🌟Astra🌟 "Until the end of today, any mention of something potentially offensive to other participants is prohibited. Also, not a rule but a request, please don't waste either your time or mine on things you don't consider useful."
Did you write those?
⚜️Max⚜️ "Rather shitty ones"; "With fucking pleasure!"; "Who knows, my beauty might spark envy, and envy is a very offensive waste of time."
Did you write those?
🌟Astra🌟 Noncomparable! You told a girl she was "beautiful, BUT"! You said she was worth five to ten bucks! And before that, you outright called her a simpleton!
⚜️Max⚜️ After she asked for MY evaluation of her everything.
10$? When you were on Earth, did you often spend ten dollars just to immortalize someone else's beauty, predominantly for aesthetic reasons? In my time, ten dollars for an AI model of a stranger was a huge compliment. Like proposal of free portrait or photo in early 20th century.
And… yeah. I'm sorry for "I'm sure that if you think about it, you'll also remember people with such straightforward behavior as well." I tried to defuse the situation, and in such way defend you, but didn't handle it well. Still, no offense, but you really are a unique individual. It's not your fault. I'd probably be much worse if, right at the end of my puberty, I suddenly found myself at the very beginning of another one. 6+7 adolescent years separated by transmigration is… rough.
In hindsight, I should have explained this exactly like this. But as I said, extreme stress combined with a neural interface doesn't exactly encourage careful wording.
Look, let's just admit that we both made stupid mistakes because everything right now is completely new to us, and try to make fewer of them going forward.
🌟Astra🌟 Mistakes? Like in the case where you admit guilt, so allow me to request such compensation as removal of a penalty point? Such mistakes?
⚜️Max⚜️ Not penalty point, eleven items.
🌟Astra🌟 Twenty-one total? Deal.
⚜️Max⚜️ No. Eleven total.
🌟Astra🌟 Let's meet in the middle - fifteen.
⚜️Max⚜️ Twelve total.
🌟Astra🌟 Deal.
➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖
Having bought my way out of an obvious personal mistake at a fairly low price, I asked Astra to start compiling her list of potentially useful knowledge for Bella and Mei.
Then I began working on a similar list myself. Which turned out to be far more difficult than I had expected.
Some of the potentially useful information I remembered only as empty frameworks: broad strokes with no real detail. Other information - only as useless in practice unsystematic fragments of the whole.
This was less true in my area of expertise: engineering.
But even there, things weren't straightforward.
Partly because I had only just begun studying engineering. Partly because such studies were not even about pre-AI Electronic engineering, but about so called "button-pushing" engineering specialties.
Give me CAD software, electronics, servos, sensors, aluminum profiles, 3D printer - and I could easily build a machine-tool or even an entire production line.
With a bit more effort, I also had hands-on experience with classical machine tools. For example, even though I couldn't remember the layout of my own room, I could still perfectly recall how I used my machines and welding equipment to build a pellet-shreds-powder extruder for PET plastic. Which a fucking hard. PET isn't ABS or PLA, a little less temperature and there will be clogging. And a little more and plastic will just flow out as water, crystallize on nozzle, and will start to stink due to burning and evaporation. Even worse for PET shreds, which without complex de-gasification chamber will make thread as consistent as swiss cheese and as even as cooked sausage.
Alas, almost all of these skills and pieces of knowledge were largely useless without postindustrial components.
Of course, my shallow understanding of the industrial revolutions and my grasp of physical and engineering principles would still be sufficient to reconstruct a significant portion of pre-industrial and industrial technologies.
Yet, that was not the same as knowing the actual chronology of best designs of mechanical, construction, agricultural, and so on, engineering development.
After I tried to add detailed descriptions of a few technologies to the list, I realized I was just wasting time. What I needed right now wasn't reverse-engineering a working design, but anything that could earn me at least one exchange points.
So, at the top of the list I noted that if any idea seemed promising I would try to remember more about it. Then started filling the list with generalized cliches.
Basic descriptions of principles such as hydropower cascades; waterwheel-powered woodworking workshops; the Bessemer process; recipes for paper and alcohol; extraction of essential oils for perfumery; the principles of steam turbines; spring-powered mechanisms; spinning machines; and so on.
Even if some of the listed information was already known in the girls' worlds, I thought, almost certainly in the form of inaccessible to girls secrets of masters, guilds, families, or states—information inaccessible to the girls.
After carefully reviewing the list, I first removed information about antibiotics, vaccination, diethyl ether, and other knowledge that could become a heavy burden on Bella's conscience, push her into rash actions, or attract unwanted attention.
Next, I excluded information about the slash-and-burn agriculture, use of coal for coal extraction, abut oil and gas, and so on.
What I knew about xianxia worlds suggested that all manner of immortals, Heavenly Courts, Four Guardians, Divine Entities, and so on, weren't pinnacles of the xianxia hierarchy.
All of them stood several steps below the true ruler of such worlds - Sentient Nature.
Therefore, idea of giving Mei knowledge that a likely supreme leader of her world might see as dangerous struck me as a poor decision.
Of course, all other industrial technologies, in essence, were also tied to the pillage of nature.
Still, industrialization becomes truly dangerous only when it turns self-sustaining and enters a self-reinforcing loop by exploiting philosophy of mass use of less energy-intensive natural resources for extraction of even more energy-intensive ones. And exactly such philosophy and technologies I tried to withhold.
About four or five minutes later — yep, "neural-interface-like" text typing and editing is for sure another small superpower in my repertoire, I through — the list was finished.
A rather pitiful set of twenty items with things like: "To increase yields, fields should be planted each year with plants that have different root systems. Like wheat, root vegetables like potatoes or turnips, and, perhaps cotton."
"Pathetic" said my inner perfectionist.
"Exactly what you need for trial run" said my inner utilitarianist.
After I got "passable", I immediately asked Astra for her list.
As expected, Astra's list was mostly a collection of popular tropes about magical and xianxia isekai. And for some reason, about vampires.
Does Astra think that by "strong blood" Bella meant a vampire rank? I wondered.
That's silly. "Strong blood" is one of the oldest metaphysical and religious concepts in history.
Then again, I'm not on Earth anymore, so anything is possible.
Alright, what else did she write?
Reading Astra's notes about Mei, I initially had the impression that I'd missed some major conflict between them.
But after considering Astra's logic in a historical context, I concluded that she was partly right: Mei could indeed be very dangerous, both to others and to herself.
Yang is masculinity, day and sun, summer, hot, body, emotion, and inclusive friendliness.
Yin is femininity, night and moon, winter, cold, intellect, and, oddly, antagonistic isolation bordering on sociopathic scheming.
At first glance, the latter seems entirely incompatible with conventional ideas of femininity and female archetypes.
But there is a catch, such "new" woman archetypes were created predominantly after Renaissance.
Before it, entirely subordinate to fathers and husbands, hierarchically oppressed, and exhausted by labor and childcare women were often exactly like "jade beauty" archetype.
Cautious, detached, quiet, passive observers with strive for the safest and most pragmatically advantageous social role for themselves and their families - conformist adherence to social-religious norms.
Men, of course, were predominantly the same, but because of higher physical characteristics and social status they could significantly more often afford the free-carefree behavior associated with Yang archetypes than women, whose freedom very often ended in the middle of puberty - by imposed pregnancy and a lot of metaphorical and literal shit.
In other words, if Mei truly is a concentrated embodiment of the Yin archetype, then one should expect from her not only an apathetic lack of initiative, social withdrawal, but indifference and ruthlessness toward anything she doesn't perceive as part of her clan-family.
At least some implementation of tropes: "family before moral"; "nope, I don't need friends, I need convenience"; "social norms are sacred duty"; "yea, she tried to sacrifice own live for the sake of loved one... after very long history of antagonism, plots, violence, and after sex - inward registration of him as a future father"; "father of my children is inseparable part of me", and so on.
Note for the future: DON'T invoke in Mei any strong, negative or positive, feelings, only sustain professional and mutually beneficial relationships.
After reading Astra's list, I sent her mine. And because there was a risk that points for the same piece of information are awarded only once, based on its current relevance, I asked Astra to read my list very slowly and carefully. Identifying what seemed most useful to her personally.
While she was reading, I combined her strongest points with mine and sent the resulting list to Bella and Mei as well, also asking them to study it in detail and determine what was most useful for them.
➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖ ➖
⚜️Max⚜️
Astra: 2|10
Bella: 2|10
Mei: 3|10
{{{
FUCKING YES! At last, a usable power-scaling method!
Based on the timing of exchange point acquisition, their value appears to be determined by the client's subjective judgment. If this is correct, then either right now I've only received an "initial advance", and the remaining points will appear once my information becomes more relevant for girls.
Or I can receive exchange points only in form of "one-time trade." Which seems more plausible, but also mean that I've just wasted the chance to reuse any mentioned in list information later.
}}}
🌟Astra🌟 Hooray!
⚜️Max⚜️ Bella, Astra, do either of you have a crossbow or any other ranged weapon?
🌟Astra🌟 Nope. In my world they cannot be used even by elite guards, only by soldiers.
🔮Bella🔮 No. But I do have a magical amulet that can repel a nearby attacker.
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Bella: Try focusing on it and imagining sending it to me. It won't actually send it, just tell you whether it's possible.
🔮Bella🔮 I feel that I can't send it.
⚜️Max⚜️ Astra, Bella, what short-range weapons do you have?
🔮Bella🔮 Just a kitchen knife.
🌟Astra🌟 There's a small armory in the same building where I live, and I do have the keys to it.
Just… it's not an easy one-time quest for me. If anyone finds out I opened the doors, or that I was near them when weapons went missing, I'll be in serious trouble.
⚜️Max⚜️ Is there any armor there?
🌟Astra🌟 I don't know. I've never been inside. Perhaps chain mails.
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Bella: As I understand it, you don't have any armor?
🔮Bella🔮 Ordinary armor - no. But if I understand the description of Casual Wear correctly, then I do have something similar. However, it's a very valuable thing to me, and I'm not sure I can part with it.
⚜️Max⚜️ What exactly?
🔮Bella🔮 A battle dress. Woman dress. From my grandmother and mother. It's not magical, but it's made from the hide of a magical beast, which makes it extremely durable.
⚜️Max⚜️ In my world, the manlier a man is, the more freedom he has to wear what he wants, not what society thinks he should. More so, we're talking about thing that potentiality can be absorbed into my clothes, like some magic ingredient. How durable it is?
🔮Bella🔮 Very. It's a smaller than it was originally, because it was re-sewn a few time, but its leather still very strong. Can withstand any strong sword strikes, even along seams, and protect from almost any moderate type of damage. Except continuous fire and magic.
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Bella: Such dress if transferable?
🔮Bella🔮 A few moments.
🔮Bella🔮 Yes.
I don't want to offend anyone, nonetheless Mei is somewhat right. This is my most valuable possession, and before giving it up I want proof that I'll receive something of equal value in return. Something physical. In case of my father's unexpected visit.
⚜️Max⚜️ Roughly how much is it worth in gold? In grams.
🔮Bella🔮 I don't know. It's many times more valuable than the amulet. 500 grams? 700?
🌟Astra🌟 ARE YOU F-rank?
@Max: If you're expecting me to be your sugar mama, I can't pay that much! In my world, for 50 gold coins of 10 grams each you can buy a F-ully furnished small estate! For 70 - a F-loatable merchant F-something ship!
🔮Bella🔮 Didn't you almost princes?
🌟Astra🌟 And because of this, anyone think that I have everything and don't need money!
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Bella: What about this:
Astra goes to the armory and gets me a weapon.
Then the two of you discuss which items each of you has that might interest the other.
After that, Astra transfers to me whatever item interests you, and I'll pass it on to you.
Then, in the same way, I'll transfer your item to Astra.
Yes, this way you won't receive something equal in value to your dress right away.
Yet, such transfer should make my promise to fairly compensate you, or even return the dress after six months of safe use, credible enough for you to sell or lease it to me.
This way, we'll also test whether I can use exchange points to generate even more exchange points.
And look at it from another angle. Suppose I really am some extremely sophisticated con artist with very unique magic and infinite creativeness. Why would I use all of this on you, someone who could expose me and make such trick a one-time thing, when I could instead use it on people far richer than you and with far more outrageous promises?
🔮Bella🔮 Alright. I agree with the first part.
About the second, it's not that I don't believe you, I do. It's just that the last two people I lent money to, a little over a month ago, become red mist very near for me. Partly because of that debt. So I'm not comfortable with something like this.
🌟Astra🌟 I know it! Of course Don Bella also cannot be just a normal vampire. You eat them because of overdue debt, right?
🔮Bella🔮 WHAT?! I'm not a vampire! I don't eat my friends!!!
⚜️Max⚜️ STOP! Please.
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Mei: What type of weapon would be best for me?
❄️Mei❄️
▪️▪️▪️💬Against a single wolf - a dagger.
Against two - a short sword, so you can keep them at a distance. But if they've never seen iron before, for the sword to make them wary, you'll need to wound at least one of them.
{{{
Hmm. No wonder swords were the most popular weapons in history.
The higher the weapon's reach, speed, and unpredictability - the larger its "danger zone", and the more dangerous it is for an enemy to remain within such zone.
That's why a sword's compact size, light weight, and ability to thrust, cut, and slash, both in quick strikes and long lunges, or even throws, makes it not just the most versatile offensive weapon, but a defensive one as well. Physically, and more so through psychological pressure.
Plus, it's very easy to learn. Daggers require an understanding of anatomy, caution, and mobility to be effective. Spears demand precision and do not forgive mistakes.
Swords? For people with zero training, they're basically lighter, more dangerous Club 2.0. Something humans can use almost instinctively.
But as Mei pointed out, the "danger zone" only works against enemies who understand that swords aren't just long shiny sticks, but sharp one. Demonstrating that could be problematic.
}}}
⚜️Max⚜️
▪️▪️▪️💬Astra: Please go to the armory and send me the best short sword you can find.
............
🌟Astra🌟 This is the best thing I could find that won't be immediately noticed. Does it work? Decide quickly.
⚜️Max⚜️ Yes. Can you teleport it with the scabbard?
🌟Astra🌟 Yes. Sending it now.
{{{
Immediately after Astra's message, I felt a "ping" - a request from Astra to receive something desirable and expected, but without revealing the item itself.
I accepted the request and felt a second ping, accompanied by addition of a new volume to my Small extradimensional space, completely occupied by the sword.
Focusing on that volume, I sensed that I could move the sword either into my hand or into the main storage space. I chose the latter, and the sword instantly shifted into the primary space, while the additional volume vanished as expected.
Excellent, I thought, another tool in my arsenal. Single-use slots with up to two cubic meters of, let's say, canisters filled with smoke, gas, oil, flammable liquids, and so on.
Thereafter, I teleported the sword into my hand and began examining it closely.
Far finer craftsmanship than I had anticipated, I through after a quick inspection.
To better judge its size, I laid it on the floor and stepped back a little.
Excellent quality. A little bigger than short sword, but still good size.
Now it was time to add a bit of defense to my steady raising fighting capabilities.
}}}