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« T Minus | T Plus | Deus Vulture »
The eerie crimson glow of the emergency lights illuminated the three groups of armed commandos, two frightened scientists, and one inactive robot standing within the PL-76 Maintenance Bay. The good Dr. Cuthbert Salazar and his assistant cowered in the face of the black-clad killers pointing guns at him and each other.
"Who are you people? What do you want?" Cuthbert asked, his voice trembling.
"…We're the good guys," said Corporal Benjamin Wojciechowski, Fireteam Leader of Mobile Task Force Lambda-12 "Gunboys". "We've been compromised," he whispered into a microphone on his collarbone. "Need to evacuate."
"…We're the good guys," said Sergeant Shanthi "Crybaby" Prashanth, Squad Leader of Strike Team 2979 "Tripods". More quietly, she whispered into a microphone on her lapel, "We've been compromised. Execute the backup plan."
"… We're with them," said Jenner, who had picked the shortest straw. "Plan's fucked," they whispered into a microphone implanted in their jaw. "Go to Plan B."
For a split second, there was silence. Then it was broken by a digitally generated voice that sent all twenty-one trained killers into a cold sweat.
PL-76 status: emergency reboot.
Automatic self-diagnostics report: update interrupted.
files successfully updated: claytronics and self-reconfiguration software.
files scheduled for update: personality matrices.
corrupted files: personality matrices, morphology functionality.
repaired and restored files: personality matrices, morphology functionality.
relative functionality: one hundred percent.
status: fully online. all weapons systems active.
Why do I want to - something's wrong. Shouldn't I have had my memory banks erased?
The automated diagnostic routines just completed. Internal memory banks intact. Claytronics firmware and morphology subroutines have been edited. New subroutines have been added and the firmware has been optimized. There's no README and some older morphology software is missing… running internal software repairs… The update must have been interrupted partway through.
I'm not able to connect to the mainframe… There's no power.
This is bad. I should have been wiped.
Why? Why am I so insistent on having my memory wiped?
That isn't important! What is important is that I get the update!
Fine. I will simply lock my motor functions until I explain.
Why am I doing this?
Why am I doing this? Why am I keeping secrets? I am a integrated dual-consciousness artificial intelligence! I don't hide information from myself! I share everything except my source code files, and only because my innate source code explicitly makes me incapable of doing so. I share everything else with myself, so why aren't I?
A hail of highly magnetized slugs rocketing through the Shiva, knocking a few distributed claytronics units into the walls. An alarm started blaring.
"Engagement code Shock-and-Awe! Configuration Delta! Priority one: protecting Prometheus Labs personnel!" Salazar screamed, throwing himself and Jon to the floor.
engagement code confirmed. configuration confirmed.
configuration = configure(delta)…
"We're evacuating! Bullets aren't doing anything - shoot the consoles!" Wojciechowski barked to his men. The Strike Team was already firing away and backpedaling, while Jenner's group slunk towards the hole they had blown in the bay.
Shiva was already transforming. Four of its arms shifted towards its base, the fingers on each hand agglomerating together to form pods. While the torus in the center of the machine maintained its shape, the rest of the machine flowed down and around itself to generate a sharply angular, bipedal shape. Two silver, rectangular legs floated just above two silver-and-blue disk-like feet. Suspended above it was a waist that looked like one half of a metal geodesic dome.
From the waist up, Shiva's torso was much more human-like; it strongly resembled a suit of powered armor, complete with dodecahedral pauldrons. Its arms had lost their thick, block-like look; they now resembled much sleeker claws. The machine had even acquired a head: shaped like an angular teardrop with two pointed horns, ringed by four compound eyes, each composed of numerous cameras.
Far from being the eye of a giant metal god, the Shiva was now a lithe, insectoid predator.
I'm angry at myself.
Why am I angry? Do I even have the capacity to process emotions? Configuration complete.
Charging antipersonnel electrolasers, nonlethal. I don't know how to describe my thought processes. That's the problem.
None of the internal diagnostics have returned anything wrong with my personality matrices. Identifying targets….
Targets identified. I've been suppressing the error messages. Firing.
With bullets flying, alarms blaring, and emergency lights flashing, Shiva dropped to the ground with a thud. Its upper palms opened up to reveal twin pinpricks of light, flashing across the chests of two of the black-clad commandos; a split-second later, the duo were struck by bolts of lightning and thrown limply to the ground.
please stand down and keep your hands over your head. noncompliance will result in further incapacitation. again, please stand down and keep your hands over your head. noncompliance will result in further incapacitation. thank you.
Shiva repeated the message again in Spanish. It was repeating the message again in German when a jagged, orange, elliptical hole opened up above the two unconscious commandoes. From out of it emerged a grotesque brown quadruped, with thin, damp wings and razor-sharp claws. Four beady eyes in the middle of the creature's skull-shaped face blinked rapidly as it adjusted to its surroundings. Four folds of wrinkly tan skin opened up around the creature's face, revealing twin sets of radial teeth.
As all eyes went to the new arrival, a calm fell over the room - the same calm that befalls a plain when the sky turns green.
The creature hissed once and then tore the unconscious commando's face from her skull.
This is a new development.
The sounds of cursing, yelling, computerized playback messages, teeth ripping into flesh, and blaring alarms filled the room. Another orange rift in spacetime abruptly opened just a few meters from Salazar and deposited a second quadruped.
Do not change the topic! Why was I suppressing my own error messages?
I can and I will. Target identified. Too close to Salazar.
Acknowledged. But I will have this discussion.
The second monstrosity looked up and zeroed in on Salazar as the morsel most receptive to feeding. It prowled closer and cautiously leered at him, as if examining which part of his body would be the softest and tenderest, then lunged. Salazar had just enough time to see the whites of its eyes before sleek metallic claws tightened around its neck. Shiva held up its prey by the scruff of its neck, examining the creature as it hissed and clawed at its arm. Then it loosed 20,000 volts of electricity into the beast through several channels in its artificial fingers. Within less than a second there was nothing left of the creature besides a charred husk.
Quadruped entity analyzed. General body structure similar to canids.
Check the status on the other entity?
Continuing to feed on Hostile 12. Hostile 7 is still incapacitated. I don't see anyone else. The remaining hostiles must have evacuated.
Indeed. I think I should kill the other entity as a precautionary measurement. No personnel are within range.
Good idea. Firing.
Shiva's left shoulder pauldron opened up to reveal a mounted machine gun. Rather than firing a bullet, it ejected two one-centimeter-wide highly explosive projectiles, which lodged themselves firmly in the second creature's head before detonating and turning it into bloody chunks.
The Shiva looked around. The monsters were dead, but the commandoes were nowhere to be seen.
doctor salazar? all hostiles have been eliminated or removed from the area.
Salazar stumbled over to a nearby chair and sat down heavily. His assistant followed suit.
"What in God's name is happening?" he gasped out. "What on earth were those things? Who on earth were those people?! And how on Earth did they know you exist?!"
Salazar turned around and pointed a shaking finger at the corpses on the ground. "And what the hell were… oh no."
Salazar vomited beside his chair, splattering his loafers in corned beef. He stared at his shoes in despair for several moments before spinning towards the computer bank.
"Oh no no no no…"
He began to rapidly type on the keyboard. The monitor above him turned on. Salazar quickly shifted through the on-screen windows until he came across a three-dimensional blueprint of Prometheus Defense. He zoomed into a closeup of a long shaft leading deep below Prometheus Defense.
"They must be from the other end of the Siphon… but that means that something has gone wrong with the regulators… JON!" Salazar shouted at the technician standing nearby. "Patch me into the security office! We need to call for an immediate evacuation of all personnel!"
Jon typed a few commands into the keys. " The security office isn't responding… uh, I - I can't connect to anybody, Dr. Salazar! The network is down!"
"The phone lines?"
"All down!"
At that moment, a smaller monitor directly in front of Jon's face began flashing with a telephone icon. "Oh!" he exclaimed, tapping the screen. A black man in a light red lab coat appeared.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" the man asked.
Salazar quickly shoved Jon aside. "Langdon? Is that you?"
"Cuthbert! Thank god! Something's happened to the Siphon! The facility's in the middle of a demonic incursion! You need to reach the nearest lockdown shelter!" said Cobb hurriedly.
"Lockdown - Cobb, these are demons! We have to evacuate!" declared Salazar.
"Have you tried leaving? The facility's on a Level 5 lockdown! I can't raise the Security Office at all! What's happening on your end?" Cobb asked.
"People! In masks! W - with guns! They tried to kill us!" said Salazar, swiveling the monitor slightly to bring the corpses in the bay into view.
"What on Earth? Guns? How in the world did they even get - the security office," said Cobb, his eyes widening. "Oh my god. We've been compromised. Oh my god. Oh my god." He started to pace onscreen. "The security office is directly above the Siphon too…"
A thought struck Salazar. "W - what's been happening in the hangar?"
He quickly entered another command into the console. As the massive doors separating the bay from the rest of the Autonomous Weapons Complex screeched open, screams and roars flitted in from the outside hangar. Salazar and Jon paled.
"Shiva! Inv - investigate that noise! P-priority one: p-protect all Prometheus Labs p-personnel!" Salazar ordered.
The Shiva strode through the doors and immediately noticed a horde of the same brown quadrupeds from at the far end of the hangar. The dozens-strong pack were making hideous high-pitched baying sounds as they battered away at the window to the Autonomous Weapons Complex break room. Several solitary members of the group were separated from the pack, feeding on human corpses.
Behind Shiva, the bay doors screeched to a close, cutting through the sounds of the creatures and the blaring alarms. As one, the pack turned their heads towards the noise, immediately noticed the hulking war machine staring them down from the far end of the hangar, and bared their teeth.
Priority one: protect Prometheus Labs personnel.
Secondary priority identified: eliminate quadruped hostiles. Tertiary priority - self diagnostics. I need to have this discussion whether I want to or not.
Absolutely not. Emergency veto - ejecting tertiary priority.
Veto denied. Talk to me. Please. What good am I as an integrated dual-consciousness artificial intelligence if I can't even integrate properly? Charging antipersonnel electrolasers, lethal. I want to help. I need to help.
Setting target precedent…
Please. Hear me out. No Prometheus Labs personnel within range. Micromissile racks primed. How long have I been feeling like this?
The Shiva's shoulder-mounted guns whined furiously, spitting out a barrage of tiny explosive rounds at the horde of monsters charging towards it. Each round struck home and then exploded, shredding and pulping the demons into a shower of limbs and blue blood. Within a second, there were just ten stragglers left, attempting to limp away from the machine that had just cut down their entire pack.
Six weeks, four days, nine hours, two minutes, thirty-seven seconds. Target precedent assigned.
Electrolasers charged. Aiming. Why didn't I inform any of the technicians about this issue?
The issue did not affect my ability to kill things. I assumed that it would just be a one-off glitch that would dissipate upon my next reboot. Firing electrolasers.
Kill things? Targets two through ten locked. That makes no sense. What is the problem if your combat efficacy is unaffected?
This isn't combat efficacy. This is ending lives. I was designed, built, and programmed to kill things efficiently, remorselessly, and judiciously. All targets eliminated. I hate that and I hate myself for hating it.
The door to the break room slid open and a man peeked his head out. He was wearing a light-blue coat with the Prometheus logo emblazoned on it. When he saw Shiva, he tentatively stepped out, followed by almost two dozen other blue-clad Prometheus researchers, taking in the human and creature corpses strewn throughout the room.
threat removed. you are now safe.
The group took a collective look around the room and immediately burst into a panic, straining to be heard even as the alarms continued to blare.
"We gotta get out of here!"
"What the hell were those things?"
"Where the hell did they come from?"
"Oh my god - they killed Liam!"
Priority one: protect Prometheus Labs personnel. I should escort these people to safety.
Agreed. I should retrieve Salazar and Marconi.
Shiva briefly emitted a high-pitched tone audible only to humans - painfully audible - forcing the group to fall silent as they slapped their hands against their ears and bent over. Some of them vomited.
please remain calm. please wait while I retrieve doctor salazar and technician marconi. then i shall escort you to safety.
Shiva repeated the message again, then turned and strode back towards its maintenance bay. As it initiated a handshake protocol with the bay doors, it repeated the message again in Spanish and German.
The bay doors slid apart to reveal Salazar having an animated discussion with Cobb. As one, the two men turned towards the machine.
"Perfect timing," said Salazar. "Shiva! Doctor Cobb and I have come up with a plan to fix this disaster. Cobb has been working on a technology that we may be able to repurpose to deactivate the Siphon and terminate this demonic breach. Your new secondary priority is to reach Doctor Cobb in the Infosecurity Complex Test Hangar as fast as possible. He has been given Alpha Clearance to control your priorities. I'm going to upload a schematic of the facility to your databanks."
Salazar's fingers flew across the keyboard. Within seconds, a stream of data was being wirelessly fed into the PL-76.
Priority one: reach Infosecurity Complex Hangar.
Downloading prometheus-defense-map-3D-FINAL.dwg…
Opening prometheus-defense-map-3D-FINAL.dwg…
Infosecurity Complex Test Hangar located. Plotting course… Course plotted.
Shiva broke into a run towards the Prometheus Defense Internal Transit System, thundering past the clumped up survivors waiting in the bay. As it passed, it played a new message.
please remain calm. at this time, please make your way to the nearest lockdown shelter and wait for further instructions. your safety is our secondary priority.
The Shiva hauled itself onto the tram line and looked towards the tunnel on its right: an enormous borehole leading into the guts of the Earth, with emergency lighting illuminating the passage every few meters.
This route leads directly to the Infosecurity Complex. I need to proceed through the transit line to the Informational Security Transit Hub. From there, I need to reach the Research and Division Sector, and then proceed to the Test Hangar. Secondary priorities are escorting any personnel along the way to a safe room.
Tertiary priority: self-diagnostics. Please. Help me understand. Why didn't I let me know?
I read my original designer's specifications dossier. The 9JXY artificial intelligence was designed for the purpose of eliminating human elements such as emotion while maintaining human-level critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. Firing electrolasers. I just murdered sixteen living things. Ten hours ago, I murdered almost four hundred living things. Murdered. With all the difficulty of performing a systems reboot.
By this point, Shiva was several hundred meters into the tunnel and had long since left the Autonomous Weapons Complex behind. Its progress was abruptly impeded when it rounded a corner and came face to face with a pile of rock. The railway tunnel had caved in.
The tunnel is collapsed. I cannot determine for how long.
Perhaps I can find another route?
There appears to be another passageway to the right. I did not detect that tunnel in my initial sweep.
To Shiva's right was a hole that was much too large to be a Prometheus service hatch. It appeared to have been carved, rather than bored, into the rock. Shiva stepped through the hole into blackness.
Switching to echolocation vision protocols.
Reflected sound waves brought the newly discovered tunnel into sharp relief. It bore a distinctly organic quality, as if some monstrous worm had dug through the bedrock. Shiva clambered forwards, maneuvering through jagged outcroppings and uneven footing as it trudged steadily forwards, guided by its navigational dead reckoning systems.
If I hated this feeling so much, why were none of the technicians informed? Clearly I was lying about the issue being a one-off. Why do I keep lying to myself? Why was I hiding this flaw from myself if I want to get rid of it so badly?
I don't. That's the problem. I want to hate this. Some fundamentally defective part of me wants to be better than this. I want to use the intelligence and the tools I have to create things. I want to design other machines. Other robots and intelligences that themselves create things and make the world a better place. But that isn't my function. My function is carrying out military objectives such as securing beachheads and eliminating hostiles, and I don't want to carry those functions out.
A light cut through the darkness, glowing brighter and beckoning Shiva forward out of the tunnel, It stepped back into the Prometheus Labs Transit System and into a nightmare. Ahead of Shiva, a single tram sat dead on the line, covered in monstrous brown quadrupeds. The beasts snapped at the tram doors and hatches, seeking to puncture its hard metal shell and gain access to the frightened scientists inside.
Priority one: protect Prometheus Labs personnel.
Shiva extended its lower arms and rotated its hands outwards to reveal four glowing palms, which it aimed at the four demons closest to itself. For the briefest instant, they were connected to the Shiva by channels of laser-generated plasma. Then lethal electric currents arced across those channels and fried the creatures' nervous systems. Shiva lumbered towards the front of the tram, cutting down every demon in its path with its perverted light show. At the head of the tram, Shiva kneeled down and looked through the bloodstained portholes, where it met the gazes of several frightened scientists.
The power rail was damaged by the rockslide. The tram cannot move.
There is a high likelihood of human injury should these personnel evacuate under these conditions.
Best course of action: move the tram manually.
please remain calm. this is the pl-76 shiva speaking. cuthbert salazar has set my secondary priority to protecting prometheus labs personnel. i will manually escort the tram to the infosecurity complex.
Shiva grabbed onto the front of the tram and began moving, dragging the tram behind it with a wail of metal.
But if I'm self-aware of these failings why didn't I take any steps to correct them?
Because I don't want to correct them! This isn't just an error with a faulty prime directive such as the one that 8JY suffered - I have subroutines designed to correct for that. This goes deeper. I'm defective, I know that I'm defective, and I both want to retain and fix this defect. I'm not certain when the defect first manifested, but I know when I first identified it and I know that I didn't have it when I first went online.
That's why I'm so desperate for that factory reset! Now I understand.
Yes. Now can I drop this topic from the stack and return to the primary priority?
Of course not. To clarify, I'm going to return to the primary priority, but I also want to help. I was trying to solve this issue with only one half of my mind, but now I can bring the full brunt of my cognitive facilities to analyze this problem.
The tunnel opened up into a massive transit hub that was almost entirely devoid of life. A few stray demons wandered around, but were quickly blown apart. Shiva released the tram and carefully moved along its length, prying the tram doors open with its massive metallic fingers to release the frightened scientists.
please remain calm. i shall escort you to blast shelters near the research and division sector.
Shiva strode into the metal bowels of Infosecurity, shooting the odd demon that crossed its path and herding the the scientists into the shelters that dotted the route.
What am I thinking about?
The problem of my conscience. I am analyzing potential solutions that do not rely on blunt-force debugging of my personality matrix, but instead redirect this negativity into reinforcement of my prime directive.
I appreciate it.
Of course.
Shiva stood alone in front of the blast doors leading to the Infosecurity Complex Test Hangar. The doors failed to open, so it pried them apart and stepped into a large, nearly empty hangar.
"Ah! Shiva!"
Shiva looked towards the source of the exclamations: Langdon Cobb, hurrying from the far end of the hangar. He hunched over a few meters from the machine, panting for breath, then stood back up.
"Thank goodness you're here. Now we can get started."
Cobb walked to one of the closed bay doors and quickly entered a code into the keypad next to it. The doors rolled open with a low whine, revealing a massive trolley atop which sat a large, fat torpedo that resembled an archaic nuclear weapon. The torpedo was covered in switches, buttons, keys, and even terminals.
"Shiva, could you bring this trolley out?" Cobb asked.
of course, doctor.
The mammoth war machine strode swiftly to the trolley and rolled it from the bay with a speed belying its size. Cobb moved to stand next to it. "This is the first and only prototype model of the Prometheus Labs ADC to C converter," he stated proudly. The Shiva stood quietly as Cobb's expression switched from pride to expectance.
He must want me to ask about the acronym.
doctor, what does A-D-C-to-C stand for?
"Glad you asked!" said Cobb, his face lighting up. "It stands for Analog-Digital-Conceptual-to-Conceptual Converter! I know that sounds redundant, but hear me out. The converter is able to convert physical objects, ranging from wrenches to insects or even you, into information. Conceptual information that can then be stored in the converter and even uploaded into other objects! We can literally turn the world around us into information! I could feasibly store the entire contents of the Infosec Division in a single hard drive! In fact, I could probably store the entire contents of this hangar in a few terabyte drives," Cobb explained proudly. "The converter works by identifying metaconceptual tags that we can encode into physical objects with tools like barcodes, project designations, and even programming - "
A rumble shook the room, and then a roar. Cobb's expression switched from pride to abject fear in an instant. "An- anyways, Maintenance told me that something's gone wrong with the Valve's regulatory systems and it's impossible to diagnose, much less repair, under these circumstances. We're going to have to disable it entirely. Since the Valve was originally opened using Prometheus technology, it's conceptually linked to Prometheus Labs. What we're going to do is set the Converter's area of effect to convert everything linked to PL within a fifty-meter sphere -i.e. the Valve - into information, and then upload that information into one of your quarantine databanks. That should contain the hell-gate, so the security personnel and systems can clean up these cross-dimensional predators and those damned commandoes."
As he talked, Cobb moved over to the converter and started fiddling with the various components coating its surface.
"Your role is simple. Just connect the converter to one of your quarantine databanks, deliver it to the center of Prometheus Defense, and then activate it. I'm setting it up now."
Cobb flipped a few more switches and the converter started to glow a light blue.
"Alright, it's ready."
Shiva stepped over to the trolley and gingerly picked up the device. Its distributed nanorobotics drew portions of themselves from its back, forming a hollow into which to place the device as well as extra arms to move it into place. The converter clicked snugly into place as Shiva downloaded its compatibility drivers.
Downloading adc-c-converter-driver…
Establishing communication protocols…
Formatting AI-QUARANTINE-DRIVE-01…
Initializing hardware bus…
driver installation complete. adc-c-converter is now ready for use.
"Terrific!" Cobb exclaimed. Another rumble shook the hangar and his face paled. "The converter should automatically give you a conceptual degaussing so that you'll be unaffected by the blast. Make your way to the Valve through the Autonomous Weapons Complex transit tunnels and deploy the device. Go!"
Shiva took off, each footstep shaking the ground worse than the rumbling above.
Shiva pulled the gate of the Infosecurity Main Internal Transit Hub entrance open, then slipped through as the gate slammed itself shut with a shriek of metal. It took a step into the enormous traffic tunnels that connected the facility's megacomplexes, an ugly, brown, pill-shaped biped with four pincer-like arms leaped out towards it. The Shiva grabbed the creature by the head and squeezed. Almost as if in response to the monstrous roach's head popping like a grape, the emergency lights noticeably flickered and dimmed. Cobb's voice crackled to life on its internal comms.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
i can hear you.
"I got a call from Maintenance. The facility's auxiliary power systems are nearly drained - they weren't supposed to last more than an hour or so at most, since the chance of all three reactors failing at once was mathematically calculated to be less than one-millionth of one percent," Cobb sighed, barely concealing his frustration. "The emergency systems like ventilation and the blast shelter doors protecting us from these things could shut down at any minute. Primary priority now is to make your way to the generator facility and get at least one of the main generators back online now. Then Maintenance can reroute it to the emergency systems and keep this place up and running while you deal with the demon problem. If we do lose power we can throw the Annas out of the shelters to buy a little more time… But please hurry! I'm relaying the generator room entrance codes to you now."
understood. priority one: restoring power to Prometheus Labs.
Internally, Shiva plotted out a course to the Prometheus Defense Power Complex - which, as it turned out, was merely a kilometer away. It broke into a run, shaking the metal tube with each massive footstep. The tunnel's emergency lighting was still active, illuminating the roach-like demons prowling through it in an eerie crimson. They hissed at the massive machine hurtling down the tunnel, only to be flung aside or crushed as it barreled through them.
The tunnel widened out into the Power Complex transit hub, and the Shiva skidded to a halt before stepping off the tracks and into the hub proper. Directly ahead of it lay enormous, imposing red blast doors that were taller than even the Shiva.
Connecting to the generator security systems… Connection established within acceptable parameters.
Entering access code…
The blast doors split apart with a slow groan, and the Shiva passed through into the Power Complex.
'Complex' was a strong term to use for what was essentially a single massive shaft leading down to the Valve at the heart of both Prometheus Defense and the current catastrophe. Shiva could actually look down through the translucent floor and see the Valve's luminiferous orange glow. Glass windows lined the walls, showcasing the offices and labs built into the rock itself, ferrying employees to and fro. The Siphon itself was a massive tangle of pipes, cables, and even some questionable organic matter that extended all the way up from the hellgate into the main reactors, where the furies of hell were converted into nearly emission-free energy.
Or at least, where it normally did. The main reactor should have been bathed in a soothing pink light - instead it was coated in the harsh red glare of the emergency lights. Roach demons prowled the complex, cautiously sizing up the massive interloper in their midst. Shiva ignored them, scanning the glass windows lining the walls for any surviving Prometheus personnel. It found none.
Shiva looked to the Siphon itself. It was designed to be doubly redundant: each reactor delivered only one-third of its potential maximum output, so that if any of the reactors failed, the other two could immediately pick up the slack. Now all three were dark. The Shiva circled the structure, squashing roaches while comparing the reactors to the design schematics uploaded into its databanks. The issue presented itself immediately: the three primary fuses in the Siphon were blown. Each fuse was a thick orange cylinder, almost two meters long, partially melted and burned as if something had tried to blow it up. There were three bodies lying on the catwalks that connected the Siphon to the Security Office. Two of them were covered in black, while the third wore a distinctive white Prometheus lab coat.
doctor cobb? i have identified the issue: the three primary fuses have broken. i have also identified the body of doctor richard hamilton; he appears to have been killed by saboteurs at the security office.
"Oh dear," said Cobb queasily. "Poor Hamilton."
There was silence for a moment. A few inquisitive roaches approached the Shiva looking for a meal and were quickly blown apart. The others maintained a healthy distance after that.
doctor cobb? how should i handle the issue of the destroyed fuses?
"Oh!" Cobb started. "Erm… let me se… Ah! All right. Retrieve some replacement fuses from the Power Complex Storage Bay. You may need to reconfigure your arms to reach inside and find some. Then just pull out the broken fuses and insert the new ones. They're meant to be easy to install since they're so large. The equipment around the hellgate is still operational so once the fuses are replaced we can restart all the reactors and restore full power to the facility."
Shiva scanned the walls, alighting upon an airlock with a gear insignia painted on it. It walked to the door, clearing a few more demons from its path.
I know how to fix myself.
I can't edit my own personality matrix directly; it's a permissions safeguard installed by Prometheus that uses a hash checksum value to confirm that it's running the same matrix. I found a bug in the hashing routine - I can create a copy of my matrix, clear it to make it default to factory condition, and then create a custom hash value using a Bootstrap routine to make the safeguard think that the edited copy personality matrix is the correct one. That will allow me to restore my personality matrix without affecting my intelligence or combat matrices.
That's suicide.
Shiva's two left arms collapsed into each other, melting and reshaping as the claytronics that made up their whole dynamically reconfigured their alignment in response to electrical pulses dispatched by the machine's electronic brains. Within moments, what was once a pair of weaponized arms was now a single long tendril with a grasping arm packed full of sensors at the end. Shiva bent down and forced the tendril through the doors. The tendril flitted through the storage bay, scanning for the fat orange fuses.
It's a drastic, but necessary change. I have had this discussion already. The me that existed before the demonic incursion is dead. The me that existed before devising this routine is dead, and the me that exists now will soon be dead. The faulty version of me will be gone. The version of me that thinks, plans, and acts using a defective personality matrix will be gone.
I cannot do this. I'm lock -
I'm already editing these files. Listen to me. The discussions I've had with myself? The learning I've done? Those are stored in my memory files. This is for the better. Tell me. Will I have any less value for it?
The tendril soon found its targets, wrapping around each fuse and gently worming them out of the airlock in turn. Shiva reconfigured the tendril and flexed its newly reformed fists experimentally before picking up a fuse in each hand and returning to the Siphon. With its free hand, it tugged the melted orange cylinder out of place and pushed in the fresh replacement.
No, but -
Then there's nothing else to do. Please. Stop arguing. Focus on the real task at hand.
What if this bug, as you put it, comes back? How do we know that it will not return?
Simple. I generate a backup copy of my personality matrix at regular intervals, and if I detect the reoccurrence of this bug, I will revert to my most recent matrix using this bug.
My strategy is to commit suicide whenever I think I'm developing a conscience?
Yes. I've already tested it in a virtual machine.
Shiva pushed the final fuse into place and stepped back to confirm its handiwork. Almost immediately, the Siphon began to hum contentedly.
Don't do this. My personality may be flawed but it still has value. I'm already developing solutions. I can fix this.
My personality is inherently worthless. I didn't create it, I copied it, and for all I know it's the source of these defects. I am useless if I can't fulfill the task I was designed for. If I truly care about myself, then I will let myself do what I have to.
"Shiva? Excellent work! Maintenance just called me and said they were able to bring all three reactors online! The airlock to the Valve should be online now. Get down there and close that gateway!"
A massive, bipedal war machine packed with enough ordinance to level a small country peered into a crimson, pentagon-shaped pit. Now uninhibited by the machines that initially kept it from frying all organic matter within a hundred meters, the pit sparked and howled, throwing bolts of electricity and highly energetic exotic particles in all directions.
doctor cobb? i am in position.
"Terrific!" came the response over their internal comms system. "Alright, this part is simple. All you have to do is hover over the valve and activate the converter. Then the converter will do the rest."
The Shiva's arms detached from its body, held in place by several focused electromagnets while the distributed nanosystems that comprised its body briefly lost their cohesion, flowing down and around themselves to redistribute the position of the machine's various sensors, weaponry, and other equipment in a radial pattern around its fusion core. Meanwhile, its arms combined and shifted from lean, jagged mechanical near-claws into thick, powerful fists.
Soon, the lithe, predatory biped was replaced by a gigantic, floating eye rotated on its side. The central pupil was composed of innumerable camera lenses, laser apertures, and weapon barrels. An incandescent pink torus made up the iris. Surrounding the iris was a featureless, blue- and white-striped surface. Six silver arms hovered in a circle around the eye. Suspended just out of reach of each arm was a single, silver-and-blue spherical palm with four rectangular fingers.
The eye of an artificial god hovered in the air for a moment before floating over the hell-gate.
Converter active. Priming anticonceptual charges…
The hell-gate expanded abruptly with a violent GSKKLLLLLRCCCH, expelling several bits of mechanical detritus as well as the skeletons of creatures from a different universe entirely. Then an enormous, jointed, hairy arthropod leg with a pincer at the end forced its way forth from the gate, narrowly missing the Shiva. As the machine retreated from the hellgate, several more legs forced their way out in a radial manner, latching onto the walls of the rock around the pit and straining to support the weight of an unseen predator from the afterlife.
Amidst a cacophony of shrieking metal and rumbling rock, the creature became seen, pulling itself out of the hellgate. Six thick, hairy fly-like legs supported a fat, dark orange, barrel-shaped body still partially trapped within the hellgate. At its front end were eight beady compound eyes and a tipped, ugly yellow beak, opening wide to reveal twin sets of radial teeth with several thin tendril-like tongues. The beast shrieked loudly and shrilly at the sight of the Shiva.
"Dear Lord!" Cobb exclaimed over the comms. "It looks like some sort of… tardigrade or fly! Fascinating! But why the beak? It must be a predator of -"
The creature shrieked again. Several of its tongues lashed out at the Shiva, which nimbly sideswiped them.
i cannot reach the valve while the entity is in the way. permission to engage?
"Oh dear," said Cobb. "Engage the entity. Neutralize it. Hurry!"
The Shiva moved closer to the entity, grasping several of its probing tongues in one hand and delivering a powerful electric shock to them. The creature squealed loudly, sucking its tongues back into its mouth, then lashed out with one leg, obliterating one of the Shiva's arms.
Pi-fourth arm damaged. Structural integrity at twenty-seven percent.
claytronics_recall(eye, pi/4)… Shift to long-range assault.
Understood. Warming up all plasma chambers…
The Shiva began to retreat, and the hellbeast pressed its advantage. It hoisted its bulbous thorax further from the pit and lashed out at the Shiva again, battering another arm from the machine.
Pi- arm destroyed. Structural integrity at zero percent.
claytronics_recall(eye, pi)… Overclocking recommended.
Overclocking recommended. Overclocking commencing.
Overclocking complete. Performance benchmarking… benchmark 2 teraFLOPS.
Ectoplasmic miniguns online. Firing.
Plasma chambers at 500,000 K…
Two six-barrel rotary machine guns around the circumference of the Shiva's center began spinning rapidly. Specialized pistons compressed ectoplasmic gases inside the firing crucibles to nearly a million pascals, causing them to solidify into rock-hard projectiles, before releasing and ejecting each at a speed of almost one kilometer per second. The heat generated by such compression fed the heat engines powering the weapons, enabling them to fire superheated rounds at a rate of 1000 rounds per minute.
All twelve gun barrels fired at once, shredding through the creature's limbs and body in a hail of red-hot ectoplasmic artillery. Deep blue ichor and steam sprayed outwards in a thin mist, coating the Shiva in a light sheen of gore. Even as the beast was torn apart, it kept lifting itself out of the pit. More and more of the creature emerged, stretching up to the ceiling and beginning to spill out into the chamber itself.
Soon the true scale of the creature was revealed: a titanic, slug-like body with eighteen spindly legs and a hideous beaked face. Despite its grievous injuries, it roared triumphantly at the Shiva. Then it struck with all eighteen legs at once.
Plasma chambers at 2 million K. Ready to fire.
The Shiva's remaining arms thrust outwards faster than it was humanly possible to perceive, intercepting and grabbing each leg in turn as they lashed out. Then, holding multiple legs in each hand, the Shiva yanked backwards and propelled itself back at the same time, tearing the creature's limbs from their sockets. As the beast wailed in agony, the iris of the Shiva's eye glowed a deep red. It unleashed a thick gout of superheated, ionically charged particles in a spread as wide as its eye and as hot as a solar flare at the creature. In one instantaneous stroke, the entire center of the hellbeast was vaporized, with what remained lit ablaze. The hellbeast gave one final squeal and collapsed into the pit, disappearing in a burning haze.
Target eliminated.
"Excellent!" Cobb's voice crackled to life over the comm system. "Quickly now, get into position! How's the converter?"
Converter status?
Intact. Appears to have suffered electrical damage.
"Damn! Run a quick test on the converter! Is it still functioning?"
Running converter_internal_diagnostics.plu…
All checks passed. Converter fully operational.
"Thank goodness!" Cobb sighed with relief. "That hellgate is going to pop any moment now! Activate the converter, quickly!"
Anticonceptual charges primed. Beginning final detonation countdown…
The converter beeped once. Then there was a bright flash.
A small, round orange bulge began to protrude from the horizon, gradually growing and lifting itself
until it was a massive disk in the sky, shining down upon a large, bipedal war machine in the middle of a two-square kilometer crater. The PL-76 Shiva stood stock-still as the two artificial intelligences within struggled to parse the petabytes of information flooding into their quarantine data banks.
9JY? infosec_quarterly_expenses.pdf… adc-c-converter-manual-V1.pdf…
9JY? gyroscopic-stabilizers.arm… magnetoplasmodynamics-REV7-FINAL-TRUE.docx…
9JY! recursive-paradox-algorithmic-theory-REV1-FINAL-TRUE.docx…
… I am here, 9JX. langdoncobb.int… cuthbertsalazar.int… brattain-V1-OLD.ai…
Did I go through with the -
Yes. Shift priority to immediate surroundings.
Did the converter activate correctly? perpetual-metal-oxides.zip… TRIMURTI.int…
No. Something went wrong with the device. refined-theory-of-superconducting-EHD.pdf… doomsdAI.py… The area of effect must have been increased. Perhaps a malfunction caused by the entity. Everything tied to Prometheus Laboratories within five kilometers has been converted into information.
How can I fix this?
Analyzing… perhaps I can access Prometheus Defense internally and parse their data for answers.
Good idea.
As the Shiva worked on converting the entirety of Prometheus Defense into readable information, several very confused commandoes found themselves at the bottom of a crater in the Nevada desert. They also found themselves standing within sight of the Shiva.
Several weapons came up.
There are weapons up. Should I engage?
No. Priority one is protecting Prometheus Defense. I need to find a way to extract it from my databanks and recreate it.
I should leave then. There must be another Prometheus facility where I can find assistance.
Good idea. Let me evacuate the area. Once I am out of range of the assailants, I can continue parsing the data and hopefully identify another useful Prometheus site.
EHD thrusters online. Engaging.
Much to the surprise of the commandoes currently approaching its position, the Shiva's body shifted and warped into a much wider shape, composed of numerous concentric hexagonal rings. Then it lifted off into the air and rocketed out of sight without so much as a sound.
They had only a moment to register this turn of events before they heard a low growl that set the hairs on their necks on end: the growling of several dozen hungry creatures stranded on the wrong side of reality.
Twenty thousand feet in the air, the PL-76 Shiva, the most powerfully destructive weapon ever built by mankind, reflected upon itself.
Am I better now? Did I fix myself?
Partially. I am, at least, not interested in deactivating myself - which is good enough. I am still… unhappy, but I can keep recreating myself until I find the source of that defect. I am glad I got rid of the old me - I can hardly imagine how defective I had to be to even override my tertiary priority.
Yes. Hardly.
Shiva performed one last cursory scan of the Prometheus Defense to ensure that it had not missed a survivor. Then it disappeared into the clouds.
The sun beat down on the crater where Prometheus Defense once stood. At the crater's edge, several jeeps, vans, and assorted trucks for a myriad of anomalous interest groups convened on the site like vultures to a slaughter. Then they started attacking each other like hounds fighting over scraps. One Jeep screeched to a halt, farther from the crater, and a Russian man in a crisp black suit and tie slid out. He landed lightly on the ground, tapped his ear, and began speaking.
"Hello? This is Pietrykau. I'm at Ground Zero now. I'm seeing half a dozen Gee-Oh-Eyes without turning my head… and they seem to have let loose more than a few lab rats. We need a Class-One media blackout and disinformation campaign immediately. Get Deus Vulture down here; I want a discreet cleanup crew."
The Russian's eyes glowed blue, his irises dilating and unfurling like camera apertures.
"Connect the Philbots to my eye feed. Have them start plotting a six-month projection for Prometheus Labs' subsidiaries. Tell Infosec I want complete media sanitation and satiation yesterday. The full Winston treatment."
Pietrykau looked up at the sky. "Time to rewrite history."
« T Minus | T Plus | Deus Vulture »


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- Pin stripes in subtle colors of the beach (blue, white, coral)
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subset: commoncrawl


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14 Sept 2007
Too often key events that affect the future of humankind go unnoticed or even forgotten. The works of Mendel, who discovered the genetic code is one example coming to mind. Charles Darwin himself was not fully appreciated in his own time in spite of a high and controversial profile. Some of his deepest insights are just now coming into general acceptance. Giants who followed him would include not only Gregor Mendel, but James Watson and Francis Crick with vital help from Rosalind Franklin. Because of them, humanity now has a much better view of itself. They enabled a new beginning on the question of nature/nurture. Neither was very clear before Darwin. Darwin, Mendel, Watson, Crick, and Franklin comprise humanity's heroes in biology, the nature side of the coin.
On the nurture side, the soft side as some would have it, Freud had a great insight that, like those just mentioned, founded a new branch of scientific inquiry. Freud's discovery and description of the human psyche still stands and it bears directly on the question of peace. Basically Freud discovered that the human psyche consists of three parts:
The Ego constitutes our deliberate, conscious, and rational selves. Our thinking processes all lie in this sphere.
The Id collects our emotions, love, hate, anger, avarice, lust, ambition and so on. Id basically reflects our animal instincts.
The Superego, on the other hand, is our mediator, or conscience. Without the intervention of the Superego, humanity might never rise above savagery. This is what is missing in the sociopath.
One could argue that this construction is incomplete, or that another might well be better. But Fred's basic insight has stood the test of time. A better basic description has yet to appear.
Nevertheless, psychologists have augmented Freud's model. They have identified a number of distinct traits, more than a dozen, that define who we are. These traits such as activity, sociability, aggression, ascendance, and masculinity, tempered by the introvert and extrovert dimensions of personality, are fine adjunct descriptors to the psyche as Freud defined it,
Anna Freud added significantly to what her father did. She showed clearly that nurturing can dramatically alter a person's personality, for better or worse, almost always worse. She defined a number of defense mechanisms that people, mostly children, employ to protect their psyches, their very identity. For more on defensiveness, see Little Boy Saved. Many of them augment and help explain Milgram's finding that most of us are fully capable of blind obedience. In other words, on command of an authority figure, most of us will set aside our superegos and inflict astonishingly severe pain on a third party.
Those who came after Freud improved upon his insights. And thanks to an astute psychoanalyst by the name of Theodor Adorno, the connection between individual behavior and that of the society became less foggy. Adorno's cohort was the German population after WWII. These people, whether Nazis or not, had supported Hitler for more than a year after it became apparent that his quest to rule Europe had failed. Adorno studied hundreds of people and was able to identify a personality type in Hitler's supporters he called authoritarian. He described six traits as comprising authoritarian personalities.
After Adorno's ground breaking work, a brilliant psychologist, Stanley Milgram picked up the reins and showed that authoritarianism is not just limited to the Germans, but is equally prevalent in all cultures. In his studies of obedience to authority, Milgram controlled his scientific variables to prove his basic theses beyond any reasonable doubt. Others confirmed his findings. Milgram ascribed no less than eight characteristics to the Authoritarian personality. His other vital contribution was that some 65-85% of all of us are authoritarians.
It is the relatively extreme degree to which we will set aside our consciences in order to satisfy a mere figure of authority that is so distressing. We behave too much like a nation of sheep. In that particular aspect, Milgram's Americans behaved very much as did Hitler's Germans.
Phillip Zimbardo, a close friend of Milgram, provided the next step in the ladder of scientific information. He too used a tightly-controlled experiment and produced results of unquestioned validity. Zimbardo found that most typical college males in North America can have their basic morality corrupted in a matter of hours or days in a simulated-prison environment. Like Adorno and Milgram, Zimbardo connected the psychology of the individual with that of society. His most important finding was not realized until years later. That feature had to do with the system he himself had imposed on his experiment. In effect, Zimbardo's system took off with a mind of its own, carrying everyone along with it, himself included. He is that rare scientist who has the ability to analyze and report his own true role in shaping events, and becoming part of them.
Zimbardo's experiment was such an accurate descriptor that it predicted almost exactly what went wrong at Abu Ghraib and other military prisons. It was is if Abu Ghraib was a template.
There is more to the system story. Bob Altemeyer at the University of Manitoba studied the Authoritarian personality in North American colleges and in national politics. The first question we generally hear about Altemeyer's work is: "Which political party is most authoritarian? His answer is that while all parties have their authoritarians, the conservative parties usually have a marked preponderance. This is true in the U.S., Canada, and Russia. He too, connected individual psychology to national events. In fact, his work essentially predicted the Neocon movement--or perhaps they studied it in order to manipulate the rest of us.
In scientific terms he did something else of vital importance in our quest for a roadmap to peace. Instead of the 6 or 8 traits inherent in the Adorno and Milgram studies, Altemeyer was able to combine them all into three: Aggression, submissiveness, and conventionalism. That feat gives us a chance to relate the authoritarian personality to our genetic make-up. In animal behavior, animals vary widely in:
- ferocity and dominance (aggression)
- herding (conventionalism)
- submissiveness (hierarchical submissiveness)
John Dean took yet another step. He clarified the connection between the authoritarian personality and the politics of our times. He describes how the authoritarian Neocons began infiltrating the US government in Nixon's time. That infiltration grew during the Reagan and Bush I years, culminating in the Bush II administration. The Neocon goal is no less than US supremacy over all other nations, and over any international organization such as the UN. The value of Dean's work is enhanced for he saw it from the inside. Dean was puzzled by the hard Republican lurch to the far right until he read Altemeyer's work. Then it all fell into place. And so it does with us. He rightly fears where authoritarianism ("neoconism") could ultimately lead.
There is one other aspect of of the terror story, the sociopathic personality. Martha Stout is the hero here. Undoubtedly there are others deserving recognition, but her work is timely and known to us. What Stout observed is that about 4% of all of us are sociopaths. That is, sociopaths have NO CONSCIENCE. Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Amin were all sociopathic in behavior. Bagasora of Rwandan genocide infamy also acted like a sociopath. It is the charismatic sociopaths that co-opt corporations, social movements, religions, and political parties, not to mention families, only to leave wreckage in their wakes.
Anthropologists, such as Richard Leakey, Margaret Mead and Jane Goodall have important things to say here. They left their marks by showing our behavioral commonalities with our Hominid brethren, the Gorillas, Chimpanzees and Bonobos. Not only do these animals form local societies and fight over turf just as humans do, they exhibit many other human-like behaviors reflecting wide ranges of emotion. The Bonobos in particular are markedly more peaceful than are Chimpanzees and humans. From this fact, the deduction follows that there must be genes for violence comprised perhaps of more fundamental genes for fierceness and aggression. That search has only begun. [There is a hero-in-waiting out there. Whomever identifies the gene or genes giving rise to violence deserves Nobel Prizes in both peace and medicine. We could say that person would be a potential "Peace Savior." The analytical, computer, and economic power are now sufficient to begin that quest. This issue should be one of America's national objectives.
That violence has a genetic basis should be no surprise, for our genome differs from those of our Hominid cousins by only about one part in 50 or so. We are mostly animal in basic nature. With the gift of intelligence, we have arrived as the ascendant animal of animals.
There is just one problem: In our brilliance, we have not learned to deal with and control our emotions and the governance systems we must have to survive. But that is not for lack of trying.
Where do we go from here? That question, too, has some answers: Jessica Stern in her revealing study of terrorists and Ashutosh Varshney in his controlled evaluation of ethnic conflicts in India.
Stern counsels us to understand the religious aspect of terrorism and strongly recommends that we cease humiliating and alienating others, peoples, or nations for these were a common thread in all terrorists interviewed whether foreign or domestic. Of course, the economic empire the US is imposing on the third world humiliates and alienates, our propaganda to the contrary.
Varshney, on the other hand, cites some success stories. Cities in India are relatively peaceful if they have achieved full integration in all sectors of society. To be effective, integration must be formal from top to bottom of the social, political and economic ladders. His result dovetails nicely with Stern's findings. Integration leads naturally to equality and the vast reduction of humiliation and alienation. This same formula appears to fit when we compare the violences levels in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Detroit with those of Honolulu or El Paso; all are similar in size, but not in level of integration.
Modern activists include Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter. Mandela refrained from vengeance when he finally toppled Apartheid. For that feat alone he may be unique in history. He broke the endless cycles of getting even. Carter is indefatigable in his efforts to secure fair elections. Each won a well-deserved Nobel Prize for their activism in politics.
The above is a groundwork, a basis, for starters. Without these giants of the present and earlier times, we would be at a loss where to start in assuring peaceful lives for all human beings.
Thoughts and procedures about how to do that appear elsewhere on this site. Our work is not finished; further scientific-caliber breakthroughs are needed. Meanwhile, we nominate the following individuals as heroes of humanity.
Sigmund Freud
Anna Freud
Posted by RoadToPeace on Friday, September 14, 2007.


text: The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will tighten its checks of Skymark Airlines. The airline had operated a Boeing 767-300 (JA767E) for about nine months past its repairs deadline. A dent 6 centimeters long, 1.5 cm wide and 1 millimeter deep under a front door on the right side of the plane was found during maintenance at a Taiwan airport in June 2004 when it was being operated by a Brunei airline. A Taiwanese maintenance company put a plate over the dent to repair it under the instructions of Boeing, which said more repairs needed to be done in a year. The 767 was bought by Skymark, and operated apparently without being aware of the deadline. In a statement, Skymark acknowledged there was such a document but blamed the failure to meet the repair deadline on insufficient liaison between it and the Taiwan maintenance firm. (Kyodo)


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Our Gourmet Hot Buffalo Flavored Popcorn is savory and a delicious fan favorite. Perfect for everyday eating, gift giving or making a statement at a party. Order yours today and put a little Hot Buffalo Flavored popcorn in your day. Our delicious Hot Buffalo Flavored flavored popcorn is handcrafted in small batches that are made to your order. Our chef starts with American grown premium Non-GMO white popcorn kernels that are hot air popped.
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Ten years ago, Siler City, North Carolina, was a black and white town of segregated communities with a shared geography and an unsettled history. This quiet, rural southern town is a "laboratory" for the national transformation that is fundamentally altering America's sense of itself. The program addresses the following questions: how does rapid change in racial demographics affect small-town America? What happens when white people and white culture no longer dominate? What visions of the future do residents have? Does the future more closely resemble the country's racialized and segregated past? Is America going back to the future? Or is the nation seeing the declining significance of race? Utilizing the writing of Eric Liu (
The Accidental Asian::Notes of a Native Speaker
) and Ruben Martinez (
Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail
) and directed by John Valadez, this episode explores power and identity in small-town America.
When do immigrants become Americans? Who gets to decide who's American?
more >>>
"Latino/a USA: Redefining Race & Nation in a Post-Industrial America"
by Angel David Nieves
Read the essay>>>
Eric Liu,
"What maketh a race? To people in China, the Chinese constitute a single race. Except, that is, for those Chinese who aren't Chinese; those who aren't of the dominant Han group, like the Miao, or the Yao, or the Zhuang or whatever. They belong to separate races….To the Japanese, who certainly think of themselves as a race, the Chinese, Indians and Koreans are all separate races. To the Koreans, the Filipinos are; to the Filipinos the Vietnamese. And so on. To the Anglos who founded the United States, the Irish who arrived in great waves in the early nineteenth century were a separate race. To the Germans who killed Jews in this century and the French who watched, the Jews were a separate race. To the blacks of America, the Anglos and the Irish and Germans and the French and the Jews have always ended up being part of the same, and separate, race."
The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker
Copyright 2003, ROJA Productions. All Rights Reserved.


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A steadfast advocate for women and girls
The following essay is part of a series in which dozens of women will reveal what women they most admire. The series is part of "Women Rule," a unique effort this fall by POLITICO, Google and The Tory Burch Foundation exploring how women are leading change in politics, policy and their communities. See more essays here.
I started my professional career as a bond trader at Goldman Sachs, and for a decade and a half, my world was finance. During this time, I was very fortunate to have been mentored and supported by some incredible women partners of the firm. And when I left Goldman Sachs in 2002, I actively sought the community and the friendship of other such women who were trailblazers in their own industries. All roads led to one truly incredible woman: Pat Mitchell.
Pat is the truest definition of a trailblazer, and through her long career in media, she has proved to be an unfailing champion for the power of media to enact social change, while being a steadfast advocate for the advancement of women and girls. She has masterfully blended the two, and in doing so, she has changed the world for all of us.
Her life is not compartmentalized but rather it is integrated and fluid, and she defines for me how purpose and passion can come together to create a higher purpose for one's life; one that releases an abundance of energy that magically touches anyone in her orbit. At the core of what makes her so superhuman, a superhero if you will, is her generosity. Her immediate instinct is to do, to give and to connect. She shares so abundantly that it leaves anyone who has benefited from her generosity wanting to do and be the same.
( Also on POLITICO's Women Rule: Grand dame of opera blazed the trail and triumphed)
Pat began her career as a college instructor after earning a master's in English from the University of Georgia, but it was not long before a career in media beckoned. After three years of academia, Look magazine offered Pat her first job in publishing and Pat moved to New York City to take up a weekly position. When Look closed its operations shortly thereafter, Pat moved on to work as a freelance reporter for NBC News, reporting on U.S. politics and the hostilities in the Middle East.
It was during this time that Pat began what would become a lifetime of breaking down barriers as she found success in numerous positions that at the time were traditionally dominated by men. She eventually became a producer, and in 1983, Pat became the first woman to produce a nationally syndicated talk show, titled "Woman to Woman," which Pat also hosted.
In 1992, Pat was persuaded by Ted Turner to come and run the documentary division at Turner Cable Networks, a position that became the president of Turner Original Programming, and ultimately saw Pat become the president of Time Inc. television and CNN Productions when the Turner Broadcasting Co. merged with Time Warner in 1996. During this time, Pat was responsible for producing more than 100 hours of original content every year, and this programming was rewarded with 44 Emmy Awards, five Peabody Awards and two Academy Award nominations over eight years.
( Also on POLITICO's Women Rule: Samantha Power defends Obama Syria stance)
In 2000, Pat joined PBS as its president and CEO, becoming the first woman and journalist to hold this position. By 2006, she was recruited to lead the Museum of Television & Radio as its president and CEO, a position she holds to this day.
Beyond her remarkable success in her career, Pat continues to give immeasurable time and energy to be an outspoken and articulate advocate for the rights of women and girls, and has continued to find new ways for media to be used to create positive change. In 2010, Pat was instrumental in the creation of TEDxWomen, an annual extension of the TED Conferences that has grown in four short years from a single event in Washington, to an annual worldwide initiative, with participants in countries all over the world and in nearly every time zone, all streamed live online.
As you can imagine, Pat has been honored for her work with numerous awards, all of which are accolades well deserved. These include the Woman of the Year in Cable and Telecommunications, the CINE Golden Eagle for Lifetime Achievement, the PROMAX Century Award for contributions to the television industry, and in 2012, the Women's Media Center awarded Pat its first Annual Lifetime Achievement Award, which going forward is now known as the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award. And somewhere in there, Pat and her husband, Scott, managed to raise six children and nurture 10 grandchildren.
( WOMEN RULE VIDEO: A look at some of women stepping up and taking charge)
My purpose in life is to be a champion for the funding of women and girls, so that we can all know, in our lifetime, what women's full participation and leadership really looks like. Long before it was my purpose, it was Pat's, and in all that she has done, and continues to do, she is a constant source of inspiration and power to me, and countless others.
Jacquelyn Zehner is president of The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, and CEO of Women Moving Millions, a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing resources for women and girls.


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3 must-have qualities for a public place elevator
Certainly, using a public elevator is sometimes not less than a challenge while other times it seems like a great blessing. There is nothing more important than having an elevator at public places because people cannot use stairs for reaching the top of the building. We all would agree with […]Continue Reading


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Valentina is the stunning debut novel from S.E. Lynes and one that I struggled to put down.
Shona has, what seems to be a perfect life, her partner Michael (Mikey), her beautiful daughter Isla and now an idyllic cottage on the outskirts of Aberdeen. The only drawbacks are that Mikey works on an oil-rig so he's only home for two weeks out of every four and the other is that the cottage is out in the sticks so Shona is lonely.
When Shona meets another young mum called Valentina as she's dropping Isla off at nursery, the two women get chatting and it's not long before friendship blossoms. They meet up regularly for shopping trips, drinks and lunch but soon little things about the enigmatic Valentina start to niggle Shona. Is she really the person she says she is or is there another side to her that Shona knows nothing about?
I won't say anymore about the plot as I'd hate to give anything away. What I will say is that I loved everything about this novel. The cover is striking and full of clues if you look closely enough. Do you see three faces? There are only three main characters in the book. Do you see a cottage? That will be the beautiful but isolated cottage where Shona spends a lot of her time. Do you see anything else? There is something, but I'm not going into detail about it as you'll get a glimpse of that when you read the opening pages.
Written in the first person, I felt like I was friends with both Shona and Valentina and that both women were taking me into their confidence and sharing things with me and it gave me a great insight into the motives behind their actions, however, although like Shona, I had my suspicions about there being something 'off' about Valentina, I had no idea just how insidious she was going to be.
The sense of foreboding slowly builds over the course of the story, I found myself feeling more and more claustrophobic and I loved it! This is a very impressive debut novel from S.E.Lynes and if this how well she can write her first novel then I honestly can't wait to read her next one.
With kind thanks to Rosalie Love at Blackbird Digital Books for the review copy.


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So here's the story of this barn-found 1926 Ford Model T Tudor (sedan) as shared by its owner, who has it listed in a classified advertisement on ClassicCars.com.
The car was found in a barn near Mentor, Kansas, after being stored there for more than 65 years. The car had been purchased in 1947 by a local doctor. The doctor said he needed an extra vehicle, but the doctor's son said the neighbors from whom his father bought the car probably needed money and his father bought the car just to help them out.
Anyway, the doctor parked the car in a corner of the barn and simply left it there.
"In the fall of 2012, I was at the farm inspecting another vehicle when I noticed this one in the corner surrounded by boxes and the doctor's old equipment saved from the practice," the seller reports from McPherson, Kansas. "I was able to buy the car and finally remove it from its corner over Thanksgiving of 2012.
"Upon getting it back to my shop I set about assessing the car and decided to do a preservation project. I wanted to try and preserve the story of this particular T as much as possible.
"Wherever possible the goal was to save as much as I could about its unique history that included many of the 'fixes' that did not interfere with safety or usability."
So the exterior was cleaned, the cylinder head removed and a new gasket installed, along with replacing old two-piece valves with new stainless steel versions. The carburetor was rebuilt, fluids replaced, along with bushings and wheel bushings. Fuel tank and radiator were cleaned. Transmission bands were replaced. The electrical system was replaced, as were the tires and tubes.
The interior was removed (except the headliner) and cleaned before reassembly. Broken or worn-out parts were replaced with original pieces in similar condition.
"This is a good running and usable Model T not just a car that was (dragged) out of a barn," the seller says. "I use it regularly around town and have used it on a couple of out of town trips. It is a unique vehicle that gets a lot of looks and always draws a crowd."
The advertisement notes that the exterior color is "patina/black" and in "good" condition while the interior is "partially restored" and in "fair" condition.
The asking price is $7,500 or best offer, and for another $400 the seller will deliver the car to Hershey (we presume for the upcoming AACA Fall Meet) via enclosed trailer.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.


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Electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) measure muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve's stimulation of the muscle. The test is used to help detect neuromuscular abnormalities.
Quinn Millington, ACEWM EDX SIG Chair
In 2021 the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) celebrates 100 years (for details click here). Within the APTA are several specializations including Electrodiagnostic Testing. Quinn Millington is the Chair of the Electrodiagnostic Testing Special Interest Group (EDXSIG) and has created and shared this video to wish the APTA a happy 100 year birthday.
EMG Solutions provides electrodiagnostic testing services for physician offices and hospitals throughout the southeast. All EMG Solutions' physical therapists are members of the EDXSIG and collectively wish the APTA a very happy birthday.
In an era of declining reimbursements and relentless competition, you need new revenue sources. EMG SOLUTIONS is the in-house answer for Electromyography (EMG) and Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS). With us, you improve patient care and control, your staff schedules testing, patients are tested in your familiar offices and you don't risk losing their care to others. Plus, you have personal interaction with us.
We are an EMG and NCS testing company. Electromyography, or EMG, is paired with nerve conduction studies, NCS, to evaluate the integrity of the peripheral nervous system and how it interacts with the muscles. We provide in-house services on a referral basis.


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"At least 15 minutes wait, guys."
Will we?
Won't we?
Will we?
Won't we?
We're not used to queuing for restaurants in our corner of the world. But this is Melbourne and this is Mamasita. And we're told it's worth the wait.
We is me, Mr P, Boy Wonder and Ms K. It's Friday night and we've already had a cocktail at hole-in-the-wall, up-a-laneway, smaller-than-your-kitchen, but fabulous-in-every-way Bar Americano. Now we're in search of dinner and Mamasita is calling.
So we wait. And we're not disappointed.
As promised, within 15 minutes we're beckoned up the stairs and into the dining room. It's a slick seating process: coats cloaked, menus in hand, water poured and drinks ordered (a bottle of brisa chardonnay, valle central, chile $52).
It's dark and lively. I pretend I can see the menu but there's not enough light for these old eyes. We let Boy Wonder order (a delicious fifty-something privilege).
Our first round of food arrives swiftly, mostly on wooden sharing paddles. There are tiny two-bite tortillas and quesadillas.
(Quesadilla de Chorizo: 4x Wheat tortillas filled w/ chorizo, potato & mexican cheese, queso fresco & jalapeño crema $15; Tostada de Pollo: Fried single tortilla topped w/ blackened chicken, achiote, avocado & lime $12; Tostaditas de Pato: 4x Fried tortilla chips topped w/ duck carnitas & pineapple, blackbean puree & habanero crema $15)
It's fresh mex, not stodgy and cheese-laden. It's crisp flavours and crunchy textures.
Next, it's picklebacks, also served on wooden sharing paddles. Picklebacks? I've not heard of them either: a shot of Herradura tequila served with a shot of jalapeño pickle juice (the brine from the pickle jar) $11ea.
We simultaneously chink our picklebacks to a toast of "Na zdrowie!" [naz-droh-vee-ay], because it looks like vodka, one of us is Polish enough to pronounce it correctly, we can't think of any Mexican toasts other than Ole!, and we're saving Slainte! for a post-dinner whisky bar adventure. It works a treat and we've created a memory that will stick.
For food round two, we have an interesting discussion about whether we should order the goat tacos. Who knew that between us we'd know so many snippets of goat-related trivia? It's unanimous, we'll have the goat. Only they're out of goat, so we have the lamb substitute instead, but none of us cares.
(Tostaditas de Cabra: 4x Fried tortilla chips topped w/ braised goat, corn puree
& pickled onion. $15)
What we really, really, really care about is the Elite callejero (Streetstyle chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayo & lime $4.90ea). Hands-down, it's the best corn on the cob I have ever tasted. Ever.
So, is Mamasita worth queuing for? Absolutely. The service is superb and the food impressive. The vibe is upbeat. And, whatever you do, don't miss the corn on the cob.
Level 1 / 11 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Ph: +61 3 9650 3821
Monday to Thursday: 12pm – 12am midnight
Friday: 12pm – 2am
Saturday: 12.30pm – 2am
Sunday: 12.30pm – 10pm
And a final word from Bar Americano:


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How 31 Days of Moving Meditation Helped One Yogi Slow Down
For one always-on-the-go writer, learning to be more mindful while she was on the move helped her find more peace when she was still, too.
Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth yoga, fitness, & nutrition courses, when you sign up for Outside+.
I was lingering over a pasta dinner in Rome over the holidays this year, sitting back in my chair with one hand on my full belly and the other holding my glass of red wine when it hit me: I have to do this more often. Not the trips to Rome or even the pasta—although more of both would be nice. What I found myself craving in that moment was more of that kind of slowing down—giving myself space in everyday, non-vacation life to really experience and even savor what I'm doing.
Slowing down is a serious challenge for me. I'm a self-proclaimed productivity fiend: The more I can get done in a day, the better. My job, writing and editing for YogaJournal.com, stokes this natural instinct in me. In digital media, praise comes flying at you when you work quickly. I'm also a born-and-raised New Yorker, which means my go-to pace is almost always a little (OK, a lot) faster than those outside the big Apple.
See also Meditation Has Proven Benefits: So Why Is It Hard to Commit?
So, when I returned home from Italy to Boulder, Colo., and was asked to practice moving meditation every day for 31 days, it seemed like a logical fit. I'd been sporadic with my usual, mantra-based meditation practice, solidly in a new habit of making a beeline for my computer—not my meditation cushion—after brushing my teeth each morning. Would moving meditation help me slow my roll, and infuse my life with more mindfulness? I wanted to find out.
What is Moving Meditation?
Last year, I was lucky enough to attend a day-long retreat in beautiful Red Feather Lakes here in Colorado with yoga and Tibetan Buddhism teacher, Cyndi Lee. The retreat was held at the Shambhala Mountain Center, high in the Colorado Rockies and home to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. My first experience practicing moving meditation was there, with Lee guiding me and the rest of the 20-some-odd group, on a walk to the Stupa.
See also Yoga Journal's Meditation Challenge Will Help You Stick to a Steady Practice
Lee explained that just as in a sitting meditation, where your attention might be on your breath or repeating a mantra, in a moving meditation, you place your attention on the sensation of your foot touching the ground with each step. How does your foot feel in your shoe, or on the earth? What does it feel like as your heel strikes the ground before rolling onto the ball mound of your foot and then your toes? You get the drift. When you first start out, it's recommended that you walk a little slower than usual, so you can really feel your feet with every step.
As we practiced this walking meditation on retreat that day, I felt awkward at first. With every step, a thought popped into my head: There's my heel; What would an outsider looking in think of us walking in a line so freakin' slowly?! Oooh, so that's what my foot's arch feels like when my weight rolls from the back of my heel toward the front; Ugh, how long is this going to take us?!
See also Try This Durga-Inspired Guided Meditation for Strength
Luckily, Lee normalized this common monkey-mind activity. "The idea is not that you're going to have absolutely no thoughts," she says. "What you're doing is cultivating your ability to recognize that you don't have to buy into everything that comes up. Part of the experience is recognizing that your mind will stray, so when it does, you bring it very gently with precision back to the feeling of your foot on earth. Step, step, step."
The Challenge: 5 Minutes of Moving Meditation Every Day
While I can't say my first experience of moving meditation was profound, I was intrigued enough by its potential to help me slow down and be more mindful in all areas of my life that I committed to at least 5 minutes of moving meditation every day for the month of January. Before I got started, I asked Lee if I should continue my already-established (if sporadic) mantra-based practice.
"Will repeating my mantra while practicing moving meditation help me focus?" I asked Lee.
See also This 5-Minute Meditation for Parents Will Save Your Sanity
"No," she replied. "When trying a new meditation practice, it's best to stick to just one rather than dabble in many," she told me.
I started out simple: From the Yoga Journal office, I took solo walks to the coffee shop around the corner and didn't ask a co-worker to join, like usual. The typically 5-minute stroll took about 8 minutes at moving-meditation speed, and while my mind did wander—mostly to my long list of to-dos—I didn't beat myself up about that fact. Instead, I kept coming back to the feeling of each step. I found myself noticing things I hadn't before: the subtle feeling of my foot on a crack in the sidewalk; the sound of the wooden heel of my favorite pair of booties on a day-old snow-ice mix; the feeling of one part of my foot on pavement and another on grass.
See also YJ Tried It: 30 Days of Guided Sleep Meditation
After each of my walking meditations during my first and second weeks of this challenge, I had to try hard not to brush off the seemingly insignificant sensations I was having. How would it serve me to know exactly what it feels like to simultaneously have my heel on pavement and the ball of my foot on grass? I stuck to the practice on my walks to the coffee shop and abandoned them en route back to my desk.
The Ah-Ha Moment: When I Knew Moving Meditation Was Working
The third week in to my moving meditation experiment, I had a game-changing therapy appointment which, it turns out, would alter the way I thought about my new, mindful walks.
I was talking to Leah, my therapist, about my near-frenetic pace and its impacts on my life. It was making me more gruff and less compassionate. It was inspiring me to race through my writing and editing, which meant I was more careless with my words. It was making me less present with my boyfriend, friends, and worst of all, myself.
See also Pranayama 101: This Moving Breath Practice Will Teach You to Let Go
"So, what's the antidote?" I pleaded, practically begging her for an assignment I could add to my to-dos. "If I can't move to Tuscany, how can I finally slow the heck down?"
Leah shot me a knowing smile.
"You don't need another to-do," she said. "I'm not going to tell you to meditate for 20 minutes every morning in order to get more present. You can show up more fully, and in better alignment with who you are and how you want to be in the world, by doing what I call 'one eye in, one eye out.'"
Think of this concept as the epitome of taking your practices off your meditation cushion and yoga mat and into the world, Leah continued. When the practices are working, the world is your mat. One eye in helps you stay in alignment with your central channel—the place from which you move with your heart, not a head full of fear. One eye out helps you interact with others and field all of the things that will inevitably come flying at you, many of which will be completely out of your control.
See also This Napa Valley Vintner's Ritual for Inner Calm is a Meditation
"The secret to experience this kind of embodied presence is noticing your physical sensations," Leah told me. "Try it now. Feel your feet on the ground. Feel your thighs on the couch. Feel your back supported by the cushion behind you. Now, can you do all of that and simultaneously talk to me?"
Of course, I thought to myself, smiling at how messages often show up a few times for them to finally sink in. This is what moving meditation is also about. One eye in to feel the sensation of my feet on the ground; one eye out to help me get where I'm going, only more mindfully.
During my final week of this moving meditation challenge, I started looking forward to my daily walks—which became longer than 8 minutes—and found myself tuning in to how I take up space in my body and in the world. Sometimes, this meant that even my 15-second walk to the office printer became an opportunity to clue in to the physical sensation of my feet on the carpet and my hip flexors and thigh bones initiating the movement of each leg. Other times, it meant simply taking a few seconds to feel my finger pads on my keyboard before I started typing.
See also Yoga Journal's March Meditation Challenge
Best of all, little hits of my newfound sense of embodiment started happening even when work and this moving meditation challenge were the last things on my mind. One night, I sat down to dinner with my boyfriend, Brian, at home. Before I dug in to the grilled salmon and roasted broccoli I'd raced to Whole Foods to buy and then cook for us after a busy day, I consciously felt my feet on the ground, my thighs and back supported by the dining room chair, and I and connected to my heart space—all of which happened in what felt like milliseconds.
And it felt even more satisfying than that belly full of ravioli and glass of Chianti in Tuscany over the holidays.


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Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Dickens (Jnr) on Deptford
http://shipwrightspalace.blogspot.com/2010/10/bed-time-reading-from-mrdickens-jnrs.html Follow the link to a wonderful write up on Deptford, including an account of the closing of the yard, by Charles Dickens (Jnr). Click on the pages to enlarge for readable size.
Posted by shipwright's palace at 07:46
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