dealt with.
Deal with it he did. Falcon had backed up "Raptor Perry's" systems on a disk, then wiped the AI from his ship entirely.
Now, however, was the time to put it back. Despite efforts to convince himself otherwise, he needed Perry. Running the ship without his custom AI was, frankly, a pain in the ass. Still, he couldn't help but have his doubts. What if the computer decided it was going to do whatever the hell it wanted? Repeat the events of the war? There were only so many precautions Falcon could take. Perhaps the theft and mysterious return of the disk compelled Falcon to reactivate it. Maybe the AI could tell him if it had been in use while it was missing.
And Falcon had a project in the works. It was still far from complete, but it needed to be tested. He'd called in what felt like half a billion favors to get the technology and information he needed, but piecing it together himself and inputting the necessary programming had proved to be very difficult. A test run was necessary.
The transfer of information from the disk to the ship's mainframe took a fair amount of time, which Falcon used to tweak the device. Once the upload was complete, he powered up the device. A light shot forth, hovering above the circular contraption, wavering with static before taking a vaguely humanoid shape, blue and shimmering and featureless. Falcon sighed and furrowed his brow. It was a start. He could only imagine what it would look like after further customization.
The projection sputtered, as if struggling to keep itself together. Then, it spoke.
"Activation successful. Please hold for system analysis."
-------
[Perhaps you pick up this accidental public transmission on a headset/radio/codec/Pokedex/TV/spaceship computer/other such transmitting device. Or maybe you're just magic and/or made of hax. Whatever the case, there is static for a moment, and then whatever you were listening to/watching is replaced by two voices. One is a bit muffled, but unmistakably Captain Falcon's. The other is crystal clear but sounds rather artificial. It might be vaguely familiar to a few students and faculty.]
--ast recorded date: Fifteen March, two-thousand-and nine. This is unexpected, Captain.
I know, I know.
And this is not the same craft.
Uh...no. It's not. The Flyer...you're used to, I guess...it was destroyed. Back in June.
Destroyed?
Black Shadow.
You can't seem to keep out of trouble, can you?
My job gets me in trouble from time to time.
I trust you were not injured.
Of course I was injured. Anyway, I--
Yet you still remain here. I suppose it would be pointless to remind you to be careful.
Just a little.
And is this device an attempt to ensure my complacency?
Maybe.
I am glad to be back, Captain, if only to prevent you from indulging in the questionable decisions I assume you made in my absence.
Right. Thanks.
[The transmission dissolves into static.]
-------
I heard about what happened. Are you all right?
-------
Checking in as usual. What's up?
-------
I parked next to you. I hope that's okay.
-------
This might seem a bit random, but we have so many scientifically-inclined students and faculty here, I figured it was worth a shot. Does anyone know anything about hologram technology?