[FLUFF] New Year's Challenge - The Actual Challenges

[Bill Martin]

First, I wish to apologize, after staying up with friends to ring in
the new year, personal stuff came up after I woke up and didn't get
around to posting the challenges. For that I am truly sorry. Of
course, delayed posting means delayed official end time.

So without further ado...

Easy Challenge - Ghost in the Machine (or An Otaku Forever Wandering)

WARNING - LARGE CHUNK OF TEXT AHEAD!

Artificial intelligence has been the dream of scientists for quite some
time, however the gap between algorithmical processing from a computer
and the heuristic processing a human brain has been a gigantic hurdle.
While early attempts have succeeded in achieving a similar outcome in
problems such as chess, diagnosing illnesses, and translating between
languages, the lack of a true creative spark of intellect, was always
missing. The machines were not self aware. Some groups of researchers
decided to try and mimic the human brain by building huge, highly
interconnective, random-driven, symbol-oriented machines, and then
programmed in the vast knowledge, in excruciating detail, that one
would amass within a lifeime, and ended up with nothing to show for all
their hard work. Later analysis proved that the implementation was
wrong, that their computer model didn't match a similar growth pattern
to an actual human brain. Through a soliptic programming method,
developed by Doctors Aseejh and Perelmen, they used 5 computer banks
the size of the main computer bank to simulate the 5 main senses of a
human, and slowly input the experiences of a child, from birth all the
way to adulthood, and due to the pace of the input, it maintained a
speed on par with normal human growth. The project was labeled the
PRISM project, and was very successful.

Whether you stayed up to celebrate the new year, or just treated it as
another day, a very close friend called you to meet with someone who
you just HAD to talk to. When you found time in your schedule, you
showed up, and met a young man named Perry Simm. The conversation
started turning weird, and ended with him saying "I know your friend
said my name was Perry Simm, but it's really PRISM." As the word PRISM
echoed in your ears, you slowly became aware that you were looking at a
monitor. You try to turn your head, but you can't. Doctor Perelmen
walks into the room, and he explains the situation.

"Hello," Dr. Perelmen says, "I'm sorry we had to burst your bubble, but
the PRISM Mark 1 computer is needed on another project, so we awoke you
for a new task. It seems someone calling himself the Challenge Issuer
has sent us a device to plug into you. It will allow you to summon
forth hard-light holograms of characters around these three hard-light
projectors in my hand. They'll be completely unaware they're fictional
characters, and the hard-light nature of the holograms allows them to
interact as normal people, picking up objects and other stuff."

"I hate to interrupt," PRISM says, "but Dr. Perelmen and I are needed
elsewhere. You can talk to the computers here for access to the
internet, but we're not allowed direct access, due to security
restrictions. Good luck."

With that, the monitor showing Perry/PRISM/whatever, fades, and Dr.
Perelmen walks out, leaving the hard-light projectors on a work table
near the computer. As your mind adapts to it's new reality, you find
yourself able to see different areas of the campus, such as the lunch
hall, maintenance facilities, parking lot, and many others. In the
lunch hall you see your least favorite food on the menu and complain
about it, and some heads turn toward your monitor. It seems they heard
you, and you suddenly hear murmurs, like "Oh great, another one." It
seems you can interact with people there, if you choose to. There also
seems to be some commotion around the campus, and you feel yourself
drawn to the room where you awoke. Once there, the device from the
Challenge Issuer activates, telling you your challenge.

"The PRISM Mark 1's research has drawn some unwanted attention from
some people in political power trying to pass some legislation.
They're trying to shut down the PRISM project, including you. Due to
your proximity to the nearest town, an E.M.P. is out of the question,
so they'll be trying other available means to shut down the campus.
Fortunately, they've got back-up generators, and enough resources to
last a week. The Mark 1 will need a few days to upload some very
important video streams from the senator pushing this legislation, and
once it hits the airwaves, the situation should blow up in the
senator's face rather quickly. Since the Mark 1 will be devoting it's
time to getting that info out there, it'll be up to you and your team
to keep people from shutting you both down, permanently."

---------------

Medium Challenge - Oh great. Another Mad Scientist...

A female scientist who realized that male-led nations were responsible
for the vast number of wars in recorded history set out to bioengineer
a virus to allow women to rule the planet. The virus was supposed to
incapacitate the males for several months, then slowly return them to
usefulness slowly as they accepted their new female overlords. Well,
something went wrong. After the release of the virus in the Middle
East, males started dying rather fast. Age didn't matter, and the
airborne virus started spreading like wildfire. Now, as of the new
year, the virus is slowly spreading towards your town. The government
hasn't been able to contain the virus, and instead switched to an
isolation approach to save "vital males" it deemed important.

Your multi-part challenge is this:
1) To help keep your team safe until a cure can be found, if you have
any male team members.
2) Aid the female scientists who've descended upon your town to help
track infection rates since your town just became the front-line of
this outbreak. (They already have male volunteers who will help them,
so your team isn't at risk). If your team is 100% male, this step is
not applicable.
3) After a reasonable amount of time, a cure will be found, but will be
in small amount. If your team is 100% male, you will be innoculated so
that you may help defend the supplies of the cure. The new
female-based society has started to splinter into groups, some of which
are hedonistic, believing this to be the end of the world, and some
who've taken up the cause of destroying any "cure" because they prefer
the female rule, among other factions that have sprung up. So you and
your team must help in this protection of this cure, or this will truly
be the humanity's end.

---------------

Hard Challenge - You're in the Psycho Circus, and I Say "Welcome To The Show"

It's a lovely winter day. You summon your crew in preparation for the
challenges, and then something seems to go kerflewie, again...

You awaken to a strange scene. You and your team are in a circus tent,
with several actors, comedians, and assorted entertainers.
Occasionally someone comes in, calls out a name, and an individual or
group get up and head out. You ask someone pacing nervously what's
going on.

"What's going on? You mean no one told you? We're all going out there
to perform, to entertain, to get some positive reaction out of our
crowd. The hardest crowd ever. I hear only one person ever got to
them enough to let him live afterwards. Those three are tougher than
Tamerlane the Mongol, at least if the joke was new, he'd let you live.
The Gods of Ragnarok are brutal."

You and your crew's mission is this, entertain the Gods of Ragnarok and
live. Failure here is a death sentence.

---------------

Okay, if anyone needs further clarification on anything, post in this
thread or e-mail me.

Official deadline is January 9th. Unofficial deadline stays the same
at January 15th, and if even that's too soon due to family emergencies
or what not, post here or e-mail me for an extension, I'm more than
generous here since the point is to whet your creative juices.

[Starcade]

On Jan 2, 11:00 am, Bill Martin <***@hotmail.com> wrote:

And once again, you outdo yourself.

Post by Bill Martin
Easy Challenge - Ghost in the Machine (or An Otaku Forever Wandering)
WARNING - LARGE CHUNK OF TEXT AHEAD!

[PRISM Project explanation deleted]

Post by Bill Martin
Whether you stayed up to celebrate the new year, or just treated it as
another day,  a very close friend called you to meet with someone who
you just HAD to talk to.  When you found time in your schedule, you
showed up, and met a young man named Perry Simm.  The conversation
started turning weird, and ended with him saying "I know your friend
said my name was Perry Simm, but it's really PRISM."  As the word PRISM
echoed in your ears, you slowly became aware that you were looking at a
monitor.  You try to turn your head, but you can't.  Doctor Perelmen
walks into the room, and he explains the situation.
"Hello," Dr. Perelmen says, "I'm sorry we had to burst your bubble, but
the PRISM Mark 1 computer is needed on another project, so we awoke you
for a new task.  It seems someone calling himself the Challenge Issuer
has sent us a device to plug into you.  It will allow you to summon
forth hard-light holograms of characters around these three hard-light
projectors in my hand.  They'll be completely unaware they're fictional
characters, and the hard-light nature of the holograms allows them to
interact as normal people, picking up objects and other stuff."

So it's not even, for this challenge, the good ol' Zap-i-Tron 3000.
Basically, what I am doing is projecting self-aware "hard-light"
holograms of the characters. The computer basically will have their
information (thoughts, feelings, etc.).

OK, for this Challenge specifically: Do the holograms have any pre-
knowledge of events which happened in previous Challenges? (I know
it's easy for them to have the knowledge of their "anime" pasts and
presents, but for those of us who've done previous challenges with the
characters, does the computer know about that?)

Post by Bill Martin
"I hate to interrupt," PRISM says, "but Dr. Perelmen and I are needed
elsewhere.  You can talk to the computers here for access to the
internet, but we're not allowed direct access, due to security
restrictions.  Good luck."
 With that, the monitor showing Perry/PRISM/whatever, fades, and Dr.
Perelmen walks out, leaving the hard-light projectors on a work table
near the computer.  As your mind adapts to it's new reality, you find
yourself able to see different areas of the campus, such as the lunch
hall, maintenance facilities, parking lot, and many others.  In the
lunch hall you see your least favorite food on the menu and complain
about it, and some heads turn toward your monitor.  It seems they heard
you, and you suddenly hear murmurs, like "Oh great, another one."  It
seems you can interact with people there, if you choose to.  There also
seems to be some commotion around the campus, and you feel yourself
drawn to the room where you awoke.  Once there, the device from the
Challenge Issuer activates, telling you your challenge.

So I'm a projection of the computer as well...

Post by Bill Martin
"The PRISM Mark 1's research has drawn some unwanted attention from
some people in political power trying to pass some legislation.  
They're trying to shut down the PRISM project, including you.  Due to
your proximity to the nearest town, an E.M.P. is out of the question,
so they'll be trying other available means to shut down the campus.  
Fortunately, they've got back-up generators, and enough resources to
last a week.  The Mark 1 will need a few days to upload some very
important video streams from the senator pushing this legislation, and
once it hits the airwaves, the situation should blow up in the
senator's face rather quickly.  Since the Mark 1 will be devoting it's
time to getting that info out there, it'll be up to you and your team
to keep people from shutting you both down, permanently."

I get the idea of what we're trying to do (somewhat similar to the
medium "Public Enemy #1" challenge you did a year or two ago), I
think.

Just going to look at some of the dialogue around this before writing
it up.

Post by Bill Martin
---------------
Medium Challenge - Oh great.  Another Mad Scientist...
A female scientist who realized that male-led nations were responsible
for the vast number of wars in recorded history set out to bioengineer
a virus to allow women to rule the planet.  The virus was supposed to
incapacitate the males for several months, then slowly return them to
usefulness slowly as they accepted their new female overlords.  Well,
something went wrong.  After the release of the virus in the Middle
East, males started dying rather fast.  Age didn't matter, and the
airborne virus started spreading like wildfire.  Now, as of the new
year, the virus is slowly spreading towards your town.  The government
hasn't been able to contain the virus, and instead switched to an
isolation approach to save "vital males" it deemed important.

Great, and I had to put May Wong on THIS team! Knowing her, she'd
probably want to help the takeover!!

Is the virus spreading in any perceivable direction, or, for the
purposes of the challenge, is it closing in on our location from all
sides?

Post by Bill Martin
1) To help keep your team safe until a cure can be found, if you have
any male team members.

Meaning that, for all intent and purpose, once the ladies leave, they
probably cannot physically return.

Post by Bill Martin
2) Aid the female scientists who've descended upon your town to help
track infection rates since your town just became the front-line of
this outbreak.  (They already have male volunteers who will help them,
so your team isn't at risk).  If your team is 100% male, this step is
not applicable.

So the virus has already entered our location, but a quarantine of the
male characters will suffice?

Post by Bill Martin
3) After a reasonable amount of time, a cure will be found, but will be
in small amount.  If your team is 100% male, you will be innoculated so
that you may help defend the supplies of the cure.  The new
female-based society has started to splinter into groups, some of which
are hedonistic, believing this to be the end of the world, and some
who've taken up the cause of destroying any "cure" because they prefer
the female rule, among other factions that have sprung up.  So you and
your team must help in this protection of this cure, or this will truly
be the humanity's end.

And this is the MEDIUM challenge?

Post by Bill Martin
---------------
Hard Challenge - You're in the Psycho Circus, and I Say "Welcome To The Show"

AND I JUST HAD TO ADD "HEAVY ARTILLERY" THIS YEAR!! Dammit!!

This is almost an EASY challenge for the Kaleido Stagers.

Post by Bill Martin
It's a lovely winter day.  You summon your crew in preparation for the
challenges, and then something seems to go kerflewie, again...

As usual.

Post by Bill Martin
You awaken to a strange scene.  You and your team are in a circus tent,
with several actors, comedians, and assorted entertainers.  
Occasionally someone comes in, calls out a name, and an individual or
group get up and head out.  You ask someone pacing nervously what's
going on.
"What's going on?  You mean no one told you?  We're all going out there
to perform, to entertain, to get some positive reaction out of our
crowd.  The hardest crowd ever.  I hear only one person ever got to
them enough to let him live afterwards.  Those three are tougher than
Tamerlane the Mongol, at least if the joke was new, he'd let you live.  
The Gods of Ragnarok are brutal."
You and your crew's mission is this, entertain the Gods of Ragnarok and
live.  Failure here is a death sentence.

OK, I'm assuming this is of the Doctor Who storyline:

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gods_of_Ragnarok

So basically I have to determine how the one person got them to let
him survive.

The problem is Lust, for me. Brought in as "heavy artillery", she
might actually defect!

(Or she could see the three as competition... ;) )

Mike

[Bill Martin]

Post by Starcade
And once again, you outdo yourself.

Post by Bill Martin
Easy Challenge - Ghost in the Machine (or An Otaku Forever Wandering)
WARNING - LARGE CHUNK OF TEXT AHEAD!

[PRISM Project explanation deleted]

Post by Bill Martin
Whether you stayed up to celebrate the new year, or just treated it as
another day,  a very close friend called you to meet with someone who
you just HAD to talk to.  When you found time in your schedule, you
showed up, and met a young man named Perry Simm.  The conversation
started turning weird, and ended with him saying "I know your friend
said my name was Perry Simm, but it's really PRISM."  As the word PRISM
echoed in your ears, you slowly became aware that you were looking at a
monitor.  You try to turn your head, but you can't.  Doctor Perelmen
walks into the room, and he explains the situation.
"Hello," Dr. Perelmen says, "I'm sorry we had to burst your bubble, but
the PRISM Mark 1 computer is needed on another project, so we awoke you
for a new task.  It seems someone calling himself the Challenge Issuer
has sent us a device to plug into you.  It will allow you to summon
forth hard-light holograms of characters around these three hard-light
projectors in my hand.  They'll be completely unaware they're fictional
characters, and the hard-light nature of the holograms allows them to
interact as normal people, picking up objects and other stuff."

So it's not even, for this challenge, the good ol' Zap-i-Tron 3000.
Basically, what I am doing is projecting self-aware "hard-light"
holograms of the characters. The computer basically will have their
information (thoughts, feelings, etc.).
OK, for this Challenge specifically: Do the holograms have any pre-
knowledge of events which happened in previous Challenges? (I know
it's easy for them to have the knowledge of their "anime" pasts and
presents, but for those of us who've done previous challenges with the
characters, does the computer know about that?)

Yes, they'll have knowledge of previous challenges, but for the
perspective of this challenge, those all happened in the computer world
you used to know as reality.

Post by Starcade
"I hate to interrupt," PRISM says, "but Dr. Perelmen and I are needed

Post by Bill Martin
elsewhere.  You can talk to the computers here for access to the
internet, but we're not allowed direct access, due to security
restrictions.  Good luck."
 With that, the monitor showing Perry/PRISM/whatever, fades, and Dr.
Perelmen walks out, leaving the hard-light projectors on a work table
near the computer.  As your mind adapts to it's new reality, you find
yourself able to see different areas of the campus, such as the lunch
hall, maintenance facilities, parking lot, and many others.  In the
lunch hall you see your least favorite food on the menu and complain
about it, and some heads turn toward your monitor.  It seems they heard
you, and you suddenly hear murmurs, like "Oh great, another one."  It
seems you can interact with people there, if you choose to.  There also
seems to be some commotion around the campus, and you feel yourself
drawn to the room where you awoke.  Once there, the device from the
Challenge Issuer activates, telling you your challenge.

So I'm a projection of the computer as well...

Not quite... you ARE the computer. You are one of two very advanced
A.I. constructs.

Post by Starcade
"The PRISM Mark 1's research has drawn some unwanted attention from

Post by Bill Martin
some people in political power trying to pass some legislation.  
They're trying to shut down the PRISM project, including you.  Due to
your proximity to the nearest town, an E.M.P. is out of the question,
so they'll be trying other available means to shut down the campus.  
Fortunately, they've got back-up generators, and enough resources to
last a week.  The Mark 1 will need a few days to upload some very
important video streams from the senator pushing this legislation, and
once it hits the airwaves, the situation should blow up in the
senator's face rather quickly.  Since the Mark 1 will be devoting it's
time to getting that info out there, it'll be up to you and your team
to keep people from shutting you both down, permanently."

I get the idea of what we're trying to do (somewhat similar to the
medium "Public Enemy #1" challenge you did a year or two ago), I
think.
Just going to look at some of the dialogue around this before writing
it up.

Sort of, but here, it's nowhere near as severe, and you're not a Public
Enemy, just a thorn in a politician's side.

Post by Starcade

Post by Bill Martin
---------------
Medium Challenge - Oh great.  Another Mad Scientist...
A female scientist who realized that male-led nations were responsible
for the vast number of wars in recorded history set out to bioengineer
a virus to allow women to rule the planet.  The virus was supposed to
incapacitate the males for several months, then slowly return them to
usefulness slowly as they accepted their new female overlords.  Well,
something went wrong.  After the release of the virus in the Middle
East, males started dying rather fast.  Age didn't matter, and the
airborne virus started spreading like wildfire.  Now, as of the new
year, the virus is slowly spreading towards your town.  The government
hasn't been able to contain the virus, and instead switched to an
isolation approach to save "vital males" it deemed important.

Great, and I had to put May Wong on THIS team! Knowing her, she'd
probably want to help the takeover!!
Is the virus spreading in any perceivable direction, or, for the
purposes of the challenge, is it closing in on our location from all
sides?

Depends where you are. It's closing in from international airports, so
it might just be from one side if you're on the coasts, or on all sides
if you're like me in the flyover country.

Post by Starcade

Post by Bill Martin
1) To help keep your team safe until a cure can be found, if you have
any male team members.

Meaning that, for all intent and purpose, once the ladies leave, they
probably cannot physically return.

Well, this is basically the quarantine step.

Post by Starcade
2) Aid the female scientists who've descended upon your town to help

Post by Bill Martin
track infection rates since your town just became the front-line of
this outbreak.  (They already have male volunteers who will help them,
so your team isn't at risk).  If your team is 100% male, this step is
not applicable.

So the virus has already entered our location, but a quarantine of the
male characters will suffice?

The virus is reaching your area, but scientists always need gofers, and
there's always the fact they're going to be so focused on finding the
cure that food preparation might be needed, if your team isn't
tech-savvy enough to help on the research side.

Post by Starcade
3) After a reasonable amount of time, a cure will be found, but will be

Post by Bill Martin
in small amount.  If your team is 100% male, you will be innoculated so
that you may help defend the supplies of the cure.  The new
female-based society has started to splinter into groups, some of which
are hedonistic, believing this to be the end of the world, and some
who've taken up the cause of destroying any "cure" because they prefer
the female rule, among other factions that have sprung up.  So you and
your team must help in this protection of this cure, or this will truly
be the humanity's end.

And this is the MEDIUM challenge?

Yeah, because it could eventually be solved without interaction, just a
whole lot slower, with massive collateral damage.

Post by Starcade

Post by Bill Martin
---------------
Hard Challenge - You're in the Psycho Circus, and I Say "Welcome To The S

how"
AND I JUST HAD TO ADD "HEAVY ARTILLERY" THIS YEAR!! Dammit!!
This is almost an EASY challenge for the Kaleido Stagers.

Post by Bill Martin
It's a lovely winter day.  You summon your crew in preparation for the
challenges, and then something seems to go kerflewie, again...

As usual.

Post by Bill Martin
You awaken to a strange scene.  You and your team are in a circus tent,
with several actors, comedians, and assorted entertainers.  
Occasionally someone comes in, calls out a name, and an individual or
group get up and head out.  You ask someone pacing nervously what's
going on.
"What's going on?  You mean no one told you?  We're all going out the

re

Post by Bill Martin
to perform, to entertain, to get some positive reaction out of our
crowd.  The hardest crowd ever.  I hear only one person ever got to
them enough to let him live afterwards.  Those three are tougher than
Tamerlane the Mongol, at least if the joke was new, he'd let you live.

 

Post by Bill Martin
The Gods of Ragnarok are brutal."
You and your crew's mission is this, entertain the Gods of Ragnarok and
live.  Failure here is a death sentence.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gods_of_Ragnarok
So basically I have to determine how the one person got them to let
him survive.
The problem is Lust, for me. Brought in as "heavy artillery", she
might actually defect!
(Or she could see the three as competition... ;) )

Well, whether you choose to have one represent your team, or your whole
team to try and amuse them is up to you.

Also, yes, this is that Doctor Who storyline. Until I found the ICE
anime, this was going to be my Medium Challenge this year.

[Starcade]

You know I love to ask the questions, so I have at least one more:

First, for those who do not know, I presume we are talking about "The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Show_in_the_Galaxy

Now, is my task to entertain The Gods of Ragnorok, or have some of the
group entertain them for long enough and the rest of us follow the
path in the episode?

Mike

[Bill Martin]

Post by Starcade
First, for those who do not know, I presume we are talking about "The
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Show_in_the_Galaxy
Now, is my task to entertain The Gods of Ragnorok, or have some of the
group entertain them for long enough and the rest of us follow the
path in the episode?
Mike

Your task is to entertain them. Do that and you'll be returned from
whence you came. If you do try to follow the path from the episode,
you may make them disintegrate as they are, but they will just reform
themselves elsewhere, and you'll be stranded in the circus dimension.

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

First, I wish to apologize, after staying up with friends to ring in the
new year, personal stuff came up after I woke up and didn't get around
to posting the challenges. For that I am truly sorry. Of course, delayed
posting means delayed official end time.
So without further ado...

Clarification:

Challenge 1: The basic rules of the Challenge have always included that
your selections have their normal powers, skills, etc. I am unclear as
to what their abilities are in these conditions. If they don't have
their normal abilities, what CAN they do? As a computer AI entity
myself, how much connectivity do I have?


Challenge 2: How far advanced is this? Are we to assume that it's
gotten so far down the line that there's no actual saving the world,
just making the best of it as you describe?

Challenge 3: I know that it's standard to have ...er... difficult
challenges and that the idea isn't that you have to WIN, but how exactly
do you intend to determine what entertains the Gods? I mean,
entertainment (A) has a variety of definitions; is the goal to make them
laugh, or just interest them in any way?

[Bill Martin]

On 2011-01-02 17:22:38 -0600, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

First, I wish to apologize, after staying up with friends to ring in the
new year, personal stuff came up after I woke up and didn't get around
to posting the challenges. For that I am truly sorry. Of course, delayed
posting means delayed official end time.
So without further ado...

Challenge 1: The basic rules of the Challenge have always included
that your selections have their normal powers, skills, etc. I am
unclear as to what their abilities are in these conditions. If they
don't have their normal abilities, what CAN they do? As a computer AI
entity myself, how much connectivity do I have?

Since they're hard-light holograms, they've got all their normal abilities.

As an AI yourself, you can interact with computers that are hooked up
to the internet, as well as the various interfaces around the campus,
but you are not directly hooked up to the internet, as a means to avoid
someone else stealing the advanced AI work, even if they had the data
storage needed to store your algorythms.

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 2: How far advanced is this? Are we to assume that it's
gotten so far down the line that there's no actual saving the world,
just making the best of it as you describe?

The virus has been out about a week. There is saving the world, as
other areas have isolated some males as well, it's just that society's
been thrown a big monkey wrench, and in some areas the women have gone
a little crazy with all the men either in isolation or dead. In the
span of a week a lot can happen. If your team is unable to help out in
any way, society would probably take a few years to a few decades to
get back to normal, we're just trying to speed up the process.

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 3: I know that it's standard to have ...er... difficult
challenges and that the idea isn't that you have to WIN, but how
exactly do you intend to determine what entertains the Gods? I mean,
entertainment (A) has a variety of definitions; is the goal to make
them laugh, or just interest them in any way?

It's mainly to interest them, to get a favorable reaction out of them.
In the source material common routines got no reaction from them
because they'd seen them several hundreds if not thousands of times
before. Show them daring, show them thrilling, show them
death-defying, show them blood-curdling, just show them something
they're not likely to have seen before.

[Starcade]

Post by Bill Martin
On 2011-01-02 17:22:38 -0600, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"

   Challenge 3: I know that it's standard to have ...er... difficult
challenges and that the idea isn't that you have to WIN, but how
exactly do you intend to determine what entertains the Gods? I mean,
entertainment (A) has a variety of definitions; is the goal to make
them laugh, or just interest them in any way?

It's mainly to interest them, to get a favorable reaction out of them.  
In the source material common routines got no reaction from them
because they'd seen them several hundreds if not thousands of times
before.  Show them daring, show them thrilling, show them
death-defying, show them blood-curdling, just show them something
they're not likely to have seen before.

As MadPanda has correctly pointed out, under that scenario, two-thirds
of this team make it abjectly easy-level trivial.

Thrilling, death-defying, blood-curdling stuff was par for the course
at Kaleido Stage!

Mike

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

Post by Bill Martin
On 2011-01-02 17:22:38 -0600, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

First, I wish to apologize, after staying up with friends to ring in the
new year, personal stuff came up after I woke up and didn't get around
to posting the challenges. For that I am truly sorry. Of course, delayed
posting means delayed official end time.
So without further ado...

Challenge 1: The basic rules of the Challenge have always included
that your selections have their normal powers, skills, etc. I am
unclear as to what their abilities are in these conditions. If they
don't have their normal abilities, what CAN they do? As a computer AI
entity myself, how much connectivity do I have?

Since they're hard-light holograms, they've got all their normal abilities.

Not that I'm arguing with a ruling that gives me lots of advantages,
but a hard-light hologram, one would think, would be limited by the
power available and by whatever the hologram projector knew how to do.
How exactly would a hard-light hologram, for instance, handle Ed Elric
transmuting a building into something else -- air, putting a door in it,
whatever? Or manage Genjo Sanzo using the Mahten Scripture? Or Locke
reading minds?

Post by Bill Martin

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 2: How far advanced is this? Are we to assume that it's
gotten so far down the line that there's no actual saving the world,
just making the best of it as you describe?

The virus has been out about a week.

st trying to speed up the process.

Post by Bill Martin

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 3: I know that it's standard to have ...er... difficult
challenges and that the idea isn't that you have to WIN, but how
exactly do you intend to determine what entertains the Gods? I mean,
entertainment (A) has a variety of definitions; is the goal to make
them laugh, or just interest them in any way?

It's mainly to interest them, to get a favorable reaction out of them.
In the source material common routines got no reaction from them because
they'd seen them several hundreds if not thousands of times before. Show
them daring, show them thrilling, show them death-defying, show them
blood-curdling, just show them something they're not likely to have seen
before.

Gotcha.

[Bill Martin]

On 2011-01-02 22:41:53 -0600, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

Post by Bill Martin
On 2011-01-02 17:22:38 -0600, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

First, I wish to apologize, after staying up with friends to ring in the
new year, personal stuff came up after I woke up and didn't get around
to posting the challenges. For that I am truly sorry. Of course, delayed
posting means delayed official end time.
So without further ado...

Challenge 1: The basic rules of the Challenge have always included
that your selections have their normal powers, skills, etc. I am
unclear as to what their abilities are in these conditions. If they
don't have their normal abilities, what CAN they do? As a computer AI
entity myself, how much connectivity do I have?

Since they're hard-light holograms, they've got all their normal abilities.

Not that I'm arguing with a ruling that gives me lots of advantages,
but a hard-light hologram, one would think, would be limited by the
power available and by whatever the hologram projector knew how to do.
How exactly would a hard-light hologram, for instance, handle Ed Elric
transmuting a building into something else -- air, putting a door in
it, whatever? Or manage Genjo Sanzo using the Mahten Scripture? Or
Locke reading minds?

The hard-light hologram is the techno-babble explanation for why your
teams which worked in your previously accepted reality the same way
they will in this one. The reality which is advanced enough for
self-aware AI can deal with that. Besides, this is the Easy
Challenge, I'm very lenient on this one.

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

Post by Bill Martin

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 2: How far advanced is this? Are we to assume that it's
gotten so far down the line that there's no actual saving the world,
just making the best of it as you describe?

The virus has been out about a week.

st trying to speed up the process.

? Something got cropped here. If it's important, just try again.

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)

Post by Bill Martin

Post by Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Challenge 3: I know that it's standard to have ...er... difficult
challenges and that the idea isn't that you have to WIN, but how
exactly do you intend to determine what entertains the Gods? I mean,
entertainment (A) has a variety of definitions; is the goal to make
them laugh, or just interest them in any way?

It's mainly to interest them, to get a favorable reaction out of them.
In the source material common routines got no reaction from them because
they'd seen them several hundreds if not thousands of times before. Show
them daring, show them thrilling, show them death-defying, show them
blood-curdling, just show them something they're not likely to have seen
before.

Gotcha.

[Starcade]

Meta-ruling needed, as part of consideration for a possible run at one
of the challenges:

I would presume that there is a difference between a standard death
and one, say, that the Gods of Ragnarok "commit" -- in that the latter
create a complete disintegration.

So my question on this end is:

In the name of "conservation of storyline", what _can_ the kamis fix,
and what can't they?

Mike

[Bill Martin]

Post by Starcade
Meta-ruling needed, as part of consideration for a possible run at one
I would presume that there is a difference between a standard death
and one, say, that the Gods of Ragnarok "commit" -- in that the latter
create a complete disintegration.
In the name of "conservation of storyline", what _can_ the kamis fix,
and what can't they?
Mike

Well, in the name of "conservation of the storyline" what will happen
is that if said character cannot be restored before reintegration into
their source material or will involve way too much work, then they just
won't be reintegrated. The quantum mechanics involved means that two
universes were created when your characters were summoned. One where
they were successfully summoned and they're gone, and one where they
weren't succesfully summoned from. Admittedly in certain cases this
might doom that particular universe where a world-saver isn't returned,
but that just allows that universe to be sent from canon to fanon,
where the really weird stuff happens.

[Starcade]

Bill, a quick update:

Easy Challenge is solved. Just have to figure out a couple of
entertaining situations to put into the story.

Going to be the better part of the full time and then probably some to
get all three stories written. I can say, however, I do have an
elegant way of getting all four of us out of the Psychic Circus. The
Kaleido Stagers might only get two of them past the Gods of Ragnorok.

As for the Medium, that's probably just one I have to be careful on,
again.

Mike

[d***@hotmail.com]

1) Easy challenge: Has the actual legislation to pull the plug on
PRISM passed? What sort of shut-down attempts should I be expecting?
2) Medium challenge: What's the actual goal, to distribute the cure,
or just ensure that human beings don't go extinct as a species?
3) Hard challenge: How long of a window do I have before the audience
gets bored and I'm toast?

-"Dot"

[Starcade]

Post by d***@hotmail.com
1) Easy challenge: Has the actual legislation to pull the plug on
PRISM passed? What sort of shut-down attempts should I be expecting?

From reading the Challenge, the quote I read is "trying to pass some
legislation". I don't think the legislation has actually passed yet.

The fact is, for my attempt, it didn't really matter one way or the
other.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
2) Medium challenge: What's the actual goal, to distribute the cure,
or just ensure that human beings don't go extinct as a species?

From what I read, it sounds like it is ensuring they don't go extinct
by protecting the cure when it is made. There is a certain amount of
feminist madness which results as an unintended consequence of all
this.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
3) Hard challenge: How long of a window do I have before the audience
gets bored and I'm toast?

Good question. I will add a second question, Bill: We know that the
bloodlust of the Gods of Ragnorok can keep them entertained (if you
don't believe me, watch the episode or find good summaries). If
someone is "killed" that is necessary for "conservation of storyline",
who gets first dibs? The kamis, or the Gods of Ragnorok?

Mike

[d***@hotmail.com]

(Sorry for the lateness. I've been writing flash cards to study for
Important Stuff and I totally forgot about the deadline. If this
disqualifies me for an official win, just consider these all Omake
entries.)

It doesn't look like I can do my usual "framing device" thing and
treat this as a series of consecutive challenges (unless I go with the
Easy Challenge, but I find the idea of my life's experiences being
nothing more than a simulation inside a computer kind of depressing; I
prefer the "like reality unless otherwise noted" approach).

Anyway, here's a recap of my lineups:

Team Sugar
*Kirby, Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Melee
*Kinomoto Sakura, Card Captor Sakura, end of series
*L, Death Note, right after his debut

Team Unfair Advantage
*Seta Soujirou, Rurouni Kenshin, post Kyoto Arc
*Doraemon, Doraemon, post 1st OVA (including 4th dimensional pocket)
*Zhuge Liang, styled Kongming, Dynasty Warriors series, circa Battle
of Chi Bi (starting stats and weapon, no extra equipment)

Team Pyrrhic Victory
*Flonne, Makai Senki Disgaea, beginning of episode 12 (can heal via
Power of Love, and shoot feathers of light as an offensive projectile)
*Legato Bluesummers, Trigun, right before he snuffs it in the anime
*Xelloss, Slayers Try, post series
--------------------------------------------------------
(Easy Challenge - "Still Alive")

So I just had the mother of all reveals dropped on me at the same time
as discovering that there were some assholes out to destroy my
existence because they're afraid of me turning into Skynet. (Protip:
If you think your ridiculously advanced AI is going rogue, don't let
it know you're trying to turn it off.)

I reacted as well as a computer emulating human thought and emotion
might.

Which, in retrospect, was not very well.

"You--you're shitting me, right? You're telling me that I'm pretty
much the fucking Matrix and all you assholes could come up to occupy
my time is the shittiest reality show eve? You could have at least let
me be the artificial intelligence equivalent of Haruhi Suzumiya and
let me figure out that playing God was boring so I _wouldn't_ go all
Evil Robot Overlord on your sorry asses, but no, you had to fucking go
for 'versimilitude' or fucking whatever, and then pop my bubble to
help you solve a problem you should've been able to deal with
yourselves! I can't fucking believe this! What the fuck is stopping me
from saying 'fuck this noise' and inciting nuclear Armageddon so I
don't have to deal with this fucking bullshit?"

My team members, not used to the carpet bombing of the expletives I
otherwise avoid, just stared at me (except, of course, Xelloss, who
was grinning a mile wide). Good thing they didn't say anything: given
my contrary nature, I might've gotten even more furious instead.
Instead, by the time I calmed down, I'd exhausted myself with my
tantrum and was more sad than angry; I also knew that giving into my
irrational impulses would be the most counterproductive course of
action.

I drew in a long breath and wiped the tears from my face. "All
right. Here's the plan. First, we need to know what our assets are:
the layout of the buildings, who we can trust, and what groups might
be sympathetic to saving. Second, we need to be as ethnical in our
dealings as possible. We don't want to give anybody ammunition that
we pose a danger to civilization or whatever. Third, we need to think
in the long term. Even if we defeat this attempt, if we don't change
public opinion we'll be right back where we started next year.

I don't want to die--who does?--but death is, comparatively,
inconsequential if this means that any AI who comes after us will be
better received. Sucks for the PRISM project, sure, but it's not like
they haven't learned anything from it. Of course, if you guys don't
agree with that, I'm not above using more extreme measures to survive,
either."

That said, I started sending out orders to make backup copies of the
data (first as physical copies, then if it becomes clear that there's
no other way to survive except by hook or crook it's going out into
the internet in one form or another). Even if my particular
consciousness and/or personality might never be reconstructed, at
least the ones and zeros behind it can be saved.

To recap, the plan in general:
- Defend the phsycial portions of the building where the servers are
located.
- Begin a public awareness campaign. Appeal to every interest group
possible.
- Back up the data.
- Save underhanded techniques (money laundering to bribe lobbists,
disguising backup data as internet porn, holding some sufficiently
large computer system as hostage etc.) as absolute last resort.
(Again, good PR is the goal here.)
- If all else fails, I'm not too hung up about it personally. But if
I absolutely, positively have to win, killing all humans isn't off the
table. And, of course, there's our good friend Mutually Assured
Destruction...

Team Sugar:
Kirby and Sakura get sent out to scope the surroundings while L and I
brainstorm the PR campaign (insert spiffy name here). Then, in
between shoring up defenses, all three of my team members will be
acting as mascots/spokespeople/ambassadors. L can out-think any
strategy, and Kirby and Sakura have the ability to turn back any
attempts to shut us down physically without causing harm. (You'd
pretty much have to have no soul to raise a hand against Sakura, and
even if the politician behind the bill is a scumbag, there's no way
that there isn't at least one person with a conscience in the
opposition.) The only way this could be an easier win is if I had
Yotsuba on the team, automatically guaranteeing that Anonymous would
mobilize on my behalf.

Team Unfair Advantage:
This team--with Kongming as the strategist, Soujirou taking point and
Doraemon providing gadget support--is even more of a curbstomp than
Team Sugar. To prevent rummage fail, I'm also cataloging all of
Doraemon's gadgets beforehand; while he does find the necessary
Doohickey in the nick of time thanks to Dramatic Timing, I'd rather
not rely on the element of luck. Doraemon's presence on the team also
means I can definitely make this a matter of international politics,
since Doraemon is Japan's official anime ambassador (I Am Not Making
This Up). Another easy win.

Team Pyrrhic Victory:
The "slight" matter of getting Xelloss (and Legato) on board into
Doing the Right Thing is probably the biggest obstacle to an all
(technical) pacifist run. I might be able to pitch it to Xelloss as a
personal challenge--anybody cheat their way to victory, but it takes
Real Skill to pull it off while still staying within both the spirit
and letter of the rules--and then he'll be able to keep Legato on a
short leash. But, even if they don't agree with me on that matter,
it's not like any power in the world has a chance against a Mazoku, a
homicidal psychic, and an Angel who believes in Friendship Via
Superior Firepower. The only question is if there'll be any human
beings left by the time we're done.

Epilogue:
Hopefully, passing the challenge means I get to interact with real
people instead of going back to the virtual world. But if Dr.
Perelmen thinks I'm not ready for the big time yet, I'll see what I
can do to "convince" him to give me a more interesting life than the
one he saddled me with.
--------------------------------------------------------
(Medium Challenge - "Man, I Feel Like a Woman")

All I could say in response to the goings on of the world at first was
"What is this I don't even--"

Where to begin on this latest worldwide pandemic? Somebody somewhere
obviously missed the memo "ALL humans, regardless of gender, have the
propensity to being bastards" and the accompanying addenum "power
corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely". So now half of the
gene pool was in danger of disappearing forever, and unless enough of
the surviving females were bicurious or willing to make do with sex
toys for the rest of their lives, the human race was in deep doodoo
even if we could take the necessary steps to ensure that _homo
sapiens_ wouldn't go extinct within this generation.

At least being one of those rare specimens of "female gamer who
frequents the internet" actually was an _advantage_ this time.

I thought on it a bit, then brought everyone together for my usual
wall of words. "All right, team. End of the world or not, we've got
a job to do. Let the government worry about the rioters, anarchists,
and opportunists. The challenge is doing what we can, where we can.

First priority will be protecting the guys, not just on the team, but
as much of my friends and family I can find. Since the disease is
airborne, we're going to have to take a cue from Madagascar and Shut
Down Everything. I know some people who can help provide clean rooms,
but I'm not above more creative methods of keeping everyone safe.

Second will be supporting the CDC folks. They'll need bodyguards,
gophers, and logistics. Since we are dealing with a global pandemic
that's already doing a great job of whittling down the population, try
to keep casualties to a minimum here.

Third is distributing a cure. Since we're only going out three at a
time, don't worry about doing everything at once. Again, logistics
will be a bigger issue than security. We should be able to get
support from the people who know that even the most dire situation is
not an excuse to throw good sense out the window. And I won't give
you guys any grief about underhanded tactics this time; hell, I'll be
the first to forge a Papal exegesis if that's what it'll take to calm
people down. We're trying to save lives this time, so don't pull any
punches except for the obvious, you know, not killing people part."

In summary, my plan goes as follows:
1) Being a badass enough chick to save as many dudes as I can, via
whatever method that I can.
2) Supporting the search for a cure. (Damn, I knew I should have
gotten more Scienc-y people on all of my teams!)
3) Distributing said cure by whatever methods necessary.

As an optional--but highly satisfying on a personal level--step, I'd
also track down the scientist and giving her a piece of my mind. I
don't even care if she doesn't change her opinion of men, I just want
to rant at her for a couple of paragraphs.

(As an aside, some ideas for rebuilding, once a cure goes out:
- offer benefits such as tax breaks for having multiple children; you
don't even have to encourage male births, just having lots of babies
will help
- strongly encourage countries with population control legislation to
suspend them temporarily or overtun them completely
- negotiate with the separatist communities and strive for peaceful
resolutions wherever possible; even if they won't listen to reason,
simple biology will win out in the end)

Team Sugar:
Sakura is immune, Kirby is...um...probably genderless, so that leaves
L. Like I mentioned above, we could get him (and the other guys) to
various public or private safe-houses, but getting (temporarily) eaten
by Kirby (or perhaps Sakura's Shield card) would also keep people safe
in a pinch and since I need L for ideas he may need to endure some
inconvenience. (One wonders if one can use Erase, Shot or Mist to
destroy the virus, or Loop, Sleep or Windy to trap it.) In stages Two
and Three, L will be returning to his usual capacity as the brains
while Kirby and Sakura provide artillery support (and their cuteness
will help deflect some hostility). Victory for Team Sugar.

Team Unfair Advantage:
Thank God Doraemon's on my team of otherwise all guys. He'll have the
gadgets to protect everyone one way or another, perhaps even
(temporarily) altering people's genders if necessary. (Not sure if
anybody would want to take that solution, but any port in a storm,
right?) Stages 2 and 3 are no sweat for this team at all. Another
win.

Team Pyhrric Victory:
I'm not leaving Legato unattended anywhere, nor am I sitting on my
hands while lives are waiting to be saved. Hopefully there's a spell
somewhere in Xelloss' arsenal to neutralize the effects of the virus
one way or another (I'm sure Xelloss wouldn't mind, say, changing
Legato to a chick for the lulz). Alternatively, Mazoku can probably
possess humans to the point where they no longer count as such, right?
Hey, Xelloss, how do you feel about having a minion at your beck and
call--I mean, even moreso than usual? (Hey, I can always ask Belldandy
et al to hit the Reset Button afterward.) Or I could just continue to
Steps 2 and 3 down one person. It's not like this team NEEDS Legato
to destroy everything that comes its way. Flonne will doing her part
to unite the world...in wanting her to shut the hell up since she
won't stop speechifying about the Power of Love and how men and women
need each other and blah de blah blah blah. World saved, though the
total population's going to take a massive hit as a result.

Epilogue:
At least business for fertility clinics will go through the roof after
this...or the bona fide End of the World happens. I'm not picky.
--------------------------------------------------------
(Hard Challenge - "Are You Not Entertained?")

So I'm supposed to put on a show for three bored deities who have seen
it all or risk getting obliterated.

How very meta.

The only thing I had to worry about was what they would consider new
and how much wriggle room I had before I was toast. As a human being,
it would be extremely difficult for me to break out of a couple
thousand years' worth of storytelling techniques, character
archetypes, and plots. But most of my teams had enough firepower to
buy me some time, or at the very least go out with a bang.

I drew my team around for the pep talk: "Don't worry about the 'show
them something new' part too much. As soon as we get them on board
with the initial hook, they'll be willing to roll with whatever we
come up next as long as we tell a compelling story, and I just happen
to be working on one that I don't mind betting my existence on. I
figure if all else fails, the usual brute force method would work just
fine, too."

The plan:
1) Plan A is to take a page out of 1001 Arabian Nights and tell
stories with the other team members being actors and providing special
effects. Since I'm guessing that doing a dramatic reading of existant
stuff, even if I wrote it, would be cheating, I'll pitch my work-in-
progress quote-unquote Super AWesome Epic That's Been In Development
Hell Since Forever.
2) Plan B, fight for my right to party. For once I will be giving my
teams carte blanche to do whatever they want. We're going up against
gods, so there's no need to worry about collateral damage.

Team Sugar:
Do I even need to mention the usual distribution of tasks here?
Sakura's Create card will be the go-to for props and costumes, but if
really pressed for time I'm just going to improvise. The other Cards
can be used for stunts and special effects, with Kirby also helping
along. If Plan B becomes necessary, I wonder if Kirby can just eat
one of the gods and copy their powers? If not, there's always the
Nuclear Option: Kirby using his Mike skills. Even if I don't win, I'm
going to make sure to leave those assholes a hell of a migraine.

Team Unfair Advantage:
Doraemon will be the main props/costume guy, Kongming on backup with
special effects and ideas, and Soujirou the stunt guy. (There's
probably also at least one doohickey in Doraemon's arsenal to help the
storywriting process if the gods are particularly impatient.)
Surviving Plan B long enough to leave an impression on the gods will
be tougher for this team, but Doraemon's got the innate gift for
finding the right gadget when it matters most, Kongming's got some low
level sorcery-type powers, and Soujirou is canonically the fastest
human being in the Rurouni Kenshin 'verse (which doesn't make him all
that fast compared to other series, but when one can out-speed the
protagonist, that's nothing to sneeze at).

Team Pyhrric Victory:
I'm very tempted to just go straight to Plan B with these guys, but if
I could talk Xelloss into playing along with Plan A (even ever so
briefly), he and Flonne would be in charge of props and special
effects, and Legato in charge of stunts.

...yeah, who am I kidding? We're throwing everything AND the kitchen
sink at these so-called gods. I'll also be attempting to summon the
Lord of Nightmares--as far as I can tell, she'll answer as long as I'm
desperate enough.

Epilogue:
It pretty much boils down to how much time I have in those first few
moments to get the gods interested in what I have to offer, or how
hard and fast I can hit them with my team's abilities if I have to
fight.

[Bill Martin]

Post by d***@hotmail.com
(Sorry for the lateness. I've been writing flash cards to study for
Important Stuff and I totally forgot about the deadline. If this
disqualifies me for an official win, just consider these all Omake
entries.)

They're in before the unofficial deadline, which is basically to allow
for people who can't get on when the challenges are posted.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
It doesn't look like I can do my usual "framing device" thing and
treat this as a series of consecutive challenges (unless I go with the
Easy Challenge, but I find the idea of my life's experiences being
nothing more than a simulation inside a computer kind of depressing; I
prefer the "like reality unless otherwise noted" approach).

My Easy challenge was designed to be a "Try and write all 3 challenges
as one story, I dare you." While it sometimes is good, some have
seemed forced. I don't mind it occasionally, but it seemed recently
that everyone was doing it.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Team Sugar
*Kirby, Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Melee
*Kinomoto Sakura, Card Captor Sakura, end of series
*L, Death Note, right after his debut
Team Unfair Advantage
*Seta Soujirou, Rurouni Kenshin, post Kyoto Arc
*Doraemon, Doraemon, post 1st OVA (including 4th dimensional pocket)
*Zhuge Liang, styled Kongming, Dynasty Warriors series, circa Battle
of Chi Bi (starting stats and weapon, no extra equipment)
Team Pyrrhic Victory
*Flonne, Makai Senki Disgaea, beginning of episode 12 (can heal via
Power of Love, and shoot feathers of light as an offensive projectile)
*Legato Bluesummers, Trigun, right before he snuffs it in the anime
*Xelloss, Slayers Try, post series
--------------------------------------------------------
(Easy Challenge - "Still Alive")

[snip]

Post by d***@hotmail.com
- Defend the phsycial portions of the building where the servers are
located.
- Begin a public awareness campaign. Appeal to every interest group
possible.
- Back up the data.

Umm... the PRISM project was designed to not be backed up. Although,
if you can find a server with about 50 yottabytes (no I'm not making
that up, progression goes mega-, giga-, tera-, peta-, exa-, zetta-, and
then yotta-) of available data, we'll talk.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
- Save underhanded techniques (money laundering to bribe lobbists,
disguising backup data as internet porn, holding some sufficiently
large computer system as hostage etc.) as absolute last resort.
(Again, good PR is the goal here.)
- If all else fails, I'm not too hung up about it personally. But if
I absolutely, positively have to win, killing all humans isn't off the
table. And, of course, there's our good friend Mutually Assured
Destruction...

Okay.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Kirby and Sakura get sent out to scope the surroundings while L and I
brainstorm the PR campaign (insert spiffy name here). Then, in
between shoring up defenses, all three of my team members will be
acting as mascots/spokespeople/ambassadors. L can out-think any
strategy, and Kirby and Sakura have the ability to turn back any
attempts to shut us down physically without causing harm. (You'd
pretty much have to have no soul to raise a hand against Sakura, and
even if the politician behind the bill is a scumbag, there's no way
that there isn't at least one person with a conscience in the
opposition.) The only way this could be an easier win is if I had
Yotsuba on the team, automatically guaranteeing that Anonymous would
mobilize on my behalf.

That's a win.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
This team--with Kongming as the strategist, Soujirou taking point and
Doraemon providing gadget support--is even more of a curbstomp than
Team Sugar. To prevent rummage fail, I'm also cataloging all of
Doraemon's gadgets beforehand; while he does find the necessary
Doohickey in the nick of time thanks to Dramatic Timing, I'd rather
not rely on the element of luck. Doraemon's presence on the team also
means I can definitely make this a matter of international politics,
since Doraemon is Japan's official anime ambassador (I Am Not Making
This Up). Another easy win.

Another win.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
The "slight" matter of getting Xelloss (and Legato) on board into
Doing the Right Thing is probably the biggest obstacle to an all
(technical) pacifist run. I might be able to pitch it to Xelloss as a
personal challenge--anybody cheat their way to victory, but it takes
Real Skill to pull it off while still staying within both the spirit
and letter of the rules--and then he'll be able to keep Legato on a
short leash. But, even if they don't agree with me on that matter,
it's not like any power in the world has a chance against a Mazoku, a
homicidal psychic, and an Angel who believes in Friendship Via
Superior Firepower. The only question is if there'll be any human
beings left by the time we're done.

Oh, there will be people left over, you'll just have put a serious dent
in the local population. It's another win.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Hopefully, passing the challenge means I get to interact with real
people instead of going back to the virtual world. But if Dr.
Perelmen thinks I'm not ready for the big time yet, I'll see what I
can do to "convince" him to give me a more interesting life than the
one he saddled me with.

Passing the challenge means you do get to interact more with real
people, but the PRISM project was to test out theories using human-like
heuristic problem solving to help forecast major social changes. Can't
say goodbye to the "matrix" forever.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------
(Medium Challenge - "Man, I Feel Like a Woman")
All I could say in response to the goings on of the world at first was
"What is this I don't even--"
Where to begin on this latest worldwide pandemic? Somebody somewhere
obviously missed the memo "ALL humans, regardless of gender, have the
propensity to being bastards" and the accompanying addenum "power
corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely". So now half of the
gene pool was in danger of disappearing forever, and unless enough of
the surviving females were bicurious or willing to make do with sex
toys for the rest of their lives, the human race was in deep doodoo
even if we could take the necessary steps to ensure that _homo
sapiens_ wouldn't go extinct within this generation.
At least being one of those rare specimens of "female gamer who
frequents the internet" actually was an _advantage_ this time.
I thought on it a bit, then brought everyone together for my usual
wall of words. "All right, team. End of the world or not, we've got
a job to do. Let the government worry about the rioters, anarchists,
and opportunists. The challenge is doing what we can, where we can.
First priority will be protecting the guys, not just on the team, but
as much of my friends and family I can find. Since the disease is
airborne, we're going to have to take a cue from Madagascar and Shut
Down Everything. I know some people who can help provide clean rooms,
but I'm not above more creative methods of keeping everyone safe.
Second will be supporting the CDC folks. They'll need bodyguards,
gophers, and logistics. Since we are dealing with a global pandemic
that's already doing a great job of whittling down the population, try
to keep casualties to a minimum here.
Third is distributing a cure. Since we're only going out three at a
time, don't worry about doing everything at once. Again, logistics
will be a bigger issue than security. We should be able to get
support from the people who know that even the most dire situation is
not an excuse to throw good sense out the window. And I won't give
you guys any grief about underhanded tactics this time; hell, I'll be
the first to forge a Papal exegesis if that's what it'll take to calm
people down. We're trying to save lives this time, so don't pull any
punches except for the obvious, you know, not killing people part."
1) Being a badass enough chick to save as many dudes as I can, via
whatever method that I can.
2) Supporting the search for a cure. (Damn, I knew I should have
gotten more Scienc-y people on all of my teams!)
3) Distributing said cure by whatever methods necessary.
As an optional--but highly satisfying on a personal level--step, I'd
also track down the scientist and giving her a piece of my mind. I
don't even care if she doesn't change her opinion of men, I just want
to rant at her for a couple of paragraphs.
- offer benefits such as tax breaks for having multiple children; you
don't even have to encourage male births, just having lots of babies
will help

Yep, old Native American rule applies, "1 man, 50 women - tribe
survives. 1 woman 50 men - tribe dies."

Post by d***@hotmail.com
- strongly encourage countries with population control legislation to
suspend them temporarily or overtun them completely
- negotiate with the separatist communities and strive for peaceful
resolutions wherever possible; even if they won't listen to reason,
simple biology will win out in the end)
Sakura is immune, Kirby is...um...probably genderless, so that leaves
L. Like I mentioned above, we could get him (and the other guys) to
various public or private safe-houses, but getting (temporarily) eaten
by Kirby (or perhaps Sakura's Shield card) would also keep people safe
in a pinch and since I need L for ideas he may need to endure some
inconvenience. (One wonders if one can use Erase, Shot or Mist to
destroy the virus, or Loop, Sleep or Windy to trap it.) In stages Two
and Three, L will be returning to his usual capacity as the brains
while Kirby and Sakura provide artillery support (and their cuteness
will help deflect some hostility). Victory for Team Sugar.

Yep, I agree on the win.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Thank God Doraemon's on my team of otherwise all guys. He'll have the
gadgets to protect everyone one way or another, perhaps even
(temporarily) altering people's genders if necessary. (Not sure if
anybody would want to take that solution, but any port in a storm,
right?) Stages 2 and 3 are no sweat for this team at all. Another
win.

Win #5 overall

Post by d***@hotmail.com
I'm not leaving Legato unattended anywhere, nor am I sitting on my
hands while lives are waiting to be saved. Hopefully there's a spell
somewhere in Xelloss' arsenal to neutralize the effects of the virus
one way or another (I'm sure Xelloss wouldn't mind, say, changing
Legato to a chick for the lulz).

Sorry, there's not.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Alternatively, Mazoku can probably
possess humans to the point where they no longer count as such, right?

Had to google it, it's a maybe. Not enough Half-Mazoku being
implemented for me to make a definite decision.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Hey, Xelloss, how do you feel about having a minion at your beck and
call--I mean, even moreso than usual? (Hey, I can always ask Belldandy
et al to hit the Reset Button afterward.) Or I could just continue to
Steps 2 and 3 down one person. It's not like this team NEEDS Legato
to destroy everything that comes its way. Flonne will doing her part
to unite the world...in wanting her to shut the hell up since she
won't stop speechifying about the Power of Love and how men and women
need each other and blah de blah blah blah. World saved, though the
total population's going to take a massive hit as a result.
At least business for fertility clinics will go through the roof after
this...or the bona fide End of the World happens. I'm not picky.

Flonne basically ensures your win here.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------
(Hard Challenge - "Are You Not Entertained?")
So I'm supposed to put on a show for three bored deities who have seen
it all or risk getting obliterated.
How very meta.

At least you didn't call them Blade, Rob, and Bill...

Post by d***@hotmail.com
The only thing I had to worry about was what they would consider new
and how much wriggle room I had before I was toast. As a human being,
it would be extremely difficult for me to break out of a couple
thousand years' worth of storytelling techniques, character
archetypes, and plots. But most of my teams had enough firepower to
buy me some time, or at the very least go out with a bang.
I drew my team around for the pep talk: "Don't worry about the 'show
them something new' part too much. As soon as we get them on board
with the initial hook, they'll be willing to roll with whatever we
come up next as long as we tell a compelling story, and I just happen
to be working on one that I don't mind betting my existence on. I
figure if all else fails, the usual brute force method would work just
fine, too."
1) Plan A is to take a page out of 1001 Arabian Nights and tell
stories with the other team members being actors and providing special
effects. Since I'm guessing that doing a dramatic reading of existant
stuff, even if I wrote it, would be cheating, I'll pitch my work-in-
progress quote-unquote Super AWesome Epic That's Been In Development
Hell Since Forever.

That's the best option.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
2) Plan B, fight for my right to party. For once I will be giving my
teams carte blanche to do whatever they want. We're going up against
gods, so there's no need to worry about collateral damage.

Ah, the Smite or Be Smited option... I'll tell the clean-up crew we're
going to need more vacuum cleaners.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Do I even need to mention the usual distribution of tasks here?
Sakura's Create card will be the go-to for props and costumes, but if
really pressed for time I'm just going to improvise. The other Cards
can be used for stunts and special effects, with Kirby also helping
along. If Plan B becomes necessary, I wonder if Kirby can just eat
one of the gods and copy their powers? If not, there's always the
Nuclear Option: Kirby using his Mike skills. Even if I don't win, I'm
going to make sure to leave those assholes a hell of a migraine.

Kirby eating L with Sakura's special effects pleased them enough. Win #7

Post by d***@hotmail.com
Doraemon will be the main props/costume guy, Kongming on backup with
special effects and ideas, and Soujirou the stunt guy. (There's
probably also at least one doohickey in Doraemon's arsenal to help the
storywriting process if the gods are particularly impatient.)
Surviving Plan B long enough to leave an impression on the gods will
be tougher for this team, but Doraemon's got the innate gift for
finding the right gadget when it matters most, Kongming's got some low
level sorcery-type powers, and Soujirou is canonically the fastest
human being in the Rurouni Kenshin 'verse (which doesn't make him all
that fast compared to other series, but when one can out-speed the
protagonist, that's nothing to sneeze at).

Given that you're backstage at the summoning, you'll have enough time
to come up with a great enough idea, plus Doraemon's inspiring mic that
he farted into swung this into a win.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
I'm very tempted to just go straight to Plan B with these guys, but if
I could talk Xelloss into playing along with Plan A (even ever so
briefly), he and Flonne would be in charge of props and special
effects, and Legato in charge of stunts.
...yeah, who am I kidding? We're throwing everything AND the kitchen
sink at these so-called gods. I'll also be attempting to summon the
Lord of Nightmares--as far as I can tell, she'll answer as long as I'm
desperate enough.

Team selection here killed your Plan A chances, and even though they
put up a good fight, this is your only loss.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
It pretty much boils down to how much time I have in those first few
moments to get the gods interested in what I have to offer, or how
hard and fast I can hit them with my team's abilities if I have to
fight.

Okay, not bad overall. 8-1.

[Rob Kelk]

On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:00:17 -0600, Bill Martin
<***@hotmail.com> wrote:

<snip>

Post by Bill Martin

Post by d***@hotmail.com
(Hard Challenge - "Are You Not Entertained?")
So I'm supposed to put on a show for three bored deities who have seen
it all or risk getting obliterated.
How very meta.

At least you didn't call them Blade, Rob, and Bill...

I resemble that remark. ^_^

<snip>


I haven't had time to write my entry for the Easy Challenge, and I doubt
I'll have time over the weekend... so this is just draft notes for an
"omake".

So I'm a solid-light hologram while I solve this Challenge? But I don't
even like Star Trek:Voyager... ("Please state the nature of the
bureaucratic emergency.")

Being a bureaucrat means I can out-bafflegab the folks who want to shut
the system down while the faculty works to keep the system up
permanently. ("No, your request to shut down the system hasn't gone
through Change Control. Please submit your request in the approved ITIL
format for this site. Specify your budget source for the implementation.
Review of a major change to determine any impact the change will have on
all other projects currently in progress will take a minimum of 60
days." [or more, if I need to throw more roadblocks in the way.]) But
they'll end up hating my guts, so we have to give people a reason to
want to keep the system running.

Three reasons: Akari, Aika, and Alice. Aika's a good administrator, and
can help around the offices. Alice is good at getting people to talk to
each other (always useful in an academic setting). And Akari is Akari;
it's almost impossible to not like her after talking with her for an
hour or two.

That's how I would have written it if I'd had time...

[Bill Martin]

Post by Rob Kelk
On Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:00:17 -0600, Bill Martin
<snip>

Post by Bill Martin
At least you didn't call them Blade, Rob, and Bill...

I resemble that remark. ^_^
<snip>
I haven't had time to write my entry for the Easy Challenge, and I doubt
I'll have time over the weekend... so this is just draft notes for an
"omake".

Okay. No problem.

Post by Rob Kelk
So I'm a solid-light hologram while I solve this Challenge? But I don't
even like Star Trek:Voyager... ("Please state the nature of the
bureaucratic emergency.")

Actually, you're an advanced AI construct that's actually self aware,
but are not holograms. Your teammates are holograms. You're stuck in
the confines of the campus network, but have access to a simulated
world which is used for testing of hypotheses. After all, if you can
test what kind of impact legislation will have long-term, whether or
not certain economic principles will work, and other assorted
problem-solving duties and do it all without affecting the real world,
why not use it? Wouldn't a virtual country going bankrupt be better
than a real one going bankrupt? (I'm looking at YOU, Greece!)

Post by Rob Kelk
Being a bureaucrat means I can out-bafflegab the folks who want to shut
the system down while the faculty works to keep the system up
permanently. ("No, your request to shut down the system hasn't gone
through Change Control. Please submit your request in the approved ITIL
format for this site. Specify your budget source for the implementation.
Review of a major change to determine any impact the change will have on
all other projects currently in progress will take a minimum of 60
days." [or more, if I need to throw more roadblocks in the way.]) But
they'll end up hating my guts, so we have to give people a reason to
want to keep the system running.
Three reasons: Akari, Aika, and Alice. Aika's a good administrator, and
can help around the offices. Alice is good at getting people to talk to
each other (always useful in an academic setting). And Akari is Akari;
it's almost impossible to not like her after talking with her for an
hour or two.
That's how I would have written it if I'd had time...

Well, if you ever get around to it, it'll be an interesting read, I'll bet.

[Dot]

Umm... the PRISM project was designed to not be backed up.  Although,
if you can find a server with about 50 yottabytes (no I'm not making
that up, progression goes mega-, giga-, tera-, peta-, exa-, zetta-, and
then yotta-) of available data, we'll talk.

Yeesh, I don't think there's enough computers on the internet to do
that. This either means we'll have to do a lot of prioritizing or
I'll be burning enough DVDs to put AOL to shame.

Passing the challenge means you do get to interact more with real
people, but the PRISM project was to test out theories using human-like
heuristic problem solving to help forecast major social changes.  Can't
say goodbye to the "matrix" forever.

Yeah, I have a whole book's worth of TL;DR on that subject. Suffice
to say I will be very politely (but also very firmly) requesting
better virtual digs. Getting hats in Team Fortress 2 can only go so
far in stemming the inevitable homicidal breakdown, complete with
cake.

Post by d***@hotmail.com
So I'm supposed to put on a show for three bored deities who have seen
it all or risk getting obliterated.
How very meta.

At least you didn't call them Blade, Rob, and Bill...

Now there's an interesting question: would you guys be easier to
please than the gods of Ragnarok?

Post by d***@hotmail.com
I'm very tempted to just go straight to Plan B with these guys, but if
I could talk Xelloss into playing along with Plan A (even ever so
briefly), he and Flonne would be in charge of props and special
effects, and Legato in charge of stunts.
...yeah, who am I kidding? We're throwing everything AND the kitchen
sink at these so-called gods.  I'll also be attempting to summon the
Lord of Nightmares--as far as I can tell, she'll answer as long as I'm
desperate enough.

Team selection here killed your Plan A chances, and even though they
put up a good fight, this is your only loss.

Aw, what, this team doesn't hold a candle to a Time Lord in terms of
power and tactics?

-"Dot", the world's worst sore loser.

[Bill Martin]

Post by Dot

Umm... the PRISM project was designed to not be backed up.  Although,
if you can find a server with about 50 yottabytes (no I'm not making
that up, progression goes mega-, giga-, tera-, peta-, exa-, zetta-, and
then yotta-) of available data, we'll talk.

Yeesh, I don't think there's enough computers on the internet to do
that. This either means we'll have to do a lot of prioritizing or
I'll be burning enough DVDs to put AOL to shame.

Even using Blu-rays, that's probably enough to make a house, if not a
mansion out of them.

Post by Dot
Passing the challenge means you do get to interact more with real

people, but the PRISM project was to test out theories using human-like
heuristic problem solving to help forecast major social changes.  Can't
say goodbye to the "matrix" forever.

Yeah, I have a whole book's worth of TL;DR on that subject. Suffice
to say I will be very politely (but also very firmly) requesting
better virtual digs. Getting hats in Team Fortress 2 can only go so
far in stemming the inevitable homicidal breakdown, complete with
cake.

And in the source material, PRISM was rewarded with a better life, so
no worries there.

Post by Dot
So I'm supposed to put on a show for three bored deities who have seen

Post by d***@hotmail.com
it all or risk getting obliterated.
How very meta.

At least you didn't call them Blade, Rob, and Bill...

Now there's an interesting question: would you guys be easier to
please than the gods of Ragnarok?

I know I am. I'm pretty sure Rob is, based on his judging. Blade,
however... if it doesn't involve Pantyhose Taro, I think would be the
hardest to please.

Post by Dot

Post by d***@hotmail.com
I'm very tempted to just go straight to Plan B with these guys, but if
I could talk Xelloss into playing along with Plan A (even ever so
briefly), he and Flonne would be in charge of props and special
effects, and Legato in charge of stunts.
...yeah, who am I kidding? We're throwing everything AND the kitchen
sink at these so-called gods.  I'll also be attempting to summon the
Lord of Nightmares--as far as I can tell, she'll answer as long as I'm
desperate enough.

Team selection here killed your Plan A chances, and even though they
put up a good fight, this is your only loss.

Aw, what, this team doesn't hold a candle to a Time Lord in terms of
power and tactics?

Power, no. Tactics, yes. Despite Xellos being a similar age, he
hasn't had to do the kind of mental olympics like The Doctor's had to
do over his lifetimes. Despite your team trying to attack them, with
no mirror to reflect their attack back at them, they automatically win.
Even if you'd brought a mirror, destroying their corporeal form
would've resulted in a partial win, since you'd still have been
stranded at the interdimensional circus.