Ripley blinks. Oh, that face. It always took another person to realize she'd started making it. A groan, a remark like 'what now?' or 'can't you cut us some slack?' usually does the trick. (And for the record, most times she couldn't. Slack is a privilege). "Right."
Of the Nostromo's self-destruct protocols, worst is an understatement.
A button marked “PRESS IN EMERGENCY” releases a cabinet cover. A large red lever can be found inside... Unscrew the second cover to reveal two additional red levers, and pull them both in the correct sequence.
Open the floor-mounted panel on the opposite side of the room, containing the emergency destruct controls.
Was there any reason this panel needed to be clear across the room? Because wasting time is fun, apparently.
A series of buttons are to be pressed. If you're wrong, you're shit out of luck. Precious time wasted. After that, four bolts are screwed into collapsable towers which rise from their panel at a snail's pace. Why should they move any faster? You aren't in a rush, are you? Four buttons to press— again, in a vaguely specified but vital sequence.
You've got five minutes to reverse it and ten to make it to the shuttle before the ship goes ka-boom.
Ripley shakes her head. "And if your AI starts acting up, then you know you're fucked. Like the captain cracking under pressure. Or god forbid it makes decisions against you. Suddenly the heart of your entire ship twists sideways and you're... Well, fucked again. At least with people, you've got a chance. Bad liars, mistakes, emotions— you can take advantage of all of them. There's no arguing with a computer."
no subject
Ripley blinks. Oh, that face. It always took another person to realize she'd started making it. A groan, a remark like 'what now?' or 'can't you cut us some slack?' usually does the trick. (And for the record, most times she couldn't. Slack is a privilege). "Right."
Of the Nostromo's self-destruct protocols, worst is an understatement.
A button marked “PRESS IN EMERGENCY” releases a cabinet cover. A large red lever can be found inside... Unscrew the second cover to reveal two additional red levers, and pull them both in the correct sequence.
Open the floor-mounted panel on the opposite side of the room, containing the emergency destruct controls.
Was there any reason this panel needed to be clear across the room? Because wasting time is fun, apparently.
A series of buttons are to be pressed. If you're wrong, you're shit out of luck. Precious time wasted. After that, four bolts are screwed into collapsable towers which rise from their panel at a snail's pace. Why should they move any faster? You aren't in a rush, are you? Four buttons to press— again, in a vaguely specified but vital sequence.
You've got five minutes to reverse it and ten to make it to the shuttle before the ship goes ka-boom.
Ripley shakes her head. "And if your AI starts acting up, then you know you're fucked. Like the captain cracking under pressure. Or god forbid it makes decisions against you. Suddenly the heart of your entire ship twists sideways and you're... Well, fucked again. At least with people, you've got a chance. Bad liars, mistakes, emotions— you can take advantage of all of them. There's no arguing with a computer."