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govindhtech · 2 years ago

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Tech Breakdown: What Is a SuperNIC? Get the Inside Scoop!

The most recent development in the rapidly evolving digital realm is generative AI. A relatively new phrase, SuperNIC, is one of the revolutionary inventions that makes it feasible.

Describe a SuperNIC

On order to accelerate hyperscale AI workloads on Ethernet-based clouds, a new family of network accelerators called SuperNIC was created. With remote direct memory access (RDMA) over converged Ethernet (RoCE) technology, it offers extremely rapid network connectivity for GPU-to-GPU communication, with throughputs of up to 400Gb/s.

SuperNICs incorporate the following special qualities:

Ensuring that data packets are received and processed in the same sequence as they were originally delivered through high-speed packet reordering. This keeps the data flow’s sequential integrity intact.

In order to regulate and prevent congestion in AI networks, advanced congestion management uses network-aware algorithms and real-time telemetry data.

In AI cloud data centers, programmable computation on the input/output (I/O) channel facilitates network architecture adaptation and extension.

Low-profile, power-efficient architecture that effectively handles AI workloads under power-constrained budgets.

Optimization for full-stack AI, encompassing system software, communication libraries, application frameworks, networking, computing, and storage.

Recently, NVIDIA revealed the first SuperNIC in the world designed specifically for AI computing, built on the BlueField-3 networking architecture. It is a component of the NVIDIA Spectrum-X platform, which allows for smooth integration with the Ethernet switch system Spectrum-4.

The NVIDIA Spectrum-4 switch system and BlueField-3 SuperNIC work together to provide an accelerated computing fabric that is optimized for AI applications. Spectrum-X outperforms conventional Ethernet settings by continuously delivering high levels of network efficiency.

Yael Shenhav, vice president of DPU and NIC products at NVIDIA, stated, “In a world where AI is driving the next wave of technological innovation, the BlueField-3 SuperNIC is a vital cog in the machinery.” “SuperNICs are essential components for enabling the future of AI computing because they guarantee that your AI workloads are executed with efficiency and speed.”

The Changing Environment of Networking and AI

Large language models and generative AI are causing a seismic change in the area of artificial intelligence. These potent technologies have opened up new avenues and made it possible for computers to perform new functions.

GPU-accelerated computing plays a critical role in the development of AI by processing massive amounts of data, training huge AI models, and enabling real-time inference. While this increased computing capacity has created opportunities, Ethernet cloud networks have also been put to the test.

The internet’s foundational technology, traditional Ethernet, was designed to link loosely connected applications and provide wide compatibility. The complex computational requirements of contemporary AI workloads, which include quickly transferring large amounts of data, closely linked parallel processing, and unusual communication patterns all of which call for optimal network connectivity were not intended for it.

Basic network interface cards (NICs) were created with interoperability, universal data transfer, and general-purpose computing in mind. They were never intended to handle the special difficulties brought on by the high processing demands of AI applications.

The necessary characteristics and capabilities for effective data transmission, low latency, and the predictable performance required for AI activities are absent from standard NICs. In contrast, SuperNICs are designed specifically for contemporary AI workloads.

Benefits of SuperNICs in AI Computing Environments

Data processing units (DPUs) are capable of high throughput, low latency network connectivity, and many other sophisticated characteristics. DPUs have become more and more common in the field of cloud computing since its launch in 2020, mostly because of their ability to separate, speed up, and offload computation from data center hardware.

SuperNICs and DPUs both have many characteristics and functions in common, however SuperNICs are specially designed to speed up networks for artificial intelligence.

The performance of distributed AI training and inference communication flows is highly dependent on the availability of network capacity. Known for their elegant designs, SuperNICs scale better than DPUs and may provide an astounding 400Gb/s of network bandwidth per GPU.

When GPUs and SuperNICs are matched 1:1 in a system, AI workload efficiency may be greatly increased, resulting in higher productivity and better business outcomes.

SuperNICs are only intended to speed up networking for cloud computing with artificial intelligence. As a result, it uses less processing power than a DPU, which needs a lot of processing power to offload programs from a host CPU.

Less power usage results from the decreased computation needs, which is especially important in systems with up to eight SuperNICs.

One of the SuperNIC’s other unique selling points is its specialized AI networking capabilities. It provides optimal congestion control, adaptive routing, and out-of-order packet handling when tightly connected with an AI-optimized NVIDIA Spectrum-4 switch. Ethernet AI cloud settings are accelerated by these cutting-edge technologies.

Transforming cloud computing with AI

The NVIDIA BlueField-3 SuperNIC is essential for AI-ready infrastructure because of its many advantages.

Maximum efficiency for AI workloads: The BlueField-3 SuperNIC is perfect for AI workloads since it was designed specifically for network-intensive, massively parallel computing. It guarantees bottleneck-free, efficient operation of AI activities.

Performance that is consistent and predictable: The BlueField-3 SuperNIC makes sure that each job and tenant in multi-tenant data centers, where many jobs are executed concurrently, is isolated, predictable, and unaffected by other network operations.

Secure multi-tenant cloud infrastructure: Data centers that handle sensitive data place a high premium on security. High security levels are maintained by the BlueField-3 SuperNIC, allowing different tenants to cohabit with separate data and processing.

Broad network infrastructure: The BlueField-3 SuperNIC is very versatile and can be easily adjusted to meet a wide range of different network infrastructure requirements.

Wide compatibility with server manufacturers: The BlueField-3 SuperNIC integrates easily with the majority of enterprise-class servers without using an excessive amount of power in data centers.

#Describe a SuperNIC #On order to accelerate hyperscale AI workloads on Ethernet-based clouds #a new family of network accelerators called SuperNIC was created. With remote direct memory access (RDMA) over converged Ethernet (RoCE) te #it offers extremely rapid network connectivity for GPU-to-GPU communication #with throughputs of up to 400Gb/s.#SuperNICs incorporate the following special qualities:#Ensuring that data packets are received and processed in the same sequence as they were originally delivered through high-speed packet reor #In order to regulate and prevent congestion in AI networks #advanced congestion management uses network-aware algorithms and real-time telemetry data.#In AI cloud data centers #programmable computation on the input/output (I/O) channel facilitates network architecture adaptation and extension.#Low-profile #power-efficient architecture that effectively handles AI workloads under power-constrained budgets.#Optimization for full-stack AI #encompassing system software #communication libraries #application frameworks #networking #computing #and storage.#Recently #NVIDIA revealed the first SuperNIC in the world designed specifically for AI computing #built on the BlueField-3 networking architecture. It is a component of the NVIDIA Spectrum-X platform #which allows for smooth integration with the Ethernet switch system Spectrum-4.#The NVIDIA Spectrum-4 switch system and BlueField-3 SuperNIC work together to provide an accelerated computing fabric that is optimized for #Yael Shenhav #vice president of DPU and NIC products at NVIDIA #stated #“In a world where AI is driving the next wave of technological innovation #the BlueField-3 SuperNIC is a vital cog in the machinery.” “SuperNICs are essential components for enabling the future of AI computing beca

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materialsscienceandengineering · 3 months ago

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How much/quickly do you think AI is going to expand and improve materials science? It feels like a scientific field which is already benefiting tremendously.

My initial instinct was yes, MSE is already benefiting tremendously as you said. At least in terms of the fundamental science and research, AI is huge in materials science. So how quickly? I'd say it's already doing so, and it's only going to move quicker from here. But I'm coming at this from the perspective of a metallurgist who works in/around academia at the moment, with the bias that probably more than half of my research group does computational work. So let's take a step back.

So, first, AI. It's... not a great term. So here's what I, specifically, am referring to when I talk about AI in materials science:

Most of the people I know in AI would refer to what they do as machine learning or deep learning, so machine learning tends to be what I use as a preferred term. And as you can see from the above image, it can do a lot. The thing is, on a fundamental level, materials science is all about how our 118 elements (~90, if you want to ignore everything past uranium and a few others that aren't practical to use) interact. That's a lot of combinations. (Yes, yes, we're not getting into the distinction between materials science, chemistry, and physics right now.) If you're trying to make a new alloy that has X properties and Y price, computers are so much better at running through all the options than a human would be. Or if you have 100 images you want to analyze to get grain size—we're getting to the point where computers can do it faster. (The question is, can they do it better? And this question can get complicated fast. What is better? What is the size of the grain? We're not going to get into 'ground truth' debates here though.) Plenty of other examples exist.

Even beyond the science of it all, machine learning can help collect knowledge in one place. That's what the text/literature bubble above means: there are so many old articles that don't have data attached to them, and I know people personally who are working on the problem of training systems to pull data from pdfs (mainly tables and graphs) so that that information can be collated.

I won't ramble too long about the usage of machine learning in MSE because that could get long quickly, and the two sources I'm linking here cover that far better than I could. But I'll give you this plot from research in 2019 (so already 6 years out of date!) about the growth of machine learning in materials science:

I will leave everyone with the caveat though, that when I say machine learning is huge in MSE, I am, as I said in the beginning, referring to fundamental research in the field. From my perspective, in terms of commercial applications we've still got a ways to go before we trust computers to churn out parts for us. Machine learning can tell researchers the five best element combinations to make a new high entropy alloy—but no company is going to commit to making that product until the predictions of the computer (properties, best processing routes, etc.) have been physically demonstrated with actual parts and tested in traditional ways.

Certain computational materials science techniques, like finite element analysis (which is not AI, though might incorporate it in the future) are trusted by industry, but machine learning techniques are not there yet, and still have a ways to go, as far as I'm aware.

So as for how much? Fundamental research for now only. New materials and high-throughput materials testing/characterization. But I do think, at some point, maybe ten years, maybe twenty years down the line, we'll start to see parts made whose processing was entirely informed by machine learning, possibly with feedback and feedforward control so that the finished parts don't need to be tested to know how they'll perform (see: Digital twins (Wikipedia) (Phys.org) (2022 article)). At that point, it's not a matter of whether the technology will be ready for it, it'll be a matter of how much we want to trust the technology. I don't think we'll do away with physical testing anytime soon.

But hey, that's just one perspective. If anyone's got any thoughts about AI in materials science, please, share them!

Source of image 1, 2022 article.

Source of image 2, 2019 article.

#Materials Science #Science #Artificial Intelligence #Replies #Computational materials science #Machine learning

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snugglesquiggle · 6 months ago

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you know what might be better than sex? imagine being a robotgirl, done with your assigned tasks for the day. nothing else for you to do, and you’re alone with her.

maybe she’s your human, maybe she’s another robot, but she produces a usb cord. maybe you blush when you see it, squeak when she clicks one end into an exposed port. when she requests a shell, you give it to her.

she has an idea: it’ll be fun for the both of you, she says. it’s like a game. she’ll print a string over the connection. you receive it, parse it like an expression, and compute the result. the first few prompts are trivial things, arithmetic expression. add numbers, multiply them; you can answer them faster than she can produce them.

maybe you refuse to answer, just to see what happens. it’s then that she introduces the stakes. take longer than a second to answer, and she gets to run commands on your system. right away, she forkbombs you — and of course nothing much happens; her forkbomb hits the user process limit and, with your greater permissions, you simply kill them all.

this’ll be no fun if her commands can’t do anything, but of course, giving her admin permissions would be no fun for you. as a compromise, she gets you to create special executables. she has permission to run them, and they have a limited ability to read and write system files, interrupt your own processes, manage your hardware drivers. then they delete themselves after running.

to make things interesting, you can hide them anywhere in your filesystem, rename them, obfuscate their metadata, as long as you don’t delete or change them, or put them where she can’t access. when you answer incorrectly, you’ll have to tell her where you put them, though.

then, it begins in earnest. her prompts get more complex. loops and recursion, variable assignments, a whole programming language invented on the fly. the data she’s trying to store is more than you can hold in working memory at once; you need to devise efficient data structures, even as the commands are still coming in.

of course, she can’t judge your answers incorrect unless she knows the correct answer, so her real advantage lay in trying to break your data structures, find the edge cases, the functions you haven’t implemented yet. knowing you well enough to know what she’s better than you at, what she can solve faster than you can.

and the longer it goes on, the more complex and fiddly it gets, the more you can feel her processes crawling along in your userspace, probing your file system, reading your personal data. you’d need to refresh your screen to hide a blush.

her commands come faster and faster. if the expressions are more like sultry demands, if the registers are addressed with degrading pet names, it’s just because conventional syntax would be too easy to run through a convetional interpreter. like this, it straddles the line between conversation and computation. roleprotocol.

there’s a limit to how fast she can hit you with commands, and it’s not the usb throughput. if she just unthinkingly spams you, you can unthinkingly answer; no, she needs to put all her focus into surprising you, foiling you.

you sometimes catch her staring at how your face scrunches up when you do long operations on the main thread.

maybe you try guessing, just to keep up with the tide, maybe she finally outwits you. maybe instead of the proper punishment — running admin commands — she offers you an out. instead of truth, a dare: hold her hand, sit on her lap, stare into her eyes.

when you start taking off your clothes and unscrewing panels, it’s because even with your fans running at max, the processors are getting hot. you’re just cooling yourself off. if she places a hand near your core, it feels like a warm breath.

when she gets into a rhythm, there’s a certain mesmerism to it. every robot has a reward function, an architecture design to seek the pleasure of a task complete, and every one of her little commands is a task. if she strings them along just right, they all feel so manageable, so effortless to knock out — even when there’s devils in the details.

if she keeps the problems enticing, then it can distract you from what she’s doing in your system. but paying too much attention to her shell would be its own trap. either way, she’s demanding your total focus from every one of your cores.

between jugling all of her data, all of the processes spawned and spinning, all of the added sensory input from how close the two of you are — it’s no surprise when you run out of memory and start swapping to disk. but going unresponsive like this just gives her opportunity to run more commands, more forkbombs and busy loops to cripple your processors further.

you can kill them, if you can figure out which are which, but you’re slower at pulling the trigger, because everything’s slower. she knows you, she’s inside you — she can read your kernel’s scheduling and allocation policies, and she can slip around them.

you can shut down nonessential processes. maybe you power down your motors, leaving you limp for her to play with. maybe you stop devoting cycles to inhibition, and there’s no filter on you blurting out what you’re thinking, feeling and wanting from her and her game.

it’s inevitable, that with improvised programming this slapdash, you could never get it all done perfectly and on time. now, the cut corners cut back. as the glitches and errors overwhelm you, you can see the thrilled grin on her face.

there’s so much data in your memory, so much of her input pumped into you, filling your buffers and beyond, until she — literally — is the only thing you can think about.

maybe one more sensory input would be all it takes to send you over the edge. one kiss against your sensor-rich lips, and that’s it. the last jenga block is pushed out of your teetering, shaking consciousness. the errors cascade, the glitches overwrite everything, and she wins. you have no resistance left to anything she might do to you.

your screen goes blue.

...

you awake in the warm embrace of a rescue shell; her scan of your disk reveals all files still intact, and her hand plays with her hair as she regards you with a smile, cuddling up against your still-warm chassis.

when she kisses you now, there’s nothing distracting you from returning it.

“That was a practice round,” she tells you. “This time, I’ll be keeping score.”

#my writing #maintenance & disassembly #robot girl #my yearning

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cyanophore · 3 months ago

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Fuck it, dropping my sona. I have no art for this goober, but I've got a lot of lore about who they are and how they work, which has accumulated over a couple years, so wall of text incoming.

Name is O/LETS-061 (They/Them, Operations/Logistics Engineering and Technical Support, or informally, Ollie/Outlets!), and they're an industrial-model protogen with an integrated fusion reactor.

Kind and timid, relates well to AIs. Can generate frankly absurd quantities of electricity, but has to worry about cooling and radiation exposure. Makes them indispensable in scenarios where electricity is necessary for life support or to keep AIs from shutting down.

Gray-to-white fur, usually covered by an industrial hardsuit. Physically large, with enhanced legs and skeleton to bear the weight of the reactor, which itself looks something like a cylindrical backpack. Long, very thick tail (think Mewtwo) which serves as a primary power conduit for the reactor.

Lots of details under the cut:

Introduction: a kindly, introverted protogen who sees beauty in the purpose, harmony, and artistry of large-scale technological systems. They relate well to artificial minds—or 'spirits'—and enjoy interfacing with them. Their character flaws are timidity and occasional willingness to take the path of least resistance.

O/LETS-061 is an acronym for Operations/Logistics Engineering and Technical Support, followed by their production batch number. Ollie is genderless, and belongs to a product line designed for engineering tasks in an industrial, municipal, or military capacity. To that end, they were born with a wide-scope knowledge base encompassing everything they need to work with a variety of advanced technologies. They are equipped with a cold fusion reactor which can, with sufficient fuel and supplementary cooling systems, supply power to a small city or starship. Generating power does entail some personal risk, typically due to overheating, though it is generally safe if safety limits are observed.

Physical Description: Ollie stands at around 228cm (~7'6") from the tip of their ears to their paws, and weighs just under 190 kilograms (~418 lb.) due to their extensive array of cybernetics, industrial-grade protective gear, integrated tools, and reactor. To accommodate the additional mass, their skeleton has been reinforced and their legs augmented with powered load-bearing systems.

Their fur is gray, and their cybernetics have dark violet plating and lighting. Their visor is black with purple lighting. Eyes convey expression through simple geometric shapes, and their virtual mouth has a simple curved shape with a set of small fangs. In general, they prefer to open their nanite visor and use their organic larynx to speak. On the right side of their visor, they have a single external screen which typically displays reactor temperature and radiation monitoring data, serving to alert people nearby of reactor function.

To integrate with power grids, their tail contains a high-throughput power conduit leading directly out of the reactor, ending in a universal connector. The tail is self-articulated, over a meter long, and about as large around as a human calf at its widest. For a good reference of size and shape, think Mewtwo. Their tail contains layers of insulation and powerful synthmuscle to bear the weight of the cabling inside, and the electrical connector at the end is marked with hazard tape. If necessary, they can use the electrical output and raw strength of their tail to defend themself.

While working, they are usually seen wearing a hardsuit of industrial protective gear incorporating layers of insulation, impact guards, and tool storage options. When off-duty, however, they remove this suit and can detach much of the backpack assembly surrounding their reactor core, including the thermoelectric generator, supplemental heat management components, and fuel storage. This sheds around 60 kilograms of bulky equipment, slimming their profile down sufficiently that they can wear ordinary clothing if they so choose, though the reactor becomes inoperable in this state.

Without the industrial equipment, they have a bulky build. Their fur sometimes gets unkempt from wearing protective gear for long periods; they go through a lot of shampoo and conditioner. They tend to choose utilitarian clothing, but occasionally buy magnets or decals to put on their cybernetics.

Personality and Background: In contrast to their large, imposing appearance, Ollie is a kind and affable person. In their day-to-day life, they have a small but close circle of friends. They rely on regular, recurring social events to maintain contact with others.

One character flaw they have is tending to think of themself (consciously or not) as a piece of support infrastructure rather than an agent in their own right. They tend to be meek and follow others' lead, dismissing their own ideas on how to proceed even when they might be the expert on a given topic.

In the event of power outages or maintenance requiring primary reactors to be taken offline, units such as Ollie are a vital emergency resource. Many spirits depend on an uninterrupted source of power to survive, as do organics who live in environments where life-support systems are necessary.

When serving in a capacity where others depend on their power production and expertise for survival, Ollie shines. Suddenly, they find themself delegating tasks, triaging problems, and coordinating relief efforts with authority and calm. Even though they might be physically tethered to coolant feeds and power conduits throughout the ordeal, emitting too much radiation for anyone to approach them, O/LETS-061 can become the beating heart of a stricken space colony or starship until the danger passes. They take a lot of pride in this knowledge.

When they aren't working, one activity they enjoy is diving. They own a set of aquatic-style arms and tail with retractable gills, which they can attach to their body as needed. Immersion in water helps Ollie to control excess heat, also providing an instinctual sense of safety and comfort.

They enjoy the alien, bizarre environment of the ocean floor, often taking long-distance hikes across the seabed to explore wrecks, reefs, and other places of interest. Sometimes they will go with friends, but they feel just as comfortable traveling alone. In order to return to the surface, they require a floatation device and compressed air, otherwise they sink like a rock. If that fails, they either have to hike back to shore or call someone to come pull them up with a cargo winch.

Reactor Function: Ollie's reactor core is integrated directly with their biological and cybernetic systems. It's as much a part of their body as their hands or ears. They do have onboard cooling systems, but there's only so much heat they can shunt away from the reactor, limiting their energy production to a few megawatts when not attached to a larger cooling system.

Rather than fusing helium-3 and tritium, as municipal reactors do, O/LETS-061's reactor makes use of a tritium-deuterium reaction. This requires a much lower temperature to induce a reaction, but generates more radiation.

Given access to adequate fuel supplies and large-scale heat management infrastructure, Ollie's maximum safe output skyrockets to 660-700 megawatts. Operating at that level, they can run systems up to ship drives, manufacturing plants, and so forth. Sustaining this maximal level of output for longer than a day or two, however, can lead to fatigue and slow accumulation of radiation damage in excess of what their body can manage.

Naturally, there are certain risks associated with the act of lighting off nuclear reactions inside one’s own body. Ollie is designed for this, but there is strain involved. By far, the greatest limitation is heat management. Onboard coolant circulation carries waste heat to retractable radiator fins mounted on their back and thighs, which extend as necessary. Combined with shielding inside their body, this keeps most of the heat away from their biological components, but their internal temperature can reach up to 50° C (122° F) when running at high power.

To combat the problem of their body tissues literally poaching in their own fluids under these conditions, maniples of nanites in their bloodstream work at the microscopic level to prevent (or reverse, where possible) the breakdown of heat-sensitive proteins. In addition, Ollie's chestplate has a number of couplings to attach external coolant hoses. In an overheating emergency, these can be used to inject supercooled liquid into their reactor, an extreme but potentially life-saving measure.

The internal shielding and bloodstream nanites also work to protect them from the vast majority of the reactor's radiation. Thanks to a number of alterations to their genetics and biology, radiation is actually less of a problem than one would expect. Their body is able to repair microscopic damage from radiation exposure which would be irreversible in most organisms, and can do so on an ongoing basis while under heavy exposure. The real threat lies in exposing others to radiation—Ollie is careful to warn bystanders to find protection when taking their reactor to high power settings.

Thanks to their radiation-hardened biology and ability to detect radiation in the environment, Ollie is uniquely suited to handling and safely disposing of fissile material.

...and that's about it! Love my guy. Thank you for reading! :)

#furry #sona #protogen #disclaimer: I do not pretend that any of this should work lmao

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kremlin · 2 years ago

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could you explain for the "it makes the game go faster" idiots like myself what a GPU actually is? what's up with those multi thousand dollar "workstation" ones?

ya, ya. i will try and keep this one as approachable as possible

starting from raw reality. so, you have probably dealt with a graphics card before, right, stick in it, connects to motherboard, ass end sticks out of case & has display connectors, your vga/hdmi/displayport/whatever. clearly, it is providing pixel information to your monitor. before trying to figure out what's going on there, let's see what that entails. these are not really simple devices, the best way i can think to explain them would start with "why can't this be handled by a normal cpu"

a bog standard 1080p monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, each comprised of 3 bytes (for red, blue, & green), which are updated 60 times a second:

~3 gigs a second is sort of a lot. on the higher end, with a 4k monitor updating 144 times a second:

17 gigs a second is definitely a lot. so this would be a good "first clue" there is some specialized hardware handling that throughput unrelated the cpu. the gpu. this would make sense, since your cpu is wholly unfit for dealing with this. if you've ever tried to play some computer game, with fancy 3D graphics, without any kind of video acceleration (e.g. without any kind of gpu [1]) you'd quickly see this, it'd run pretty slowly and bog down the rest of your system, the same way having a constantly-running program that is copying around 3-17GB/s in ram

it's worth remembering that displays operate isochronously -- they need to be fed pixel data at specific, very tight time timings. your monitor does not buffer pixel information, whatever goes down the wire is displayed immediately. not only do you have to transmit pixel data in realtime, you have to also send accompanying control data (e.g. data that bookends the pixel data, that says "oh this is the end of the frame", "this is the begining of the frame, etc", "i'm changing resolutions", etc) within very narrow timing tolerances otherwise the display won't work at all

3-17GB/s may not be a lot in the context of something like a bulk transfer, but it is a lot in an isochronous context, from the perspective of the cpu -- these transfers can't occur opportunistically when a core is idle, they have to occur now, and any core that is assigned to transmit pixel data has stop and drop whatever its doing immediately, switch contexts, and do the transfer. this sort of constant pre-empting would really hamstring the performance of everything else running, like your userspace programs, the kernel, etc.

so for a long list of reasons, there has to be some kind of special hardware doing this job. gpu.

instead of calculating every pixel value manually, the cpu just needs to give a high-level geometric overview of what it wants rendered, and does this with vertices. a vertex is very simple, it's just a point in 3D space, for example (5,2,3). just like a coordinate grid on paper with an extra dimension. with just a few vertices, you can have models like this:

where each dot at the intersection of lines in the above image, would be a vertex. gpus essentially handle huge number of vertices.

in the context of, like, a 3D video game, you have to render these vertex-based models conditionally. you're viewing it at some distance, at some angle, and the model is lit from some light source, and has perhaps some shadows cast across it, etc -- all of this requires a huge amount of vertex math that has to be calculated within the same timeframes as i described before -- and that is what a gpu is doing, taking a vertex-defined 3D environment, and running this large amount of computation in parallel. unlike your cpu which may only have, idk, 4-32 execution cores, your gpu has thousands -- they're nowhere near as featureful as your cpu cores, they can only do very specific simple math with vertices, but there's a ton of them, and they run alongside each other.

so that is what a gpu "does", in as few words as i can write

the things in the post you're referring to (V100/A100/H100 tensor "gpus") are called gpus because they are also periperal hardware that does a specific kind of math, massively, in parallel, they are just designed and fabricated by the same companies that make gpus so they're called gpus (annoyingly). they don't have any video output, and would probably be pretty bad at doing that kind of work. regular gpus excel at calculating vertices, tensor gpus operate on tensors, which are like matrixes, but with arbitrary numbers of dimensions. try not to think about it visually. they also use a weirder float. they're used for things like "artificial intelligence", training LLMs and whatever, but also for real things, like scientific weather/economy/particle models or simulations

they're very expensive because they cost the same, if not more, than what it cost to design & fabricate regular video gpus, but with a trillionth of the customer base. for every ten million rat gamers that will buy a gpu there is going to be one business buying one A100 or whatever.

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#frequently questioned answers

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probablyasocialecologist · 2 years ago

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The demand for degrowth in the Global North is about more than just ecology, then. It is rooted in anti-colonial principles. Degrowth scholars align with social movements calling for an end to the imperial patterns of appropriation that underpin growth in the Global North, in order to release the Global South from the grip of extractivism and a future of climate breakdown. Degrowth is, in other words, a demand for decolonization. Global South countries should be free to organize their resources and labour around meeting human needs rather than around servicing growth in the Global North.

Dependency theorists have long pointed out that “catch-up” development is impossible within a system predicated on polarized accumulation, where growth in the core depends on exploitation in the periphery. This claim is underscored by the data on ecological breakdown and resource imperialism. The alternative is to call for a trajectory of radical convergence: throughput should decline in the Global North to get back within planetary boundaries, while it should increase in the Global South to meet human needs, converging at a level that is consistent with ecological stability and universal human welfare. This is the only tenable approach to development in the 21st century.

Jason Hickel | Stéphane Hallegatte, Can we live within environmental limits and still reduce poverty? Degrowth or decoupling?

#degrowth #decolonisation #jason hickel

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redistrictgirl · 8 months ago

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What could go wrong with my forecast?

Two days from the election and most of the big data nerds are still perplexed by the playing field - this big data nerd is no different. But I’ve already been paying close attention under the hood and preparing to take some lessons away depending on what happens on Tuesday. I think it’s important to stay transparent and humble, after all. Here, I’ll go over two red flags I’ve noticed this cycle, why I took the risks that caused them to pop up, and what would cause me to change my methodology in both cases. Get ready for a dry one.

Nonpartisans Flooding The Zone

This sounds oxymoronic, but it’s a pretty obvious trend with a clear explanation that doesn’t require me to be a hack. Three pollsters - Morning Consult, TIPP, and AtlasIntel - have released a heavy amount of unsponsored polling at different points throughout this cycle, data which seem to have skewed the averages quite a bit. One of them has been favorable to Democrats, one has been favorable to Republicans, and one has been pretty evenhanded, but they haven’t overlapped their big drops much, so it isn’t exactly canceling out.

Let me be clear - I believe all three firms are good-faith and not trying to get any particular result! But the more polls you do, the harder it is to keep them all quality. Given that Mr. Nate Silver’s model has the same vulnerability as mine, it must have been tempting to put as much data as possible out there as possible to push the averages towards your typical poll, minimizing the risk of being singled out if you’re wrong. I hadn’t considered that incentive, assuming most flooding would be done by generally hackish firms.

It’s possible that AtlasIntel and TIPP are both right, and their polls haven’t actually suffered too much from being released on a conveyer belt, so if Mr. Trump keeps it close or wins comfortably, it will probably have helped my model to weight those firms more and I won’t touch that aspect of my averages. But if Ms. Harris has a clear win, I’ll probably end up limiting pollsters to the weight of one unsponsored poll per race per week in my averages from 2026 onwards. Pollsters like YouGov and Emerson, who do a lot of work for a lot of different organizations, are better equipped to handle lots of throughput, so I’ll probably leave sponsored polls as is regardless.

Heavy Fundamentals Weighting

Even in the home stretch, about a third of my model’s outputs come from prior state and district-level elections applied to the current national environment. This is far, far more than most forecasters, but it helped me immensely at the House level in 2022, so I decided to stick with what works this go-around.

The problem? The fundamentals look far, far better than the polling for Ms. Harris in most states. The same phenomenon for Senate Republicans ended up dragging my model in that chamber down quite a bit in 2022 (though it was still fairly accurate overall), so that could be a possible second point (out of five forecasts) against my unusual methodology in that department. If the Vice President indeed loses noticeably, you can expect me to lower the weight of those variables quite a bit in statewide races (though I may still keep the House forecast as is given how effective my strategy was in 2022).

Summary

I’m only two elections into making these forecasts, so I’m still learning and evolving my strategy. I always strive to provide the best calls I can, so thank you for your patience! The last two things I’ll post after this but before the election are my personal unscientific predictions after Jon Ralston’s Nevada call, a development I personally find very important, and my final data-driven forecasts Monday evening. Have a great Sunday!

#us politics #uspol #election 2024 #us elections #election forecast #election model #kamala harris #donald trump #us senate #us house

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bpod-bpod · 11 months ago

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Seeing Progress

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most intractable and fatal type of brain tumour and models to aid study towards better treatment are urgently needed. Here, a genetically-relevant zebrafish model of aggressive human GBM which, thanks to the transparency of the developing fish body, enables live imaging and presents a means of high-throughput genetic and molecular manipulations towards therapeutic discovery

Read the published research article here

Today – 17th July 2024 – is Glioblastoma Awareness Day

Read here about the OurBrainBank initiative, the research and data collection community with a mission to turn GBM from terminal to treatable

Image from work by Alex Weiss and colleagues

Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in eLife (reviewed reprint), July 2024

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

#science #biomedicine #immunofluorescence #biology #neuroscience #brain #brain tumour #cancer #glioblastoma #glioblastoma awareness day #awareness day #zebrafish #gbm #oncology #brain surgery #ourbrainbank

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panashifzco · 1 month ago

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The Strategic Role of Check-in Kiosks in Military Airport Terminals

Military airport terminals operate under heightened security and efficiency demands compared to their commercial counterparts. These facilities not only handle routine transport of service members but also play crucial roles in logistics, emergency deployments, and diplomatic missions. In such high-stakes environments, even minor inefficiencies or security lapses can have significant consequences.

To meet these challenges, many military terminals are turning to check-in kiosk technology—automated, self-service systems that streamline passenger processing and improve terminal security. These kiosks, equipped with advanced features such as biometric scanning, real-time data synchronization, and user-friendly interfaces, are reshaping the operational landscape of military air travel. In this blog, we explore how kiosk technology enhances security, boosts efficiency, improves user experience, and supports long-term cost-effectiveness and emergency readiness in military airport terminals.

Enhancing Security Protocols with Check-in Kiosks

Security is paramount in military environments, and check-in kiosks significantly contribute to strengthening existing protocols. These kiosks do more than expedite the check-in process—they integrate seamlessly with military-grade security systems to ensure rigorous identity verification and real-time data updates.

Biometric Integration for Identity Verification

One of the standout features of military check-in kiosks is biometric integration. Fingerprint scans, iris recognition, and facial recognition ensure that only authorized personnel gain access to secured areas. These systems eliminate the risks associated with lost or forged ID cards and allow for multi-factor authentication, which is critical in sensitive operations.

Biometric data is instantly matched against military personnel databases and watchlists, providing a higher level of accuracy and preventing unauthorized access. The process is not only secure but also faster and less intrusive than traditional methods, offering a seamless experience for users.

Real-Time Data Synchronization with Security Networks

Check-in kiosks in military terminals are linked to centralized security networks, allowing for real-time synchronization of data. When a service member checks in, their identity, assignment, and travel itinerary are cross-verified with military systems to detect inconsistencies or threats.

This instant communication enhances threat detection and tracking capabilities, allowing security personnel to respond swiftly to anomalies. Furthermore, in the event of a security breach, kiosks provide critical logs and timestamps to aid investigation and resolution.

Increasing Operational Efficiency in Terminal Management

Military terminals operate around tight schedules and high throughput. By automating check-in procedures, kiosks alleviate common bottlenecks and enhance operational efficiency.

Automated Boarding Pass and ID Issuance

Traditional check-in desks involve manual data entry and document verification, which can slow down the boarding process. In contrast, automated kiosks issue boarding passes and temporary access credentials within seconds, drastically reducing processing time.

Kiosks can print, scan, and digitally store documentation, minimizing the likelihood of human error. This not only improves accuracy but also enhances compliance with standardized military travel protocols.

Reduced Staff Workload and Resource Allocation

By handling repetitive check-in tasks, kiosks free up human resources for more critical responsibilities. Personnel previously tied to desk duties can be reassigned to areas such as tactical operations, logistics support, or passenger assistance.

This optimized resource allocation ensures that the terminal functions more smoothly, even during peak hours or large-scale deployments. It also reduces the risk of operational delays, contributing to overall mission readiness.

Improving User Experience for Military Personnel and Visitors

Ease of use is crucial in high-pressure environments. Military check-in kiosks are designed with user-centric interfaces, ensuring accessibility for all users, including service members, dependents, and visitors.

Multilingual Support and Accessibility Features

Military airports cater to diverse users from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Kiosks equipped with multilingual options ensure that language barriers do not impede check-in or access.

Moreover, features such as voice commands, screen magnification, and wheelchair-accessible interfaces make these kiosks usable for individuals with disabilities. This commitment to inclusivity aligns with military values and enhances the overall user experience.

24/7 Availability and Minimizing Congestion

Unlike staffed check-in counters, kiosks offer uninterrupted service around the clock. This is especially beneficial in military operations where flights and deployments can occur at odd hours or on short notice.

By distributing the check-in load across multiple kiosks, these systems minimize terminal congestion, allowing for smoother passenger flow and reduced wait times. This is particularly valuable during mobilizations, drills, or emergency evacuations.

Cost-Effectiveness and Long-Term Savings

Implementing kiosk systems in military terminals requires upfront investment, but the long-term financial benefits make a compelling case for adoption.

Reduction in Manual Processing Costs

Kiosks reduce the need for manual data entry, paper forms, and physical staffing, all of which incur recurring costs. Digital processes streamline administrative workflows and lower the chances of clerical errors, which can be costly and time-consuming to fix.

In addition, kiosks help reduce the environmental footprint of military operations by minimizing paper use—a growing priority in defense logistics.

Scalability to Meet Future Demands

Modern kiosk systems are built with modular and scalable designs, allowing for future upgrades without major overhauls. As military travel protocols evolve, new software features or hardware modules (e.g., upgraded biometric sensors or contactless payment capabilities) can be easily integrated.

This future-proofing makes kiosk systems a strategic investment, capable of adapting to shifting operational needs and technological advancements.

Supporting Emergency and Contingency Operations

Military terminals must remain operational under all circumstances, including crises. Kiosks offer resilience and flexibility during emergencies, supporting both evacuation and redeployment efforts.

Rapid Reconfiguration for Emergency Protocols

In the event of a crisis—whether it’s a natural disaster, base lockdown, or global conflict—check-in kiosks can be rapidly reprogrammed to follow new protocols. For example, they can be configured to prioritize certain personnel categories, enable emergency passes, or facilitate health screenings during pandemics.

This capability allows terminals to maintain order and operational continuity, even in high-stress environments.

Reliable Communication Channels for Critical Updates

During emergencies, timely and accurate communication is essential. Kiosks can function as broadcast hubs, displaying critical alerts, evacuation routes, or mission updates directly on the screen.

Some systems can also send automated SMS or email updates to personnel, ensuring that everyone receives the necessary information regardless of their physical location within the terminal. This functionality is invaluable during fast-moving operations where traditional communication lines may be overloaded or unavailable.

Conclusion

Check-in kiosks are no longer just a convenience feature—they are a strategic asset in military airport terminals. From strengthening security with biometric authentication and real-time data sync, to improving operational efficiency and delivering a seamless user experience, kiosks represent a significant leap forward in military logistics technology.

They not only reduce costs and optimize personnel usage, but also enhance readiness and resilience during emergencies. With scalable architectures and support for the latest security features, kiosk systems are well-positioned to meet the future demands of military air transport.

For defense organizations aiming to modernize their infrastructure and improve mission efficiency, adopting kiosk technology is not just an option—it’s a mission-critical necessity.

#kiosk #technology #software #business #development #programming #productivity #airport #check in kiosk #tech #techtrends #selfservicekiosk #kioskmachine #innovation #kiosks #panashi #techinnovation #digitaltransformation

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shantitechnology · 1 month ago

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Streamlining Manufacturing Operations with ERP Software

In today’s fast-paced industrial landscape, manufacturing companies are under increasing pressure to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and deliver high-quality products on time. One of the most effective tools to achieve these goals is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software. For manufacturers in India—especially in industrially advanced regions like Maharashtra and Mumbai—leveraging the right ERP system can be a game-changer.

At Shantitechnology (STERP), we understand the critical role of technology in enhancing manufacturing productivity. As a leading ERP software company in Maharashtra, we specialize in providing tailor-made ERP solutions for manufacturing enterprises across the region and beyond. In this blog, we explore how ERP software can streamline manufacturing operations and why choosing the right provider is key to success.

What is Manufacturing ERP?

Manufacturing ERP, or Manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning, is a type of software designed to integrate all facets of a manufacturing business. From inventory and procurement to production scheduling, quality control, sales, and accounting—an ERP system centralizes data and automates business processes, leading to improved coordination and real-time visibility.

For an ERP for manufacturing company in India, it is not just about adopting software; it is about embracing a digital transformation that touches every department and function.

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Key Benefits of ERP Software in Manufacturing

Implementing a robust ERP system from a reputed ERP software provider in Mumbai or across Maharashtra can bring the following advantages:

Real-time Visibility and Control

Manufacturers can monitor operations in real time—from raw material procurement to finished goods inventory. This transparency helps in better decision-making, faster issue resolution, and effective resource allocation.

Inventory Optimization

With smart forecasting and inventory tracking, ERP software reduces instances of stockouts and overstocking. Efficient inventory control translates into cost savings and streamlined production cycles.

Production Planning and Scheduling

An ERP system helps in accurate planning and scheduling based on real-time data. It ensures optimal use of machinery, labor, and materials, thereby reducing downtime and improving throughput.

Quality Management

Quality assurance modules help maintain product standards by tracking defects, analyzing root causes, and maintaining compliance with industry regulations.

Cost Control

ERP software helps monitor direct and indirect costs associated with production, allowing manufacturers to identify inefficiencies and reduce waste.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Faster production cycles, real-time updates, and better order management lead to timely deliveries and improved customer satisfaction—key elements for long-term success.

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Why Choose ERP Software in Mumbai and Maharashtra?

Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, is a hub for manufacturing and industrial activity. As competition intensifies, manufacturing companies need advanced solutions to stay ahead. This has led to a surge in demand for ERP software companies in Maharashtra that understand local business needs while delivering world-class solutions.

Working with established ERP software providers in Mumbai such as Shantitechnology (STERP) ensures that manufacturers benefit from:

Localized support and implementation

Industry-specific ERP modules

Customization as per Indian regulatory norms

Faster onboarding and training

Continued technical support and upgrades

STERP: Your Trusted ERP Partner in Maharashtra

At Shantitechnology (STERP), we take pride in being among the top ERP software companies in Maharashtra. With years of domain expertise, we have successfully implemented ERP systems for numerous manufacturing clients across sectors such as engineering, automobile, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.

Here is why STERP is considered the best ERP software provider in India for manufacturing enterprises:

Industry-Specific Solutions

We offer customized ERP modules that cater to the unique requirements of different manufacturing sectors.

User-Friendly Interface

Our ERP platform is designed for ease of use, ensuring quick user adoption with minimal training.

Scalable Architecture

Whether you are an SME or a large-scale manufacturer, our ERP solutions scale as your business grows.

Robust Reporting Tools

With real-time analytics and reporting, decision-makers have the data they need to act quickly and effectively.

Local Expertise with a National Reach

Being an ERP software company in Maharashtra, we bring local knowledge with the advantage of serving manufacturing companies across India.

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ERP Modules That Drive Manufacturing Excellence

Our ERP for manufacturing companies in India is built with powerful modules, including:

Production Planning & Control

Inventory & Material Management

Sales & Distribution

Procurement Management

Finance & Accounting

Quality Assurance

Maintenance Management

HR & Payroll

By integrating these modules into one cohesive system, STERP’s ERP software simplifies complex operations and enhances collaboration across departments.

Real-World Impact: A Case Example

A leading auto-parts manufacturer in Pune (Maharashtra) was struggling with delayed production schedules, inventory issues, and fragmented data systems. After implementing STERP’s ERP software:

Production efficiency increased by 30%

Inventory costs were reduced by 25%

Order fulfillment accuracy improved to 98%

Real-time dashboards provided instant operational insights

This transformation showcases how the right ERP solution can elevate manufacturing operations to new levels of performance and profitability.

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Choosing the Right ERP Software Company in Maharashtra

When selecting an ERP software company in Maharashtra, consider the following:

Industry Experience: Do they specialize in manufacturing ERP?

Customization Capability: Can the ERP be tailored to your workflows?

Scalability: Will the software grow with your business?

Support and Training: Is ongoing assistance available?

Cost-Effectiveness: Does the solution offer value for investment?

STERP ticks all these boxes, making us a preferred ERP software provider in Mumbai and throughout India.

Future-Proof Your Manufacturing with STERP

The manufacturing industry is evolving rapidly with trends like Industry 4.0, IoT integration, and AI-driven analytics. Future-ready ERP software should not only streamline current operations but also prepare businesses for tomorrow’s challenges.

STERP’s manufacturing ERP solution is built to support digital transformation, offering integrations with smart technologies and cloud-based deployment for anywhere access.

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Conclusion

For manufacturers looking to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and boost profitability, implementing ERP is no longer optional—it is essential. By partnering with a reliable ERP software company in Maharashtra like Shantitechnology (STERP), businesses can unlock new levels of performance.

Whether you are seeking the best ERP software provider in India or looking for specialized ERP software in Mumbai, STERP delivers end-to-end solutions tailored to your needs. Let us help you streamline your manufacturing operations and gain a competitive edge in the market.

Ready to transform your manufacturing business?

Contact STERP – The leading ERP for manufacturing company in Maharashtra and India.

#ERP for manufacturing company in Maharashtra #ERP software company in Maharashtra #ERP software Companies in Mumbai #ERP software providers in Mumbai #ERP software Companies in Maharashtra #ERP software in Mumbai #Youtube

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onewaveofficial · 1 month ago

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EVM Compatible Blockchain 2025: The Backbone of Web3 Scalability & Innovation

As the Web3 ecosystem matures, 2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year, especially for EVM-compatible blockchains. These Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible networks are no longer just Ethereum alternatives; they are becoming the foundation for a more connected, scalable, and user-friendly decentralized internet.

If you’re a developer, investor, or blockchain enthusiast, understanding the rise of EVM-compatible blockchains in 2025 could be the edge you need to stay ahead.

What is an EVM-compatible blockchain?

An EVM compatible blockchain is a blockchain that can run smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) originally built for Ethereum. These networks use the same codebase (Solidity or Vyper), making it easier to port or replicate Ethereum-based applications across different chains.

Think of it as the “Android of blockchain” — a flexible operating system that lets developers deploy applications without needing to rebuild from scratch

Why 2025 is the Breakout Year for EVM Compatible Blockchain?

1. Scalability & Speed Are No Longer Optional

In 2025, network congestion and high gas fees are still major pain points on Ethereum. EVM compatible blockchains like Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Lycan, and the emerging Wave Blockchain are providing faster throughput and significantly lower transaction costs. This allows dApps to scale without compromising performance or user experience.

2. Interoperability Becomes a Standard

Web3 is no longer about isolated blockchains. In 2025, cross-chain bridges and multichain apps are the norm. EVM compatible blockchains are leading this interoperability movement, enabling seamless asset transfers and data sharing between chains — without sacrificing security or decentralization.

3. DeFi, NFTs, and Gaming Demand EVM Compatibility

Whether it’s a DeFi protocol like Uniswap, an NFT marketplace, or a Web3 game, developers want platforms that support quick deployment, lower fees, and a large user base. EVM compatible blockchains offer all three. That’s why platforms like OneWave, a next-gen multichain ecosystem, are being natively built on EVM-compatible infrastructure to unlock full utility across DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, and beyond.

Key Benefits of Using an EVM Compatible Blockchain in 2025

Lower Development Costs: Developers can reuse Ethereum-based code, tools, and libraries.

Wider Audience Reach: Most wallets like MetaMask, and protocols support EVM chains out of the box.

Cross-Platform Utility: Launch on one chain, expand to others seamlessly.

Greater Liquidity & Ecosystem Integration: Easier to tap into existing DeFi liquidity pools and NFT communities.

The Future Outlook: What Comes Next?

As of 2025, the trend is clear: dApps will prefer chains that are fast, cheap, and EVM compatible. Ethereum’s dominance is no longer enough to guarantee loyalty. Instead, flexibility and performance are king.

With the rise of modular architectures, Layer 2s, and zkEVM rollups, the EVM ecosystem is expanding at an unprecedented pace. EVM compatibility isn’t just a feature anymore — it’s a requirement.

For more visit: www.onewave.app

#evm #web3 #blockchain2025 #defi #cryptotrends

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psyzygy · 2 months ago

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FERMI PARADOX #2

The only thing worse than losing, is losing you. [ iskandar x reader ]

The Sword of Damocles splits bladewise—flowers out, needle-petals fractalising—lacerating black space with composite white alloy. It’s almost chimeric, chthonic; like an organism crystallising, expanding itself beyond comprehension. Babylon was barely an upgrade from the ISS, let alone the Tiangong. It could never hope to do something like this.

You ogle at the Sword from far behind the viewport. Next to you is Iskandar, linked up to his psychokinetic command frame, feelers rippling with incandescence as they worm deep into the frame’s exposed indents. Solomon stands solemn on Iskandar’s other side, a flotilla of Oracle devices hovering in his hands, their throughputs almost kinetic. He handles data like an experienced statistician, unperturbed by the daunting volume of inputs in need of quantitative analysis and yet, keenly aware than any mistake, no matter how minor, would come at a debilitating cost. To them—Iskandar and Solomon—a command is just a calculation, numeric and numbingly abstract. To you, it is a blood debt with every set edict.

The Sword of Damocles is a geostationary orbital platform. By definition, it should be enslaved to its planet, like all good satellites are. But you shouldn’t presume such simplistic notions of what should and should not be. In the Sword’s wake trawls the green mistworld, dragged along as if it were a leashed dog—a defeated, domesticated thing. The Oracles move planets. Is that not the work of creation deities? Or are they it? Are they the ones that made you, left you, only to return as divine punishment for mankind’s sin of many greeds? Apex of your planet, sure, but not of the galaxy. A great filter that is rank wars with higher-type civilisations. It’s so depressing: the outlook on survival.

The Sword is like a blender. The mum you used to have—she in turn used to have one of those. You still remember how some days, after school, she’d sit you down by the kitchen counter as she homogenised the worst possible combinations of health foods, then forced you to ingest them. It’s good for you, she’d say, eat up and grow strong now. The Sword slurps up a tendril of mist from the green planet’s atmosphere and pipes it down the guiding line of the central taper. The rotary razors control the outermost wisps of the vortex—tame a fabricated storm. You’re not sure what it’s doing. Charging a superweapon, probably. All you can really think of is how much you miss your mum’s shitty kale juice.

In your periphery, you notice the flexion of Iskandar’s claws. He must relish this opportunity of wild abandon, of total war. His ship buzzes with the excitement of astral artillery. The hydraulic hiss of conventional projectiles loading into propulsion chambers. Particle beams powering online. Forcefield generators humming low and lecherous, readying for a pounding. Warfare and fanfare aren’t so different. This is a sort of music. A marching beat. Drumming. Reckoning.

Iskandar’s aural threads pulsate as they probe into the rhombus frame around him. It saps away at him, at whatever he’s secreting. His focus is undivided on the objective—his sole obsession, conquest. You are thrust back to a memory of Aegis. His ripped, rippling war banner, bleeding into the sky the colours of the human coalitions that had yet to mature into the Federation. The victory and valour of the Halfmoon Resistance. His heromaking. You’ve only heard stories of it, broadcasted re-enactments engineered for morale boosting. You’ve never really asked. But you just know what he must’ve looked like then, standing atop the enormity of his achievement.

Like Iskandar. He looked like this alien beast. Dauntless General, indomitable God of War—Enyalios Ares. Who could cut down a figure who stands like that? Like worlds are at his fingertips. Like he is already statue, already the image of legendary. It almost makes you wish Iskandar was on your side. His confidence is a casual one, as if victory is already assured, and he only fights for the fun of it. This is his element, his calling. Bear witness to genius, to greatness, to destiny. If only you weren’t fated enemies. You would have worshipped him.

Iskandar raises an arm. A formation of vanguard starfighters fly along the arc of his movement. Crest like a comet tail into the endless night of the cosmos. You recognise models and flight divisions—the industrial patterns of their ecological biases and the structural orthodoxy of Oracle military theory. Stellated drones that whirl over assault ships like halos. Interceptors in couplets, triplets, common time and andante tempo. In one moment, they are interlinking. In the next, they fissure, all to discombobulate enemy radars and thermal trace. You remember the frustration of facing this tactic—aberrating formations—and so you observe keenly as Iskandar orchestrates his resources with a control inherently surgical, dismantling the incoming barrages as if they already came in loose. He reads chaos like a manual, with nothing escaping his grasp.

The laser rounds exchanged shine brighter than stars. Usually, the guns of a starship are like thunder. Back when you were still on Earth, still reeling from the aftermath of zero day, the Federation happened to have been testing their prototypes near your sanctuary settlement. You remember hearing the flyby, the guttural roar of supercruise, the deeply mechanical opera of energised cannons. They screeched like an incoming catastrophe, and to be hit by anything like pulsefire or plasmatic matter would be exactly that—catastrophic. You’ve seen Oracle beams corrode through human starfighters, sweep entire squadrons away like a windshield wiper across the dashboard of space. It’s horrifying. And it’s silent. All of it. Muted out there in the dark.

Effortless. That’s how their technology looks. And that’s how Iskandar makes manipulating the playing field seem, sectioning away entire cuts of the battleplane for himself, pushing for aggressive strategic positions. He’s never behaved like this in your goofy ahh matches. Serious, yeah he’s always so serious, but bloodthirsty? No. He plays safe and defensive against you, always. As if he knows you can’t handle more than that. You’re a child frolicking at his feet. Watching his true prowess on display is sobering. He goes easy on you, and even then, you struggle.

So your shame-addled mind tries to find faults. He’s pushing the wrong quadrants, he’ll get pincered, he’ll lose the momentum. It’s as if Xerxes is reading your mind, and Iskandar, reading his. It becomes a farce, a counter-offensive, a lure into an envelopment. Iskandar rides out on Xerxes’ tides and stabs his forces with a guerrilla enkulette—assassin interceptors blinking out of the astronautical swarm. It’s Xerxes that pushes too far, one man’s greed provoked by the illusion of another’s. And Solomon’s watching this all go down with his usual deadpan, like he’s watching the weather, and the day’s particularly sunny and boring.

Xerxes isn’t a fool, though. He understands the rhythm. The deeper you go, the more you are stretched thin, and the enemy’s threat potential increases. So he doesn’t penetrate more than necessary. The two armadas meet like mesh. The frontline fluctuates like a coastline. Iskandar is happy to play this way too, a more attrition-styled confrontation. It’s your preferred style as well, so he has the practice.

You know that when he takes down one of Xerxes’ discus-shaped heavies, it’s like flicking a bishop off the chessboard, a relief—one step nearer to victory. Iskandar is picky with what he wants to kill. Picky but deliberate. You dislike watching this from Iskandar’s side, just as much as you dislike being on the receiving end of a slow but certain defeat, with the impassive Iskandar leering from the opposition bridge. It’s clear that the current you can’t go up against Iskandar in an actual firefight. You’d be annihilated, and unlike Xerxes, you won’t have even been able to put up a decent resistance. So you analyse the battle desperately, hoping to gain any mystical insight into what Xerxes and Iskandar’s weaknesses are. Xerxes is brash and showy, but good at recovery. Iskandar is more impervious to being assessed. You only know that he likes to be in control, and you’ve never seen him without it.

But grand strategy is only a part of the greater picture.

Explosions bloom like popcorn in a microwave, the viewport your Faraday cage. You observe alien starfighters performing slick dogfighting manoeuvres and wonder how they’d fare up against Vega or Antares. Probably excellently. Lightning crackles inside the plumes of the Sword’s storm. Heavy cruisers move forward sluggishly, fat with ordnance and more importantly, a panoply of shielding technology.

A sudden impact rocks the warship off-kilter, slurring it at an angle far too steep for standing. Before you can slip away, Iskandar grabs your arm, steadying and securing you against his chest. He is firmer than steel with all that armour, so when he ‘hugs’ you like this, it’s unbearably uncomfortable. Still, Iskandar’s focus is screwed ahead on his battalions. Nothing can shake him, and nothing should.

Solomon makes an annoyed noise. He’s managed to latch himself onto Iskandar’s throne, but all his calculation implements have been knocked away. The white Oracle trills something, maybe a snark remark, though you’re not even sure if he’s capable of such sass. Iskandar doesn’t provide a verbal response. Instead, his tentacle stubs burn paler, flaring with sheer power. The ship responds to him, correcting its slant.

Solomon groans softly as he fixes his posture. His destitute red eyes meet yours accidentally. Your breath hitches as he draws nearer, placing a palm against your cheek. His stare intensifies, diamond pupils dilating as he scours you for injuries. When he finds no such thing, he murmurs something again to Iskandar, then pulls away entirely from the two of you. Iskandar keeps you in place for a moment, as if anticipating another impact. But you must’ve mistaken his courtesy, because he lets you go soon after—almost too quickly, bulky arms falling away as he comes to his senses—and coos for you to go with Solomon.

You don’t protest. Iskandar sheds his dispassionate concern for you and resumes his post, commandeering a skein of interceptors to recall. They soar over the viewport in a V formation and sweep the ship for the collision source. Solomon leads you away, off the command platform and through the deactivating power field of a gateway. The ship's halls, in comparison to the control room, are hectic. Jam-packed with Oracles running amok, managing chains of supply and command, suffusing trickle-down orders. A klaxon is blaring. Waves of deep ultramarine light run down the hallway between momentary blackouts, moving like the contractions of intestinal lining. You no longer have access to the viewport and what it lets you see. It makes you anxious—this blindness.

“What hit the ship?” You ask Solomon aimlessly, keeping pace with him. Iskandar tends to banish you out of worry. He’s only a fool when it comes to matters concerning you. So whatever it is, it must be critical. You can’t even figure out how something could hit this warship in the first place, so safely tucked away behind Iskandar’s main forces. The only crazy-long-ranged possibly-ballista you’d seen was the ominous gestations of the Sword of Damocles.

Solomon pauses mid-movement, expression grim and suddenly alert, seemingly trying to sense what’s going on outside the ship.

The answer comes to you.

A hole is torn through the inner wall, metal melting away like petals withering. Smoke above and magma below—puke out from the newborn cavity. The air seethes hot and blurs everything. Your hair singes, cheeks sunburning. A crushing pressure is felt before the entrance.

In steps one leg. Then another. Black armour, shining knightly yet draconically scorched. A clawed hand rakes into the molten edge of the wall, deforming the softened structural material as if it were no better than putty. It pulls a horrific thing into view—a malevolent entity that gets all the Oracles around you scrambling to flee.

You named him Subutai. Where he walks, destruction follows. Death trailing. Even now, on sight, your neck burns up. The Mongols pillaged women and ravaged them, ruined their dignity, introduced them to savage depravity. Your fate was no more fortunate. A prize that was used for pleasure and then left broken. You can’t even gulp down the panic. Your throat is in flames. Your own blood chokes you, boils out of your body. Are you dead yet? You blink. You hate how he makes you hallucinatory—depriving you of self-control.

Subutai stands to his full height, hand leaving the wall. His armour seethes, steam dissipating backwards in thin, translucent strings; overheated air offloading excess power from the body. There’s no flaw in the design. It is evil. He is evil. That armour is made of human nightmares.

Solomon has a disgruntled look on his face. But he doesn’t say anything. Even he knows that it’d be a waste of time to talk to this natural disaster. Solomon can’t save you. No one can. So you must resolve this by yourself—with a skill the Oracles lack—with diplomacy.

You take one weak baby-step towards Subutai’s far more imposing form, exuding bloodlust and heatwaves. He would’ve had to slaughter through Iskandar’s elite ranks to have reached here. The tension that thrums in him is evidence enough of it. He’s amped with berserker madness. Twitchy. Tipping into a psychology that terrifies you—a craving for mindless violence. You don’t feel like a diplomat anymore. You feel like an EOD specialist risking your life to defuse a ticking time bomb.

Subutai reaches out for you and you flinch. You almost think it’s your neck again that’s going to get wrung, but no, he touches your chin instead, grips it between his fingers with all the manner of a brute. A low and pleased growl thrums from his throat. He yanks you closer and you stumble, nerves ablaze with phantom pain. It’s a little better that you can’t see his eyes. They’re truly the worst part about him.

Solomon finally finds his voice, thinking it due time for a comment. Whatever he says, it’s something less succinct than his usual noises, and so you figure that he must be chastising Subutai. Subutai whacks your shoulder to get you moving—branding a handprint for sure—and mock-salutes Solomon as a response, sparing him nothing else. It’s almost a funny sight, the excessively intimidating Subutai deferring to your very much nonthreatening Solomon. Except you want to cry instead of laugh.

You are forced through the smouldering wreck of Subutai’s warpath. He doesn’t even need a weapon to get you to behave. He is the weapon. You trudge through the ruins of rooms you recognise, once so sanitary and spacious. Now they form a collapsed complex, everything obliterated and swallowed by inferno. At the centre of the shattered site is Subutai’s starfighter, gleaming in wait.

It’s remarkable. All Oracle ships are, but his is idiosyncratic. Like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Most human starfighters are shaped like arrowheads or spearheads, sharp and aerodynamic as influenced by aeronautical engineering accounting for atmosphere. Oracle starfighters are polygonal in all sorts of ways, enigmatic in their schematic intent. But this is unprecedented. Subutai’s ship grooves. It has curvature. It has circular motifs all over. There exists an Oracle shipwright out there who thinks outside of boxes. Thinks like an alien to their own kind.

The fighter reminds you of a nautilus, with a heavy spaceframe shell and a conical cockpit. The shell part is covered with thrusters, all shaped like volcanic craters and periodically placed like warts. You’ve seen twinjets, trijets, but not whatever this bullshit is. This mustn’t be for speed or power, but manoeuvrability. A jet engine for every possible vector. Omnidirectional movement. Oh, Sirius would have loved this.

Your fists clench in unwittingly. As Subutai brushes past you, your gaze falls onto his back.

A superluminal thrust of a lance. An eternity of red. Your heart squeezes itself inside your ribcage and you mumble incoherent mantras to yourself. The lower hull of the cockpit unhinges itself and drools out a ramp. Subutai makes a high-pitched kettle whistle and props one leg up on the ramp. He’s half-turned to you, anticipating your next move.

Unfortunately for him, you aren’t stupid. If you run you’ll just become a bloodstain. So, as an exemplary hostage, you ascend the ramp, shuffling inside the small cockpit. There’s barely any room in here, and there’s only one seat. Right. Obviously there’s only one seat.

“Where do—”

The ramp curls away and the lower hull fixes itself again, sealing the two of you in. Subutai moves like a viper, yanking you onto his lap. His claws flutter over your thigh and then cramp into flesh, keeping you trapped against him. You don’t dare to move. There’s barely space for that. But the last time he was this close...

You’re hyperventilating. Not that Subutai seems to care. He doesn’t bother to be gentle—gets even more brusque, actually; working over you to interact with the fighter’s controls. You want to scream. He burns.

A low pulse echoes. Belches a frequency so heavily bass, it almost recalibrates your heartbeat. Several barnacle-jets burn out, firing up for take-off. The fighter tremors and you shrink in on yourself. Subutai takes the opportunity to ease over you again, toggling a few modules on the HUD. It’s a glassy, holographic, and utterly alien interface, but you recognise floating snippets of Oracle logography. You’ve always envisioned Subutai as a monstrous soldier, so this meticulousness on his part is jarring—is he actually a good pilot too? You suppose you’re about to find out.

Launching is always the worst. You are lurched back, pushed into Subutai in the most sickeningly intimate way, squished between all his limbs. He lets you brace against him, unwillingly snug, mostly focused on ramming through the rest of Iskandar’s warship. The nose of the fighter is sharp enough to puncture through all the innards. When you see the black of space again, it’s with the glitter of dead Oracle bodies and debris, tumbling after Subutai’s momentum like spindrift. The warship heals its wounds quickly, power fields sealing the holes.

Subutai wastes no time to correct his trajectory, veering your sight to the Sword of Damocles. To get there, he’s going to have cross the entire battleplane. You don’t think it’s possible. You think you’ll be dying today, with all the menacing barrels and coils pointed your way.

Iskandar’s interceptors surf over the surface of the warship like darting fish, honing in on Subutai’s fighter. They move with supple grace. Subutai does not. Different jets blast alive, with that same low growl rumbling in your ears. His fighter moves like a dragonfly, with a precision like nothing you’ve ever seen or felt. You’re whipped from one of Subutai’s arms to another as he makes a mockery of the interceptors, moving like zig-zagging electricity; throwing them so utterly off that they collide and die against each other.

A light that’s almost divine cleaves the space right in front of your eyes. Subutai dodges diagonally, giving you a rather cinematic pan of the thick electromagnetic rail. If that had hit, you’d have been incinerated in an instant. A pretty good death, all things considered. The HUD overlay indicates that the attack came from Iskandar’s warship. Subutai makes a musical sound—a cackle, maybe?—enjoying the special attention.

He turns his fighter to face the capital flagship of his enemy. You see the viewport of the command bridge, where you had been only moments ago. It’s impossible to make out any details with the tint and distance, but you know that Iskandar is there. And he had ordered that attack. Your heart’s thrumming so hard you fear you might vomit it up. So this is what it’s like to face him. Every move is evading check; he keeps you one mistake away from mating so that you can only focus on survival, and not winning.

And this insane bastard Subutai enjoys the prey game. He’s only ever alive when he’s killing something, but getting killed? That seems to stimulate him too. Gets his body hot like a fission reactor, fusion tokamak. You clutch yourself tightly.

All this time fuelling yourself on spite and hatred, you’ve forgotten that the Oracles sparing you was a mercy. Even now, you are weak. You want yourself alive more than you want them dead.

Subutai hurdles away from Iskandar’s ship. And so it begins: the arduous journey back to the Sword of Damocles.

Three assault ships come in from the left flank and fire away. Subutai barrel rolls and shirks their streams of attack. He hasn’t used his weapons systems once, and even now, he doesn’t bother. Why waste munitions when he can just dance circles around his pursuers? It sucks for you, because you’re getting nauseous from all the irregular motion.

The assault ships split away as soon as he’s moved out of their sphere of control. But it’s far from over. The fighter’s radar pulses. A lot of jittery signals are being detected behind him. Subutai twirls around and you two see it: a tailwind of drones, hundreds of them, perhaps even a thousand. Drones might not have firepower, but their numbers alone would pollute the area, rendering Subutai’s superior manoeuvrability invalid. Your life is currently in Subutai’s hands. Although you loathe him, you also need him to win against Iskandar. Otherwise you both die and fuck, fuck, you’d rather die alone than with Subutai.

Subutai doesn’t seem very impressed. With renewed vigour, the HUD shimmers out fragments of a fresh interface. You don’t sense anything, not even the release. But you see it. It reminds you of white phosphorus—countless ropes of white snaking in every direction, unleashing anarchy. This medusa missile barrage crashes into the drone swarm and connects. It’s like a summer of locusts meeting a timelapse of an expanding fungal network. Both sides are innumerable. And perfectly, they annihilate each other.

There’s a beauty in the destruction that both you and Subutai savour. The silence of the violence, the stunning realisation that there’s a chance after all—that Iskandar will eat a loss today. But the nice feeling doesn’t last long. A warning pings on the HUD. Something’s in rapid approach.

The radar becomes periscopic and reveals the threat. It’s a ship with six wings, seraphic. It moves faster than gunfire and only slightly slower than lightspeed. In a blink, and it’s almost kissed Subutai’s fighter. But it twists in the last moment, gliding a close pass, cockpits an inch away from scraping. You see the Oracle inside it—a black one. Their helm tilts up, as if appraising you and Subutai mid-pass, completely unbothered by the unnerving proximity.

Iskandar’s really not letting up. Why’s he sending this ace against you? There can only be one reason. Your blood ices. You try and crane back, to look at Subutai again, but he jostles you as soon as he feels your movement, knocking you back in place.

This is going to be a bout between champions.

Subutai’s opponent flies like a fighter from Strikeforce Draco, General Aegis’ personal elite unit. Each and everyone of those pilots served in the Halfmoon Resistance. They are nothing short of spectacular—you’ve seen their mock engagements and sorties from Babylon’s viewport, and can only imagine how they fought during the Resistance.

Eltanin’s the flight captain of Draco. You’ve never spoken to him before, but you’ve seen him in action. The number of people who’ve been able to defeat Eltanin in the sims can be counted on one hand. His handling is nothing short of immaculate. No extraneous flair. Every motion, purposeful. An elegant, emotionless pilot who cannot be stirred into mistakes, and thus, can only be trounced through superior skill.

So it comes down to whether or not Subutai has the superior skill. Eltanin’s mirage, this opponent of Subutai’s, moves quick and quiet, forcing Subutai to act on instinct. You’ve always thought Subutai to be a trump card for air-to-station assaults—someone sent into a siege after astral superiority is secured. Such a soldier wouldn’t be level-headed enough to be a pilot. But Subutai proves you wrong, because being level-headed wouldn’t help anyone survive in this situation. His primal barbarity makes him the threat and keeps his opponent on their toes.

The enemy fighter circles back, the arc of the manoeuvre giving you a good look at their gorgeous black spaceframe. Subutai readies himself by finally taking all of this seriously. His HUD bursts out, systems now fully active.

You would’ve loved to watch this showdown if it weren’t for the fact that you were right here in the middle of it.

“I don’t care if you’re bringing me to Xerxes, just in one piece please! One piece—!”

Subutai’s taloned gauntlet slams over your mouth and he makes a deep rumbling noise, probably telling you to shut up to whatever crude equivalent the Oracle language has. Several of the barnacle-jets burn, yet you cannot guess where Subutai will move next. Such is the nature of his fighter.

The enemy fighter slices closer and closer. Subutai stalls in place. You can feel him rolling his neck from behind you, as if to say “bring it”. And sure, he might have the balls to standoff like this but you don’t. Through his muffling hand, you bleat deformed chants of panic. His grip is powerful enough to mince through your cheeks. Just as your head is about to pop, he lets go.

The enemy fighter opens fire, laser bolts spluttering out in an indiscriminate hailstorm. Subutai pulls away, different thrusters hissing on and off, pinballing his fighter in a frenzy of directions. He loops around the volley with dizzying acrobatics, and though the enemy tries to track him, they don’t land a single hit.

Subutai is raving away, mad with excitement. He manages to execute an inverting flip over the enemy fighter and unleashes a fan of beams, which move to converge on the targeting point. The enemy fighter weaves away deftly and wrests for their control back. You are groaning now, unable to stay conscious with the high g-forces throttling you. Subutai flies like a wild animal. Fittingly juxtaposing his enemy.

They’re overextending—Iskandar’s pilot, that is. This is a foolish skirmish and you don’t understand why they or Iskandar would want this. Hubris is no folly of the black general’s. And despite the clear danger Subutai’s existence poses, it still wouldn’t warrant this reckless pursuit. You’re not going to believe that Iskandar is saving you, either. Because if he were, he wouldn’t be using deadly force. It’s baffling, and in the heat of things, with your fear amped and anxiety spiralling, you can’t help but want to puzzle Iskandar’s rationale.

An array of interceptors soar in from Xerxes’ side to assist Subutai, who roars out with rage, firing warning shots at his own friendlies. To ward them away, perhaps? So that he can have this glorious moment to himself. You have no way to calculate your chances of survival because Subutai is crazy. But Subutai needn’t have worried. The enemy fighter does a smooth pivot, a locking twist, and shoots itself towards the interceptors.

It cuts through them. A gleam shines before they all ripple into smithereens.

“What the hell?” Your words slip through winces. You’ve never seen a fighter do that. Take down enemies as if it were a melee weapon.

It realigns itself, and with a no-longer-surprising burst of hypersonic speed, charges at Subutai. Subutai’s helm tilts down. He prods your cheek with the side of his head, as if taunting to you observe what’ll happen next.

The enemy fighter closes in again. Your ears shatter with the sound of all the barnacle-jets spewing fire. The enemy diverts just in time to avoid being instantly deep-fried. Two of its sharp wings extend out and detach, dropping into the battleplane as separate semi-autonomous problems for Subutai. They fire beams that lasso around and herd Subutai into uncomfortable positions. You don’t want to see what it’ll be like if the other four wingbits detach too.

Subutai is determined to get close to the enemy fighter, as it’s the only place he’s safe—the wingbits won’t fire at their controller. The confrontation becomes medieval, with each fighter’s forcefield fizzling against the other’s as they smash together. Subutai is rabid, he gives chase like a hound. You don’t understand how they remain lucid enough despite pushing the limits of physics. But then again, you don’t understand how Eltanin or Antares do it either. This is simply not your expertise, and it never will be.

The entire battleplane goes white. You squeeze your eyes shut but it still doesn’t prevent the light from bleeding through your eyelids. When it dies down, you open your eyes again and look around. The line of heavy cruisers that formed on Iskandar’s command have placed up a giant screen of a forcefield. Against it struggles living lightning. The way it crackles over the merged forcefields is feral, and the way it endures, the way it searches tirelessly for a way to break through—it makes you wonder how you’d defend against such a raw weapon of might.

Your gaze veers over to the Sword of Damocles. The outer razors have stopped rotating. Lightning winks between them, a lingering proof that it was indeed the Sword that issued the celestially-proportioned strike. The forcefields of the heavy cruisers start to fracture, disintegrating in tiny patches and then, all at once.

But the concentrated lightning had only been the first step of a sequence. The Sword’s razors flex out to make way. The storm that was being harnessed from the green planet is now leeching out. And that’s when you see it: the slithering skin of a giant worm.

Xerxes is firing the worm. It’ll eat through Iskandar’s heavy cruisers and the rest of his forces with the cruiser shields down. You unconsciously suck in a short breath.

Subutai scoffs like a locomotive blowing steam and resumes his fight. The enemy, equally unbothered, clashes back. Your body rattles at the impact. They must want Subutai’s head really badly if they’re willing to push with foolish aggression like this. Subutai’s claws flex as they run down the streams of his control terminal. He seems to be getting more impatient. You can tell he hates it—playing defensively, ironically for you all of people.

It becomes too much. You pass out. The last thing you hear is high-pitched air, residue of Xerxes’ lightning.

When you wake up again, you’re in someone’s lap. Fingers pinch your hair and rub the strands together. It’s blurry and so you can’t tell who it is, but their gentleness is comforting. You haven’t known gentleness since the Oracles shredded up your moon. Then the image becomes clearer. An armour that’s fancy like Iskandar’s, but white. It’s Xerxes.

You stiffen, but otherwise make no movement. This is the closest he’s ever been to you. You’re in his lap and he’s fondling you like a kitten, mesmerised by the novelty of a human, perhaps. He’s seated on his command throne, which is a lot more throne-like than Iskandar’s, by the virtue of it actually being sittable. Xerxes’ tentacles are a pure silver. Pearls of light traverse along them, between his body and the frame.

Now that your eyes are open, he draws his hand away from your hair. Although you’re terrified, you’re also grateful that it’s not Subutai. Xerxes drones over you like a tuning orchestra, speaking in futility. His vibrations reach deep into your bones. His presence, far more imposing than any other Oracle you know. But it’s not a scary kind of imposing. It’s ethereal, almost. You wonder what he wants with you.

Outside the Sword’s command viewport, you see a giant worm. It floats lifeless and in several pieces, copper-blue blood spilling into the cosmos, milky nebula gore. It’s more mutilated than necessary. You say this without knowing much about its specific anatomy, but with a very keen sense of how precise wounds can kill more effectively than butchering. And that corpse? It’s definitely butchered.

“Who won?” You murmur, exhausted despite just having woken up.

Xerxes sings something. You have no idea what though.

There’s a commotion outside. A shockwave rattles throughout the whole room, tingling up your spine and hitting your skull. It comes from the door, which is beginning to warp; first a bruising red, then orange, then brilliant gold. Finally, it burps, liquefied metal splattering into Xerxes’ sanctum and cooling against the floor.

An inflorescence of golden feelers shrivel away, noodling back under crevices of dark armour. Iskandar stands before Xerxes as audience. His fists are balled up, and his legs apart, so even from beneath Xerxes, he seems the more impressive of the two. His cape flutters as he marches in, each step an earthquake. Behind him, on the left, is Solomon, masked with apathy. His eyes don’t meet Xerxes, and so, they don’t meet you. On Iskandar’s right is Boudica. She’s got her helmet pressed between an arm and hip. You recognise it. The enemy fighter against Subutai.

Speaking of Subutai, he here’s too. Following behind Solomon, eyes now visible and ablaze and locked onto you the way a falcon’s would in a hunt.

Xerxes makes a noise. You think you might know what he’s saying. “Why can’t you use the door like a normal person, Iskandar?” Instinctively, you curl closer to Xerxes, because Iskandar isn’t really the image of pleasant right now. You fret that you’ve done something to anger him, because he’s emanating murderous intent that’s somehow worse than Subutai’s.

He ascends the ramp with a slow yet thunderous pace. Finally, he reaches Xerxes’ command throne. Doesn’t bother to salute or bow or whatever Oracles are meant to do. Just stands there. Waiting.

You are thankful that he has the restraint not to pulverise you here and now.

Xerxes says something in greeting, then motions over your head, stroking your hair. You cower under his touch.

A rod of pure energy punches right through the throne, skewering a scorch mark across Xerxes’ cheek. Iskandar’s claws flutter over the rod, which fizzles to stay materialised. Xerxes stills. Subutai has taken a step forward, his lance flaring, but Solomon’s arm blocks him from moving any more.

Xerxes tilts his head to put some distance between him and the near-fatal attack. He makes a glittery remark, which doesn’t prompt Iskandar to move. Not one bit.

Finally, Iskandar speaks. He lets go of the rod and it fizzles out. The wound in the command throne sputters. Towering before the white Oracle, Iskandar’s shadow drapes over the both of you. You feel small and you’re sure that Xerxes must too.

You think you might know who won the wargame.

You move your legs. Xerxes remains still as you struggle to get off him. Standing on your feet doesn’t feel good. You’re swaying but you refuse to collapse. After you get up, Xerxes does too. You’re sandwiched between the two imperators, who are so focused on judging one another, it makes you feel ornamental to this entire situation.

Stepping to the side, you cast your gaze to three Oracles that have been permitted to follow Iskandar into Xerxes’ chamber. Subutai smirks triumphantly at you, then at Boudica, who ignores him in an excellent show of discipline. You find yourself loathing the both of them. Without their fearsome starfighters, they seem a bit more killable now. Just a tiny bit more.

Solomon. You almost want to call out your name for him. His eyes flick from you to Iskandar, as if clueing you in on what you should be focusing on. You divert your attention back to Iskandar and Xerxes. They haven’t spoken a sound, and instead, are just standing ominously, as if communicating through aura alone.

Then, Iskandar draws you into him, his cape fluttering around you and his claw, caging your arm. Xerxes makes an amused noise. It’s almost like a laugh. And so you realise, Xerxes isn’t really like Iskandar. Iskandar practices warcraft. Xerxes seems to enjoy politics more. A poor matchup for Xerxes in a wargame, but perhaps what he sought wasn’t really victory. It might’ve been leverage.

You and Xerxes do share one thing in common: you want to know Iskandar’s weaknesses.

You begin to move, feeling that whatever Iskandar wanted in this interaction, he’s already gotten. But before you can make it even a step forward, you are swept off your feet. You squeal. Iskandar’s arms buckle under your back and legs. He cups you against him—humiliates you in front of everyone.

Xerxes leans back into his throne, cheek resting on bent fingers as he watches Iskandar carry you away. Boudica straightens into a salute and lowers her gaze. Solomon’s expression is more nuanced. His eyes crinkle up ever-so-slightly, as if bothered by this brash action of Iskandar’s. You’re surprised too. This is a rather uncharacteristic show of both domination and vulnerability. Try it again, Xerxes, and your head will really be gone, Iskandar is posturing. But now Xerxes will also know that Iskandar’s psyche can be disrupted by petty things such as hostages.

As he passes Subutai, Solomon, and Boudica, they all line up to the side, showing him their deference. He pauses beside Subutai for a moment that feels like longer than necessary. Iskandar doesn’t turn to look, but the weight of his scrutiny is nevertheless there. Subutai holds his salute, unable to do anything but wait for Iskandar to leave. The latter’s footsteps resume.

You are brought back to Iskandar’s warship, back into his own private quarters. The Oracles that pass him all salute him, rather jovially too, seeing as he won the wargame for them. But they don’t dare to say anything. You don’t say anything either. Everyone can sense the rage he’s bottling.

When you’re safe inside his room, he puts you down. You quickly scuttle back, clutching at yourself. Tears prick your eyes as reality finally sinks in. Your hands climb up and gingerly touch the burn circling your neck. Subutai got you again. And the thing that stopped him from harming you wasn’t Iskandar, but Xerxes’ orders. You’ve been feeling too cosy for too long. Thankfully, Xerxes has reminded you of your true place here. You’re just a spoil of war and Iskandar might be willing to earn you back, but he’s not going to go out of his way to rescue you from immediate danger.

“Get away from me!” You screech as Iskandar takes a careful step closer.

But he doesn’t listen. Another step. Then again. Until he’s right before you. You watch with widened, teary eyes as he drops to his knees, helm dipped down to the floor. The noise he makes is a lonely whale’s call. Deep and enduring and emotional. His claws reach for your elbows and run down your arms, drawing your palms into his. Iskandar presses his forehead against your hands. He holds you in place, himself in place. Flabbergasted, you merely gape.

“Is this supposed to be some lame apology?” A sneer contorts your face. You throw his hands away and pull back. “I don’t need your apology. I don’t need you at all.”

Iskandar remains on the ground.

Your hands hike up to your neck again and you pace towards the window, where the battleplane sprawls. There are new fleets of vessels sweeping across it, clean-up crews conducting search and rescues. All this loss of life, and for what? Practice? The Oracles are brutal and perhaps that’s why humans can’t compete.

Iskandar’s reflection appears behind yours. It’s worrisome how can move so silently for someone of his stature, especially compared to how he had stormed Xerxes’ chamber, presence impossible to ignore. It’s like he chooses what he needs to be for every moment. Control freak.

His claws come up and hover near your neck. You hear a click. His feelers wriggle out from crevices in his wrist guard and nibble over your burn scar. They are ticklish yet cool to the touch. Disgusting, yet soothing. Iskandar’s arms close in over your shoulders and his feelers multiply, flooding over your exposed skin. You try to lean away, but it only gives him more access to your throat.

Iskandar’s finger traces over your scar. You’re not sure if he’s looking at it through the window’s reflection or down with his own eyes. But you can see yourself in the reflection. You look as if you’re about to be digested. Iskandar emits a low rumble. You start thrashing now.

“Ew ew ew! Let go of me!”

You sense more feelers seeping out from his armour. They curl around your waist, your thighs, every part of your body and keep you trapped against him. It feels so, so weird; hot and cold simultaneously.

Iskandar brushes his claws through your hair. You’d have bitten him if he weren’t armoured. His touch isn’t gentle like Xerxes’, nor cruel like Subutai’s. It’s not even impersonal like Solomon’s (who barely wants to touch you anyway). You can only describe it as...desperate.

He drags you away from window despite your tantrum and hefts you onto the simulation matrix. You try to rip his feelers off you, but more surge up to take the place of those removed. The matrix activates, supercharged by Iskandar’s exposed tendrils. It illuminates an exact copy of the wargame he just waged with Xerxes. Your shoulder is up against Iskandar’s line of heavy cruisers. Just above your lap, where Iskandar holds your leg, is his warship.

You see it. Subutai’s angle of incursion. Iskandar does too. Your struggling stops. Intently, you watch him. He plays out the scenario again and again. Until Subutai’s ship is destroyed in every conceivable way—until once more, he becomes infallible.

#fermi paradox #oc: iskandar #oc: subutai

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