brockton bay, meet glam

[mxglam]

It's the anniversary. Glam would very much not like to celebrate.

It’s their last day on Winslow High - they’re being transferred to Arcadia on Monday - and also their last day without a patrol schedule assigned.

And the PRT released a small announcement on its website about Glam joining the Wards. Now their wiki page doesn’t get erased, of course - they’re no longer speculative. They wonder what it’s got on them.

Comments

[thinkering]

"How much will it throw you off if you don't have video of the room where she is?"

[mxglam]

"...some? I think the theme going on is that I need some kind of trustworthy feedback for when my power works, but I think a robot beeping around me when it does should be enough."

[thinkering]

"Okay, because it could throw things off if you were lipreading Windflower or psyching yourself up too much looking at the setting, but we're checking variance from a baseline, not absolute ability."

[mxglam]

"Mmhm. So, I have been so far unable to make a ping-pong ball that I didn't make float. Success would be me being able to remotely move it a bit?"

[thinkering]

"I was thinking have you move it 'as fast as you can' and see if that's faster when Windflower expects it."

[mxglam]

"Move stuff I can already move, then? Boots was pushing 90 and I could still keep up with him using my suit, I might break something if I send a ping-pong ball at a wall at my top speed, whatever it may be."

[thinkering]

"Maybe we should run two iterations, one with a ping pong ball you made and one with one you didn't make. Not in that order. In case we don't get usable results from the thing you didn't make at all."

[mxglam]

Nod. "So what will the actual experiments be, and what are our predictions?"

[thinkering]

"I think under the circumstances I shouldn't tell you the entire experimental design, but I'll put Windflower with a robot and one real and one fake ping-pong ball in a room, tell her what she needs to hear, and have you try to move the balls under assorted conditions, with robots bleeping at you when you've succeeded."

[mxglam]

Nod again. "Yeah, makes sense, and sounds fun!"

[thinkering]

"I'll send her a message."

[mxglam]

"Cool!" They twirl a bit in the air.

[thinkering]

Lorica giggles.

And, later on that day, notifies Glam that Windflower is mostly set up and Glam should come into the workshop.

[mxglam]

So Glam comes into the workshop. "What should I do?"

[thinkering]

"Give a bot a ping-pong ball."

[mxglam]

Ping-pong ball: is given.

[thinkering]

The bot flies away, then provides a brief video of itself placing the made ball next to a real one; Windflower is not visible. The video then winks out.

"The bots will bleep for feedback, higher pitch the faster you move the ball," Lorica says. "Scoot the real ball as fast as you can."

[mxglam]

They try.

[thinkering]

No bleep.

"Your ball, now. Try not to hit a wall."

[mxglam]

They visualize the table and the position of the balls in their head and try to send a ping-pong ball - labelling it internally as "the one they made" - to the edge of the table as fast as possible and then make it stop there.

[thinkering]

Bleep! goes the robot.

"Okay, gimme a minute to talk to Windflower..."

[mxglam]

"Alright."

[thinkering]

Presently: "Real ball, go."

[peterxy]

Real ball: no go.

[thinkering]

No bleep.

"Your ball, go."