√1 ( video | un: ROOT )

[symbiosys]

[It's late afternoon, and the ship's gardens come into view as the video feed starts, a massive topiary tree standing innocently in the background just waiting to be shaped into a work of art. The camera focuses on what appears to be a drone hovering in midair, the words BIRCH PLEASE 2.0 written on the side, identifying the flying object.]

I'm bored.

[Root sighs in an exaggerated manner. The drone flies up to the tree and begins its work of shaping the topiary, but no blades are involved: it's using various targeted laser beams, carefully programmed by the (usually perky) hacker hiding behind the camera.]

Don't get me wrong, it's not my first time being a gardener, and I do enjoy using laser tools and having a legitimate excuse for bad pick-up lines, [she explains, keeping the camera pointed at the beautiful and deadly ballet of various lasers shaping branches and leaves.] But it's just not the same as hacking, you know?

[The drone retreats after it finishes its task: shaping the topiary into an exact replica of the ISC Eluvio. As exact as topiary can ever be, that is.]

So I thought I might as well turn my boredom into something productive. Tell me, space friends, is there an app or program you'd just love to have? Maybe you want an upgraded fitbit that is perfectly adapted to all of your outer space needs, maybe you want to spend your day looking at cat videos, or maybe you just really like puzzles... the possibilities are endless. Just like the vast expanse of space that surrounds us.

Whatever you're thinking of, I can code it for you! [She sounds downright cheerful and friendly now.] For a small fee, of course. I’m a nice girl but I'm not that nice.

Comments

audio; user: katsuki

[yokunaru]

[Watching the drone go about its work with the lasers is a bit frightening and fascinating at the same time, so Yuuri waits until it's done before replying.]

Would you be able to write an app that you can use to track the location of another of these wrist communicators?

audio; un: ROOT

[symbiosys]

But of course.

[Root sounds downright cheerful as she answers. She already did that to keep track of Shaw and Bear as soon as they arrived here, but Yuuri doesn't need to know that.]

Is your stalking one-sided, or would you like to include a private communication channel for you and the person you're keeping track of?

[Yeah, she already did that for Shaw, too.]

[yokunaru]

Ah. [There's an embarrassed sort of pause as he realizes what she's implying.] N-no, definitely not one sided.

If it's possible, I was thinking the app could be adjusted to link several communicators at once. Um, and people could be added or taken out of the tracking list, or the feature could be turned off when it's not needed. It's...for the missions.

[symbiosys]

Good. It's a lot more fun that way.

[There's an amused huff of breath when he mentions he's doing it for the missions. Root heard that excuse many times before, said by her favorite girl in the whole world whenever she needed to show Root that nope, she didn't care about her at all. Because a girl rides a bicycle from New York City to New Jersey to save another girl just because she's worried about the mission, nothing else--

Oops, she's getting a little lost in thought.]

The missions, huh? It's good to see such a strong sense of duty. But yes, that is indeed possible. Do you want to include earpieces in your space espionage app package?

[Might as well go all out, right?]

text, un: jjones

[slackbeard]

space yelp! let people rate restaurants and also planets. do we have that? we need that.

audio; un: ROOT

[symbiosys]

Good call. I don't think I've seen that, but we absolutely need it.

[slackbeard]

surprised we don't have it. how else are the unfortunate souls who come after us going to know what to expect when they go out to dinner or drop down somewhere new?

Planet X: 3/5 stars. love the atmosphere, could do without acid pits and giant nightmare creatures.

[symbiosys]

[Is that a pun-- oh god, it is, and a wonderful one at that. Root laughs, the girlish giggles making her sound far younger than what she is.]

Galaxy Y's Black Hole Diving: 1/5 stars. This is not what I wanted when I told my boyfriend I needed some space.

( un: CHOSEN1 )

[dudebro]

2 words 4 u
dating app

audio; un: ROOT (I am so sorry)

[symbiosys]

[Somehow, she manages to keep a straight* voice while replying.]

Sure thing. What's on your mind? Grindr?

[*That is the only thing about her that's straight. Root is almost too gay to function.]

pls don't be i am sorry for this already

[dudebro]

[ He is laughing to himself about this. Why didn't he do video? ]

2 limiting dont u think??
i mean theres more than just dudes here
mayb some ladies want 2 hook up 2
if ppl wanna touch their dicks 2gether thats ok
if ppl wanna scissor thats ok 2
if ppl wanna do it ye olde fashioned way thats ok 2
inclusive, man

voice, un: shaw

[indigo5a]

[ Maybe you can sense the spit-up and finger paint that's staining her shirt and jeans right now in the quiet menace of of her low, displeased voice. ]

How about an app that can hypnotize brats into behaving?

voice, un: ROOT

[symbiosys]

[She can imagine it all too well, but she knows that Shaw looks gorgeous no matter what she's wearing or how stained her work clothes are.]

That seems doable, and only a little bit unethical.

[And suddenly it hits her, her greatest idea since she decided to equip a gardening drone with lasers:]

How about Mr. Bearenstain? It was a huge success in New York, you know. I wouldn't mind going back to the world of children's party entertaining for a little while.

[indigo5a]

[ Bearenstain. Something about that outfit she finds annoying. Maybe because it's so big and squishy and cute. Still, it might calm the runts down for half an hour at least. ]

Sure, yeah. Whatever works.

[ Also, this: ]

.... unethical?

[ She doesn't think so. Surely it's not as bad as shooting someone in the head. Or even the knee. ]

video | un: v-nikiforov

[genice]

( in all fairness and honesty? he watched the responses here before he said anything himself. Yuuri has already brought up the most salient point of worry, and he's proud, if... less proud of being part of the why. he sighs to himself, expression turning serious in the moments before he flicks the feed on to "live."

he needs to talk with Shiro. with Jyn, too. there are things he needs to learn, not because he's a violent man, but because being caught unprepared is dangerous for the people who are most important in his life in addition to himself.

he's smiling again when he answers this particular call. hacking? he loves that so many of the people here are that tech savvy. gardening? he's grown herbs, once. he feels like that might be nice to pick up again. the whole oddity of having watched a laser pruning? is fascinating in its own right.

so he'll allow himself to be irreverent. even if Instagram clones have their own image conversing functions; he doesn't expect anyone to think he'd have that in mind. which he doesn't, except for the part where he does. (sigh.) he sets the comm on his side table by the bed, letting Makkachin resettle half draped over his lap as he leans forward to tap the feed live. hence he's sitting back, wearing relaxed clothing suited for a day lounging around in casual situations, with a poodle in his lap. )

Instagram. I'm more than happy to negotiate fees for a functional, working clone of something like Instagram, please!

not here

[yokunaru]

[Instagram, really? Why is he even surprised? Then again, considering it's Viktor, it was bound to happen eventually.]

extra not here

[genice]

( lover, you just agreed to owe a favour to someone instead of paying up front. you don't get to judge him on asking for instagram!!!

... tbh though he's surprised you didn't ask for some kind of phone game... )

audio; un: ROOT

[symbiosys]

[Don't worry, Victor, you're not the only one: Root always reads everything before replying. Well, she usually doesn't have to because she programmed a script that scans the network 24/7 for a few choice keywords, but still. Only the paranoid survive, and if there's one thing that fighting a mass-surveillance AI apocalypse has taught her, it's that sometimes you just have to keep an eye on everyone, just in case. Constant vigilance!!

Root expected to get all kinds of replies to this, but an athletic guy with a poodle on his lap was not one of them; a dog is a dog, though, and all dogs are good and pure regardless of breed. She raises an eyebrow at the video feed, but keeps her side of the conversation to audio only.]

Sure. I'll make it as close to the original as possible, it's not like their lawyers are going to sue me for copyright infringement all the way from a different dimension.

[She wouldn't give a damn about it, even if they were about to do exactly that. For her part, Root certainly isn't judging his choice of app: life is made of simple pleasures, and little things like this go a long way in helping them feel more at home. Everyone has their own creature comforts; personally, she's been dying to get her hands on a lava lamp and purple shag rug.]

the root of it all

[genice]

( he doesn't try to be less than sincere when he beams; his life joys can be delightfully simple at times. )

Feel free to make improvements where you want, but either way, thank you. So! Let's talk compensation.

( he strokes down over Makkachin's head, earning a lick at his arm from his canine companion. Victor's own smile is fairly relaxed now, though his eyes are steady on the screen. )

text | re-1124c41

[realimperfect]

[ Space age ignorance coming in, here: ]

An app?

audio; un: ROOT

[symbiosys]

[Her first reaction is 'oh no, does this person not know what a cellphone is?' but Root quickly pushes it down. There are people from all kinds of universes here, after all, it was inevitable to stumble upon someone unfamiliar with her world's technology.]

Yes. Are you unfamiliar with smartphones and tablets?

audio;

[realimperfect]

[ Huh, audio is probably an easier option anyways, considering the shape of her arm. Sometimes she wonders about the state of her mind when she doesn't think of these things - like if space is affecting her more than she probably thought. Either way, the microphone comes alive fairly quickly, and she's happy to have less one handed typing to do. ]

No, I had both back in the dome. More advanced than those I've seen here, even.

text | ( un: 2cool ) | 1.2

[glitterpants]

I am also in agreement of having a dating app installed in these communicator devices...

text | sorry....... | 2.2

[glitterpants]

A dating app exclusively for me, that will allow those of shy nature to communicate their interest in me, without feeling embarrassed or coy.

A Karamatsu Girl app.

don't be sorry pls I love this kind of stuff! have some trolling tldr in return :v

[symbiosys]

[Oh, Matsuno Karamatsu, Root definitely remembers you. She always pays close attention to the network (the first thing she did upon arrival was to program a script that scans the network every second of every day in search of very specific keywords), and she's downright obsessive when it comes to tracking down Shaw's activity. Which is why (and how) she found his introduction video, and his hilarious conversation with Shaw, which had her laughing so hard she almost doubled over.

(She's been wanting to call the other woman 'thorny rose' ever since, but she really doesn't want Shaw to kill her.)

Root does her very best to sound innocent and shy, but her expression is far from either of those things. It's a good thing this is an audio reply.]

What a great idea. So many of us ladies are crippled by shyness and embarrassment when it comes to starting up a conversation with a dazzling gentleman such as yourself.

[She shouldn't lead him on with her own special brand of sarcasm and trolling, and yet...]

But tell me-- why would I create an app like that? I wouldn't want any competition.

[Root no.]