welcome to omega, round two.

[ceoqueen]

who. everyone!
what. in which the new arrivals join the outsiders.
where. landing pads for new arrivals, who then head through the markets to the residential area.
when. today!
warnings. n/a

This time, when the shuttles arrive, the landing pad isn't so empty. There was no saying these people wouldn't show up again, and though Aria isn't going to be happy that they appear to be coming on a schedule while the rest of the system is grounded, there doesn't appear that there's much to be done about it. A group of her batarian agents are there to escort incomers off the ship; some are taken aside for questioning, but when it's clear they know nothing of their origins, they're let go. Some new arrivals may notice that these shuttles don't simply depart -- a number of them are escorted off by other shuttles, deeper into the station.

After that, though, there's little the batarians can do about them. They're sent towards the residential district by way of the markets and financial sectors. The housing areas they arrive in aren't in the best of shape; while there are other outsiders to this galaxy already at work trying to repair the damage, others aren't bothering with it at all.

This is Omega. If you don't find some way to pull your weight, you'll be dead in no time.

Comments

this is going to be a brilliant yet very small niche we're filling

[keelahselai]

People had been passing her steadily - all aliens, a lot of humans, and though she was glancing up at them curiously, she hadn't yet spoken to anybody. Too busy trying to get onto an extranet that didn't seem to exist. It did, it clearly did - it was just going to take more time and effort to break onto than she had right now.

Then someone stumbled to a halt in front of her and she jerked her head up, network problems momentarily forgotten. The human wasn't obviously armed, and if anything.... She was never going to be an excellent reader of faces, but it didn't take a genius to recognise abject confusion.

And it was a feeling she understood well enough - and sympathised with.

"Yes," she answered him steadily. "It's called an omni-tool. Uh, it's..." It always took a second to realise such terms needed an explanation. "It's multifunctional, but at its core, it's a microcomputer with a holographic interface." If she had to boil it down to even more basic terms, she would... certainly try.

She stepped slightly away from the wall after another glance around - Omega didn't inspire trust at the best of times - and stood in front of him. "I can help you with it if you need. It's easy to use when you know how."

[mathemagician]

"A few people at the landing zone were working with them, but I wasn't sure about trusting it." Kengo's tone gave away that he'd suspected the worst case scenario upon seeing something strapped to his wrist that hadn't been there before. Worst case scenario options? That it had been some sort of tracking device, or a collar of sorts to keep everyone in one place. When ending up so far away from home at a moment's notice, it didn't seem strange to think such outrageous ideas.

Stepping away from the center of the hallway, Kengo moved to stand closer to the wall, though he kept a few feet between them. Staying off to the side was better than risking keeping himself in plain view. He switched the case he was holding to his other hand, not wanting to let go of it any time soon, but knowing he would need at least one hand free to attempt to work this new system.

"Omni-tool is an appropriate name, then." Those terms were enough for Kengo to understand, thankfully. Still, the technology for this place was slightly over his head at the moment purely because he hadn't had time to talk about it with anyone or study it himself. "I already know it works as a translator, even when it's not active. ... other than that, I haven't taken the time to work with it or study it."

It was almost embarrassing to talk to someone so casually, but he felt more comfortable with the feeling he had from this person than anyone else he'd walked by so far, so it was worth forcing himself to get information. Gentarou would have been disappointed in him if he kept completely to himself.

"If the information I've heard is true, this world is one hundred and seventy-five years ahead of where I came from. I have quite a bit of catching up to do." For someone who had discovered this information, Kengo seemed surprisingly calm, but years of studying space and its mechanics made him believe a lot of things most humans wouldn't.

[keelahselai]

The case got a couple of curious glances, but that was the extent of it - it could be holding a weapon, but being attacked by other prisoners right now wasn't her main worry. It was more anything running around the station - batarians, vorcha. Anything else that crawled around the dark corners.

"A lot of the tech's easy to use here - the basics are user-friendly." She gave a dismissive jerk of the head, but in reality, Talis idea of user friendly and the rest of the galaxy's were probably very different things.

"I don't know how much programming or technical experience you've got, but if you do, once you've started to pick up the programming languages and the basic techniques in technical engineering, you can pick more up as you go along."

As she spoke, she was audibly getting more and more into what she was saying - at the end, she sounded downright eager. It had been so long since she'd had any opportunity to even look at more tech than her own omni-tool that it was easy to throw herself into even the most basic conversation.

[mathemagician]

User-friendly for Tali was likely on the same level of user-friendly for Kengo. There was a reason he was the designated technician of the group. Even the person who used the system his father had designed had no real idea of how to use it. Kengo always had to be there to oversee him and nudge him down the correct path. Kengo knew the ins and outs of the Fourze system without ever having fought with its powers.

"I have a pretty good understanding, but I'm almost two hundred years behind this tech." Kengo stared down at his omni-tool as he activated it, visibly tensing up as the bright orange system covered his arms. It was like activating a switch on the Fourze system without the suit being used as a base. Putting it into that sort of context made it easier to understand.

Now that Tali had managed to make him more comfortable with it, he started tapping through a few items, seeming to get the hang of it fairly quick. Most of these features were just like ones he'd built into the case he was carrying, except more advanced and more mobile. After a few moments, he lifted his head and looked back over at her.

"I engineered a few things back home. This works like a better version of a system I designed." Kengo tapped the case for emphasis, though opening it up and showing it to someone wasn't something he would do easily. At the very least, it was nice to talk to someone who loved to talk about technology. It was the first thing he'd want to understand about the world and it was the only thing that felt familiar.

On that note... "The technology here..." It was worth asking, wasn't it? Since what he worked with was most of the most advanced forms of technology in his world. "Have you heard of something called cosmic energy?" Maybe it wasn't even what they called it anymore, but his experience working with it would certainly make him fit in more if it was the primary source of tech.

things i can't do - tag on time

[keelahselai]

For being a couple of hundred years behind the curve, he was fairly impressive in just how quickly he was working hiw way around it - and really, if you thought about the Reapers and the origin of most of this tech, it was far older even than that; stagnation was the only reason it wasn't far more advanced than even this, she sometimes thought.

"They're impressive equipment. When you start with a new one, they can be used by anybody at all - but the longer you use it, the more it keys into your thought patterns and the way you personally respond to stimuli. Eventually, it can barely be used by anybody else - like attaching someone else's arm onto your own." She's still watching him tap at the interface, clearly gaining confidence the longer he works.

She thinks about his question for a moment, murmuring the words, "Cosmic energy...." to herself thoughtfully, but all she can come up with on the spot is, "Do you mean dark energy? Seventy per cent of the universe's make up, responsible for its expansion?"

She's not sure if that's what he means, though - they don't exactly use it in technology; they know very little about it.

[mathemagician]

The idea of having a system that adapted to him was a concept that was very exciting for Kengo -- the advanced technology of this age really would be a great opportunity for him to learn more things that could help him, in the event that he would return home. While he liked to think it was possible, he really was starting to doubt his chances, but... there was someone who would want him to stay positive, so he tried to remind himself of that.

"It's similar to dark energy. My father started research on it about twenty years before my current time. His notes said he found a device on Earth's moon that he didn't know the origin of, but it was composed of cosmic energy and reverse engineering it helped him to find out ways to use it. I've been working with cosmic energy for the last year and a half with most of the technology and systems I build. It's an infinite resource, once you figure out how to use it..."

Kengo stopped himself at that point, realizing how much he was rambling. It was a topic he was passionate about, clearly. However, it was a bit disappointing to hear that technology didn't use his father's research at all. If this was the same timeline he came from, then it was possible all of the research was lost with the destruction of the KRC. After all, Kengo had really been the only one with access to the research.