作者： Morgane

前线来信·Mail call, 美舰本·Pacific

Silent Service: Bats

by Morgane 2017年9月2日

I swear, I go out on a mission for a few days and no one’s done anything to take care of the site…

Hey.

HEY BATS. You’re SUPPOSED TO BE introducing YOURSELF!

YEAH! COME ON. RISE AND SHINE!

…

…Fine! Be that way! I’m gonna go get Mike and have you do your introduction regardless!

So, how was your day?

Fine.

What are you doing? 

Playing games.

Um, I was hoping we could catch up a bit. After all, I haven’t seen you in an entire week. 

I stealth killed all the Abyssals before they could even notice I was around. I got home yesterday.  There. We’ve caught up. 

So you’re doing fine, I hope? 

Yes.

Not having a bad day or anything like that?

No.

Well, Bats, if there’s anything I can help with, you let me know, okay?

Ok. 

MA PETITE CHAUVE-SOURIS~ AND OH! COMMANDANT! 

Great.

Surcouf? 

AM I IN BOOK YET.

Uh… That’s a question for Tautau, I think.

SO I AM NOT IN BOOK YET.

Well, I’m not in the book yet either if it makes you feel any better…

CE N’EST PAS JUSTE! LE SURCOUF IS GREAT SUBMARINE! IS ONE OF A KIND UNIQUE! MANY INNOVATIONS. WHY TAUTOG NO SUBCORNER? 

Tautog writes what she damn wants, Frenchie. If you care about the Surcouf so much then you write one.

BATTE, THAT IS PRECISELY PROBLEM THAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!

… The fact that Tautog’s not writing on not-American submarines?

NO! LOOK AT YOU! SO NICE. PRETTY. SHINY. NEW ART. I HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN REDRAWN. *SOB* WHY DOES NO ONE CARE THAT SURCOUF WAS THE FIRST SHIPGIRL SIMA MADE? 

I mean, I haven’t been redrawn either, if that makes you feel better…

Alright Surcouf, let’s go get some ice cream. You aren’t supposed to be hijacking other people’s introductions …

*LE SOUND OF BLOWING THE NOSE* I JUST WANT FANS FOR ONCE TOO OKAY! HOW COME NOBODY CARES ABOUT LE SURCOUF… I AM CUTE TOO …

Tissue?

THANKIES *SNIFF*

That was awkward.

It was. 

…

… Yeah?

You’re in my screen, commander. 

Sorry! Say, what are you playing, anyways?

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…Checkpoint reached.

Checkpoint? I uh, don’t play many games.

Yes. Checkpoint. This game has only one save. If you don’t get to the checkpoint you lose all the progress you’ve made.

Sounds harsh.

Yes.

…So why play a game like that?

I like the challenge.

“Road to the White House: 2016 edition.” Is this a series?

Yes. This newest edition forces permadeath throughout the campaign. One wrong move and you lose the game.

That sucks. All that progress would go down the drain, right?

I’m sure Yuubari has state saves somewhere. She plays this too.

State saves?

Practical application of technology derived from our R&D program. Freezing a particular “slice” of time so it remains eternally accessible, ready to be recalled at any given moment. A literal incineration of prior histories in order to make a new future at the cost of self-identity. 

You lost me…

Yuubari can help me cheat at this game if I really need the help.

I got that.

By setting this disc on fire I can reset the game’s progress to any saved state stored in Yuubari’s databases. 

Uh…

It activates a mechanism in which time itself is “rewound” and brings us back to the point where the saved state was made. By “we” I mean this entire reality. The base. The planet. The universe. Everything. 

We’ve never had to use it because I’m very good at these games. 

Now. How can I help?

Could you tell us a little about your historical counterpart –

OW!

Geez, what did you throw at me?

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Look up the entry Batfish (i). 

Helpful. Thanks –

OWW!

Phonebook, most recently updated. You should feel free to call the museum to find out about their hours to do research in person. The Batfish have a website, too. 

Ow ow ow ow ow…

If I say anything more it’d ruin Tautog’s special subcorner. I’m helping her write up a recollection of the Batfish’s most famous battle.

The one where she sank three Japanese submarines all within a few days? Yes. That is the one. Got her a Presidential Unit Citation too. 

Yes. She is the undisputed queen of submarine to submarine kills. My stealthiness may or not have been sourced from that particular feat. 

How do you feel about the coming Abyssal War?

We’ll win.

…Wow. That’s really confident of you.

Of course we’re going to win. If they ruin the planet I won’t have a room to clean, my corner to hide in at night, a kitchen to cook in, new video games to play, and …

…

And?

No friends to play them with. 

…

I’ve got another controller. Want in?

Sure. Can you pick something more suitable for my skill level?

Okay. Project: Cowgirls of the Wild West. Hope you like 2D side-scrolling bullet hell!

前线来信·Mail call, 美舰本·Pacific

(not) Silent Service: Batfish

by Morgane 2017年8月31日

*Batfish yawn*

*Batfish noises*

Mrrrrrgh I knew I shouldn’t have ran that last instance…

*Batfish light-hearted grumbling noises*

Write an update for the site, she said. It’ll be easy and take no time at all, she said… 

Oh.

We’re live?

Hi.

I’m Batfish.

You can call me Bats.

Tautog said I’m supposed to do the update for August 28th. If Depth Perception actually checked my calendar she’d have realized that I’m on patrol through the 29th…

…What day is today, anyways?

…

Oh. 

I see. 

Uh… 

Well, you’re gonna have to wait for tomorrow. The last couple of days have been pretty busy for everyone. Zero just got back to China and has worked out a thing with the screwed-up printing since our printers were under environmental regulation check-ups. We weren’t able to deliver some of our books in time. So. Zero is offering a free make-up copy and a free token for trade-in for the upcoming vol. 2 of the Navy Foods book. 

It’s the little Phoenix saying sorry on the front page. You can’t miss it.

Now, gimme a sec… I need to check my gold-farming bots…

新闻·News

Anitama Interview Featuring Zeroblaze（Anitama采访零火）

by Morgane 2017年8月28日

You guys have seen art from November and Sima. You’ve seen a lot of notes and whatnots from me. I thought this might be a good time to let you guys know what kind of a person Zero is, and why – despite my nominal position – he’s truly the soul and the foundation for the team.

零火是团队的灵魂和基石。

—— 莫根

Original Article featuring Chengdu’s Comiday can be found here in Chinese.

Anitama的采访原文在这里。

“Everyone. My favorite thing to do is communicating with people.”

Zeroblaze first started coming to Comiday at the age of 17. Now, at the age of 26, he’s already a veteran participant with experiences running booths in China, Japan, and the US. After he began work at Shanghai, his efforts in what he calls a “hobby” only increased.

“To be able to talk about things of common interest with people from all sorts of different countries – nothing could make me happier!”

When I asked him, what would he do if his job becomes busier and he had to reassess and rebalance his priorities, he honestly and straightforwardly told me: “I’ll choose to quit instead.”

“Work is what allows me to do the things that I like, and gives me a better life. But if work cannot allow me to do the things that I want to do, and if I work only to pursue the “better life” – whatever it might be, then I think I’d have gotten this whole thing backwards instead.”

“My parents haven’t given me much pressure on this area either. While they aren’t necessarily supportive, they understand where I’m coming from. Their criteria for non-interference is simply one thing: I can live my own life and sustain myself.”

Some people might take offense at what sounds like an answer that’s slightly lacking in thoughtfulness. Not to mention, this particular way of thinking might very easily change as time goes along. Nonetheless, I’m a little jealous of the sense of freedom that permeates him.

[There’s an analogy here that’s a bit difficult to translate to English, so I’ll just explain it here. Zero joked that he’s like a particular type of day laborer – a type of laborer who does temporary jobs so he can be free to surf the net in cheap net-cafes at night. It’s a very Chinese memey thing.]

Unlike the day-laborers and their motto of “working for one day in order to play for three,” Zero has some fundamental rules about how he works on his hobby. He creates new books every year, and he chooses to release books that are more likely to make a return and those that satisfy his private interests.

“The creation of doujinshi… Love is the primary motivation. But, you can think of it as a sort of small business. It’d be a bad move if you go beyond what you can endure, personally or financially.”

Zeroblaze definitely made it to this Comiday as well. I was amused to see him immediately start a heated discussion with one of his readers. He really likes what he’s doing.

Afterwards, when I was chatting with him, he showed me a flier of the very first Comiday convention, back when it was still in the computer parts district in a mall.

“Yes, well, we had a lot of the 囧 character there. Looking back at this once-popular meme, I think it’s long dead.”

There’s always a lot of recollections and memories when one looks back at the past. Plenty of bad history, and plenty of things that you wish you could have told your younger, much more idealistic, and much more idiotic self.

This is who you’ll end up becoming.

Yet at the end, this was a light-hearted thing too. Maybe the instant in which you choose to step forward, some things are destined to end up the way they are.

“That’s how things start. Right here. Yes. Right here.”

前线来信·Mail call, 美舰本·Pacific

[Mail Call] 2017/08/26 – US Technological Innovations

by Morgane 2017年8月27日

Still working on consolidating the pages and our site, but I wanted to answer one of these since questions are starting to pile up again.

I’ve noticed that Avalon base is running on some very highly advanced technologies. How would these innovations translate into other walks of life? For instance, will fairy assistants replace AI?

Haha, no on the second bit. Fairies are living organisms and they are largely autonomous. They probably wouldn’t be very good at actually doing what an AI does.

This has been answered to an extent in the Action Reports, but I can see where the question is coming from. Action Report only mentions that the creation of a lighter and stronger metal alloy as well as advances in capacitors/electronics coming out of STEC’s research, and it can be difficult to guess what sort of changes these may result.

Well, actually, capacitors are easy. Better capacitors means better electronics. It means more powerful energy storage utilities and better signal transduction. Something like a better alloy is going to be a little more complicated. After all, we have materials such as titanium, but you don’t see everyone driving cars made out of them.

In general, though, these changes represent some fundamental shifts in our ability to create and innovate. Take humanity’s transition from bronze to iron. Ironworking resulted in far wider usage of certain tools and materials, which directly increased production and allowed civilization to sustain a higher population.

Now, some sort of prototype fairy-technology derived alloy rolling out of STEC’s doors is unlikely to fundamentally change Pacific’s society at least in the near future. For instance, think back to our switch to high speed internet. That took a period of over ten years. If this material is proven popular with the public (and it may not – steelworker lobbies are powerful, and I’m pretty sure the established automobile industry don’t really want any shake-ups that could cut into their margins), it’ll take quite some time to find a practical application to it.

So, translation of applications? Slow. Like it is in real life. STEC is very careful about what sort of technology it releases to the public. It understands perhaps more than any other organization on earth about the potential for misuse.

For instance. STEC has very advanced medical capabilities. We’re talking about accelerated healing, biological stasis, genome mapping and targeted molecular interventions. If there were no Abyssals and this gets into the hands of hospitals, we can probably massively cut down on human mortality and increase lifespan significantly.

But is the current system ready for such an increase? Would our pensions work? Social security? Insurance? If this causes the human population to explode, can the planet sustain us?

All this before the Abyssals even come into the equation.

Yeah. Not exactly simple, is it. 🙂