#this is my most recent containment breach <- thinks a containment breach is 100+ notes

[bucketofcrows]

if balsamic vinegar were a guy i'd suck him off

[iwanthermidnightz]

What Swift is doing might seem more like an attempt to win her longstanding battle against Braun than a calculated business move. But according to several industry veterans who spoke with VICE, if Swift pulls this off, she stands to make an unthinkable amount of money—and decimate the value of her old recordings in the process.

You'd think Swift's contract with Big Machine might prevent her from re-recording her old music, but she can legally do so for two reasons, according to Dina LaPolt, an entertainment attorney who represents Steven Tyler, 21 Savage, and several other high-profile artists. Firstly, while Shamrock Capital owns the master rights to Swift's first six albums—or in other words, the sound recordings on those albums—Swift owns the publishing rights. (Because she wrote her own songs, she retains the rights to the lyrics, melodies, and compositions that comprise them, and she doesn't have to ask permission from or pay anyone to use them how she sees fit.) Secondly, the "re-recording restriction" in her contract with Big Machine—a standard part of any record deal, which long prohibited her from recording new versions of the songs she released through the label—has reportedly expired. When Swift releases new versions of her old songs, she'll own both their master rights and their publishing rights, earning every penny they bring in and securing unilateral control over how they're used.

She's almost inevitably going to yield that power to license her music to advertising agencies and film and TV studios, according to Guillermo Page, a former record label executive who's worked for BMG, EMI, Sony, and Universal, and who now teaches in the University of Miami's music business program. To license (or "synchronize") a song, you need permission from the record company who owns it and the songwriter who wrote it. Swift has always said no to licensing offers on the grounds that they would profit Braun—but now that she's cut him out of the equation, she can strike those deals herself, and take home 100 percent of the profits they reap.

"She has all the leverage, and all the control," Page said. "Even if the current owners of the old catalog want to do some type of deal for synchronization, without her approval as a songwriter, they wouldn't be able to do it. By recording the masters herself, it opens the door for her to do those deals directly."

In all likelihood, Swift's collaboration with Match.com, which used her re-recorded version of "Love Story" in its latest ad campaign, wasn't a one-off; it was the first of countless licensing deals Swift is going to make with her re-recorded music. According to LaPolt, Swift will easily be able to convince companies to come to her when they want to license her masters instead of paying Shamrock Capital for them.

"I have some clients who have re-recorded their big hits," LaPolt said. "We have management companies that are very, very savvy in this area, and they went out to all the music supervisors at all the film and TV companies. These companies all know to come to the management company and license the re-records, because it'll be a lot cheaper, and the artist wants that."

Ad agencies and film studios interested in Swift's music will want to use her as a one-stop shop: By going to her directly, they can secure a license to both the publishing and master rights to her music in one fell swoop, as opposed to licensing the publishing rights from Swift and the master rights from Shamrock. Additionally, according to Tonya Butler, a former label executive and the current chair of Berklee's music business program, Swift will probably cut her licensees a deal.

"If she knows how much the record companies are charging, she's going to undercut them at every opportunity," Butler said. "Record companies are notoriously much more expensive than the publisher would be. It's much easier—and cheaper—to license from one party that controls both sides."

Butler raised the possibility that Shamrock may try to turn the tables on Swift: Instead of allowing her to undercut them, they could opt to license her songs at cost, making it cheaper to acquire them from the private equity firm. But because Swift controls her publishing rights, she could ostensibly revoke a company's clearance to use her music if they try to work with Shamrock. In the battle over synchronization, Swift seems guaranteed to come out on top. But Butler cautioned that Shamrock may already have a strategy in place for that.

"Just because we don't know what's up their sleeve doesn't mean that there's nothing there," Butler said. "We've known that she's wanted to re-record since 2019. [If you're Shamrock Capital], you don't spend that kind of money without having some kind of plan."

Swift stands to rake in hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars through licensing deals—but when it comes to streaming revenues, Shamrock may have the upper hand. When the average listener wants to hear a Taylor Swift song, they'll generally opt for the old version as opposed to the new, especially if Swift's re-recordings sound significantly different than her original masters, according to Page. (It's worth noting that Swift recently said her re-recorded music will contain "plenty of surprises.")

"One of the things that you will find when artists re-record their songs is that they want to change certain things," Page said. "When they do that, they don't realize that they are changing a masterpiece—they're changing a song that is already known in a certain way. The moment you change it, it's not the same song. And that is a risk that she's taking."

Even if Swift tries to replicate her old recordings note for note, she might not be able to do so flawlessly, Page said. She was 16 when her self-titled debut came out; at 30, her voice doesn't sound the same as it did back then. Additionally, producers have changed the way they record music, and the technology they use has evolved.

"She can try to drive consumption by letting her fans know that the new versions are there, but that will be applicable for only the most hardcore fans," Page said. "The reality is that she will be competing against herself on all of those platforms. And it will be very difficult, because the other songs are already out there, sitting in thousands and thousands of playlists, on all the different platforms and services."

There's a chance that Swift could try to either sweet-talk or strong-arm DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music into prioritizing her re-recorded music on their platforms. Imagine, for instance, that Swift wants Spotify to remove the original master recording of one of her songs from a popular playlist, and replace it with her re-recorded version. She could threaten to withhold her new recordings from Spotify altogether—along with all of her future releases—if they don't oblige. But according to Butler, a streaming service like Spotify would probably balk at that.

"I cannot see Spotify switching out those songs," Butler said. "Shamrock could sue. If I have a license with you and we both agree that for however many years, you are going to distribute my music on your platform, and then somebody else comes along and you replace my music with theirs, then you have breached your agreement with me. That would be a huge mess."

Assuming DSPs like Spotify stay out of the fray, the odds are that most listeners will continue to stream Swift's original recordings instead of her new ones. Then again, her fanbase is fiercely loyal; there's a chance her re-recordings wind up dwarfing the old versions. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter: Because she's still entitled to royalty payments on her old recordings, Swift makes money either way. She can't lose.

Considering how foolproof, how lucrative, and how simple Swift's ploy to own her masters seems to be, you have to wonder if other artists might mimic it. So many musicians have spoken out about being infuriated that they don't own their masters, and have fought—almost always unsuccessfully—to reclaim them. If all it takes to win that fight is getting back in the studio and making new versions of their old songs, why can't every artist do it?

The answer, in short: because they're not Taylor Swift.

"You have to have what Taylor Swift has, which is an enormous audience and an enormous brand," Butler said. "It's working for her because she's got all the pieces of the puzzle. If you don't have that social media voice, if you don't have that brand, if you don't have her money, if you don't have all of the things that she has, it may not work for you."

Butler said she has no doubt that other artists will try to follow in Swift's footsteps, only for many to find something standing in the way. If they didn't write their own songs—or even if they wrote part, but not all of them—they won't have the legal right to re-record them. If they're not wealthy enough, they won't be able to cover the high cost of recording, especially not in a way that produces a carbon copy of their old music. If they haven't cultivated a rabidly devoted fanbase, they won't be able to convince people to stream their re-recordings instead of the original versions. Still, Butler said, many artists are going to try to replicate what Swift is doing—and record labels know it.

"The first thing that's going to happen is label contracts are going to change," Butler said. "They're going to try to set it up to where this cannot happen to this extent."

The way major labels would do that, according to LaPolt, is by making re-recording restrictions more stringent. As it stands, an artist is typically prohibited from re-recording music they make for a label for three to seven years after it's released. Going forward, labels could try to bump up the term of that restriction to 20 or 30 years, if not extend it in perpetuity. It's almost a given that they'll try, LaPolt said.

"Every time there is an amazing thing that an artist does to get out of their deal, or get their IP back, [record companies] come up with some dastardly, ugly thing to make sure that doesn't happen again," LaPolt said. "I can tell you right now, we would fight tooth and nail against that."

In some ways, what Swift is doing seems like a turning point for the music industry, one that could inspire an untold number of artists to take control of their master rights and irrevocably reshape the way record contracts are written. It's possible that we'll look back on this moment as a major landmark. What's more likely, however, is that it will prove to be nothing more than yet another shrewd move by a pop star who's risen to the top of her field by making so many of them, creating opportunities for herself that almost none of her peers are wealthy, successful, or cunning enough to secure.

"Is this a watershed, where everybody starts doing it—no way," Butler said. "I don't think that the majority of artists will be able to pull it off to the extent that Taylor Swift has. Is this a unicorn? No. But it's a horse with, like, five legs."

[macgyvermedical]

Soup: a “Tesla + Bell + Edison + Mac” Medical Review

“You have a perfectly functional syringe pump with the PCA in the background, and you’re going to give him an injection with a metal needle? Also, if you’re gonna sedate him you might as well use the IV pump too??? Like, you have a whole ‘nother channel?? Most floor nurses would kill for that setup?” <--- From my notes on this ep.*

Awl - X-Ray + Penny - Duct Tape + Jack - CD + Hoagie Foil - Guts + Fuel + Hope - Wilderness + Training + Survival - Father + Bride + Betrayal - Lidar + Rogues + Duty - Nightmares - Seeds + Permafrost + Feather - Friends + Enemies + Border - Mason + Cable + Choices - Bitter Harvest - Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck -

In case you didn’t see it, the story went like this: After being knocked unconscious trying to prevent Codex from stealing an encoded map to a Tesla-era WMD, Mac wakes to find he’s lost certain memories of the event that are crucial to interpreting the weapon’s location. In order to recover the memories and stop Codex from getting there first, Matty calls on a friend at DARPA who studies experimental memory-recovery drugs. Drugged, Mac enters a dream state to track down the memories, where he encounters his mother, a man he recently chose to kill to save everyone in LA, his high-school bully, and a darker version of himself who thinks Codex’s directive to kill an eighth of the population to save the world might not be too far off the mark.

So there’s a lot to talk about here medically. For this post, I’ll go into the concussion and its aftermath, the drug and it’s administration, and the medical technology that the Phoenix infirmary seems to have at its disposal.

The Concussion/Amnesia:

Mac is knocked out by a blow to the head. He wakes up “a few hours” later in the Phoenix infirmary. I’ve talked about concussions before (see here, here, and here), so I’m not going to go into too much detail about them in this post, but essentially if someone’s out for that long, they’re in trouble.

It’s reasonably common to lose consciousness in a concussion, but it’s usually only for seconds to minutes, and if it occurs at all, that person needs prompt medical evaluation in an emergency room. Even if there ends up being no major complications, like bleeding in the brain or an increase in pressure in the skull, the recovery time for concussions with a loss of consciousness can be in the weeks or months range. Someone who’s out for “hours” is looking at a stay in a neuro ICU and probably severe and possibly permanent brain damage. Like, it’s a season-long arc at least.

Since we’re not seeing that level of medical need, I think it would probably be safe to assume that Mac wasn’t actually out for “hours” as stated. He could have been briefly unconscious, as shown in the house attack scene, but then had trouble forming memories after that, which caused him to not remember the ride back to Phoenix very well, if at all. These are still concerning enough symptoms that I would have taken him to an emergency department instead of to the infirmary, but at least with that scenario there’s a possibility what happened to him isn’t actively life threatening outside of a neuro ICU.

Unlike the extended period of unconsciousness, the portrayal of amnesia isn’t far off the mark for once. The amnesia that Mac suffers is actually pretty reasonable- trouble remembering the incident and the events just before it is common in head injuries, as is having trouble forming new memories after. Not only is accurate amnesia something that I didn’t expect out of Rob Pearlstein (writer of the infamous Guts + Fuel + Hope), but it’s something that fiction as a whole (including, I’ll admit, 1985 MacGyver**) tends to struggle with. So kudos for that specific part of this episode, Pearlstein.

The Drug:

Even if we assume Mac wasn’t unconscious that whole time, the brief unconsciousness and memory problems indicate that he still had a pretty significant concussion that needed medical care and monitoring. I’m guessing that as advanced as the Phoenix Infirmary is, it doesn’t have the capacity to do neurosurgery or intracranial pressure monitoring. That means the Phoenix medical team’s priority in this situation would essentially be to catch any major, life-threatening complication as early as possible, and if one happened, get Mac to a hospital quickly enough to save him.

The best and lowest-tech tool they have to this end is repeated mental status exams. Mental status exams have the patient answer a series of questions like “what’s your name?” “what day is it?” “where are you right now?” “what happened to you/why am I asking you these questions?”  followed up with a series of mental tasks like counting backwards from 100 by 7s or making a logical decision based on a given scenario. If Mac’s answers significantly change, from one assessment to the next, that could mean he’s in trouble. 

Because these assessments rely so heavily on Mac’s ability to answer questions and perform tasks accurately, and they’re really the only thing that’s going to catch a serious problem early enough to save Mac’s life, the last thing you’d want to do is give him a drug cocktail that would alter his perception of where he is and what’s going on around him. I’ll just… leave that there.

But let’s assume that for some reason they have a non-CT way of assessing whether Mac’s about to die from a brain bleed while in a drug-induced dream state (they do appear to have limited EEG capability- can anyone tell me if this would still be helpful in the context of the drugs?). I’m not going to talk too much about the drug cocktail itself, since it was stated as fictional (so, essentially, anything they say it does it can probably do), but since they do reference it as containing DMT, I invite you to check out the erowid experience vault for DMT for stories of other people’s experiences with it.  

I will, however, talk a little about the administration of the drug. In the episode, a syringe with a needle is used to deliver the medication. Though not explicitly shown, I assume Dr. Cheryl inserted the metal needle into one of Mac’s arm veins and injected the drug.

Something that fiction generally doesn’t understand is that inserting a metal needle into a vein in order to administer medication doesn’t happen in a medical setting. Ever. The ONLY way to administer a medication IV in a medical setting is through an IV cannula- a short, flexible plastic tube inserted into a vein, often just colloquially called an “IV”:

If Mac had one of these ^^^, the syringe could attach to one of the blue and white pieces and the medication could be injected without worrying that the needle could slip out of the vein (many IV medications must be injected slowly over several minutes, and that’s a long time to hold a needle still).

Before Dr. Cheryl gives him the drug, she takes his vitals and asks him some questions, namely whether he has ever had “a psychotic break”, then, without explaining further, asks if he thinks he will become violent.

Now, it does make sense to ask someone about their psych history when administering a drug known to have psych side effects, because those can be a lot worse or more likely for people with certain psych histories. Think about SSRIs and SNRIs- they’re good antidepressants, but when given to someone with bipolar disorder, they can greatly increase the risk of a manic episode, and that possibility has to be evaluated before the drug is prescribed.

The conversation should have started with Dr. Cheryl asking everyone else to leave the room. Asking if someone has ever experienced psychosis in front of their coworkers, is not only a serious breach of patient privacy, but could also be incredibly dangerous. If Mac had experienced psychosis, but didn’t want his coworkers to know, he’d either have to lie and risk side effects without being able to prepare, or feel pressured to release that medical information and possibly risk his job or reputation***.

Then she’d ask something to the effect of “have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness, been hospitalized for a mental health reason, or do you take any medications for a mental health problem?” And if the answer to that question was anything that would make the drug particularly dangerous to him, she’d probably tell him the risks and her assessment that it was a bad idea to proceed.

If there was no other option for some reason (I’d argue not the case in this situation), she’d tell him what the risks were, and only then would she possibly have to ask if he knew he might become aggressive, at which point they’d come up with how he’d like her to handle that possibility.

I know it’s not quite as snappy, but I would have really liked to see it.

Plus, unless it’s been asked off screen, Dr. Cheryl hasn’t asked him if he has any other health problems, if he takes any medications, or if he has any allergies, all of which could significantly impact how safe this drug could be for Mac.

Phoenix Infirmary Medical Tech

Now let’s look at some of the bits and pieces in the background of the episode. Particularly, I wanna talk about that chair, the IV pump, and the monitor.

So, chair first- it’s a dentist’s chair. It’s good for dental things and maybe some minor procedures (we have a slightly different chair in a doctor’s office I work at- we use it for things like implanting birth control, removing warts and moles, and providing wound care), but it’s not great for anything else. It’s especially not great if you have to sit there longer than a half hour. Considering we know from previous episodes that they have a full-on hospital bed somewhere at their disposal and possibly a couple of carts (narrower beds you see in the emergency department), I gotta say it makes literally no sense to put the guy who’s unconscious from a head injury in the procedure chair.

Next, the IV pump

We talked above about administering medications “IV push”- a medication “pushed” through an IV by a syringe, one dose at a time. Another way to give IV medication or fluids is via an IV drip or “piggyback”- the medication is diluted in a bag of saline or other IV fluid, and set to continuously run into a person’s IV. These are nice for doses of IV medication that have a lot of volume (like IV antibiotics) medication that wears off quickly and may need constant adjustment (like some kinds of sedation or some types of pain medication or medications that counteract shock), or just straight up IV fluids.

IV pumps control how fast the medication or fluid goes from the bag into the person. You can vaguely control this without a pump using gravity, a drip chamber, and a roller clamp, but if you need to know precisely how many milliliters of medication/fluid per hour is getting into a person, and you didn’t start your nursing career in the 1970s, you need a pump.

The one pictured above specifically consists of a central computer box (colloquially called a “brain”) where the pump rate can be programmed, flanked by interchangeable modules that each do a slightly different thing. The modules on the pump in the episode include an infusion pump, which essentially just pumps fluid from a bag hanging above it into a person, and a PCA pump. A PCA pump holds a syringe of medication (usually pain medication) and delivers a dose of it when the patient presses a button.

Honestly I think the whole things is just chillin’ in the background making the room look medical-y, but they really could have used it to continuously administer the drug or the sedation if they’d really wanted to incorporate it.

Side note, the modules are actually kind of heavy, so you have to balance them a little or the whole thing kinda tilts (see the screenshot from the episode). Also, for some reason if you stick an infusion module on the same side as a PCA module, the brain won’t recognize it half the time. Not sure if it’s a feature or a bug. Below is how someone who has ever once used one of these things would have set it up:

The other thing they have in the episode, and the last thing I’ll talk about before I let you get back to your life (I’m sure your cat misses you by now, mine sure does), is the monitor. 

I read several user manuals for this (real) monitor system in preparation for this post. I’ve concluded that it’s way, way above my med-surg pay grade, and usually used in operating rooms by anesthesiologists to monitor sedation level (so at least in theory they could be using it correctly? I’m as shocked as you are, really). I don’t even know what half those numbers mean (beyond the SpO2, heart rate, and respiratory rate), more than just being able to say they (surprisingly) do actually reflect real monitoring options on this thing. This leads me to believe this may be some kind of weird product placement thing? As if the gratuitous use of the Toyota backup cameras weren’t oddly forced enough.

Now, beyond the fact that this is a wildly high-tech, completely overkill machine for what is happening in the episode, the thing I would like to impress upon you is that regardless of the high tech-ness, every line on a monitor requires at least some attachment to the patient. Something measuring an EKG requires at least 3 leads on the patient. Something measuring oxygen saturation and pulse requires a clip on an ear or finger. Something measuring blood pressure requires a blood pressure cuff. Something measuring temperature usually means a probe somewhere the sun don’t shine. Mac has two little leads on his forehead. That is actually hilarious. He’d be covered in wires. He would have so much adhesive stuck to him.

In case you’re wondering, the heart/lungs/brain/person outline picture on the monitor just tells you how each part of the body is doing- like, the brain will turn yellow and then red if something starts going weird with the brain-related monitoring, same with the heart and lungs. It took an insane amount of searching to figure that out. I’ve been writing this post for 4 days now.

 *I had a much longer and rant-ier intro to this but I feel like I’ve complained enough on main about how the reboot dumbed down and politically neutralized an extremely opinionated and hardline character. I do really like this show, and the storylines are really interesting, but I need you all to understand how science-based and politically charged the original one was, especially in later seasons. You had such a platform for good here, CBS, and I’m hoping against hope the generic-action-show it’s become was some kind of weird, collective misunderstanding and not a censor problem. My main problem, having finished writing this post, is that he looks really weirdly good for someone who was unconscious with a head injury and then subjected to what was another few hours unconscious and hallucinating. Like, his shirt is still tucked in. Great update to the theme song, though.

**Twice. They played the bourne-style-amnesia storyline twice.

***At this point I can only recommend you watch the 1985 MacGyver Season 7 episode “Obsessed”- it’s a ridiculous-criminal-plot episode but the undertones are all anti-ableist (both criticizing the Phoenix Foundation board of directors’ ableism in assuming Pete is no longer fit to do his (desk) job after he loses his sight, and the pressure Pete himself is under to let MacGyver go because of mental health symptoms).

[theclaravoyant]

The No.1 Bus Kids Detective Agency - Chapter 4

AN ~ okay this time I really swear it’s the penultimate chapter. I think I may actually get this up before 4B officially begins! yay! in the meantime, enjoy!

Please note this fic 100% ignores the latest sneak peek. I haven’t seen it & would not like it spoiled. Thanks.

After Aida’s mysterious malfunctions, Fitz is called into the Director’s office for definitely-not-an-interrogation-we-promise. As the evidence at hand becomes increasingly concerning, Fitz decides to play it smart and set himself, Jemma and Daisy a challenge. Only, they may already be in deeper than they know.

Read Ch.1 on tumblr here x. Ch.2 here x. Ch.3 here x.

Read on AO3. (This chap: ~2300wd. All: ~9000wd)

The No.1 Bus Kids Detective Agency - Ch. 4

Into the Fire

-

Seconds passed in silence. Aida blinked passively. Simmons became starkly aware of the taste of her own saliva, and the feeling of her heartbeat in her fingertips, shaking the knife just slightly with every pump. She glanced at Vincent again. He seemed just as confused as she was, white knuckles under brown skin clenching ferociously at his knife. He met Simmons’ eyes, and with a slightly strained voice, demanded,

“You know her?”

“We’ve met,” Simmons confessed.

“Would you help me?” Aida repeated. “Please? It’s cold and I believe your Agents will be quite uncomfortable outside.”

Simmons lowered her knife a little.

“You didn’t kill them?”

“I try not to.”

“What about Nathanson?” Simmons gestured to his body, so that Aida knew.

“I wasn’t ready. They weren’t ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“I really think we should go, Doctor Simmons. Or at least send some people out. Those people, behind the lounge chair there. They would be enough. There’s only two men to carry in.”

Simmons looked to where Aida had gestured. A few of the forensics team had hidden quite successfully, but she had rooted them out in seconds. What had given them away – their heat? Their breathing? Simmons was just relieved for the fact that Aida didn’t seem intent on killing them.

“Will you let them go?” Vincent demanded. He put a surprising amount of force behind it, for all his fear.

Aida, who had been watching Simmons, eyed him up and down with an eerily human-like nod of the head.

“Doctor Vincent. You lead these people?”

“Yes.”

“You speak bravely on their behalf. Unfortunately, I must contain the situation until I am ready. I hope you understand.”

With a soft smile, that was the end of that. Vincent looked to Simmons instead, and though they both kept an eye on Aida, she seemed patient enough to wait for them to converse over what to do with the team. In the end it seemed there was nothing else for it but to send them out and order them to come back in again, carrying their guards.

“Excellent. Doctor Vincent will stay here and will call me when all members of the team return. If I do not receive a call by the time Doctor Simmons and I are finished with our work, I shall track down and eliminate security breaches. Is that understood?”

They nodded uncomfortably.

“Off you go then. Spit spot. Now, Doctor Simmons - come with me, please.”

-  

Vault D.

She’d tracked Fitz’ access card easy enough, but her anxieties were not soothed. In fact, she felt a little more nervous for having left a digital trail. If Robo-May was anywhere near as technologically aware as she had seemed in the hack, Daisy knew she could be tracked. As could Fitz. Their cards could be cancelled. In fact, if Robo-May had the mind for it, she could cut off the airflow to the Vaults. Daisy hoped Fitz had kept the good sense not to cross the barrier.

As the possibilities began to spiral, a sense of panic nipped at Daisy’s heels. Her mind was spinning so fast she could hardly read the labels on the Vault rooms as she passed them, and the scuffing of footsteps above her sounded increasingly like someone was chasing her.

Vault D.

She found it and scanned her card. If she could just get in and breathe for a second –

EH-EH

An ugly beep made her jump. She canned her card again. And again.

EH-EH. EH-EH.

How much oxygen was there in that room?

The door finally opened and she heaved a deep breath. The barrier was down, so no suffocation to worry about, and Fitz and Radcliffe were bent over a table in discussion, not at each other’s throats. Apparently at least one of the day’s discoveries had gone in their favour.

“You okay?” Fitz asked, watching Daisy with concern. “It was just your card, that wouldn’t let you in. You don’t have high enough clearance. I’d have authorized you if I knew, but the bloody rainbow –”

Daisy waved him off.

“Not important, I’m here now, and I have news. Big news.” She limped over to the table, her wounded body beginning to take its toll. Fitz offered her a seat and she sat gratefully before explaining:

“It’s May. She’s a robot too.”

Fitz frowned. “How do you know?”

“It was something she said. But think about it – she suddenly knows how to use computers. She’s smiling too much, because that’s the proper response for showing happiness for most people but not May. And she beat the crap out of me this afternoon, I mean –“ Daisy held out her arms, gesturing to her entire self. “This was supposed to be a sparring match!”

Fitz’s eyes widened, and he looked over Daisy in horror. When he glanced back over his shoulder for Radcliffe’s input, he saw the man with a hand to his chin, musing. With Fitz and Daisy’s attention on him, Radcliffe switched from thought to explanation.

“Agent May, was it?” he checked. “That makes sense. She’s your protector, all of you. That’s what they’re for. And we have her brain quite thoroughly scanned from all of that hubbub with the Ghosts. As a next step to the program, it does make sense.”

“The program?” Fitz wondered, a shiver of irritation biting at his accent. “Aida’s program? Next step?”

“Of course!” Radcliffe insisted. “No ruddy point having a legion of agents everyone knows are robots, is there? There’s got to be some LMDs that are actually the Ds for the Ls.”

“The what?” Daisy screwed up her nose.

“LMDs,” Fitz explained. “Life Model Decoys. Aida doesn’t look like anyone that’s actually alive. He’s saying that would be too easy to figure out, if they were all like that, and we need to build some that look like real agents.”

Daisy nodded, understanding. “No point pulling the old switcheroo unless there’s something to switcheroo with.”

“Exactly,” Radcliffe confirmed.

“But where did she get the body from?”

-

Simmons found herself staring into her own face.

Her own face, with skin that seemed just a little too smooth, like it would be rubbery to touch, and eyes that were vacant and soulless, not in the entrancing way that a black hole was, but dull, like a sleeping computer screen. She was face to face with a robot shell of herself – and, all said and done, a pretty good one.

Beside Robo-Jemma stood Robo-Daisy, who must have been constructed from older photos as her hair was longer. More than that, though, the shape of her eyes and her nose seemed wrong, like they’d been painted onto the wrong doll. Apparently, whoever had built the facial paneling hadn’t taken into account the Chinese elements of her bone structure. They’d used a generic Caucasian mould. An older model, perhaps? Simmons speculated.

After Robo-Daisy, stood all in a line, were a number of unpersonalised manikin-like robots, made of bare panels and wiring and different stages of skin-like covering. It was like an evolution exhibit, but for robots, where Aida, it seemed, was the living species.

A chill ran down Simmons’ spine, and at the last moment she remembered to catch the knife she’d been holding, before it slipped out of her fingers and clattered to the floor. Not that it would be much use, she couldn’t help thinking. Any attack would be fruitless; Aida would see it coming or maybe even explode it with laser vision or some other hidden robot talent. Still, she remembered where she’d left Vincent, sat on the arm of the lounge with his phone in his hands, looking about as comfortable as if he was sitting on a bomb. She strengthened her grip.

“What is this place?” she demanded. “What are these things?”

“They are my replicas. Some of them predate me – Doctor Radcliffe made a number of attempts, of course. Others have been built since myself. I built them. The last two and another. It was difficult. I had to combine much knowledge, but recently a world of thought and insight was opened to me and I could finally do it. I could finally create. Do you know what a wonder that is, Doctor Simmons?”

Aida beamed, awed by her own potential, and Simmons was painfully reminded of her younger, brighter self. It was a wonder, indeed; so much that she almost smiled for a moment, but the stakes at hand did not allow her. She forced her mind back onto the path of practicality.

“Where is the third?” Simmons asked. “You said there was another.”

“Yes. She is in the field right now, so I am unable to show you. And of course, I would not wish to ‘blow’ her cover, as the Agents say. If I may boast, however, her complexion is marvelous. Even I’m not sure how I did it! Ha! It was perfect timing, too; what a great coincidence to have such a detailed brain-scan on hand just when it was all coming to fruition?”

Still smiling, apparently quite satisfied with herself, Aida began to busy herself with a set of machinery that Simmons could not quite see. Simmons, meanwhile, frowned in puzzlement as pieces of speech and logic pulled each other toward a conclusion.

May.  

She mouthed the shape of the word, but managed to clamp down the desire to speak it aloud. It explained so much: May’s strange behaviour, her impossible computer literacy, and the perfect brain scan, available from her extremely thorough testing surrounding the Ghost incident. Simmons blanched. Would Robo-May have May’s priorities and relationships as well as skills? If not, Daisy could be in danger. Hopefully she’d realise fast enough and keep herself safe. And Fitz. And everyone else back at Base.

And what of May? Surely Aida must have known her propensity for survival and escape, if she had examined her in so much detail. Given Aida’s desire to keep everything contained – even killing Nathanson to avoid him finding this very room – Simmons could only think of two solutions to the question of May. The first was that she was dead. Plain and simple. The second? That she was alive. In both her heart and mind, Simmons favoured this one, and if she was right, with containment being the upmost priority, that meant May was somewhere within Aida’s reach at all times. Somewhere here.

“Doctor Simmons,” Aida beckoned. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

From the machinery she had constructed or uncovered a chair, and a headpiece draped in electric nodes like an elaborate EEG. Essentially, that’s what it was after all. Simmons put her knife on a bench, amongst a scattering of tools: if she needed to, she could grab at least a wrench or hammer instead. Slowly, fully aware that she was walking headfirst into danger, Simmons obeyed Aida’s invitation and sat down.

Her heart leapt into her throat at the sound of metal against metal, as cuffs from the armrests joined together over her wrists, locking her in place.

-

Fitz glowered, seething, as Radcliffe explained that he had not begun construction on the second phase, but that since he had spoken and written about it, Aida could be assumed to know of it. With plenty of knowledge at her disposal as well as her own schematics and – ‘if you and Miss Daisy are indeed correct about the book’ – an element of creativity and independence previously unknown to her, it was possible that Aida had constructed May.

“But May – Robo-May, I mean – she doesn’t have the Intelligence,” Daisy pointed out. “I mean, I don’t think so. The way she spoke, it was strange. She called me ‘Agent Johnson’ which is accurate but not what May would call me. If she had the knowledge and the ability to apply it properly, she would have called me Daisy, right?”

“Probably,” Fitz agreed. “Unless she wanted you to know she was a robot.”

“Why would she want that? She didn’t even seem to know she was one until she nearly ripped my arm off. Then it was all ‘does-not-compute’.”

Radcliffe laughed a little. “Funny, isn’t it, that Aida seems to have come to the same stop humanity has. Bestowing intelligence on machines is not as easy as it sounds. I feel a little better knowing not even an intelligent machine can pull it off.”

“I’d feel a little better if I hadn’t blown my cover.” Daisy groaned and shook her head, scolding herself. “I’m pretty sure she’s onto me. She knows I know, I’m sure of it – she’d only have to be one tenth as smart as May to catch that.”

“You did just nearly have your arm ripped off,” Fitz consoled her.

“Are you sure she knows?” Radcliffe suddenly sounded worried again. Daisy nodded pitifully.

“She bolted, then I bolted. There was mutual recognition of something super-weird. She might not be self-aware but she’s definitely aware of something.”

“Hm.” It was short. Thoughtful. Dismissive. Then Radcliffe hauled Daisy out of her seat, and shoved her and Fitz toward the Vault door.

“You have to get out of here,” Radcliffe insisted. “Aida’s mission is preservation but she may not have been able to translate that properly into the programming of the others – May, and whoever else is out there. I have a sneaking suspicion that poor Nathanson came across something he shouldn’t have, and now you have too, Miss Daisy. And if dear Jemma is following leads elsewhere, it’s likely she’s dug up something untoward by now. It seems Aida is willing to sacrifice an individual few in pursuit of the greater good – that being this project of hers, presumably - and it appears that you are now her top targets.”

[nowytarg59-blog]

Loss (season)Colorado fall shades overview: Where when to go. Erie will certainly rival at least 100 other neighborhoods to land Amazon.com's second head office, and also the 50,000 jobs that include it. The report will be sent out to your email address within 12 hours after your payment has actually been finished. Matt began the I School's Master of Information & Data Science program this term and also is the initial recipient of the Jack Larson Data for Good" Fellowship, which helps MIDS students utilizing information scientific research to benefit society. Recent Graduates might be converted to a long-term setting (or, in some minimal circumstances, a term appointment lasting 1-4 years). The apartment is located about 3 km from the facility of Nowy Targ. Ludzi) należało do Polski przed 1938 r. Było to jedenaście wsi orawskich (Lipnica Wielka i Mała, Zubrzyca Górna i Dolna, Jabłonka, Chyżne, Orawka, Bukowina, Podszkle, Harkabuz, Podsamie) i piętnaście wsi spiskich (Niedzica, Łapsze Wyżne i Niżne, Łapszanka, Kacwin, Brzegi, Rzepiska, Jurgów, Czarna Góra, Trybsz, Krempachy, Nowa Biała, Frydman, Falsztyn, Dursztyn). Zerknijcie na naszą stronę, gdzie znajdziecie wywiad z naszym nowym kapitanem Marcinem Koluszem. Redakcja nie ponosi odpowiedzialności za treść komentarzy, zastrzega sobie jednak prawo do nie publikowania ich, zwłaszcza tych, które zawierają wulgaryzmy, epitety powszechnie uznane za obraźliwe, nawołują do zachowań niezgodnych z prawem, obrażają osoby publiczne i prywatne, inne narodowości, rasy, religie itd. The test was made on March 18, after the second suit for the bronze medal against STS Sanok.

Gesher Galicia has actually not yet catalogued any kind of records or maps for Nowy Targ, but we will certainly be increasing our cataloguing at Polish and Ukrainian archives throughout 2017 and also past. It probaly survived or hads coccidia as well as could have permanent damage. Polish adjectival type of gora-( mountain) yet utilized below to refer to a genre of dance for on couple in Podhale, Poland AKA goralsku or po goralsku. Google is also dropping its $95-per-year subscription cost from Express, and will certainly deliver for free in 3 days or less when an order fulfills the shop's minimal acquisition demand. Walking around the marketplace, you will discover a significant variety of goods from ball dress to searching products, axe go to babies clothes, fresh fruit, sugary foods, electrical gear, lights, bed linens and so on SPLC Team, Southern Destitution Law Facility Thursday, Feb 16, 2017 12:54 PM UTC 0. Of course, purchasing is already a crucial function of Amazon's competing Mirror speaker, which ties into Amazon Prime to provide lots of items for free. In Białka Tatrzańska they choose a Ceper and also Ceperka and Harnaś of the Year (Ceper being a name offered to incomers and also non-locals by Tatra Highlander people, much like the way Highland Scots often call the Lowlanders and the English Sassenach, Harnaś being a regional language word for a leader of outlaws: think Altruistic and you will not be too away). What ever before activity you run, you could promote it on Nowy Targ Travel and Tour guide. Have a look inside CSU Sacramento's first dancing show of the year. . CRUCIAL NOTICE - in partnership with bet365 provides over 70,000 real-time streaming events each year. Za udział w agresji na Polskę Niemcy oficjalnie przekazali je Słowakom 21 listopada 1939 r. Do Słowacji włączono 770 km, zamieszkanych przez ponad 34,5 tys. Twenty kilometres north of Zakopane lies the old market community of Nowy Targ. Today's Playbill Five (only there were too many to select just 5). Trening składa się z części technicznej i WOD, w którym czas jest już istotnym elementem wpływającym na intensywność. The most affordable tickets to Nowy Targ readily available within the past 7 days were $265.94. Estimate are each, big salami, for the period defined. Vince Gill discussed Troy Gentry at his funeral service at the Grand Ole Opry Home. Rotterdam cops stopped a van with a variety of gas containers near the venue of a performance that was cancelled after a threat, mayor says. Conversion to an affordable service placements is not an entitlement. Use our filters and also arranging features to find the most affordable bus tickets or deluxe buses. The name originates from the red shade that plants take on in the autumn as a result of the peat land, producing a fantastic red carpeting. 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Individuals in this region are specifically popular for their oscypek, a cheese made from a mix of cow's as well as lamb's milk, their music, and their ski slopes. Such perfect location of our properties and also its affordable price make the visitors voluntarily choose it rather than rental properties in jampacked Zakopane. One of those challenges is right below in Erie Area. Equifax claimed Friday that its top information and also security execs were retiring, effective right away as the firm reels from its disclosure recently that it experienced a substantial data breach potentially impacting 143 million people in the U.S. Zawsze miły w rozmowie, dagadujacy sie, nawet jak zgubiłem się, bardzo szybko wskazał mi właściwą drogę. KAYAK becomes part of The Priceline Team, the globe leader in on-line travel & associated services. An Erie male accuseded of shooting another guy during a debate, will currently deal with trial. News is made to be beautiful to consider and easy to use. Anna and also her husband are really welcoming hosts and also aided us out a great deal. Muszę powiedzieć ze to jeden z najładniejszych/ najczystszych/najprzyjemniejszych miejsc z pokojami do wynajęcia od Nowego Targu do Zakopanego. General stipulations regarding Schedule D of the excepted service are ordered in 5 CFR 213.3401-2. To make even more area at the Miami-Dade Area Shelter, greater than 100 canines and also cats are being flown to Oakland, Calif The Information Program's terrain is the brand-new-- networked-- public sphere, the room fusing participatory on the internet connect with conventional establishments as well as media, which is now both a main battlefield in numerous battles for open society, as well as an arena rich with opportunities to cultivate open society. GTI, The Chicago company licensed to run a medical marijuana dispensary in Fairview, says its plans are still on track. . It occurred around 11:20 a.m. at East 26th as well as Pennsylvania. 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There are numerous dining establishments covering the typical pizza to those supplying neighborhood Polish traditional and local cuisine. When combined, the BlueBorne strike vector has numerous qualities which could have a devastating effect. There are additionally chess, dominoes and also a basket in which the youngest guests will locate something that will certainly permit them to have a nice time right here. Maciej Urbanowicz scored 2 goals and also served one assist, while teammate Mateusz Rompkowski was granted as MVP of the final. Don't hesitate to CALL me with any type of questions about my experience with this topic. Please check your email and click the link to reset your password. The army rewards diminished uranium munitions for their armor-piercing capabilities as well as for protective shield for containers and also lorries. National security-related demands are ruled out Tool Demands or Account Requests and are reported in a different group. See the web links below the weather forecasts for various other cities, towns and also towns near Nowy Targ. Powersports enthusiasts competed their snow sleds on the grass in various courses for an opportunity to win rewards. A local auto dealer is aiding to elevate loan for typhoon targets. . Where they will be satisfied by the Golden State Warriors. A country Detroit guy who invested 16 years behind bars for eliminating his first spouse pleaded guilty Wednesday in the slayings of his two children and two stepchildren and also in the torture of his second spouse. The sponges are also marked such that an X-ray could identify them, permitting cosmetic surgeons to much more quickly eliminate them later. Project part-financed by the European Union within the Regional Developmend Fund. Nowy Targ experienced no much less than five big fires, throughout which at least fifty percent of the buildings were completely damaged. 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