[ video ]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Unlike the last time Jon has appeared on this network, this time it's very intentional. And it's very obvious that it is intentional. Apparently he has found himself a usable desk (presumably in the hospital) and has taken the time to prop up his phone appropriately to address his fellow involuntary inhabitants of this lovely place.

It's also rather obvious that he has been using this desk for a few days now at least. There is a comparably neat stack of paper in front of him, two or three notebooks, an assortment of pens, two different types of tape recorders along with some tapes and an empty mug all rather present and no, he doesn't really care about the slight mess. He himself looks a little messy himself, though that's just his normal state of being perpetually tired. But... There are more important things right now, right? Like... How to even start. ]

Uhh... Good evening.

[ That's just remotely awkward. But okay. ]

I have- I mean. I already spoke to a few of you. Either through this network or at an actual encounter in person and... I suppose you might have noticed me at that little welcome home party the Agrii have set up, but... Let's not talk about that. That was... Dreadful.

[ He pauses a moment to sort his thoughts, then goes on. ]

To those I haven't met yet: Hello. I'm Jonathan Sims and I have agreed to help with the hospital.

[ Here he makes a short gesture with one hand to indicate his surroundings. He is indeed at the hospital. Maybe that's your clue to avoid needing medical help anytime soon?

He drops that hand back down. ]

Further, I have decided to take on the task of turning what is left of what appears to have been a library once back into an actual library. To be more precise: I plan to make recordings along with written pieces and store them there once the place is cleaned up. These may serve for our own reference, but also for the Agrii if they are so inclined. My hope is that by teaching them about ourselves, our worlds and our language, we can achieve a more successful way of communicating with them. Learn to understand what they want and need and- You get the idea.

Now what I need is to find a suitable format to record on. While I work with magnetic tapes a lot myself for certain reasons, I am not unfamiliar with digital recordings. Also I am well aware that some of you come from worlds that are technically far more advanced than my Earth happens to be, so I... I would be interested to know if there are more practical formats available. Preferably ones that allow for video as well as audio recordings and don't necessarily require additional hardware for playback. Your universe's version of the data points to be found across this city, for example, just possibly without that direct access to a person's mind. Given that we may soon have access to a functioning replicator... It should be possible.

[ He lets that hang there, then takes a moment to try and think what else he might have to add. He ends up with a short shrug and half a sigh. ]

I guess that's it. If you have a suggestion you believe might work, I would very much like to hear it. And before you ask: Yes, I am planning to keep a purely digital library along with a physically accessible one.

Thank you.

Comments

[Video]

[deal_me_in]

[Oh look, that meeting with the glowing-eyed robot man wasn't a bad dream after all.]

So do we call you doc? Anyway, you're lookin' a lot better.

[He's trying to be nice.

The video tilts as Cayde moves his communicator around, as though doing so would provide him with a better view of Jon's surroundings.]

Hospital, huh? You gonna stay put for a while?

[Video]

[in_extremis]

[Hey, babe.

Tony is looking wildly less relaxed than he had on Risa, which might be safer for Jon. Except for a flash of a smirk in greeting, he doesn't even screw around one bit now.]

Are these messages not being stored somewhere?

[Video]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Oh no. That guy. See that slight eye roll and the barely disguised, yet inaudible groan. Just his luck, right?

But!

Fine. ]

Presumably somewhere out of our reach. I may not be as technically versed as others, but I do understand the concept of servers. And I would rather not try and store an entire library on this network.

Which, again, would be purely digital. I want these records to also be easily accessible to people who have never even heard of an online search engine.

[Video]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Not a dream, no. Even though that setting could have easily been a nightmare. ]

Well, thanks. It helps that the music has stopped, believe me. And... Please don't. I'm not a trained medical professional. I'm just... I try to help where I can.

[ He's seen his share of body horror to not be too squeamish about it anymore. Though he won't go as far as to call that one bullet removal actual practice in surgery. Though at times... He still just knows things. And that just might help here? Maybe? ]

I'm currently working, so... yes. There are also a few rooms I would like to start cleaning up. Do you need anything?

[Video]

[deal_me_in]

Oh yeah, maybe you can teach the Agrii how to play or mix some real music while you're doing everything else.

[He tilts his head but nods. Calling him 'doc' had mostly been a joke. Lighten up, Jon!]

Me? Oh nah. Just wanted to drop something off.

[in_extremis]

If we can find it, though, then we'd already have the hardware. Or, we already do-- there's a bunch of broken data points all over that library place. Can't be too hard to reverse engineer, we've got all the pieces.

I'll need an office, of course. [Okay, maybe a little screwing around.]

[Video]

[beholding_archivist]

[ He's mostly resistant to jokes, sorry. ]

Music... Well. That might not be a bad idea...

[ Though his knowledge in music is a little limited. ]

And I'm at... I think this counts as the emergency entrance. Making this part usable for our needs seems sufficient for the time being.

[ And it's enough work down there as it is. ]

[Video]

[deal_me_in]

[That won't stop Cayde from making them when he can.]

What are you talking about? It's a great idea. Unless you want to risk bleeding eardrums the next time they decide to throw another party.

Emergency entrance. Got it. I'll um... See if I can find it.

[beholding_archivist]

I'm no engineer, I'm an archivist. If you believe you can recreate the Agrii's technology, then by all means- But hold on a moment.

[ He squints a little at his phone, fingers tapping the paper in front of him. ]

Weren't you going to build some sort of ship the last time we spoke? To leave this place and be gone?

[Video]

[beholding_archivist]

[ That's okay. Jon won't stop him, he will merely protest.

At the mention of a potential next party, he grimaces. ]

That's true, I suppose...

[ He pushes himself up from where he is sat and picks up his phone. ]

It's at the side of the building - I will wait outside.

[ And that's what he will do. Not without taking a simple pencil along, though. At least give his fingers the impression of holding a cigarette. ]

[Video]

[deal_me_in]

[The Exo's expression brightens- both figuratively and literally.]

Alrighty then, Sims. See ya in a bit!

[in_extremis]

That was a different life, Jonboy. We're on Agra 10 now, keep up. Did you want a ship instead? I can multitask.

[beholding_archivist]

No. I need my assistants to be reliable and capable of finishing a task without either being distracted or being a distraction themselves.

[ Yeaaaaaah, right. ]

And, please, don't call me that.

[Video] > [ action ]?

[beholding_archivist]

[ That's positively disturbing and he hopes you are aware of that.

At any rate, he simply nods before stepping outside and turning off his phone.

And he will indeed wait outside, quietly taking down some notes in one of his notebooks. ]

[in_extremis]

I can't help how distracting I am, that's a you problem, but you're welcome. Don't you worry, sourpuss, I haven't met a task that I would deny the pleasure of thoroughly handling. Do you really think I'm incapable of achieving space flight and reconstituting advanced alien technology to accept new data inputs at once? Please. Basically the same problem. [He's already on the move, clearly, heading for the library to assess the damage strewn about. Hey, this was the ideal place for kindling, anyway, he could have a forge by the end of the day. Jon didn't have to know his methods.]

[Action!]

[deal_me_in]

[Not really but if he were he'd do it even more.

Cayde sets out shortly after. At least having a map helps, and he's been saved the trouble of having to decipher strange symbols and inane arrows.

It's a bit of a walk but the only thing he'd complain about is the lack of things to do and people around.

Anyway, Jon better enjoy his quiet while it lasts, because it's about to be broken in 3...2...]

Heya Sims!

[beholding_archivist]

But apparently you can't handle being serious.

[ You know, it's almost nice to be able to be openly dismissive and doubtful towards something again. ]

Maybe once you deliver actual proof for all your claims I might be more willing to believe you. But as it stands you offer little more than empty words and insufferable nicknames.

[in_extremis]

Hey, okay, we're not playing like that. You haven't delivered proof that anyone should trust you to be their nurse or their librarian, but no one's up your ass about it. You're the one asking for help, and now you're coming at me with this energy. Were you hoping to hear from someone else? Call them out like an adult, then.

[Action]

[beholding_archivist]

[ Jon stops his note taking and looks up the moment he notices the approaching Exo and greets him with a nod. ]

It's good to see you, Cayde.

[Action]

[deal_me_in]

[He drops his hand from a wave, grinning.]

Is it really though, or are you just saying that?

How's it going?

[beholding_archivist]

Oh, please. You keep calling me names and expect me to take you serious, Mister Tony, Looking for: just some fun, nothing serious?

[ Make a note here that he's directly quoting Tony's first appearance on the network from about two weeks ago. Without having to look it up. Jon may default to being polite, but if you prod him enough, he bites. Pair that with the fact that he's still lacking an adequate source of food and... Well. Hunger can make people even more cranky than they normally are. ]

But by all means. I will gladly leave any medical emergencies in your capable hands! Just find the medical data point and touch it. It won't teach you any basic anatomy lessons, but the rest is just lovely.

[ He's way happier with attempting to teach the Agrii proper grammar... ]

[Action]

[beholding_archivist]

[ There's a short pause here. Then he shrugs and offers one half of a little smlie. ]

Well... I will admit that you could probably still give me a heart attack when you showed up before me in the middle of the night, but... I know you aren't interested in my skin.

[ He closes his notebook, then sighs. ]

And I'm not sure? Certainly not on whether or not we are making any progress around here...

You wanted to drop something off?

[in_extremis]

Hey, archivist, do you process information or just record it? Try playing that one back one more time for me, because I didn't say I wanted to be the meat-mechanic. Are you looking for a fight?

[Action]

[deal_me_in]

[Cayde gives some thought to this before giving a bit of a nod.]

Well okay, yeah. I'll accept that. And yeah, let's just drop the whole skin thing? It's pretty disgusting.

[He takes a look around, chuckling a little.]

We haven't been back from vacation land for long and if there's as many people around and this much city to fix then really, I haven't expected much to be done either. But hey, you're doing something so good on you.

-oh yeah, I did.

[He steps over to hand off a book to the Archivist.]

[beholding_archivist]

[ And he lets out a slow, sharp exhale in response. At least that's a name he can't exactly take offense in. And to his credit, he does make an attempt to calm down. ]

I am looking to get something done.

[ He leans back where he sits, looks up at the ceiling and then back to his phone. The scowl doesn't ever leave his face, though. ]

I'm sorry. Yes, I am looking for help, but I really don't like that attitude.