milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Somehow, D0G has gotten ahold of a T-Minus headset. Whether he has his human's permission to use it is unknown.

He can be found online under the name custodialConstruct. We wish you the best of luck in trying to communicate with him, since he can't actually speak and his fingers are too huge to be used for typing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huh. Now there's a name Gordon hasn't seen before.

crowbarAnticitizen [CA] has begun trolling custodialConstruct [CC]

CA: Do I know you?

CC: > .... . .-.. .-.. --- --. --- .-. -.. --- -. ..-. .-. . . -- .- -.
CC: > -.. ----- --. .-. . -.-. --- --. -. .. --.. . ... -.-- --- ..- .-. ..- ... . .-. -. .- -- .

( HELLO GORDON FREEMAN )
( D0G RECOGNIZES YOUR USERNAME )

CA: Ah. Hi, D0G.
CA: I didn't know you'd picked up an interface for this thing.

CC: > -.. ----- --. - --- --- -.- .- .... . .- -.. ... . - ..-. .-. --- -- - .... . -.-. .-. .- - .
CC: > -.. ----- --. .. ... .-.. . .- .-. -. .. -. --. .... --- .-- - .... . .... . .- -.. ... . - .. ... ..- ... . -..

( D0G TOOK A HEADSET FROM THE CRATE )
( D0G IS LEARNING HOW THE HEADSET IS USED )

CA: Useful.
CA: I wonder if we can translate your dots and dashes into letters...

Because, no offense to D0G, but Gordon would find it easier to read if he didn't have to stop and translate.

CC: > .- .-.. -.-- -..- -.. --- . ... -. --- - .-- .- -. - -.. ----- --. - --- .... .- ...- . -.. .. .-. . -.-. - .- -.-. -.-. . ... ... - --- .-- .. .-. . .-.. . ... ... -.-. --- -- -- ..- -. .. -.-. .- - .. --- -. ...
CC: > .-- .. .-. . .-.. . ... ... .--. --- .-. - ... -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. -... . ..- ... . -.. - --- .... .- -.-. -.- -.. ----- --. .----. ... ... -.-- ... - . -- ...

( ALYX DOES NOT WANT D0G TO HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS )
( WIRELESS PORTS COULD BE USED TO HACK D0G'S SYSTEMS )

CA: I was thinking more of the headsets.
CA: A variation on OCR. If the headset can be programmed to translate a Morse keypress sequence into a given letter, for example.

CC: > -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. .- .-.. -.-- -..- .-. . .--. .-. --- --. .-. .- -- - .... . .... . .- -.. ... . - -.--. -.-- -..-. -. -.--.-

( COULD ALYX REPROGRAM THE HEADSET (Y/N) )

CA: I honestly don't know. We'd have to ask her.
CA: It's not any tech I recognize.
CA: (not that that's saying much.)

CC: > .. ... .- .-.. -.-- -..- ...- .- -. -.-. . .. -. -- .. .-.. .-.. .. .-- .- -.-- ... -.--. -.-- -..-. -. -.--.-

( IS ALYX VANCE IN MILLIWAYS (Y/N) )

CA: I think so.

Gordon turns in his seat to look for the familiar figure.

CA: Looks like she's over by the fire. Shall we go say hi?

D0G nods eagerly and galumphs over toward Alyx's seat. (What, you thought he and Gordon were communicating at a distance?)

It's a mark of nerdity to communicate via computer at close enough range to simply talk. It's just a thing.

Anyway, Gordon gets up to follow the robot, and says, "Hi, Alyx."

Alyx looks up from her notes. "Oh, hey, you two. What's up?"

"Testing these," Gordon says, holding out his headset. "D0G and I were wondering if you have any ability to reprogram them."

"Oh, Lord..." Alyx drags her hands over her face. "I tried. Really, I did. The firmware on these things is a fucking nightmare. It makes Aperture's file system look like QBASIC by comparison."

Gordon winces, shoulders hunching up around his ears. "Sorry," he says. "I was thinking some kind of OCR translator for Morse.... is the device creator still around?"

"Dunno. Shephard still won't tell me exactly where they came from," says Alyx. "If you think you can get a straight answer out of him, be my guest."

Gordon wrinkles his nose, but nods. "Worth a try," he says. "No offense, but... I can't sight-read Morse. I have to go letter by letter and it's pretty slow going."

"It took me a while to get the hang of it, too," admits Alyx. "It helps that I know his speech patterns really well--I can kind of predict what he's saying sometimes, y'know?" She pats the robot affectionately on the arm.

That rates a smile. Gordon nods. "That makes a difference," he says. "Guess I'm a little impatient, sometimes."

Alyx lets out a quiet giggle. "'Impatient' isn't an adjective I've ever associated with you."

"I did say sometimes," Gordon protests. It's not much of a protest, though, he's too pleased for that. "I like knowing what's going on, that's all."

"Fair point," Alyx allows. "At least he's gotten out of the habit of talking in Morse by stomping his feet..."

BrrrWAAAP! says D0G indignantly.

"A noisy habit," Gordon says, "if an effective one. It's okay, D0G. We appreciate you anyway."

Alyx scratches D0G's 'head' and he settles his rump on the ground, pacified. "Can you believe it's almost Christmas here again?" she says, conversationally, to Gordon.

Edited 2011-12-19 02:45 (UTC)

"I'm never going to get used to the temporal differential here," Gordon agrees. "Guess this means I should ask what you want for Christmas. Other than to have the babies and get it over with."

That prompts another laugh from Alyx. "Hell no. At least right now I don't have to change diapers."

Gordon chuckles. "I couldn't arrange that anyway," he says. "Something else, then. Something nicer. You could use it."

"Hmm... surprise me," says Alyx. "And I'll see if I can't surprise you."

"I think I can do that," Gordon says. "One way or another."

If nothing else, this place is good for books and caffeine, and he knows most of that will come as a surprise.

Alyx cranes her neck to give Gordon a kiss on the jawline. "I'm sure you can, honey."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only