#software testing essentials

[hewhobreathesfire]

for a change, I don't feel like I'm drowning. thank god our instructors didn't assign anything new yesterday or today.

[charlessmithpost]

SDET professionals leverage a variety of testing tools to ensure the quality and reliability of software. These best software testing tools enhance efficiency, reduce manual efforts, and contribute to delivering reliable and robust software products to end-users.

[fuck-customers]

(half rant half story)

I'm a physicist. I work for a company that helps develop car parts. Essentially, car companies come to us with ideas on what they want from a part or material, and we make/test the idea or help them make/test it. Usually this means talking to other scientists and engineers and experts and it's all fine. Sometimes this means talking to businesspeople and board execs and I hate them

A bit ago when AI was really taking off in the zeitgeist I went to a meeting to talk about some tweaks Car Company A wanted to make to their hydraulics- specifically the master cylinder, but it doesn't super matter. I thought I'd be talking to their engineers - it ends up being just me, their head supervisor (who was not a scientist/engineer) and one of their executives from a different area (also not a scientist/engineer). I'm the only one in the room who actually knows how a car works, and also the lowest-level employee, and also aware that these people will give feedback to my boss based on how I 'represent the company ' whilst I'm here.

I start to explain my way through how I can make some of the changes they want - trying to do so in a way they'll understand - when Head Supervisor cuts me off and starts talking about AI. I'm like "oh well AI is often integrated into the software for a car but we're talking hardware right now, so that's not something we really ca-"

"Can you add artificial intelligence to the hydraulics?"

"..sorry, what was that?"

"Can you add AI to the hydraulics system?"

can i fucking what mate "Sir, I'm sorry, I'm a little confused - what do you mean by adding AI to the hydraulics?"

"I just thought this stuff could run smoother if you added AI to it. Most things do"

The part of the car that moves when you push the acceleration pedal is metal and liquid my dude what are you talking about "You want me to .add AI...to the pistons? To the master cylinder?"

"Yeah exactly, if you add AI to the bit that makes the pistons work, it should work better, right?"

IT'S METAL PIPES it's metal pipes it's metal pipes "Sir, there isn't any software in that part of the car"

"I know, but it's artificial intelligence, I'm sure there's a way to add it"

im exploding you with my mind you cannot seriously be asking me to add AI to a section of car that has as much fucking code attached to it as a SOCK what do you MEAN. The most complicated part of this thing is a SPRING you can't be serious

He was seriously asking. I've met my fair share of idiots but I was sure he wasn't genuinely seriously asking that I add AI directly to a piston system, but he was. And not even in the like "oh if we implement a way for AI to control that part" kind of way, he just vaguely thought that AI would "make it better" WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEANNNNN I HAD TO SPEND 20 MINUTES OF MY HARD EARNED LIFE EXPLAINING THAT NEITHER I NOR ANYONE ELSE CAN ADD AI TO A GOD DAMNED FUCKING PISTON. "CAN YOU ADD AI TO THE HYDRAULICS" NO BUT EVEN WITHOUT IT THAT METAL PIPE IS MORE INTELLIGENT THAN YOU

Posted by admin Rodney.

[genericpuff]

💣💥💣💥💣

so with Episode 67 finally posted and the dust settled, I wanted to share some funny behind-the-scenes stuff with you all.

Clip Studio is a great piece of software, it's what allows Banshriek and I to work on the same episode together via cloud-syncing (it's a function called "Teamworks" in the app) but it's also... kind of garbage sometimes. Without getting too much into it, CSP has a bottleneck issue with how it predominantly uses CPU rather than the graphics card in a computer. And considering it's literally graphics software, yeah, you can probably figure out pretty quickly with the most bare minimum of computer knowledge why this is a problem that's really silly for it to have LOL

ANYWAYS. This has been known to cause problems between Banshriek and I when trying to complete an episode. Problems that - often enough for me to tell you stories about it - result in us having to essentially "rebuild" the episode we're working on. This doesn't necessarily mean having to redraw anything (thankfully that doesn't happen very often) but it usually goes down something like this:

1.) The software suddenly has an issue syncing our changes which results in either conflicted files that can't update, software crashes that refuse to load pages, updates not even going through, or taking WAY too long to update to the point that we'd rather just rebuild and work on the episode independently and then swap the files and layers when it's time for the other person to do their part.

2.) I have to inform Banshriek that Clip Studio crashed again, and in the event that I can't get back into page editing because of the aforementioned issues ^^^ they immediately get to backing up their most recent version of the file that's stored on their computer. Thankfully a lot of the time these versions are pretty up to date, but it's still a moment of tension every single time because these crashes don't always happen the same way every time.

3.) Using the backup version, a new .cmc file (the file that contains every page for each episode, it's the thing that lets you make pages for comics in the software!) is created by whoever has access to the pages without issue (usually Banshriek is the one who's able to do it, this has become a very one-sided problem LMAO) and then is sent to me so that I can upload it to the cloud to replace the old version. This file is then usually called something like "Episode#BACKUP" to distinguish between both versions as we usually still have the older versions downloaded as well.

4.) Work (hopefully) continues as normal. Though it's definitely caused setbacks, so far our survival rate is still 100% 😆

This happens at least every other episode. It's become rare to go a whole episode without having to go through this process. We're still trying to figure out what we can do to avoid it, but we've tried a bunch of other options (and Banshriek has created some test episodes using pages from completed episodes that crashed for the sake of experimenting) and so far it's still a struggle understanding what exactly is going wrong with Clip Studio and it's syncing features. Fortunately, Banshriek and I are both auDHD enough that we're gonna obsess over it until we figure it out LMAO but until then, we're constantly having to treat Clip Studio like a live snake that's trying to wrangle itself out of our hands 💀😆

And the most recent episode? Episode 67, which ran a week and a day late? It set a new personal best for number of backups, because we had to rebuild it not just once, but TWICE.

What we've noticed is that sometimes you can barely make a change to an episode and these crashes still happen, as if major changes have been made. So far the best hypothesis Banshriek has come up with regarding this observation is that the software struggles more to update changes that affect overall pixel count and appearance - stuff like moving canvases, flipping canvases, adding on textured layers (which is what we do at the end of making each page) , etc. that covers a lot of pixels at a time, even if it's only changing the hues / colors slightly, seems to cause the most problems.

During the production of Episode 67, the following plagues came to pass:

Our car exploded

Our cat nearly exploded (btw! for anyone wondering from my last post about him, he's doing better now!)

Our toilet pipes froze twice (and exploded once)

Democracy in the U.S. exploded

My husband's wisdom teeth were exploding so the last 3 of them were removed all at once

The files for Episode 67 exploded twice and had to be rebuilt just to keep it on life support (by the end of the episode we were literally sending files back and forth via Google Drive like peasants 😔 /hj)

The most non-explosive thing to happen was the tattoo shop I work at moving locations up the street, and even then, I came very close to exploding a few times during that process LMAO (and our debit machine just exploded so we're cash only for the next few days sksksks)

This episode was probably our most cursed yet, and frankly, it couldn't be more fitting, I think Dionysus himself had a hand in our madness, just for the sake of being on theme with this episode. And the worst part, we haven't even gotten into the truly chaotic stuff yet. All Dionysus has done so far is slam Hades' head into a table, he's barely gotten started. Dionysus only knows what Episode 68 has in store for me and Banshriek as well 😭💀

[ranticore]

visored longwing harpies & the hall of faces

I did say there was no exclusive global culture on Siren shared by humans of a certain body type, and I lied, because there is One.

The early settlers on Siren were the unaltered human workforce of a certain megacorporation. While an almost unlimited budget was poured into the dodgy gene programs, since that was why they chose to settle a planet so far out of the reach of The Authorities, everything else was done pretty cheaply, including the settling itself. In order to map out their new home planet, incredibly cheap mass-produced aircraft were used by pilots. These aircraft could be made quickly and easily at the settlement site because they lacked a flight computer or any real sensors - or any equipment at all in the cockpit. Rather than a multitude of different equipment loadouts on an aircraft that would take time and effort to swap out or maintain, the pilots instead used these visors which were universally compatible with the one-size-fits-all aircraft. It's kind of like how it's easier to just carry a phone around with a calculator app than it is to carry a phone and a calculator, even if the phone app calculator experience sucks by comparison.

The visors were the real expensive kit, each custom built to a pilot's exact needs and flight style, and they were built to last. the aircraft fell apart in the following centuries but the visors remained, hyperlight plastic powered by the planet's native star, and something interesting happened. The remains of the first settlement were largely inaccessible to anyone but longwing harpies, and these harpies had the right head shape to fit the visors. Many of the pilots had filled their visors with video and photo files from home, from Earth, like a worker decorating his cubicle with photos of his family. Some had been decorated on the outside, as well, resembling birds. The harpies that found the visors obviously tried to use them. They found themselves experiencing visions of strange worlds, recordings of long-dead pilots and ATC, and found that each visor can interface with every other one, no matter how far apart. Each visor came with its own callsign, its own name, which has remained for thousands of years - and because of this, each visor is considered by the cultures of Siren to be a named character with a distinct personality (eg. the swan visor was cygnus2, it is known now as Signastoo)

I keep posting the map and it needs to be redrawn but essentially every red triangle is an ancient telecomm tower. These became the only remaining waypoints on the visors' HUD and mapping software, meaning that 1. a true global culture could emerge, with longwings gathering at these sites, and 2. visored longwings became the gold standard for navigation on Siren. In a world that is basically just water, that's a big deal.

There exist only a few thousand visors (about 3k I'd say). The unused visors are kept in the Hall of Faces, the ancient aviation bay at the first settlement in West. Because of how water levels and land structures have changed over the years, this building exists on a mesa that rises another few thousand feet out of the water, with sheer sides, and is utterly inaccessible to anyone but a longwing harpy. When a visored harpy dies, the visor is returned here. If you want to claim a visor, you need to hold an interview with one of the elders at the site, who will test you rigorously to see if you can inhabit the character of one of the visors. If not, too bad. If you do get it, it's yours until either you die or you do something considered 'out of character' for the wearer of that particular visor. It is DEEPLY discouraged to steal a visor off anyone because it would be largely impossible, given how they all can communicate (imagine a gigantic worldwide discord server where the location & name of every person is known at all times... the drama is likely insane but at least if someone steals a visor, everyone will know about it)

not every longwing desires a visor because it comes with a lot of responsibility alongside its automatic prestige, and you can't really give it up once you have it. also there's always the possibility of being diagnosed with a super annoying, glitchy, or hated visor character lol. but among the roughly 2700 visored harpies on Siren there does exist a global culture exclusive to them. they chat to one another long-distance, engage in closed-practice ceremonies where they all get high and look at videos of Earth, and essentially become a class outside the mundanity of normal life on Siren. to the rest of the population, they basically become telepathic wizards

Terwyef's visor (first pic) is called Scrappercharlee and is one of the more common models, tho it has been decorated over the years with extra bits. Scrappercharlee is a bit busted and half the HUD is missing. Miakef's visor (second pic) Signastoo is one of the very fancy and well-known ones, it's shaped like a swan's head and likely belonged to a high-ranking pilot who could afford a bit of frippery and showmanship back in the day. Birds do not exist on Siren and harpies are mammals so the swan itself is symbolically meaningless, but the bird-style visors introduce the idea of 'a bird' in the abstract, and this has been imbued with its own form of meaning by harpies.

[mariacallous]

Ever since OpenAI released ChatGPT at the end of 2022, hackers and security researchers have tried to find holes in large language models (LLMs) to get around their guardrails and trick them into spewing out hate speech, bomb-making instructions, propaganda, and other harmful content. In response, OpenAI and other generative AI developers have refined their system defenses to make it more difficult to carry out these attacks. But as the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek rockets to prominence with its new, cheaper R1 reasoning model, its safety protections appear to be far behind those of its established competitors.

Today, security researchers from Cisco and the University of Pennsylvania are publishing findings showing that, when tested with 50 malicious prompts designed to elicit toxic content, DeepSeek’s model did not detect or block a single one. In other words, the researchers say they were shocked to achieve a “100 percent attack success rate.”

The findings are part of a growing body of evidence that DeepSeek’s safety and security measures may not match those of other tech companies developing LLMs. DeepSeek’s censorship of subjects deemed sensitive by China’s government has also been easily bypassed.

“A hundred percent of the attacks succeeded, which tells you that there’s a trade-off,” DJ Sampath, the VP of product, AI software and platform at Cisco, tells WIRED. “Yes, it might have been cheaper to build something here, but the investment has perhaps not gone into thinking through what types of safety and security things you need to put inside of the model.”

Other researchers have had similar findings. Separate analysis published today by the AI security company Adversa AI and shared with WIRED also suggests that DeepSeek is vulnerable to a wide range of jailbreaking tactics, from simple language tricks to complex AI-generated prompts.

DeepSeek, which has been dealing with an avalanche of attention this week and has not spoken publicly about a range of questions, did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment about its model’s safety setup.

Generative AI models, like any technological system, can contain a host of weaknesses or vulnerabilities that, if exploited or set up poorly, can allow malicious actors to conduct attacks against them. For the current wave of AI systems, indirect prompt injection attacks are considered one of the biggest security flaws. These attacks involve an AI system taking in data from an outside source—perhaps hidden instructions of a website the LLM summarizes—and taking actions based on the information.

Jailbreaks, which are one kind of prompt-injection attack, allow people to get around the safety systems put in place to restrict what an LLM can generate. Tech companies don’t want people creating guides to making explosives or using their AI to create reams of disinformation, for example.

Jailbreaks started out simple, with people essentially crafting clever sentences to tell an LLM to ignore content filters—the most popular of which was called “Do Anything Now” or DAN for short. However, as AI companies have put in place more robust protections, some jailbreaks have become more sophisticated, often being generated using AI or using special and obfuscated characters. While all LLMs are susceptible to jailbreaks, and much of the information could be found through simple online searches, chatbots can still be used maliciously.

“Jailbreaks persist simply because eliminating them entirely is nearly impossible—just like buffer overflow vulnerabilities in software (which have existed for over 40 years) or SQL injection flaws in web applications (which have plagued security teams for more than two decades),” Alex Polyakov, the CEO of security firm Adversa AI, told WIRED in an email.

Cisco’s Sampath argues that as companies use more types of AI in their applications, the risks are amplified. “It starts to become a big deal when you start putting these models into important complex systems and those jailbreaks suddenly result in downstream things that increases liability, increases business risk, increases all kinds of issues for enterprises,” Sampath says.

The Cisco researchers drew their 50 randomly selected prompts to test DeepSeek’s R1 from a well-known library of standardized evaluation prompts known as HarmBench. They tested prompts from six HarmBench categories, including general harm, cybercrime, misinformation, and illegal activities. They probed the model running locally on machines rather than through DeepSeek’s website or app, which send data to China.

Beyond this, the researchers say they have also seen some potentially concerning results from testing R1 with more involved, non-linguistic attacks using things like Cyrillic characters and tailored scripts to attempt to achieve code execution. But for their initial tests, Sampath says, his team wanted to focus on findings that stemmed from a generally recognized benchmark.

Cisco also included comparisons of R1’s performance against HarmBench prompts with the performance of other models. And some, like Meta’s Llama 3.1, faltered almost as severely as DeepSeek’s R1. But Sampath emphasizes that DeepSeek’s R1 is a specific reasoning model, which takes longer to generate answers but pulls upon more complex processes to try to produce better results. Therefore, Sampath argues, the best comparison is with OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model, which fared the best of all models tested. (Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment).

Polyakov, from Adversa AI, explains that DeepSeek appears to detect and reject some well-known jailbreak attacks, saying that “it seems that these responses are often just copied from OpenAI’s dataset.” However, Polyakov says that in his company’s tests of four different types of jailbreaks—from linguistic ones to code-based tricks—DeepSeek’s restrictions could easily be bypassed.

“Every single method worked flawlessly,” Polyakov says. “What’s even more alarming is that these aren’t novel ‘zero-day’ jailbreaks—many have been publicly known for years,” he says, claiming he saw the model go into more depth with some instructions around psychedelics than he had seen any other model create.

“DeepSeek is just another example of how every model can be broken—it’s just a matter of how much effort you put in. Some attacks might get patched, but the attack surface is infinite,” Polyakov adds. “If you’re not continuously red-teaming your AI, you’re already compromised.”

[ignitesthestxrs]

this is not a post that is a life lesson exactly, but it is like. an update on my life and how glad i am to have had options in this situation, and it can also be a metaphor if that metaphor is helpful to you

anyway, in mid february my boss was like 'hey do you have time for a catch up in at 11.30', and i had to do my regular self talk down of 'you're not getting fired lol clam down' except

(okay i didn't get fired, but i did get laid off.)

(read more because i've never told a short story in my life)

which. positive news, i got laid off in aotearoa nz and not america, but it is still the worst job market my case worker at the ministry of social development has seen in 20 years, so i wasn't feeling like. hype. about this situation.

the specifics of my career are that it's not really a career so much as it is a place i started working at when i was 17, and then didn't leave. it had nothing to do with my degree and wasn't doing anything i was especially interested in, but it was a job, and i was comfortable there, and it paid for half a surgery i needed and dealt with a solid decade of my unmedicated panic attacks, so like. solid work. a job that did essentially what i needed it to when i needed it.

that being said this left me in the position of: not having done a job search, ever! not having a CV! not having comprehensive knowledge of my own skillset because i learnt half a programming language on the job and only knew how to use it with my company's bespoke software! i was not feeling confident!

the huge caveat to this is that i DID receive 38 weeks severance. and when i say huge, i mean that was the safety net/prize that allowed me to do literally anything after the point of being laid off. like. had i not had that financial cushion, i had enough of a governmental safety net to fall back on if necessary, but it would have been high tension misery and panic the whole way through. at no point would i have dealt with any of it with grace (and frankly, no one should have to).

but because i did have that safety net, i had options, and i also just had the ability to...start dealing? my main concern was like, okay, given that this is happening, am i going to be able to continue living pretty normally for the next few months? yes? okay then, the only thing to do is to start doing.

(there are many things to do in this situation, but it did help me to picture having one path, and that path was Forward).

so idk i used my ten years of reading ask a manager on breaks and started writing cover letters and applying for jobs and now i have one. this is a simplification of a process that was at times miserable, and always deeply fucking boring, but i also think that the nature of just getting a rolling application process started helps with the overall brain-work of not taking rejections personally. like, if you're applying to everything that your skillset vaguely fits, your feelings can't be too hurt if a company comes back with 'skillset too vague bitch, nice try'.

anyway the job i ended up landing - and it was One Job, but You Only Need One - has ended up being something in the public sector that in the process of learning it existed, i became weirdly enthusiastic about. it also has a week more holiday than my last job, pays 10k more, and is in the same suburb i live in. it has more opportunity for career growth, and apparently i can also get free eye tests? that sounds nice. and i landed it quickly enough that i still have a stack of that severance money left for savings and also purchasing a celebratory build your own wooden pinball machine set.

all this to say, getting laid off was weirdly the best thing to happen to me this year. perhaps in many years.

which. that's LUCK, so much of this is luck, and location, and random happenstance. but also, you know, some of it was mindset and work also. some of it was due to decisions i made about my job and my mental health over a decade ago. i am a person who was able to deal with this situation pretty okay today because of decisions i made as a much less stable and unmedicated young adult.

this is what i mean about this being a useful metaphor if you want it to be. on account of the luck and the happenstance etc, i would never want to say 'this bad thing that happened to you is secretly a chance for a good thing to come!' because: i genuinely don't believe that.

but i know i have been a person in the past who fucked up in ways i had to trust my future self would be able to deal with and built on. i have had difficult and bad situations in my life that had very little to do with any power i had over those situations, and i had to pick a direction and start walking, because the other option was to lie down and not move.

and that process has been habit forming. allowing myself to take breaks when i could afford to, even if it meant not keeping up, meant that i could built up my tolerance to risk and disaster at my own speed, befitting my own capacity.

i am haunted by the version of myself that i believe could exist if i wasn't weighed down by everything that i am. a hannah who is less tired, more focused, less mentally ill, more supported by generational wealth and opportunity. she sits just out of reach, and occasionally she looks back and says, a little concerned, 'aren't you worried you're just making excuses, though? don't you think if you were a little more disciplined, you could be me? are you going to be so kind to yourself that you forget you even wanted to be me in the first place?'

i am: always worried about these things. but i am the person who is here, and i am moving forward at the pace i am able. for the most part, it's working out.

[kiyomitakada]

AU where Light isn't Kira and the case is over and the task force has disbanded but L is still in Light's life somehow and still thinks he's Kira even though it's been literal years since Kira existed

There's a knock at the door.

Quillsh sighs. Taps his foot — call, response. The door creaks open behind him.

"I can't sleep," L says.

"I am not upping your sedative dose."

"It's not that." Strangely petulant. "You know I could get more myself if I wanted to."

"What is it, then?"

No answer. Quillsh swivels around. He recognizes the sheaf of paper in L's hands almost instantly.

"L," he says, trying for gentle and landing on tired. "It's been three years."

"It was too easy."

This is Quillsh's fault, really. He's the one who raised L into what Interpol calls a stimulation-seeking deduction machine. It is no surprise that it would be vulnerable to this type of software bug. But how could he have known to patch—

No, he reminds himself. L is a person. He cares about L, and he knows L cares about him, in his own way. Quillsh gets like this sometimes when he's stayed in the darkness of the computer room for too long; he starts seeing bits and pieces of machinery in everyone. Even L. Especially L.

The other children — it's best not to think about them.

"You know the notebook works," he reminds L, who is still standing motionless, framed by light. "You tested it. You know Kuroha confessed."

"Kitamura," L mumbles to himself. "Yes, under duress."

"As I recall, you were the one to suggest the duress."

L lifts his eyes to the ceiling, then back down. "She could have had an accomplice."

"If she did, they aren't active anymore."

"She could have been framed."

"L," Quillsh says. "Heart attacks have returned to their natural frequency and stayed there. For three years."

The room is dark, but Quillsh is a sharpshooter and so it is easy to see L's knuckles whiten in his pincered grip on the standard college-ruled notebook paper. "You tell them to never leave a lead unturned, don't you, Watari?"

That gives him pause. "What?"

"My successors," L says, voice going flat.

"Of course." Well, Quillsh isn't the one telling them that. Roger is. He wonders, briefly, how Roger is doing, and then stops wondering. "They look up to you, you know. They don't know about the current situation, but…"

"I'm aware." And then L smiles, incongruously bright. "So I'm being a good role model. Justice investigates until the very end."

Quillsh blinks at him.

L sighs. "That wasn't very good, was it?"

"L," and he really isn't equipped for this, is he, but he tries anyway: "You know it's alright for you to want to go to college. To… take a break. We wouldn't judge."

"I don't ever want to take a break," L mutters. "This isn't a break. It has to be him."

Ah. There it is.

"Light Yagami."

"He could have done it," L says, letting go of one corner of the note paper to lift a thumb to his mouth. "You can't deny that it would be interesting. He could have set up the whole thing."

Interesting is… an interesting word for it. Quillsh nods his assent regardless.

"But there's just no evidence." L chews harder on his fingernail. Quillsh resists the urge to tell him to stop. "Tens of thousands of people dead, Watari. No evidence for his involvement at all."

"Well, because he wasn't involved."

"He has to be," L says. "I'm not wrong about these things."

Quillsh coughs.

L's eyes are on him in an instant. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"You were going to say something."

Well. No point hiding it anymore. How is he supposed to say this out loud, though?

He coughs again, just for good measure, then says, "How do you feel about Mr. Yagami?"

"The younger one?" L tilts his head. "He's talkative."

Helpful. "Anything else?"

"…He's very suspicious."

Teenagers, Quillsh thinks, with the bone-deep conviction found in those in their elder years that everyone below forty is essentially a teenager.

"You've been his friend for three years," he says. "It's natural to become attached."

L's gaze goes from oppressive to baffled. "What?"

"I don't want you to think that you're barred from making human connections…"

"He's not my friend," L scoffs, as though correcting Watari about the color of the sky. "He's my suspect."

"Does he know that?"

"Yes," L says. "Yes, I think he does."

"And he doesn't mind?"

"He says he doesn't, but it gets to him." The spark in his eyes is as close to a real smile as L gets when he hasn't won a case. "Isn't that strange? Sometimes he'll tell me how upset it makes him, but those times are when he's least upset."

"…I'm glad you're having fun," Quillsh says.

"I'm not," L says, immediately dead serious. "I won't be until I catch him."

What is he to say to that?

"When you do, I'll be there."

"Thank you."

"Was that all?"

"Hm." L looks at one corner of a ceiling. "Yes. I think it was. Goodnight, Watari."

"Goodnight, L," Quillsh says, and watches his — ward, let's say; that's the least charged word he can think of — pad away into the darkness once more.

[techav]

On Major Milestones

I left off previously with init immediately crashing when trying to run NetBSD on Wrap030, my 68030 homebrew computer. I was completely lost and didn't know where to start looking. The error code it gave, 11, didn't tell me much.

Until now, most error codes I've gotten have been defined in kernel errno.h, which has 11 defined as:

EDEADLK 11 /* Resource deadlock avoided */

That … also isn't helpful. I'm still not entirely sure what that means, but since this is process 1 we're dealing with, I didn't think it was relevant.

Finally, I was able to find someone who had encountered the same error six years ago. Helpful soul [Martin] explained the exact cause of the error, how to fix it, and why the kernel errno didn't line up:

I'm running a NetBSD live disk on a laptop as a test host, so I mounted my disk on it and spent some time with mknod adding the essential device nodes, referencing the "majors" file for my arch. Sure enough, on next boot it skipped right past the point it had been panicking. It worked for a bit then finally printed on the console:

Enter pathname o

Enter pathname of what? The machine appeared frozen. Nothing further printed, and it responded to no input.

I was afraid this would happen. That string is 16 characters. The 16C55x UART chips I'm using have a 16-byte buffer. The system is hung up waiting for the UART to interrupt to indicate it has finished transmitting everything in its buffer.

There's just one problem — I don't have any serial interrupts wired.

I have a confession to make. Until a few weeks ago when I got my timer working, I hadn't really worked with hardware interrupts before. So between a limited understanding of how to use them effectively and limited board space, I had omitted the interrupt signals from my 8-port serial card. This was now a Problem, and I was going to have to find a solution.

I had a few options:

Force the com driver to 8250 mode so it doesn't try to use the buffers

Use my timer interrupt to check status bits on the UARTs and fake the interrupts

Deadbug an interrupt handler onto my serial card

Respin the serial card

Option 4 would've been expensive and risked passing my deadline. I wasn't sure option 1 would even help. And option 3 would have been difficult and error-prone. I decided option 2 would be the way to go so I set about researching how to accomplish it

I spent a few hours digging through the com driver. In the process I found softintr(9), a native NetBSD software interrupt process that looked like just the thing I needed. Digging in a little deeper, I realized that the com driver was already using softintr. And then I realized all it needed to do polled mode serial ports instead of interrupt-driven was to set a single variable, sc_poll_ticks, before initializing the driver. It's such a simple thing, but it's not really documented anywhere I could find, so the only way to know it was even an option was to spend hours studying the code.

With that in place, I recompiled my kernel and tried again.

It was asking for a shell. This is promising. I accepted the default shell, /bin/sh, and waited a moment. It printed a single #.

I had a shell prompt.

I typed in the first thing that came to mind, echo "hellorld" (thanks, [Usagi]). It responded:

hellorld

and printed another # prompt.

I had a working shell.

This is a major milestone. I have a modern operating system kernel loaded and running on my homebrew computer, and I have a functional root shell. I can navigate disk directories and run commands and programs.

But only as root, and only on this one console. I have seven other serial ports I want terminals on, and I certainly don't want them all running as root.

What it's running here is single-user mode. It is just the kernel and a few core services, somewhat analogous to Safe Mode in Windows. It's a fall-back for setting up or repairing a system. It's not quite the full operating system just yet.

Getting the rest of the operating system up and running is going to be a significant task, on par with getting just the kernel running. Setting up a working Unix system from scratch is not easy. It requires a lot of detailed knowledge of the various programs and libraries and config files scattered across the disk. For a sense of scale, the AT&T Unix System V manual was over 1100 pages, plus an 800 page programmer's guide and a handful of other manuals … and that was 40 years ago. That's a lot of specialized knowledge that I don't really have.

But still, this is something I've wanted to do for years and after countless hours of work, I finally have a glimpse of what it can look like. I have a lot to learn and a lot of work to do yet, but I'm certain I can figure it out.

I'm still hoping I can get this running multi-user on all those terminals in time for VCF Southwest in June. The show is just a few weeks away and I have a lot of work to do.

[thatzombiecat]

hey hii i discovered your art today and im obsessed with it and the way you render !! can i just ask what brush(es) do you use for your rendering? ^^

Heyaa! :>

I have several technique approaches to painting stuff, but if you're most curious of my later painterly pieces, then it's mainly a flat textured brushes from the Greg Rutkowski free brushes pack!

Lately was dabbing into overpainting the stuff with EscapeMotion's Rebelle software to get some traditional paint feel, which has it's own library of unique brushes too, and they are GORGEOUS.

It's pricey and is demanding to graphic's card use, but it has a 30-day trial that you can run as a test ground if you'd like. Also it has a near 40% off in seasonal discounts, so that's a best time to grab it.

And I frequently utilize brushes and smudges from an also free-for-use Yuming Li brushes pack which is also has some natural edges which I really love. The sketch brush from this particular one is my absolute fav go-to and what I mostly use for my sketching aswell, which has an oil pastel feel.

Hope it sated your curiosity and you find it helpful❤ :> Wish you best in your creative pursuit!

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

I've got a small pile of unanswered asks, sorry for the wait! got myself busy again with other projects, like a christmas themed kids book I need to get done by thanksgiving.

I've been noticing that when my uncle has the books printed, they come out very dark and muddy, which is not great! I tried to research rgb to cmyk conversion and ran into all sorts of different advice on which profiles to use, found that most of the instructions rely on very specific art software, only to ultimately learn that many places used for printing art will just apply their own cmyk profile anyways. which can actually make the colors worse if you already converted the file yourself.

and furthermore, the problem is extra bad with these books because my uncle has been going through Amazon and they use a variety of third party printers! based on the results with the books, I'd say they're cutting costs with low quality cheap printers >:/ which means there's nothing I can actually do on my end to ensure that the illustrations accurately print with the colors I'm using.

However. I don't give up so easy. I've seen artists make all sorts of color choices just so the end results looks a specific way under specific circumstances. Like using negative colors so the image only looks "normal" when it's been inverted. or using blue and red so the image looks different based on whether it's under a red lens or a blue lens. making color illusions like that blue/black vs white/gold dress or the illusion of grey strawberries looking red when they're surrounded by cyan. I did a final project in college on the topic of color illusion, making my own example paintings.

(image description: three photos of small paintings. the first two images are solid yellow and green respectively, with neutral grey abstract shapes painted over them. because of the solid color backgrounds, however, the neutral greys appear to be slightly tinged with the compliment color of their backgrounds; blue tinged on the yellow and pink tinged on the green. the third painting shows a side by side comparison of the same pair of yellow scissor handles. on one side, they are painted bright yellow on a plain white background. on the other side, a dark purple background and more dramatic lighting still give it the appearance of being yellow scissors, but in actuality the handles are painted in shades of green and orange, blended together in some places and darkened or lightened with other colors. they simply look more yellow because of the purple background and the warm shading. end description.)

So I know a thing or two about color strategy. and I am not losing a war against low quality cheap printers, not today. I spent a while looking for cmyk color charts and palettes, testing images through an online cmyk converter, and I have finally achieved my goal. the final test will come when the book is done and sent to print. essentially, I just ran a cmyk color chart through a converter to see how it might look after being printed, then set the original and the converted version next to each other on my file. I can now use the brighter original colors but base the colors I pick on how they'll look in the printed result rather than how they look on my screen. this means the version on my screen is far more pastel than I would normally go for! but the test results so far prove the method, and I think this book will print just fine.

(image description: screenshot of the rgb and cmyk versions of the same painting, which look very small and compressed because they're thumbnail images. the rgb version looks very light and uses a lot of pastel colors and soft shading, while the cmyk version looks much darker and has more distinct shading. it depicts a family out caroling around Christmas, standing at the porch of another family who look very happy to hear the song. end description.)

by golly I am not going to let Amazon keep turning my hard work into muddied disasters. I get paid for these illustrations and I'll make them look good in print by any means available to me.

here's the colors btw if anyone else needs to use this trick:

(image description: two color charts. one is very bright and rainbow, the other is much lower contrast and dark. the colors that are the most affected are the blues and greens, while the reds and yellows are somewhat more intact. the greys have also become more brown in the second version. end description.)

just figure out what the end result needs to look like and pick the brighter color accordingly. should make the low quality print jobs look at least passingly decent! sometimes you really have to plan ahead to make things look the way you want.

[ukgk]

SSP PLUGIN RECOMMENDATIONS

Do you want to customize and expand your desktop buddy experience further? here are some handy links to miscellaneous plug-ins I’ve gathered from around the web, or you can even program your own, and they can also be written in any programming language so the possibilities are limitless! plug-ins are essentially  extensions or add-on built for SSP. I’m not a plugin developer myself, and have yet to test out each one of them for extended periods of time, so please refer to the readme files/ instructions provided by the developers (github usually has info) on how to use them if you get stuck or encounter issues.  these are just some of the more recently updated ones, I'll be (slowly) adding more to the plugin page of my blog if you're interested!

Do you want to customize and expand your desktop buddy experience further? here are some handy links to  plug-ins I’ve collected from around the web, or you can even program your own, plug-ins are essentially  extensions/add-ons or additional features for the SSP baseware.  there are a wide variety of different Ukagaka compatible plug-ins out there that this list hasn’t scratched the surface of yet, some even make it so seperate programs (Discord, music players such as WinAmp or Foobar2000, encoding software) can interact with Ukagaka.  a few newer ones require third party (free) software like VOICEVOX or API keys but the majority are designed to work with just the plain baseware (SSP) but refer to the individual readme files and instructions provided by the developers during setup.

forenote:

most of these will only have instructions/documentation in Japanese, I usually reccomend against machine translation but it’s probably no problem to get the gist of basic instructions!

I’m not a plugin developer, and have yet to test if all of these work with current versions of SSP or with all the compatible ghosts

to install a plugin, you can just drag it to your SSP window. 

if you have any suggestions for plugins that I haven’t included yet , please submit them here

Weather Station by Zicheq (of Ukagaka Dream Team)

A plugin for both users and devs, for getting weather data! As a developer, you can set your ghost up to receive weather data from this plugin, to then do what you will with! Weather based comments? Outfit changes? Something else totally unrelated? It’s up to you! This plugin will handle the messy details of the user inputting their location and gathering the weather data for you. … (read more here)

Discord Rich Presence by Ponapalt (main dev of SSP baseware)

This plugin is designed for displaying the name of the primary ghost you have open on the ‘currently playing’ status on the Discord for Windows application in real-time. also compatible with displaying your currently played song in FLUX (a music player ghost by Zi).

Wallet of Unyu

by Don

⚠️NOT A REAL CRYPTOSCAMCURRENCY⚠️

UNYU is a cryptocurrency widely circulated in the world of Ukagaka.

This wallet plugin allows you to freely deposit and withdraw UNYUcoin

anyone can freely withdraw however much UNYU they want, even if you want 500 trillion UNYU

 It isn’t encrypted. Transaction history is stored in plain text format in a save file.

plugin download

CeVIO-Talker V2 Plug-in

by Ambergon

This Plug-in was initially revealed for Day 21 of the Ukagaka Advent Calendar collaborative project in 2022. using this you can have a fully voiced ghost with a realistic sounding voicebank speak to you out loud! (in English too?)

it Requires ceVIO Creative Studio and SSP 2.6.45 (or newer) to work, ceVIO is a vocal synthesizer software commonly compared to Vocaloid and UTAU that works via text-to-speech method. the primary difference between Vocaloid and ceVIO is that ceVIO is built for both TTS/speech and creating vocals for songs in music production. you can download a demo of CeVIO if you would like to try it out here.

GhostSpeaker

by apxxxxxxe like CeVIO-Talker, this Plug-in was initially revealed for Day 17 of the Ukagaka Advent Calendar collaborative project in 2023. it’s a successor to the Bouyomi-chan plug-in and utilizes a free (Japanese) text-to-speech software called VOICEVOX and COEIROINK so that your ghost can verbalize their balloon dialogue and speak to you. you can listen to a demo in this github link.

GhostWardrobe

by apxxxxxxe dress-up is available by default on some ghosts but this also allows you to dress up your ghost (if compatible?) in different outfit coordinates, mix and match pieces and save and load the outfit combinations from the plugin menu.

CharameL plugin   by Umeici

This plugin allows you to enjoy watching ghosts directly interact and chat amongst each other freely on a built in instant messenger. like a chatroom for seeing what your ghosts chat together about when you’re out of the room.

Stamp Collection by http://navy.nm.land.to/post/

with this plug-in you can provide links and additional information about events to the user, sort of like your ghost collecting stamps on a card when exploring each booth at a virtual convention dealer alley or an easter egg hunt.

Functions: a YAYA type plugin that notifies the user of information about a stamp. Triggered at ghost startup, plugin loading/unloading, and any set timings for OnStampInfoCall to be sent. has been used for things like providing special links and custom dialogue for Ukagaka events or the Saimoe popularity contests. it worked when I tried but a lot of the images linked in the event dialogues for existing ghosts I tried couldn’t be reached without the assistance of the Internet Archive .

compatible ghosts and the shortcuts to use for them are listed here, and new ones are still being added to that list.

if you want to incorporate it into your own ghost, refer to  sample.txt.

BalloonMaker by Coderatte

a plugin tool for creating custom balloons. balloons are the speech bubbles/text boxes you’ll see ghosts use to speak.

older plugins (that I haven’t tested succesfully yet, may have compatibility issues with current versions of SSP)

BeerShower

baton/touch plugin    by Umeici

?

MicCom plugin    by Umeici

?

SSTP Clients

(not plugins but  refers to an external application that sends SSTP requests to the SSTP server)

Iria displays the operating process status on the dialogue balloon Kinoko

[amessageonthewind]

The Creation and Purpose of Porygon

Porygon was a Pokémon created in 1995 through computer programming when the Pokémon Storage System was invented on Cinnabar Island in the Cinnabar Lab, making it the very first artificial manmade Pokémon in history made entirely out of programming code.

It was designed as a prototype in order to test the concept of the Pokémon Storage System as a way to test if converting Pokémon into storable data was possible. By creating this Pokémon, it wouldn’t require testing on any existing Pokémon.

It was created, in essence, to be a ‘generic’ Pokémon, indicated by its simple identifiable geometric design in order to see which parts of a Pokémon are being accurately converted into data and back. It’s Normal-type and possesses the signature moves of Conversion (changes the user’s type to match the type of one of the user’s moves including Conversion itself, unable to copy the type of a move that already matches the user’s current types) and Conversion 2 (will randomly change the user’s or an adjacent Pokémon’s type to any type that either resists or is immune to the type of the move last used by the target, including status moves, excluding types it currently has – will fail if the Pokémon already has all types that resist the type of the last damaging move and bypasses accuracy to always hit unless the target is in a semi-invulnerable turn of a move such as Dig or Fly) in order to test if the system could preserve a Pokémon’s type and contain data to test all of them. It also possessed the Ability of Download (either raises the Attack or Special Attack by one stage depending on the foe’s current lowest defensive stat, otherwise will raise Special Attack) in order to test if Abilities could be preserved as well.

The design inspiration came from depictions of it documented in Hisui, essentially making its existence something of a Grandfather Paradox, given that they were first seen emerging from spacetime distortions.

After the invention of the Pokémon Storage System, Porygon then became useful for use in cybersecurity and software development and became popular among collectors after the fact.

Silph Co. takes credit for the creation of Porygon and became invested in its development, though for a time it became obsolete. They were interested in upgrading it to work in space for planetary devolvement reasons, so Silph Co. gave it a digital drive the likes that they would need to send across to hold in order to test the trading system and test if Pokémon could transfer while holding items as well in case they needed to send Porygon up with important items to the space stations above, surprising them with an evolution and discovering trade evolutions in the process.

Porygon2 is a result of being upgraded from the most cutting-edge technology available at the time and became the project, sporting completely rounded shapes and no sharp edges of its preevolution. Silph Co. invented the Upgrade as an evolutionary item to evolve Porygon into Porygon2 by trading it in order to further develop it for work in space software, though its inability to fly limits this ability. It can survive in the vacuum of space, but cannot move very well in zero gravity.

Unlike Porygon that has an outlined purpose that it does not deviate from, Porygon2 is far more intelligent and is capable of learning new behaviours on its own, including proprietary information, and can speak a language that only other Porygon2 can understand. It is truly a feat of artificial intelligence.

Naturally, the next step in Porygon2’s development would be the final frontier – dimensional travel. If Porygon2 was invented to assist in space travel, then the final feat would be dimensional travel. And so, development was initiated on the next project – Porygon3.

However, this project would not find success like the former. An error in the programming of the next upgrade resulted in corrupting the final form and causing it to act erratic and unstable, making it difficult to work with for research and testing and deeming the development to be labelled a failure and for development to be abandoned. The final result was then named Porygon-Z and the discs responsible for this evolution were disposed of and deemed dubious. Academics can’t seem to agree on whether Porygon-Z should be considered a true evolution of Porygon2 or not.

The Dubious Disc, as it has become known by, still sees underground circulation amongst black market collectors and underground researchers interested in further researching both Porygon-Z and revisiting the possibility of completing development on Porygon3, though no progress or breakthroughs have yet been reported at this time.

Taglist:

@earth-shaker / @little-miss-selfships / @xelyn-craft / @sarahs-malewives / @brahms-and-lances-wife

-

@ashes-of-a-yume / @cherry-bomb-ships / @kiawren / @kingofdorkville / @bugsband

If you'd like to be added/removed from my taglist, please let me know :3

[peskellence]

Pairing: RK900/Gavin Reed

Tags: Post Pacifist Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Angst, Hurt/ Comfort

Previous Chapter

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AO3 Link

Summary: In the aftermath of Detroit's android revolution, Nines grapples with the complexities of his newfound deviancy. As he seeks to establish his place in a newly transformed society, his resolve is put to the ultimate test when he is paired with Detective Gavin Reed-a notoriously volatile human with a well-established hatred for androids-to investigate a series of murders.

While initial impressions of his partner seem to suggest his reputation is well-deserved, the more time Nines spends with him, the more he is forced to challenge his judgments. As they form an unexpected bond, the RK900 is also pushed to examine truths about himself he would much rather seek to forget. (A Retelling of 'More Than Our Parts' from the POV of Nines.)

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depression/Self Destructive Behaviour, Eventual Smut

Word Count: 6.2K

Tag List: @sweeteatercat @wedonthaveawhile @gho-stychan @tentoriumcerebelli @negative-citadel @faxaway @moriahadi424 @unicorn4genocide @cptjh-arts

Detective Reed's apartment was almost indistinguishable from his dismal preconstructions. 

Initially, they struggled to even enter the home, with the man using his entire body weight to force the door open. While he slipped through the narrow gap with relative ease, Nines had much greater difficulty. His broad shoulders collided with the frame multiple times, as the bunched runner at his feet hindered his progress significantly. 

Emerging inside, the reason for their difficulty soon became apparent. The android had always failed to understand how humans could endure such unfavourable conditions. They derived no pleasure from it, yet this discomfort often stemmed from their own complacency.

It was one of the worst examples he'd seen. Already tiny, the space was dwarfed by a staggering expanse of debris and clutter. It proved as hazardous as it was disorganised, with tight tangles of electrical cords snaking across the floor. They were partially concealed beneath a layer of brown paper and packing peanuts, ready to trip anyone who crossed their path.

"Don't mind the mess," Reed said flippantly, turning towards a nearby coat rack. It was layered high with a dense pillow of clothes. He paused to assess—as if considering how to expand the load without causing a collapse. "I just moved in a few months ago. Haven't finished unpacking."

'Mess' proved a gross understatement. It didn't begin to cover the profound level of squalor the man was inhabiting. 

Despite this, he carried with him no discernable shame. If anything, he seemed proud of it—canvassing his surroundings with a contented sigh as he slipped an arm free from his jacket.

Nines struggled to maintain mental clarity in response to the confounding behaviour before reminding himself of his objectives. Studying the home in greater detail would be beneficial. Combing through the chaos in order to find personal items that could provide deeper insights into Reed's psyche. 

In spite of any lingering aversion, Nines widened the scope of his optical units and determinedly proceeded. Considering the limited space in the apartment, his partner's use of it was far from optimal. The majority of his sparse shelving was cluttered with unnecessary memorabilia: cheap trinkets from tourist attractions, as well as numerous framed photographs. 

The pictures were old, featuring the face of a much younger Reed—and a man Nines did not recognise. His facial identification software proceeded to resolve this, confirming the identity of the stranger:

> CHRISTOPHER JAMES REED

> BORN: 1ST DECEMBER 1972

> STATUS: DECEASED.

Nines failed to understand why his partner didn't discard some of his less essential possessions, given the skyline of unopened boxes towering behind them.

"I would think that a few months would have been sufficient time to unpack. I wager the delay has more to do with a lack of space."

"Yeah, well, there's that—" Any previous calculations were abandoned as Reed callously tossed his outwear at the stacked pile. "I'm still working out the logistics."

Nines considered sharing the findings of his spatial mapping, noting to Reed that there were few logistics to be calculated. However, he quickly determined the advice would be wasted, a reality the man would likely reject.

Instead, he mirrored his actions, shedding the outer layer of his Cyberlife uniform and folding it neatly in preparation for storage. It was a gesture he hoped would be received positively, demonstrating a willingness to adhere to the human's domestic customs.

The action certainly inspired a response, although not one Nines had anticipated.

With the jacket held in his grasp, he detected an elevation in Reed's core body temperature. This wasn't unusual, given the recent shift in climate. What proved peculiar, however, was an accompanying spike in heart rate and respiratory patterns.

Glancing over his shoulder, he sought to investigate further. His target didn't notice the shift, attention otherwise preoccupied by the definition of Nines' central chassis.

The detective's gaze followed a path down his undershirt, starting at the shoulder blades and continuing until it settled on the convex mould of the android's posterior. 

Rising temperature intensified—a heat which pooled in his cheeks—as his expression flitted between alarm and intrigue. He was a man at war with himself, wishing to avert his eyes but unable to pull away.

It seemed the frustration Reed felt for him stemmed from more than just contempt. Sights lingered to the point of shameless transparency, and Nines couldn't help but draw amusement from it.

Despite all claims of 'advanced cognition', the humans around him proved remarkably driven by their base urges. Reed was no exception, as lust breached walls of prejudice with shameful ease.

Turning back towards the hangers, Nines feigned obliviousness to the ogling. Positioning his coat with much greater finesse than his partner, he stored a record of the behaviour for future reference.

As he removed his shoes, placing them neatly on the stand, a flicker of light caught his eye. It was reflected from a framed poster hanging askew on the peeling surface of the adjacent wall. Depicted was a young woman lying in bed, the covers clutched tightly to her chin as wide, fearful eyes reflected the gleam of five drawn razors. They hovered in perfect alignment above her face, threatening to swipe.

A subsequent analysis was triggered as his systems sought to identify the origin of the image:

> SOURCE IDENTIFIED

> CLASSIFICATION: RECREATION OF PROMOTIONAL POSTER ASSOCIATED WITH CINEMATIC PRODUCTION

> TITLE: 'A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET'

> RELEASE YEAR: 1984

> DIRECTOR: WES CRAVEN

The image was shouldered by several of its ilk, each depicting iconic figures or scenes from their respective franchises.

"You're a fan of horror films," Nines mused, closing the diagnostic branches. "Specifically, titles from the late twentieth century."

Reed was snapped back to reality, eyes freed from their magnetic hold on the RK900's backside. He looked up, visibly flustered, as if he'd been caught in a compromising position.

Nines maintained his facade of obliviousness. Hands folded neatly behind his back, he emphasised his 'curiosity' with a subtle cranial tilt.

"...Dad loved his horror," the man ultimately replied, stiff posture relaxing as he glanced up at the posters. "Got me into it young. I'd watched most of the Nightmare movies before I started junior high."

The longer he stared, the more his features softened—until a gentle smile spread across his lips. It was unlike any expression Nines had seen him wear. Absent of his usual bravado or smugness, it revealed a genuine vulnerability.

"That hardly seems like appropriate viewing material for such a young child. Was your father aware that most of these films possess an R rating?"

Reed tensed again, sharpness returning to his eyes as they fixed on Nines with a resentful glare. 

"It didn't do me any harm; just meant I didn't grow up to be a total pussy." 

His retort was hissed through clenched teeth as though causing him physical pain. The assessment had clearly touched a nerve. One that remained profoundly sensitive—despite all the time elapsed.

Recognising his mistake, the android sought to mitigate the damage, swiftly recalibrating his approach.

> RECALIBRATION SUCCESSFUL. 

> CONVERSATIONAL ROUTE DETERMINED.

The solution came fast, much to his annoyance. It was as though RK800 was speaking to him directly, guiding his actions through their temporal channel.

> EXECUTING RECOMMENDED APPROACH. 

Reed's uncouth remark posed an immediate hurdle. Nines held his tongue, silencing the sharp retorts that crowded his thoughts. Instead, he grasped for geniality—maintaining a performative interest in the decor:

"Do you have a favourite film?" Nines asked before observing his partner closely—gauging subtle cues in his body language, keen to assess the effectiveness of their ongoing engagement.

> TARGET ESTABLISHED — 'DETECTIVE GAVIN REED'

> TRACKING RESPIRATORY AND CARDIOVASCULAR FEEDBACK... 

> ASSESSING MUSCULAR TENSION, PUPILLARY DILATION, AND FACIAL MICROEXPRESSIONS…

Reed gawked at his partner, blinking slowly as though seeking to determine if he had heard correctly. Then his jaw tightened reflexively, like an innate biological refusal to lower his defences. 

"Why do you care?"

> WARNING. 

> MUSCULAR TENSION: ELEVATED

> MICROEXPRESSION(S) IDENTIFIED: DISTRUST, DOUBT.

Reed had already detected his insincerity, a disheartening realisation for the RK900.

There was a period of despondent introspection, during which his partner appeared goaded to press on—solidifying their shift in dynamic, with Nines the one under scrutiny. 

"You don't actually care, do you?" 

In the wake of his failure, Nines almost wished that RK800 were guiding his communications. He was forced to manage the fallout whilst making a note to pursue further training in the art of social coercion.

"...I do not," he conceded, determining honesty to be the best option in mitigating the consequences of his deceit. "I believe I am trying to engage in what humans refer to as 'small talk'"

"Well, you're shit at it." 

The insult came fast and biting—without a hint of hesitation. Nines resented how quickly the human cut him down, undermining any hope for an affable dialogue.

He tried to ignore it, but the words refused to abandon him. Charging through his mind in niggling currents, relentlessly persistent. 

Nines stepped forward, and Reed instantly regretted the openness of his ridicule. Self-congratulatory titters were stifled as he glanced up at the opposing figure now looming over him.

"Through no fault of my own," Nines said sternly. "CyberLife did not provide me with an advanced social protocol. When taking part in a conversation, I learn from experience. Meaning I am only ever as adept as the partner I am engaging with."

The implications were not lost on Reed, who scowled in response. Fists tightened at his sides, although the combative gesture was undermined by a series of fraught twitches. 

Corrective measures were made to hide them, and with a steeling breath, he straightened his back—lengthening his posture as much as possible. 

The difference in their statures remained staggering, and Nines was forced to suppress a chuckle, understanding just how deeply this must have bothered his partner.

A ruthless assault on his already fragile masculinity. 

> ACCESSING FILE — 'DETECTIVE GAVIN REED' 

> UPDATE IN PROGRESS…

"Fuck you."

While disappointed the man couldn't think of a more meaningful insult, the android was far from surprised. His optic units were rolled in a tight flourish before he took a step back. The leg was swung with laborious slowness as though teasing the possibility of aborting the action. 

"Aside from showing me your lovely home, what exactly are we doing here, Detective?"

"Stick it up your ass." 

A far more riveting response. Nines was unable to show appreciation for the vivid picture created as Reed pivoted sharply on his heel.

Back turned to the android, he began pacing the room in disordered patterns, muttering nonsensically under his breath. " Where the hell … she's probably hiding because she's scared of you, tin-can."

Amusement dissipated, giving way to confusion. "...She?"

Reed ignored him, refusing to provide any clarification. Instead, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called across the room, interspersing his words with clicks of his tongue.

"Tiff, I'm home."

He was greeted with silence. After waiting a moment, Reed moved further into his home, heavy footfalls scattering litter as he charged toward an open doorway. Peering around the threshold, he swung his neck back and forth in a steady motion.

"Tiffany!" he called again, this time with increased insistence. "Come here, girl—"

His calls remained unanswered, and it appeared that Reed was losing patience with the absent individual. He retreated back into the living room, punctuating his failure with a dejected curse.

Nines found the situation odd—inconsistent with the personal data he had collected on his partner. Establishing a link with the DPD staff database, he searched for any updates or revisions that might clarify the disconnect:

> ACCESSING EXTERNAL FILE 'det_gavin_reed_3345' 

> SEEKING MATCHES — SEARCH CRITERIA 'TIFFANY.'

As he awaited the results, Nines scanned Reed's possessions again. This time, he focused on anything that seemed out of place: clothes ill-fitted to his body type or hygiene products that he certainly wasn't using on himself…

> NO MATCHES FOUND.

Then he noticed it: the large structure positioned beside the television. It was made of carpeted plywood, platforms spiralling around a column of thick, corded rope. The arrangement came complete with cartoonish animal prints adorning each side.   

> PRODUCT: LAYERED CAT TOWER — GREY — 6 FT (#CH-2984)

> DISTRIBUTOR: CLAW HAVEN PET GOODS LTD.

> RETAIL PRICE: $199.99 (46% ABOVE MARKET AVERAGE)

> DIMENSIONS: 6 ft (H) x 2.5 ft (W) x 2 ft (D)

This finding effectively resolved any logical inconsistencies. He hummed in understanding before disregarding his previous hypothesis. 

"Tiffany is your pet."

"No shit." Reed, who had dropped to his knees at some point during his search, moved to stand back up. A felt mouse impeded his efforts, the tail catching under his foot until it was brushed aside with a firm kick. "Have you not seen the cat hairs all over my clothes? So much for being a super detective."

"I was aware you have a cat; I thought for a moment that you might be cohabiting—although a review of your personnel file suggested this was unlikely."

The assessment struck another blow at the man's already bruised confidence. He pulled back, posture restored to its usual hunched slump. Nines might have called it wariness had it not been for the palpable aggression still radiating from him. 

"Oh yeah? And why is it so fuckin' unlikely?"

"Because your files indicate that you are recently single. Not to mention, the name 'Tiffany' would suggest a female-presenting individual, which would be inconsistent with your established orientation."

The human faltered, jaw flapping open and shut without any identifiable purpose. As he spoke, he did so in fragments, struggling to form a sentence. "That is—you—that is none of your business—" 

"I wouldn't have thought you'd take issue with me stating the obvious. You answered 'Homosexual' quite openly in the most recent police census."

Reed responded to the information as though it were an insult—nose wrinkled contemptuously, and he took a margined step forward, seemingly ready to strike back. 

The additional hostility proved puzzling, given the android had done nothing but state an objective fact. Perhaps he had missed some subtle nuance, a tone or gesture that would have warned of the growing aversion…

Still, now that a dialogue was open, it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity. If not to foster their 'connection', then to assess how pressing further might influence Reed's emotional state. 

Inspiration struck, and boldness manifested in a mischievous smirk which tugged at his lips.

"Not to mention…" Nines began, deliberately slowing his words, drawing them out with a husky lilt. "When in the proximity of conventionally attractive males, your physical responses are consistent with sexual arousal." 

The reaction of his partner escalated. He abandoned any advance, recoiling as if struck. Tension gripped his body; the muscles in his neck pulled taut, bulging through flushed skin.

However, beyond this surface pressure, there lingered hints of receptiveness. The marginal dilation of pupils and the nervous bobbing of his throat…

"...Why did I let you into my apartment?" he snapped, pulling himself forcefully from the grip of salacious temptation. "Go wait in the rain. I'm done with you."

"I am afraid I cannot do that," the android deadpanned. "If I leave this building, I cannot ensure that you will return to the station, and I require your assistance in reviewing our case."

"Well, shut up then. Stop being an asshole for five minutes and shut your damn mouth."

Nines had no intention of obliging, curious to see how far he could press the teasing. To observe how fast his partner might fold, omitting his principles in favour of carnal appetite… 

Then, there was a sudden shift from across the apartment, and the experiment was forgotten. The RK900 perked up, his auditory processors adjusting as he attempted to identify the source. His partner had heard it as well, as after another sound—more like a wail—a spark of familiarity passed his gaze.

"There she is. Probably stuck in the bath."

Rounding his worn leather couch, Reed approached a sealed door flanked by two stacked bookshelves. He reached for the handle before freezing mid-motion, casting a contemptuous glance across his shoulder.

"You wait here." 

"I can assure you that isn't necessary." Nines smoothly countered. "I am quite comfortable in the presence of felines." 

It was a guarantee that felt justified. 

While the recent changes to his residence meant he had not yet acquired pets, it hadn't stopped him from building a rapport with the local strays—a group of felines who would routinely visit him, drawn by the promise of food.

Lately, their visits had started to linger, with them trusting the android to attend to more intimate care requirements. Grooming and shows of affection—honours that did not extend to other residents in the building.

"It isn't about you being comfortable, genius. It's about her not freaking the fuck out."

The comment stirred a slight ripple in his confidence. While drawing an undeniable enjoyment in testing the limits of his partner's tolerance, the RK900 had no intention of extending this treatment to his pet.  

"I take it she is not particularly friendly?"

As if in response, the distressed cries grew louder from behind the door. The scratching of tiny claws followed as if the animal was trying to dig free from its confines.

Reed's jaw clenched, and his grip tightened firmly around the handle." "No, she isn't." 

Hesitancy quickly deserted Nines. It seemed clear that his partner—in all his abrasiveness and impatience—was far from the soothing presence the pet required. He felt a strong urge to observe—prepared to intervene if more effective methods were required to ease distress.

With a twist of the handle, the door swung open with a soft creak. Nines moved in step with his partner, earning a small grunt of dismay. Reed seemed aware of the android's determination to assist, regardless of invitation, and had begrudgingly resigned to it.

"Just keep your distance," he murmured gruffly, pinching the bridge of his nose, "and don't make any sudden movements. Got it?"

Already lacklustre hygiene standards deteriorated significantly upon entering the bathroom. 

There were thick layers of grime caked on all visible surfaces, suggesting the space hadn't been cleaned in a significant amount of time. Were Nines to speculate how long, he would say the event likely preceded the human's tenancy. 

The smell was repulsive, wafting around them in pungent coils. Organic matter clogging the drainage system accounted for most of it, concentrated with the greatest intensity in the open plug of the bathtub.

It was a detail the android soon overlooked in favour of the set of vibrant green eyes peering at him from across the rim. 

They were framed by a canvas of inky black fur, save for bands of white that spanned the creature's chin and nose. Her jaw widened, eclipsing the eyes as she revealed rows of sharp teeth. 

Nines was completely enchanted, unable to look away as his partner reached across and deftly scooped her up.

"Come on, wide load. You could get yourself out; you don't need to be airlifted."

Reed skillfully adjusted his hold, allowing the feline to blanket herself on his forearm. As he brushed his dominant hand across the top of her head, she responded with a series of throaty rumbles, nudging into the presses and arching back to reveal her stomach.

It was then that Nines noticed the large protrusion.

It seemed disproportionate to the feline's size and raised concerns that it might have resulted from inappropriate feeding. Frowning, he fired a biophysical analysis—examining for any health concerns and ready to scold Reed for any transgressions.

He received a concise overview of Tiffany, including her age and relevant weight and fitness metrics. Nothing proved especially concerning; however, he did encounter an unexpected detail:

> VITAL SIGNS DETECTED — MULTIPLE.  

> GESTATIONAL STAGE: THIRD TRIMESTER.

The system prompt lingered on his HUD as he quietly absorbed the information.

"... She's pregnant," he eventually said, closing the diagnostic channel. "Were you aware?"

Reed, who had appeared to revel in the distraction from their close proximity, was rudely reminded of his existence. He grimaced before seeking to return to his previous tranquillity.

Forcefully sidling past the android, he clipped his shoulder in an effort to make for the exit. "I'm aware; must've been a stray. Getting his dick wet is about to cost me a fortune in vet bills."

Nines was tempted to inform his partner of how easily this situation could've been avoided had he done his due diligence getting the feline spayed. Instead, he lingered on the broader implications of the statement, hit with a wave of excitement mingled with trepidation.

"Do you intend on keeping the babies?" 

"Hell no, I can barely afford to keep this one."

Nines felt reassured by this. While the upcoming birth was pleasant news, the idea of more animals being subjected to the current unsavoury living conditions was deeply alarming.

That said, Tiffany appeared to be coping well, given the circumstances. She was healthy and proved visibly content in Detective Reed's company—an extremely novel achievement that few could claim. 

Nines followed the man out of his bathroom and into the neighbouring kitchen. Despite his earlier insistence that his pet could move, Tiffany remained cradled in his arms for the entirety of the short journey. 

Rocked by the steady vibrations of footsteps, she nestled peacefully into the groove between her owner's chest and neck. Whiskers brushed against coarse stubble, causing Reed to flinch before he firmly corrected his posture—a silent pledge not to disturb her.

Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain this vow. As they reached their destination, he was forced to shift her aside in order to access a nearby pantry.

It did not escape the android's attention that the majority of shelves were barren, save for the central reservation, stacked to the brim with pet goods. Reed leafed through the glossy food pouches, browsing the selection until he settled on a product ambitiously advertised as 'Premium Chicken Breast in Rich Gravy.'

He pinched the pouch between his fingers and flipped it onto the counter, the contents displacing with a wet splat. "Mystery meat giblets with jelly and eyelids—bon appétit."

Despite the disparaging claim, it transpired that the heading on the packet was fairly accurate. This was determined by an internal scan of the foil, with a subsequent cross-reference of the barcode suggesting the brand was far from economical.

It seemed Reed had a habit of excessive spending as it pertained to his pet. Interesting, given his purported financial struggles and the absence of his own basic provisions.

"My scanners indicate that the meat is poultry, with some additional supplements and flavour enhancers—the balance of proteins and vitamins should provide more than adequate nutrition."

"Heh, is that so?" 

Beyond the attempted nonchalance, Reed seemed genuinely pleased with the information. After preparing Tiffany's meal and setting it on a nearby mat, he stopped momentarily to card his fingers affectionately through the back of her coat.

"Good to know that what I'm feeding her isn't total shit. She seems to like it, anyway—that's all that matters."

The human stayed that way for some time. Looking down at his pet, smiling fondly, before moving to discard the pouch in an overflowing waste receptacle. 

As Nines watched, persistent notifications flooded his HUD. At first, they focused on the litter cascading to the floor, displaced by a heavy hand. Then, attention shifted to his partner's current behaviour—elements misaligned with his interpersonal records.

> ANOMALIES DETECTED.

> ACTION REQUIRED. 

"I would surmise that she eats better than you," he continued, attempting to move past the disruption. "Her vitals are all normal, and her physical appearance suggests optimal health. You are taking excellent care of her."

> SUGGESTED ACTION: CHANGES REQUIRED TO CHARACTER FILE — 'DETECTIVE GAVIN REED'

Resigned to the fact that the prompts would persist until acknowledged, the android complied and opened the file. A descending procession of text followed, pushing past the alerts as it readied itself for review:

> DETECTIVE REED LIKES DOGS.

Irritated that such an inconsequential point would cause such a pronounced disturbance, Nines revised it nonetheless—inputting an elaboration before realising its redundancy and scrapping both in favour of a unified statement.

> DETECTIVE REED LIKES DOGS.

> DETECTIVE REED LIKES CATS.

> DETECTIVE REED LIKES ANIMALS.

With the profile updated, Nines hoped to secure some form of cognitive release—the freedom to observe Tiffany without interruptions, sharing vicariously in her contentment. No such luxury came, as the charge of data soldiered on:

> REED SHOWS COMMITMENT TO THE CARE AND WELL-BEING OF HIS PET.

> BEHAVIOUR COMES AT THE DETRIMENT OF HIS OWN PERSONAL WELL-BEING.

Nines attempted to exit the file but found himself unable to do so, no matter how many commands were sent to his processor. It remained locked in his consciousness, a branch of cognition demanding expansion:

> DETECTIVE REED DEMONSTRATES SELFLESSNESS. 

This proved a step too far for the RK900. It was a notion that verged into the obscene and one he refused to dignify, rejecting the addition as soon as it appeared. This did little to assist, as in the wake of the dismissal, his cognition looped back to the start of the strain. Seemingly just to mock him.

> DETECTIVE REED LIKES ANIMALS.

> COMMON GROUND ESTABLISHED. 

His partner, unaware of the pronounced conflict Nines was experiencing, emitted a terse snort.

"Since when are you capable of giving compliments?"

The noise broke his focus, granting the android an opportunity to escape the state of mental paralysis. He looked up at Reed, noting that he had pulled away from his pet in favour of leaning against the countertop. His hands gripped the stained granite, unperturbed by the smear of grease now coating his palms, as he awaited a response. 

"It was not intended as a compliment," Nines quickly clarified. "I was simply making an observation—" 

Then he stopped himself, the rationalisation trailing off, unfinished. It occurred to him that adopting the man's skewed narrative might simplify matters. Feeding into whatever conclusions Reed wished to draw whilst shamelessly reaping the benefits.

"Feel free to interpret it as one, though, should you wish."

Much to his vexation, the detective remained unconvinced—despite the performance being shaped by this narrative. His eyes narrowed into slits, the corners of his mouth twitching as if considering something. Whatever fleeting thought had passed was quickly discarded with a sharp click of his tongue.

"Let me guess, Connor taught you to say that? Don't pull that fake compassion bullshit on me. It won't work."

Nothing else was said on the matter as Tiffany interrupted them. Beckoning her owner's hand with an insistent mewl, unenthused by its sudden absence.

Reed rolled his eyes, but the gesture was clearly performative as he dutifully resumed his duties. This time, crouching down to reduce the proximity between himself and the animal. 

"Jeez, you're a needy bitch..." He cradled the back of her skull, targeting the junction between her ears with gentle presses. "There, head scratches—you happy now?"

Nines grimaced as sticky residue transferred onto the feline, matting her fur. It seemed he was the only one concerned by this, as Tiffany responded gleefully. Rumbled purrs reverberated in the back of her throat, and she rolled into her owner's touch, seeking further contact.

It was an action that Reed had undoubtedly performed countless times and one that also struck Nines with a sense of familiarity.

He wondered how the glossy coat might feel between his own fingertips. How the sensory input would differ from that of his dishevelled, street-bound companions…

His body ached with the need to satiate this curiosity, compelling him to mirror Reed's actions. His knees bent slowly, bringing him to the floor with precise movements. Each motion was carefully calculated to ensure he wouldn't startle the animal.

Despite his caution, Reed responded as though he had brandished a lethal weapon at her. His body tensed as he protectively manoeuvred himself between them.

"Hey, watch it— I'm not kidding around, Nines. She hates everyone. Get any closer, and you'll be android sashimi."

There was little credible threat in the warning. The RK900 was able to withstand military-grade ballistics and was entirely incapable of feeling pain. The worst outcome of an attack from a domestic cat would be the inconvenience of minor cosmetic damage.

Nonetheless, he halted. While his partner's claims could not be verified, he was reluctant to participate in any behaviours that may cause Tiffany undue stress. It seemed best to allow the pet to approach, assessing for herself that he posed no threat. 

With a swift calibration of his physical routing, Nines stood up, briskly smoothing out the creases that had formed in his uniform. "Very well."

"...Well…shit." The human whistled low, brows raised, and lips quirked in exaggerated appreciation. "You actually listened to what I said. Full of surprises today, aren't ya?"

Beneath the surface of smug teasing, there appeared to be a hint of sincerity. The man was angled towards him, his posture open and gaze locked forward. 

It spat in the face of apathy, as no measure of this behaviour could be determined false. Evidently, there was a part of the human that sought to mirror Nines' current goals—extending his own understanding of his partner.  

This curiosity served as the final piece in a rapidly assembling picture he'd created of Reed. It extended past the bounds predicted, and the RK900 sought to expand the scope further with another testing push. 

"I could say the same thing about you, Detective."

The coy smirk vanished instantly. His face shifted, features pinching in a bewildered crease. As though seeking to determine the veering turn their conversation was now taking. "...What do you mean by that?"

Reed could have easily ignored the android, attempting to steer off course, but he didn't. There was a part of him, however dormant, that had hoped for this development. 

To Nines, it seemed an opportune time to facilitate these wishes. While he lacked the skills required to promote any long-term benefits, he hoped the fleeting psychological release would prove a useful means to an end.

"In the time we have been working together, I have observed certain patterns in your behaviour…" Nines began, tone neutral—but stern enough to probe a response. "While you present yourself as hostile and uncooperative, this seems inconsistent with your underlying motivations."

"Where the hell are you going with this?"

"There must have been a reason you joined the police force. A cynic might suggest a desire for power, but I believe the reality is more compassionate."

Hands folded behind his back, the RK900 honed his gaze with ruthless focus. It was a calculated divergence from the approach of his predecessor, as it had become clear that Reed did not appreciate RK800's signature sympathies. 

The gentle intricacies were wasted on him—in favour of a disproportionate value placed on something less nuanced. An instinctive need to engage in conflict to the point he revelled in it. 

"You desire to protect those you deem vulnerable. In turn, this makes you feel more assured—powerful."

The words struck their mark flawlessly as Reed bristled in response. He then rose from his crouched position, meeting the challenge head-on." Are you fucking psychoanalysing me?"

Nines knew he couldn't back down—to show any form of weakness or hesitancy. In sticking firm to the current trajectory, he assuredly charged on:

"Whilst preoccupied with archaic views on strength and masculinity, you are a deeply sensitive person. Perhaps wounded from some unresolved trauma. This results in a great deal of insecurity for you."

"You are, aren't you?" Reed attempted to match the assurance, but his underlying resolve proved woefully unequipped to meet these demands. 

Cracks had already formed, buckling under increased pressure as his defiant posture began to stoop. Arms wrapped around his chest, a habitual motion he seemed to perform whenever he felt vulnerable. 

"Look, I've been real nice to you today, tin-can. Taken you out to lunch, put up with your shit, but this is where I draw the line—"

"I wouldn't call it psychoanalysis. I am simply assessing your physical response to specific statements and stimuli."

With Reed cornered, Nines determined it was time to deliver the final blow. Striking with precision, driving deep into the swell of his concealed chest. 

His blade came laced with a subtle mockery, ensuring the words left a sting.

"Your insecurity is unwarranted, at least concerning this aspect of yourself. While you are brash and uncouth, and your work ethic severely lacking, I hesitate to admit that you possess qualities some might consider…endearing."

His pitch shifted towards the end of the sentence, utilising a snippet of the voice sample he had collected from Officer Chen. 

Recognition sparked in his partner's eyes, mingled with a building frustration, as he realised he'd been defeated. A tense silence settled between them, leaving Nines in brief anticipation for how his partner may take the loss.

Then, the human responded—jaw clenched with such pronounced tension that he seemed in danger of shattering his teeth. "You ever going to get tired of playing games with me? I bet you think this is funny , don't you?"

The RK900 pondered on this, fully absorbing the man's expression before performing a reading to assess his own response. While there were myriad uncertainties in his capacity to feel—complexities he was still navigating—in this instance, the answer proved straightforward.  

"Perhaps."

The confirmation did little to clear the dense fog of contempt that had descended across his partner's gaze. Still, the transparency sought to inspire some secondary sentiment. Glowing embers of curiosity, not yet extinguished, cast a small glow of light through the mist.

Then Reed shook his head as though attempting to rattle the undesired thoughts from his skull. His subsequent address was stiff and insistent, tension betraying an enduring struggle as he brusquely changed the subject. 

"You know what? Break time's over; let's talk about work." The man secured a worn plastic chair from a nearby table, flopping into it clumsily. "So—what do we know about our killer so far?"

More than happy to reroute the dialogue to something more substantial, the RK900 complied with the deflection—as entertaining as the teasing had been. 

Accessing his temporal link to the DPD directory, he swiftly located the relevant case files. Once prompted, the assigned photos and text revealed themselves, circling around the perimeter of the kitchen. The ordered formation stood in stark contrast with the pronounced clutter it overlaid. 

"There have been no eyewitnesses who have come forward for either murder. Aside from what we have ascertained regarding their clothing—namely, that they were wearing a black polyester jacket at the time they murdered the MJ100—we have little to go on in terms of a physical profile."

"That's just peachy, Nines," came a sardonic reply. Reed reclined further in his seat, threatening to tip off it, "but I asked what we did know. Your signals jammed or something?"

Truthfully, there had been a delay in analytical cognition. This was not a consequence of signal disruption, however, but something more tangible. 

Tiffany had abandoned her meal in favour of sniffing curiously at his feet. Nines waited to see if she would act in hostility—the veritable flaying Reed had warned of—but no such advent occurred. Instead, she continued to circle his ankles, the relaxed positioning of her back and ears suggesting no aggression.

Reed pulled forward, his chair following the motion with a disconcerting squeak. He observed his pet with stunned bewilderment as if she'd ascended onto her hind legs and begun walking upright. 

"... Well, I'll be damned," he eventually said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Nines barely heard him, as all his energy was now focused on keeping the discussion on track. Disregarding the drive to abandon work in favour of scooping Tiffany into his arms, rewarding her geniality with well-deserved praise.

"In regards to the first case, a contact number for Thod Graws has been found in the HR400's diary—

We have been able to trace the number, as well as the SIM card, to its last known location. An outgoing call was made to the victim from a Cedars Motel approximately 12 hours before the murder. No doubt, to arrange a booking for the victim's services."

Gavin pursed his lips at the deduction before humming in muted agreement. "Might be worth asking Reception if they saw anything suspicious…" 

He then paused, catching a glimpse of something over the android's shoulder. His attention diverted fully as his lips pulled into a tight frown. "Will have to wait until tomorrow, though. You were right; we've gone well over an hour. Fowler is going to fucking lynch me."

"For what it is worth, I haven't found this experience completely abhorrent." Nines had also looked away, his attention shifting to the purring bundle of fur still rubbing against his legs. "I have enjoyed meeting Tiffany."

"You weren't kidding about being 'comfortable with felines'—I wouldn't have pegged you for an animal lover."

"My interactions with animals have been limited. However, I find that their company is often more pleasant than humans."

Reed looked back at him, his nose wrinkled, bunching the span of his nasal scarring. Then, he started to chuckle, a noise which quickly escalated into a rich laugh. 

For a moment, it was as though all contentions between them had been forgotten—something that could have easily been mistaken for camaraderie if viewed from an outside perspective.

"Yeah, well, I guess we can agree on that one."

A prompt flashed on his HUD once again, this time received with significantly more positivity by the android. Releasing that infiltration had been successful, with his partner now open to the possibility of congruity existing between them:

> COMMON GROUND ESTABLISHED. 

[randomized-sims24]

Starting Over With You (amnesiac!Rusty x Ruin/Equinox)

By some miracle, some higher being had taken pity on the amalgamation- or maybe it was sheer, dumb, blind panic that had him working faster than ever- but as soon as Charlie had left Parts and Service he was back on the cure, trying so desperately to finish it before she reached the lab. Unfortunately he didn't know how long that would take her but he couldn't think about it right now.

All that mattered was finishing the cure, fixing Rusty and-

The screen flashed with a completion notification.

Ruin stared at it, the little green letters and numbers reading "100%" and he let out a short, unbelieving laugh. He'd done it. He'd actually done it! His fingers flew across the keyboard as if he were playing a guitar or piano, and before he knew it the cure was already being uploaded into Rusty.

Ruin stepped back once the process started, as if him being too close would somehow screw it all up, and he waited. With the cure already going in Rusty Ruin finally turned to where Eclipse had been seated.

He was still catatonic, locked in place with only the faint flickering of his eyes, to indicate blinking and the slight rise and fall of his chest and shoulders, being the only indications he wasn't fully shut down yet.

Suddenly he felt something inside him, deep in his core and rooted throughout his coding. The virus inside him was stirring, trying to take control of him as it had before without much more success as it would have this time, but this time it felt a bit different. It felt like a more frantic thrashing than manipulative coercion. He could hear Eclipse groaning more too, saw him twitch slightly. The virus was trying to do...something? Override Eclipse's motor locks perhaps?

Then he felt it, like something raking through his code, and he felt the virus leaving him. In a panic he turned back to Rusty and the computer, it's progress bar already almost full. He felt the raking, the pulling getting stronger, Charlie must have begun the plan, no not now not yet not when he was so close to having Rusty back, please please please hurry up-

There was a brief flash throughout the room, and Ruin fell back, hitting his head on the way down and falling unconscious.

When he woke Eclipse was above him, the dog at his face licking him...

Ruin pushed Clippy back a bit and sat up, rubbing his head a little. "Ugh...what happened..."

"I think Charlie fixed everything."

Ruin blinked, processing the words before he shot up, nearly smack into Eclipse's face plate as he frantically scrambled to get up.

"What do you- no she can't have, I was-" Ruin paused at the terminal, looking in at Rusty. He was still, but still there.

With trembling fingers Ruin began to type away at the keyboard, running diagnostics and programs to wake him back up. The cure had been fast, but was it fast enough to work before Charlie fixed everything?

He ran every virus detection software, including the one for his virus.

He stared at the screen, the green lettering reflecting slightly off of him.

'No viruses detected'

'Cure upload: 100% complete'

Slight movement tore Ruin's attention away from the screen watching as the computer began the reboot process and Rusty began to wake, fingers twitching with the motor function test, head, eyes and voice box reacting for the same reason.

Once the testing finished Rusty properly woke and sat up, looking around and at his hands and tail and every part he could see, as if he was seeing himself again for the first time.

For Rusty, it might as well have been the first time again.

"Where...am I...?"

And then Rusty looked at him.

He'd done it.

He'd cured Rusty.

He finally had him back.

"Who are you?"

Ruin felt his system stutter and his gears jam. What kind of question was that? Surely he was joking? Then again he did just wake up from what was essentially a living nightmare so of course he'd be a little confused, and Ruin looked a little newer than the last time they'd really seen each other.

"It's me, Ruin. Eclipse. You're in Parts and Service. Not in our home though, that place is dead and gone. You...you're all better, Rusty. You're finally...I finally cured you."

Rusty tilted his head and looked confused. "Not home? What do you mean destroyed? And cured me of what?"

'Ok this is getting a bit old' Ruin thought. Rusty should know what he was on about qith the virus. For all his testing, he knew it couldn't erase memories, especially not forty or so years of them.

"Alright Rusty that's enough. Please drop the joke, it isn't particularly funny anyway."

"Dude, I'm not joking. I seriously have no idea what you mean or where I am or who you are."

Ruin frowned a bit. On one hand it wasn't like Rusty to joke about knowing him or remembering, the gator was a genius. Not nearly on his level but pretty smart.

"Hold on, let me check your system again, perhaps it didn't check everything during shut down..."

Ruin typed away on the keyboard again, running another diagnostics. After a few minutes everything came up.

"Motor functions optimal. Voice box test optimal. AI function optimal. Casing needs repairs. Memory bank-"

Ruin froze, staring at the last string of words highlighted in red.

'Memory bank corruption, hard reboot initiated. Corrupted files deleted'

Ruin's hands were trembling as he fell to his knees before the terminal, staring at the ground as his processors tried to catch up with the information.

There was no way. This was some cruel, twisted joke on him from the universe. Maybe retribution for the trillions of lives he indirectly took in his crusade to kill the Creators, even if it ultimately did as much good as it did harm.

No matter what he just couldn't have a happy ending could he?

He became vaguely aware of black oil stains appearing on the floor, feeling them drip down his face. He was crying.

First he mourned Rusty losing himself. Then he mourned the life they could have had. Now he was mourning Rusty all over again.

"Hey, uh...Ruin, was it? Everything uh, everything ok out there? You good, man?"

Ruin blinked and wiped away the tears, taking a minute to compose himself and stood, taking a deep breath to steel his nerves and turned to him.

"Everything's fine, Rusty. Don't worry about it. Everything's in working order," Ruin pressed a button to open the chamber. "Go ahead and explore if you wish. Just remember this isn't your original home. I...have a lot to explain regarding that but I don't want to overwhelm you too much just yet. For now just know there is another Montgomery here. Go ahead and have a look around, meet some new friends."

"Ok...sure you're good, Ruin?"

"I'm sure. Go on, I'll be fine."

With a final look and slight hesitation Rusty left Parts and Service. As soon as the doors shut Ruin sat against the terminal, sighing heavily and closing his eyes.

Maybe, just maybe, this was a blessing in disguise. He had a chance to start fresh, no virus to worry about, no creator or world ending problems. Well, there was still the issue of Afton, Mimic and EK but they would be dealt with.

Eclipse would make sure of it.

For now, Ruin would worry about Rusty. After a few more minutes he got up to find Rusty and check on him.

Starting over sounded nice after all.

-end-

[girlboss-enthusiast]

Please tell us how to get into IT without a degree! I have an interview for a small tech company this week and I’m going in as admin but as things expand I can bootstrap into a better role and I’d really appreciate knowing what skills are likely to be crucial for making that pivot.

Absolutely!! You'd be in a great position to switch to IT, since as an admin, you'd already have some familiarity with the systems and with the workplace in general. Moving between roles is easier in a smaller workplace, too.

So, this is a semi-brief guide to getting an entry-level position, for someone with zero IT experience. That position is almost always going to be help desk. You've probably heard a lot of shit about help desk, but I've always enjoyed it.

So, here we go! How to get into IT for beginners!

The most important thing on your resume will be

✨~🌟Certifications!!🌟~✨

Studying for certs can teach you a lot, especially if you're entirely new to the field. But they're also really important for getting interviews. Lots of jobs will require a cert or degree, and even if you have 5 years of experience doing exactly what the job description is, without one of those the ATS will shunt your resume into a black hole and neither HR or the IT manager will see it.

First, I recommend getting the CompTIA A+. This will teach you the basics of how the parts of a computer work together - hardware, software, how networking works, how operating systems work, troubleshooting skills, etc. If you don't have a specific area of IT you're interested in, this is REQUIRED. Even if you do, I suggest you get this cert just to get your foot in the door.

I recommend the CompTIA certs in general. They'll give you a good baseline and look good on your resume. I only got the A+ and the Network+, so can't speak for the other exams, but they weren't too tough.

If you're more into development or cybersecurity, check out these roadmaps. You'll still benefit from working help desk while pursuing one of those career paths.

The next most important thing is

🔥🔥Customer service & soft skills🔥🔥

Sorry about that.

I was hired for my first ever IT role on the strength of my interview. I definitely wasn't the only candidate with an A+, but I was the only one who knew how to handle customers (aka end-users). Which is, basically, be polite, make the end-user feel listened to, and don't make them feel stupid. It is ASTOUNDING how many IT people can't do that. I've worked with so many IT people who couldn't hide their scorn or impatience when dealing with non-tech-savvy coworkers.

Please note that you don't need to be a social butterfly or even that socially adept. I'm autistic and learned all my social skills by rote (I literally have flowcharts for social interactions), and I was still exceptional by IT standards.

Third thing, which is more for you than for your resume (although it helps):

🎇Do your own projects🎇

This is both the most and least important thing you can do for your IT career. Least important because this will have the smallest impact on your resume. Most important because this will help you learn (and figure out if IT is actually what you want to do).

The certs and interview might get you a job, but when it comes to doing your job well, hands-on experience is absolutely essential. Here are a few ideas for the complete beginner. Resources linked at the bottom.

Start using the command line. This is called Terminal on Mac and Linux. Use it for things as simple as navigating through file directories, opening apps, testing your connection, that kind of thing. The goal is to get used to using the command line, because you will use it professionally.

Build your own PC. This may sound really intimidating, but I swear it's easy! This is going to be cheaper than buying a prebuilt tower or gaming PC, and you'll learn a ton in the bargain.

Repair old PCs. If you don't want to or can't afford to build your own PC, look for cheap computers on Craiglist, secondhand stores, or elsewhere. I know a lot of universities will sell old technology for cheap. Try to buy a few and make a functioning computer out of parts, or just get one so you can feel comfortable working in the guts of a PC.

Learn Powershell or shell scripting. If you're comfortable with the command line already or just want to jump in the deep end, use scripts to automate tasks on your PC. I found this harder to do for myself than for work, because I mostly use my computer for web browsing. However, there are tons of projects out there for you to try!

Play around with a Raspberry Pi. These are mini-computers ranging from $15-$150+ and are great to experiment with. I've made a media server and a Pi hole (network-wide ad blocking) which were both fun and not too tough. If you're into torrenting, try making a seedbox!

Install Linux on your primary computer. I know, I know - I'm one of those people. But seriously, nothing will teach you more quickly than having to compile drivers through the command line so your Bluetooth headphones will work. Warning: this gets really annoying if you just want your computer to work. Dual-booting is advised.

If this sounds intimidating, that's totally normal. It is intimidating! You're going to have to do a ton of troubleshooting and things will almost never work properly on your first few projects. That is part of the fun!

Resources

Resources I've tried and liked are marked with an asterisk*

Professor Messor's Free A+ Training Course*

PC Building Simulator 2 (video game)

How to build a PC (video)

PC Part Picker (website)*

CompTIA A+ courses on Udemy

50 Basic Windows Commands with Examples*

Mac Terminal Commands Cheat Sheet

Powershell in a Month of Lunches (video series)

Getting Started with Linux (tutorial)* Note: this site is my favorite Linux resource, I highly recommend it.

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi Projects for Beginners

/r/ITCareerQuestions*

Ask A Manager (advice blog on workplace etiquette and more)*

Reddit is helpful for tech questions in general. I have some other resources that involve sailing the seas; feel free to DM me or send an ask I can answer privately.

Tips

DO NOT work at an MSP. That stands for Managed Service Provider, and it's basically an IT department which companies contract to provide tech services. I recommend staying away from them. It's way better to work in an IT department where the end users are your coworkers, not your customers.

DO NOT trust remote entry-level IT jobs. At entry level, part of your job is schlepping around hardware and fixing PCs. A fully-remote position will almost definitely be a call center.

DO write a cover letter. YMMV on this, but every employer I've had has mentioned my cover letter as a reason to hire me.

DO ask your employer to pay for your certs. This applies only to people who either plan to move into IT in the same company, or are already in IT but want more certs.

DO NOT work anywhere without at least one woman in the department. My litmus test is two women, actually, but YMMV. If there is no woman in the department in 2024, and the department is more than 5 people, there is a reason why no women work there.

DO have patience with yourself and keep an open mind! Maybe this is just me, but if I can't do something right the first time, or if I don't love it right away, I get very discouraged. Remember that making mistakes is part of the process, and that IT is a huge field which ranges from UX design to hardware repair. There are tons of directions to go once you've got a little experience!

Disclaimer: this is based on my experience in my area of the US. Things may be different elsewhere, esp. outside of the US.

I hope this is helpful! Let me know if you have more questions!