Wapsi Square Forum

Íf these crystals are, indeed, canned Anasazi, then Brandi's message logically implies that it was her last ditch attempt to prevent a kind of re-run of her first "mistake" : wiping-out an entire civilization. The first "wipe" was not her fault, but she still felt very, véry guilty about it, and, given that she swore to never kill again, the second, a muck-up with the grid, would have sent her in a panic of immense size.

A panic big enough for her to try and "store" a whole civilization, if the technology was available.

This leads me to the following thought-path: Brandi once said that she tends to lose her sh!t but good when in a panic/under pressure. Thát would be a disaster in this case. I wouldn't be too surprised if this planetary-scale oops led to her double personality. Being as manipulative, and scary smart as she is, I can wholly imagine her willingly "splitting" herself into two distinct entities, by manipulating herself. It's possible. It has been observed in Psychiatry, mostly fueled by extreme trauma -which is wholly congruent with Brandi as she is- as a means of being able to keep on functioning.

(And whó knows what a Golem, a magical being, can do with that)

One the ditzy, loving, motherly, somewhat Aspi- Brandi we know, and the other the smart, calculating and manipulative Brandilyn(!) yet, with both the exact same goal: helping and saving. Doing thát what she could not before her transformation in an all-powerful golem.

To me, at least, it all starts to make sense now.

I think it would be a good thing if Monica -when in one of her "whining" spats- and Brandi had a heart-to heart. Talk about a "troubled history"... O_0

zachariah wrote:

Boxilar wrote:I think.. I think all those "storage crystals" are people.

At least they are not green squares sold in super markets near you.

Don't be so sure:

TheSkulker wrote:

txmystic wrote:The Anasazi spoke modern English?

Not only that but they invented touch screen monitors, a universal GUI (graphical user interface), that is so perfect that Kath can instantly recognize and activate a video file 6000 years later, and an OS that uses a registry! When the Anasazis get revitalized maybe they should sue Microsoft for copyright or patent infringement? And to add to their prowess, they created "Star Charts" that can be carved into stone or viewed on a monitor and instantly eye balled to four to eight digit accuracy with no outside reference or view of the sky required!

I wonder where all their cell phones are that were necessary to receive this message?

I am afraid Paul is losing me here. I can accept internally consistent demons, magic, superpowers, etc in a good story but this is stretching things so far as to take me right out of the story. I am relly struggling to stay with him. It's like saying all aliens, evolving from vastly different worlds and galaxies, have a humanoid shape.

<MST3K>Guys, it's just a movie.</MST3K>

If an advanced civilization can create stargates, it can also create a Babel-fish-like universal translator.

i think i know what happened she pulled a doctor who and stored them in the crystals,but she needed them in energy form so i am guessing she forced the stargate to send them into the crystals when she tells them to go her location being the crystals when they think there emerging they are shunted into the crystals, i think she saved them, but forgot about them after what ever caused her to forget

zachariah wrote:

Boxilar wrote:I think.. I think all those "storage crystals" are people.

At least they are not green squares sold in super markets near you.

Nice...can't say I was expecting that reference today.

TheSkulker wrote:

txmystic wrote:The Anasazi spoke modern English?

Not only that but they invented touch screen monitors, a universal GUI (graphical user interface), that is so perfect that Kath can instantly recognize and activate a video file 6000 years later, and an OS that uses a registry! When the Anasazis get revitalized maybe they should sue Microsoft for copyright or patent infringement? And to add to their prowess, they created "Star Charts" that can be carved into stone or viewed on a monitor and instantly eye balled to four to eight digit accuracy with no outside reference or view of the sky required!

I wonder where all their cell phones are that were necessary to receive this message?

I am afraid Paul is losing me here. I can accept internally consistent demons, magic, superpowers, etc in a good story but this is stretching things so far as to take me right out of the story. I am relly struggling to stay with him. It's like saying all aliens, evolving from vastly different worlds and galaxies, have a humanoid shape.

Oh for heavens sake! This one is easy to explain away! If you're dealing with a complex "computer" that has a "rosetta stone" of ancient languages stored away, is it really so hard to believe that said "computer" could translate audio files into the language of a couple of users? If you're worried that it wouldn't "know" modern English...didn't it just hear Kat translate the oldest entry? Granted, that might not have provided a complete volcabulary for it to work with, but is there any reason to believe that Kat & Atsali are the first people to enter this "library" since 4000-whatever BC? Who's to say Brandi hasn't visited a few times? Who's to say that this isn't where the guy Kat read about (who found the kachina dolls) disappeared into this place?

Now that I have fully expended my postulating brainpower, I'm going to curl up in my nook in The Corner and wait to hear what mess Brandi created back in the day.

NOW you've done it THIS time...

Stressing poor little Earth with both a transdimensional grid and a pivot for the spacetime of the Milky Way was bound to have a wee catastrophe happen in there somewhere.

Fairportfan wrote:Did Bia have fangs when we saw her? I can't remember.

As Mrs Wahnee, no. As Bia, yes. But she's a Titan, and presumably can adopt any form.

A more important question is: If Bia is involved with the Grid, how could any catastrophe involving physical force even happen? It's not like she's been caught unawares, like with the Chimera.

On the other hand... she's always been a bit casual with the trial and error side of things.

........Oh sheeeeit!

I was gonna say, what's with the fangs? Isn't this Brandi's "first" life?

Also, this AI has been sitting around and listening to English as broadcast on RF for about 100 years. I think it should be just fine translating spoken language.

starkruzr wrote:I was gonna say, what's with the fangs? Isn't this Brandi's "first" life?

No, Brandi's first life was 12,000 years ago. She's a golem here under Tepoz's "control".

Yamara wrote:NOW you've done it THIS time...

Stressing poor little Earth with both a transdimensional grid and a pivot for the spacetime of the Milky Way was bound to have a wee catastrophe happen in there somewhere.

The calendar was tied to use the rotational energy of the galaxy, not be it's pivot point. So that is not a problem.
Adding the grid to the earth is purely a local issue and will not affect anything outside the solar system. So it is a wee little problem that won't bother anyone but us. But we do know the grand die off failed to happen.

starkruzr wrote:Also, this AI has been sitting around and listening to English as broadcast on RF for about 100 years. I think it should be just fine translating spoken language.

Assuming, that is, that a hundred years or so of exposure to multiple simultaneous broadcasts of American radio haven't left it firmly in the "frothing psychotic loony AI" category. There are some things that no sentient being should be exposed to... overdoses of talk-radio are high on the list

Is it me or does this Brandi look a lot like Lily? Especially with that hair.

Dave wrote: There are some things that no sentient being should be exposed to... overdoses of talk-radio are high on the list

I definitely agree. For me an evening at work with multiple talk radio's going on around me is an annoying and aggravating day at work. Each work cell has something different on. They are loud enough to be heard over the machines, so we're talking 90 decbels of trash talk.

Sigh

I love ear plugs.

Well this does at last explain why Lilly and her friends were left lost in the desert to die. The stargates malfunctioned and dropped them just short of the terminus and the memories were either the damage of such a dump or the memories are in the storage system waiting to be released. As far as this proving that the stargates are like Star Trek transporters, that is not necessary. The storage cells could just be portable storage of the Akashic record so they would still function as we have discussed before and no Heisenberg Compensators are needed. As far as the message being in modern English. It could just seem that way to Kath as she is genetically keyed into the system and it may be working for her to understand.

Considering the location, half of it would be Hispanic talk radio as well.

(Now let's see..,
Massage lounge chairs, check.
Theater grade popcorn cart with topping bar, check.
Second hand cappuccino machine installed, check.
Regular coffee maker plugged in, check.
Pastries and cookies shelf, check.
Phone and numbers of local delivery joints, check.
Confusion Corner upgrade complete.

Bring on the plot!)

Julie wrote:

txmystic wrote:The Anasazi spoke modern English?

Oh for heavens sake! This one is easy to explain away! If you're dealing with a complex "computer" that has a "rosetta stone" of ancient languages stored away, is it really so hard to believe that said "computer" could translate audio files into the language of a couple of users? If you're worried that it wouldn't "know" modern English...didn't it just hear Kat translate the oldest entry?

I posted before coffee

As someone absorbed in an unfolding mystery about an ancient civilization, having something not normally associated with that time (English) is a bit of a shock. It's like in the film Saving Private Ryan, when, after two hours of gritty, bloody, heartbreaking action, they finally catch up with Private Ryan, and decide to join his team to defend the bridge and are awaiting the climactic German assault, at one point we see Private Ryan smile.

And Private Ryan has perfectly white hollywood teeth.

Pulled me right out of the story momentarily. So did this.

TheSkulker wrote:

txmystic wrote:The Anasazi spoke modern English?

Not only that but they invented touch screen monitors, a universal GUI (graphical user interface), that is so perfect that Kath can instantly recognize and activate a video file 6000 years later, and an OS that uses a registry! When the Anasazis get revitalized maybe they should sue Microsoft for copyright or patent infringement? And to add to their prowess, they created "Star Charts" that can be carved into stone or viewed on a monitor and instantly eye balled to four to eight digit accuracy with no outside reference or view of the sky required!

I wonder where all their cell phones are that were necessary to receive this message?

I am afraid Paul is losing me here. I can accept internally consistent demons, magic, superpowers, etc in a good story but this is stretching things so far as to take me right out of the story. I am relly struggling to stay with him. It's like saying all aliens, evolving from vastly different worlds and galaxies, have a humanoid shape.

I feel for you. But the aliens are distinct! They have different foreheads and noses!

jwhouk wrote:If an advanced civilization can create stargates, it can also create a Babel-fish-like universal translator.

It's gotta be exceedingly sophisticated--or it will babble in translation.

[drops a fishing fly towards the pun jar, angling for an escape]