| BioWords |
| Summary: | Jodi finds Tillman on Watch in CIC. A few words are exchanged and opinions given. |
| Date: | 24 BCH |
| Related Logs: | Nuhn |
| Players: |
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CIC
The central nexus of the ship, the fighting capability all stems from here. With entrances on both sides, an entire section of the wall will twist its armored glass and doorframes out of an air locked position and allow access. At the rear of the room is a standard hatch that allows access as well. Computer terminals sit in a semi-circle around the main plotting table in the center of the room. DRADIS and other essential readouts are displayed on screens that hang from the ceiling. Forward and aft are a set of glass plots that hang vertically from the ceiling and provide the crew with the ability to coordinate air traffic operations in the easiest way possible.
Middle of the afternoon and the CIC is still packed as if it were any other day. Techs shamble around the room, working with the CIC crewmembers to get things installed. Its not quite a flurry of activity but there's a lot of people coming and going - which doesn't please the Marines. Its still a Battlestar so every single ID is checked and rechecked when someone leaves or arrives. At the moment, Captain Tillman is standing at the plotting table with a set of binders opened in front of him. He's talking quietly with a Lieutenant and gesturing to one of them.
There's a small group. It's a lone woman with an entourage of military MPs. She's sharply dressed in her blouse, blazer and skirt as she peers around. The good professor purses her lips, taking in the electronic equipment with interest as her ID is shown around her neck hanging from a lanyard. "Ahhh, so this is what the CIC looks like. Haven't seen one of these since I was a child." she says, sounding a bit reminiscent.
Captain Tillman looks up from the binder for a moment then finishes speaking with the LT, passing the binder to him before giving the man a curt nod. The Captain is sporting his duty blues today. "Excuse me," he greets, approaching the group. "Something I can help you all with?" Hands fold behind his back and those blue/green eyes meet every civilian's with the question.
"Professor Jodilyn Blake." says the clear and crisp voice as she extends a hand out towards the captain. "I'm with the quorum delegation. I was going to do a talk on the latest in cybernetics research and neural networks, comparing it with the results of what we all found out from the first Cylon war. Just wanted to take a look around, that's all. I hope it isn't a problem."
Tillman eyes the hand for a moment before slowly reaching to shake it. "Professor," he greets carefully. "Captain Clive Tillman. Senior Officer of the Watch. You were going to give a talk on the Cerb about that? Or were you hoping to meet someone on it?" He glances around once as his hands fold back behind him. "I'm sorry ma'am, but the only civilians who should really be up here are contractors. Y- you said you're part of a Quorom delegation?" He glances to the MP who just shrugs at him.
"I'm giving a talk on the technologies from the first Cylon war, yes. It's part of the delegation. I'm a consultant with them since a lot of my own research at Caprica University was based on what was discovered." she says with a sage nod.
"The Cylon War," Tillman repeats. He's quiet a moment before smirking and letting out a long breath. "C-U, huh? Well Professor, we've got plenty of theories here on our own. Must of it has to do with the disassembly of their circuit boards, though. Let's have you step out into the hall again, here, and we'll discuss." The Captain gestures towards the door before looking at the Marines to escort her off the CIC. He glances behind him, then, "Captain Price. You have Watch until I return." There's an 'Aye, sir' from somewhere before he moves towards the door to follow them out.
"My work as a grad student and my current work with my graduate students is on neural networks and cybernetics, integrating the two into biological systems for prostheses." Jodilyn explains as she nods and heads out the door as she waits for him to lead the way afterwards. "It's a fascinating area and one that I'd like to see grow. But considering the history of the Cylon war, it has been difficult to get funding for my work anywhere outside the ministry of defense and health, ironically enough."
Tillman let's the Marines out first before stepping off CIC and into the hallway. He lifts his arm to indicate that they will be walking away from the area. The two Colonial Dobermans take up a line in front and behind of them as the Captain falls in beside her. "So you're trying to incorporate artificial movement into people? Hardwiring that shit into a human brain? I'm not surprised nobody is buying it up." The man's eyes search the faces as they walk, nodding to a Major as they go. "Not a lot of people around here are too anxious to see those mistakes repeated again, Professor. Too often people don't think about the repercussions of their actions. The road to Hell's pavement, and all that."
"Yes, but the understanding of the nervous system is sophisticated enough to produce analogues in circuitry. That's what happened when the Cylons were first created afterall. However, this would be for the benefit of mankind. Think about it, amputees can walk again or throw a pyramid ball." she says excitedly, taking a deep breath before she lets out a soft sigh. "The work is taboo due to the mistakes of the past, but the work we do isn't just in cybernetics. We are a biomedical engineers, Captain. Tissue grafts have been done. Now we try to see if we can replicate synapses with our understanding of electronics. Neural networks is a highly interdisciplinary field afterall."
"Professor, people thought their understanding of machines was strong enough that they could control the ability to learn. That turned out pretty well, if I recall." He glances to her with the sarcasm, the sound of his boots crisp against the newly painted floor. "Everything done for the benefit of mankind has repercussions. And those amputees? You're assuming they want or need their limbs back. I've got a buddy in the Corps who left an arm back on Tauron. Guy plays basketball and drives his kids to school every day. Nobody I know smiles more than he does. But there are uses, but I think ma'am that the tech oughtta be looked at more before anyone goes putting something into practice. Military-industrial complex has made plenty of mistakes before. Like those Cylons. I've got no quarrel with rehabilitating sick soldiers. That's honorable work. But hardwiring that kind of technology is a dangerous path. I'm sure you've heard the term 'ghost in the machine.'
"I'm not saying it's perfect, but like I said, we use cybernetics as an analogue to truly understand the human nervous system. The replication and regrowth of that system is our end goal in the end." Jodilyn replies matter of factly as she stuffs her hands in the pockets of her blazer. "And that I do understand. I never intended to repeat the work on Cylon technology, but I do intend to use it as a baseboard for further biomedical advances."
Tillman steers them down another corridor and towards a stairwell at the end. "Cybernetics." The man's voice drops a bit as he repeats the word. "You're still playing with machines. Machines that you want to hook into the mind. You said that you want to regrow the nervous system as an end-game goal." He motions for the Marines and her to enter the stairwell before him. "Nobody intends to repeat the work of cylon technology, ma'am. To openly advocate that is suicide. Though more people seem to forget why with every passing day." The last line is grumbled. "So if you can regrow a nervous system in the end, what is to stop someone from growing an entire nervous system and creating cybernetic humans?"
"Absolutely nothing. But you can also ask the people who invented nuclear devices the same question. What's to stop them from being used against each other to destroy all of humanity? Good intention and self control." Jodilyn answers as she takes a deep breath once more. "Science is progress. I am trying to help with that progress and to share my knowledge as we go along."
"Nuclear weapons didn't patrol your streets and perform functional roles in society to deal with your kids before they exploded. Self control? Good intentions? Ma'am, we've got nuclear weapons on board this ship and you know what prevents us from using them? The fact that we all love our kids. We want a future for them. The cylons don't have children to worry about. Nor do they worry. They just killed and then decided to up and leave one day." The Captain leads her up past Deck 6, towards five. "I can understand your desire for progress, but that is what got us into that mess. I'm just saying that before we go down that route again maybe we oughtta rethink our motivations and reexamine our potentialities. Its simple military strategy turned on medical theory."
"You can't hug your children with nuclear arms." Jodilyn replies with a soft chuckle of amusement under her breath. She takes another deep breath and looks around the ship as she's lead around the ship. "I think that's rather closed minded, saying that people will bar progress that could potentially save lives just because of some fears."
"No, but their existence can prevent wars. The horror of them outweighs their use and restricts warfare leading up to them. A cylon would simply kill because that's what it decided to do. With her last, the man slows to a stop and stares at her. "And you know what I think is closed-minded, ma'am? Shitting on the lives lost during the cylon war and writing them off as irrelevant because a professor thinks they know better than they did the first time around?" There's some distinct anger in his voice. "You are entitled to your opinion by the Articles of Colonization. But I will not sit here and listen to it because it insults the men and women who wear my uniform. And theirs." He nods to the two MP's who are staring at Jodi. "Decks three, nine, ten, and twelve are open for your access with some restrictions. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to CIC." The Captain steps off and moves down the stairs again for Deck 7.