The Danger Room Paradox - Log 2
Dec. 16th, 2018 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsHaving worked out the extent of the disaster, plans are made to fix things.
"OK, so assume I'm a goatee with an idiot attached and made the mistake of taking biology as my senior science credit. How could the Danger Room just... take people from the mansion?" Kane said, trying to get his brain around what was happening. Adrienne had answered her phone, clearing one element of panic from him, but the rest was still percolating.
"Technically speaking they're not exactly gone from the mansion," Hank replied, looking up from his computer screen with what was probably supposed to be a reassuring expression. "Though on the other hand, they very much are gone from the mansion, and this reality altogether. It's... complicated." Quantum physics really wasn't his thing, but with the help of Reed, Sue, and Everett he was beginning to get a clearer picture of where they stood. And where everyone else wasn't standing, at the moment.
"Not really," Reed said, wanting to roll his eyes. "Quantum mechanics governs the smallest of our energies -- photons, atoms, and the sort. What's happened here, in as simple: their bodies have transformed into pure energy, and their quantum energy has entered the Danger Room, transporting them into various times and spaces."
This wasn't supposed to happen...but this was the Mansion so of course it did, "Reed's right if the room was able to convert them into energy, then moving them around, settling them into a constructed reality wouldn't be too hard. The new system here, that's what it was designed to do, construct entire worlds to train people in, they were just supposed to be trained in there," she pointed out waving at the now empty danger room.
"Put 'quantum' in front of anything and you can logic magic into reality." Ev rubbed his eyes wearily. He was as out of his depth as Kane was. "At least it was just confined to the Danger Room itself." The looks on the scientists' faces suggested he had spoken in error. "It was just confined to the Danger Room, right?"
"Well," Sue sat back in her chair, one hand reaching up to rub at the back of her head. "It looks a little bit that whatever effect we're seeing is seeping out of the danger room. It might be worth," the blonde bit her lip and glanced at the ceiling, "has anyone actually heard anything from the rest of the mansion?"
Good question. "Wasn't everyone in there anyways?" Reed had thought it was a rather large group. "Garrison, you'd know better than I if there are others we can reach."
"I've sent out some texts. Some people aren't affected, but it's pretty much all people who weren't in the mansion at the time we applied the upgrades. So, I guess the effect is localized... for now."
"All right, so everyone who was in the mansion, except for us in the control room, are trapped in artificially generated 'quantum bubbles.'" Because why the hell not. Ev scratched his forehead. "The easiest solution would seem to be to shut off the program altogether. And because that's the easiest, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it's not going to work. Am I right?"
"Not unless you want to risk everyone inside ceasing to exist in our reality forever," Hank said grimly. "Until we can re-align their energies to our plane we need to keep that program running. Their lives depend on it."
"And," Sue cut in, "we can't just realign them willy-nilly, the computer will fight us on that. We're going to need to do them one at a time, and only once they complete their scenario and the computer agrees they're ready to leave. We can try to spoof it, but that might only work once."
"So we get the computer to decide they're ready to leave but do they just do that? Or do we need to go and get them?"
"Sending anyone else in there is a risk," said Hank, "but leaving them to find their own way out is riskier still. Without the ability to communicate exactly what's going on means they could disrupt our plans in any number of ways. No, it would be safest to retrieve them; at least then we can control some of the variables."
"I disagree with you, Hank. The only way to retrieve them is to let this play out. We cannot send someone else in, that could disrupt the quantum entanglement, and create another scenario we are unprepared for. No, this is an example of Schrodinger's cat -- why destroy the many scenarios that could be happening with one potentially catastrophic look? Curiosity is not our friend."
Ev turned to Garrison, raising an eyebrow. "So we wait until they complete their scenario to the programming's satisfaction, and then we can enter and physically retrieve them so the bubbles can be safely shut down. It's going to be a test of their training, particularly any kids who are stuck in there."
"And if they fail? We're talking people's lives here." Kane looked around the group. "I don't know how our chain of command works right now but I know that I'm not in the position to second guess the science. If we follow your advice and Ev and I go in and try to pull them out, is that their best shot?"
If you were to go in, well then one of two things would happen, either you'd end up caught up in the same scenario as the people you're trying to rescue, or the computer would shunt you into a whole new scenario all by yourself. You might be able to tell them what's happening, but that's it, you'd end up in the same boat. Hank's right, we need to know what's going on, but all the energy states are stable right now, we should be able to build an algorithm to let us monitor them within their scenarios." the blond nodded at Hank, "Hank should be able to whip that up quickly. But I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to go in just yet. Not until the computer recognises the scenario as complete, then you can jump in and let them know what's been going on and guide them out. I know it's people's lives, but that's why we have to be even more risk-averse. We can't take any action that might risk them unless we really have to."
"So maybe we try and trigger the portal shut remotely first, see how that works. Between Ev's powers and my skin, we've likely got the best odds of surviving whatever weirdness they've been dropped into. You guys figure out how to tell when it is safe and we'll give it a shot."
"OK, so assume I'm a goatee with an idiot attached and made the mistake of taking biology as my senior science credit. How could the Danger Room just... take people from the mansion?" Kane said, trying to get his brain around what was happening. Adrienne had answered her phone, clearing one element of panic from him, but the rest was still percolating.
"Technically speaking they're not exactly gone from the mansion," Hank replied, looking up from his computer screen with what was probably supposed to be a reassuring expression. "Though on the other hand, they very much are gone from the mansion, and this reality altogether. It's... complicated." Quantum physics really wasn't his thing, but with the help of Reed, Sue, and Everett he was beginning to get a clearer picture of where they stood. And where everyone else wasn't standing, at the moment.
"Not really," Reed said, wanting to roll his eyes. "Quantum mechanics governs the smallest of our energies -- photons, atoms, and the sort. What's happened here, in as simple: their bodies have transformed into pure energy, and their quantum energy has entered the Danger Room, transporting them into various times and spaces."
This wasn't supposed to happen...but this was the Mansion so of course it did, "Reed's right if the room was able to convert them into energy, then moving them around, settling them into a constructed reality wouldn't be too hard. The new system here, that's what it was designed to do, construct entire worlds to train people in, they were just supposed to be trained in there," she pointed out waving at the now empty danger room.
"Put 'quantum' in front of anything and you can logic magic into reality." Ev rubbed his eyes wearily. He was as out of his depth as Kane was. "At least it was just confined to the Danger Room itself." The looks on the scientists' faces suggested he had spoken in error. "It was just confined to the Danger Room, right?"
"Well," Sue sat back in her chair, one hand reaching up to rub at the back of her head. "It looks a little bit that whatever effect we're seeing is seeping out of the danger room. It might be worth," the blonde bit her lip and glanced at the ceiling, "has anyone actually heard anything from the rest of the mansion?"
Good question. "Wasn't everyone in there anyways?" Reed had thought it was a rather large group. "Garrison, you'd know better than I if there are others we can reach."
"I've sent out some texts. Some people aren't affected, but it's pretty much all people who weren't in the mansion at the time we applied the upgrades. So, I guess the effect is localized... for now."
"All right, so everyone who was in the mansion, except for us in the control room, are trapped in artificially generated 'quantum bubbles.'" Because why the hell not. Ev scratched his forehead. "The easiest solution would seem to be to shut off the program altogether. And because that's the easiest, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it's not going to work. Am I right?"
"Not unless you want to risk everyone inside ceasing to exist in our reality forever," Hank said grimly. "Until we can re-align their energies to our plane we need to keep that program running. Their lives depend on it."
"And," Sue cut in, "we can't just realign them willy-nilly, the computer will fight us on that. We're going to need to do them one at a time, and only once they complete their scenario and the computer agrees they're ready to leave. We can try to spoof it, but that might only work once."
"So we get the computer to decide they're ready to leave but do they just do that? Or do we need to go and get them?"
"Sending anyone else in there is a risk," said Hank, "but leaving them to find their own way out is riskier still. Without the ability to communicate exactly what's going on means they could disrupt our plans in any number of ways. No, it would be safest to retrieve them; at least then we can control some of the variables."
"I disagree with you, Hank. The only way to retrieve them is to let this play out. We cannot send someone else in, that could disrupt the quantum entanglement, and create another scenario we are unprepared for. No, this is an example of Schrodinger's cat -- why destroy the many scenarios that could be happening with one potentially catastrophic look? Curiosity is not our friend."
Ev turned to Garrison, raising an eyebrow. "So we wait until they complete their scenario to the programming's satisfaction, and then we can enter and physically retrieve them so the bubbles can be safely shut down. It's going to be a test of their training, particularly any kids who are stuck in there."
"And if they fail? We're talking people's lives here." Kane looked around the group. "I don't know how our chain of command works right now but I know that I'm not in the position to second guess the science. If we follow your advice and Ev and I go in and try to pull them out, is that their best shot?"
If you were to go in, well then one of two things would happen, either you'd end up caught up in the same scenario as the people you're trying to rescue, or the computer would shunt you into a whole new scenario all by yourself. You might be able to tell them what's happening, but that's it, you'd end up in the same boat. Hank's right, we need to know what's going on, but all the energy states are stable right now, we should be able to build an algorithm to let us monitor them within their scenarios." the blond nodded at Hank, "Hank should be able to whip that up quickly. But I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to go in just yet. Not until the computer recognises the scenario as complete, then you can jump in and let them know what's been going on and guide them out. I know it's people's lives, but that's why we have to be even more risk-averse. We can't take any action that might risk them unless we really have to."
"So maybe we try and trigger the portal shut remotely first, see how that works. Between Ev's powers and my skin, we've likely got the best odds of surviving whatever weirdness they've been dropped into. You guys figure out how to tell when it is safe and we'll give it a shot."
