Tokyo, Japan, Monday

[soniaroadsqueen]

Portalocity was weird. Ringo hadn't really traveled with them much, so this was something of a revelation for her. Somehow booking a reasonable late-morning departure from Fandom resulted in a just-after-dawn arrival in a small park a couple of miles from the apartment she shared with her sisters. Of course, despite that, all three of them were waiting.

Rika, with her knowing, motherly smile, managing to look like a carefully-styled model even this early. Mikan, tomboyish hair cropped short and sticking out every which way, smirking mischievously and tapping her foot with nervous energy. Ume, seated on a bench playing with her dolls, but glancing up and meeting Ringo's eyes when she arrived.

With a grin, Ringo dropped her bags and rushed forward into a big group hug, melting into the group for a moment. All worry and stress disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Now then," Rika said as they eventually disentangled themselves, "why don't you introduce everyone, and then we can go get some breakfast?"

[ooc: For those along for the ride. NFB for distance.]

Comments

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[otherroadriders]

Ume was pulling her long hair back and settling a pair of large headphones onto her head. "Well," she said, her matter-of-fact tone a little odd coming from someone who was 12, "there are a number of methods, but without a full set of facilities, you want a recording system." She patted the large box with the wires coming out of it that was set on the floor. "The Tuner will hook the rider up, and then walk them through movements and breathing to find their natural body rhythms. At the end you have a full recording of the rider's profile, and you use that data to adjust the inputs on their ATs. Basically, you're looking to have things like braking and acceleration kick in where it feels like they should."

"If we had access to a full lab, things would get a lot more complicated." Because this process was going to be so simple!

"Ah, good, you're done!" Ume declared, spinning on Ringo, who was managing, just barely to keep her hands at her sides.

Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[spin_kick_snap]

"The squirrels are going to have a field day with this," Kathy said, grinning at Ringo. "This might be worth busting out the rum for. Because now that I know it's important, you're gonna have someone nagging at you at least through the summer. Possibly longer if I tell Dante to nag after I go."

It involved nakedness. He'd probably be down.

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo's eyes went wide. "You better not tell Dante!" Like he wasn't going to find out.

"Stop squirming," Ume snapped in frustration as she stuck dozen different patches hooked to wires to various places on Ringo's skin. "I do not want to start over."

"Sorry," Ringo mumbled, taking a deep breath and stilling herself.

Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[spin_kick_snap]

"You gave him ATs, didn't you?" Kathy asked, because she was the worst friend Ringo'd ever made. "That means he needs to Tune, doesn't it? And aren't you the one who's responsible for making sure that happens?"

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[soniaroadsqueen]

"He doesn't even really care," Ringo declared, making a face. "Tuning is for people who are serious." And people she wasn't half-scared to tell to get naked.

"I said quit squirming," Ume sighed as she got the last wire attached. "You need to stand still so we can get started."

Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[spin_kick_snap]

Dante would get naked at the drop of a hat. Specifically a Santa hat.

Err, never mind. Ignore that.

"Who knows?" Kathy asked, taking a seat so she could properly watch the proceedings. "Maybe this trip will make him serious. And then he'll need to Tune. Now, shh, and let your sisters work."

Had she said that just to get the last word in? YUP!

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo started to make a face, but Ume smacked her on the arm again, so she subsided.

Ume pulled on the headphones and closed her eyes, fingers adjusting a set of knobs on the box all the wires ran into. "Okay, right foot," she demanded, and Ringo complied, raising her foot slowly off the floor and extending it out to the side, her body leaning to the left to keep her balance.

Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[spin_kick_snap]

"What is she listening for?" Kathy asked Rika in hushed tones to not distract the other sisters. "What does it sound like?"

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[otherroadriders]

Rika moved a little closer, keeping her voice low as well. "It's a combination of things. Part of it is just amplification of the sounds the body moves naturally. Muscles stretching, bones shifting, heartbeat, breathing, that sort of thing. And part of it is a set of aural cues the rig uses to indicate normally silent things like nerves firing. Tuning attempts to generate a profile of the way the body responds that's based entirely on sound."

Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[spin_kick_snap]

"Basically, a sonogram," Kathy said, nodding. "So, like..." She tried to come up with an example of how Tuning would help. "You build the profile, figure out when the nerves fire, and..." She was failing. "Then what?"

RE: Re: Early Wednesday-Tune Up Time

[otherroadriders]

"Once you have a profile of how the body moves, you adjust the response on your ATs. If you know the precise angle forward that your body leans when it's ready to go, you can tweak your ATs to provide a boost of acceleration at precisely that angle of lean. You reshape your wheels toward your ideal point of balance, you can figure out when the system should brake. The goal of Tuning is to get your ATs in sync with your body to the point where you just think about what you want, and it happens."

Rika tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Does that make sense?"