LAST EDITED ON Apr-10-12 AT 04:17 PM (EDT)
 
[So yeah, apparently this is my life at the moment, coming up with wee nuggets of silliness between bouts of coursework and throwing them against the wall to see what sticks. Though when I get a few minutes to rub together I have got some pretty solid ideas for a couple of longer FI/NF border minis... --G.]

May 6, 2410
IPS Challenger
Somewhere near Rigel

"This is the perfect opportunity to test the new agent selection assistance VI," Vision said.

Gryphon frowned. "I told you, I don't trust those things. The 3WA has one and it's always screwing up."

"Oh, come on," Vision cajoled. "I programmed this one myself. It's way smarter than theirs. It'll save you time. You need that if you're going to keep doing both jobs until your replacement is ready to take over the Space Force."

With a sigh, the Chief leaned back behind the desk of his office off the bridge and said, "Fine, fine. Run it, let's see what we get."

Vision grinned and shunted herself to a small side window. "OK! I've got all the parameters for the mission entered into the matrix already, so I just run it through like so and... "

"Mission confirmed," another voice - slightly more synthetic than Vision's, with very faintly mechanical diction - announced. "Selection complete. Recommended personnel... "

The main display switched from a holographic flatscreen to a full 3D projection of a man in a white racing suit, standing next to an orthographic three-view of a sports car rendered in neon wireframe.

"The Stig," said the VI. "Top Gear tame racing driver. Immortal. Vehicle codename: Interceptor."

The Stig's holoimage remained for a moment, then switched to a projection of a different person, this one a dark-haired woman in green and yellow, and a three-view of a different car.

"Gloria Baker," the VI went on. "Diving instructor and racing driver. Black belt in kung fu. Vehicle codename: Shark."

Gryphon glanced at Vision's window. "I'm not seeing it do anything I couldn't have done myself," he observed.

"Wait for it," she told him.

Another moment, and then a third person's image replaced Gloria's. This one was... slightly different from the previous candidates, enough so to draw an involuntary snort of laughter out of the Chief.

"Wheeljack," said the VI remorselessly. "Autobot weapons engineer. Rallycross champion. Vehicle codename: Wheeljack."

The display then changed back to a flat panel, broken up into three horizontal windows, each displaying the file headshot and general stats of one of the candidates.

"Recommendations complete. Please make selection," the VI said.

"You wouldn't have thought of that, would you," Vision said triumphantly.

"Well... no, I have to admit I wouldn't," Gryphon replied. "Though mainly because we want the dam to still be there once the package is delivered," he added with a wry grin, selecting the middle window.

"Agent Selection" - a Future Imperfect Micro-Story by Benjamin D. Hutchins
special to the Eyrie Productions Discussion Forum
© 2012 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

I guess VIs also work overtime... fighting crime...

And because this is the way my brain works, a random idea:

"My name is Modesty Blaise. And you are on the Galactic Frequency."

...damn it, now I'm wondering if G and the gang didn't grab the guy who does 'And now you know... the REST of the story.' back in their wilder days.

Or, since I doubt he quite fit the bill for that project, maybe he has a line of successors, doing that same spot on the radio? Plenty of stuff out there that could use some clearing up. Maybe have Big Time pull an extraction to get the current one off Earth as a micro/mini... okay, I'll just stop here.

You're thinking of the late Paul Harvey. Of course, Gryphon and company could have saved him in the UF-verse, or he could have returned from Valhalla. Otherwise, he's kinda unavailable.

>...damn it, now I'm wondering if G and the gang didn't grab the guy
>who does 'And now you know... the REST of the story.' back in their
>wilder days.

I am indeed, and that was the general idea - that either he had been saved as part of the great hero roundup, or that his descendants carried on with his legacy. I hadn't considered the right of return, but that would also work nicely.

Of course, this is all pure conjecture, as UF already has some extremely competent newsbeings.

>I guess VIs also work overtime... fighting crime...

Here is an interesting fact about the theme song from M.A.S.K. Mobile Armored Strike Kommand: the first six notes of the melody match pretty much perfectly with the piano riff from the intro of the Journey song "Faithfully". You can sing along to it - "Masked cru-sa-ders working - " and then it cuts off and repeats.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

OK, that's scary...

Obviously, there are going to need to be some modifications made to the codebase...

wait...

would that make it "VI (modified)" or simply "VIM" for short?

(then we'd just need the Emergency Missions-Avoiding-Casualties System)

No, it's the Multiple Agent Selection Kompiler, of course.

I disagree; it is quite clearly the Brutally Intelligent General Management of Agents and Cells System.

...

Look, I'm hungry, alright?

---
"Yeah, I'm definitely going to hell/But I'll have all the best stories to tell" -- Frank Turner, The Ballad of Me and My Friends

you've been watching MASK again, haven't you?

:)

-Z

---
Remember kids: guns make you stupid, duct tape makes you smart.

>you've been watching MASK again, haven't you?

Good gods, no. That way would lie the keenest disappointment. I'm sure it's a much worse show than I remember.

Gloria was always my favorite, though. I was always on the lookout for the Shark toy, not knowing at the time that the brutal science of toy demographics ensured that there would never be one.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>"Well... no, I have to admit I wouldn't," Gryphon replied. "Though
>mainly because we want the dam to still be there once the
>package is delivered," he added with a wry grin, selecting the middle
>window.
>

Influanced a bit by the Prime version of Wheeljack being a Wrecker? cause to be honest I dont recall Wheeljack of G1 having a reputation for causing massive collateral damage.

From the Generation 1 toy:

Wheeljack is the mad scientist of the Autobots. Always inventing new weapons and gadgets. Most adept at driving while in car mode. Likes to show off his stunts. Flying range of 800 miles using solid-fuel rockets in arms. Shoots magnetic inducer, shrapnel-needle, and gyro-inhibitor shells from his shoulder cannons. He is his own worst enemy. Often injured while experimenting with new weapons.

So, yeah... he's always been a wrecker.

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."