thefarshore | Heaven's BBS

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Heaven's BBS

From: Li Tieguai
Posted: November 20

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In the aftermath of recent troublesome events, I've been reminded that I was going to ask this of all of you.

How many of you have abilities, whether natural, supernatural, or recently acquired, that can be used to track someone? Furthermore, if you're willing to explain it to me, can you tell me how those abilities work?

After all, if someone else goes missing, it's best if we all know who can help us find them, and don't waste time and energy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, I think your reputation might cause some suspicion if you made the offer yourself.

So it wouldn't be possible to create a tracking device that could follow someone without marking them out for it in advance?

But if someone else made the suggestion and happened to request my assistance in making the device, it could be better received. [c'mon Hakkai you're one of the popular gods right... Add would TOTALLY use this power only for good!!]

It isn't anywhere near as efficient, but there is one other method... lifeforms such as humans generate a unique energy signature that can be detected and tracked by Nasod devices. With a powerful enough energy source or multiple devices, the detection range can be made quite large. My Dynamo is easily capable of tracking people this way, so I know it would work on gods and shinki in this world. It should also be possible to create a more specialized device that could detect lingering energy in an area to follow a "trail" of where that person went, within a reasonable timeframe.

The downside is that it's less effective in areas with high interference. For example, the magic-generating sigils in the forest completely drowned out any other signals Dynamo could've detected. Areas with a high population are also more difficult to search due to the high number of conflicting energy signatures. It's not as reliable as a specialized tracking device created for long-range searches, but it may be of some use regardless.

To be honest, tracking all of the new gods and shinki in that way might not be a bad idea.

For one thing, it would allow for much more efficient determination of whether someone has "gone home" or is in danger somewhere in this world instead.

Would those pre-prepared tracking methods also be subject to interference?

Interference would be possible, but for a manufactured signal it would be unlikely outside of situations where the signal is being targeted intentionally. Or if the device was physically removed, obviously. Overall, it would be far more reliable than methods reliant on natural energy signals that can vary or blend into the environment.

The monitoring devices planted around the Far Shore could easily be modified to collect data from individual tracking units attached to gods and shinki. The Near Shore has plenty of resources I could tap into for that as well. It wouldn't take long to set up a tracking network.

That does indeed sound useful. Have you considered convincing someone more trustworthy than I am to spread the word? After all, I have publicly confessed to mass murder.

Oh come on, do you seriously think anyone cared about that melodramatic post of yours? Stop acting like you're some sort of irredeemable psychopath just because you killed some people who wronged you.

You're the one with connections. If I knew a better candidate who wouldn't brush me off, I'd bother them about this instead.

I'm certainly not a psychopath, but yes, surprisingly, some people do care.

Although I suppose I've managed to maintain a decent reputation with some. How is your relationship with Shun?

Not anyone who knows what it's like to lose something.

I think we're on good terms, but I don't know him well enough to gauge how he'd react. Do you think he'd be supportive of the idea?

Ha ha, I appreciate the support.

I think he'd be very unsupportive if he thought that the tracking were permanent, but if, for example, it were something that could be activated in case of danger, he might be converted.

I'm not supporting you, stop twisting my words around. I'm telling you you're stupid for even trying to use that as an excuse.

A device that can be activated and deactivated wouldn't make a lot of sense for something like this... if it can be activated remotely when the signal needs to be viewed then it's exactly the same as a device that broadcasts constantly. If it can't be activated remotely then it's completely useless.

I suppose if we assume people would be volunteering for this willingly, options could be made available for anyone paranoid about it. A tracking device that can be carried rather than something inserted into the body. It would be less reliable in an emergency if the person didn't carry it with them at the time or dropped it, but it would still provide useful tracking information under most circumstances. If someone didn't want to be tracked, they could choose not to bring it with them.

Yes, it's probably for the best to assume people would be volunteering for this willingly. Perhaps something that could be worn, such as a pendant or bracelet?

How difficult would it be to create something like that? Which is to say, how long would it take to produce enough for the newcomers?

If I can get the right materials together, I should be able to make a prototype and set up a basic tracking network over a few days. Mass-producing a compact device like this by hand would take way too long, though, so I'll need to design a machine to automate the process for me as well. I can delegate some of the work to Apocalypse, but it'll probably take a week or two to have everything fully setup and tested. But once those steps are taken care of, production of additional devices should be a snap.

The design wouldn't have to be much different from a chip that goes inside a body. The only difference would be you can insert it into something besides a body. So the object it's going to be attached to doesn't really matter, it'll be small enough to be embedded into a variety of items.

And would anyone be able to access the tracking function? Or authorized people, at least?

Giving the public full access to something like that would be asking for trouble. We've already had one serial killer, if someone else decided to go on a killing spree I'm sure they'd love to have a map of everyone's whereabouts. A short list of authorized persons should be enough, a reporting system could be setup to notify administrators of a missing person so they could relay the information back. Requests would be logged, and to prevent abuse we may need to limit who is able to request location data on a "missing" person. Each person with a tracking device could provide a list of trusted or un-trusted persons to limit who might be able to ask for their location.

Security breaches could also pose a serious issue due to the nature of the collected data, so an emergency lockout system would be necessary before going live. Something that would be able to remotely deactivate all tracking devices if someone with ill intent gained access to the system.

Hmm. On second thought, this may take a bit longer than my original estimate. [if it fell into the wrong hands, that could be disastrous... and he'd need to decide who he can trust to handle administrative roles, and teach them how to work with the system, so he'd also need to make sure everything is accessible and understandable to people besides himself... ugh, it's way too much work.]

I'm afraid I agree with you about the dangers of public access -- but, equally, we wouldn't want to have the system become inoperable if you were the one who was missing or incapacitated.

A short authorized list of administrators does seem like the best way to handle it, and submitting a list of those who can ask for a location could be incorporated as a requirement of receiving a tracking device.

It does sound like quite a bit of work, though, if you're going to develop an entire system. Is that feasible?

It's going to have to be. This is connected to my own goals as well, so there's no reason for me not to do it.

I'll work on the prototype for now and contact Shun once I have something to show for it. When the time comes, I'll be expecting your support.

As long as you're willing to work with me if I dislike something about the prototype, I'll be happy to lend my support.

If I wasn't trying to reach an agreeable compromise, I would've just starting chipping people without telling them. [obviously]

I'll be in touch.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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