"Stand by"
"…As to why would Armand leave so much space open, well, for show really, but it would not be Armand's doing, I can even bet he wanted more space for more people, and instead of a hotel an apartment building; but that and this was the government decision to have a grand entrance for visitors; who on their way here will be seeing the hotel, in this case the diamond at the top of it, and then the government building… no most likely the entrance of the lower floors; if you are coming from the outside of the Vase…"
"…you will see for yourself, we still have some things here of interest, you probably can hear it tick; exactly, a clock made of glass panels, but first let me move closer…now look down… we have a kaleidoscope, using the sun to get new shapes every time this panels or plank of fifteen centimeters width and two meters high move around this perfect circles clockwise… yes of course it gives the time, taller planks give the minutes, and of course the shorter gives the hours, giving it the look of a half sphere or a tilted bowl."
"And of course this way they can light the floors downstairs… alongside the curbs of every sidewalk, or at night, do a reverse lightning of the runway, for me it is kinda hard on the eyes, I'm still getting used to the whole extra bright nights, the town I grew up in had warm lights and fluorescent, some areas had led; then it is the city with the regular led lights; that tend to fail or lose power after a while; even if you have your own panels… oh no, don't try installing a window glass near a college, or if you do, don't let your neighbors find out…"
"…yeah, they hate Armand's tech in my country, or on most countries… well most countries with a western mindset in which troubles are for other people to be solved, or to be solved when they start causing problems; but in here the problem is turning the lights off… no, not those on the curbs, the ones aimed at the hotel, they reflect the whole place, as the night progress the intensity start to diminish, and I could close mist or darken my windows…"
"…yeah, it still freaks me out, the whole only having problems with the lights; ugh, like I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I miss the noises of the cities, my controlled chaos; at times I miss it so much that I stay as long as possible downstairs on the market area to get a sense of being back in town with my friends… no! hell no, I don't miss those smells of the city, in a way those are better here, more comforting in a way, the food, or some of the stores; but yeah, I feel a bit homesick and the peace and quiet here does not help… yes for sure, I miss the people, my people…"
"…yes, I know I should feel a bit more comfortable and at peace but no… no, it is not that either, I'm not that worried about my friends, we were not scavenging for food at the city… I might have been scavenging for money, working two jobs and having a seasonal one, but it was a normal life in the city, right? right? Yeah, fair point; maybe only I have problems here and back at the city; bet other guys are happily oblivious, like one I know here or some rich people back home…"
"…yeah I said one, now you know there is at least one person that is not nice to me… mmm well, it doesn't matter, I know he will not watch any my videos, nor even out of boredom; and I won't be mentioning the name to not alert his IA on the matter… oh yeah, he's got the type, or the ego to set his phone to receive a notification on his phone when he is mention online… no I don't do that, how am I the type as well? My videos are not a call for attention… yes, I'm sure; I think I said it from the start, I make them to not let people miss out."
"I will let you know if I find any rude people, well, any more rude people, and if I ever manage to enjoy the lack of problems to focus on me and my work, as one is supposed to do here, where peace of mind is advertised… oh right, I still have bills to pay, that owe to keep my stress level at a normal state, to feel like I'm half way there, in spirit, or in money, while I try to ignore the rest of my problems, or my country's problems here, like if I was on vacations… okay I'm rambling, but for good reason, and on topic…"
"…what you mean? Of course it has to do, I'm not complaining, or not just complaining for no reason, these videos are not just about the cool stuffs and tech, they are also about how life is experienced here; for example, wouldn't you like to know how was living in ancient Rome? or Greece? Picture it, you leaving your small town or underdeveloped town to go to school, to learn a trade, most likely for me I would become a priestess, invited to Alexandria with the high priest, and as soon as you walk in there, you see it…"
"…right near the temple, a coin operating machine made by Hero to praise a God, or a water dispenser, some basic steam engines, of course back then they also had one of this sunclock… I know it is not an exact match, but the feeling of seeing one in those times is the same one you would get when you walk here for the first time, even at night, because it moves to reflect the night sky, and I tell you that based on my own experience…"
"…I did a fast trip to the sphere's bridge to see the four main buildings we just saw, and then moved down; yeah, I saw the pretty colors downstairs, you will see them too once I give you a good look at this section, or perhaps you could see while I walk down… when I arrived here I use the bridge behind the mall to walk down, today I'm going to use one of those buildings at the edge of the avenue, those beside the railway entrance that are also for maintenance and pod distribution… oh let's make a poll…"
"…okay, option one, you follow me through the maintenance stairs, I have a reason to take you there, the view should be better, the contrast between up and down is clearer and we could see the gift shop; or! Option two, you go with Ich1, he will fly up, letting you see this area, the government building then the back of it, as well of the other three main buildings, the sphere, and lastly the kaleidoscope, there I will be waiting for you guys waiting for the right colored pod to take us around and below the vase…"
"…well, of course, that sight is better; but I intended to show you the inner entrance anyway, it will only have to be later on our way up… okay, let me plug in Ich1's route, circling around here… stop in front of the government building, move left… a medium speed around the sphere to let you see the other parts of the castle, a view of the sphere then down and back under the government building after you see the kaleidoscope and before meeting me… see you in a bit."
– Gather around, I know the landing was rough and our arrival did not went as planned, but now we have other things to work on, since we left behind some of our team we need to speed up things here; first is the beacon of our equipment and supplies is down now, and will remain as such for another hour, I have the last location in my device that points out to north of here at a few clicks away, Big sis, you will stay here with the chopper, Hammer one and me, we will work on our perimeter, once it is set we will send the signal to the satdrone for the rest of our crew to know where we landed, send it at intervals of twenty minutes until we receive feedback.
Tech twin, Hammer two, three and six; you will retrieve our supplies on the desert bug, so that's your first task, take it out of the chopper and start to unfold it.
Until we have secured the perimeter, or the RV, or our gear back, there will be no communication between us nor the outside world, is that understood?!
– Yes sir.
– Yes sir, the dirt bug is out we will work on it.
– Good, move out as soon as possible keep, come here, the supplies are over here, straight north, the scan shows no signs of human life around, and the path looks easy enough for the bug; I would rather you didn't have to use the dirt bikes to get back here but we have no other choice, I need you back here as soon as possible with some of our coms system.
– Yes sir… Hammer Bros let's hurry and get our gear ready.
– Big sis?
– Over here… sir, huff, one of the batteries has some issues, but lucky for us the battery was the problem, not the chopper…Ell3 is finishing with the diagnostics and in less than five I will have it all tucked in for a nap; so, can I ask for a favor? Could I stay here? Or at least sleep here?
– I see a couple of issues with that.
– Yeah, I thought you might say that, so, I have something to offer in return… a communication system; not a fancy one, a rather simple one and would be for intercommunication and I will be though to track.
– Are you serious right now? how?
– I am, will call it pigeon texting, until I'm done with it, to give you a surprise…
– All I need is to print some pieces and lenses, and my drones back… oh and good light, and I will have an example for you in an hour, probably before we set up camp…
– No! if you are able to pull it off then I need you to start working on it right now… van you really make it in an hour?
– Oh, yes, the concept is simple enough, is old tech, really old tech but better than cans and strings attached, you will see…
– Do you need anything else?
– Yes, a clean space, and a programmer to double check Ell3's code…
– Team! Gather around! Faster, faster, all front and center… listen up, out big sister will pull a pigeon out of the hat, she will make us a com system, a secured one with you Tech twin one, therefor you need new orders, hand over the drones she gave you, and all the Hammers will work on the perimeter while we wait.
Hammer three you stay on the lookout, deploy the drones on the posts to help you out, the rest start working, start with the cover up of the chopper, set up camp…
And you have your, your help and the drones, work inside the chopper.
– Yes, sir… couple of questions before starting, well probably more than two; what happened at the airport? Do you think Blanker were trying to stop us from moving? That's why I'm suggesting going below digital and analog, and what will happen to our coms once the RV arrives?
– We simply were not authorized to get the RV nor the chopper into the plane, only our cargo was allowed in, with one of our team for support, that sounds suspicious enough to prevent me from using our encrypted communication even with the RV were here to back us up; but they followed protocol, Armand would be proud of how much they prioritized the cargo and refused to do two trips on our behalf. Do you need anything else?
– No, I'm all set… thanks… sir. – Elaine suspected as much, she was only trying to confirm her suspicious with the boss, since the quest, as she referred it to since calling it a mission sounded too serious, was supposed to be a secret and noticed how some people tried to get as much information as possible about the gear they were carrying and transporting, as well as to where it was being dropped, to Elaine that was their first face off, which did not ended well for the team as she said it only the extra gear was dropped alongside a Hammer bro; but Hammerhead manage to keep the real information to herself, and only provide the orders and request that were straight forward, investigate the underground routes and drop the gear nearby, of course the first one was a lie disguised as a threat for the Blankers, then using a security's helicopter to solidify that threat and let the RV move through a secure road to catch up with the rest of the team, once they received the location.
For that reason Hammerhead had keep the team on their toes, she didn't trust the way it all went down at the airport, nor liked having to keep the communications at minimal, and hated to leave behind the RV that was tracking Armand's movements; because the Blankers might be already around waiting for them to make a mistake; like using an encrypted communication, which they couldn't decrypt, but they would be able to tell if somebody around was using it, even the use of a satdrone for simple tasks like using the IAs made Hammerhead feel unease.
As for Elaine's plan, even if it calmed Hammerhead, she would have liked to have more information and time to work on the drones calmly, she understood the concept of an emergency, in those you only have enough time to think about your next step with extra care, and under those circumstances Elaine's anxiety tended to make its appearance, always making her think about what could go wrong with the piece she was adding, if she could've improved it before using it, which she always could; and the only way to fight off the feeling of 'what could go wrong' was trying to be more flexible, and her work more malleable.
For instance, her drones would have to be put trough a reconstruction, it was not a difficult task, Elaine had made it easier for her to built them and rebuilt them, every piece was interchangeable, like a puzzle toy or a construction set, all she needed right now was to fit some lens on a cylindrical inverted 'T' shape pipe line to capture light and using a rotor at the intersection holding small mirror panels to help the redirection of the light; all while printing a new carcass for the drone that now was going to take a spherical shape.
– Okay, the design is set, how do you want to do the rest? From the start?
– No, we don't have the time we will use the same programming of the solar panels have to follow the light… what we need to take care of, or rather, what you need to work on, is the signal code to begin with, we either keep the lenses locked on one another from s higher point, or we set a time frame for communication, then it will come a new set of coding, which might not be that difficult to do…
– Transmit and receive? Is this just a mirror reflecting light?
– Yes, it is, run a test with the rotor, and the speed controller while I deal with the drone…
– You serious about this? How will you handle multiple lines of communication?
– Of course I am, and it is not that difficult for the program to run multiple communications, the line of sight is wide enough to capture several, even more if we have more drones up; don't worry, it will work – It was an improvised solution to a complex problem made in just an hour, Elaine felt pride at being able to work it out with little complications, and while trying to forget the bigger ones, that included her need to always try to improve her work, by trying a new addition, or perhaps a new design, but then she always remember how her brother always wanted her to keep things simple, perhaps for his sake given he said that about his arm and how difficult it was for him when Elaine went overboard with the applications and configurations; now more than ever simple was better, the drones only needed to fly high, capture the sun with a sensor, find another drone to send a signal and the message, and translate them; and so far, only the sun sensor was the troublesome part to do, Elaine had never done one and had to rearrange a design to fit it on her drone, she would need to use the top of the drone for it, then placing four cameras on the bottom, and the she had to give the propels their own space to fit when powered down and open up to take fly and sent a stable message.
– Wait, let me take over, the mirrors need to move faster… assemble those pieces, Ell3 will guide you through it on the screen, and there is an example on the table.
– Okay… battery, battery block here, lenses here, do you think the design is tight enough to avoid the sand getting in?
– I do, I had use this on other deserts, and we don't have much time to change it, maybe later we can redo it entirely, for now this is enough…
– Okay kids, time is almost up… can I see what you made so far?
– Don't spoil the surprise… sir, we are almost done… with one at least, and for a test run… Ell3, run the program, record the test and give me the frame by frame for later… I will focus the lens of the drone on my cellphone…
"Ready when you are"
– What was that flash?
– The message I sped up your code, I type it, and my cellphone caught it… I do wonder if we want it to just transmit in time or to wait for the entire message…
– I think it will be better at the end, right?
– Perhaps by the press of a button, but when there is an in time communication, we need the IA to do three thigs at the same time, encode, translate and decode… okay we finish one, here is the space for the propel and the speed controller, okay?
– Yes, and I think we should give the IA more autonomy to transmit faster.
– Okay, yes, that should do it, I gave it the command to transmit at eight thousand RPMs and wait for the order to transmit, send or if they will start a conversation… okay, now finish another drone for a test, and then finish the rest while I show our camp leader what we made.
– Sure, good luck.
– Don't worry, it works… but we will see if it works for her… okay Hammerhead sir, we are ready for you.
– So, the drone is the pigeon? Did you make it faster to be able to fly to us?
– No, of course not, my drones go at seventy kilometer per hour, I did not change that, what they can do for communications is to transmit a message through Morse code, using the sun to reflect the light to another drone that has the same code…
– What?! And how is that better? How long will it take to transmit an entire conversation? Or even a simple message…
– …okay in order, first, you won't hold the conversation, the other drone will through the camera using the hundred zoom of the camara to capture the reflex of light, which means we can transmit trough kilometers without having to drop another drone to use as a repeater; second, will be in seconds, even fractions of a second, as fast as we are able to speak. the mirrors reflecting the sunlight will take care of that and the program will translate it in voice and text… okay Twin, take it to the other end of the camp… only problem… it needs a clear line of sight from drone to drone…
– …and our teammates on the RV cannot communicate with us…
– …yeah, but for them I can send them the information and designs, along side the signal you asked me to send an hour ago, but it is more likely that… wait… I could use the satdrone to transmit the communications, we would only need one of the panels around it to move in our direction to make it work, it could even reduce the space of the drone…
– …why not use laser?
– …it would mess up the lenses, it also would overheat it depending of the power of the laser, and I don't have the material to make a shield…
– Will we use the camera's flash at night then?
– Yes, we will, during the day, using the sun is better than anything, but at night the flash is enough… okay, test run… Ell3, open communication with Tech twin two…
– Testing, start a hoover flight… good, let's see how far up we can take them… okay we still receiving at a hundred meters; that is the range… sir…
"I think I can upgrade the connection to get at least another fifty meters or more with an antenna, but it will be best to have them close by… should we test the horizontal range?"
– …No need, I think we impress the boss, get back to finish the rest of the drones for the trip of the Hammers, while I wait for our grades…
"Okay, good work Sis"
– Send us the code, did you use Morse for the message…
– …yes, it was faster.
– Good plan, but we will need another cypher, at first glance seeing a star floating around might be suspicious but maybe not everybody will be able to tell there is a message there… good job, now get ready to transmit our location to the satdrone and your plan as soon as you are able and as soon as we get our place secure and the camp up…
– Yes, sir… oh, is our deal valid? Do I get to sleep in the chopper?
– Only if the area is secure, only to sleep, no mess and no playing around, understood?
– Yes sir!
– Okay, people gather around and listen up! Our Big sis just gave us an option for communication between us, and our team on the RV, we might be able to get news on our target and also get some intel on our surroundings since it must be clear to all of us by now that we might have eyes on us at this present moment and at out supplies drop zone but…
– …but now we can talk freely, and I might be able to find out a way into the Blanker's com system, I figured this close to them I could find out how they communicate, that would make us practically invisible.
– Okay, I will trust you on that, but first, explain them the new com's system.
Now Hammer one and our big sis will remain here while the rest of us go for our supplies; we have our plan set, let's make it happen people.
– Yes, sir!