#Wireless Presentation Technology

[charile0]

Enhancing Meetings with Wireless Conference Solutions: The Future of Collaboration

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Partnering with a reliable commercial AV distributor can help businesses access the latest wireless conference technology tailored to their needs. Whether for a small team meeting or a large corporate gathering, these systems ensure that communication remains seamless and effective, leading to more productive meetings.

[krazytechnews]

How to Manage Your Mail Digitally with a Virtual PO Box

In today’s fast-paced, digital-first landscape, managing business communications efficiently is more critical than ever. Enter the virtual PO box—a modern solution designed to revolutionize the way businesses handle their mail. Gone are the days of relying solely on traditional post office boxes that require physical visits and limited accessibility. Instead, virtual PO boxes offer a seamless and…

[gunpowderdtim]

It's no wonder Out happened when you really think about it. Nastya doesn't like organic life because it's complicated, it can break, sometimes it's even unfixable.

quote from gender rebels

Nastya is in love with Aurora, and in saying that she is saying "you are not organic life, I can deal with you because you are metal and algorithm and predictable" - we can see this in bedtime story when she says she'll tweak Aurora's story creation algorithm

screenshot from A Bedtime Story

Aurora is not inorganic. She is not ai. She is a space moon made of flesh and blood and teeth and bone. She is not an ai. She is a body that was taken and stripped of autonomy, of the right to self identify, of the right to think- to be imperfect and organic.

The metal is a veneer that hides how messy and traumatized and unfixable she is. From the outside she is a starship. From the inside she can still bleed.

And this makes them fundamentally incompatible. But yet, they are in love.

And really, it's no wonder Nastya fell in love with Aurora. Let's take a look at Nastya's home planet, or at least home society:

"Terminals were scattered across the planet. There was one on every street corner, one beneath every lamppost and one in every commune block." "The midwife-machine performs a series of programmed manœuvres to quieten [the baby]. It cradles it and hums at several pitches until it finds one that seems most soothing. Mechanical arms stroke the baby’s flesh even as others start the process of implanting augmented reality interfaces into its nervous system." "The Czar an atrophied frame, never present in the real world and worn to dust by the chemical compounds that kept his brain alive so it could live forever in a perfect virtual paradise. The Rabotnik a copy, a mind preserved unchanging in the instant before its death and placed in an everlasting metal frame." (Cyberian Demons)

Its safe to say the world Nastya was born into, from the very minute she was born, was ridden with technology. She has augmented reality interfaces inplanted into her from birth. It would stand to reason that being taken from this society, wherein technology is everywhere, inside and out, would stand for a bit of a shock.

Aurora too had been augmented by the Cyberia.

While it is stated that the last time Nastya had used the ports themselves was directly before her death — "The last time she had used the ports, her tutor had ripped them out of her as the rebels stormed the palace" — Aurora is laced with Cyberian technology. I'd imagine she has something of a 'bluetooth wireless connection' with Aurora, rather than the physical data transfer of files between the ports and Nastya, it may as well be similar enough.

Imagine being Nastya, going from Cyberia, wherein there is augmented reality contantly, transplanted onto a ship with metal blood, a jonny, and a vampire. To Aurora, where the only bits of augmented reality run through Aurora.

Of course she'd fall in love with her. Aurora is familiarity. Aurora isn't organic. Aurora isn't human.

And of course when the undeniable part of aurora that is organic, that is a flesh moon plated in metal with her brain hooked to machines, when so much has broken and been replaced, when, presumably, aurora is less of an algorithm, nastya leaves with the brand cyberia left on her.

Because Aurora healing, becoming more of herself and less of a starship, is messy, and organic, and human.

and hard for nastya.

‘Think how long she’s been flying you around. Think how many bullet holes you’ve punched through her and how many atmospheres you’ve dropped her through. Think how many alterations and improvements we’ve made, Tim to her guns and Ashes to her storage and Brian to her engines and the Toy Soldier to who knows what. How much do you think is left of her after all she’s brought you through?’ Nastya held up the ancient, battered piece of hull plating. Just visible under the grime and scars of particles of space junk was a fragment of the Aurora’s original logo and serial number. Jonny honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had seen a version that hadn’t been painted by the Mechanisms themselves. ‘So she’s free, now.’ Nastya gestured around at the spaceship they were standing in. ‘This Aurora can take you where you want to go. I’m going to take my Aurora somewhere else.’

Aurora was ship of theseus'd. Aurora was improved. Aurora was no longer cyberian. (both literally, and metaphorically)

So nastya left.

[nan0-sp1der]

␂ > 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 // @lyrate-lifeform-approximation , @spiderman2-99

There’s a thought stirring in Bridge’s mind. An idea rolling about and nudging against the capacitors in her head, poking and prodding incessantly to get her attention, “Hey, hey, you know you want to ask her. Don’t you? Don’t lie to yourself, now. You should just do it. Hey! Are you listening to me? Hello-o…?”

Yes. Yes, she knows, she is aware of her burning curiosity. And it’s hard to deny that even though it doesn’t involve her, she is unusually intrigued by the concept. She overheard them in his office, Miguel and LYLA–his A.I. assistant–discussing a plan.  A plan to create a physical form for LYLA to enhance her abilities as his assistant and grant her further autonomy beyond her access to the security network and other adjacent systems alongside her recent emergence into emotional intelligence. It was all so fascinating. The steps Bridge had taken herself in her development in the span of weeks, she was watching unfold in another intelligence in real-time.

There it was again. That sense of solidarity in knowing she wasn’t completely alone in her existence as an artificial being, made of code and metal. It was like a magnetic pull that made that little voice in her head that encouraged her to act on her wants all the more present in her mind. She wanted to be a part of that process that she’d been through so long ago yet was still so familiar with like it happened yesterday. She wanted to guide her in that process and grant her her own knowledge. What’s the worst that can happen if she pilots your hardware for a while? You’re prepared for this. You can handle this. You can trust her, and she will be entirely safe in your care for that short time. And think about how much she would benefit from the experience, how much more streamlined that eventual transition from intangible to tangible will be once her own body was complete. It will make all the difference–and maybe reduce the headaches for everyone all-around, mostly Miguel as he acclimates to the change himself. Just… Try it. You can’t account for every single last risk factor, can you? No. So just do it and take it as it comes.

She stood in the middle of her dorm a moment, eyes closed as she ran a quick check of her hardware before making her final decision. RAM is in good condition. Storage is defragmented and all directories are organized. Sensors are calibrated and functional. Nanomachines are synchronized properly. Servos and joints retain a full range of motion. Coolant is at above optimal operational temperatures. Energy reserves are complete. Good. Everything’s in its right place and ready for its–potentially–temporary host. It’s time to make the call.

Her gaze trains itself on her watch, her arm rising to eye-level and the sleeve that was weighed down by the leaden metal cuff at the end sliding to her forearm to reveal device so she can start the transmission, navigating the menus on the digital interface indirectly via wireless communication–the unique way that she operated and communicated the Society’s technology.

“LYLA, may I speak to you for a moment? At your leisure, of course.”

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

book 7 part 7 thoughts!

***THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7, PART 7 OF THE MAIN STORY!!***

There are only 16 new chapters total in this update; with this, we are up to chapter 116 in book 7.

You should check out this livestream if you want a more part-by-part summarized translation of what's going on and/or if you want to hear the voices and watch the characters along with the commentary!

Please note: this is NOT meant to be a summary or a translation; these are only my initial thoughts on the events that unfold. There may be details overlooked or misunderstood in this post, so PLEASE do not use this as a translation.

As expected, we start off where we left off last update; Yuu, Grim, Silver, and Sebek have met up with the Shroud brothers. (Lilia is not with them.) According to Idia, they are still in a dream realm since Sebek is still in armor which he cannot bring back into reality. Ortho is present via a projection of some sort.

It's weird seeing Idia, Sebek, and Silver introducing themselves to one another in the main story and acting as though they've NEVER met before; they were all featured in Glorious Masquerade and interacted quite frequently. I'm aware that the main story and events don't share the same timeline, but it's still quite the jarring knowledge gap to witness.

ADFIHBADIYFBIOAFBEWQVUQOCAB SILVER AND SEBEK SUDDENLY CLOSE IN ON IDIA TO PROTECT HIM FROM SOMETHING THEY SENSE, HE CAN'T BREATHE... Waaaah, Idia... You're a princess squished between two pretty boy knights wwww

Idia and Ortho tell us that Malleus is expending a lot of energy to monitor Lilia in particular...? Ortho then goes on to explain that his "individuality" has become useful. Even though he cannot have a UM (okay, so confirmed that Ace is the last one to gain it shjdbahsdbasda), he is the only one capable of transferring his consciousness from one body to another. This is how he was able to reach out to Idia and the others!

Ortho tells them about his Cerberus Gear. We get a flashback of what he was up after getting suited up; he's flying over Sage's Island to collect information on Malleus's UM for STYX.

Thorns pierce through the clouds and Ortho battles them! STYX sends reinforcements (not personnel, but like technology/cannons?) to help Ortho. The thorns form a short of shield over Sage's Island, so he breaks through via a weak point. asdbhbaisdbals It's so unsettling to see the port looking so dark and depressing...

Ortho's mom reminds him he can only stay in there safely for 20 minutes. Aw, she cares so much about Or-kun 😭

It's going to take over several minutes (I think 17) just to analyze the complex nature of Malleus's magic and save it. While the analysis anchor does its job, Ortho has to protect it!

OH SHIT IT'S OB MALLEUS

ebfyvoFoaHhahaahahaHHhahaahah ORTHOS STARTS TALKING ABOUT A BUNCH OF TECH STUFF LIKE WIRELESS TO EXPLAIN TO MALLEUS HOW HE CHANGED BODIES, Malleus surprisingly understands???? I half expected him to combust on the spot from confusion... DBHLBSYOFOFYAAFIAFIL MALLEUS IS BEING DUNKED ON BY A CHILD, Ortho says that since magic is powered by imagination, Malleus cannot block Ortho's advances or force his new body under sleep since Malleus does not understand tech.

I can't believe him being shit with tech is actually relevant to the plot 💀

AEFHLBFBYFOVYFEQRUROQ OB MALLEUS PROCEEDS TO RESPOND WITH VIOLENCE, HE'S GOING TO DESTROY THE ANALYTICAL ANCHOR SO ORTHO DECIDES TO FIGHT BACK

RIP Or-kun, he could only resist for so long... his attacks have no effect in this domain where Malleus has complete control.

JUST 30 SECONDS BEFORE THE ANALYSIS ENDS, QUICK ORTHO STALL HIM BY SHIT TALKING MORE!!! I KNOW CHILDREN CAN BE SAVAGE, SO UNLEASH YOUR WRATH

HFBFYOAEOFYEEIAFL MALLEUS.?>??? ?? ? ?? ???? HE IMPLIED HE'S GOING TO KILL OFF ORTHO AND THEN GOES OFF (?) ON ONE OF HIS DOGGIE DRONES...

"Good night, little Shroud." You have to hear it for yourself, it sounds very ominous 💀 He really said he ain't above child murder, eh?

??? For a second Malleus froze and his shot missed? So Ortho decides on a strategic retreat with the second dog drone. NO MALLEUS ENDED 02 TOO, IT TOOK A BLOW FOR ORTHO WHILE HE RETRIEVES THE ANCHOR

We cut back to STYX, which is dedicating its resources to creating an opening in Malleus's barrier for Ortho to escape. He clears the barrier!!

Aaaaaaah, another cute moment for Shroud Mama! She and Shroud Papa collapse onto the floor in relief. He has sustained some damage, but his core is intact!

One line I really like from Malleus is him referring to Ortho and others as "uninvited guests" that he's going to chase off no matter what.

NOOOOO THEY CONFIRMED BOTH DOGGIE DRONES GOT MCMURDERED IN THERE OTL Never forgiving Malleus for this, fr (Shroud Mama says she can fix them though so we're all good!)

They tell Ortho "welcome back" and Ortho says "I'm back" 😭 AND THEY GROUP HUG

RUH-ROH

Shroud Papa says that Malleus's UM... reminds him of Grim's magic... WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN

STYX has support from Briar Valley, which should help with their analysis. However, the results so far are not looking good. According to Shroud Papa, the barrier is 99% impossible to destroy unless either Malleus dies OR Malleus chooses to lower the barrier himself.

It's not plausible for Mama to make enough Cerberus Gears for a whole army. Besides, if they they destroy the barrier, Shroud Mama theorizes that they may also accidentally destroy the consciousnesses of everyone on Sage's Island... so that's definitely not an option!

FJLDADBIAFSVYOFFEQFA ORTHOS UGGESTED TELLING MALLEUS "Your grandma is so sad" FROM OUTSIDE THE BARRIER TO CONVINCE HIM TO LOWER THE SHIELD........ . . . ....... . . .. .... .. . . . . .. . . ... . . LIKE IN THE OLD MOVIES

They're now looking into Idia's dream on a monitor? Ortho notices Idia's dorm room does not have Ortho's mainenance dock, so... um, he realizes that Idia must be dreaming about an alternate world where his little brother never passed.

Shroud Mama is going to try and "hack" into the dream spaces. AJAFSVOSvfvfefea SHE HAS A CUTE LITTLE GREMLIN GIGGLE??? She's very fired up because Malleus insulted mankind's best technology, saying it cannot stand up to his magic. (aslbhflasbifabfd THIS IS WHERE IDIA GETS IT FROM????????)

"It's rare to see Idia so happy." LDBHbiadib THIS BOY IS MAD DEPRESSED, LET HIM BE

"Isn't it time that everyone got tired of the dream world and want to return to reality?" No, Shroud Mama. I guarantee you that most TWST fans WANT to stay in Twisted Wonderland and don't want new content to stop coming out, this is our escapism :)

WAAAAAH ORTHO HE'S REPEATING THE LINE VIL TOLD HIM, THEY HAVE TO TRY BECAUSE NOT TRYING IS ALWAYS 0% BUT 0.001% HAS THE POSSIBILITY TO BECOME 100%

Shroud Papa warns Ortho that Idia may reject reality, and therefore "this" Ortho. He's concerned that this will put Ortho through a lot of emotional stress. Shroud Papa wants professionals (psychologists) to try and contact Idia instead of Ortho.

ADFILBAFIYAEGIYQEFBIAF ORTHO HAS SO MUCH FAITH IN HIS OLDER BROTHER, he says Idia would get hype about a cute robot boy trying to get in contact with him, this means he'll become a protagonist like in his light novels!

DNBHdsvyofwFTOwqihbyow8fS WE'RE GOING TO IDIA'S DREAM NOW, he pulled like 3 SSRs of his favorite character (of course he'd dream this, OF COURSE).

Video chat notif from Ortho???

OMG IT'S ROBOT ORTHO AND IDIA FREAKS OUT THINKING IT'S COSPLAY

Ortho reintroduces himself. "It's nice to meet you for the first time in 'this' world!" Idia starts to laugh and assumes it's Ortho's avatar for virtual chat, that kind of thing. Or maybe Ortho is talking about the plot of a new anime?

ILBFIBYADBFADBEFQFIPo; IDIA REPEATS THE EXACT LINES ORTHO SAID HE WOULD SAY, THAT HE'S THE CHOSEN ONE BEING CONTACTED BY A CUTE ROBOT BOY

Here's the breakdown... Idia gets a headache and finally realizes the truth. afhbBIfieeq;ofBHQEF;????? ?the DREMA ORTHO IS CALLING HIMAND TEELLING HIM THE REAL ORTHO IS A FAKE, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM (this is THE definition of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss).

DREAM!ORTHO TRIES TO PULL IDIA DEEPER INTO THE DREAM, TELLING HIM HE'S JUST SLEEPY FROM GAMING TOO MUCH SO GO BACK TO SLEEP

Oooh, interesting that RSA!Ortho still appears to be similar in body type to Robo!Ortho? I always assumed Ortho was small because Idia kept him "preserved" in the moment of death. Maybe the dream Ortho is just modelled after Robo!Ortho since that's what Idia's memories are familiar with.

Idia loops back around again to the start of his dream, where he is in ceremonial robes and Malleus approaches him. HERE COMES MALLEUS TO GASLIGHT HIS CLASSMATES AGAIN

adhfgyoafdodp THERE'S A LIGHT FROM THE SKY???? TSUMTSUMS???????? GOD?????? AND ANIME ON IDIA'S SIDE?????? OMG, here comes Ortho in his Cerberus Gear come to save the day! Idia recognizes STYX's emblem.

UH-OH, MALLEUSIS PISSED THAT ORTHO SURPRISED HIM TWICE"Stand down, you fools." MALEFICENT ENERGY IS OFF THE CHARTS

Idia recognizes Malleus as being in Overblot adhbafliafa AND THE SKY STARTS CRACKING because Ortho is not meant to exist in this dream. He basically goes against the canon www

Malleus teleports away (yeah, FUCK IDIA I guess) and leaves them to be swallowed by the abyss. Idia's being pulled into the darkness, and their mom's voice comes in warning Ortho to stay away before more damage occurs. Idia recognizes his mom's voice and remembers even more!!

Aw, Ortho promises to save his brother...

Idia is at the gates to the Underworld again? Phantom Ortho says Idia fell there and speaks to him kind of in a friendly manner. "It's too early for a reunion."

asfkjlnsUPBUADGPAGB IDIA IS SO CONFUSED, HE'S WONDERING WHY A PHANTOM IS CALLING HIM BIG BRO, HE STILL BELIEVES THAT HIS BROTHER GOES TO RSA AND THAT THIS IS A NIGHTMARE Idia is sooooo in denial...

Phantom Ortho reassures Idia that his death is not his fault, so please stop blaming himself... that Idia promised he would live without looking back, so he should look at the truth.

WHOOOOO HE REMEMBERS BOOK 6 FELLAS

AYO WE GOT IDIA CRYING AND IT'S ANIMATED, WE SEE THE TEARS ROLLING DOWN HIS CHEEKS, WE WINNIN'

"I'm always being saved by my little brothers (YES PLURAL, WEH), I'm such a pathetic big brother."

Ah, so now Phantom Ortho calls himself "King of the Underworld" says Idia cannot leave since it's not a good example for the rest of the phantoms. It's going to be the boss!

OOOOOH IDIA'S HAIR GOES FULL DIFFERENT COLOR + new facial expression (we previously only saw the hair change color in his Dorm Uniform Groovy and his Suitor Suit Groovy).

IDIA CALLS HIS FAMILY CURSE A BLESSING, he gets more power in areas with lots of blot since there is more fuel for him to burn. HASDIYASODBASID IDIA OBS TO FIGHT PHANTOM ORTHO??????? IS THIS A PREVIEW FOR OVERBLOT CARDS OR SOMETHING

They have the same battle lines about how they will be "free"...

IDIA'S CRINGE ERA RETURNSSSSSSSS (he's making those cringe sound effects of blowing things up) and claims the title of "King of the Underworld" (the same title given to players who own 10 cards of a particular character).

afhbabilfbialfi IDIA LAUGHS SO HARD HE CHOKES

He finally uses his UM to open the gates and escape, telling Phantom!Ortho he cannot stay there. PHANTOM!ORTHO LOVINGLY WISHES HIS BROTHER SAFE TRAVELS, AW "The whole universe is waiting for you."

Idia tries to wake up and hears Dream!Ortho's voice??? BUT IDIA IS FULLY AWAKE NOW, HE KNOWS IT'S SUCH A DREAM He has finally accepted Ortho's death AND calls both the robot brother and the dead brother as his "brotherS"

Idia points out all the discrepancies in the dream... adfbilasdibalbiaflb I LOVE HOW EVERYONE KEEPS CALLING RSA A "SHINY" SCHOOL, Idia's all like, "No WAY is my little brother going to a school like that!"

THE DREAM ORTHO PANICS AND BEGS IDIA TO LISTEN TO HIM BADSBILADIAIDVFADIL IDIA TELLS THE DREAM ORTHO "Sorry, I don't like anyone other than anime/game characters calling me onii-chan!" IBRO, YOU'RE OUTTING YOURSELF LIEK THIS????????? ? ????? ????

He plots revenge on the person that would dare show him this disgusting dream, he's ready to FILE A COMPLAINT to them! (Watch out, Draconia, this otaku is coming for YOUR ASS) sayusdbyosfvayf What's with Malleus pissing off big bros with dead little bros...

Idia finally reunites in his dream with Robo!Ortho and apologizes for the hurtful things he said... Ortho talks about the adventures he has been on + explains what has been going on. Basically, they reconcile without a problem!

After all the summary, Idia first comments on how shocked he is that their mom hacked into his computer 🤡 Yeah, Idia... she saw everything... Ortho tells him it's okay, she didn't comment! BUT THAT MAKES IDIA EVEN MORE UPSET, "it's the worst thing for a male high school student!" It just might make him Overblot a THIRD time www

I can't believe THIS of all things is what makes Idia seek revenge on Malleus... (HE SAYS HE WANTS MALLEUS TO CRY AND BEG FOR FORGIVENESS)

Idia is really out here about to doxx Malleus huh 💀

I honestly was not expecting to cry this update (since I was thinking it would just be a flashback about how Ortho "woke up" Idia) but NOPE, I just guess every update now is going to elicit tears... I've always been highly invested in the Shroud brothers' storyline, so I'm really happy they touched on it again here and enhanced it by giving us more Shroud Mama and Papa, as well as Phantom!Ortho. It was sweet to see Idia recognize Phantom!Ortho as his brother too instead of completely renouncing him or "replacing" him with Robo!Ortho. ihbdiladqeofqbeafnasi The updates are making me like Idia more, but in the same way you'd like a character for being pathetic... Man made SO many dog chew toy nosies this time 😭

I did not expect Malleus to be so... pro-child murder/j He will stop at nothing to keep everyone under his thumb, and that's so awful. There was so much gaslighting in this part as well, even if Malleus is not directly doing it himself. The fact that his magic can just... do that on its own is... It sort of gives me the vibes of trying to enforce a toxic kind of positivity on everyone, which in of itself has its roots in his own insecurities and inability to cope with loss. He's projecting that onto everyone else, and that has very scary results as we see here.

There were a lot of memes pre-book 7 about how Malleus's inability to understand technology would come to bite him in the ass later, and all of those fans can now feel vindicated because WELL, IT CAME TRUE.

And last, but not least, I'm shocked at Idia's reason for wanting to fistfight Malleus 🤡 BRO'S MAD FR FR... WHAT MUST HIS MOM HAVE SEEN ON HIS COMPUTER TO MAKE HIM SO AGGRO... WAS IT LEWDS OR SOMETHING???????? ?? ? ??? ?????? ?? Glad that Idia is on our side now, this is an excellent place to leave off on for next time!!

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Battery-free technology can power electronic devices using ambient radiofrequency signals

Ubiquitous wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 5G rely on radio frequency (RF) signals to send and receive data. A new prototype of an energy harvesting module—developed by a team led by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS)—can now convert ambient or "waste" RF signals into direct current (DC) voltage. This can be used to power small electronic devices without the use of batteries. RF energy harvesting technologies, such as this, are essential as they reduce battery dependency, extend device lifetimes, minimize environmental impact, and enhance the feasibility of wireless sensor networks and IoT devices in remote areas where frequent battery replacement is impractical. However, RF energy harvesting technologies face challenges due to low ambient RF signal power (typically less than -20 dBm), where current rectifier technology either fails to operate or exhibits a low RF-to-DC conversion efficiency. While improving antenna efficiency and impedance matching can enhance performance, this also increases on-chip size, presenting obstacles to integration and miniaturization.

Read more.

[sepublic]

Project Metamorphosis was the Space Pirates' way of preserving their commanders, keeping them alive through technology, and most importantly, keeping them operational; With cybernetics, any leader would be able to continue leading the Space Pirates in both tactics and even battle, no matter how damaged their organic bodies were.

Those submitted to the process were Space Pirate commanders injured by Samus Aran during her first assault on Zebes; Ridley, Kraid, and Weavel. Kraid was given a cybernetic dome over his face in order to protect his recovering eyes and see for them, but otherwise his adjustments were minimal. Ridley replaced a good portion of his body, and Weavel? He ended up replacing everything except his brain and spinal cord, much to his chagrin; His injuries were much more extensive, and unlike Ridley, he lacked any regenerative abilities.

But Project Metamorphosis was not just about giving Space Pirates cybernetic prosthetics; It went further than this. Hence, Mecha Ridley; At first glance, it seems to just be a robotic doppelganger of Ridley. And indeed, one of its functions was to act as a complete set of cybernetic prosthetics for the Space Pirate, meant to represent any possible limb or organ he might lose. This is quite common as a medical practice, although the full set of prostheses being programmed to attack intruders on their own isn't...

If Ridley were to lose an arm, an arm would be taken from the mecha and applied to Ridley's injured stump. If his face was burnt off, the skull chassis would act as a mask. Fire-breathing organs could be substituted with an internal flamethrower. The modular nature of Mecha Ridley meant that if Ridley replaced his hand, only to lose the rest of the arm it was connected to, the arm taken from his Mecha counterpart could still reconnect with the robotic hand he was currently using. In essence, Mecha Ridley was the precursor to the Meta and Proteus frames, hence the missile-launching booster as less a replacement and more an enhancement.

But Mecha Ridley had another function as well; Acting as a machine with which Ridley could project his own thoughts into, and control from afar. For in order to move the body, the brain sends signals through the nervous system, which the limbs and organs receive, and then interpret to move accordingly.

These signals are electric in nature; And so are wireless signals in technology. Through Project Metamorphosis, a neural interface could be applied to Ridley's head, and receive the signals he'd attempt to send to the rest of his body, replicating and redirecting them to his robotic doppelganger. Mecha Ridley would receive his brain's signals instead, and as a result its mimicry of Ridley's limbs would move, while his actual arms -if they were even present- would not do anything.

Mecha Ridley would also absorb visual and auditory input, directing it to Ridley, who would receive it via a VR headset. It's like a simulation, except your ‘avatar’ is in fact a tangible replica acting elsewhere. This feature is useful if Ridley or any other commander is so damaged that they can't even function on the field as a cyborg. In Ridley's particular case, it's to give his true body room to regenerate without having to worry about cybernetics restricting cellular repair, while also allowing him to fight 'on the field'. It's the best of both worlds.

...The problem with this form of cybernetic projection/possession is something every gamer fears; A bad connection. The Space Pirates worked to perfect the bandwidth of Ridley's neural headset and his mecha. But if Samus were to find herself unable to destroy a fully-completed Mecha Ridley, she could get around the problem entirely by interfering with the signals, causing the mecha to move one step behind Ridley, while Ridley received its input too late.

In case of this scenario, the Space Pirates programmed Mecha Ridley with its own independent AI to control itself with, should it stop receiving reliable input from Ridley in the heat of battle. So when Samus encountered it aboard the mothership, despite not being complete, Mecha Ridley still had a functioning AI to attack Samus with. Because this encounter happened so quickly after Ridley's defeat in Norfair, he hadn’t yet been resuscitated and hooked up to the neural interface. But in a future scenario, where Mecha Ridley was rebuilt and actually completed, it might've been something Ridley begrudgingly used while recovering from Phazon withdrawal and atrophy after the destruction of Phaaze.

Otherwise, he would avoid it if he could, and even subject himself to painful cybernetics as necessary; Ridley did not appreciate having a machine clumsily interpret his own moves for him. It was a distant, out of body experience, when Ridley preferred to fight in-person and experience death and destruction through his actual senses. Nevertheless, he kept the mecha on his personal ship; In Ridley’s off-time, he would put on the headset and test controlling the machine, so science team could see how to sync the mecha to his brain signals.

Since Project Metamorphosis could help Space Pirate commanders 'transcend the body', this same principle was applied to Meta Weavel. Despite Weavel being a Zebesian, his mechanical frame ended up having a noticeably different form, more upright and humanoid. The idea was to build off of Mecha Ridley by seeing how a brain could acclimate to a body very different to the one it was programmed to control. Hence the project’s name invoking the natural process of transformation and rebirth into something radically different; After a vulnerable workshopping period, of course.

Despite Weavel's frustrations over the differences, he did eventually adapt, and his Meta frame proved to be of sufficient quality. Thus, Meta Weavel would be deemed a success; It showed potential for brains to adapt to a wider variety of foreign shapes. So for example, a humanoid brain could be made to operate an arachnid body. Or a serpentine brain could now handle a body with several limbs, when such a brain wouldn’t even have neural pathways for this.

But the cybernetics could be made to interpret and ‘translate’ the brain’s signals, meant for a different body, into movements corresponding to limbs not alike. There have already been implants that translate the pheromones of species that communicate via smell into sound, and vice-versa, to aid in cross-species interaction; All of this is the natural extension, the natural evolution, of such technology. The Space Pirates would have to test more extreme examples like these, intensifying the disparity with each success.

And the goal was to combine these results with that of Mecha Ridley, to create technology in which a Space Pirate could telepathically control and 'possess' a mechanical body wildly different than their own. Project Metamorphosis would be taken even further from there; Perhaps being used to upload minds into machinery, allowing them to interface with data and become it, etc.

It could even lead to a telepathic possession and control of technology, with Mother Brain already being this; In fact, she helped form the inspiration for Mecha Ridley (so in a way, Zero Mission’s final boss is a culmination of Mother Brain, Ridley, and Weavel’s command). During her stint as Space Pirate leader, she permitted some study of her schematics by Project Metamorphosis scientists.

They analyzed Mother’s power to telepathically control both machines and even living organisms, in the hopes of replicating this with headsets and corresponding receivers; Science team hoped in particular to implant receivers into anyone or anything, without needing permission. Imagine hijacking a body by cutting off the signals from its host brain, so it would instead receive signals from another remote brain entirely.

Imagine bypassing the need to implant physical receivers entirely, and just using brainwaves and telepathy to disrupt a body’s natural signals and replace them at will! Imagine replacing them selectively to brainwash someone, letting them handle the rest as they obey and interpret on their own a basic command, freeing up brainpower to use in other processes or thralls!

All of this is how Mother Brain’s telepathic control works; It enabled her to control the Metroids, especially since she possessed Chozo DNA that the larvae were still programmed to obey. And it helped Mother Brain take command of technology as she saw fit, even sometimes controlling her Chozo charges for them so they could just let their minds and wills rest.

It allowed Mother to influence Zebes’ ecosystem and make it hostile to all outsiders. Her job has always been to do the thinking for people, after all; She is their new brain. Mecha Ridley is just the natural evolution of cybernetics interpreting for regular body parts the brain’s signals; Mother Brain’s conquest is just the natural evolution of her own programming, which she hijacked for herself to no longer be made to control, but to control under her own volition.

[aces-come-in-spades]

FROM THE LIBRARY OF AN ACE OF SPADES: CHARACTER MASTERLIST

Please read all of the following information. This covers some basic in-universe mechanics and provides enough background information to interact with the characters, as well as some info on the characters themselves.

BE ADVISED: SEXUAL ASSAULT, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND TORTURE ARE DISCUSSED BELOW!

FROM THE LIBRARY OF AN ACE OF SPADES is a series of science fiction novels. Currently, only one book, The Heart of Chicanery, is in the process of being written. The other four books, a novella, and an anthology, are all still in the process of being planned.

The plot of the Library series revolves around a group called Society X (or the Society for short), whose members are able to manipulate technology in a seemingly supernatural manner. Roman Nilsen is one of the members of the Society... until he and his friend Jazz discover a prisoner named Logan, who begins to exploit the true story and motives of the Ten, the elites who control the lives of the Society's members.

Roman's mission is to find Logan's sister and convince her to free her brother from his imprisonment, all while living his daily life and lying to his next door neighbor and best friend, Alan, who he promised to never lie to. Eventually, another group, the Aviates, enter the scene and rescue Alan from a life-or-death situation, while Roman, Jazz, and Logan are all forced to run away and travel from city to city in an attempt to shake off the Society after the Ten learn about Roman and Jazz's attempts to free Logan.

In the Society, powers are programmed at random into microchips inserted into every member of the Society, and are activated when a pair of Society-issued wireless headphones and Society-issued gloves connect to the microchip. Most members do not know about the microchips and are taught that the powers stem from a mutation of DNA that the original members of the Society carried (as all members, with the exception of Roman, are born within the Society). Members are trained for ten years to use their powers, starting when they are eight and finishing when they're eighteen.

There are four power types in the Society: technokinesis, cyberkinesis, cyber-technokinesis, and "select skills."

TECHNOKINESIS is the ability to telepathically manipulate any device powered by electricity or dependent on electrically-controlled devices, such as cell phones, charging cords, or CDs. It's basically an incredibly specialized telekinesis that only works on electric and electric-dependent devices/objects.

CYBERKINESIS is the ability to telepatically operate electrical devices. Imagine operating a phone without ever having to come into physical contact with it. With enough practice, this power also automatically bypasses any passwords and security on a device, turning the user into an unstoppable hacker. The Society's training program allows enough time and training for cyberkinetics to utilize this ability.

CYBER-TECHNOKINESIS is a combination of technokinesis and cyberkinesis. They have both power sets, but are forced to go through extra-intense training in order to be properly skilled at the end of the ten-year training period.

"SELECT SKILLS" are a secondary skill that works separately from the previous powers, but they can't work unless one of the previous powers is present. These powers can be nearly anything, and even the most technically-minded members of the Society struggle to explain how these skills work. Roman can light objects on fire with a touch, Jazz can administer high-voltage shocks, and Logan can trigger illusions and explosions.

ROMAN KEITH NILSEN (#roman keith nilsen)

a paranoid artist with a gift for both lies and keeping quiet. he's incredibly shy and was diagnosed with pyromania when he was fifteen, which causes him to light objects on fire when his stress or anxiety is very high.

he found the society when he was eight. he decided to be difficult and wandered out into the woods alone on a cold snowy night and got very lost before running into the complex (society hq) and accidentally starting a surveillance drone! poor guy.

there's a crackfic college au you should ask him about because there is way more characterization in that.

(he/him, bisexual, pyromania. birthday november 27. cyber-technokinesis.)

likes: cryptids and folklore, lo-fi, painting, hiking hates: liminal spaces, physical combat fun fact: roman has no sleep schedule. like, at all. he's been known to stay up for four days in a row without sleep, consistently.

LOGAN VAILE (#logan vaile)

logan is the grandson of the society's founder, but hates being reminded of this. he shows his disdain for his family's prestige by wholeheartedly embracing every chance to (not in his words) "degrade himself," mostly through heavy drinking and chainsmoking. with his parents and grandparents both dead and his sister taken away, he has no one to rely on but himself, and grief is a hard thing to deal with alone.

after being forced to take on his father's role as a director of all espionage missions at 15 years old, he was locked away for shooting the highest of the Ten for attempting to sexually assault his little sister. now he's trying to seek revenge on the society, all while still being forced to play at a role he never wanted.

(he/him, straight demiromantic asexual, habitual smoker and drinker. birthday march 15. cyber-technokinesis.)

likes: dancing, horror novels, herbal tea, fiction podcasts hates: cramped spaces, fruit-flavored juice drinks fun fact: logan prefers to go by the code name pyre unless he really, really trusts who he's talking to

JASPER "JAZZ" VAN JANSEN (#jazz van jansen)

jazz was born into the society and selected to take a "special program" when he was ten due to a defect in his microchip that gave him the ability to shock people and prevented him from using a standard headset. the "program" turned out to be project nightmare, a streamlined training program designed to create deadly field agents. jazz was subject to a lot of physical and mental torture as part of the program, much to the dismay of the person who was forced to draw up the program for him.

as part of the project, jazz is forced to attend therapy before moving on to the actual training itself. an incarcerated logan is forced to serve as jazz's therapist, which is pretty sadistic, but logan was also forced to draw up the project entirely from scratch (it was that or his sister got killed). jazz sees logan and roman as the only people he can trust.

despite all of this, he manages to keep up a cheerful attitude, although sometimes he seems to act crazy and manic. this is due to the "agent nightmare" persona he was forced to adopt. he also has no clue how life outside the society works, and often says things without knowing the true gravity of the meaning (he calls himself a "terrorist" and an "anarchist" but doesn't know what either of these mean).

(he/him, straight, adhd + ptsd. birthday january 2. cyberkinesis.)

likes: white chocolate, board games, rainy days, getting to see the world/traveling hates: dogs, eyestrain colors fun fact: to designate him as agent nightmare, jazz has a barcode tattoo on the right side of his neck

ALAN HARPER (#alan harper)

alan is roman's next-door neighbor and best friend, but has no clue that the society exists until one new year's eve where jazz manages to escape the society and stumbles upon roman and alan talking on the sidewalk. when alan tags along with roman and jazz to break logan out of his cell, he gets shot in the side and eventually rescued by an enemy of the society known as the aviates, who his parents apparently used to work for

alan is slated (against his will) as a future leader of the aviates due to having an extra-strength microchip stolen from the society in his arm that his parents put in there when he was a baby. this microchip allows alan to use technokinesis without a headset and gloves. he's very pissed about all of this and wants to make sure roman's okay, but the aviates are keeping him close and won't let him go anywhere.

alan likes to know everything about the people he's close to, including any secrets they might be hiding. despite this being seen as very up-in-the-face behavior, he's so kind and charming that people still like him. however, he only has one actual friend: roman, who swore he'd never tell a lie to alan. which, of course, didn't work out.

(he/him, cishet but swore himself to virginity, basically a nerdy-looking normal white boy. birthday august 24. technokinesis.)

likes: physical media, thrift shopping, stargazing, helping people out hates: cilantro, arguments fun fact: alan is, in fact, catholic! (i needed someone i could relate to religion-wise but don't worry, he's a chill catholic)

ALTAIR SANDLER-MCBRIDE (#altair sandler-mcbride)

altair is a member of the aviates. he's mostly there to be a nuisance, but his primary jobs are taking care of the aviates' drones and keeping an eye on alan

he's very much unhinged. and is half jewish and half irish. and has a very strong accent (it's either scottish or irish, i can do it but i have no idea what to classify it as)

(he/they, gay, audhd. birthday december 1)

likes: video games, running, any caffeinated drinks, the aviate drones (he treats them like his siblings) hates: hot weather, golden oreos fun fact: altair has a male white pomeranian named azrael, and he loves the little guy to death

honorable mentions

AUGUSTINE "ACE" VAILE: (he/him, refuses to confirm his sexuality for me) logan's deceased grandfather and the founder of the society

COLLIN CROSS: (he/him, gay) altair's boyfriend

ANNA VAILE/AGENT AURORA: (she/her, straight) logan's sister

KEITO TSUNUKO: (he/him, straight): jazz's former combat instructor and one of logan's former superiors

honorable mentions open for asks

JAMIE WINCHESTER-SOMERSET & ELLIOT ROUSSEAU: characters that technically belong to @gala-xyzz (mod's irl sister) who have both met logan at some point in their lives (#jamie winchester-somerset & #elliot rousseau)

jamie (he/him, claims to be straight) is one of the aviates and is also the scion of a wealthy british family. his grandfather was very close with ace, logan's grandfather, and jamie is desperately trying to learn more about both of them. he spends his time traveling the world and getting chased around by elliot. he's also incredibly sarcastic, even more so than logan is.

elliot (he/him, has declined commenting on his sexuality) is a member of the nexus foundation and is also very much crushing on jamie (jamie doesnt know it yet.... or does he?). he's technically supposed to capture jamie but talks his way out of it by claiming to play a long game that will eventaully result in jamie's capture. he is an annoying perfectionist and prone to being a little hissy bitch.

[wolfliving]

Bossware Surveillance Buildings

A case study on technologies for behavioral monitoring and profiling using motion sensors and wireless networking infrastructure inside offices and other facilities"

Wolfie Christl, Cracked Labs, November 2024

This case study is part of the ongoing project “Surveillance and Digital Control at Work” (2023-2024) led by Cracked Labs, which aims to explore how companies use personal data on workers in Europe, together with AlgorithmWatch, Jeremias Prassl (Oxford), UNI Europa and GPA, funded by the Austrian Arbeiterkammer.

Case study “Tracking Indoor Location, Movement and Desk Occupancy in the Workplace” (PDF, 25 pages) Summary

As offices, buildings and other corporate facilities become networked environments, there is a growing desire among employers to exploit data gathered from their existing digital infrastructure or additional sensors for various purposes. Whether intentionally or as a byproduct, this includes personal data about employees, their movements and behaviors.

Technology vendors are promoting solutions that repurpose an organization’s wireless networking infrastructure as a means to monitor and analyze the indoor movements of employees and others within buildings. While GPS technology is too imprecise to track indoor location, Wi-Fi access points that provide internet connectivity for laptops, smartphones, tables and other networked devices can be used to track the location of these devices. Bluetooth, another wireless technology, can also be used to monitor indoor location. This can involve Wi-Fi access points that track Bluetooth-enabled devices, so-called “beacons” that are installed throughout buildings and Bluetooth-enabled badges carried by employees. In addition, employers can utilize badging systems, security cameras and video conferencing technology installed in meeting rooms for behavioral monitoring, or even environmental sensors that record room temperature, humidity and light intensity. Several technology vendors provide systems that use motion sensors installed under desks or in the ceilings of rooms to track room and desk attendance.

This case study explores software systems and technologies that utilize personal data on employees to monitor room and desk occupancy and track employees’ location and movements inside offices and other corporate facilities. It focuses on the potential implications for employees in Europe. To illustrate wider practices, it investigates systems for occupancy monitoring and indoor location tracking offered by Cisco, Juniper, Spacewell, Locatee and other technology vendors, based on an analysis of technical documentation and other publicly available sources. It briefly addresses how workers resisted the installation of motion sensors by their employers. This summary presents an overview of the findings of this case study….

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Statistical Outliers

Part 4 and 4.5 of drabble. Couldn't really figure out how I should chop it up so, extra long one this time. Still working on something else in the meantime.

“Voxtek is proud to present the newest innovation in headset technology. Gone are the days when the screams of the damned or your annoying mother-in-law ruin your gaming experience! The sound cancellation on them is guaranteed to see you through even the noisiest situation!”

As if to accent the point, Vox, while wearing them, stood in front of comically large speakers. The sound cut out just as the speakers activated, the force of the sound enough to send his employees flying. Vox, himself, couldn’t hear anything. A quick press of a button to the side activated a secondary feature, sound filtering.

“And if that wasn’t enough, they can also filter out any sound you want, save for your voice. Again, perfect for the unfortunates still stuck in their mother’s basement! Not only are they connectable to any and all of your Voxtek devices, but the wireless communications can hook up straight to your speaker function. You can take your call and enjoy walking through a scream park without a problem! The perfect gift for a busybody like myself!”

On cue, Velvette slid into frame, sporting a brand new, very modernized outfit. On top her head was the special one she requested, the one with ears. The lights dimmed ever so slightly, and Velvette’s outfit jumped to life, including glowing eye shadow and, of course, the frames of the ears. Again, not sure why it was such a necessity but he’s rolling with it.

“And right now, we’ve got a specialty line of them, working in collaboration with Velvette Designs! You might’ve seen them on the web lately! These items are limited release, so get them while their hot!”

Then, of course, the finale.

“Here at Voxtek, we strive for innovation! So Trust Us and take a look at our newest product!”

Before the commercial even finished, the limited release items sold which, at least informed Vox, that Velvette had once again been right. Apparently, people were fighting each other tooth and nail outside of stores for a set. Muggings and an odd black market popped up almost immediately. And that also meant the knock offs were starting up too, things that only ever made his products look even better by comparison. People wanted these things so badly that they were willing to risk getting ripped off. And these were people that hadn’t been hypnotized. Odd.

He might’ve felt compelled to thank her, but the kid was reward enough. Speaking of…

He watched him sitting there in her studio like a glorified trophy. Velvette was working on some designs that Val came up with for his models, things that looked trashy and were made even trashier. Naturally, that just wouldn’t do for their brand. While Vox didn’t usually care about this sort of thing, especially since none of Val’s workers ever wear clothes long enough for it to ever be noticeable, he will admit that it looked better on the poster if Angel wasn’t wearing cheap stockings and fake leather.

Anyways, the rest of the studio was treating the kid like a set piece, something to look at, coo at even, and then quickly return to work. He wasn’t speaking, but he was sunken into the couch like a boy dragged out to go shopping. Just sit, smile, and pretend everything everyone puts on looks lovely. Velvette had him in an oversized sweater which only made him look even punier. Looked good in pictures though, he noted as he scrolled through her recent posts.

He waved the footage away. He had other matters to attend to.

Like, for example, filming that segment about the horrors and potential health hazards of a specific frequency of radiowaves.

…

Just a few more hours. Then, he’d turn in for the night. Just had to go over the stock list again, product numbers, sales, and finally the new pitches his lesser technicians came up with. Only a few more things to do…

His sharks started to swim agitatedly, circling more, and then disappearing from his peripheral. Oh, great. He had a guest. Three guesses who.

“Val, I don’t have time for this right now! I’ve got-”

The smell of coffee caught him off guard. Val didn’t bring him coffee. He brought coffee to Val sometimes, but the only person who brought him coffee he threw off the building the other day. He didn’t expect him back to work so quickly either. Huh. Employee loyalty was a heck of a drug.

“Ah, great timing, and here I thought I’d have to go grab one myself-”

When he spun the chair around, he was greeted to the kid. He had a tray in his hand. Sitting atop it was a coffee, apparently handmade, and a muffin, chocolate chip from the looks of it.

“What’s this?”

The kid opened his mouth, then promptly shut it without uttering a peep. Vox rolled his eyes.

“You can answer when I ask you a question. What is this?”

“Black coffee, only a sip of cream. And a chocolate chip muffin.”

He peered at them, eyes narrowing.

“I’m not fucking blind. I know what they are but what,” He gestured. “is all this?”

“You…you’ve been in here all day.” His ears folded behind him, granting him an odd insight into just torn up he seemed to be. “I notice you haven’t eaten anything for hours…and I thought, well, you know.”

“…where’d you get the coffee?”

“The coffee bar.”

“How’d you know what I liked?”

His ears perked up almost immediately, and a thin smile crept up on him.

“So I was right?”

Well that remains to be seen. He snatched up the cup, the need for caffeine just overriding caution. Sure, it might be poisoned, but the deadliest kind around here was Val’s kind, and Vox regularly makes out with the man. If it was going to kill him, it should’ve done so already. Now, that didn’t mean he didn’t do a secondary analysis, testing the coffee as he chugged it down. The results came quick, almost as quickly as the warm liquid hitting his stomach.

It was…coffee. Black, with just a sip of cream. Actually, this was better than the ones his assistant made for him on the regular. That’s…not what he expected.

How exactly had the kid figured out his order?

Not that he’d admit that he liked it, of course.

He made a sour face, looking at it like it had been poison.

“Disgusting.” He tossed his hand up before the kid made a move to take it back though. ��But better than nothing I guess.”

He snatched up the muffin this time and took a bite. Okay, it was actually good. Warm still, the chocolate was melted slightly into the muffin. Their kitchenette wasn’t fully stocked, so he had to assume the kid used the ingredients from his cooking kitchen. A quick double check at least told him that the kid cleaned up after himself so…not so bad. Certain things were out of place and would need fixing before his next kitchen segment, but it wasn’t a bad price to pay, sort to speak.

“God, kid. Where’d you learn to bake? You should get your money back.” He snarked.

But, as he chanced a glance, the kid’s delicate smile grew slightly. His ears weren’t pulled back anymore. In fact, they flicked up with excitement. It was annoying.

“What?”

The kid’s attention flickered between the coffee cup and the remains of the muffin. There was pride drawing on his cheeks, almost turning them flush. He had to pull back the urge to shock some sense back into him.

“Well, why don’t you run along now? You’ve handed over your revolting-”

“But you’re eating them.”

He blinked. Did this kid just interrupt him? Him?

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.” He quickly added. “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t look sorry. In fact, he looked almost gleeful. Had he been among friends, Vox imagines he’d be bouncing off the walls. Even his tail was wagging like a dog.

And there was only so much disrespect Vox could take in one turn. Especially to his face. And despite the coffee and snack.

“Get. Out.” He sneered through his teeth.

That wiped the smile off the kid’s face. His ears tugged down again, and his tail pulled at the bottom of his legs. His eyes drooped as he nodded, bowing out. His head lifted only for a moment, peering at the aquarium. Vox couldn’t see it directly, but the mirrored image of him in the glass seemed to wag a friendly finger towards his man-eating friends. He didn’t stop walking though. The door hissed shut as he left, giving Vox back his space.

The coffee was warm on his hands. The warmth seeped into the very soles of his shoes as he took another sip. You’d think he’d be used to the cold now, since he often kept this room colder than others to save his monitor’s the extra workload of having to cool. But heat was something he craved, just like moths crave the moon.

He bit into the muffin again. When was the last time he had a chocolate muffin? He can’t remember. He should look back into the security footage, steal the recipe for his next dessert special. At the very least, he needed to write it down so that when his assistant does finally reform, he can have it whenever he wants.

Work called back to him again, even as he polished off the muffin. The coffee made the extra time bearable, as usual. Not great, but better.

The news was the usual assortment of dramas. Another turf war has broken out, pitting southeastern kingpins against each other in a violent exchange that encircled the block. Fifty eight dead so far, but who counts death that aren’t permanent anyways? His new headsets were doing wonderfully, and the fakes were proving themselves to be both a disappointment and, as Velvette keeps tabs on such things, akin to social suicide. It was Voxtek or nothing.

And not to worry, they should have new shipments coming soon! It’ll only cost an arm, a leg, or a soul.

The bitterness of the coffee held back the sweetness leftover from the snack.

Alastor was asking around now, about the kid. He caught him disappearing to the cannibal part of town, old stomping grounds to him. There were less cameras there, but he didn’t need them to know that he’d be visiting his old gal pal. Rosy, for all else that she was, knew a lot of gossip. Gossip that, ironically, really wouldn’t help here. Alastor should know that. The kid wasn’t even close to there when Vox’s men picked him up. Was he dragging his feet? He seemed less enthusiastic about the kid’s safety than Vox would’ve expected. They had seemed close. Well, as close as any of those deadbeats seemed to be. Alastor wasn’t the type to purposefully turn his back on a friend…or potential ally. Then, he considered how similarly he was treated once upon a time. Close enough to seem close, but never enough to truly care. For a moment, he wished the coffee was more bitter.

Finally, after a few hours slipped into a few too many, Vox was done with today. The rest had to wait for tomorrow. What was the point of being an Overlord if he couldn’t draw the line where he wanted? Oh, wait, no. That project needs to be reviewed and-

He caught an odd alert. Someone was looking something up on his T.V., something not in the library.

Sitting there on the couch, the newest waste of time sighed to himself as his search yielded no results. Vox tapped into the camera just in time to hear him complain.

“Oh, come on! He has to have it here somewhere. It was his show.”

A show of his? He brought up the search.

Well…it was one of his, one of his first ones. Back when he was still fresh off the hooves of the mortal realm fads. It was a sitcom of sorts, featuring characters dealing with life in a POW camp during the war. It was so old; it was still filmed in black and white. Half the actors in it had died to exterminations. One had drained his career down the bottle and drugs. Another had faded into obscurity when he refused to sign on for a different project, an insult Vox treated kinder back then.

It had been fun though, at the time. One of his first big breakout shows. People ate it up. Until times changed and tastes changed and no one wanted to hear about that war anymore. Vox got with the program. He wasn’t about to let an opportunity slip.

Unfortunately, that was the end of his first experiment. He gave it one last episode, ending like any other, before moving to the next thing. It’s too bad too. He’d been hoping the end of that show would showcase the actual end of the war, but…well…as he said, times had changed.

So, what was the kid doing looking it up? He hadn’t the slightest clue.

The kid kept digging, trying to find it on his streaming, his internet, even digging through the cabinet looking for DVDs. He wasn’t going to find anything. Once everything went to digital, that was the end of the DVDs.

He had half a mind to call Velvette up and tell her to watch her pets. In fact, he was going to but…his fingers curled around the warm mug.

Ugh, fine. Whatever.

A ping noise popped over the T.V., making the kid jump to attention. Look at that! All eight seasons of the show just got downloaded onto the platform! Aren’t you lucky?

He’d not seen so much joy in someone down here in a long time. Like, childhood giddiness. He was smiling like it was Christmas and the first present he opened was the one he wanted all along. It was odd, to say the least.

“Yes!” The giddiness spread to his legs now, and he could barely keep from leaping off the couch as he turned it on.

The intro song played. It was a chipper tune, playing along the lines of the old marching songs but lighter toned for general audience viewing. The kid knew every beat of it, and he twitched his head to the drum. Personally, it’d always been an earworm for him. That’s one of the reasons he went with it. Anything that could stay inside your head all day was something you’d give another watch later.

But, again, it’s been a while since any of this aired. It made sense that he’d still remember the beat. He invented it. The kid had no reason to know it, not this well. Maybe he heard about the show from some old sinner lurking about, that he could kinda understand even if he didn’t get the fascination with it. But knowing the song?

The more he watched, the more he realized that the kid wasn’t just excited to see the show, he was a fan of it. He knew the characters, knew the catchphrases, knew the twists. Hell, he seemed to know most of the episodes in general, from guest stars to side plots.

By the time he’d finished with work, the series was up to its last season. It’s this one the kid fell asleep watching. Vox wasn’t even sure the kid ate anything this whole time. Vel and Val were still out partying or whatever at this ungodly hour of the night. Given how he hasn’t moved at all, he can only imagine that Velvette abandoned her little toy or, worse, expected Vox to make sure he was still alive by the end of the day.

Speaking of food, he’d need some himself. The coffee was gone hours ago, and the muffin felt like a lifetime away to his stomach. He could make himself something. Hey, those cooking shows weren’t just an act. But that would require so much more work than he felt capable of right now.

He dragged himself away from his monitor room, his pet sharks darting about for one last look at their owner before the doors slammed shut again.

Was the meatloaf he made the other day still there? Probably not. Anytime Val smokes too much, he devours any leftovers that managed to make it the day. The bar had some snacks stocked in it, some for Velvette and some for bar prep, namely lemons, limes, and small accompaniments. At this point, he’d eat a whole fucking tree of lemons if he had to.

When he got to the longue, episode eighteen of the last season was playing. He remembers filming that one, where the POWs snuck out dressed in drag to pretend to be army nurses for the other side. At the time, even in hell, the drag caught people off guard, mostly because Vox made sure it damn well looked convincing. He snickered to himself as the lieutenant asked if the outfit complemented his figure. That was an adlib. The actor actually asked to keep the costume afterwards. Vox obliged.

Okay, now, bar.

He found some of the spread snacks lying about: crackers, chips, and different cheeses. He also found the whiskey, which he needed after a day like today. He grabbed them all and sat at the coffee table, just as the characters flirted past the guards to get to the secret plans hidden in the hospital. Ordinarily, they try not to eat here, on account of the expensive furniture and because Vox himself has made a habit of standing on the furniture when he got too excited. But with both of them gone, he didn’t care.

As for the kid, well, he was too small to take up much space on the couch as it was. That, and he was curling up as much as possible, so he hardly took over much more than elbow space. He sat down beside him, eyes unfocused and starting to drift.

In the world’s worst excuse for a sandwich, he smushed a piece of cheese, the kind didn’t matter, between two crackers. He downed about twenty of them before he reached for his whiskey. Yeah, there definitely wasn’t enough of that for tonight. He finished the bottle way too fast. Great. Well, better get back to the crackers. Otherwise he was gonna have a massive migraine later. And that just wouldn’t do with the morning news!

God, he needed another drink-

“Do they get out, in the end?”

He almost spit the crackers and cheese out like a rocket. Thankfully he didn’t. Velvette would throw a fit if she sat down and ruined an outfit on spit out, half chewed crackers.

“Where you just sitting here the whole time awake-?”

“Because the last episode doesn’t say if they got out.” As the kid pouted and, before he could even come up with an intelligent response, noticed the empty bottle and snack food. “…is that your dinner?”

If he wasn’t so tired and, admittedly a little tipsy, he might’ve snapped at the kid for talking over him, then not even giving him the second to think. As it was, the alcohol, the sleep deprivation, and growling of his stomach was making his mind a little too fuzzy to answer like he normally would.

“I dunno, kid. Didn’t think too much on it.”

“…regarding the show or dinner?”

He blinked slowly. It didn’t make the world stop spinning.

“Both. I think both.”

The kid went silent for a moment, just enough time for him to sit up a little bit more. Geez, was he always that small? Was it just his stupidly big ears that made him look bigger?

“I can only make muffins.” The kid announced randomly.

He swears his processors were lying to him. He did not just say that.

“…What?”

“Lucifer taught me how to make muffins, but I haven’t figured out pancakes yet. Do you want PB and J?”

“The fuck are you on about, kid?”

“Everybody says hangovers suck, and that it’s worse if you don’t eat anything. You want crust or no crust?”

The alcohol was swimming in his brain too much. The kid had a point. He’s drunk too much and ate too little. What would the viewers say tomorrow if Vox, the Vox, looked like he drank himself stupid the day before? Logically, his numbers automatically fed back to him, he should eat something.

But his mouth wasn’t running by his logistics, unfortunately.

“What do you mean, ‘everybody says’? What, you’ve never been hungover?”

The kid’s face pursed like he ate a lemon, or a girl with kooties tried to kiss him. Revolt, the kind that only kids had for stupid things like love, baths, and vegetables, tugged on his face.

“I make it a point not to drink anything I could run a car on.”

A deep throated laugh burst from him. He’s not even sure where it came from. It kinda just puked right out his mouth and filled the room.

“That was funny.” He managed between filling his lungs. “Where you always funny, or am I way too drunk?”

He doesn’t think he should’ve said that last part out loud now that he thinks about it. Thankfully the kid didn’t answer the stupid question with a stupid answer. Instead, a small grin peeked under his muzzle.

“So, PB and J?”

He put the bottle down, the empty clang of it echoing in the room. He forgot how quiet it was when everyone else was gone. He was so used to this being their space, their collective space, that any time spent alone felt…odd. The kid wasn’t much. Even drunk off his ass, he couldn’t really compare to having one of the other Vees here.

But, you know, he was funny. A bit.

And he offered peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Even the other Vees never offered as much when he was drunk, not that he remembers anyways.

“Yeah, kid. Go make me a fucking sandwich.”

“Okay, but don’t watch the last episode without me!” He leapt up and over towards the cooking set. Again, he needed to chase his staff over and clean that up later, for tomorrow’s lesson. He was going to go over a filet mignon with red wine reduction sauce. That was the plan. Now, for some reason, he was wondering if he was better off showing how to make muffins.

The intro song played again. It was the last episode of the series. Nothing special, he didn’t get to have the grand finale he’d once envisioned. It was still as good as any other episode though. And no, he didn’t feel like waiting either.

The kid came back with the sandwiches about a fourth of the way through. He had removed the crust and sliced it down the middle to make two even triangles. It was a fucking lunch his mother could’ve packed him for school. He was eating school lunch. He didn’t feel drunk enough to be eating school lunch, though he was just hungry enough to cave.

It was good, obviously. Hard to mess up PB and J, especially with his own ingredients.

“I told you not to watch without me.”

The kid huffed as he bit into a different sandwich, also peanut butter and jelly.

“Did I ever say I agreed to that?” He mentioned back.

“…you’re kinda a jerk.”

Of all the insults he’s taken: the curses, the lengthy speeches, the loudmouth screeching of a certain radio, he’s not sure he’s ever been called a ‘jerk’. It was so wildly immature, but not in the ‘I’m spouting whatever curse comes to mind’ kind of way. But, probably because he was drunk and because it wasn’t the usual cursing white noise it hit harder than expected. Like, he laughed, but there was a bitter edge to it.

“A ‘jerk’? Really? That’s the best you’ve got?” His toothy grin might remind one of a shark, though it probably looked less intimidating with peanut butter all over his teeth.

The kid shrugged.

“I don’t know. Just seemed to be the word that fit best, I guess.”

Somehow, that was even more insulting.

“…shut up.”

He did as he was told, staying quiet for a good couple of minutes, but Vox didn’t really talk much either. He usually loved talking in the middle of movies or shows, partly to annoy but partly to entertain when the watchability wasn’t there.

“Do you still have the sets from the show? I know sometimes people in Hollywood would reuse sets.” The kid asked, interrupting the silence. And giving Vox plenty to talk about.

“From this show? Nah. We used some of it for other programs at the time, but a lot of it was scrapped when we branched out into Sci-fi shows. The space race was a hell of a time for TV.” Notably, the kid seemed genuinely upset to hear that, though something about the sag of his shoulders told Vox that he expected that answer.

And, okay, he was still drunk and not thinking right.

“I’ve got the captain’s hat in my closet.”

The kid’s jaw snapped open.

“Really?”

Wow, he just wore his emotions on his sleeve, huh?

“Yeah, it’s got all the pins on it still too.” Why had he kept it? Even he didn’t really know the answer. There’s been a few times where he’d thought about throwing it away, like the rest of the old, outdated junk but…well, then there were moments like these. When drunk, he liked thinking about those stupid passion projects. It was better than focusing on more recent events, usually.

“That’s so cool!”

Well, that might be going a step too far.

“It’s just an old hat, kid.”

“From a classic show!” He argued. “It just sucks that Hell doesn’t have museums or something.”

His show as a dusted up old display in a museum? Even drunk, that sounded suspiciously like an insult.

“That’s because Hell is the museum, kid.” He flashed his teeth again. “Too many old bastards long past their time hanging around and dragging their fucking heels. It’s all a museum and a fucking zoo down here.”

To that, the kid didn’t seem to have an argument. He gave up a little sigh.

“You’d think people with knowledge from, like, thousands of years ago would be really cool.”

“Fossils.” Vox, now hitting a little too close to his chest, stopped smiling. “Just a bunch of fucking fossils who are pissed off that the world didn’t fucking stop turning when they died. Bunch of narcissistic assholes who think everything should revolve around them.”

The kid stopped mid-bite and just looked at him. After a moment, it started being pretty funny.

“Hey, the world actually does revolve around me!” He stated. The kid raised a brow and gave a slow blink of his eyes. “It’s true! If it wasn’t for me, nothing would’ve ever changed down here. Trust me, before I got to Hell, you would’ve thought we were in the dark ages.”

The episode’s outro played, a reprised version of the intro song. As the last episode though, it seemed a little slower pitched than he remembered, as if it wanted to go on just a little bit longer. It was an absurd thought, especially since all episodes fitted nicely into the exact TV slot allotted to them, with commercials. None of them were any longer than others. But this? It seemed longer. Did he do that on purpose? He doesn’t remember doing that on purpose.

He snatched the remote before the kid could. His eyes were dipping a bit from the need for sleep, and the cocktail of PB and J and whiskey settling in his stomach. So, rather than take a chance on the remote, he flicked the signal between his fingers, telling the TV to put on a game show. Guess he still had old crap on the brain because the one that popped up was one of the ancient, prerecorded ones. That was back when TV was on more of a schedule, meaning that at some point in the night the broadcasts would stop.

It was a non-creative project, something he’d ripped off from a show he’d used to watch, except instead of trying to figure out someone’s job, you’d typically be figuring out how they died. Vox had found some pretty amusing ones over the years. One of his favorites was the guy who’d been reporting the weather and died when a fish leapt out of the water and smacked him in the face. Poor bastard wasn’t even sure if it was the impact of the fish that killed him or if it was falling off the dock and getting run over by a boat.

Some of the best ones resulted in sinners that looked really fucking weird, because, apparently, part of being in hell was remembering, forever, how and what killed you. He remembered a guy that looked like his face was squashed by an old cartoony hammer because he’d actually died to a piano being dropped on his head.

Vox, of course, had been the host. Some other demons filled in the guessers’ positions, people who’ve long faded into the background of his mind. In this one, a demon resembling a polar bear wrote his name down and sat beside Vox as the questioning began.

“He got sliced by a hockey skate, didn’t he?”

Okay, color Vox surprised.

“How’d you figure that?”

“’Cause his fur looks like a hockey jersey and he keeps trying to hide his neck.”

Huh. He supposed that was true. Maybe he’d seen the episode before though. Maybe he was just lying. Well, there was one quick way to test it.

“Not bad. Alright, here’s a tougher one. How did I die?” He challenged. He better not say he got crushed by a TV. He’s heard that one way too many times, and he was sick and tried of people assuming he got knocked off like a looney tunes character-

“My guess would be a power surge.”

“…huh?”

“Well, I mean, you don’t look like you’ve got any scars on you, but you’re a kind of dark blue everywhere. And you short circuit the city when you get mad. So, my guess would be you got electrocuted or something.”

That was a first. Obviously, his death was a little more graphic and detailed than some random electrocution. Here, come watch the death of your favorite TV star! Live for one night only. Or alive for one last night only. And there were still people out there that thought the chair was merciful. Merciful, my ass. That shit had hurt.

“Couldn’t be further from the truth, kid. You really suck at this.” He teased. “But since we’re on the subject…”

There honestly wasn’t much to go on for the kid. He was used to having these answers behind an info card, rather than having to guess himself. Sure, constant practice showed some consistent things. He’s not sure how the fox part of his appearance played into things, but he could spot the pattern of his ears and arms well enough. The slight glint of his freckles reminded him more of taillights than of actual freckles. Also, he was a kid. What was the most obvious thought there?

“What? You go chasing after your ball and get hit by a car?”

The kid suddenly found interest in his feet, kicking them around like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Oh, he could picture it now. A stupid little kid on his way to school, playing in the street when all of a sudden-

“I got run over by an eighteen-wheeler.”

A What?

“Come again?”

“I was driving my car, took my eyes off the road for a second. An eighteen-wheeler had come barreling down the road going the wrong way.”

What the fuck?

“Like, run over though? Not just crashed into the car?”

He nodded.

“I think that’s why I’ve got treads on my arms, legs, and ears. If you get my meaning.”

Holy shit. Like karma was a bitch and, yeah, obviously the kid was down here for…something but-

“Was it quick at least?”

The kid bit his lip, and his body curled closer to him.

“I…I just remember the headlights.”

He was lying. Vox knew that. Oh, fuck, that’s a hard way to go. Plus, he’s a kid. He felt like his brain was running too many programs at once, never a smart thing to do while intoxicated.

“How old are you?”

“Um…twelve, I think. Maybe thirteen. I…I don’t really remember. Time’s so weird down here.”

Twelve? They threw a twelve year old down here with the likes of serial killers, sex offenders, and power hungry dictators? What the fuck did he do? Did he accidently bring a super psycho into the Vee tower?

“Where you murdering other children behind the school cafeteria or something? How does a twelve year old get into hell? You’re not even alive long enough to do anything. Or big enough. Or have a functioning brain.”

“Can we talk about something else?”

“No, we are clearing this up right fucking now. Why are you down here?”

He was not going to let this go. The last thing he needed was for a deranged little twerp like Alastor’s girl running around stabbing things. Sure, he hasn’t shown any of that yet and he did check into that loser’s hotel but he’s learned better than to trust that. If the kid wasn’t going to spill, he’d just make him, with a quick suggestion of course.

“I…I mean.” The kid shuddered, and he seemed to gulp down air. “I-I went for a drive. It was dark, and it was raining. I-I honestly d-didn’t mean to hit him! He just walked out from the woods somewhere a-and I-I-I didn’t see him.”

Oh. Well, that made more sense then. But damning a twelve year or thirteen year old for an accident? Seemed excessive, even to Vox. Usually he punished people for, you know, actual mistakes. There was the occasional fuck up that couldn’t be ignored obviously, but he’d think kids would get a special pass, at least.

“So, what? You bury his body in the middle of nowhere?”

He shook his head.

“I just…I just panicked. I drove off…I…I didn’t even try to help.”

“…okay, then what? You lie to everyone and get someone else convicted?”

There had to be another reason…right?

“No. I only drove another few miles before the truck happened.”

Wait. Wait.

“You mean to tell me that you got damned to hell because of an accident? You? A kid?”

“…I…I think’s it more because I ran instead of helping-”

He said more but Vox toned him out because what the actual fuck. No wonder hell was overpopulated. An accident? An accident was all it took to send an otherwise innocent soul to shack up with the murderers, rapists, and tyrants of the world?

You knew something was wrong when he thought that heaven or whoever was in charge of this nonsense went too far.

“I am not drunk enough to process this.”

“You’ve had two bottles already.”

He had? Huh. Where’d the second bottle come from? A quick look revealed that he was holding a bottle, a different one from the one on the table. Though, from his spot on the couch, it’s started to look like four bottles rather than two. Again, not a good sign.

A quick check of his internal clock told he needed to be in bed like two hours ago if he’d planned on getting up without issue in the morning. He went to stand, putting just the barest amount of weight on his legs when he felt them buckle. Okay, too drunk and too weak to walk. Brilliant.

“See that blanket over there?” He gestured to the same one the kid found yesterday, labeled with their logo in that warm flannel knit. It was on Val’s couch which meant it might not exactly be clean, but if he’d been scared away by that about Val, they wouldn’t be in their stupid little back and forth all the time. “Go get it.”

He did as he was told. Being sober granted him the ability to at least check it before bringing it over. In that time, Vox pushed around pillows, making a small wall that he planned to use as a rest for his screen. The kid held the throw out, and he wasted no time in tossing it over himself. He always had to make sure it didn’t accidentally cover his fans, least he overheats and really needs a tune up in the morning. Almost as soon as he laid down right, everything in his body seemed to be losing power. Feedbacks were starting to fail. Limbs started turning to jelly.

“Do I have to sleep on the floor again? It’s cold on the floor.”

“Kid, could you just shut up? I’ve had too long of a day to deal with this.”

“…is that a no?”

Sparks started flying about his face, some getting dangerously close to the blanket. By now, most of the casual fabrics lounging around their inner sanctum up here have been made fireproof. Live and learn and all that. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been known not to melt a few of them when in a particularly bad mood, anger he tries to keep tight on a leash.

Except when he’s drunk. Like now. Which is a bit of a problem.

Calm down. You don’t want to set the tower on fire now, do you? No, you don’t. That’d be bad for the reputation, the brand’s reputation, and especially your reputation. You don’t want him to win again, do you?

Plus, you’d have to deal with pissed off Val and Vel.

He steeled his nerves and opened his eyes a bit.

“Clean this shit up and I’ll think about it.” He wouldn’t. He’d be passed out long before clean up would be finished.

“…pinkie promise?”

Were pinkie promises deals? He didn’t think so. Nothing in his database said they were.

“Yeah, sure.”

Despite the dark circles on his eyes, the kid was surprisingly springy. And trusting, because he seemed to just take Vox’s word on the matter. He caught him bounding around the table like a jack rabbit in his fading peripheral vision, his red fur blending in with the maroon hues of the cushions around. Right before everything went offline, he had an odd moment of clarity.

He was unarmed, drunk, passed out on the couch at the disposal of someone who would literally only gain from his death. It wasn’t like he was under contract. His guards wouldn’t be so stupid as to let the kid leave, but it’s not like any of them could reach him in time if, say, the kid poured the whisky into his outlet.

This is a bad idea, he concluded. Then he knocked out.

Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9/ Part 10

[demifiendrsa]

PlayStation 5 Pro Console - Reveal Trailer

PS5 Pro Technical Presentation hosted by Mark Cerny

PlayStation 5 Pro, an enhanced version of PlayStation 5, will launch on November 7, 2024 for $699.99 / £699.99 / €799.99 / ¥119,980. It will be available as a disc-less console, with the currently available disc drive available as a separate purchase. Pre-orders will begin on September 26, 2024.

First details via The PlayStation Blog

We developed PlayStation 5 Pro with deeply engaged players and game creators in mind—as many have asked for a console that runs even higher fidelity graphics with smoother frame rates at 60 frames per second. We achieved this on PlayStation 5 Pro with several key performance features.

Upgraded GPU – With PlayStation 5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PlayStation 5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.

Advanced Ray Tracing – We’ve added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PlayStation 5 console.

AI-Driven Upscaling – We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.

PlayStation 5 Pro provides gamers with amazing graphics at high frame rates. You can hear Mark Cerny, lead architect for PlayStation 5 Pro, discuss the key innovations from PlayStation 5 Pro in the following video presentation. This presentation provides a deep dive into the key performance features that make PlayStation 5 Pro truly special.

Other enhancements include PlayStation 5 Pro Game Boost, which can apply to more than 8,500 backward compatible PlayStation 4 games playable on PlayStation 5 Pro. This feature may stabilize or improve the performance of supported PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games. Enhanced Image Quality for PlayStation 4 games is also available to improve the resolution on select PlayStation 4 games. PlayStation 5 Pro will also launch with the latest wireless technology, Wi-Fi 7, in territories supporting this standard. VRR and 8K gaming are also supported.

It’s humbling to see how game creators have embraced the latest technology from PlayStation 5 Pro, and several games will be patched with free software updates for gamers to take advantage of PlayStation 5 Pro’s features. These games can be identified with a PlayStation 5 Pro Enhanced label within their title. Some games you can look forward to include blockbuster hits from PlayStation Studios and our third-party partners, such as Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Demon’s Souls, Dragon’s Dogma II, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Gran Turismo 7, Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Crew Motorfest, The First Descendant, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and more.

We kept the look of the PlayStation 5 Pro consistent with the overall PlayStation 5 family of products. You’ll notice the height is the same size as the original PlayStation 5, and the width is the same size as the current PlayStation 5 model to accommodate higher performance specs. Players can add an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive, or swap out console covers when they become available.

PlayStation 5 Pro fits perfectly within the PlayStation 5 family of products and is compatible with the PlayStation 5 accessories currently available, including PlayStation VR2, PlayStation Portal, DualSense Edge, Access controller, Pulse Elite, and Pulse Explore. The user interface and network services will also remain the same as PlayStation 5.

The PlayStation 5 Pro console will be available this holiday at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $699.99 USD, £699.99 GBP, €799.99 EUR, and ¥119,980 JPY (includes tax). It will include a 2TB SSD, a DualSense wireless controller, and a copy of ASTRO’s PLAYROOM pre-installed in every PlayStation 5 Pro purchase. PlayStation 5 Pro is available as a disc-less console, with the option to purchase the currently available disc drive for PlayStation 5 separately.

PlayStation 5 Pro will launch on November 7, 2024 and will be available at participating retailers and directly from PlayStation at PlayStation Direct. Preorders will begin on September 26, 2024.

Our PlayStation 5 journey would not be possible without the millions of players that have supported us through the years and have shared with us their love of gaming. Whichever console option players choose, whether it’s PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Pro, we wish to bring everyone the very best gaming experience that fits their needs.

[amanxkataria]

Wireless 3-in-1 Foldable Plug & Socket Adapter – The Perfect Power Solution

Tired of messy cords and bulky chargers? The Wireless 3-in-1 Foldable Plug & Socket Adapter revolutionizes the way you charge and presents you with a whole new experience of charging! This Foldable Wall Plug Adapter is the ultimate in convenience and must be included as a tool in your home, office, and travel needs. Stay charged up with no tangled wires anymore and multiple socket chargers — enjoy a wireless, hassle-free experience today!

Why You Need This Wireless Adapter!

3-in-1 Versatility — Bye-bye, lugging around multiple chargers! This Plug Adapter is designed to charge several devices simultaneously, maximizing efficiency and convenience.

Wireless & Hassle-Free — No more cable clutter! Experience a tidy, well-organized, and wireless charging system with this Wireless Adapter.

Compact & Foldable Design — Conveniently small and foldable for easy storage and transport, making it the ideal Socket Adapter for travelers and professionals.

Universal Compatibility — Compliant with most devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and others!

Safe & Durable — Made of superior materials to avoid overheating, overvoltage, and short circuit, which ensures your devices are safe.

Energy-Efficient & Space-Saving — Its small size ensures it won’t block surrounding sockets, so it’s the most suitable Wireless Plug Adapter for compact spaces.

Fast Charging Technology — Made to charge your devices fast and efficiently, saving you precious time.

Multi-Device Support — Whether you have to charge your phone, tablet, laptop, or any other electronic device, this adapter is for you.

Ideal for Travel & Daily Use

Do you always find yourself on the move? Whether for work, exploring new places, or commuting to and from office and home, your ultimate traveling companion is the Wireless 3-in-1 Foldable Plug & Socket Adapter. It will fit into even the smallest of bags so you do not lose contact with any place. Use it at airports, hotels, restaurants, or even airplanes — complete convenience at your fingertips!

Also, this adapter is ideal for home application. If you are looking to charge several devices at the kitchen counter, organize your workspace without wires, or recharge gadgets at bed, this adapter is the smooth and efficient way to do so. No more tangled extension cords or big clunky chargers — streamline your life with this Wireless Adapter.

How It Works

Unfold the Plug Adapter and plug it into a power outlet.

Plug your devices into the adapter — no additional cables needed!

Experience quick, efficient, and wireless power transfer wherever you are.

Who Should Get This Great Wireless Adapter?

Frequent Travelers — Bye-bye to multiple chargers and knotted cords!

Busy Professionals — Keep all your necessary devices charged at the office or on the move.

Students — Ideal for dorm rooms, libraries, and study sessions without having to work with messy cables.

Home Users — Perfect for kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms where you have several devices to charge.

Tech Enthusiasts — If you are a fan of cutting-edge gadgets, this is a must-have addition to your gadget collection.

Minimalists — If you like a tidy and clutter-free environment, this adapter does away with the need for several chargers and power strips.

Conclusion

The Wireless 3-in-1 Foldable Plug & Socket Adapter is a must-have for anyone who requires a space-efficient, effective, and convenient power solution. Traveling, working, or at home, this adapter supplies your devices with power without the hassle of multiple cables.

Its compact, sleek, and foldable design makes it convenient to carry, while its universal compatibility means it’s compatible with most devices. Upgrade your charging experience now and have a hassle-free, wireless power solution that perfectly integrates into your lifestyle. No more tangled cables and inefficient chargers — get yours now and remain connected with ease!

Order now and see the future of wireless power!

[writtenbymay]

RAINBERRY • Harry Styles & Zayn Malik • Part 7

The first week in London was a whirlwind of activity. Everything revolved around the exhibition: presenting artworks, hanging frames, positioning objects neatly, determining the flow route, arranging lighting, adding information boards, and creating social media content. All the moving boxes in my temporary studio were unpacked. In this studio, I could work on new ideas and complete assignments for paying clients. I felt a sense of relief that everything had found its place, even though the rest of my life here was still so new and unfamiliar.

It was Friday evening when I finally had time to catch my breath. After putting away the groceries, my apartment was still filled with moving boxes, suitcases full of clothes, and a jumble of items I didn’t even recognize anymore. The space still felt strange - like a hotel room where you stay temporarily but never truly feel at home. The chaos of the past week had completely drained my energy, but now it was time to tackle the first box - I couldn’t find anything anymore. While making a pot of tea, I decided to call my grandpas. It was a nice distraction from the mess, a way to retreat to something familiar, something that felt like home. “Blom-Huisman residence. Hendrik Huisman speaking.” Grandpa Hendrik’s familiar voice sounded through the phone. I immediately smiled. “Hi Grandpa, it’s May,” I said, putting my wireless earbuds in so I could free up my hands to tackle the boxes. It still felt strange to speak to them only over the phone. “Hi sweetheart,” Grandpa Hendrik replied, his voice always warm and reassuring. “Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker for Grandpa Gerard,” he said, and I heard the sound of shuffling. It was always nice to hear them together - their dynamic was so familiar. “Hello May, can you hear me?” Grandpa Gerard shouted into the phone. “Gerard!” Grandpa Hendrik sighed. “With the speaker function, we can both talk to May, but you don’t have to shout so loudly.” I could hear the affection in his voice. “Sorry, Hendrik,” Grandpa Gerard mumbled sheepishly, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “Can you hear me, May?” he asked again, this time at a normal volume. “Yes, Grandpa, I hear you perfectly,” I said, laughing. It was so typical of Grandpa Gerard - always a few steps behind when it came to technology, but it had its charm too.

[aquanalytics]

Understanding Smart Water Metering: A Comprehensive Guide

Smart water metering is revolutionizing how individuals, businesses, and municipalities manage water usage. With its advanced technology, it provides real-time data, improves efficiency, and promotes sustainable water consumption practices. This blog delves into the essentials of smart water metering, covering critical topics, challenges, step-by-step implementation, a real-life case study, and a concluding overview.

What is Smart Water Metering?

Smart water metering refers to the use of advanced metering systems that monitor water consumption in real-time and transmit data to consumers and service providers. Unlike traditional water meters, smart meters are equipped with wireless communication technologies, offering a more interactive and efficient water management system.

Unique Topics Everyone Should Know About Smart Water Metering

1. How Smart Water Meters Work

Smart water meters rely on sensors and communication networks to collect and transmit data. These meters often use IoT (Internet of Things) technology, connecting them to centralized data systems for seamless operation.

Key Features:

Real-time monitoring

Leak detection

Usage analytics

2. Benefits of Smart Water Metering

Smart water metering offers multiple advantages:

Enhanced Accuracy: Reduces billing errors.

Water Conservation: Identifies wasteful practices.

Convenience: Provides users with detailed consumption reports.

Cost Savings: Promotes efficient water use, lowering bills.

3. Applications of Smart Water Meters

Smart water meters are used across various sectors:

Residential Areas: Encouraging homeowners to adopt water-saving habits.

Commercial Buildings: Monitoring high water usage.

Municipal Systems: Managing city-wide water distribution.

Challenges in Smart Water Metering

While smart water metering presents many benefits, it also has challenges:

1. High Initial Investment

The cost of installing smart meters can be prohibitive, especially for large-scale projects.

2. Data Security Concerns

Since smart meters rely on digital communication, they are susceptible to cyber threats.

3. Infrastructure Requirements

Implementing smart water meters requires robust communication networks and integration with existing systems.

4. Resistance to Change

Some users may resist transitioning from traditional meters due to unfamiliarity or skepticism.

Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Smart Water Metering

Step 1: Assess Requirements

Evaluate the specific needs of the property or area. Consider water usage patterns and infrastructure compatibility.

Step 2: Choose the Right Technology

Select smart water meters that align with your objectives, such as those offering real-time analytics or advanced leak detection.

Step 3: Plan the Deployment

Create a comprehensive plan outlining the installation process, data management protocols, and training requirements.

Step 4: Install and Integrate

Install the smart water meters and integrate them with your existing water management systems.

Step 5: Monitor and Optimize

Regularly monitor the performance of the smart meters and optimize their settings to maximize efficiency.

Case Study: Smart Water Metering in Urban Communities

Background

A mid-sized city faced challenges with water waste and inaccurate billing due to outdated water meters. The local government decided to implement smart water metering across residential and commercial zones.

Implementation

Conducted a city-wide assessment to identify high-priority areas.

Chose smart meters with real-time data transmission and leak detection capabilities.

Trained staff and launched an awareness campaign to educate residents.

Results

Reduction in Water Waste: Decreased water loss by 25% within the first year.

Improved Billing Accuracy: Resolved 90% of previous billing disputes.

Enhanced User Engagement: Residents actively monitored and reduced their water usage.

Conclusion

Smart water metering represents a significant step toward efficient and sustainable water management. By providing real-time insights, reducing waste, and promoting conservation, it benefits individuals, businesses, and municipalities alike. Despite initial challenges such as cost and infrastructure needs, the long-term advantages outweigh the hurdles. Adopting smart water metering not only ensures better resource management but also fosters a culture of accountability and sustainability.

Whether you are a homeowner looking to monitor your water usage or a city planner aiming to optimize municipal water distribution, smart water metering is the future of water management. Start exploring your options today to make a difference for tomorrow.

By implementing the concepts discussed, leveraging the step-by-step guide, and learning from successful case studies, you can effectively embrace the revolution of smart water metering. Together, we can work towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

[digitaldetoxworld]

Soundbar Setup Tips: Maximize Your Home Audio Performance

 Soundbars have revolutionized the manner people enjoy audio in their houses, supplying a handy and incredible answer for reinforcing the sound of televisions and other gadgets. Compact, elegant, and relatively smooth to installation, soundbars have become an vital a part of modern-day home leisure systems. This article delves into the various elements of soundbars, consisting of their features, advantages, kinds, and suggestions for deciding on the right one in your desires.

High-quality soundbar with subwoofer

The Evolution of Soundbars

Televisions have gone through a good sized transformation over the last few decades, turning into slimmer and more visually attractive. However, this layout evolution has frequently come at the cost of audio best, as thinner TVs lack the distance for robust built-in audio system. Enter the soundbar – a sleek, standalone audio tool designed to cope with this obstacle by using turning in advanced sound high-quality.

The first soundbars emerged inside the overdue Nineties and early 2000s, typically as a response to the developing reputation of flat-screen TVs. These early models presented a easy way to beautify TV audio with out requiring a complex surround sound machine. Over time, soundbars have developed to encompass superior functions like wireless connectivity, integrated voice assistants, and Dolby Atmos assist, making them a versatile audio answer for diverse desires.

Key Features of Soundbars

Modern soundbars come packed with functions that cater to one of a kind choices and budgets. Some of the maximum remarkable capabilities include:

Sound Quality: Soundbars are designed to supply rich, immersive audio with enhanced readability and intensity. Many fashions consist of multiple drivers and subwoofers to create a balanced sound profile.

Compact Design: Unlike conventional domestic theater systems, soundbars are compact and may be without difficulty set up on a wall or positioned on a TV stand without occupying a lot space.

Connectivity Options: Soundbars usually offer numerous connectivity alternatives, such as HDMI ARC, optical enter, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, allowing seamless integration with TVs, smartphones, and other devices.

Virtual Surround Sound: Some soundbars use advanced audio processing technology to simulate surround sound, supplying an immersive enjoy without the need for multiple audio system.

Smart Features: Many soundbars come equipped with smart capabilities like voice control, app-primarily based controls, and compatibility with clever domestic ecosystems.

Customization: High-end soundbars frequently consist of EQ settings and presets that allow customers to tailor the sound to their alternatives or particular content material.

Types of Soundbars

Soundbars are available in numerous configurations to match unique desires and setups. Here are the principle sorts:

All-in-One Soundbars: These fashions encompass integrated subwoofers and drivers, making them a compact, standalone answer for higher audio.

Soundbars with External Subwoofers: These soundbars include a separate subwoofer unit, handing over enhanced bass overall performance. The subwoofers are frequently wireless, allowing bendy placement in the room.

Soundbar Systems with Surround Speakers: For a true surround sound enjoy, some soundbars encompass extra satellite audio system. These systems are ideal for home theater lovers.

Dolby Atmos Soundbars: Designed for a premium audio revel in, these soundbars guide Dolby Atmos technology, which creates a 3-dimensional soundstage with the aid of adding top to the audio.

Compact Soundbars: These are smaller soundbars designed for compact areas or secondary TVs. While they may lack superior features, they nevertheless provide giant audio improvements over integrated TV audio system.

Benefits of Soundbars

The recognition of soundbars stems from the numerous blessings they provide:

Enhanced Audio Quality: Soundbars significantly improve the audio experience as compared to traditional TV audio system, making talk clearer and sound outcomes more impactful.

Space-Saving Design: Their slender and streamlined layout makes soundbars a realistic desire for modern-day dwelling spaces, where area is probably constrained.

Ease of Installation: Setting up a soundbar is typically trustworthy, frequently requiring only a single cable connection or wi-fi pairing.

Affordability: While high-cease models may be expensive, there are many price range-pleasant options that offer awesome performance.

Versatility: Soundbars can be used for extra than simply TV audio; they are remarkable for streaming track, gaming, and even arms-free calls, depending at the model.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Soundbar

Selecting the right soundbar involves thinking about several elements to make certain it meets your desires and preferences:

Audio Quality: Pay attention to the soundbar's specs, which include the wide variety of channels, wattage, and frequency range. Listening to a demo, if feasible, also can assist.

Room Size and Layout: Choose a soundbar that fits the dimensions of your room. For larger rooms, don't forget fashions with outside subwoofers or additional speakers.

Compatibility: Ensure the soundbar is like minded along with your TV and different gadgets. Look for features like HDMI ARC or eARC for seamless integration.

Connectivity Options: Consider your selected connection technique, whether it's Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or bodily cables.

Features and Functionality: Determine which functions are most critical to you, consisting of digital surround sound, voice assistants, or Dolby Atmos aid.

Budget: Set a budget and examine models inside your rate range. While top rate soundbars provide superior functions, there are tremendous mid-variety and budget alternatives available.

Setting Up Your Soundbar

Setting up a soundbar is usually quick and easy. Here are a few popular steps to follow:

Position the Soundbar: Place the soundbar without delay underneath or above your TV for most beneficial audio alignment. If mounting it on a wall, make sure it is at ear level.

Connect to Your TV: Use the preferred connection technique, inclusive of HDMI ARC, optical cable, or Bluetooth. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for setup.

Adjust Settings: Access the soundbar’s settings to customise the audio profile. Experiment with presets or EQ adjustments to find the satisfactory sound in your space.

Test the Audio: Play distinctive styles of content to ensure the soundbar can provide steady overall performance across films, track, and TV indicates.

Maintenance and Troubleshooting

To preserve your soundbar acting optimally, observe these renovation guidelines:

Keep it Clean: Dust the soundbar regularly to prevent dust buildup, that may affect sound first-rate.

Update Firmware: Check for firmware updates from the producer to make sure your soundbar has the today's capabilities and fixes.

Check Connections: Periodically investigate cables and connections to make certain they're stable and functioning properly.

Troubleshoot Issues: If you enjoy problems like audio lag or connectivity troubles, seek advice from the person guide or searching for support from the manufacturer.

[pleasuregave]

@bittcnneck sent . . . Lacey watched Jin fumble with the TV's chords, he was leaning down slightly to get his head behind the TV to untangle the mess and to see whatever is causing trouble. She stood behind him, in case he needed anything. Her eyes traveled down from his head, to his back, to his butt. She doesn't often stare at Jin's ass.. but when the opportunity presents itself, it wasn't like she would turn it away. What would it feel like, anyways? Is it like his pecs? Looks big and soft like actual boobs, but is rock solid? She hummed, her hand automatically moving to gently poke one if his buttcheeks. "..oh, I'm sorry.." she mumbled in embarrassment, backing off and pulling her finger away. She couldn't really tell much since she only just poked it once now, but it is indeed, pretty hard.

He recognized that the problem: too many cords plugged in at once. The TV, DVD player, & game console cords had all become a tangled disaster. They tugged on the TV's, preventing it from properly connecting in the back. Jin unleashed a barrage of curses in his head, questioning how technology hadn't advanced further to make all devices wireless. Actually, since he's studying mechanical engineering, he considered it a challenge he can tackle. Invent a wireless PlayStation . . .

Lacey prodded his thoughts with a finger to his rear. It caused him to drop all the cords, pausing to process what was happening. After she pulled away & apologized, Jin returned to busying his hands again.

❝ It's . . . okay, ❞ he said, slightly confused. Usually people smack their lover's ass, not . . . poke it. ❝ What, are you scared it'll bite ? ❞