how could this happen to me etc

[neverfinishanyth]

You can only look at other people's designs for so long, mia amica. Otherwise, you'll never start building things of your own, and then nothing will get done besides sketches! Which... judging from this username you've chosen for me, I guess you'd consider me something of an expert on the subject?

A parte tutti questo, if we're to fly, it would take a leap of faith to truly get off the ground, no matter how many diagrams and prototypes we go through first. I think you might be surprised by the results, though how pleasantly, I can't really say.

By the way, this device you're using to write? It's fantastic! I've never seen anything like it! It seems you can change your wording very quickly, and not leave any record that it was changed, is that true?

Comments

[sagittaspei]

This device... ah! If you mean a computer and a keyboard, then yep, it's true! Is this really your first time seeing one?

[neverfinishanyth]

A computer? Oh, does it do sums as well?

And I suppose this keyboard functions the same as moveable type? I've seen some printers around Venezia with those new presses, only instead of having to lay out the entire page first, it enters in the letters one at a time...

[sagittaspei]

I think that it can! Or at least, they usually have a calculator program that you can use to help you do math.

Eh? I'm sorry, I think you might have lost me there...

[neverfinishanyth]

How does it work? Does it solve the problem very quickly, or does it merely have the answers provided already-- although, it'd probably much harder to account for every possible solution to a problem, especially if there are multiple steps involved-- Oh, scusi, I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Are there any printing presses where you are? It comes from... I think first one was in Mainz, but they're spreading very, very rapidly here, so I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing them soon. As a matter of fact, a new printer opened up down the street from here just a few days ago. Most of the old bookmakers seem to be a little worried about it.

[sagittaspei]

Oh no, it's okay! I'd be excited too, if I was hearing about something like this for the first time, I think! Ah, but let's see... I think that it might be the first one! You put in the sum yourself, and it comes out with the answer. I'm not really sure how it does that, though...

Oh, you mean like books--! Ah, I think that they must still have them in some places, but you can type things into a computer using a keyboard, and then if you have some paper and your own printer connected up, you can print off what you just typed yourself. Does that makes sense? I've never had to explain this before, so I might have just made it sound more confusing, ehe.

[neverfinishanyth]

Hmm. Perhaps it's been taught how to solve the problem, so when one is put in, it goes through all the steps in the right order very, very rapidly.

Oh! Fantastic! So these new printers must store ink in them, and then apply it when the paper runs through it, like a miniature, personalized version of the ones we have now! How does the printer know what to copy, though, that's the real question...

But, I wouldn't worry about any confusion. The only way to truly understand something is to test it yourself and determine a likely solution from there. So! A few experiments, and then we'll know either way.

pfft that username

[pushesgently]

It seems the future has many amazing devices. I envy those of you who will live to use them.

thanks :P my friend came up with it!

[neverfinishanyth]

It all seems so ordinary to them, that's the truly amazing thing! Something this advanced exists, and far from being rare, it seems to be so common that nobody even thinks about them as miraculous anymore. But perhaps that's how most things are. If I fell asleep and woke up fifty years from now, maybe everything would be so different that I wouldn't recognize a pen if I saw it right in front of me.

[pushesgently]

You make a good point, but I think it is still important to recognize our own accomplishments and advances; otherwise, how could we understand how far we've come, or how far we have yet to go?

oh my gosh i totally missed this tag, sorry!

[neverfinishanyth]

No, that much is true, as well. I suppose that the past, the present, and the future are all interconnected, rather than being a simple progression out of one stage into the next. We can't look ahead without recognizing where we've come from, but we also can't get stuck in the past without trying to move forward from it. More of a circle than a line, I think.

np np!

[pushesgently]

More than a line, yes, but a circle is limiting as well. I would like to believe that men will do more than turn in an endless loop, repeating their mistakes.

[neverfinishanyth]

The changes must seem so slow because we're living through them, rather than hearing about them after the fact. And, unfortunately, I don't think people change as fast as the world does. But maybe, slowly over time... I'd like to think it'd be possible.

[pushesgently]

I hope for that as well. In the meantime, these worlds we're sent to have their advantages—they take us from our homes and families, but provide us with so much to learn in exchange.

[assassina]

Are they not fascinating machines, Signore da Vinci? Though there are drawbacks when one of these rests on your lap for extended periods of time. You'd think this girl would have learned the first time, but apparently not.

But if there's one thing we can agree on, it's that we're both pleased to see you.

[neverfinishanyth]

I'm glad to see you, too, Claudia! I trust everything's going well?

Are there? Hmm... Oh, yes, it seems like the underside gets heated very quickly, is that where the energy source would be? How'd they get it so small....

[assassina]

Oh yes! While I may not get to stretch my legs as often as I'd like to, I at least don't have any spiteful gods or anything to contend with.

Exactly! She still has the burn marks on her leg under where... What did she say... There's a small fan there. How it works, I do not know. But there seems to be a function of sorts that would make bookkeeping much easier.

[neverfinishanyth]

Oh, of course! With a power source so small, it must be generating a great amount of energy to keep up with the demands of the device. So the fan would be there to prevent the system from overheating, by taking the heat from where the power is and moving it to a safer place, at least temporarily. Which... is probably where the burns come in?

As for spiteful gods, well, are there any other kind?

[assassina]

That is exactly what happened. [SHOOTING A GLARE AT THE MUN]

A few in the game I was in originally, a place called Asgard, didn't appear to be spiteful. I never got to know them, but while they wouldn't let us go home, they weren't cursing us every other week or so.

[neverfinishanyth]

How did you manage to escape? With the curses and gods you've mentioned, I expect it must have been something spectacular!

[singlehandedly]

It remains very foreign to me, this device. Yet to her it seems completely normal. Time truly changes things.

So this leap you suggested, how is it going?

[neverfinishanyth]

I think if things truly stayed the same, that would be much more worrying.

Very well, at the moment. We may have to do a few more tests later, as she might uncover more information as she gets further ahead in her studies [Read: The Game.], but I don't think they'd be any cause for concern.

[singlehandedly]

Of course. Humans will always try to invent and to amass more knowledge.

And what is it you two plan to do with this result?

[neverfinishanyth]

And there will always be resistance to those changes, and those who prefer the old ways, however old or new the ways in question are.

I'm not sure. There must be more places to explore out here than just this one, but narrowing down which to go to, out of all the options out there, may take quite some time.

[singlehandedly]

[Malik nods. That kind of struggle is always going to persist.]

As well it should. There are bad and worse places to be sent to, but I hope your deliberations take you somewhere more pleasant. But I am sure you will see incredible things, no matter where.

[neverfinishanyth]

There are so many incredible things all around us, it'd be impossible not to find more. Even simple things like the flowers that grow in a garden are fascinating, if you look at them that way!

But perhaps there is more to it than that, and even more advanced devices than these computers, somewhere out there.