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 Post Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 9:35 pm 
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Roger makes a mental note not to drink around Platime.

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 Post Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:14 am 
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"Well, the Queen did say we should spend some time discussing the security of the Palace," Felix says. "I assume as new head of security you'll have a budget to work with. Do you think I could interest you in the purchase of Terran equipment that will help in such matters? Radios and security cameras, I think, would be a decent first acquisition."

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 Post Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:42 am 
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"I imagine I could probably get away with buying stuff and then billing the Crown for it after," muses Platime. "What are 'security cameras'? How would these various Terran devices be helpful from a security perspective?"

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 Post Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 2:12 pm 
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Arkady replies: "Think of them as a mechanical set of eyes that you can look through from a distance. They also record what they see, so you can go back later to see what happened in their field of view in case somebody missed it the first time; and they can also tell you if something is moving where nothing is supposed to be moving."

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 Post Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:38 am 
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"The recording for later playback might be interesting," muses Platime. "But merely watching from a distance - you'd still need someone to watch it, and I fail to see why not rather have the sentry on the spot, as it were. After all, if something goes wrong, you'd ideally want someone right there to respond to it."

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 Post Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2023 1:57 pm 
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Arkady nods. "Yes, but what if something happens to the guard? It can take some time for that to be noticed, then a message has to make it's way through the castle before anyone can respond. But if all of the people looking through the eyes of the cameras are in the same room, right next to the guard room? The minute anything happens they can see it, and then they can have reinforcements on the way before that minute is over." He shrugs, then adds: "And cameras can be put in places where it is not normally convenient for guards to go. The sort of place only a thief or an assassin might normally be found."

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 Post Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:25 pm 
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Platime shakes his head. "You don't think I know how to set up guard system with frequent checkups? I wonder if you Terrans have perhaps grown complacent with these 'cameras' of yours; their only benefit is to make it slightly easier to send a warning to a central location, and a supply of 'radios' will do a better job of that, I feel."

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 Post Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:04 pm 
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Arkady considers Platime for a few seconds, then says: "Their main benefit is that they let you do the same job just as well with a lot fewer men; though they do have other advantages." He shrugs. "To a Terran, labor is expensive and tools are cheap. To you, tools are expensive and labor is cheap. That is obviously influencing our usual answer to problems. So I am guessing the question is, which is a better description of your situation? He waves towards the door and says "You are going to have to replace some fraction of the guards, and soon. But replacements will be hard to come by; the Zemoch will probably attack soon, and the army has to get ready for it. Men at arms will be at a premium, and defending the queen will not be the dominant consideration when the survival of the nation is at stake." He shrugs. "Until the war is over you may well have to use tools to make your guards more efficient, because you won't be able to get enough of them to do it the old fashioned way. And we have the appropriate tools to do that."

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 Post Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 4:22 am 
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"You forget," says Platime, "that I have access to a guild full of people who are loyal to me, personally, and I know which of them I can trust, and how well they do at standing watch. Most are not fighters, but one does not need to be a fighter to be able to call out an alarm. You are right that labour is cheap and tools are expensive; but I have access to enough unarmed labour that I can place the skilled fighters only where they are needed already, and the tools that you offer will not change that. I have no doubt, however, that your tools will be... expensive."

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 Post Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 10:46 am 
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Arkady grins. "Normally, yes. For our new landlord, who is offering us a lifetime lease? We can be reasonable." He nods towards Talen and goes on: "Besides, I am sure he has told you that our favorite trade item right now is food. So we can make everybody happy here: the farmers near the Fangorn Forest would rather pay taxes in kind than in cash, we would rather be paid in kind than in cash right now, and the royal treasurer would very much prefer not to have to part with what little cash they have left whether it is for cameras or radios. It is what we would call a win/win situation."

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 Post Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 6:02 am 
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"Something to consider. A concept we call Defense in Depth," Felix says. "Multilayered defense that covers several different kinds of personnel, tool, and skill is harder to breech than one kind of defense with fewer layers. Guards, patrols, and walls only get you so far. Guards can be murdered. Patrols memorized. Walls blasted into so much fine dust. Expanding the scope of defensive equipment can make it harder for infiltrators, assassins, and saboteurs to penetrate individual layers."

Felix smiles and scratches the side of his head.

"But handheld radios would be easier to set up and train for than installing an entire suite of electronics. Especially in a building as... ahh, old as this one is."

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 Post Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:15 am 
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"This looks like exactly the sort of policy discussion that you should be having with the Queen personally," considers Platime. "Though... since you mention it... you say that this camera allows for an image from one space to be visible from another, distant place? I admit I do not in the least understand how it works, but... I imagine that there is nothing that prevents that image from being visible in two distant places. And I do not believe that the entire Terran city is completely without someone who can be bribed or manipulated into sharing such secrets..."

Felix get a nod. "Indeed. And I will not go into detail, but... well, let us say that I know exactly how to get into a castle, and therefore exactly how to prevent such attempts." Or, in other words, though he isn't saying it in so many words... the head of the Thieves' Guild knows how to crack this place, and thus knows how to deal with such plans in advance. "While I cannot of course guarantee anything completely, I believe I can protect the Queen from any mundane dangers, and alert the Pandion Knights in time to handle any magical dangers."

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 Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:45 am 
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Felix waggles his hand in a so-so gesture.

"It really depends on how the system is set up and by what methods it uses to transfer information. If you wanted a completely closed system that no one outside the castle could access it the information would be run exclusively through wires. Doing that isn't too much more difficult than just installing the cameras themselves. You'd need to wire them up anyway to feed power to them."

Felix scratches his cheek.

"Information can of course be broadcast over open frequencies to achieve various goals. This would allow us to pick it up back at the ship, but if you never installed broadcast points to do so that couldn't happen. Lots of vital intelligence remained secure that way simply by never being allowed to be put on networks foreign powers could access it. On the other hand, information is vital to any grand effort and broadcasting it in such a way helps coordinate entire nations much faster. For that you use encrypted channels where the data is scrambled and needs to have the proper decoding key to interpret it."

Felix sighs.

"But that's all tangential in the end. If you never buy such technology from us you never have need of learning the ins and outs of it so you can protect yourself from us abusing it. I'm not gonna say no Terran would cause I haven't really met all of them. I'm pretty sure most won't because... well, the ones that boarded the ship were all cut from really oddball cloth, relatively speaking. But in the end we're still mortal and subject to mortal whims. I don't blame you for your concern."

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 Post Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 4:30 pm 
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After Felix finishes, Arkady pauses for a second then tells Platime: "If you want radios to help secure the palace, we'll teach you the simple tricks involved in not telling us anything you don't want us to know. I've used them in battle, it is not hard. Unless you would rather learn from your own mistakes than from ours."

He nods and finishes: "And we can be discussing the payment with the Queen, yes. If you want them."

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 Post Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 5:27 am 
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Platime nods along to Felix's explanation like a guy who doesn't know the first thing about the technical aspects, doesn't really care about the technical aspects, but if he just nods along until you're finished talking, then he can move on and ignore you without actually arguing about it. (Felix has probably received a lot of nods like that in his time).

Talking of which, if you do sell him the radios which he does seem interested in, then you're likely going to need to have a quiet chat with him (or with someone, at least) about what batteries are and how to charge them.

Arkady's suggestion, on the other hand, makes Platime smile quietly. "Sure. Tell me all the tricks you know of. I'll tell you if they include anything I haven't already thought of."

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