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[k_in_black]

"No report? Since when?"

"Well, don't contact me. Report it to Zed asap, and--. Ah, hell, I'm at Milliways, going offline. Upload your report once

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[gone_byebye]

There's a faint screaming noise coming from behind K; if he turns around he'll notice that Ray's approaching. He's not the one screaming, though he looks like he wants to. "Evening, K," he says. "Uh, could you watch my bag for me? I sort of absolutely have to get upstairs right now."

[gone_byebye]

"Upstairs," Ray says absently, eyes on the stream of kitty litter. "In the holocomputer. Under the full biometric lock requiring a live, un-coerced me to operate, since I think you can understand the ramifications of this getting into the wrong hands."

Right now most of his attention's on did I get this right more than anything else, really.

[k_in_black]

"No question about that," K agrees, still watching the pouring. "Wonder if you could add some kind of variable resistance switch to control the interior dimensions?"

Because otherwise, it's starting to look like Ray's Earth may soon be facing a serious shortage of kitty litter.

[gone_byebye]

The flow slows to a trickle, and then stops. Ray shakes the bag, peers into it, and then hands it to K. "I don't think so. Not with this basic a structure. I'd have to design something a lot more sophisticated to get any kind of variance- this is relying heavily on geometric levels of stability pushed through the extra dimensions...."

He glances around thoughtfully.

"I'm gonna need a table really nearby. And Bar, if I could get a mercantile scale capable of measuring weights up to one hundred pounds accurately, that would be great. Thanks."

[k_in_black]

K grabs the nearest table and pulls it over, the legs sliding quietly over the polished floor. Once he has it positioned where Ray wants it, he asks:

"So what's the first test?"

[gone_byebye]

Ray sets the scale down on the table. "Well, first," he says, "I'd like to make sure the kitty litter's all still in there. If this weighs fifty pounds or more, we're good. If not, I have to pour it out and re-weigh it to make sure I didn't lose any in the dimensional interstices. That could be kind of inconvenient, considering that I want to use these for book storage."

[k_in_black]

K nods and picks up the box, while Ray prepares the scale. Once the scale is all set, the Man in Black carefully sets the box on the tray so Ray can read the result.

"I can think of a few places I wouldn't mind seeing buried under trans-dimensional kitty litter."

[gone_byebye]

"Well, it's not going to happen, at least not from this," Ray says with some satisfaction. "Fifty-three pounds. That's including the weight of the superstructure and the paneling. Now I think I'm going to need a trash bin or something, because I want to make sure it all comes out."

[k_in_black]

K looks over the box. "Did you include a drain plug in this thing, or can we just tip it over?"

[gone_byebye]

"Just tip it over. The math to make dual apertures work without destabilizing the dimensional matrix was almost enough to give me an aneurysm."

[k_in_black]

One trash bin, courtesy of Bar, later, and K is slowly pouring the kitty litter out of the box again.

As he gets near the last of it, he glances up at Ray, "Looking good so far. What now?"

[gone_byebye]

"Weighing the bin and its contents," Ray says. "Right after I... yeah... okay. Three pounds. If you've got fifty pounds plus the weight of the bin there, then we've got an experimental success."

[k_in_black]

K ponders. "This is impressive as hell, Ray, no question about it. But isn't there a practical limit on the design if there's no way to eliminate the gravitational effect on whatever mass is contained inside the box?"

"I'm wondering if there might be a way to offset that somehow, and make it possible to build a much larger version."

[gone_byebye]

"I, uh, sort of have it in the same storage space on the holocomp as the work I'm doing on the Holtzmann effect," Ray says. "Which, while I mostly want that to duplicate the no-room effect, also happens to encompass suspensor technology."

[k_in_black]

K smiles. "Got that covered then. Good deal."

He examines the box some more. "What about organic matter? Do you think it would be safe to place a sentient being--or even just an experimental sample--inside the box?"

[gone_byebye]

Ray rubs at the back of his neck as he gets the weighing-in done. "That's the next test, I think. We should start with a live plant, I think. And then I need to go to a pet store and buy a fish with ich, because that's pretty close to a death sentence, so if anything happens to the fish I won't feel guilty."