1518/Eureka! Here, Fido!

Eureka! Here, Fido!
Date of Scene:	05 May 2020
Location:	Suite 06: Daniel's Suite - Triskelion
Synopsis:	A discussion of how to interact with the shadow creatures musically gets good results.
Cast of Characters:	Daniel Hastings, Valeria Richards

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Daniel Hastings has posed:
Daniel has been Up To Things. Maddening things. Things which kept him up. Things.. which made him spend money. I mean.. it's not like he had anything to spend money on. Maybe Val but how much do flowers cost, really? So when Dan reached out to Val with Great Enthusiasm, he insisted on inviting her back to his place. His place.. or at least half of the living room.. has been turned into a sound studio for electronic music. You'd think he'd become obsessed with Vangelis overnight the way there were stacked keyboards, cables running to computers, and synthesizing software booted up. "Right. Ahh. Drink first? Then.. I have this for you to look at." He hands her.. Dog Training for Dummies. It has loads of earmarks. Earmarks with musical notations. But he's in high octane mode and is in the kitchen getting two glasses of water while she works her genius on the.. dog book?

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria is always in for more science and experimentation, and has seen some very strange things in her life when peeking into labs not her own. But it seems she was not entirely prepared for this particular sight.

Taking the book with a bemused expression, she starts to flip through the marked pages while walking around the array of electronics.

"You've been hard at work," she observes, an undertone of laughter in the words. "I assume this has something to do with our shadow creatures?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Yes. Yes it does." Daniel says with some enthusiasm. "You see, I was working on a primer.. trying to decipher the language mathematically.. when someone suggested music. It made sense considering the polyphonic overlay in tones we were getting from the recordings. So I went back and listened and watched and.. damned if the big shadow creature wasn't commanding the lessers." He walks back into the living room and puts her glass down as he continues on to the recording area with a gesture for her to follow.

"So.. here we have the recordings." Daniel keys up the video and audio, thankfully these clips aren't the keening at the victims. "And.. as you can see the dog sized creatures are obeying. I watched hours of this. The tones are consistent." And so he reaches over with his right hand and arrays his fingers to press a few keys simultaneously to replicate the soundwaves on the screen. "I.. think we might actually be able to talk to these things. Or. At least confuse the lesser beasts by giving conflicting orders." He looks to her. "Tell me I'm not mad... but I have.. sit.. stay.. come.. attack.. seek.. all of the behaviors are telling me the small creatures are of limited intelligence."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Ah, so that's where this is coming from," Valeria gestures with the book, smile crooked. "I was working on making that connection." She joins him at the monitor, tweaking a few settings to listen for herself. "They do seem to match up," she nods slowly, glancing between the input and the reactions. "Limited intelligence, or else there's a limit to the control. An important difference if you're going to try to influence them yourself."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Now the real question becomes.. the command creature." Daniel straightens up while sitting on his music stool. "We now know the frequencies they communicate on. Know that it has a planning intelligence. Can strategize. It might well be able to learn English if it hasn't already. Our conundrum is that.. well.. this doesn't prove a language. We command sheepdogs with complicated whistles but it's not English." He brings his hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"That depends on your goal," Valeria points out, taking the glass of water to take a sip. "If the goal is to prevent their communication, knowing the frequencies should be enough to accomplish that. But yes, for communication, you'd need something more. With the frequencies, we should be able to engineer something with the same technology as noise-canceling headphones, transmit sound at a frequency that cancels them out. Of course, even if we manage to form a language, there's always a chance they won't even want to talk," she grimaces. "I don't have many in-depth conversations with cows when I go out for a burger."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Yes but cows don't lean against the fence and ask you very politely, 'Please don't eat me.'." Daniel opines. "Though I did read this one book where the cow suggested the best bits.. very disturbing. Thankfully, it was satire. Amusing.. disturbing.. but amusing." He shakes his head at that. "In any case, I think Fitz was already working on an ear bud system to house the cancelling technologies. They need to be durable on account of.. well.. combat stress." Was it combat stress? Or something 'classified'. "Still. It's a start. Of course, I don't know how effective it will be. Even a dog knows the voice of its master over a stranger so the frequencies and intonation will have to be exact. Or close to it." He takes a deep breath and turns to dabble at the keys of a different synthesizer. This time something vaguely synth-jazz.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"That's fair. The cow asking not to be eaten would at least give me pause." She might still eat it, though. Because cheeseburgers. Valeria watches and listens, but there's that look in her eyes that suggests the wheels are turning beneath the surface still. "I forgot you'd said something about playing the piano," she says distractedly as he plays a bit, smile flickering for just a moment.

"What if we started with just the 'stay' command?" she asks. "It at least conveys the idea of 'please stop.'"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
Because. Cheeseburgers. Daniel would likely agree with that sentiment. Maybe. Talking food is disturbing. "Mm? Oh. Yes. Daisy had me watch this film.. Bladerunner? Ever heard of it? Anyway, the music was truly inspired. Come to find out, he used instruments like these." And so he flips a few switches and keys a chime sound. His fingers now playing something slow.. a combination of piano, saxophone, and synthesizer. He's smiling back at her then.

"I'd thought about that. The core concepts begin to point at elements of languages. Verbs at least. Directives. Attack there. Come here. It's not a Rosetta stone but it's better than nothing." Daniel's music has something of a romantic tint to it. "I wish I could claim this was mine. It's from the movie."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Music is a sort of magic, I think," Valeria admits with a small smile, head tilting to listen. "I've never been particularly good with the creation of music. I can do the technical parts of it, but...the art of it eludes me." Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she turns her attention back to the dog-eared book, reaching for a piece of paper to compile the various notes into a single page.

"Attack and stay are opposites of a sort, but in some languages they're a similar word with a 'no' in front of them. Can we pull up those two commands to compare?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Sure." Daniel is in his element now as he shifts on his stool and reaches out with his free hand to key up the sounds. It's a little distracting to have him playing music while at the same time keying the 'attack' and 'stay' phonics alternatingly. He's almost keeping it in tune with the music. After all, his dad did have a musical ear. "Oh! Queen! I love that band. Pity about Mercury. It seems I missed a lot of good things." He sighs then takes his hand away from the music for a moment to focus on the task at hand.

"So the leading tone seems to be an indicator to get attention." Daniel stops of a sudden. "You know what I didn't do? Compare those leading tones. See if they are an indicator of a naming convention. Like.. Bob stay. As opposed to You stay." He sits back on his stool and looks to her with a smile, "Thank you for that."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Queen //is// a good band," Valeria agrees. "Also, you should listen to some Abba. And Journey. And- Wow, you really do have a lot of music to catch up on," she realizes belatedly.

At his thanks, she smiles swiftly. "Well, science is always best when it works off of each other, isn't it?" she says lightly. "You did the hard work. I'm just...playing with it."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"As opposed to when I gave you the crystal and you had it mapped in what? Ten minutes?" Daniel replies with a grin. "So, I guess I'm just returning the favor." Running his hands over his jeans, he glances to the kitchen. "Are you hungry at all? I bought this thing.. a Foreman grill. It does burgers fairly well comparitively. Since I'm about sixty feet below ground and a real grill is out of the question." A beat. "Wait. Journey?" His code name. "You're just messing with me now."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Why?" Valeria quirks a brow. "Journey. I mean. You have to have at least heard-" Cutting herself off, she reaches into her pocket for her phone, scrolling through apps and songs. "I mean, they're a huge deal. But the big one is this one." Hitting the play button, amidst the cacophony of notes and sounds starts up the distinctive sounds of 'Don't Stop Believing.'

Daniel Hastings has posed:
Daniel couldn't disrespect a song of his namesake so he stops the screeching of the shadow beasts to listen. The basic piano melody is something he picks up on right away and starts tapping his fingers on the keys of the synthesizer without actually playing the keys. His chin is bobbing as well. "I like it." He grins. "And I won't have to make a note of the band." A wink. If he forgets the name of this one he has bigger problems. "It's a good song." He comments as it comes to an end. "I take it they've got a good repetoire like Queen?" Still, it seems the song had some sort of effect on him because he stands up and comes around the keyboard to approach her. "I'll.. try to take their advice." Journey's? He likely means the song. Either way, he's smiling down at her softly.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"They do, yeah. One of those bands where you can get a greatest hits album and just be happy listening for hours. There are so many good bands like that," Valeria seems to realize. "Wow. You've got a lot of homework to catch up on," she grins, teasing.

As he comes closer, she tips her head back to look up at him, clasping her hands in front of herself to keep from fidgeting awkwardly.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"I do.. but I have a guide with excellent taste." Daniel replies as he, too, seems to be at a loss for what to do. So he does what comes naturally. He takes her hand and lifts it. Bending his face down to kiss her knuckles. Then looking back into her eyes as he lowers her hand. "Would you care to.. go to the cinema sometime? Perhaps dinner as well? They say that all work makes Jack a dull boy and I could think of no one else I would rather.. break the mould with."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Like a real date?" Valeria's fingers tighten on his, a slight flush coloring her cheeks with her smile. "I think I'd like that. Do you think I'll need additional security clearance, though?" she asks, smile spreading into a teasing grin. "I'd hate to get in trouble for distracting you from your work."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
"Yes." Daniel says with a little more confidence. "Like.. a real date. Not.. that I don't mind talking science. I love science. But.. well.." He laughs. "I was going to say there's more to life than science but science /is/ life so.." Shrugging, he rolls his eyes, "You already have clearance to work on this project. Fury saw to that. Now if you want more action then.. I could put in a good word for you.. as a consultant? Besides, if anyone asks what we were doing, we can always say that we were looking for inspiration. Everyone knows it comes the moment you stop thinking about the thing you were thinking about."

Valeria Richards has posed:
"A clever ruse indeed," Valeria laughs. "Well. The answer is yes. But let's keep working on these tones for today. See if we can figure out where they're similar and where they're different, and that way maybe next time you run into them in the field, you'll have a clean tone to experiment with."