Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Tethys Carrack]

"That hardly seems necessary." Tethys cuts in firmly. "These gold intersectors don't pose an imminent threat to us yellow parallels, do they, droid?" She realizes she doesn't have a more specific way of addressing the droid than that--it hadn't introduced itself. "What's your designation, by the way?"

She turns her attention back to the Imperials. "Since there is no imminent threat, there's no need to resort to intrusive technical interventions we may not be able to reverse. Especially if this droid's owners are still around and in communication with it. We won't endear ourselves to them by destroying their property."

She taps her chin, thinking. Maybe the droid hadn't answered her question because it didn't want to, or isn't permitted to... but on the other hand, maybe she'd made an error. She had given a visual description of the being she saw in the transmission, in the way she instinctively knew how--using colors, shapes, and location to paint a picture which another fluent Basic speaker could decode and reconstruct in his or her mind. But this droid's communication style uses words for colors, shapes, and directions in a completely different way. Maybe Tethys had made no more sense to it than it has been making to her.

"I can understand elementary Shyriiwook, but I can't speak it. Taking apart my brain wouldn't change that," she muses aloud, less stern now. "Hm. Droid, I take it there's no problem with all of us living in this facility temporarily. You haven't told us it's, hm, 'silver vertex' for us to be here, fixing it up, or tried to chase us off. If we asked you to give a message to the golden intersectors for us, would that be all right?"

[C5-PT]

The droid replied, “Gold intersectors are gold vertex to yellow parallels it is black circular to verdant perpendicular yellow parallels for black vertical or if black intersectors then white vertical. Gold intersectors pink secant black vertical black circular for yellow parallels and gold intersectors.”

“This unit is C5-PT.”

[Zeno Thul]

"So gold intersectors are verdant perpendicular of and gold vertex to yellow parallels. Gold perpendicular is an unknown species, we are yellow parallels, and they are something of us and something to us. This kind of thing isn't really my strong point," he says, shaking his head.

"If the droid isn't going to help out willingly and make it clear that it's not hostile or working with a potentially hostile force, then we should not assume it's not part of a trap."

[C5-PT]

"Yellow parallels are blue vertex," the droid responded.

[Tethys Carrack]

"I'm sorry, I don't really understand, C5-PT," Tethys says, matter-of-fact with a slight note of apology. "This must be frustrating for you as well. Is 'blue vertex' something we should want to be, or something we probably should avoid?"

[Zeno Thul]

"Blue vertex is transparent torus," he says, to mess with the droid.

[C5-PT]

"Blue vertex," the droid repeated.

"Yellow parallels are possible black interesector or red intersector, gold intersectors are blue vertex. This unit will verdant perpendicular yellow parallel."

"Blue vertex is transparent torus," he says, to mess with the droid.

"This unit is blue vertex."

[Zeno Thul]

"So the droid thinks we have something in common with it if we're both blue vertex. Maybe it thinks we are servants or slaves to the gold intersectors, unentitled to ask questions?"

[Qozaiym Zholyeva]

The General quipped, "Or it's simply confused."

[Zeno Thul]

"Occam's razor," Zeno agreed with the general. "We don't know how long it's been here or if it has had a maintenance cycle recently."

[Tethys Carrack]

"It said the gold intersectors were, too, though, a minute ago. If we're all 'blue vertex'--us and the gold intersectors and C-Five--then perhaps that means confused," Tethys says, a laugh in her voice--not really meaning it as a proper guess.

"Wait." A more serious guess occurs to her... "Verdant perpendicular... is that what we're all doing right now? Communicating? Or working together?"

[C5-PT]

"It said the gold intersectors were, too, though, a minute ago. If we're all 'blue vertex'--us and the gold intersectors and C-Five--then perhaps that means confused," Tethys says, a laugh in her voice--not really meaning it as a proper guess.

The droid agreed with a nod and verbalized, "Blue vertex."

"Wait." A more serious guess occurs to her... "Verdant perpendicular... is that what we're all doing right now? Communicating? Or working together?"

The droid processed this and then replied, "This unit verdant perpendicular yellow parallel, now." It then pointed to its ocular device and then toward the Jedi and those gathered.

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington ponders for a moment. "I think it is using some archaic form of diagnostic programming. Yellow parallels probably are referring to us regular users. Blue Vertex, this droid is probably acting as some kind of interface. Gold Intersectors are likely the Gree who created this base.

Green usually means that systems are nominal. When referring to access it probably means we can use that. Black likely means a blocked or dead sector/access. Red means problem area or something that is restricted."

"Oh, it seems you are onto something Master Carrack. So verdant perpendicular is that it is broadcasting our image and our conversation to someone?"

He goes to look around for a console to see if he can find more of that holo log from the Gree.


/ May I use Computers to find the full log/message from the Gree?

[Dapper Dog]

He finds no logs on the consoles there, if he checks the device, it just has an outgoing message but the location shows an [error].

[Remmington Balmung]

"Looks like that message is completely ruined." He looks over the device.

[Tethys Carrack]

"Oh!" Tethys grins, lighting up her usually-more-serious features. "It really is 'confused'? I've been blue vertex very often lately, I assure you," she adds, smiling at the droid. "Maybe a little less now. Just a little."

"And I think 'verdant perpendicular' means 'observing,'" she adds, to Remmington. "It's observing us. And..." She murmurs softly to herself, turning over bits of things she remembers the droid saying. "Gold intersectors are verdant perpendicular... Oh. The alien we saw, or his whole group of people, they're observing us. They don't want to actually contact us yet? But perhaps they will if they feel it's safe, later." That last is her extrapolation, of course.

With a wry snort, she adds, "Not violently disassembling their droid would probably help our case."

[Zeno Thul]

"If they are observing us, perhaps we should try to find a way to block communications in and out of the base. And let them know that we'll unblock when they communicate with us?"

[Dapper Dog]

The droid verbalized to Tethys with a warm digital tone, "Yellow parallel is purple vertex."

[Remmington Balmung]

"Even if we could do that, I don't think we can really afford the time or resources to commit to that sadly. Not with more pressing problems at the moment."

At the response he looks over to Tethys. "Looks like you are right there."

[Qozaiym Zholyeva]

"Prudent but zhese Gree have been observing us since we landed and possibly before, we need to proceed carefully," she responded.

[Zeno Thul]

Zeno agrees with the general again. "Well, since this certainly doesn't seem like my forte, it's probably better left in other people's capable hands."

He looks to the other two and shrugs. "You two are far more equipped for figuring out the droid I think."

Then he looks to the droid and says, "Periwinkle parallax buddy, periwinkle parallax."

[Tethys Carrack]

"A number of powers we don't fully understand are trying to manipulate us here. What's one more?" Tethys asks, lips quirking wryly.

She tucks her gloved hands into her belt, preventing herself from trying to touch her lips or forehead as she otherwise sometimes does when lost in thought. "Don't sell yourself short, Duke-consort, we've already had one reminder this evening that pressing buttons at random is sometimes informative," she adds with a chuckle.

"C-Five," she continues after a moment, "You said..." damn, what was it? I think... "the gold intersectors are, ah, 'blue vertex' because they don't know whether we--I mean, the 'yellow parallels'--are hmm. Red intersector or... or some other color intersector? How will they decide which we are? Is one of those better than the other?"

Tethys isn't an expert in languages and codes by any stretch, but she's spoken at least two since childhood and picked up bits of many others in her travels, and she has a systematic mind. They won't figure this out in a day, but she's confident now that they can communicate with the droid and its masters, eventually. It's nice to have at least one bounded problem to work on.

[C5-PT]

The droid processed that and then gave a thumbs up while verbalizing, "Silver intersector." Then it gave a thumb's down and verbalized, "Red intersector and black intersector."

[Tethys Carrack]

"Okay." Tethys nods. "We'll try not to, ah, red or black intersector, then." Those do sound sort of ominous.

"I can't promise your gold intersectors that we'll act exactly as they might wish. We do have our own concerns here. The pirates who shot both our ships down, for one. If you're observing us and this planet, I assume you know about that. But we have no ill will toward you, and no reason for it that I know of."

Other than sheer impatience on the part of some expedition members, anyway.

[Remmington Balmung]

That brought a question to Remmington's mind. "Is there anyone with Silver Intersector at the moment who is nearby? How about people with Red or Black Intersectors?"