#angle position sensors

[sw5w]

I Will Not Defer

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:28:35

[rabotimagines]

jealous cons sounds really funny, especially if they can't do anything but mald

TOP DECEPTICON MALDERS LETS GOOOO!

"Hero" GN BOT Reader x Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, Skywarp

Summary: Your friends save you from the Decepticons. The cons get pissed they missed another chance at you! Then you even kiss your friend on the cheek in thanks! (Scandalous, I know.)

G1 characters: Megatron, Starscream, Blitzwing, Skywarp. (The Autobots that save Reader are Optimus, Bluestreak, Tracks, and Hound!)

Genre/Theme: Cross faction Jealousy

Warnings: Blitzwing is a menace and mentions thinking of ripping readers' modesty panel off. It doesn't happen, but y'know. The Decepticons being brats experiencing being told "No" for the first time (The Cons are malding real bad). The cons generally assuming they have a "right" to Reader.

Pronouns: You, Your, Yours

Notes: This is based on teasing/flirty Autobot Reader, whom the Decepticons get a bit too interested in. Reader knows what they're doing and they do it specifically to fuck with the Decepticons. Via kissing your Autobot friends on the cheek!

Megatron is mad- he's not just mad he is furious when Prime, the fool that he is, puts himself between you and Megatron. Now, if it was any of the other puny Autobots, Megatron would not have cared nearly as much. Because to Megatron, the average Autobot mech meant nothing. They were measly target practice to him! But Prime? Optimus Prime was not any mere mech! He was the slagging closest Megatron would come to finding an equal, let alone out on this rock.

But Prime saves you as he does- the withering sparkdamn fool. And Megatron finally nearly had you in his grasp, and Prime had to come and rip you away from him. Megatron has to pull himself back up to find Prime still holding you against his own frame. "My hero!" You say as you smile the blasted way you do when you look at the other Autobots and you- Megatron can not hide his scowl when you throw your arms around Primes frame and kiss him on the side of his battle mask. Primes optics brighten and widen, and his sparkdamned plating even fluffs under your affections.

Megatrons cannon starts humming loud in response to his own emotional receptors and his own blindly consuming urge to shoot then and there. But Megatron knows he's lost- and that just makes his cannon start smoking in barely restrained murderous indent. "This isn't over Prime!" Megatron snarls out with a digit pointed firm at him. Megatron growls and calls for the Decepticons to retreat. And in his still stewing rage, Megatron internally begins making new plans for the next opportunity he has to try and obtain a hold of you.

Megatron would not come so close to getting a hold of you again and fail twice. Prime wouldn't know what hit him!

-

Starscream is positively fuming! He'd gotten a hold of you again, and he'd made sure those fragging terror twins were busy when he did it. But the fragging praxian stopping him! Not even the battle computer- it was the sparkdamn annoying one! Starscream openly glares at where you two were standing next to one another. You just smile the infuriating way you do at the Autobots. "My hero!" You exclaim, and Starscream bafflingly watches you throw your arms around the praxian- and you even kiss him on the cheek!?

The praxians optics widen and brighten quickly. And his dumb little insignificant door sensors hike high and start twitching. He smiles like a fragging imbecile and even laughs. Laughs about it! Starscream's engines growl hot in righteous fury. How dare this little insignificant praxian Autobot pede solider get in between Starscream and his claim on you!? Starscream had every fragging right in taking you apart, plate by plate for everything you'd put him through! And he almost had you- no, he did have you! And you got ripped right out of his grasp.

And Starscream is positively fragging seething about it. Starscream clenches his servos so tight his joints creak. His wings raise high at an angle, promising violence of the highest intensity. And Starscream knows he needs to retreat because they'd lost. He'd lost. Starscream bares his denta and has to force himself to turn on a pede and retreat. Starscream is irate but he's decided to start scheming once more- if Starscream couldn't get you alone on the battlefield naturally he'd just have to figure out how to distract your fellow sparkdamn Autobots- then you'd be all his for the taking.

If there was one thing Starscream was, it was tenacious. And he wasn't about to stop before he had you in his grasp.

-

Blitzwing was having a fragging good day- a really good one! He'd smashed some buildings, made the puny humans run like the vermin they were. He even smashed up a few Autobots! Oh, and then- and then! He got into a fight with you, and he started winning. Actually winning. Blitzwing actually managed to pin you down, and he was going to rip your modesty panel right off of you- and then Blitzwing gets hit hard and knocked down. And he's lost his fragging grip on you-! It ends with Blitzwing on his aft and you having gotten away from him.

You're standing next to the Autobots discount triple changer! You're brushing the dirt off your frame all before you throw your arms around the blue mech "My hero!" Then you even kiss him on the cheek! The mech jerks and pulls away from your touch and wipes his own cheek- is he stupid? His plating fluffs, and he crosses his arms over his chassis to turn and glare at Blitzwing instead. But Blitzwing had wings, so he knows exactly what it means when the mechs wings rank up high and fan out. And all three of Blitzwing's engines rumble because he was not a happy mech.

Slagging sparkdamnit all! Blitzwing had you right there! You were even under him already- But No! The knock-off poser had to go and get involved and mess everything up for Blitzwing. Whatever! Blitzwing's broken Mr. broody blue over there's frame before! Blitzwing just had to do it again, and then he'd have you all to himself. Except now you're brandishing your own weapon, and now Blitzwings gonna have to pin you all over again! Gah!! Why the in the pit did this reject have to ruin everything for Blitzwing! Blitzwing rushes forward with a shout- and skids to a stop right before he picks up any real momentum because Megatrons calling for retreat! Blitzwing takes one long look at you two before vowing to rip the blue mechs wings off the next chance he got before taking off.

Blitzwing wasn't gonna stop till he had you back under him where you belonged!

-

Skywarp's laughing when you miss another shot on him when he warps. This was going great! He had you alone out here away from the other Autodorks, and he was actually wearing you down! Now he just needed to grab you- Skywarp warps close and latches onto your waist only he stops and cycles his optics because uh- there's another mech on his left- and another on his right- There's three of you suddenly right in front of him!? The two versions of you on his side push forward and get into Skywarp’s faceplate, making him let go of the you he was holding. huh!? Is this one of Skywarps reflux recharges?! Both versions of you grin and then just- disappear!?

Skywarp cycles his optics, and his gaze snaps to the you a ways away. Where you're now standing next to the green Autobot scout. Aw, frag it all! He used his sparkdamn illusions on Skywarp! "You little-!" Skywarp stops short when you turn towards the jeep and throw your arms around him.

"My hero!" You sing all before- kissing the grounder on the cheek!? Wha-?! The grounders' optics brighten, and his plating ruffles up. He even rubs the nape of his neck cables all shy and slag- What the frag!? That should be Skywarp! Not some dirty green hippie grounder who can't keep his olfactory in his own business! Skywarp's wings slant, and he's imagining exactly what cavern he's gonna drop this fragging jeep over-

And his HUDs flashing that Megatron ordered a retreat! "Slag it all!" Skywarp growls before turning back to the two of you and pointing at you. "Next time, gorgeous!" Then the jeep steps in front of you- and oh, Skywarp so wants to rip his fuel tank out for it. His HUD flashes again, and Skywarp flashes a rude gesture at the jeep all before warping away. He almost had you! Frag! Skywarp just needed to get you alone again- Skywarp could do that! Easy!

Skywarp just needed to do that, and he'd have you all to himself!

[dragongirlteeth]

So I was thinking about those small head fins I see on a lot of dragon art, and considering what role they could play in dragon physiology, and I think I've come to a conclusion:

They're air sensors for things like Angle of Attack, humidity, pressure, etc.

Positioned very close to the brain ensures the fastest possible signal response time, and since they're small aerodynamic surfaces, they don't greatly affect the dragon's flight profile.

Obviously, this means they're incredibly sensitive. Do with that what you will.

[fernsproutxx]

GR96

@fusionspruntcityjournal

So how do you produce electricity with living plants? Simply by using the natural processes that already occur. In short: the plant produces organic matter via photosynthesis. Only part of this organic matter is then used for its own growth. The rest is excreted via the roots. Around the roots, bacteria feed on the organic matter and they release electrons. If you’re able to harvest the electrons into an electrode, you can couple the first electrode to a counter-electrode and build an electrical circuit, like in a battery. The electrons flow back into the natural system via the counter-electrode, so it’s completely circular. Because we use the natural processes around the plant, nature is not harmed. It works day and night, summer and winter. It only stops when the plant and its surroundings completely dry up or freeze over.

Sedum Oviferum

Sedum pachyphyllum is a ground-hugging succulent that spreads by rooting fallen stems and leaves. The succulent also goes by the names “Cerise Moonstones” or “Mauve Pebbles”. The short and stumpy round leaves have a light silvery-purple color; positioned at a right angles to the stem and curve upward, which in the wintertime, the tips of said leaves will turn into a notorious red.

Sedum Oviferum is a succulent that is very easy to grow and maintain. It is a resilient plant that can tolerate drought, moist and dry soils, and when given adequate exposure to sunlight and sufficient water, Cerise Moonstones will thrive outdoors. The Sedum Oviferum succulent grows at its best with regular exposure to sunlight. If Mauve Pebbles are planted in an area in a garden that gets plenty of sunlight per day, you will be rewarded with bright coloured leaves and flowers. In winter and early spring, Cerise Moonstones actively grow and produce blooms featuring red-orange petals and sepals that have the same pigmentation as the leaves. The flowers produced by Cerise Moonstones have a bell shape and a sugary fragrance.

Subterranean Clover

Trifolium subterraneum is also known as the subterranean clover (often shortened to sub clover), or subterranean trefoil. The plant's name comes from its underground seed development, a characteristic not possessed by other clovers. It can thrive in poor-quality soil where other clovers cannot survive.

This species is self-fertilizing, unlike most legume forage crops such as alfalfa and other clovers, which are pollinated by insects, especially honeybees. It is also grown in places where the extreme ranges of soil type and quality, rainfall, and temperature make the variable tolerances of sub clover especially useful.

Functionality

GR96 are powered by any plant of choosing on their back pod (the one we are going to discuss has a giant Sedum Oviferum and multiple sub clovers to operate) which is held in place by five strong suction cups. They’re manufactured for community gardens (strictly only one per garden), but they can also be bought by high class citizens for private properties, though at a way bigger cost since they’re financed by the city.

They can use their hands as scissors, shovels, and for watering (hence the big forearms, for storing the water), the latter which they do by dipping their hands in a bucket, opening the valve on their forearms so they can fill them up and releasing the water from the pinholes on their palms. Their “eyes” are actually a screen that can show plenty expressions, but the two circles above that peripheral screen are the real environmental sensors. They also have the same sensors on their ankles for inspecting the lower plants and ground without the need of kneeling, and their feet are shaped in a way so that weight is evenly distributed, lowering the chances of damaging a plant if they were to step on it. The ear like protrusions are small solar panels, used as backup energy (they don’t have any communication properties). Their speaker aka their “voice” is the mohawk-like structure on the top (which also has their series barcode 128 on the lower back), but when they speak there are these strips at the sides of the face mask that light up with the volume. The mask (non removable) has a set of pipes that are used for analyzing the air quality and humidity of the area surrounding them.

[marsoid]

ANSWERING OVERDUE ASKS PART 3!!

ANSWER UNDER THE CUT!!

I try to study photo reference of cars when I color them! Black cars are especially helpful because it’s easier to interpret what I’m looking at. Take this one for example

It’s just a really sexy mirror essentially. You can see the reflection of the sky, the ground, and the greenery in a way that adheres to the form. Blocky cars are simple because the planes are very obvious and clear. Look at the nose just above the headlight chrome, you can tell it’s angled in such a way that you just see almost a solid rectangle of sky, where the hood just above it is reflecting only the greenery because it’s a different angled plane (flat reflective surfaces like the hood are similar to a lake reflecting a mirrored image of what’s right above it).

Thinking of them like mirrors helps me make sense of it lol so IDK MAYBE IT’LL HELP U TOO?!?!

Sugar is some kind of siren i swear

Our 9 year anniversary is coming up this month 🥹

Currently Sugar is having some annoying acceleration hesitation issue that’s almost certainly the fault of the aftermarket EFI system i have on her, might need a new throttle position sensor (which is cheap and simple thankfully!). I always feel like a crazy person if i can’t drive for a few days. I WAUNT TO DRIVE MY CAR

Here’s a recent pic also. Sorry there’s some dumbass idiot in the way

JKFLD

Keep her clean! Inside and out wash days! Maybe fix up any torn upholstery, get her some new floor mats with a matching steering wheel cover, something cool to dangle from the rearview mirror, and truck nuts (don’t do truck nuts)

I’m also a big fan of people who put a sticker of their car, on their car. Makes me laugh every time it’s so weird and endearing LOL

@esendoran thank you!! I also wasn’t very handy when I got my car, but I got her in surprisingly good shape from the get-go luckily. The nice thing about vintage cars is that they’re very simple mechanically. The engine bay is open and spacious and easy to crank on. It’s also got the advantage of being so old that there’s a ton of people who will know how to work on them if you don’t (YouTube videos, car forums etc too). The only thing I would say is that you should definitely have a garage or somewhere else enclosed if you get an old car! They’re an easy target for car theft, and tend to not do well sitting in bad weather (even rain, and god forbid you get some nasty hail). But otherwise, I wouldn’t let lack of knowledge keep you from getting one! Learn as you go. Also get any car you want to buy appraised before you give the seller any money!! They can make sure there’s no serious hidden issues. 👍🏾

I need to do a part 4 dammit what is wrong with me

[uglypastels]

okay there is this video on pornhub that i can’t stop thinking about with modern!eddie. it’s a minecraft redstone tutorial where this guy is getting head while showing how to make a daylight sensor lamp and automatic doors and it’s so funny but also i can’t stop imagining like eddie fucking reader while giving a tutorial on something so pleaseeeee i beg i beg i beg

it is 10 am and when i read this i could not stop laughing (bc it was quite unexpected) so obviously i had to go do some research and holy shit. that's all I'm gonna say. thank you for the request <3

warnings: smut 18+ only MDNI. oral (m receiving). slight bored and ignored vibes. sex work/on camera sex. pwp - we're getting straight to the point here.

Eddie sat the camera up over his desk, so when he sat down in his chair, the angle would pick up on most of his naked body and you sitting between his legs, hand already slowly moving across his length.

He shot you a quick smile and blew you a kiss before he leaned over to pick up his guitar. sliding a bit back in his chair, he placed the instrument over his stomach, strumming it a few times before looking up at the camera.

'Hey everyone, so today I thought I'd teach you how to...' As he began to explain, you wrapped your lips around the tip of his cock. As usual, when it came to these kinds of videos of his, Eddie barely reacted to the touch and just kept on talking about the kind of guitar he was holding, but a trained eye might just notice the flex in his thighs.

'So, what you gotta do...' he placed one hand on the neck of the guitar, showing the camera the placement of the fingers to play the right chords. Meanwhile, his other hand swiped gently over your hair, petting you encouragingly as you took him deeper into your mouth.

You both continued doing your own thing, enjoying the simple presence of each other's company practically. To you, the camera was long forgotten, and his words were just a low hum in your mind, the sound of it always putting you at peace.

At certain moments, Eddie would readjust his position in his chair, using it as an excuse to thrust into your mouth. You would mewl around him, exactly at the moment that he tried to play one of the more difficult parts of the song, and it would be one of the few moments he acknowledged you in the video.

'Shh, baby, not so loud.' He pushed some of your hair back, 'trying to film a video here.' You mouth a 'sorry' to him and continued on. As the video went on, you began to move faster, taking him deeper. It got sloppier, and any time he would thrust into you, he hit the back of your throat, resulting in a moan that went almost in sync with the melody he played.

'So, yeah, that's about it,' Eddie finished up the song, and from his indifferent expression, you wouldn't be even able to tell that his cum was sprayed all over your mouth and tits.

Just before he turned the camera off, he put the guitar back down and leaned down to kiss you, licking himself off your lips. 'You did so fucking good, baby. I love you.'

But that part wouldn't make the final edit. That was just for you and him.

[thevioletcaptain]

I just stumbled upon Quakia and I just wanted to say that I love it so much! I kinda wanted it to be longer cuz I wato see how Dean would react when Cas finally have his own body 😭😭

Thank you so much!! Qualia (AKA The Cas Is A Sad Sentient House Fic) is easily my weirdest baby, so it's so nice when people let me know they liked it 💙 I've always wanted to write a sequel, and even started putting one together, but I just haven't found the time to give it the focus it deserves. That said, I'll paste the opening scene at the bottom of this reply. It's only about 800 words, and it's Cas POV, directly following the final moments of Qualia :) I hope you enjoy it, even if it's not exactly what you were looking for!

One-by-one, Castiel becomes aware of thirty-two points of sensory input.

One on each rubber fingertip. One on the tip of the thumb. Another between each metal and plastic joint of the fingers and on the heel of the palm. Another in the center.

The same again, mirrored on the back of the hand.

He feels Dean’s skin with more than half of them. Feels heat. Pressure. Motion.

Castiel maps out the sensations and tries to make sense of them.

“Your skin is warm,” he says finally, and when Dean laughs, nervous but joyful, Castiel is amazed to find that he somehow feels every sensation even more acutely. As though being witness to Dean’s happiness has made him capable of interpreting a greater range of data.

Logically, he knows that isn’t the case. The readings haven’t changed -- Dean’s hand is still registering at 96.4 degrees. His grip is still reading at approximately 60 pounds of force, and his thumb is still moving in a slow, smooth, repetitive arc from the sensor at the edge of the wrist up to the sensors above the knuckles.

All of the input remains the same; so how does it feel like so much more?

“Sorry my hand’s kinda sweaty,” Dean says with a grimace.

Castiel scans the available data. Heat, pressure, motion. If Dean’s skin is damp, he can’t detect it.

Even if he could, he doubts he’d be upset about it; feeling it would just be further proof that this is truly happening. That as much as anything ever truly can, he’s touching Dean; that Dean is touching him.

“I can’t detect any moisture,” he says, and flexes the hand, moving the thumb to echo the motion of Dean’s. “Just you. I like the way your hand feels.”

Dean ducks his head, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth as he raises his free hand to hide it. Castiel wishes he wouldn’t. He doesn’t get a chance to say so before Charlie speaks.

“Yeah, that hand is a pretty basic prototype,” she says, and Castiel angles the lens she gave him until he can see her.

It’s a little hard to tell, thanks to a far lower visual resolution than he’s used to, but he thinks she might be crying as she smiles. He wonders what that might feel like. If liquid containing saline feels as solid as a hand, or if it feels like nothing at all; if she’s even aware of the moisture on her cheeks.

“Your real hands will have a lot more sensors, and a lot more kinds of sensors. And no exposed metal bits,” she explains, then pauses. Chews her lip for a moment before she continues. “Unless you want them, obviously. It’s totally up to you what you look like.”

Castiel directs his lens back down to look at the hand, inspecting the metal bits as best he can. They don’t inspire any particular feeling in him, positive or negative, but doubts that they are capable of sensation. Dean’s thumb taps against one of the joints at the knuckle as though he’s testing it out himself.

Castiel sees him do it. He doesn’t feel it.

He wants to be able to feel it every time Dean touches him. The lens whirs quietly as he redirects his focus back up to Charlie.

“I don’t think I want exposed metal bits, no.”

“How—“ Dean starts, his hand squeezing pressure into thirteen of the sensors.

There’s a waver in his voice. The last time Dean sounded like this was the night before he told Castiel he wouldn’t be visiting anymore. When he’d told Castiel that he sometimes forgot that Castiel wasn’t real.

“This is awesome, Charlie. Really. And I don’t wanna be a pessimist here, but… how are we gonna do any of this? Just. You know I’ll do whatever I need to do to make this work, but it’s gotta be expensive, right? And even if I sell the Impala, I don’t see how—“

“Holy shit,” Sam says, and Dean looks at him sharply.

Castiel can’t quite make his lens turn far enough to see him clearly.

“What?” Dean asks.

“I mean, I knew you loved him, but like… you love him.”

“You’re just getting that now?” Jess asks with a laugh, her voice floating in from somewhere to Sam’s right.

“He said he’d sell the Impala, Jess.”

“Nobody’s selling anything,” Charlie cuts in, and Dean’s hand tightens again.

Castiel feels it; the tension of his touch. How often has Dean’s body been saying more than he was capable of perceiving? How often has he missed half the picture?

“Sam, you might want to cover your ears," Charlie says.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have the same respect for the law that you do.”

[stevebattle]

Kermit (1978), by Ron Milner and Larry Nicolson, Cyan Engineering, Atari's secret think tank in Grass Valley, CA.

"The robot was a pet project for Nolan Bushnell, then still the head of Atari and a very creative guy. Its purpose in life was as Nolan put it to "bring me a beer!" Navigation for robots was a sketchy thing at that time with lots of pioneering work at MIT but no consumer cost ideas. Nolan brought us the incredibly original idea to navigate a robot (which mostly meant knowing where it was) by means of scanning bar codes attached here and there to the baseboards in the rooms the robot was to service. Why it wasn't patented I don't know.

I had lots of fun building the R2D2 style robot about 20" tall. I liked to put mechanical and electronic things together and we had a great shop at Cyan. Its brain was one of the 6502 based single board computers-I think it was a KIM but not sure. Locomotion was two DC gear motor driven wheels and an instrumented caster-about the same rig as a modern Roomba. A rotatable turret covered with a plexiglass dome carried microphones, an IR sensor to detect people, and ultrasonic ranging sensors I built on a separate PC board. A speaker so Kermit could beep gleefully, of course.

A ring of contact-detecting burglar alarm sensing tape (green in the pictures) around Kermit's middle told the software he had hit something and should back off. The ultrasonics provided range to obstacles and to some extent direction as the turret was rotated, so we could go around things.

My pride and joy was the barcode remote scanner which was mounted on the bottom of the robot so its rotating head would be level with the barcodes on the baseboards. It had a vertical telescope tube with a beam splitter between the IR Led and the photodiode sensor and a lens to focus 2-20' away. It aimed down at a front surface mirror at 45 degree to scan horizontally. The mirror was mounted on a motor driven turret so it spun around continuously with a sensor once around to resolve the continuous angular position of the beam horizontally of course with respect to Kermit's rotational position. Unfortunately, this part of the robot did not survive the closing of our group. The barcodes I made for the prototype to detect were about 4" tall made of 3/4" reflective 3m tape on black poster board.

My programming partner on the project was Larry Nicholson, a really bright guy. He made the barcode reading work to detect not only the barcodes, but where they were angularly with respect to the robot and also their subtended angle or apparent size (all from timing of the rotation of the scanner) which was a measure of distance combined with angle from the barcode. We worked out some pretty clever math to resolve that information from two or three of the barcodes into a position and orientation of Kermit in the room. We had rented an empty room upstairs on the third floor of the Litton building to try all this out and work out the navigation. Larry and I got the basic navigation and obstacle avoidance working so Kermit could go from one place to a designated other place in the room and avoid wastebaskets placed randomly. We demonstrated it to Nolan and he was impressed.

Shortly thereafter Warner Communication who had bought Atari from Nolan kicked him out and the Kermit project was cancelled."

– Kermit The Robot Notes by Ron Milner.

[thefrogman]

Recently I took a panorama of the Pittsburgh skyline at night that got a positive response. That was done on the spur of the moment with an iPhone. I want to do that again and more, but this time with a dedicated camera setup. It's been years since I've had one, so I'm basically starting over again. I'm mostly interested in getting day and night cityscapes, and maybe the carryings-on at this year's Anthrocon. Would you have any particular knowledge to pass on as I set off on this journey?

Since you didn't specify a budget I'm going to assume it is in the $10K range.

And you're probably thinking I'm going to suggest a Leica. Every dentist and his brother (who is also a dentist) gets a Leica. But I just can't take a camera brand seriously when they charge you an extra $2200 for the privilege of not being able to shoot in color.

Sure, you can hit a single button in Lightroom to get B&W and save some money, but then you won't be able to brag about how limiting yourself to only shades of gray has opened up new artistic pathways in your brain while a clueless person responds in mumbles during their root canal.

What you really want for your landscapes is a Hassie.

They were the first camera on the moon! How could you *not* want a Hasselblad? That is some camera gorgeousness right there. And it's so reasonably priced*!

*compared to their previous $40,000 camera systems.

And if you are doing landscapes with the Hassie you'll need a nice wide angle lens to go with it. This one is actually quite affordable*!

*compared to their previous $8000 lenses.

Can we all agree that is a work of art? They even use their H logo as the knurling.

That is just so... extra. And I love it.

Out of the entire alphabet I've heard Hs give you the best grip.

Man, I almost wish I was a dentist just so I could buy a fancy camera.

Sorry... I was just having a little fun.

I never get to recommend the super cool expensive cameras. Because, ya know, the economy and the fact that only dentists have Hasselblad money.

You probably think I'm being silly but there actually is an entire community of dentist photographers keeping the high end camera market alive.

Okay, let's get started...

Landscape Buying Guide

Opening Thoughts

For landscapes I would highly suggest a full frame camera and a high quality wide angle lens.

Full frame has several advantages but it is not necessary. You can go with a smaller sensor like APS-C and get great images. Personally I would not go any smaller, but there have been some great landscapes taken on micro 4/3 and even smartphones. Technique, knowledge, experience, and composition will usually win the day over a camera, but having a nice camera makes things a lot easier.

At this point, with full frame options being very affordable now, the main reason to get a smaller sensor is if you want a smaller system that is easier to carry for extended periods and easier to pack when traveling. Or if you aren't sure you want to take on photography as a hobby, you can get an old APS-C DSLR for under $200 to learn with and test out.

So if you need a very cheap OR very compact system, APS-C and Micro 4/3 might be worth considering, but a bigger sensor will cause less frustration most of the time.

Froggie Note: The expensive Micro 4/3 and APS-C systems are the compact ones. The cheap systems are about as bulky as full frame.

The biggest advantages to full frame are low light shooting, lens selection, and field of view. Full frame cameras have many, many more lenses to choose from. And since the sensor is bigger, it is much easier to get a wider field of view that is often needed for landscapes. And the high ISO noise performance tends to be better on full frame.

However, you can use full frame lenses on APS-C camera bodies within the same ecosystem. They just get a little... zoomier. Roughly 1.5x zoomier. A 35mm acts like a 50mm, for example. So if you want to spend a little less now you can get an APS-C camera with a full frame lens and then upgrade to full frame later on without having to buy a new lens. Full frame lenses work on APS-C bodies but not the other way around.

Most landscapists have a really solid 16-35mm lens and that covers almost all of their needs. So I would suggest something comparable. Please don't get suckered into some crazy 18-300mm superzoom. Just get the focal range you need for the photos you want to achieve.

A purpose-built lens always outperforms one that was made to do everything.

As far as where to get used gear, I highly recommend using KEH or MPB when buying used camera bodies. They check every device and offer between 3 and 6 months warranty to make sure the device won't crap out on you. Lenses are typically a lot more robust and a safer thing to buy on eBay or Facebook Marketplace if you can find a better deal. But the security of having a warranty and a return apparatus if something goes wrong might be worth the extra price when using these two sites.

I am going to recommend Canon, Nikon, and Sony systems. I feel they have the most complete ecosystems with gear that spans all budget ranges. I'm not saying there aren't good cameras from other brands, but you have to remember every camera has an ecosystem surrounding it. There are accessories and upgrade paths and niche lenses that may not be available with other brands. I think Fuji has some tempting options and if you like the look of vintage film photography, their emulation options are quite stunning. Their cameras are also quite attractive and have very satisfying knobs. But I still can't recommend them unless you have a specific reason for wanting their gear.

Just remember that for every Canon DSLR I recommend there is a comparable Nikon option available as well. There are more lenses for a Canon full frame DSLR body than any other brand with Nikon coming in a close second.

So if you choose not to go mirrorless yet, the Canon and Nikon DSLR camera ecosystems are immense and have tons of gear and accessories available to go with them. And since used gear holds up really well, those ecosystems will survive for decades.

Should you buy a mirrorless camera or a DSLR?

Mirrorless cameras are the latest camera technology for interchangeable lens camera systems. At this point they are superior in every aspect and they continue to improve year by year. Because of that, used DSLRs have plummeted in price. This allows people greater access to a starter ILC (interchangeable lens camera) without a significant investment. You can get professional quality images on either format, but mirrorless has a shallower learning curve and much better automatic modes.

The in-body image stabilization (IBIS) stabilizes *every* lens and the eye tracking autofocus make "focus and re-compose" extinct. These are huge selling points for a lot of people. With IBIS you can take photos with up to 2-4 second shutter speeds without a tripod. And never missing focus on a human or animal or bird is pretty cool too.

DSLR camera bodies are no longer being designed by most of the major manufacturers. Thankfully Canon and Nikon developed plenty of bodies and lenses, so you will always have options and upgrade paths. But you will not be able to upgrade to systems with the latest advanced features.

The best DSLRs available are probably the Nikon D850 and the Canon 5D Mark IV. That is as good as it will ever get. The technology ends there. So if you want to enter an active camera ecosystem then you will have to get a mirrorless camera.

DSLR Camera Systems

Full Frame DSLR Camera Bodies

Canon

If you buy a used DSLR, there are some very affordable full frame options. In fact, the classic much-praised budget full frame Canon 6D can be had for under $300 right now.

This is an old camera. It has no fancy features. It only has 20 megapixels. It just does what it says on the tin. But it has a big sensor and a *ton* of really cool lenses available for it.

If you are specifically looking to create really high resolution panos, you could also look at the 50 megapixel 5DS R for around $1000.

There is a community of landscape pano-maniacs that love to create "gigapans" that have endless amounts of detail where you can zoom in and find new details in every photo. I was only able to create a 120 megapixel photo, but you can still find things like people starting a campfire and a dude fishing and a truck on a far off bridge. So even though this seems expensive for a DSLR, you are looking at another thousand bucks to find anything with more megapixels than this bad boy, so it is quite a good deal relatively speaking.

Nikon

Probably the best DSLRs ever made were the Nikon D800 series and you can get the Nikon D800 for $464.

This is a newer camera than the 6D with more megapixels (36) and a better sensor. It also has a more modern autofocus system and about 3 more stops of dynamic range which can come in handy for landscapes. This is an incredible camera for this price.

APS-C DSLR Camera Bodies

If you aren't sure you want to commit to this hobby, you can look into a Canon APS-C sensor body like the Canon Rebels and Canon 60D through 90D models and get good results.

And there are many Nikon DX APS-C bodies that would be great starter cameras as well. If you get a Nikon, you'd have an upgrade path to the D800 if you get hooked by the photography bug. I would miss a few very special Canon lenses like the 100mm f/2.8L macro and the 400mm f/5.6 telephoto but I'm sure I could figure out some reasonable Nikon alternatives that would do roughly the same thing.

Canon APS-C

There is a Canon 60D for $139 right now that would be perfectly adequate for landscape work on a tripod.

That was my first camera and I took some very nice photos with it. Only 18 megapixels but it has a very convenient flippy screen which was really helpful for a disabled photographer trying to get low angles.

This was in 2014 and I didn't know what I was doing but that is a pretty stellar-looking sunset for a (now) $140 camera.

Nikon APS-C

And the Nikon D3400 would be a great option as well at around $184.

You get some extra megapixels (24) and it is a bit newer than the Canon. I get the sense that used Nikon DSLRs give you more value for your money right now but I don't have a large enough sample size to confirm that.

Full Frame DSLR Lenses

Froggie Note: I am recommending full frame lenses even if you choose an APS-C DSLR body so you have an upgrade path. But also very few purpose-built APS-C lenses had superior glass. Just remember, crop sensor APS-C cameras add ~1.5x to your focal length. So a 16-35mm will have the equivalent field of view of a 24-50mm lens. Still quite acceptable for landscapes, but you may benefit from doing panoramas more often. And if you upgrade to full frame down the road, you'll already have the ideal lens.

Canon DSLR Lenses

If you get the 6D or another Canon you could pair it with the beloved-by-landscapists Canon 16-35mm f/4L.

Honestly, it is blowing my mind you can get that combo for under $600. Me from 12 years ago is super jealous right now.

If you are worried you might need something to work in lower light and still want a zoom, the f/2.8L starts at around $434.

This might be the most famous landscape lens of all time. Kinda boggles the mind how many gorgeous vistas this thing has captured the light of.

If you can live without the zoom, you could get a much sharper prime lens that can also be used in even lower light. A used Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens is $439 would be a fantastic option.

24mm is still a very good focal length for landscapes and the sharpness of this lens lends well to panoramic stitches. Seriously, these art lens are so freaking sharp. Although 35mm is typically preferred for most street photography, I think this would do great for that purpose as well. It couldn't do close up portraits, but 3/4 and full body portraits would look great. I also love this focal length for doggos. It enlarges their heads a bit which enhances adorable-ness.

Though I probably wouldn't recommend the 24mm on APS-C for landscapes as it would put you near a 40mm full frame equivalent field of view.

Nikon DSLR Lenses

And on the Nikon side of things you could get the Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 for $399.

This is a great lens too. Very comparable to the Canon L glass. And paired with that D800 you would have a better shooting experience than with the 6D if it fits within your budget.

It's a little harder to find, but you can also get that same Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens for Nikon at around $528 used on Amazon and in the $400 range on KEH and MPB when it is available.

The older and softer Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 is a little more affordable and easier to find.

What if you are not a dentist but are willing to save up for something a little nicer?

Enter the world of...

Mirrorless Camera Systems

Sony currently has my favorite ecosystem of mirrorless cameras and lenses and they are consistently ahead of the other brands as far as technology and features. In fact, many other manufacturers use Sony sensors. They literally supply their competition with their own tech. They are also pretty good about updating firmware—even with older models. So I feel like Sony has a lot of future-proofing advantages over other brands. Sony has a great selection of 3rd party lenses like Sigma, Tamron, Viltrox, Laowa, Samyang, etc. These lenses often have nearly the same optical quality as Sony's G Master lenses at a fraction of the price.

Full Frame Mirrorless

Currently, I think the best value full frame mirrorless camera for landscapes would be the Sony a7R III.

This is very nearly a top-of-the-line landscape camera for a little over $1200.

That might sound like a lot, but I want to be clear...

This isn't just decent. This isn't "good enough." This is a spectacular professional grade full frame camera.

10 years ago you could spend $6500 for a *worse* camera. 5 years ago you could spend $3000 for a *worse* camera.

It can do every genre of photography except for maybe fast paced sports/action. It has an amazing 42 megapixels—which are not necessary but they do make editing and printing a lot less of a headache. The file sizes can get a little big, but storage is a lot cheaper than it used to be.

Oh, and it can be used for professional quality 4K video work too.

The a7R III comes with all of the modern bells and whistles including in-body stabilization (IBIS) so you can handhold at very slow shutter speeds. It has one of the best autofocus systems—complete with eye tracking. But not just human eyes! Dog eyes. Cat eyes. Bird eyes. If it has an eye, the Sony can probably lock focus on it. And it has an admirable 10 fps burst shooting mode.

APS-C Mirrorless

If you want to enter the Sony ecosystem but can't afford full frame quite yet, you could do the a6400 for about $600.

You still get the eye-tracking and the in-body stabilization, but you will lose some image quality at higher ISOs due to the smaller sensor size. However, you can get the same full frame E-mount lenses for it and upgrade to a bigger sensor later on and not have to buy new lenses.

Mirrorless Landscape Lenses

I think a good value landscape lens would be the very impressive Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8.

This is a newer lens so there aren't many deals on used options yet. But this is still a great price for the quality and versatility you get. You will never regret spending a little more on glass.

The 20mm range can fit an entire cityscape in the frame without needing to do a panorama. But if you zoom to 40mm and mount the camera vertically, you could stitch together several photos to get well over the 100 megapixel range.

Also, the 40mm focal range is long enough to do street photography and even head & shoulder portraits. The wide f/2.8 aperture combined with the high-ISO friendly full frame sensor and in-body stabilization means you can shoot in very low light without a tripod. You can also get some great pictures of stars if you travel to someplace with minimal light pollution.

The cheapest landscape zoom lens I could find was the Sony 16-35mm f/4 at $384.

It's one of Sony's older lenses and may not take advantage of all of the a7R III's pixels, but it would be a good option to get you started in this system and upgrade the lens later on.

Mirrorless Prime Lenses

Zoom lenses are great but you have to spend more to get tolerable quality. Kit zooms can be softer than even the tiny plastic lenses on your phone. So a great way to stretch your budget is to get multiple fixed focal length "prime" lenses. Primes can be built inexpensively while still having good low light performance and decent sharpness.

For instance, you could start with something like the Tamron 20mm f/2.8 for $175. And if you want to do more than landscapes you could add the Sony 50mm f/1.8 for $170 later on. Cheap primes will outperform any of those mediocre kit zoom lenses in that same price range. You lose some versatility and have to deal with the pain of changing lenses or zooming with your feet, but sometimes a tight budget demands a little pain.

There is also a higher quality 3rd party wide angle prime lens that is very popular right now. The Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 is only $549 and the reviews say it has similar quality to lenses 3 times its price.

If you have to choose between a better camera body or a better lens, a good lens will help your photos more than a fancy camera body.

Froggie Note: These are examples. You should always do your own research before making a major technological purchase. This post could be a year old by the time you see it and there could be new stuff that is better. But all of the principles I tried to convey should hopefully guide you to a good decision. Also, feel free to message me if you want to ask about specific gear you are considering purchasing.

More Resources

This is my Encyclopedia of Lens Terms which is a helpful primer in understanding all of the wonderful and different lens options available on ILCs.

This is my buying guide for low budget used DSLRs. Similar to this post but less geared toward landscapes.

And this guide for getting decent landscape photos with any camera.

This is a free tutorial that teaches you everything you need to get started with an ILC system.

And this free tutorial by Karl Taylor is quite good as well.

[playstationvii]

The triangulation chart illustrates the following:

Key Features:

Points Represented (P0, P1, …): The chart displays a set of points labeled P0, P1, P2, etc., corresponding to the triangulated trace graph. These points likely represent data collected from R.A.T. traces, such as sensor readings or spatial coordinates.

Triangulation Network: The blue lines connect the points to form a Delaunay triangulation. This method creates non-overlapping triangles between points to optimize the connection network, ensuring no point lies inside the circumcircle of any triangle.

Structure and Distribution:

The positions and density of the points give insight into the spatial distribution of the trace data.

Areas with smaller triangles indicate closely packed data points.

Larger triangles suggest sparse regions or gaps in the data.

Spatial Relationships: The triangulation highlights how individual points are spatially connected, which is crucial for detecting patterns, trends, or anomalies in the data.

Possible Insights:

Dense Clusters: These might indicate regions of high activity or critical areas in the R.A.T.'s trace.

Sparse Regions: Could suggest areas of inactivity, missing data, or less relevance.

Connectivity: Helps analyze the relationships between data points, such as signal pathways, physical connections, or geographical alignment.

Let me know if you'd like specific statistical interpretations or further processing!

x = R.A.T's current position (x) y = R.A.T's current position (y) z = R.A.T's current position (z)

To expand on the formula, we can use the following steps to determine the coordinates of 'R.A.T':   Measure the distance between the spacecraft and the Earth. Determine the direction of the spacecraft's trajectory. Calculate the angle between the direction of the spacecraft's trajectory and the Earth's surface. Use trigonometry to calculate the coordinates of the spacecraft. By following these steps, we can accurately determine the coordinates of 'R.A.T' and determine its trajectory and path.

Using the data provided, we can calculate the coordinates of 'R.A.T' as follows: The x-coordinate of 'R.A.T' is calculated as follows:     x = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 + P5 + P6 + P7 + P8 + P9 x = 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 + 60 + 70 + 80 + 90 x = 450     The y-coordinate of 'R.A.T' is calculated as follows:     y = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 + P5 + P6 + P7 + P8 + P9 y = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 y = 45     Thus, the coordinates of 'R.A.T' are (450, 45).

{------}

X-Coordinate | Y-Coordinate

10 | 1 20 | 2 30 | 3 40 | 4 50 | 5 60 | 6 70 | 7 80 | 8 90 | 9 450 | 45

{------}

Based on the coordinates provided, the coordinates of 'R.A.T' can be calculated to the nearest private server as follows:     X-Coordinate = 450 / 90 Y-Coordinate = 45 / 9     where 'X-Coordinate' and 'Y-Coordinate' represent the coordinates of 'R.A.T' calculated to the nearest private server. The exact coordinates of 'R.A.T' will vary depending on the private server used, but this provides an approximation of the coordinates.

Here's a summary of the data provided:     10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 450, 45     This data can be used to calculate the coordinates of 'R.A.T' as follows:     X-Coordinate = 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 + 60 + 70 + 80 + 90 + 450 Y-Coordinate = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 45     The coordinates of 'R.A.T' are (450, 45).

Based on the coordinates provided, the coordinates of 'R.A.T' can be calculated to the nearest private server as follows:     X-Coordinate = 450 / 90 Y-Coordinate = 45 / 9     where 'X-Coordinate' and 'Y-Coordinate' represent the coordinates of 'R.A.T' calculated to the nearest private server. The exact coordinates of 'R.A.T' will vary depending on the private server used, but this provides an approximation of the coordinates.

To expand on the concept of calculating coordinates for 'R.A.T' and their application to private servers, let's break it down further and introduce additional variations:

Basic Calculation:

As you mentioned, the initial formula gives us the coordinates:

X-Coordinate: 450 / 90 = 5

Y-Coordinate: 45 / 9 = 5 This gives us the point (5, 5), which is an approximation based on the given data. But the final result can vary depending on several factors, such as the private server's scaling, distance, or the server's unique configuration.

Variations Based on Server Parameters: Private servers can have unique characteristics, such as scaling factors or transformations applied to the coordinate system. Let's introduce some transformations:

Scaling Factor: If the private server uses a scaling factor (e.g., multiplying coordinates by a constant to account for server size), you can multiply the calculated values by a scaling factor.

Example: Scaling factor = 10

X-Coordinate: 5 * 10 = 50

Y-Coordinate: 5 * 10 = 50

New coordinates: (50, 50).

Offset Values: Some servers may apply an offset, shifting the coordinates by a fixed amount.

Example: Offset = (20, 30)

X-Coordinate: 5 + 20 = 25

Y-Coordinate: 5 + 30 = 35

New coordinates: (25, 35).

Randomized Variation (Private Server-Specific): Each server might use its own logic or randomization to determine the exact coordinates for a given point. This can be based on server location, server load, or other factors.

Here's an example of how you could randomly adjust coordinates within a range:

Random offset for X-Coordinate: Between -10 and +10

Random offset for Y-Coordinate: Between -5 and +5

Let’s generate a random variation:

Random X-Offset: +3

Random Y-Offset: -2

X-Coordinate: 5 + 3 = 8

Y-Coordinate: 5 - 2 = 3

New coordinates: (8, 3).

Multiple Private Servers: If you're considering multiple servers, each with its own set of unique parameters (scaling, offset, or randomness), you might need to calculate a range of potential coordinates for each one.

Example:

Server 1: Scaling factor of 10, offset (20, 30)

Coordinates: (50, 50)

Server 2: Scaling factor of 5, random offset (3, -2)

Coordinates: (25, 15)

Server 3: No scaling, random offset (-4, 7)

Coordinates: (1, 12)

Implementing Dynamic Coordinate System: If you wanted to build a dynamic system where the coordinates change based on live server conditions, you'd introduce live variables (such as server load, current requests, or server location) to adjust these coordinates.

Example:

If the server load is high, the coordinates might be dynamically adjusted to a less congested area.

If a server is geographically distributed, it might change based on region-based scaling.

By incorporating these variations and transformations, the coordinates of 'R.A.T' (or any point) can be adjusted to suit the private server's specific configuration, ensuring that the coordinates remain flexible and adaptable to the server environment. Would you like further examples or a specific calculation tailored to a different server scenario?

[shy-writes]

Eterna lore: races pt 1

okay i said i was gonna do it and i'm nothing if not a goblin of my word. here's the breakdown on the races and social hierarchy on the planet Eterna! starting from the top

(note: each race has inherent powers, but all races tend to have some grasp on general magic)

The Rune

Position: The Rune are the gods of this world. Except, unlike gods on Earth, these fellas are super hands-on. They created the races and they rule over Eterna. Nothing happens without their approval. Despite their prominent roles in the lives of Eternals, however, the Rune are hardly ever actually seen. They're kind of like those real historical figures that balloon into legends, except they also control the government.

Physical appearance: The Rune are a bit eery. They're weirdly smooth, splotched with stark white and black, and they have very few discernible facial features. Their eyes are more like clusters of sensors and they have huge, deer-like antlers. Their bodies more or less resemble flowing sheer robes.

Powers: The limits of their powers aren't well-known, but it's generally assumed that they're all-powerful. Still, it's important to note that they are NOT omniscient.

Naming conventions: Their names are very short, usually two or three letters, and very vowel-centric. Examples: Uo, An.

The Gray

Position: The Gray are kind of like the mouthpiece for the Rune. They're the only class that communicates directly with the Rune, and they're responsible for enacting their will. They're also responsible for things like weapons development or whatever scientific studies the Rune have an interest in.

Physical appearance: The Gray are similarly featureless, but more humanoid and less Eldritch beast. They're bald and have pointed ears, gray skin, pupil-less eyes, and tend to run gaunt and scrawny.

Powers: Enhanced intellect

Naming conventions: Usually one or two letters, and they usually name themselves. They're more like labels than names. Examples: M, HK

The Lucinne

Position: The Lucinne are kind of like the "face" for the Rune. They're employed by the government in some capacity, but they don't have any real power. They're mostly responsible for hosting events and presenting a sanitized vision of the Rune and their society.

Physical appearance: They have paper-white skin, pale eyes, and long, pointed ears. They have very large eyes (think Alita: Battle Angle levels of uncanny valley). Their faces tend to be pretty angular, and sometimes they have beauty marks (not always naturally). It's become popular for Lucinne to change the shape of their eyebrows and pupils to match whatever extravagant hairstyle and outfit they've chosen.

Powers: All Lucinne have telepathy, but many of them have other powers generally helpful in their roles, like affecting the mood of a room or basic illusions.

Naming conventions: Very fancy, elegant names whose extravagance dip into the absurd at times. Examples: Halloinelle, Lyrandette.

pt 2 will be up shortly!

Eterna is a queer scifi fantasy about aliens, superheroes, magic, and the terror of falling in love. Follow this blog for updates and sneak peeks!

[frostgears]

rules of engagement

Eight white diamonds in a line swept north over gray topography. Two more where they should not have been.

A monotone voice.

"This is Fulcrum Actual. Topaz Nine and Ten, you are trailing. Can you push any harder?"

"Ma'am, no, ma'am. Nine took a hit, jump jet damage, throttled down, I'm covering him, we're just running a little behind the pack, that's all."

"Topaz Nine, maximum remaining power on that next jump."

"Yes, ma'am…"

A crunch, audible over the link.

"Too short. Topaz Nine, ground and cover as best you can. Topaz Ten, throttle up to full, angle to your right, jump and aim to land on the shadowed side of the ridge at grid FA-68."

Overlapping chatter:

"Ma'am, I won't be able to cover Ten, leapfrog won't work…"

"Ma'am, I can't leave Nine behind…"

"Topaz Nine, ground and cover. Topaz Ten, to that ridge. Do you copy?"

"Copy."

"Copy."

Three red tracks converged on a white diamond.

"Topaz Nine, showing three inbound to you, forwarding fused sensor data, bearing 190, take the rightmost one first."

"Ma'am? Ten's on my left."

"Yes. Ten, you'll cover Nine as long as possible."

"And then what?"

"And then you'll cover yourself as long as possible."

A second arc of red tracks appeared. At least a dozen. Maybe more.

"Fulcrum Actual" took off her headset, rose from her chair, brushed black hair back past plugged link sockets unused by anything in the tactical room.

"I'm done here. Tac Two, take over, you should be able to handle the rest of the Topaz evac. Keep to the original dropship launch window and the original orbiter pickup window. Tac One, take a break. You didn't need me for this."

Fulcrum Tac One looked like she was about to throw up, but managed, with effort, to choke it down.

"Ma'am? I requested intervention because I thought you could get them out of there. What the fuck was that?"

Fulcrum's commander turned, not making eye contact. She tugged one sleeve of her sleep-rumpled fatigues back into position.

"The operation was already on the edge of contingency timing. Topaz Nine was dead the moment he took that hit. Topaz Ten was dead the moment he stayed behind to cover Nine. If you'd paged me earlier, I might have been able to use Nine better and kept Ten with the line."

"Ma'am, we could have gotten both of them out—"

The commander held up a hand.

"Most of Topaz was out of missiles; Three and Six were out of kinetics as well. Seven was developing a generator fault. You would not have been able to hold the evac site. As is, Topaz One thru Eight will be leaving on schedule. That was the best I could do with the mistakes that were already made."

"Ma'am, that's doll logic!"

The shout cut through the tactical room chatter. Chairs squeaked as unoccupied auxiliary personnel swiveled to get a better angle. A marine lowered a hand to her stunner's grip.

"You've never worked directly with combat augments, have you, Tac One?" the commander asked. Her voice never left its monotone. Her eyes never left their fixation point somewhere on the wall. "'Doll logic' given my rank and resources would have been saturation-bombing the subcontinent with the Fulcrum's long-range torpedoes. Neutron warheads are cheap. Minimal expenditure, zero casualties."

"The civilians… hell, the ecosystem…"

"Aren't ours and don't count. All ten of Topaz, which are ours, would still be safely in cryostorage ten decks down. That's doll logic. Unfortunately for Topaz Nine and Ten, I woke up one day to find out I'd been deconditioned, decommissioned, and promoted. And now I'm here, and I've been told that I can't go back until this whole insurrection is handled as cleanly and quietly as it can be…"

On the schematic display, one, then both white diamonds winked out, drowned in red.

The commander closed her eyes.

"Tac One, go get a coffee or something. If I hear the words 'doll logic' out of you again, I'll make sure you survive to learn it the way I learned it, and you'll have the benefit of knowing exactly what you're talking about." □

[eitherlyingorstupid]

Wanted to get better at reader/canon so. Gn human reader/Beachcomber, ambiguous genitals. @pinkanonwrites I figured you'd like this

You run a hand over the rounded, blue extensions on Beachcomber's head. "What are these for?" You're sitting on his shoulder, in a secluded cove. Lights dance on the roof, reflected from the gentle waves below.

"Mm… ultrasonic detection… sonar, radar, and all that." His voice is thick and husky, and his engine rumbles. You've been hanging out with the minibot for quite some time, and you enjoy feeling the vibrations of his machinery.

You lean closer, feeling his warmth, breathing in the familiar, metallic tang of oil and electricity. "So, these… they help you navigate, or something?"

"Not exactly. Well, they do, but that's not all. They're also… sensory organs, I suppose. They help me feel the currents in the water, sense movement in the sand… and, well…" He pauses, his optics flickering down to your hand. "…they also give me… pleasure."

You freeze, unsure whether to tug your hand away or keep going.

"I'm sorry if that's too… forward," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. "I just… I haven't felt this connected to someone in a long time. I don't want to lose it now."

You swallow hard, feeling a mixture of shock and something else you can't quite identify. "It's okay," you manage to say, your voice barely audible. "I'm… enjoying this too." You stroke the sensor crest, feeling rather than hearing a moan rise from his throat.

Beachcomber shudders, leaning his head against you. "Oh, Primus… you have no idea how good that feels…" He pauses, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't be doing this… not with a human…"

"Why not? Is it some sort of taboo?"

"It's… complicated. It's just not something that's encouraged." He hesitates, then continues, "Not when you're in close quarters with a human. It's not fair to them… to expect them to understand." Beachcomber sucks on his lower lip. It's a surprisingly erotic sight.

"But I understand, and I want this." You lean forward and kiss him gently on the cheek. "I want to be with you."

"Even with me being so big?"

You smile against his cheek, running your hands along his crest. "Especially with you being so big. You're so strong, and I feel so safe with you."

His fans are starting to kick on, and the air around you almost feels charged like you're in a thunderstorm.

"Well… if you're sure…" he whispers, his voice barely audible over the whir of his systems. "I… I would like that." He lifts one hand to his shoulder, gently picking you up by the waist and setting you on the ground. He's shifted his position, legs spread and hips angled up. "I suppose I could show you…"

The panels on his groin retract, and you find yourself staring at what looks a lot like a fleshlight.

"I've never done this before," he confesses, his voice shaking. "I've… never wanted anyone like this before. But I want you… so much…" Beachcomber reaches down to spread the dark blue lips of his - his pussy, and there's even a little white clitoris nestled in the folds.

"It looks just like a human… uh, vulva."

"My kind is incredibly adaptable. Our frames change to imitate the native creatures of the planets we visit… before I came here, I had four arms and wheels instead of legs." His fingers gently massage the clit through its hood. "And now, I have two arms, two legs, and… this."

You can't help but stare, mesmerized by the sight of him touching himself. It's so intimate, so… human. Your heart races.

Beachcomber gazes down at you, his expression a mix of desire and vulnerability. "You're so beautiful," he whispers, his fingers moving faster. "I want to make you feel good too."

He pulls you closer, positioning you between his legs. His hands guide you, showing you how to touch him, where to touch him. You feel the heat coming off his plating, the muscles (or gears, probably) in his thighs tense as he holds you against him. His hips move involuntarily, grinding against your stomach as you begin to stroke him.

You slide a hand down to the soft, wet hole. Three fingers fit with room to spare, and a fourth makes the opening stretch. Beachcomber moans as you gently push your entire hand inside. You can't help but giggle as you realize you're fisting a giant alien robot.

"You're so tight," you murmur, feeling his inner walls clench around your fingers. "And you feel so good." He responds by pushing his hips forward, forcing your fingers deeper inside. You begin to thrust, matching his movements as he fucks your hand.

Beachcomber's other hand pinches and rolls his clit.

"That feels so good," he moans. "You're doing such a good job… I can't… I'm close…" His thrusts become more frantic, his hips trembling. "Faster, don't stop…"

You obey, thrusting your hand faster and harder. The wet heat of his insides envelops your fingers as he comes, his pussy clamping down on you in a powerful spasm.

"Frag, yes!" he cries out, his voice thick with pleasure. "Oh god, I'm… I'm going to… ohhhhh…" He trembles with the aftershocks.

As his grip on you eases, you slide your hand out of him, feeling his warmth and the wetness left behind. There was something surreal at having this huge, powerful being react this way to your touch.

"Are you… okay?" you ask, feeling slightly out of breath.

Beachcomber lets out a shuddering breath, his frame going still for a moment. Then, with a smile that takes over his face, he answers, "Better than okay. Thank you." He lifts one hand to your face, cupping your cheek gently. "You're incredible. I want to return the favor."

You blush and nod. "I'd like that."

He gently picks you up with both hands, bringing you to his face so he can nuzzle into your belly.

"You're so warm, and soft, and you smell so good…" He nibbles at your shirt, pulling it out of the way to expose your stomach. "I want to taste you…" His tongue sweeps out, licking over your skin, before he finds your nipple with his lips. They're made of tiny overlapping metal pieces, each smaller than a dime, hard but without sharp edges.

You arch your back, moaning softly as pleasure shoots through you.

His tongue slides lower, lapping at your clothed sex.

"Your skin feels so smooth here too," he whispers, nuzzling closer. He pulls your underwear aside with a thumb. His tongue darts out, you feel the wet heat of his breath on your skin, the warmth of his tongue as it licks and circles. He takes a deep breath, inhaling your scent, before burying his face between your legs. His hands cup your hips, holding you steady as his tongue begins to move, probing and exploring.

You moan, arching your back as pleasure washes over you. His touch is so intimate, so gentle, it's almost too much to bear. You feel the arousal between your legs, the heat of his breath on your skin, the vibration of his growl as he works you. You slid your fingers across his smooth head, holding him close, urging him on.

His tongue flicks out, teasing your most sensitive place, circling it before sucking it into his mouth. You cry out, your body tensing, every nerve ending focused on the sensation of his lips and tongue. He's relentless, his touch skillful, knowing exactly what you need. You come, your body shuddering with release as wave after wave of pleasure washes over you.

Beachcombers engine growls low as he finally lowers you, holding you to his chest.

"Frag, you're amazing," he breathes, his voice hoarse from desire. "You taste so good…" He kisses your shoulder, his lips hot and soft against your skin.

"Thanks," you manage. Your clothes are in disarray, but this has been worth it.

[bellygunnr]

Cavalry Call

Commission piece for @poisonheadcrabsalesman of my Spartan and AI Roland driving a tank!

Gunny squints through the War Games UI. He's not in armor, so there's no HUD, necessarily, but his neural implant jumps to connect with the simulation pod and forces various shapes and lines to scrawl over his naked eyes. It makes his brain pulse in a deeply uncomfortable way. He jabs aimlessly at the air, snarling when he puts in the wrong option, tosses his head back when his implant abruptly goes icy and his world tinges yellow.

Bit small in here, isn't it? A familiar voice says.

Gunny leans on the edge of the pod, world swimming counter-clockwise.

"Roland," he says. "What are you doing up?"

The freezing sensation zips down his spine and melts slowly. His vision flares. Roland is-- showing off, he realizes, rifling through his brain and making the pod easier to work with.

"This is an oddly specific setup for you," Roland replies, ignoring him completely. "Ohhh. You were Army?"

The pod hums to life. Gunny climbs inside, settling into the straps, harness, and chair, and tries not to think about Roland partially riding inside. He didn't ask for a buddy, but maybe he's just doing that badly, to warrant pity from--

Hey, Roland says sharply.

Right.

He relaxes into the restraint. The hum rises in volume until his molars buzz, and then the world melts away. His limbs grow heavy and gravity tries to yank him to the ground.

But he catches his footing and rolls back to a standing position-- right next to an M808B MBT. Scorpion, for short. Gunny runs his hands over the angled hull of a tread pod, nodding to himself. It'd be a tight fit inside with his helmet.

I've never driven one of these before, Roland comments. Mind if I tag along?

"Do I have a choice?" Gunny grunts, swinging himself up and over the rear pod and on top of the cockpit.

He kicks open the hatch with one practiced strike with his boot, but hesitates on diving inside. Instead, he crouches under the long barrel, taking stock of his surroundings. That was the problem with War Games--

It could simulate enemies, but not friendlies. His ghosts didn't care what he was doing here. 

"You always have a choice," Roland says, seeping into his armor speakers. "You haven't said no yet, either."

"You didn't ask," Gunny snaps. "You seriously haven't ridden a tank?"

His HUD shivers yellow at the edges. He wishes he knew what Roland is doing, knows he can ask, but doesn't. The horizon some two kliks south lights up in neon and ionizes the air. Shakes the ground. 

Don't sound so surprised, Roland says, deep in his mind, I'm usually busy flying a starship!

He sucks in a deep breath and swings down into the cockpit of the tank. The tip of his helmet's horn grazes the ceiling before the single seat bolted to the floor grabs him and holds him close. His neck twinges as Roland jumps around, stretching himself out to fill the space of a brain and fake reality, while his neural implant does the same to sink deep into the tank.

Yeah, okay. He hasn't been in a Scorpion in a long time. It's kind of comforting, if you consider lying prone in a giant metal coffin a comfort.

Still, it takes a second for the controls to rise to his finger tips. The tank has to be started manually, but that's muscle memory. Gunny's sure the only reason he's aware of the process at all is due to Roland skimming through his brain, pleased. Then it's letting the exterior sensors and computer guiding systems pour into his brain. 

"Kind of claustrophobic, don't you think?" Roland laughs. 

Under the laughter, there's a current of genuine discomfort. Gunny lets the massive engine roar up through his throat and into his guts, lets Roland copy the synapses necessary to encourage the tank to move, and hauls off toward the flashing forest with dirt and stone dragging across his- their- backside. 

The Scorpion has its name for a few reasons, really. The most obvious is its silhouette. That low, wide hull that hugs the ground, yet snaps up into a long-snouted cannon turret. Just like its namesake, it has a long reach and a nasty bite.

And it's agile as hell.

Gunny coaxes the big thing off the plateau and down a pile of previously-blasted rock. Data rushes in at an increased rate and he braces for the skull-splitting division of attention that comes with it, but between Roland and the Spartan implant, coordinating the four track pods down the slope feels more like breathing than it should. The engine whines in discomfort as its buffeted by the slide.

He floors it into the copse of trees.

Roland is a heavy presence the entire time, all curiosity and quiet disapproval, apparently aware of how familiar Gunny is with the scenario and able to suss out what that means, exactly. It's the quietude that's unnerving-- moreso than the Covenant Armoured lurking just beyond the border of the woods. 

"Did Crimson send you after me?" Gunny demands.

He's not sure if he speaks aloud or thinks really hard or what. There's like, two Spartans total on Crimson that'd hunt after him, and that's Sadie and Rhodes. And Rhodes and Roland--

Gunny's head twitches as he gets a targeting lock on a Wraith turning away from his position. That is according to plan. Yet...

He cuts the speed incrementally. Breathes in.

Can't a guy hang out with his favorite Fireteam?

His vision blurs slightly. The barrel drops. Brakes grind. The entire assembly jerks as he hammers in the firing solution and lets loose on the errant Wraith. The 102mm round drills through the shields and sinks deep into the power core of the beast. 

Roland makes a little squeaking sound as he, presumably, detects every alien start trying to get a lock on their position. Gunny slams into reverse just as the Wraith gives up and explodes. 

And explodes again-- ammunition reserve, then. Nice.

You really don't like tanks, huh? Gunny projects. Watch this.

"Target lock," the tank says.

Oh. Well.

The Scorpion lurches as he abruptly tries to pivot left and swings into a tree, knocking it over with a crack. Overhead, a flaming ball of plasma rains down onto their position. 

"Oops," Gunny says blandly.

Roland jumps from the tank to his brain in a panic.

The exterior of the Scorpion burns. Gunny just hastily resets the simulation with a groan.

----

Like what you see? Commission me or drop me a ko-fi.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Realization of a cold atom gyroscope in space

High-precision space-based gyroscopes are important in space science research and space engineering applications. In fundamental physics research, they can be used to test the general relativity effects, such as the frame-dragging effect. These tests can explore the boundaries of the validity of general relativity and search for potential new physical theories. Several satellite projects have been implemented, including the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) and the Laser Relativity Satellite (LARES), which used electrostatic gyroscopes or the orbit data of the satellite to test the frame-dragging effect, achieving testing accuracies of 19% and 3% respectively. No violation of this general relativity effect was observed. Atom interferometers (AIs) use matter waves to measure inertial quantities. In space, thanks to the quiet satellite environment and long interference time, AIs are expected to achieve much higher acceleration and rotation measurement accuracies than those on the ground, making them important candidates for high-precision space-based inertial sensors. Europe and the United States propose relevant projects and have already conducted pre-research experiments for AIs using microgravity platforms such as the dropping tower, sounding rocket, parabolic flying plane, and the International Space Station.

The research team led by Mingsheng Zhan from the Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (APM) developed a payload named China Space Station Atom Interferometer (CSSAI) [npj Microgravity 2023, 9 (58): 1-10], which was launched in November 2022 and installed inside the High Microgravity Level Research Rack in the China Space Station (CSS) to carry out scientific experiments. This payload enables atomic interference experiments of 85Rb and 87Rb and features an integrated design. The overall size of the payload is only 46 cm × 33 cm × 26 cm, with a maximum power consumption of approximately 75 W. 

Recently, Zhan’s team used CSSAI to realize the space cold atom gyroscope measurements and systematically analyze its performance.  Based on the 87Rb atomic shearing interference fringes achieved in orbit, the team analyzed the optimal shearing angle relationship to eliminate rotational measurement errors and proposed methods to calibrate these angles, realizing precise in-orbit rotation and acceleration measurements. The uncertainty of the rotational measurement is better than 3.0×10⁻⁵ rad/s, and the resolution of the acceleration measurement is better than 1.1×10⁻⁶ m/s². The team also revealed various errors that affect the space rotational measurements. This research provides a basis for the future development of high-precision space quantum inertial sensors. This work has been published in the 4th issue of National Science Review in 2025, titled "Realization of a cold atom gyroscope in space". Professors Xi Chen, Jin Wang, and Mingsheng Zhan are the co-corresponding authors.

The research team analyzed and solved the dephasing problem of the cold atom shearing interference fringe. Under general cases, the period and phase of shearing fringes will be affected by the initial position and velocity distribution of cold atom clouds, thus resulting in errors in rotation and acceleration measurements. Through detailed analyses of the phase of the shearing fringes, a magic shearing angle relationship was found, which eliminates the dephasing caused by the parameters of the atom clouds. Furthermore, a scheme was proposed to calibrate the shearing angle precisely in orbit. Then, the research team carried out precision in-orbit rotation and acceleration measurements based on the shearing interference fringes. By utilizing the fringes with an interference time of 75 ms, a rotation measurement resolution of 50 μrad/s and an acceleration measurement resolution of 1.0 μm/s² were achieved for a single experiment. A long-term rotation measurement resolution of 17 μrad/s was achieved through data integration. Furthermore, the research team studied error terms for the in-orbit atom interference rotation measurement. Systematic effects were analyzed for the imaging magnification factor, shearing angle, interference time sequence, laser wavelength, atom cloud parameter, magnetic field distribution, etc. It is found that the shearing angle error is one of the main factors that limits the measurement accuracy of future high-precision cold atom gyroscopes in space. The rotation measured by CSSAI was compared with that measured by the gyroscope of the CSS, and these two measurement values are in good agreement, further demonstrating the reliability of the rotation measurement.

This work not only realized the world's first space cold atom gyroscope but also provided foundations for the future space quantum inertial sensors in engineering design, inertial quantity extraction, and error evaluation.

UPPER IMAGE: (Left) Rotation and acceleration measurements using the CSSAI in-orbit and (Right) Rotation comparison between the CSSAI and the classical gyroscopes of the CSS. Credit ©Science China Press

LOWER IMAGE: Atom interferometer and data analysis with it. (a) The China Space Station Atom interferometer. (b) Analysis of the dephasing of shearing fringes. (c) Calibration of the shearing angle. Credit ©Science China Press

[on-a-mechtechnicality]

Idol

The morning sun illuminated the DropShips towering over the encampment and Sigrid was making her way ‘home’. The mess tent was disappearing behind her and the sounds of the camp faded along with it to be replaced by the din of people working around the towering vessels.

She boarded, finding herself in the small human-sized corridors that made the ship feel almost cramped. The feeling didn’t last as she soon found herself face to face with the cavern that was the MechLab. It looked big from up in the overlook, where she could see the entire area, but from here on ground level she didn’t think she’d ever get used to it.

Every single Bay was lit up and most had ‘Techs working on repairing the damaged machines inside. Despite this, one of them seemed cloaked in shadow. No light reflected onto the walkway in front, and from where she just entered she couldn’t see into the Bay.

The moment she could though, it all made sense.

Sigrid blinked.

Siggy opened her eyes and bounced to the mirror. In it she saw a girl with a great big mop of unruly red hair. She sat down and brushed and brushed and brushed, and then started braiding, just like Mom had showed her. Each strand meticulously on display.

Behind her on the wall hung her dream. On the left of the twin posters an impressive looking ‘Mech stepped out of a blazing inferno. Legs bending backwards, striding resolutely forward with two arms and great big rocket pods on its shoulders.

Beside it was a much more sedate but much more interesting dream. The same ‘Mech, now laid out in excruciating detail in an exploded technical view. Sometimes when she couldn’t sleep, she looked over the poster to read all the things she read a thousand times. Where the actuators were, where the sensors were, every single line on the diagram committed to memory, familiar and comforting.

And then she blinked again.

In front of her, black as a moonless night, stood her dream. A towering and proud machine, dormant but steadfast. Almost… alive.

The engineering on the foot in front of her was masterful, if she looked close enough she could see every piece of articulation, not a rivet out of place despite the well-worn look. Her eyes drifted from the trifold feet to the massive calf actuators and then further up. To the upper legs, the sleek torso and the arm actuators ending in dual hardpoints.

She couldn’t see the missile banks, but she knew them. She could see every familiar component, every single caption from her posters on Utrecht.

It didn’t just live up to her expectations, this machine exceeded it.

Blink. Work to do.

Sigrid synced her tablet with the docket and looked over her assigned tasks.

MechTech: Sigrid Guntran Initial assignment: Timber Wolf ‘Death Knell’ Bay: 8 Work order:  right torso; replace armor plating right torso; general maintenance Full systems check Notes: Sigrid, sorry to put this on ya last minute, but I know you can do it! I’m trying to keep low so the MedTechs don’t get me. -Karrie

She looked down at her tablet, and then up at her dream. Part of her wondered if this was real, and another part supplied that she was currently working on an SLDF DropShip, deep in the Rimward periphery, on a hostile planet, under the command of a beautiful avian woman so old that the show she was on with the other Clan totem warriors – who were also here – was considered a historical record.

Working on an actual Timber Wolf didn’t seem so odd anymore.

She climbed up to the catwalk and found the Bay controls. From up here she could see the majesty that was the Timber Wolf from its rear angles, a dark void contrasted against the bright industrial lighting of the MechLab. She knew every angle, every single curve of the machine’s panelling by heart.

As the platform on the ‘Mech’s right side was lowering into position, she moved around to follow it. Panning down from the side she could see where the torso armor had taken the hits. Large chunks were warped or missing, open wounds showing the delicate internals that thankfully seemed to be in good shape. How good a shape she would have to find out later. Right now, the armor needed to come off.

She knew the automated arms could be more efficient, but they weren’t as accurate as handheld power tools. A machine of this caliber deserved those. She let the winch above her come down. Before connecting the straps onto the armor she placed a hand on the wounded ‘Mech.

“We’ll get you fixed up, don’t you worry.”

She hooked the straps to the attachment points in the armor and tensioned the lines. Bit by bit she carefully detached the panel until only the tension from above held them in place. Then it was just a light pull until it started moving.

She slowly guided the crane to move the panel out of the way and safely to the floor level of the Bay, out of the way of the walkway. A tap or two on her tablet flagged it for repairs. A forklift would be along soon.

With the panel out of the way she could see the underlying internals, sleek steel pipes contrasting harshly and beautifully against the black of the surrounding panels. And she knew them.

She knew the coolant from the lubricant from the hydraulics from the electronics at a glance, the labels only confirming what she already knew. Every conduit flowed like a symphony around the frame.

Around the places the armour had been gauged, she looked a little closer. Signs of damage would be hard to spot among the labyrinth of angles, but a visual inspection was part of the troubleshooting process. Her eyes danced over each line, following them from one end of the panel gap to where they snaked back into the ‘Mech’s interior.

All looked clear and secure, Clan engineering ensuring that even in the event of armor breach, the primary systems would not be easy to take out. Let alone the secondary and tertiary.

The systems looked undamaged, so she let the platform carry her down, just in time to see the panel being driven to the manufacturing wing. She followed along, not minding that she couldn’t keep up with the forklift. It’d give them some time to offload before she showed up. The difference in time between walking and driving was significant when dealing with this much space. Sigrid enjoyed the walks though, the Bay in operation was a soothing cacophony of all the different tools interacting with every material under the sun.

The armor repair itself was repetition more than anything. Identify a damaged subpanel. Remove the damaged subpanel. Find a suitable sized replacement. Shape the replacement. Attach the replacement. Repeat.

The capstone was the painting. It needed to match the existing color scheme, and match it well. Fresh paint also looked different from worn paint, but that was nothing they couldn’t handle. In the brochure it had never said that being an artist was part of being a MechTech, but the surprise had been a pleasant one.

The paint fresh but no longer wet, she followed the forklift back to Bay 8. It was already hoisted up and ready to be placed. She considered the automated tools, but for installation the accuracy was even more important than for removal, and handheld tools were king.

The work was honestly calming to Sigrid, alone up on the platform, grafting new skin onto the wounded ‘Mech in front of her. Bit by bit she circled around the edge of the panel until everything looked like she never touched it at all.

She climbed back onto the catwalk where her equipment was stored. She took out her neurohelmet and opened the compartment on her toolkit where she kept her soft tools. She knew them by heart, but looking through them helped remind her which ones she had available should the need arise.

The hop from the catwalk to the top of the Timber Wolf was not a big one. The matte black paint on the armor made it a little harder to judge. What made it really hard to make the jump though, was that Sigrid knew what she was about to do.

She was about to hop on top of a Timber Wolf. She was about to open the latch and lower herself inside. She already knew what it would look like, she knew the view from the cockpit, she knew the exact dimensions of the enclosure.

And that made it all the more daunting.

Gathering her will in her mind and her grip on her neurohelmet, she took the hop.

She was standing on top of a Timber Wolf. She was working on it, it was her work. It was her dream. She unlocked the hatch and allowed herself to slip inside.

Inside the ‘Mech it was quiet. No hum from the reactor, no sound arrived from the outside. There was just Sigrid, trying to calm her breathing, and the terrifying, loving embrace of a dream.

Her mind knew the startup sequence of a ‘Mech. Her fingers danced this dance before. And yet she couldn’t stop trembling as she toggled the first switch.

Bay power to auxiliary generator.

The high-pitched whine of the generator filled the cockpit. It was reassuring, it was terrifying, it was exhilarating.

Flick.

Auxiliary power to emergency lighting.

The lights around her came online. Dim compared to the view through the cockpit, but plenty bright enough to see by.

Auxiliary power to diagnostic systems.

Screens flickered to life. White text flew over a black background as the ‘Mech rose from slumber. Not awake yet, but no longer asleep. Sigrid listened to the whine and the soft clicks performing a symphony of self-tests. The ‘Mech checked its pressures, checked every single one of its connections in a lightning-fast choreography of every system it could access.

The text scrolled by faster than she could read, but she wasn’t looking for text. She was looking for colors. She was looking for the orange that signified a warning, the angry red that signified a fault. Her heartbeat punctuated the soundscape as seconds ticked past.

And then nothing.

No more text flying by, nothing more to focus her attention on. Just a single phrase that was both the best thing she could have read and the most disappointing.

Self-test: 100% Warnings: 0 Errors: 0 System status: OK

No need to diagnose further, it would not be time well spent. It would be time spent with her dream, but that didn’t matter.

She powered down the ‘Mech, returning it to cold and dark status. Ready for when it would be needed again. She picked her neurohelmet from where she set it down and held it in her hands. She stared at the visor.

Reflected in it she could see a woman with red hair in a tight bun, sitting inside the cockpit of a Timber Wolf. Her dream.

She sighed and rotated the helmet around. With trembling hands she placed it on her head.

She wasn’t plugged in.

The ‘Mech was powered down.

She had better things to do.

Siggy closed her eyes. It didn’t matter.

She had her helmet on

Made from an old football helmet, Utrecht Kodiaks logo covered with silver tape

She could see the canopy in front of her

Made from a laundry basket, tipped on its side

She knew exactly where the missile pods were

Two cardboard boxes, placed on the sofa behind her

She was in the cockpit of a Timber Wolf.

She was in the cockpit of a Timber Wolf.

The beat of her heart and the sound of her breath were the only things accompanying her for this moment in time, etching itself into her memory as her visor slowly fogged up without the air circulation connected.

She took off her helmet and held it in her hands, staring into the condensed visor one last time. There was work to be done.

She extracted herself from the cockpit and closed the hatch beneath her.

The hop from the ‘Mech onto the catwalk was both easier and harder than the other way. She landed with a soft impact of her work boots.

She placed her helmet with her toolkit and sat down on the upper catwalk, out of sight of anyone working, staring at her dream.

She raised her tablet. Four taps was all it took.

Work order complete

@jaded-falcon