PHD #061: Seeing Without Seeing
Seeing Without Seeing
Summary: Haeleah and Bannik discuss an aspect of the Cylon centurion.
Date: 28 Apr 2041 AE
Related Logs: Needing a Game Changer.
Players:
Haeleah Bannik 
Engineering - Deck 11
Pipes, conduits, and cramped passageways. Heat and the smells of sweat and machine oil. Engineering is a maze of hallways that run deep into the aft of the Cerberus. Dotted with a few storage rooms, offices, and workshops, this section of the ship is constantly staffed by a huge team of professionals. From the main fuel tank feeds to the massive FTL drive room, no other part of the ship is more important than this section that provides propulsion and life support to every section of the battlestar.
Post-Holocaust Day: #61

It's mid-duty shift and Engineering, like all other vaguely technical areas on the ship, is hopping. Haeleah's among the crew on duty, though she's jockeying a console at the moment rather than wrenching anything. Those diagnostics don't run themselves, after all.

"Excuse me. Excuse me." Crewman Bannik stands out pretty noticeably, a deck orange uniform in a sea of Engineering green. "Lieutenant Parres? Lieutenant Parres?" He's shifting his way through the crowd, making his way towards the officer. "You have a moment?"

Haeleah looks up at the sound of her name. "Watch these readings for me, will you, PO?" she asks a handy roving technician. Who obliges taking over duty at the monitor. It's not until Haeleah slips away from it, spotting the orange immediately. A hand is waved in a quick wave to Bannik. "Crewman. I've got a few. Most of the ship's up to their ass in the fabrication area but that's taxing the systems, so they needed a few of us to keep an eye on the consoles. That'll keep, though. Here, or you want to grab some office space?"

"It's about our visitor, so …" Bannik trails off, as if that explains everything she needs to know. "Your call. Command wanted me to ask some questions and look into some things." It's said with a vague noise of eye-rolling. Command. And its demands.

Haeleah smirks at mention of command. She sympathizes. And nods. "Let's hit up a private corner," she says, heading back to the office area and motioning for Bannik to follow. There's a free space. Just somewhat unkept room with a computer and some files, really. But it's behind a hatch that'll close to give them some privacy. And close it she does, once Bannik's trailed her inside. "What's up?"

"They uh. They wanted to know if we knew how the Centurion 'sees'," Bannik explains when they are safely ensconced behind the hatch door. "Like, what its electronics are like that control its sensing functions and if they're susceptible to disruption."

"It's theoretically possible," Haeleah says, sitting on the edge of the desk rather than grabbing a chair. Arms crossed along her chest. "Most of its higher functions appear to be controlled by its CPU. Its sort of like the brain. Sends out impulses to the rest of its body, including the visual sensors in its head unit. We haven't found a way to actually interrupt those impulses outwardly yet, though. It's l

"Huh. What about ECM? I don't know if we could shrink the components into something that would fit into something portable, but …" His voice trails off, clearly considering it. "Have we tested that?"

Haeleah grins a little. "Like a stun gun. Like I said, it's theoretically possible, but it'd be a matter of finding the right frequency - if something like that could even penetrate the Centurion's outer defense systems. The smaller you shrink something to make it portable, the more potential power you lose. We've done some electrical tests on them but, like I said, we haven't landed on anything definitive yet. More'd definitely be worth a shot. Their planes - or flying monsters or whatever-the-frak - those things are vulnerable to electronic warfare if I recall correct. There any records on which ECM punches have worked best? We might be able to apply similar work to the Centurions."

"I'll talk to some ECO's and maybe take a look," agrees Bannik, taking a pen and a small octagonal notebook from his pocket to write down some notes on this conversation. "That's a good idea. Can't be that different in design, right?"

Haeleah nods. "That's what I figure. I mean, it's the same frakking scary technology. Just different applications. And your heavy raider seems a hell of a lot more complicated, from what I can make of the data. The Centurion, at least when you break it down to its basic parts, is still robotic. Hella advanced, but it's a machine. That biomechanical frak creeps me out, I don't mind saying."

Bannik nods once, scribbling down some more notes. "You and me both, Lieutenant. You and me both." He shakes his head. "Doctor Bia was taking a look at it and it turns out it's even more complicated than we initially thought."

"I just don't get it." Haeleah runs a hand over her dark curls, then looks over at Bannik. "Lieutenant Paris and I were discussing it yesterday." Paris and Parres. That must make for some communique headaches in these parts. "I mean, sure. There's some argument the human brain can do things even the most advanced computer isn't capable. But what about the trade-offs? Biological components are - inherently - more vulnerable than machines? If I'm a Cylon, why…re-engineer myself like that?"

Bannik shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know," says Bannik. "And if I said I did know, I'd be lying. And if anyone says they know, they're lying too. I try not to spend too much time speculating on the things that are unknowable right now. Because if I did, all I'd have are some great theories and no evidence." A beat. "You know?"

Haeleah cracks a little grin at that. "I know, I know. Hard not to sometimes, though. There's so much about the toasters that just makes no sense. And…machines should make sense." She seems to know she's talking circle, so she tries to shrug off that line of thinking. "Anyway, I'll take a look at our latest electrical work. See if there's anything in there that's no in the data you guys've already got. Maybe the electrical techs have made something out of it. They're more on top of a lot of this shit than me. Any particular ECO you guys have on point for this?"

Bannik shrugs. "Lieutenant Trask is working with me on the Heavy Raider, but I'll see if I can make someone else work on this particular little part of it, looking into the frequencies." Bannik purses his lips. "Spread out the pain a little bit. I just got started on this. Things are crazy down on the Deck, sir."

"I'll bet," Haeleah says with a wince. "We're pushing to get Fabrication back online but that place was frakked hard when the toasters boarded. Let our people know if there's anything we can do to help. I don't know much about working on the little machines, but a pair of hands is a pair of hands for lots of basic crap. Anyway. Good luck, Crewman." Said wryly, but she means it. A little two-fingered salute it offered to him casually.

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