As we're coming in to establish orbit, I remember: I never did ask… “How did you keep your little body active, Stephanie?”
“Ah, yes, we got ‘distracted’...” Stephanie pauses, “well, it turns out those Keys of yours pass radio waves, although they are dimmed a bit. The portals between do so cleanly, but the tunneling nature of them makes them directional. So I just… asked the twins to set up some relays, and then I umm… dropped a key in my pilot seat.”
I consider, “So the ship side broadcast goes into the Keyhome here, through the relay into the demiplane, through the other relay into the other Keyhome, and from there into the remote.”
“Right,” she nods, “And due to the nature of how those work, that keeps me connected anywhere planar travel functions.”
Which is potentially an unlimited distance, and can cross planar boundaries… including to the Drift, as my portals are non-magical. Huh. Now there's a business idea… “How much bandwidth do those relays have?”
She shrugs, “More than enough; we actually took to running the Data Net through them to extend the range.”
Yeah, the gears are turning in my head, “And how much do those relays cost to make?”
She shrugs, “Not much; they're less complex than a standard personal com unit.”
And the demiplanes are free for me. Near-instant communication at interstellar ranges, able to take a massive data load… the big cost is the Keyhomes, but ultimately those are free for me, too… although they do come out pink. Huh. Well now…
I do some discussing with my team as we settle into orbit, and we all get on The Brute to land (I need to get my Keyhome closed, after all).
“We have got to monetize this,” I begin, after I finish explaining the basic plan, “what holes do we need to patch?”
Euler starts poking holes, “Nobody's going to rent bandwidth on your network until they know it works.”
Which is, of course, exactly what I wanted, “That's fixable,” I point out, “it just means we need a few in place to do demonstrations before we can rent them out.”
Euler tilts her head to the side and nods.
“Security will be an issue…” Ocean suggests.
“We just make the hardware dumb,” I counter, “A relay that’s pure hardware with no software and doesn't know how to do anything BUT relay can't be hacked… and it's easy to replace if something happens.”
“Physical security,” Star clarifies, “We're going to need to leave these things with other people, out of our sight, and they're tiny.”
Okay, that’s a harder one… “If we use full sized doors, we can bring the actual keys inside so they can’t be closed, block the interior with Wall spells, and leave some Summons as guards. Present it as an antenna array or something. Then they can’t be moved, and we can deal with any intruders.”
“That could work…” Ocean admits.
“Who do we rent them to, exactly?” my chair gets in on the game.
That’s easy, “Any infosphere is set up and maintained by SOMEBODY - it requires power, and someone’s providing that. It also requires equipment, occasional maintenance, and replacement parts. We track those folks down, and rent to them.”
“For full on telcom use, we’ll need more bandwidth than just the hardware we’re currently using can provide….” Linda’s turn, it seems.
“We can run wires through the portals, we’re doing that already,” Euler chuckles, “any data cabling we decide is good.”
“If we’re running wire…” Ocean starts in.
“...then why use relays at all?” Star continues.
“Just run one data cable from every client to every other client…” Ocean keeps going.
“...until we have so many worlds tied in that it’s not feasible.” Star’s turn.
“That way, no electronic security is needed at all…” Ocean maintains the thought.
“...for a while, anyway. Years, if we start the big places.” Star finishes.
“Not viable,” Euler shakes his head, “It’d be too weird for our clients. They’re going to be used to small numbers of cables to work with; a main and a backup. We’ll need a suitable telcom-grade switch to run things…”
We go on like that for a while, planning on datapads, using the wall’s projectors to take notes, and so on. We have the basics hashed out by the time we land: First, I’ll have the summons craft a few dozen of the Keyhomes and a giant mess of suitable high density data wiring. Next, I’ll link them all up through a demiplane, using the Portal option of Greater Create Demiplane to set them up. After that, we run the wiring in triplicate to just inside each door, with a nice big service loop. I then wall off the interior of each (ten layered Prismatic Walls sandwiched between two Walls of Iron; if I run the cabling through, it’s fine… and yes, we test that), including a Mythic Dimension Lock spell. AND we have the summons guard it, linked to me by an Interplanar Telepathic Bond spell. There is one step that makes people slightly nervous, though.
“We’re going to have to split up to pull this off,” Ocean seems resigned.
“We can’t sell it to our clients until it works,” Star continues.
… and for once, I pick up on it, “Which means we need to be able to prove it, which means coordinated demonstrations at as many locations as we can manage. Which means we have to split up.”
“It’s not that bad,” Stephane suggests, “We each still have the private set, so we can visit trivially.”
“And keep an eye on each other,” Star starts.
“Because the Data Net lets us all share sensor data,” Ocean fills in.
“And chat whenever via the same interface,” Star concludes.
I consider, “And we’re all functionally immortal at this point, so there's not much risk there. Still….”
“Yeah,” Stephanie sounds a bit down, “We should make a point of keeping in touch regularly.”
I think about that for a moment, “Well, I can make a separate channel that will be very difficult to interrupt for simple communication… although it means a slightly bigger bust for everyone.” I look at Ocean, “I'd need to leave you out of that one, of course, but if you stay near Star, she can keep you in the loop.”
Euler perks up, everyone else shrugs.
I nod, “All right then; I don't want to mess up my body, so give me a moment…” I disconnect, and climb out of my body, casting Interplanar Telepathic Bond (it’s a sixth level spell from Spell Compendium; it lets everyone in the link speak to each other telepathically, even across planar boundaries… including the Drift, in my case), including everyone except Ocean… making a link that will survive anything that doesn't explicitly stop Telepathy.
“Testing, testing, one two three,” I send across the link.
“Working for me,” Euler begins, “And thank you for the extra size… hmm….”
“This is fun,” Star thinks, “And my brother can't hear. Weird.”
“You'll need to keep her in the loop,” Linda points out.
“We're testing the link,” Star adds verbally for Ocean’s benefit, “So far, so good.”
“We should probably switch back to verbal, so as not to leave them out,” Patricia adds (yes, I included her, too).
Interesting how different people think of ta differently. I should probably ask… “Ocean, what pronouns do you prefer?”
Ocean rolls ta's eyes, “I don't much care; I don't fit the language structure, so as long as you're not being insulting, use whatever you want.”
As we wrap up, and folks start to head back to their respective ships, Linda pauses, “If we’re really doing this, splitting up, I mean…” she pauses, looking at me hopefully.
I consider, remembering a prior conversation, “So… you want magic?’
“Yes please, my goddess,” she answers.
Even when I look like this… and spent a good twenty minutes reaming you recently? Eh, it’s fine I guess. I know I'm a man. “All right then. I don't want to mess up my body, so….”
I again disconnect from my body, climb out of my mouth, and go through my casting routine to be able to buff up Linda with Personal spells using Body to Body, and start casting….
SpoilerUndermaster (9th) grants her a selection of spell-like abilities usable at will… the highest of which is sixth level, all of which are rock and earth themed. I follow that up with more of what I did with Patricia: Psionics. Mental Pinnacle (6th) grants a power point pool, and one power known at each level, first through fifth…. which I supplement with Enable Function (3rd… I cast it on myself, and share, dismissing the copy on me after) to grant repeated instances of Expanded Knowledge (for more powers known, all 4th and lower… but Psionic powers scale better than spells, and her manifester level is based on my caster level, so she's good there), repeated instances of Psionic Talent to give her a much larger power point pool, all the metapsionic feats that don't have requirements, all the psionic crafting feats that don't have requirements, and Psionic Body to leverage all of the above into a massive pile pf hit points as well. I cap it off with Dweomer of Transferrence (4th), which will convert any spells cast on her into more power points… and as spell-like abilities work just like spells, she'll be able to recharge her power point pool whenever she has a bit of downtime.
[collapse]I explain how each piece works as I go, including how she can now charge up her power points if she runs out.
When I'm done, she's naked… because her armor simply doesn't fit. Her jugs are on par with Cowbird: Twin beanbag chairs bouncing on her chest. Her waist makes her look something like a wasp, and her hips flair out to match her chest, giant orbs of flesh that are going to need two seats on a bus… maybe three. Her baby bakery is permanently ready, visibly leaking love juice down her legs… and she's panting like she's in heat. I go back into my body, sync up, start to reach for her chest experimentally, pause, and experimentally squeeze one of her milk taps after she smiles and nods… after which I'm glad for Fastidiousness, as the fountain of milk that gushes forth gets me quite soaked.
But she is also able to soak massive amounts of punishment, make the laws of physics sit down and shut up by thinking hard, create items this world hasn't seen in centuries, and both harm and heal with her mind… basically at will.
“Thank you my goddess,” she shouts as she hugs me, her giant jugs engulfing me on both sides and flowing around behind me as well, “How can I EVER thank you…” he smiles as me as she fingers my meatrod through my pants.
I suppose I don't need to leave the ship just yet….
As we're coming in to establish orbit, I remember: I never did ask… “How did you keep your little body active, Stephanie?”
“Ah, yes, we got ‘distracted’...” Stephanie pauses, “well, it turns out those Keys of yours pass radio waves, although they are dimmed a bit. The portals between do so cleanly, but the tunneling nature of them makes them directional. So I just… asked the twins to set up some relays, and then I umm… dropped a key in my pilot seat.”
I consider, “So the ship side broadcast goes into the Keyhome here, through the relay into the demiplane, through the other relay into the other Keyhome, and from there into the remote.”
“Right,” she nods, “And due to the nature of how those work, that keeps me connected anywhere planar travel functions.”
Which is potentially an unlimited distance, and can cross planar boundaries… including to the Drift, as my portals are non-magical. Huh. Now there's a business idea… “How much bandwidth do those relays have?”
She shrugs, “More than enough; we actually took to running the Data Net through them to extend the range.”
Yeah, the gears are turning in my head, “And how much do those relays cost to make?”
She shrugs, “Not much; they're less complex than a standard personal com unit.”
And the demiplanes are free for me. Near-instant communication at interstellar ranges, able to take a massive data load… the big cost is the Keyhomes, but ultimately those are free for me, too… although they do come out pink. Huh. Well now…
I do some discussing with my team as we settle into orbit, and we all get on The Brute to land (I need to get my Keyhome closed, after all).
“We have got to monetize this,” I begin, after I finish explaining the basic plan, “what holes do we need to patch?”
Euler starts poking holes, “Nobody's going to rent bandwidth on your network until they know it works.”
Which is, of course, exactly what I wanted, “That's fixable,” I point out, “it just means we need a few in place to do demonstrations before we can rent them out.”
Euler tilts her head to the side and nods.
“Security will be an issue…” Ocean suggests.
“We just make the hardware dumb,” I counter, “A relay that’s pure hardware with no software and doesn't know how to do anything BUT relay can't be hacked… and it's easy to replace if something happens.”
“Physical security,” Star clarifies, “We're going to need to leave these things with other people, out of our sight, and they're tiny.”
Okay, that’s a harder one… “If we use full sized doors, we can bring the actual keys inside so they can’t be closed, block the interior with Wall spells, and leave some Summons as guards. Present it as an antenna array or something. Then they can’t be moved, and we can deal with any intruders.”
“That could work…” Ocean admits.
“Who do we rent them to, exactly?” my chair gets in on the game.
That’s easy, “Any infosphere is set up and maintained by SOMEBODY - it requires power, and someone’s providing that. It also requires equipment, occasional maintenance, and replacement parts. We track those folks down, and rent to them.”
“For full on telcom use, we’ll need more bandwidth than just the hardware we’re currently using can provide….” Linda’s turn, it seems.
“We can run wires through the portals, we’re doing that already,” Euler chuckles, “any data cabling we decide is good.”
“If we’re running wire…” Ocean starts in.
“...then why use relays at all?” Star continues.
“Just run one data cable from every client to every other client…” Ocean keeps going.
“...until we have so many worlds tied in that it’s not feasible.” Star’s turn.
“That way, no electronic security is needed at all…” Ocean maintains the thought.
“...for a while, anyway. Years, if we start the big places.” Star finishes.
“Not viable,” Euler shakes his head, “It’d be too weird for our clients. They’re going to be used to small numbers of cables to work with; a main and a backup. We’ll need a suitable telcom-grade switch to run things…”
We go on like that for a while, planning on datapads, using the wall’s projectors to take notes, and so on. We have the basics hashed out by the time we land: First, I’ll have the summons craft a few dozen of the Keyhomes and a giant mess of suitable high density data wiring. Next, I’ll link them all up through a demiplane, using the Portal option of Greater Create Demiplane to set them up. After that, we run the wiring in triplicate to just inside each door, with a nice big service loop. I then wall off the interior of each (ten layered Prismatic Walls sandwiched between two Walls of Iron; if I run the cabling through, it’s fine… and yes, we test that), including a Mythic Dimension Lock spell. AND we have the summons guard it, linked to me by an Interplanar Telepathic Bond spell. There is one step that makes people slightly nervous, though.
“We’re going to have to split up to pull this off,” Ocean seems resigned.
“We can’t sell it to our clients until it works,” Star continues.
… and for once, I pick up on it, “Which means we need to be able to prove it, which means coordinated demonstrations at as many locations as we can manage. Which means we have to split up.”
“It’s not that bad,” Stephane suggests, “We each still have the private set, so we can visit trivially.”
“And keep an eye on each other,” Star starts.
“Because the Data Net lets us all share sensor data,” Ocean fills in.
“And chat whenever via the same interface,” Star concludes.
I consider, “And we’re all functionally immortal at this point, so there's not much risk there. Still….”
“Yeah,” Stephanie sounds a bit down, “We should make a point of keeping in touch regularly.”
I think about that for a moment, “Well, I can make a separate channel that will be very difficult to interrupt for simple communication… although it means a slightly bigger bust for everyone.” I look at Ocean, “I'd need to leave you out of that one, of course, but if you stay near Star, she can keep you in the loop.”
Euler perks up, everyone else shrugs.
I nod, “All right then; I don't want to mess up my body, so give me a moment…” I disconnect, and climb out of my body, casting Interplanar Telepathic Bond (it’s a sixth level spell from Spell Compendium; it lets everyone in the link speak to each other telepathically, even across planar boundaries… including the Drift, in my case), including everyone except Ocean… making a link that will survive anything that doesn't explicitly stop Telepathy.
“Testing, testing, one two three,” I send across the link.
“Working for me,” Euler begins, “And thank you for the extra size… hmm….”
“This is fun,” Star thinks, “And my brother can't hear. Weird.”
“You'll need to keep her in the loop,” Linda points out.
“We're testing the link,” Star adds verbally for Ocean’s benefit, “So far, so good.”
“We should probably switch back to verbal, so as not to leave them out,” Patricia adds (yes, I included her, too).
Interesting how different people think of ta differently. I should probably ask… “Ocean, what pronouns do you prefer?”
Ocean rolls ta's eyes, “I don't much care; I don't fit the language structure, so as long as you're not being insulting, use whatever you want.”
As we wrap up, and folks start to head back to their respective ships, Linda pauses, “If we’re really doing this, splitting up, I mean…” she pauses, looking at me hopefully.
I consider, remembering a prior conversation, “So… you want magic?’
“Yes please, my goddess,” she answers.
Even when I look like this… and spent a good twenty minutes reaming you recently? Eh, it’s fine I guess. I know I'm a man. “All right then. I don't want to mess up my body, so….”
I again disconnect from my body, climb out of my mouth, and go through my casting routine to be able to buff up Linda with Personal spells using Body to Body, and start casting….
SpoilerUndermaster (9th) grants her a selection of spell-like abilities usable at will… the highest of which is sixth level, all of which are rock and earth themed. I follow that up with more of what I did with Patricia: Psionics. Mental Pinnacle (6th) grants a power point pool, and one power known at each level, first through fifth…. which I supplement with Enable Function (3rd… I cast it on myself, and share, dismissing the copy on me after) to grant repeated instances of Expanded Knowledge (for more powers known, all 4th and lower… but Psionic powers scale better than spells, and her manifester level is based on my caster level, so she's good there), repeated instances of Psionic Talent to give her a much larger power point pool, all the metapsionic feats that don't have requirements, all the psionic crafting feats that don't have requirements, and Psionic Body to leverage all of the above into a massive pile pf hit points as well. I cap it off with Dweomer of Transferrence (4th), which will convert any spells cast on her into more power points… and as spell-like abilities work just like spells, she'll be able to recharge her power point pool whenever she has a bit of downtime.
[collapse]I explain how each piece works as I go, including how she can now charge up her power points if she runs out.
When I'm done, she's naked… because her armor simply doesn't fit. Her jugs are on par with Cowbird: Twin beanbag chairs bouncing on her chest. Her waist makes her look something like a wasp, and her hips flair out to match her chest, giant orbs of flesh that are going to need two seats on a bus… maybe three. Her baby bakery is permanently ready, visibly leaking love juice down her legs… and she's panting like she's in heat. I go back into my body, sync up, start to reach for her chest experimentally, pause, and experimentally squeeze one of her milk taps after she smiles and nods… after which I'm glad for Fastidiousness, as the fountain of milk that gushes forth gets me quite soaked.
But she is also able to soak massive amounts of punishment, make the laws of physics sit down and shut up by thinking hard, create items this world hasn't seen in centuries, and both harm and heal with her mind… basically at will.
“Thank you my goddess,” she shouts as she hugs me, her giant jugs engulfing me on both sides and flowing around behind me as well, “How can I EVER thank you…” he smiles as me as she fingers my meatrod through my pants.
I suppose I don't need to leave the ship just yet….
