Sylia Stingray looked through her mail, having had a majority of the junkmail already sorted by the small automation she'd had built for such a purpose. A
horribly mundane use for a "dumb" minor AI, but she was the one that'd built it, so no one was really going to complain. Perhaps when she could
afford to sell them for less than $500 per unit...
Sorting through bills for the various businesses she owned directly, rather than merely just controlling a majority stock share, she set them down next to her
office computer, before brightening at the letter on the bottom, adressed from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Browsing through, she let a
satisified smile creep across her face as she read it.
"..are happy to inform you that your application for the trademark of "GENOM Corporation" has been cleared. Please retain the following
paperwork for your records...."
***
Nene looked as a few pop-up windows appeared on her desktop, before sighing and turning off her headphones. Admittedly the instrumental solo in "Objects
in the Rear View Mirror" was long enough she could probably finish these calls without it, but it was the principle of the matter. Pulling up her headset,
she logged onto the police scanner system, and pressed record.
"All units, be on the lookout. Operative Lo Pan of Arachnos has recently been broken out of jail. Suspect is considered super-powered and extremely
dangerous." Pausing the recording, she switched to a new file, then pressed record again. "All units, Archon Maurillo was behind yesterday's
heist by the Council. He is believed to still be within the city limits, and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of him and his conspirators."
Watching the popups disappear, Nene removed her headset, closed down the radio mainframe, and continued poking about the PPD's mainframe, humming along to
her music until someone not quite too politely tapped on her shoulder. She looked up, unamused, as the latest busybody newbie staff member frowned at her,
obviously waiting for Nene to take off her headphones. Pausing her music again, she looked up at her. "Can I help you?"
"Not really, but I'd think the PPD could use your help instead of you goofing off at your workstation on paid time," she frowned.
Nene's eyebrow....twitched.
Two desks away, several of her coworkers exchanged money on just how badly the new girl was going to get dressed down and whether or not she'd end up
transfering out of the department by the end of the week.
"Well, I'd say I do plenty of work," she said, minimizing her latest attempt to beat a level in Fantastic Contraption and bringing up the various
programs running behind her browser and music. "This little wonder monitors every potential breakout point in town, and alerts me if anyone escapes, which
I relay to the police radio. This one gets information from various people keeping an eye out for specific heists and such. This one cross-logs those with
active cases being pursued by registered heroes and recommends potential link up numbers to make the job easier. This database calculates every day off request
in the PPD, arranges them so that no one is shortchanged on available help, and grants any and all days off if possible. I programmed it over my lunch break,
and it's been adopted by every PPD precinct in the city. And on top of that, I handle payroll because I can do basic algebra. Did you manage that by the
time you got out of high school? Or are you here for clerical filing because you can claim to be a cop when you're a glorified secretary, Miss
Sanders?"
The retort about to come up died in Karen Sanders' mouth as she suddenly realized this young woman knew exactly who she was.
Nene smiled at the look of realization and dread. "So, if you're done critiquing my work, maybe you can do yours, hmm?"
There was a slight rumble of snickers from around the office as Sanders looked around, realized she was outnumbered, and beat a quick retreat.
Nene sniffed, stood up and took a bow to light applause from the surrounding officers and dispatchers, then put her headphones back on and went back to trying
to avoid a minor avalanche of orange balls while rolling over them to the goal area.
***
Priss resisted the urge to sigh as the professor continued lecturing, pointing to various items on the board with a laser pointer. Everything he was saying was
in the textbook, which she'd actually read before coming to class, as if the professor didn't expect anyone in this class would actually do the
homework he assigned. Opening her notebook, she began sketching down the various notes she imagined would be on the pop quiz, drifting off as her long night on
the streets caught up with her.
"Miss Asagiri!"
Priss jerked awake with a start, realizing she'd dozed off entirely. "Uh....yes, professor?"
"If you pull over a suspect and ask them various biographical data in the course of an investigation, is it permissable in court if you failed to read
them the Miranda Warning?"
Priss blinked, before shaking her head. "No. The Miranda Warning only applies to testimony that can incriminate them. Information that verifies their
identity can be refused to be provided, but a reading of their rights isn't necessary before you inquire about it."
The professor blinked once, quickly, before smiling slightly. "Very good, Miss Asagiri. Mister Corben!" he said, moving along to the next apparently
dozing off student.
The class continued along fairly normally, until eventually it ended and Priss shuffled her books into her backpack and got up.
"Remember, your internships are coming up in two weeks! Be sure to get your applications in for the position you wish to intern under, or they may fill
up!" the professor said as the various students filed out.
***
Linna stumbled out of bed, looking at the clock. 3:30 PM. She'd overslept again. But....it was just....too damn hard to get out of bed. She stumbled into
the bathroom, showering and doing various other upkeep on autopilot, before walking out to grab the mail. A letter caught her eye, and she opened it hopefully,
before her eyes scanned over "we regret to inform you..." and she crumpled it up angrily, tossing it at the garbage can. Moving into the cleared
space she'd planned to use for warmups, she moved through the motions her mind knew as well as a lover's body. Continuing in strong, swift motions at
first, moving through the katas with practiced ease. Until she got to the more elaborate ones. Kicks and spins that she remembered doing flawlessly....but
couldn't. The kicks went too high, and one roundhouse nearly dumped her on her back by overcompensation. Like always. A shuddering sigh escaped her lips as
she picked herself off the floor. The phone rang, and she looked over at it, before recognizing the number and heading back to the bedroom. She didn't even
hear as the answering machine picked up.
"Linna? Linna, it's Nene. Hey, I know you weren't feeling too well last week, but you think maybe we could hang out sometime tomorrow? I've
got the day off, and I haven't seen you around in a long while....I guess you're busy or something though. Call me back if you get this message,
okay?"
The answering machine clicks off on Nene's worried tones, and the apartment once again falls into silence.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
horribly mundane use for a "dumb" minor AI, but she was the one that'd built it, so no one was really going to complain. Perhaps when she could
afford to sell them for less than $500 per unit...
Sorting through bills for the various businesses she owned directly, rather than merely just controlling a majority stock share, she set them down next to her
office computer, before brightening at the letter on the bottom, adressed from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Browsing through, she let a
satisified smile creep across her face as she read it.
"..are happy to inform you that your application for the trademark of "GENOM Corporation" has been cleared. Please retain the following
paperwork for your records...."
***
Nene looked as a few pop-up windows appeared on her desktop, before sighing and turning off her headphones. Admittedly the instrumental solo in "Objects
in the Rear View Mirror" was long enough she could probably finish these calls without it, but it was the principle of the matter. Pulling up her headset,
she logged onto the police scanner system, and pressed record.
"All units, be on the lookout. Operative Lo Pan of Arachnos has recently been broken out of jail. Suspect is considered super-powered and extremely
dangerous." Pausing the recording, she switched to a new file, then pressed record again. "All units, Archon Maurillo was behind yesterday's
heist by the Council. He is believed to still be within the city limits, and a warrant has been issued for the arrest of him and his conspirators."
Watching the popups disappear, Nene removed her headset, closed down the radio mainframe, and continued poking about the PPD's mainframe, humming along to
her music until someone not quite too politely tapped on her shoulder. She looked up, unamused, as the latest busybody newbie staff member frowned at her,
obviously waiting for Nene to take off her headphones. Pausing her music again, she looked up at her. "Can I help you?"
"Not really, but I'd think the PPD could use your help instead of you goofing off at your workstation on paid time," she frowned.
Nene's eyebrow....twitched.
Two desks away, several of her coworkers exchanged money on just how badly the new girl was going to get dressed down and whether or not she'd end up
transfering out of the department by the end of the week.
"Well, I'd say I do plenty of work," she said, minimizing her latest attempt to beat a level in Fantastic Contraption and bringing up the various
programs running behind her browser and music. "This little wonder monitors every potential breakout point in town, and alerts me if anyone escapes, which
I relay to the police radio. This one gets information from various people keeping an eye out for specific heists and such. This one cross-logs those with
active cases being pursued by registered heroes and recommends potential link up numbers to make the job easier. This database calculates every day off request
in the PPD, arranges them so that no one is shortchanged on available help, and grants any and all days off if possible. I programmed it over my lunch break,
and it's been adopted by every PPD precinct in the city. And on top of that, I handle payroll because I can do basic algebra. Did you manage that by the
time you got out of high school? Or are you here for clerical filing because you can claim to be a cop when you're a glorified secretary, Miss
Sanders?"
The retort about to come up died in Karen Sanders' mouth as she suddenly realized this young woman knew exactly who she was.
Nene smiled at the look of realization and dread. "So, if you're done critiquing my work, maybe you can do yours, hmm?"
There was a slight rumble of snickers from around the office as Sanders looked around, realized she was outnumbered, and beat a quick retreat.
Nene sniffed, stood up and took a bow to light applause from the surrounding officers and dispatchers, then put her headphones back on and went back to trying
to avoid a minor avalanche of orange balls while rolling over them to the goal area.
***
Priss resisted the urge to sigh as the professor continued lecturing, pointing to various items on the board with a laser pointer. Everything he was saying was
in the textbook, which she'd actually read before coming to class, as if the professor didn't expect anyone in this class would actually do the
homework he assigned. Opening her notebook, she began sketching down the various notes she imagined would be on the pop quiz, drifting off as her long night on
the streets caught up with her.
"Miss Asagiri!"
Priss jerked awake with a start, realizing she'd dozed off entirely. "Uh....yes, professor?"
"If you pull over a suspect and ask them various biographical data in the course of an investigation, is it permissable in court if you failed to read
them the Miranda Warning?"
Priss blinked, before shaking her head. "No. The Miranda Warning only applies to testimony that can incriminate them. Information that verifies their
identity can be refused to be provided, but a reading of their rights isn't necessary before you inquire about it."
The professor blinked once, quickly, before smiling slightly. "Very good, Miss Asagiri. Mister Corben!" he said, moving along to the next apparently
dozing off student.
The class continued along fairly normally, until eventually it ended and Priss shuffled her books into her backpack and got up.
"Remember, your internships are coming up in two weeks! Be sure to get your applications in for the position you wish to intern under, or they may fill
up!" the professor said as the various students filed out.
***
Linna stumbled out of bed, looking at the clock. 3:30 PM. She'd overslept again. But....it was just....too damn hard to get out of bed. She stumbled into
the bathroom, showering and doing various other upkeep on autopilot, before walking out to grab the mail. A letter caught her eye, and she opened it hopefully,
before her eyes scanned over "we regret to inform you..." and she crumpled it up angrily, tossing it at the garbage can. Moving into the cleared
space she'd planned to use for warmups, she moved through the motions her mind knew as well as a lover's body. Continuing in strong, swift motions at
first, moving through the katas with practiced ease. Until she got to the more elaborate ones. Kicks and spins that she remembered doing flawlessly....but
couldn't. The kicks went too high, and one roundhouse nearly dumped her on her back by overcompensation. Like always. A shuddering sigh escaped her lips as
she picked herself off the floor. The phone rang, and she looked over at it, before recognizing the number and heading back to the bedroom. She didn't even
hear as the answering machine picked up.
"Linna? Linna, it's Nene. Hey, I know you weren't feeling too well last week, but you think maybe we could hang out sometime tomorrow? I've
got the day off, and I haven't seen you around in a long while....I guess you're busy or something though. Call me back if you get this message,
okay?"
The answering machine clicks off on Nene's worried tones, and the apartment once again falls into silence.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."