17168/Monuments and the merit of technology.

Monuments and the merit of technology.
Date of Scene:	12 February 2024
Location:	Exterior - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	Viv and Caleb talk about art, science, and the value of monuments.
Cast of Characters:	Vivian Vision, Caleb Dykstra

---

Vivian Vision has posed:
It's been a while since Vivian Vision was a regular around campus. Having graduated from High School and moved out the dorms for a 'Gap year(s)' she seems once again to be a novelty around town. Being one of only two Synthezoids to exist it rather makes her an oddity!

Not that the curious looks seem to bother her. She's passing time between various college related tasks, lectures and in person study sessions mostly, sitting with a sketch pad drawing the remains of the statue that presumably was of the schools founder. Pencil work mostly.

The crowd does seem to eb and flow as various people get bored by the sheer normality of a college student doing a drawing. Only for new onlookers to come out of various classes.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
As Caleb walks across the courtyard, coming from the workshop area of the campus and making his way to the dorms area, he notices a crowd gathering around the founder's statue, and wonders what it's about. Past experiences he had with 'Crowds' dictate caution, so it's not with no small amount of care that he circles around it, trying to find the reason for so many people being here.

Once he finds out it's really just a normal crowd gathered around the synthezoid, he moves to approach and see what she's doing - looks like... drawing?

Well, color him intrigued.

"I wonder when they're going to rebuild it - the statue, I mean", he offers politely as an 'in' for conversation.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Despite there being a fair few people around most have been content to view from a modest distance. A few braver souls getting close enough to look over her shoulder, see it's just a drawing of a broken statue and not a plan to take over the world, and then backing away.

So when Caleb directs a question Viv is quick to answer. "I don't think they ever will," she muses. "I think it's as much a memorial to the event which damaged it as anything else now."

Her head turns to look at Caleb but her hand keeps moving. Her sketch continuing even though she's not even looking at her subject.

"I don't know if the idea of putting up a statue of a benefactor is... well it's a bit out of fashion now. Isn't it? Having the money to sponsor a college or school doesn't always make someone a good role model for students."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb looks at Viv's ability to multitask, and he chuckles in amazement at the precision she still keeps drawing.

"Well, true...", he replies. "But a statue is meant to celebrate the deeds in life, not their shortcomings or character traits. If shortcomings were weighed in, then hardly ever would a statue have been built." He gestures towards the statue, "In this case, we are talking about the person that made it all possible for us to be here today."

He shrugs after a moment, "Although, now that I think of it... A hologram projector would be far more cost effective."

And finally, he presents himself, "I'm Caleb Dykstra, by the way."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"That's true but if you pay to build a statue to celebrate your own deeds or an institution you are funding installs one /because/ you funded it," Vivian points out with a shrug. "Then it's not a fair and unbiased celebration of merit. Should people be allowed to buy public approval? There's nothing wrong with celebrating someone who deserves it. Personally I think just being wealthy isn't a measure of worth that society should be using.... Not that I want to debate such things with Janet..."

She smiles briefly.

"Vivian Vision, although everyone just calls me Viv." Her head tilts to one side at the mention of holographic tech. "Not long term. A well run college could be open hundreds of years. And a holographic projection would require maintenance, energy costs, and most importantly students could hack it to display anything. While the more mundane statue techniques like carving a rock or casting some metal have greater up front costs they are largely a one time expense. Plus it's extremely rare anyone can just casually shape a big piece of rock into a rude word."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Solar panels to provide the energy", Caleb replies. "Running off-the-grid."

Adding, he gestures a finger in a circular motion, "Sure, can't prevent some cyclic maintenance, but you can minimize costs by coating the device with a hydrophobic layer to prevent particle adhesion. With a statue, you need to scrape, possibly repaint, and although no hacking to mess things up, one can still coat it with toiler paper, bird crap, and grafitti it all over."

He shrugs, "Just saying, here. I have a vague idea of how much a statue would cost given the materials I'm seeing and, boy-oh-boy, it wasn't cheap." He compares, "When you could have something costing about 5 thousand dollars, and a janitor could clean it all in about an hour..."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Solar panels do not last forever," Viv notes. "You have to replace them. Also holographs, as constructs made of light, require a lot of solar energy to sustain. And given the coastal location the weather isn't optimal for solar energy. You'd be better off with a wind turbine.... Projected images also aren't great in rainy weather and birds will still defecate on the projection equipment."

She chuckles. Her drawing has come on in leaps and bounds. All without so much as a glance.

"I'm something of an expert on holographic projections. It's one of the subsystems I have as a synthezoid. A decent quality projector will need expensive rare materials, albeit in small quantities, and the qualifications and thus cost of hiring a technician to maintain it... Well it's cheaper to just hire someone locally to clean a big rock. I could send you the figures from my predictive cost to benefit analysis if you don't believe me. One Stark Industries engineer call out probably equates to an entire year of a local janitors wages."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The young man scratches his chin, "And, if the solar panels were longer lasting, with an entirely different set of properties that made them superior not only in absorption, but frequency range?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Then supervillains would attack and try to steal your monument," Vivian jokes. "And that would be an awful idea. For them at least. When I was a student here there were countless monsters, usually on school trips to the beach, and they always got defeated."

She finally looks at her, now completed, drawing.

"Acceptable. Although I do find drawing inanimate objects a little... you know.. it doesn't inspire me much." She begins putting away the sketchbook and pencils. "I should probably be attending my study group session. We've got some material to review. I have already thoroughly explored every avenue of the work, but the collaborative aspect is what makes group learning so fascinating."

"Who knows maybe you could build a holographic memorial as part of your studies?" She grins as she finishes packing her things away. "Anyway much as it's been an enjoyable diversion from my diversion...."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Please don't joke about that", Caleb says. "You just fed my paranoia about my family's well-being." Not enough that his family's head is on a bounty from the mob, then it would be supervillains coming after them...

Yep... Never gets dull, right?

"Maybe I could build one", he says. "Just don't know if I want to, now...", is just about whispered.

"Okay, so maybe I'll see you around, who knows? Nice meeting you, Viv."