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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 3, 2009 22:24:34 GMT -5
This will happen, Perceptor. Just not at a useful point in time.
Emirate Xaaron looks over the weapon as Perceptor points out the features. He's sort of curious how one would field strip such a weapon. The Wreckers always made a huge deal about field stripping. However, Emirate Xaaron assumes that Perceptor will explain it when and if it is pertinent to the lesson at hand.
He rubs his chin and replies, "It seems simple enough."
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 7, 2009 19:14:14 GMT -5
Hopefully it will never be necessary to field strip this paintball gun, because otherwise? They're out of anything more useful.
"Very good," Perceptor replies, nodding. He hands Xaaron the weapon, steps back a couple of paces, crosses his arms over his chest, and nods toward the aforementioned stain on the wall.
"When you are ready."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 7, 2009 21:12:33 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron takes the weapon. He holds it a bit awkwardly. His grip mimics what he has seen, but he really doesn't have it right, in the subtle details. It's not a comfortable grip, and in the long term, it would likely strain his hand and cause undue wear and tear.
He tries to line up the sights, but he's not doing that correctly, either. It's possible that his vision isn't great. Maybe he just can't keep his hand steady. However, it's likely that he doesn't even know what a properly aligned set of sights should look like. He wouldn't know if he had it right even if he got it right.
Ready will be a long time in coming.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 7, 2009 22:16:48 GMT -5
That is a great deal of what Perceptor had wished to observe without affecting the results by indicating that he'd wished to observe it. He nods, taking note of that grip, of the way Xaaron's hand wavers, of his uncertainty, and steps forward again.
"First," he observes, closing the distance between them until he is almost pressed to Xaaron's back and wrapping one hand around Xaaron's grip, "You need to adjust the manner in which you hold the weapon. That will inprove your aim and your endurance." A few minor adjustments, tightening a couple of digits, loosening one, and the weapon fits more correctly.
Only Xaaron can say if it is either more comfortable or natural.
"You should find now that the tip of each sight, when your arm is propperly extended," which Perceptor then does, moving Xaaron's arm in line, although he has to bend his head down awkwardly to see the correct angle for himself, "should just align, the nearer sight centered within the larger, more distant sight. Do you see?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 8, 2009 12:37:11 GMT -5
Of course. The act of observing a situation changes the situation. Also, people get more self-conscious when they know they are being watched and evaluated and becomes more likely to err.
Emirate Xaaron is mostly holding the paintball pistol too hard. It's like he's trying to strangle it - or trying to make sure it couldn't be taken away from him by an assailant, more likely. Perceptor's adjustments definitely help, but if Perceptor takes his hand away, Emirate Xaaron's grip reflexively goes right back to clutching too tightly, though not so bad as before. There is a slight improvement. Slight.
Emirate Xaaron seems to have some trouble keeping the sights aligned, even after Perceptor goes to the awkward trouble of aligning them for him.Holding the weapon too hard is straining his servos, which is putting small twitches into his overall stances, which is throwing off his stability. He also still isn't experienced at all in what this is supposed to look like. he admits, voice a bit low, "Sometimes?"
Because sometimes they stay aligned. Mostly, they don't. Emirate Xaaron was hiding behind the door when targeting software was handed out.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 8, 2009 13:30:38 GMT -5
That won't do at all. Perceptor should have recalled just how nervous he had been when implementing his own initial targeting programming. A little more personal intervention will be necessary.
"You must relax," Perceptor instructs, stepping back up and kneeling behind Xaaron so that they are more equal in height. "Here, let me show you once again."
He shifts, molding himself to Xaaron's back, one arm coming around either side of the Emirate to bracket the golden mech, his hands settling atop Xaaron's comfortably. It takes a moment of adjusting, and there is a whine of servos as his scope rises to a completely vertical orientation to keep it out of Xaaron's field of view, but in short order, Perceptor has the smaller mechanism carefully, but firmly, enfolded into his arms with Perceptor just peeking over Xaaron's shoulder, almost cheek to cheek.
If this were a movie, this would be the time when either a) one of their love interests would come strolling around the corner to see them "embracing", or b) the "hero" - Perceptor - would lean in and plant a smooch right on the "heroine" - Xaaron. Or the "hero" and "heroine" would realize the awkwardness of the situation and suddenly break apart, neither looking at the other as the UST storm surges through the scene.
Perceptor, however, is rather... slow... on the uptake regarding certain subjects. It won't occur to him to be discomfited until it is more dramatically effective, later on.
"Firstly, you must relax," he repeats, using his forward knee to subtly adjust Xaaron's stance by nudging the back of the Emirate's leg. "I understand that you are not familiar with, nor comfortable with a weapon of this manner, regardless of the ammunition, however, a careful, relaxed grip is the key."
His larger hands all but engulf Xaaron's as he curls his fingers around the Emirate's trembling hands. "Relax your grip, and hold it with the same amount of force which you would hold a datapad with."
ooc: manhandling of Xaaron done with permission.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 8, 2009 14:53:57 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron is just remarkably blase about interpersonal contact and hasn't watched enough movies with Pee-Dee yet. Unthinkingly, he leans back into Perceptor's touch, relaxing just a fraction. Hmm, is this going to mess with his balance? Oh, he has trouble getting the cross-hairs aligned. Maybe he shouldn't worry about balance. Cycling air as he concentrates on the matter at hand and the hands on his hands, Emirate Xaaron murmurs, "It's just so hard, Perceptor. I keep trying to relax, but I get so wound up trying to relax that I'm not relaxed at all." He sighs and leans a bit more heavily against Perceptor, trying to release his grip a bit, but then he points out, "But if the datapad has bad news on it, I'd grip it quite hard." Zen. Emirate Xaaron does not have it. OOC: In fact, Perceptor has permission to manhandle me all he wants for the rest of the thread.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 8, 2009 16:10:51 GMT -5
Well, there is a fraction of relaxation, but not enough, and not in the right places.
"No, no, no. Not bad. Ordinary. Concentrate on something ordinary," he counters, his body making minute adjustments against Xaaron, shifting the Emirate in tiny little increments to better align his body. "You must relax, or else this will not work, but you must not concentrate on relaxing so assiduously, or else your body will not achieve the appropriate state to proceed."
"I know that this is difficult, and I do understand that this is not an activity which you have ever truly attempted before, nor is it one which you will repeat on a daily basis, however, you must loosen your grip or else you may damage my equipment, and, potentially, yourself."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 8, 2009 18:44:00 GMT -5
"Something ordinary?" Emirate Xaaron replies incredulously, as if Perceptor has asked the most difficult thing in the world. "I- but-" He chews his lip a bit, the stitches straining as he tugs at his lower lip. "Battle plans? How they're ever-changing, blow by blow, as military intelligence rapidly becomes worse than useless, the pull and sway of it all-"
"-nothing is ordinary, Peceptor. It hasn't been ordinary since before the war."
He falls silent. Then, Emirate Xaaron tilts his head up a bit, though he really can't look back and up at Perceptor. He suggests, "Doppler broadening? It was always fascinating how the spectral lines broadened due to the thermal movement of atoms or molecules shifting the apparent frequency of each emitter. Of course, the Doppler profile comes out to a normal distribution."
Emirate Xaaron seems to relax a bit as he chatters about Doppler broadening. It's an old, familiar topic to him, from before the war, and before even his political career.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 8, 2009 20:30:37 GMT -5
Xaaron is babbling science at Perceptor? My, my, my, now the scientist's curiosity is thoroughly aroused.
"Perfect," Perceptor replies warmly, using Xaaron's distraction to settle and shift him further still. "Release your grip; let me hold it and show you how it needs to be handled."
"Indeed it does," Perceptor agrees, voice low and content - talking science always puts him in a warm and pleasant mood. "In wavelength units, it appears as a Gaussian profile with a standard deviation. Ah, yes, exactly like that," he adds as Xaaron carefully allows his hand to completely relax into Perceptor's grip.
"Now, follow my lead. Do not seize, merely hold. No, too tight. You are not attempting to crush it, merely to become accquainted with it. Firm, but not crushing. You need to apply enough pressure to control, without harming your own servos. Imagine that you are shaking the hand of a political opponent whom you wish to size up," he instructs, nodding against Xaaron's cheek when the Emirate's grip firms, but not so crushingly tight as before, and he cannot keep the pleased encouragement out of his tone as he continues. "Exactly so. Firm control. You must be in command, without resorting to attempting to physically overwhelm. Yes?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 9, 2009 17:30:55 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron allows Perceptor to take back the weapon and model the grip placidly enough. He's here to learn what he can, despite his limitations. Fighting Perceptor won't do him any good.
He continues, a bit absent-mindedly, "Theoretically, you can harness that effect to design an inherently safe reactor. However, a meltdown is still possible if the cooling systems fail."
Yeah, he knows all about reactors failing in spectacular fashion.
Emirate Xaaron tries to twist and glance around at Perceptor, perhaps scraping against Perceptor's cheek as he does. A smirk dances on his lips, and his optics glitter. Emirate Xaaron fairly purrs, "Now you're talking my language."
He twists again, looking back at the cross-hairs, and he does seems to finally understand the concept of relaxing his hand so it won't be cramped and aching on the morrow.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 9, 2009 19:07:35 GMT -5
Not so much "take back" the weapon, as simply convince Xaaron's hands to totally relax with Perceptor's hands cupped around them, holding both hands and weapon at once.
"Ah, a nuclear physics application," he murmurs, nodding. "The greater the temperature, the greater the atomic excitement, reducing the probability of neutron capture by the various isotopes involved, thus limiting the theoretical maximum temperature at which the chain reaction may proceed. The key, then, would be taking care to develop and construct a failsafe cooling system to take advantage of this property. That is, if the object is to create an inherently safe reactor." It isn't often that Perceptor is allowed, even encouraged, to science babble, and so his voice has dropped into a low, pleasantly intimate murmur of gratitude.
"Ah, yes, much improved," he observes, returning to the original subject. "Do you feel how such a more natural grip allows for both control, precision, and a reduction in fatigue, thus improving your overall endurance and performance? You do not tremble so drastically any longer. Now, align your gaze down the length of the shaft like so," he offers, using his continued grasp around Xaaron's hands to carefully direct the pistol until the sights are lined up with the target again. "Begin at the base near your hand and look down the length, see the tip, and then past it to your goal. Do you see?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 10, 2009 15:37:36 GMT -5
"You'd be surprised," Emirate Xaaron murmurs lowly, voice wry and just a touch pained, "at how little some care about avoiding meltdown, so eager are they to get to reaction, hot, hard, and heavy."
He does feel more relaxed, though, now that he's in familiar water and doesn't have to worry about silly little things like balancing on his own, courtesy of Perceptor's gentle guidance. Emirate Xaaron glances along the implement in his hand, not concealing his admiration of Perceptor's work - so quick and yet so exacting! A smirk twitching at his lips again, he replies, "You just get the three little Seekers in line, hmm? And two of the little Seekers work together to make it very uncomfortable for the third." He stares at the target meaningfully.
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 13, 2009 12:46:48 GMT -5
"Irresponsible," Perceptor remarks absently. "To care more for the result than the process leading to it. There is far more to be learned, far more enjoyment to be had in the doing than in the achieving, I feel. Utilizing the appropriate protocols can produce a lengthy, sustainable response," he observes. "I find no purpose in the overload if one can properly sustain the build up indefinitely." That rather being the purpose to most nuclear reactors, after all.
Perceptor shifts his grip by a fraction, so subtly correcting the aim that Xaaron should hopefully note it subconsciously, if that. "Exactly. Maintain your visual fix, feel how your hands grip, memorize the sensation for later replication. Now, when you are ready... discharge."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 13, 2009 12:59:36 GMT -5
"Oh yes. But you know how some egomaniacs can be. It's all about them and their pet theories, with no regard for the work or safety of others. Just compensating for a small endowment, really." Small salary endowment. Obviously.
Emirate Xaaron doesn't even notice the minute adjustment, so very occupied by the cross-hairs is he. His finger slides against the trigger, caressing it gently, and for a very brief moment, he wonders what it's like to fire Megatron.
C'mon. What Transformer from a universe with a gun-Megatron hasn't thought about that?
Emirate Xaaron cautiously applies pressure, but feeling resistance against his finger, he pulls back, hard, too hard, and down the pistol cants. Blam!
Emirate Xaaron has just covered his own foot with the pistol's wet, sticky ammunition.
"Eh-heh. Whoops?"
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