D.A.R.Y.L. Fan Fic

Hi electronic_brain (and anybody else following this thread!),

Part siz is up now. It doesn't get things as far along as I'd hope, but I hope it puts some more "flesh on the bones" of this story. It may be becoming darker/more-mature. Enjoy!

-David Chipman

PS: The "attack mode" won't be quite like you are describing (more for "immediate defense", not some piddling thing like being an interpersonal pest).

Very interesting...

I like how you seem to be involving the higher levels of government!

Will we get to listen in on these chats to the higher levels?

Also, a thought just occured to me, what would happen if some nut in the town were building a transistor radio/some-other-piece-of-home-made-junk, and accidentaly hacked into the frequency that Daryl transmits back to TASCOM on?

Hi electronic_brain,

You certainly will be able to listen in on higher-level chats (there's one coming up, in the chapter I'm writing now). About the listener, he'd probably get garbage, and if anybody picked up on transmissions of *his*, he'd probably get raided ;). Though they may have some intersting questions for the Richardson's as well ("Do you know Joe Blow-Wacko?" ;) ). After all, there were certain promises about secrecy they made in order to get Daryl back. Later,

-David Chipman

PS: Part 7 is up now.

I've read part 7, it's getting better all the time!

Does this mean that we are moving the scene back to (insert random town) where the richardsons live?

Also, with that thing about Daryl perhaps wanting to be terminated, perhaps this could be related to his first crush? He's at about the right age, after all. In fact, is he actually able to fall in love (crush or otherwise), or would he have to observe others first? Perhaps Dr. Lamb could help with this? (Turtle probably wouldn't be much help, considering how he watches his sister; he'd probably give the wrong info!)

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you think it's getting better. We are moving back to Barkenton (for a few pages), yes.

I don't think Daryl's interest in termination would be because of "crushes" (either him having a crush on someone, or someone having a crush on him). Daryl probably doesn't have the hormonal glands thtat are needed to develope crush feelings (he's alive *enough*, but not that alive). Thoough, interstingly, given that his feelings are based on what others interacting with him feel, he might develope crush-like behaviours towards certain people. It's Dr. Lamb and General Graycliffe who are discussing "euthanasia". There may have been too many hasty decisions made about Dryl being with the Richardsons. People may be realizing how complex it is to have Daryl living outside TASCOM. I haven't put much thought into a reason why *he* might want to "die", but the people from TASCOM are wondering about it (looking for a way out of this mess they find themselves in, maybe? I don't know). Later,

-David Chipman

PS: Part 8 is now up.

Very interesting! The fact that Daryl's lost all memory since entering "lifeboat" mode is intruging!

Plus, does this mean that Turtle's paretns will have to meet Dr. Lamb to make the same aggreements of secrecy?

Also, this is more reated to the last few chapters, but with Daryl's Electro-pathic abilities, would he perhaps be able to get through any security and access the files/memories/etc. of this new, adult prototype?

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you liked part 8. The complate memory loss was the result of the contents of his internal memory being read to the disk, not the actual entering lifeboat mode. Being in lifeboat mode casued his artificial intelligence and memory to slowly deteriorate. Not knowing how he'd gotten home was the result of the transfr to disk, and restoring his state from what they had stored at TASCOM earlier (durring the faked deactivation procedure, probably), it wasn't when he entered lifeboat mode that it disappeared, remember, he did recognize Joyce (even if she was no long "mom", as she had been earlier in the day). You've raised an intersting point about Turtle's folks that I *completely missed*! About the magnetic-field-affect that Daryl seems to have, I don't know how much range it has. He can probably just communicate with the minicomputer/mainframe server through the standard protocols develeoped for him. So, no, I don't thik he would be able to break into the other partitions that they are going to create. At least, I don't think I'll be letting him, though it's at least a question that might come up later (if or when, I have no idea at the moment). The sharing of information talked about earlier would be done by Dr. Lamb or, under her direction, one of the lab techs. Later,

-David Chipman

Hi David,

This seems like an obvious question, but how does Daryl generate power? I assume that his brain, like all computers, runs on electricity.

Also, why can't Dr. Lamb find some way to help Daryl express the 'crush' feelings, should something like this come up. After all, Daryl's classmates are going to notice something strange soon, considering how he reacted to 'ms cheater' in the classroom scene of the movie. He can't learn only from Turtle's somewhat warped opinions!

Fianlly, woukld Daryl even be affected by any testosterone in his bloodstream? Without this, he'd be stuck as a kid forever (hence the part "Youth" in his acronym!)

Hi, electronic_brain,

For your first question, it will be answered in the story... Daryl would probably express crush feelings on his own "You kind of guess at that, because you know how you're feeling yourself". I just checked the book, and Daryl simply seemed to be copying behaviours (as if what this girl was doing (Andrea?) was the right thing to do in that situation. Well, it might be better if he did some learning from Turtle, otherwise, his behaviours would be unrealistic for his age. like Turtle, he should probably be allowed to learn on his own, as long as he knows that Turtle's knowledge is rather "iffy". Maybe Sherie-lee could help with that, ("some of the things Turtle says about me are not true", etc.). For your last question, it would only be physiological affects of testosterone, not bahavioural, since testosterone won't modify his programming. But his interactions with others going through puberty might, as I suggest above. Later,


-David Chipman

Hi electronic_brain,

Part 9 is now up. It took me a while to do, but I hope you enjoy it.

-David Chipman

Getting better all the time!

Speaking of time, this is perfect timing to distract me from my sunburn (the joys of living in Australia! (rolleyes)

Anyway, I assume that all these questions that Daryl is asking are related to the un-answered question that he asked Dr. Stewart in the lab, about what he is?

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you like it. Now, about Daryl's questioins: I think Joyce's comments are the first time anybody has suggested to him that he isn't alive. Not even durring that meeting he had with Dr. Lamb and Dr. Stewart in their confernce room, where they reviewed clips from his experience-videos. They never mentioned, in his presence that he wsan't alive. She called him "it", but that may not have been direct enough to let him know. It seems like it never came up. Now, from Joyce, it is. It is probably quite a surprise to Daryl that he wasm't. I don't know how that is going to come out(do the Richardson's take Daryl to church? What sort of reactions does he get there? Do they consider him to have a spirit? Could be intersting...). Too contoversial? Later,

-David Chipman

For that last one about the church, perhaps they could get Dr. Lamb's permission to tell a preist/rabbi/etc.

Or maybe Daryl's already been baptised/whatever while he still had an 'organic' brain, but he isn't aware.

Finally, there is the argument about whether or not a spirit/soul/etc. is with a person at birth, or is it earned? If at birth, then one could assume that Daryl's body has still retained it's soul, and if earned, gainig emotions should have definetly earned him one.

On a different note, I'v ejust realised, you wrote in the fanfic that Dr. Stewart and crew gave Daryl his electronic brain about three years ago. However, in the film, it is made to seem as though Daryl had his computer brain from the start:

"Daryl wasn't concieved in a womb, but in a laboratory test tube, with a computer brain, provided by us..."

Hi electronic_brain,

You raise an intersting problem, but I *think* I've got reasonable answers. First of all, I don't think that Dr. Stewart was being *entirely* truthful with the Richardson's about Daryl's creation. Inreal-life, the first successful test-tube birth was in 1979, which would have made Daryl six, at the most (assuming the story takes place in '85, when the film was released). Second, genetic engineering to prevent the brain's develeopement, before birth? Don't think so, you need the brain developing before birth to run the growing fetus (certain in later parts of gestation[sp?]), but you can't really grow a kid to birth size in a test tube, either. Thirdly, Daryl's head would have to have grown to a certain size before the brain was put in. That's what Dr. Lamb was saying in the fan-fic about Daryl having been their (her's & Dr. Stewart's) son (though I'm wondering if I should change that to them adopting him for the purpose of implanting the computer?). Daryl's head would have been a certain size for the hardware to fit. So, yes, the computer was provided by them, but it certainly wasn't in there his whole life. Think about how fast he learns, as well... Later,

-David Chipman

PS: You don't think I've put too much thought into these details do you? LOL But seriously, these are probably issues that wouldn't realy fit into a mid-80's family sc-fi movie.

PPS: That picture that Dr. Lamb tried to give to Joyce, was from before the computer was put in, for example.

I don't think that you're putting too much detail in. If anything, it's making the fanfic more interesting.

However, this is only my opinion. If anyone else is watching this forum, now would be a great time to speak up!

PS. How do you think Andy's going to react when he finds his bloated bank account? How about the company? (Remember the comment that Andy said to Howie: "Some guys gotta work for a living, unlike some guys I know...")

PSS. You may want to check out the book "The Lab" by Jack Heath and the series of "Jimmy Coates (Killer/Target/Revenge)" by Joe Craig. All four of these books seem to share some of the themes of DARYL, although to a higher extent. (Note: J.C. Revenge is not available yet)

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you like the detail I'm putting into the fan-fic.

I think Andy had to deal with the account-bloat incident while Daryl was back at TASCOM (if not earlier, but we just didn't see it). I think the *bank* would have dealt with it by checking the deposits and withdrawls, if a amount of money just shows up in the account (without a deposit), they might have just retracted the change in the bank balance. The building developer Andy works for probably had little to do (if that's the company you're thinking of).

I checked the information on the Jimmy Coates books, and they seem *just* like D.A.R.Y.L.! I haven't found info about "The Lab" by Jack Heath, though. Later,

-David Chipman

You may want to try "googling" Jack Heath. This was the only way I could get any info. To be fair, he's only 19 and more-or-less the polar opposite of famous.

PS. with the bank thing, I've just remembered somethign my father told me a few ytears ago, that in the mid nintes, some kid in New Zealand used a "timeout" chocolate bar wrapper in an ATM and withdrew $10,000 with it, thus raising bank security worldwide. So, Daryl may have been able to get the extra cash without ayone noticing? (I dunno how tight bank security was in the 80's.)

Hi electronic_brain,

I did finally google information about Jack Heath. The story he wrote ssounds a lot like D.A.R.Y.L. as well. I'm working on the next part of the fan-fic btw. Just to let you know,

-David Chipman

PS: Part 10 is now up

As usual, very good.

I'm glad to read that Daryl may survive after all!

Also, I expected for Dr. Lamb to actually meet with the Fox family in this chapter. Ah well, it' not the most evil cliffhanger I've been exposed to! (will we see this conversation?)

Finally, you wrote in an earlier issue that all of Daryl's brain was replaced y the computer. However, I've been told that the eyes are an extension of the brain. Will this mean anything?

PS. hope you enjoyed the books, assuming you've read them. If not, don't read the previous scentence until you do. (oops, too late!)

PSS. I won't be responding from the 10th through 13th, my family's headed up to Warrnambool (a country town) for a railway exhibition (goody!).

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm sorry I disappointed you, regarding Dr. Lamb's meeting with the Foxes. I ran into writer's block, and I had about 6 pages added to the main document since I had done the last posting. So, I didn't get as far as I might have hoped, but I felt it had gone far enough to be another chapter.

There is a poetic idea about the eyes and the soul Biologically, though, eyes are simply another sensory organ (like the ears and nose).

Later,

-David Chipman

PS: Part 11 is now up

This is getting more and more interesting by the chapter!

I like how you've put in my magnets idea, thank you.

Just do us all a favour, could you -not- write in a case of "bodily functions continuing" so to speak.

Anyway, another question:
In the human body, lack of oxygen (via the heart) would take about 2-3 minutes for brain damage. Since Daryl doesn't have to worry about this, how long could he survive without his heart beating?

Also, I learnt in my year 8 class half a year ago, that the amount of stomach acid produced can be reduced through exposure to toxic chemicals. would this cause a problem for Daryl?

Extra thought:
Who's paying for the jet that Graycliffe blew up at the end of the movie?

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you're liking this part even more

I understand your misgiivings, but there probably will be *some* mentioning of things (but not much detail, you'll be happy to know). Maybe it's because of my disability (Spina Bifida), that I'm more aware of these things, and more accepting of them, as a part of life, but it won't be too gross (no detail! aware of things that others wouldn't want to be, I maybe-stupid, I'm not).

About the oxygen deprivation (which we saw in the movie, btw) He'd probably be OK for a couple hours, till other parts of the body started dieing off.

I didn't know about that issue with stomach acid, but I can't see how Daryl would get into that sort of situation? Do you remember the chemicals in question?

The jet is probably just "the cost of doing business", why?

-David Chipman

For the jet thing, I'm just curious.

Anyway, I think passive smoking or alcohol (more likely) may be related to the stomach acid thing, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's only temporary.

Finally, believe me, I'm fully aware of your intelligence. How else could you produce a fanfic this good?

Hi electronic_brain,

LOL, I didn't even see you questioning my intelligence. Heck, there are times I do. Later,

-David Chipman

Any news on the next chapter yet?

(Sorry, term just started and year 9 is much more boring than I thought! Save me from the boredom that is Math class! I did this sort of work years ago!)

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm working on it, slowly. Things are probably moving back to TASCOM/Washington, though. Later,

-David Chipman

Part 12 is now up!

Very interesting!

Does this mean that Graycliffe's superior is going to meet Daryl? It'd be quite a squished house if all of washington meets Daryl, the reichardsons and the foxs!

Of course, it seems that a vicious cycle is taking place: As each level of government accepts Daryl's sentinence, the next level is called upon!

Also, any idea when the school excursion/camp will be?

Hi electronic_brain,

I loved what you said about the people meeting the Richardsons. It won't be at their place, though! Reread the chapter, and you'll get somw idea... About each level calling upon the level above it, it's generallly called CYA ("Covering Your A$$"). They ned permission from their boss to do things that may "blow-up in [somebody's] face". So far, so good. But the one thing that worries me, is there doesn't seem to be a villain, yet.. (odd, but there you have it). Later,

-David Chipman

Hello I am here I will now ready the story. I have just read the book as well to refresh my memoet and may watch the movue again to, Speak soon

Hi zeo1,

Thanks for reading the fan-fic. I hope you enjoy it! Please, respond to the first message in this thread though. Thank you,

-David Chipman

Hi there,

I hope you're still following the story, electronic_brain. Part 13 is now up. Later,

-David Chipman

Hi,
I'm definitely following the story, and i loved Chapter 13! Do you have any plans to reveal how Daryl's electropathic abilites work? (Other names could be technopath, electrokinetic, etc.) For the game, why was Daryl staring at the screen? I thought that the information was inside the actual computer, not the monitor! Also, for the tests, that brings up another moral subject. Does it count as cheating if he uses his abilities here, as well? Because that could also mean that proper, human gifted students (like me) could be considered as cheats for having, and using, better abilities than others. (did they have accelerated classes back in the mid 80's?)

Also, I like that little part about Turtle being interested in someone else. Would Daryl understand this? does he know what it means (probably not, as he's been in the 'real world' for maybe a month by now)

finally, there seems to be some sort of telepathic connection going on here: The patten is, I always check this site, and then within 24 hours, the next chapter is up! Weird, eh?

PS. perhaps Mr. Nesbitt could become suspicious of Daryl, and thus be the 'villan' of the story?

Hi there,

The fact I had Daryl staring at the screen is becasue he did in the movie (lame OK, bu tht's the simplest reason I could come up with). However, within the movie "universe" Daryl may need to watch things to monitor their reactions to his controller-bypassing inputs, expecially a visual medium like a video game). In the book, when he turns down the soudn in his room at TASCOM, it's said that he concentrated on the conroller box for the sound system.
About the school tests? Oh, I wouldn't consider that cheating, just him posessing knowledge other's don't expect him to have. Remember, Nesbitt didn't expect the kids to know the answers (reasonably enough, I guess). Daryl knew the answers becasue he could just calculate them in his head (this is math, not some artistic subject, with easthetic prefrences. there is a right and wrong). That rememinds me, I love the line about the "calculus system" from that scene! LOL, That put Nasty Nesbitt in his place!
Turtle becoming interested in girls, makes sense, once Daryl went back to his birth parents. I don't know if Daryl would. That was, after mostly a "thought ballon" from Sherie-Lee.
You rasie an intersting time question, I don't really have much idea of how much time the movie covers. How long has Daryl been out "in the wild", so to speak? He did have one girl show an interest in hime, IIRC. Watch the film on YouTube! Later,

-David Chipman

Hey, I just realised, it's been nearly a year to the day since the first posting!

About the Nesbitt suggestion, you said you needed a villan, so I've suggested him. Or have you got another idea, and I have to wait for it?

I don't know why, but i think the movie was about 3 months in length, starting from the 'copter scene to the part where your fanfic starts.

Also, does Daryl's birthday count as what's on the birth certificate, or when the computer was implanted? Because, despite the same body, the original Daryl, and then D.A.R.Y.L., are different people.

Are you planning to expand on Turtle's interests?

Finally, does Daryl have to comply with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?

PS. what does 'IIRC' stand for?

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you're still following it, since it had been a while (I thought) since I had updated the story.
Nesbitt, or some politician who gets cold feet, might be a villain, I'm not sure.
How do you figure three months in length for the movie time-line (thanks for the guess, though)?
I would say his brithday is on his birth certificate.
I don't know if I will be going further into Turtle's romantic interests. Daryl may have to comply with The Laws of Robotics, but I hadn't considered that. Asimov's Laws were often for robots which are full machines, so they would be more powerful than humans, physically. So in order to protect humans, they had laws that they were programmed to abide by. Daryl, physically being a child he may not have those laws, because adults would be able to control him. Remember Howie Fox's comment about the reason for child protection laws?
By the way (BTW), IIRC mean "If I Recall Correctly". Later,

-David Chipman

Hi,

Thanks for explaining IIRC.

for the time thing, I figure, there was at least a week between the 'copter chase and the pole-position game, Inc. Daryl's first day at school. After that, there was baseball (Probably another week or two), the game was on the weekend, and then some unlimited timespan seems to have passed between then and the scientists reclaiming him. Then, it must've been no more than a week until he came back home. So, I see between four and five weeks, plus the 'unlimited timespan', which is up for argument. Eh, maybe three months IS too much.

Has Daryl been back to school since he returned?

About Asimonv's laws, Daryl does have some capabilities that are higher than those of humans, besides the electropathic skill. For example, you mentioned that should he need surgery, the scientists could 'turn off' pain and etc. If this were to happen, but no-one set it back, he maty take unneccesary risks, depending on how much his descisions depend on the pain inputs.

Also, are you planning to expand on this new prototype? Will you consider my idea (Daryl wanting the technology upgrade?) Also, this could perhaps be a romantic interest for Daryl if the new protoype is a female? (Remember it'd take a few years to get started, and also a few years age either way doesn't matter! So, an 18-year-old new prototype would probably fit!)

Hi electronic_brain,

Those are good guesses about time, except I think the time between the ball game and the scientists showing up was at most a week. No, Daryl hasn't been to school yet. I was beginning to wonder if they might go to a summer science camp, instead of back to school by this time? The Asimov's laws had more to do with physical differences between humans and robots. Daryl is physically a child, so that wouldn't be as much of an issue. There may be issue's about the prototype, I'm not sure at the moment. Later,

-David Chipman

I don't think that it's already the summer holidays, as we can agree that it can't have been more than about 6 weeks since the saga started. Where I live, terms usually go for 10 to 12 weeks. Why would Daryl have been enrolled in school, if there's only six weeks to go before the 'main' holdiays of the year? (Ours are around Christmas time and go for 6-10 weeks.) Usually, students are enrolled within the first week or two of a term.

Also, on note of the new prototype and technology, presumably, if Daryl ca operate other forms of computers, then presumably he runs on a binary code system as well? Also, is he aware of how HE operates? Perhaops he could be involved in the design of the new prototype, considering that he is, in fact, quite probably the most intelligent life-form in the movie-and-fanfic universe. Also, is he essentiually a 'file' on the computer-brain circuitry? If so, would it be possible to create backups? would it be possible to create copies of him onto new computers, even if those computers didn';t have bodies to inhabit, but an external power source?

PS. Happy anneversary to the fanfic! (to the tune of Happy Birthday!)

Hi electronic_brain,

You raise good points about when the movie takes place (calendar-wise), and don't worry, he's going back to school, not to camp.
Daryl's brain is a binary computer, certainly. He isn't aware of how he operates. Remember his comment to Turtle about how does it feel to be a robot? I imagine that the scientists and military don't want Daryl to be aware of the ongoing research. Remember, it's supposed to be top secret stuff. I don't understand how you mean "file" here, but I would remind you that he was "backed-up" durring the faked deactivation, and he was restored in his sleep the first night back at the Richardson's. I don't know how well Daryl's program would work without the extensive imput and output network that is the Central Nervous System, so I don't think he woud work well in a disembodied machine. Later,

-David Chipman

Part 14 is up now. Let me know what ya think!

Just read 14, very interesting!

Daryl may have to come up with a 'cover story' to hide his past. Trudi can't be the only person to ask!

Also, with the speedreading, what are the chances that Nesbitt may have seen something? A 300-page textbook would take 5min to read at a second-per-page!

Is Daryl aware of plaigurisim (spelling?) laws? Did they have typed-up assignments in school back then? If so, then maybe Daryl could blow his cover in the computer room, by seemingly staring at the screen, and 'typing' the entire assignment in under a minute?

Will Daryl be allowed to attend the funeral? Perhaps this could be 'killing two birds with one stone', and be combined with the washington meeting?

Do you think that if one of the 'heads' that stand over Grayclifee didn't agree to the fial decision to keep him alive, would they be able to sneak in to the labs at night and de-activate him?

Keep the story coming!

EDIT: Something else that occured to me, wouldn't it be easier for Daryl to 'read' a book, by scanning the image of the page and reviewing it later?

Hi electronic_brain,

About the cover story, you have a point, but I don't know what it'd be. He was only reading the pages about Ben Franklin, so not the whole textboosk, (which if it's like Canadian History books starrts with talking about the pioneers and the Native Indians and ends in the '60s).
No, plagiarism is another thing, like cheating (which is essentially what plgaiarism is, after all) that nobody has taken the time to explain to him. BTW, you mention the possibility of Daryl "typing" out his assignment without touching the keyboard, he probably won't pull that again, after Turtle told-him-off.
That's an interestiong idea, and why shouldn't Daryl attend the funeral?
There has been no final decision to keep the D.A.R.Y.L. Project going, or not.

Hi again,

Just re-read part 14, and the part with Graycliffe and Lamb talking, could this perhaps develop into Graycliffe having a crush on Lamb? It'd make an -interesting- sub-plot!

Also, considering Daryl's 'amnesia' that he had when he was at the orphanage, I don't know much about tests and the like, but did he by any chanc ehave to go through some X-Rays? If that was part of the test, then perhaps the people at the orphanage could discover his secret. Thus, it could place Howie in an awkward position!

The scene could be something like this, but I'm too lazy to come up with names, so I've numbered the characters:

Hey, 1, come take a look at this! Said 2.
(holds up an x-ray of Daryl's head)

2 calls Howie, asks him about where Daryl ended up, etc., etc.

Finally, for the cover story, perhaps Daryl could say something like his father died (true) and then make up something about his Mum/Mom being too heartbroken to deal with it? Maybe, when he's constructing the story the first time, he could send a message through the memory storage system, to ask the peopl;e at TASCOM to type the words into his memory, so that he can read it off there? Then, he'd be spared the difficulties involved with making the story up? Plus, is Daryl able to lie? It seems that he's just deflecting any questions that he shouldn't be answering?

EDIT: could Nesbitt's thought, 'they could all probably use some, actually', in regards to the oral presentations, be a setup for the 'life story' assignment?

Hi electronic_brain,

I don't think I'll be going for a Dr. Lmab.General Graycliffe love-interst. He is just very aware of what he's done (indirectly) to her, by having her husband killed.
I don't think they checked his head becasue his amnesia wasn't "structural memory loss", there's no reason to put him through a medical scanner (though things might have bene interesting if they had used an MRI!)
Thanks for the cover story suggestion(s).
Daryl sucks at prevarication, in case your wondering why he has to deflect questions about his background, Later,

-David Chipman

Hi,

just watched the movie again, found an error: In the first part of Daryl playing the game, before it speeds up unrealistically, you can see him moving the joystick!

Hi electronic_brain,

I just watched that segment, and I'd swear he doesn't move his hands at all. However, I watched the segment on a video I downloaded from Youtube, and blew-up to full-screen (so it's heavily pixelated), so I could get a close look. Later,

-David CHipman

If it helps, it was the part when it is zooming in on Daryl, before we see the screen reflecting off his eyes - it's only a second or two!

If I remember right, he moves the joystick towards him, then around a 180 degree to the right and away from him. (Kida like the letter 'D', where he starts at the top, goes straight down, then back up around the curve!)

Hi electronic_brain,

that's interesting to read. Though, if those joystick moves are accurate, it makes no sense! (do you know how to use a joystick for driving simulations?). Later,

-David Chipman

I actually have no idea- I've never played a car simulation, my interest is railways/railroads! (You wouldn't believe how f...ed up our rail system is in Melbourne!)

Hi electronic_brain,

It's actually pretty simple. Push forward to excellerate, pull back to brake, push left to turn left, and right to turn right. Anyway, my major simulation insterst is flight sims. Later,

-David Chipman

Well then perhaps it was selecting a scenario? I know that the latest games have multiple 'tracks' (the rest of my family loves cars - I think they're nuts!)

Anyway, how's chapter 15 coming?

Hi electronic_brain,

Pole Position didn't really have separate scenarios. You just raced your car against computer controlled cars, around a simulated track. Chapter 15 is coming along, slowly. Later,

-David Chipman

Hi electronic brain,

Chapter 15 is done!

-David Chipman

What is the URL again? Thanks.

Hi akula1947, the URL for the story (from the beginning) is: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2834688/1/. OK? Later,

-David Chipman

Very interesting chapter 15!

Setting up a stack of new story threads, and this whole jeweller thing, as well!

-What happens if the bracelet falls off?
-How long until the field trip?
-Is it an overnight camp, or just a day trip?

More questions when I'm awake (it's 9:30pm here!)

Hi electronic_brain,

Bracelets, like the ones Medic-Alert provides, don't come off accidentally. There a probably a few days (I may skip some days, to get things moving...) Now, it's just a school field trip, not an overnight trip (not that it'd matter....). Ask away...

-David Chipman

Well, it could matter, because it would depend on how far Daryl's able to transfer his memories - there are a number of mobile phones, etc., that even today don't work in the woods, due to lack of coverage.

The only question I can come up with is, what if the 'jeweller' they find, in the military or otherwise, happens to be a spy from (insert US enemy of the era)?

Also, do you think that the fact that Dr. Stewart's dead could perhaps be leaked, because so far, Daryl hasn't outright 'lied', although he's come close to it.

Also, what'd happen if Trudi/Andrea/whoever came over to Turtle's or Daryl's house, unannounced, while Dr. Lamb was there? (Handing over the bracelet, perhaps?)

And, if/when something goes wrong on the field trip, and Dr. lamb has to make an appearance, perhaps whoever saw Dr. Lamb previously could get suspicious?

Finally, I find it interesting in the latest chapter, that Turtle thinks "He's using his computer brain", as though it's something Daryl can turn on and off - which we, as the readers, know isn't true. It seems he has yet to realise that the actual person "Daryl" is nothing more than a program in a chunk of metal, to put it bluntly, just as much as we, as 100% humans, are a program for a big, squishy thing... (Bad humour, I know, but I'm lazy!)

Hi electronic_brain,

I take it, you've forgtten the satelite dish on top of the TASCOM building? That is how Daryl comunicates with the mainframe every night. He's not using an early cellular network, which is how phones can lose connections. OK? Later,

-David Chipman

Hi David,

How's the next chapter coming? Not to rush you, but I've noticed they were coming at an average of one per month - I don't deal well with withdrawal!

Hi electronic_brain,

I understand what you're saying, but I don't deal well with writer's block, either. I hope to get something up soon. Not sure where things should go next....

Hi electronix_brain,

I've posted the next part...

-David Chipman

Very interesting...

I like the fight scene, presumably this kid is the one that attacked Daryl in the book, but not the film? (Remember, I don't have the book!)

Keep up the good work!

PS. In perfect time for my Birthday too! (Sunday...)

Hi electronic_brain,

Yes, the fight scene is a reference to the scene from the book. I'm glad you like it, and Hapy Birthday! Later,

-David Chipman

G'day David,

How's the next chapter coming? If you've hit a writer's block, can I at least get some spoilers?

Hi electronic_brain,

Gunny you should be asking, I'm just writing things now. Sherie-Lee will be able to go with the boys on the science trip, that's the big news. I'll leave the rest until I've posted the next chapter, and you can read it yourself.

-David Chipman

Gunny!?!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

looking forward to it, it may break the monotone with my year 9 homework - snore!

(BTW, thanks for the 'happy birthday' - you seem to care much more than one of my uncles, who sent me about 20 salt 'n' sugar packs! Sure they had trains on the front, a given positive, but still!)

Hi electronic_brain,

For a second you had me confused, but then I realized there had been a typo in my previous message to you. I mean that it was funny you r had just posted a message to me, since I was working on the story at teh time. Since I've gone back to school, there may be les time to write, not that I spend much time at it. But I do thin about things a fair bit (going over and over things). I'll get things up in a couple days, maybe by the weekend. Later

Congrats (I think) on going back to school! I'd say enjoy, but, ah...

Anyway, browsing through Wikipedia, and I came across this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_maximum

which lead to this:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm?list862664

Would the September 1986 Solar Maximum affect Daryl in any way? Considering that it means (from what I understand) that there'd be much greater magnetic fields?

EDIT:

on the Wiki Solar Minimum page, there's this:

"Power outages, disrupted satellite functions and communications, malfunctioning GPS receivers--these are just a few of the things that can happen during Solar Max."

Hi electronic_brain,

Thanks for your congratulations. I hope to get my diploma this time. Well, the sunspot activity makes things problematic for satellites, not necessarily the ground stations (and Daryl would be one of those, remember). I've posted the next part to the story.... I hope you like it. Later,

-David Chipman

So far so good, but a few comments:

1) The title for this chapter isn't too creative, maybe change it?
2) how did Dr. Lamb know the jeweller's name? Maybe edit it to "she walked into the shop, noticing the sign on the doors that read, 'James Howard Jewellers.'"

By the way, if you have time, would you be able to either type up or give me a link to the chapter involving James Frost in the book? He seems to be turning into a fairly important character, but I've never read the book, so I don't understand the previous bullying incident. If you type it up, it'd be less than 10% of the book, and therefore wouldn't void any copyright issues... right?

For the sunspot thing, how do we actually know that Daryl isn't 'hitching a ride' on a pay TV satellite? Also, maybe the effects of the science trip would be magnified, if the trip occurred at the same time as the sunspot flare up.

By the way, is 'TASCOM' an acronym? If so, what for?

Finally, can I ask, what are you studying? If it has anything to do with railways, I can help you out! (I've got a 'one-track mind' according to my mum!)

Seeya
Dave.

EDIT: is there any chance that Daryl may start to feel guilty, if he learns that the body he's in right now originally belonged to a live human, who shared his name. Technically, the body (aka original, dead Daryl), but not the mind (aka. D.A.R.Y.L.), is the biological product of the parents.

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you're still enjoying the story.
First off, IMHO I suck at chapter titles.
Dr. Lamb knew the name of the store, cuz she was looking them up in the phone book, and that scene is in an earlier chapter!
I didn't realize that the James Frost character was becoming important (though I have had some ideas about him and his folks. Remember your idea about the tinkerer stumbling on Daryl's broadcast frequency? It may also help explaining why James is a jerk...).
Whether Daryl uses a pay TV Satellite is neither here-nor-there, if sunspots are an issue (but it's probably a military comsat instead, anyway), it could still affect the satellite, but not Daryl directly.
I've been wondering about "TSACOM" for a while myself, and I"ve thought about it, but since it was not mentioned in the film or book, I haven't put it in myself. Remember, "Daryl", the life-form, and "D.A.R.Y.L." the implanted computer hardware, were both Dr. Lamb and Dr. Stewart's "kid", (in both senses, you might say), before and after.
I'm studying "Computer Engineering Technology". Are you surprised? ;)

-David Chipman

I didn't realize that the James Frost character was becoming important (though I have had some ideas about him and his folks. Remember your idea about the tinkerer stumbling on Daryl's broadcast frequency? It may also help explaining why James is a jerk...).

Hi electronic_brain,

No, James Frost isn't an "evil Daryl", but wait for it. The scene is way to long to post, so I'll describe it here:

Daryl is demonstrating his ability with a Rubik's Cube, and is trying to explain how to do it, when Frost shows up, and accuses Turtle of laughing at him. Turtle at first denies it, saying he was laughing at a joke, but then says that it was a joke named James Frost (I have no clue how true this is. It could have been foolish bravado on Turtle's part). Turtle tries to defend himself when James frost beats him up, but doesn't do well. Daryl tries to help, and gets into his own fight with James Frost, which he wins.

Later,

-David Chipman

PS: IU've just realized I may have mis-characterized some characters interactions. Daryl said in my Fan-Fic that Turtle's norvous of James Frost. Reading that section again, I'm not so sure.

Ah. Now I see why they took it out of the movie.

The mis-characterisations don't bug me - since I haven't actually read the scene word-for-word, I don't know any differrent to what you've written.

Did Daryl get into trouble for fighting with James?

Hi electronic_brain,

In the book, nobody got into trouble over it. It was almost as if the scene never happened. Is that why you think they would have taken it out? I don't know why they did, now that you mention it. Later,

-David Chipman

Hi electronic_brain,

D.A.R.Y.L. is a ground station, in terms of solar energies. The concerns bout solar maximum seem to have more to do with satellites. Though the issue with power plants might indicate problems. Remember, this is the summer of '85, though, so things won' be affecting him yet....

-David Chipman

Hi David,

How's the next chapter going?

And, about a year ago I mentioned something about the way you said Daryl was powered, with stomach acid.

I've finally asked my science teacher about that. Apparently, in the stomach, the usual PH level of the Hydrochloric Acid is 1.5 - though it can vary slightly.

Heartburn is caused when the acidic levels rise. If they rise too far, they will burn through the mucus lining of the stomach walls, and cause stomach ulcers.

Antacids are bases, which then calm the PH levels back to 1.5

(Note: PH guide - 1 = most acidic, 7 = neutral, 14 = most alkali/base)

If too many antacids are taken, the stomach acid is then less powerful than it should be - and as a result, does not 'work' as well, or takes longer to do it's job. Alcohol is also an antacid, if a toxic one.

I'll let you mull over that.

Hi electronic_brain!

The next chapter is up! Yea! Enjoy. Later,

-David Chipman

VERY well done!

Great cliffhanger, although I'd better not be waiting another few months for the next part!

Like I said earlier, turning this into a script may be a worthwhile investment!

The only thing I dislike is the 'professor magnetism' - that's gotta be the most dorky name out there! (unfortunately, there's probably a company out there with that sort of a character name!)

BTW, how's your studies going?

Hi electronic_brain,

You won't be waiting long for the rest... Got caught up in too much else, I'm afraid. I'm glad you still think it's "script worthy", some a Paramount might consider it lawsuit-worthy, LOL. "Professor Magnetism is just a "Show Name", by the way. A lot of the kids thought it was pretty bad too, remember the "laughs of derision" I mention? My studies are "going", that is to say I'm not the best student, btu they continue. Thanks for thinking of them. Later,

-David Chipman

Your studies sound just like mine!

Is there any chance of bi-weekly chapters? (Hey, a guy can dream!)

That's why you'd write to paramount first, BTW.

So far, I'd say about a 'season' of episodes - so if this ever becomes a series, you'd end season one now, and have season two whenever (no excuse for delaying it, though!)

Edit1:
It'll be interesting to see if you give Daryl's point of view, of that last experience - will he remember anything since the last upload to TASCOM?
Also, that PH thing I put in above - any use?
Did Lamb notice when Daryl shut down - for example, a blip, or warning, popping up, like those bloody Windows Updates, at the TASCOM HQ?
Finally, what if Graycliffe's superiors argue that being used as a spy wouldn't help for D.A.R.Y.L. 2.0 (DARAdultL?), since those places could just use electromagnets at the doors, etc?
Would an electric fence have the same effect?
Maybe if they test to see what the minimum power supply to the magnets would be, to knock Daryl unconscious?

Edit2: If necessary, half the chapters, and post twice as often? for example, no.18 could be split after Dr. Lamb's scene, and also the trip to the museum could be it's own chapter - although I'd probably lynch you for cutting it off there.

Edit3: Would things like fridge magnets stick to the side of Daryl's head?

I have posted another chapter

Wow!

That was fast!

Any chance of this being the norm?

---

Very tense chapter, and very, very good writing!

Up until the last few line, I though the entire 'secret' would've been blown outta the water! At least this way, they'll have control over it...

I've no idea how you're going to pull off chapter 20, but you've got me on tenterhook! (I think that's the right expression?)

PS. the seventh line (no spoilers for anyone else!), I would've assumed it would take longer than a few seconds for what I think that implies.

EDIT: Maybe tell Nesbitt, and pass it off as a coincidental seizure to everybody else?

EDIT2: I've just re-read the entire story (all 19 chapters!) and I noticed something. In general, when a character is thinking, they don't use quotation marks. Or is this only an Aussie thing?

Hi electronic_brain,

Chapter 20 is up. I hope you enjoy! It's a long one!

-David Chipman

Yes, it's another great one!

I hope you enjoy typing these as much as I do reading them!

Heck, what are the odds that in a few months, you'll be asked for a creative assignment in class - you can just print off all of this, and relax for the next few weeks!

BTW, I like what you've done for TASCOM!

Makes you wonder - what qualifications did Dr. Stewart have?

Also, I guess this makes the next few chapters - Lamb never got around to testing Daryl's electropath abilities!

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you're enjoying thsi story so much. Given that I'm in a post-secondary program called Computer Engineering Technology, the odds regarding creative writing are nil. I'm glad you like the TASCOM explanation. Dr. Stewart had the basically the same qualifications (Why would they be differnet?). Dr. Lamb could still do electro-pathic tests, why couldn't she? Later,

-David Chipman

In the fanfic, Lamb said that Dr. Stewart could do the brainscan thingy, but she couldn't.

And the electro-pathic tests, I mean she never got around to them time-wise, but they still need to be done, and they are her responsibilty.
EDIT: test things like:
a) Distance
b) all computers, or only certain systems
c) actually interacting, or just controlling - if the former, then translate the other system's responses?
d) Can Daryl 'communicate' with a computer at the same time as doing anything else?
e) Is the ability like one of those things where you get better each time? If so, does that mean Daryl will have to 'train himself'?

just a thought, what about 'installing' a 'safety net' for Daryl's program - if a magnet starts to affect an amount of the system, those few remaining milliseconds could be donated to sending a partial backup to TASCOM?

Moving on, I -think- it said somewhere that the field trip was a Wednesday. So, they've got two days before flying off to wherever the pentagon is.

I won't lynch you if you skip over those two days, for chapter 21.

EDIT: something just occurred to me, has Daryl ever been inoculated to the common (human) viruses of the era? Today, there's things like smallpox and meninje-thingy, what injections were given back then?

Hi there,

The next chapter is up, chapter 21.... Enjoy,

-David Chipman

Yep, very good!

I like how you've added the electromagnet thing at the end- that could get interesting!

BTW, other than that electromagnets require a current, is there any difference between them and regular magnets? It's 3AM here, so I'm too tired to do research now...
I'll take another look in the morning, though!

And, something occurred to me: With Daryl's electropath ability, if he focuses on a computer within a network, would he be able to access all computers on the network, or just that one? What about firewalls, etc? Did they exist back in 1985?!

---okay, I've just re-read it----

Did Graycliffe's superiors hear about the electromagent incident?
What if something happens to Daryl's suit-that could get expensive! (Though, it'd be a few hundred, compared the the billion-or so spent of him!)
Will Daryl ever get a straight answer to the question he asked his biological father - "What am I?"
Also, I noted that nobody gave Daryl a straight answer to what's happening in Washington...
Will Daryl miss any school because of the meeting, and if so, will Turtle have to cover for him?

Hi electronic_brain,

I'm glad you liked the ending of this chapter.
Electromagnets only work as magnets when they have an electric current applied to them. Consider the iron nail, with a copper wire wrapped around it. It's only magnetised when you send an electric current through the coppper wire.
Well, communication over a computer network require software on the local machine. If he controlled that software, tehn yes he could communicate with another computer across a network. In a sense, that was what he was doing when he modified Andy's bank account balance (in the movie).
Graycliffe's superiors may have heard about the incident (intersting idea...)
If you mean the "Eww, Gross!" moment at the science centre, then the Richardsons will be careful, other than that, I'm not sure what you mean. Besides, Daryl will only be wearing the suit at meeting, not will traveling.
Daryl may get an sanswer to "What Am I" at the meeting, indirectly/overhearing others talk about him.
Nobody wanted to talk to openly about the Washington trip because they were in public, and Daryl's not inquisitive enough ("they'll tell me when they tell me", sort of thing).
Daryl will miss abotu a week of school, but Daryl being D.A.R.Y.L., I don't know if it'll matter much. He might ask Nesbitt what work they'll be doing, and then he can do it on his own time. Later,

-David Chipman

For the suit thing, I was thinking if it got ripped...

Also, for the magnets, I'm still wondering, since we've seen the effect of an electromagnet, why wouldn't a regular magnet have the same effect? Or is there a general rule that only electromagnets can get to a level required to 'screw with' Daryl's functioning?

For the 'what am i', perhaps if the people at the meeting constantly refer to Daryl as an 'it' rather than a 'he', much like the meeting (in the movie) when Lamb & Stewart were discussing his memories with him.

Daryl, being "mature beyond his years" would probably not damage his suit, he'd be too careful for that
As far as magnets go, I think the problem would be the electrical field generated by an electro magnet (though I do remember the "care and handling" notices for floppies almost always showed a classic horseshoe-shaped natural magnet.
I can imagine Daryl, or the Richardsons, might have an issue with such things if people referred to him as "it", certainly in his/their earshot. Dr. Lamb may lay it out for him, in as much detail as she can, taking into account what Dr. Stewart said as he died, probably.

-David Chipman

Alright, that makes sense.

Also, something else I just though of, will Andy, Joyce, Dr. Lamb or Dr. Stewart's parents come into the picture at any time? looking at it that way, Daryl now has eight grandparents, and I'm willing to bet that none of them know his secret (indeed, there's a chance that his biological grandparents don't even know he exists!)

EDIT: I've just asked my father, and apparently Optical storage (not affected by magnets) was available back in '85, but it was experimental. However, both normal magnets and electromagnets will affect magnetic storage equally. The third type, solid-state storage (USB's, etc.,) was incredibly inefficient back then, and essentially nobody used it.

EDIT2: Are we going to see Dr. Stewart's funeral? Perhaps that'd be a way to introduce that quarter of Daryl's family?

There may be a funeral in Washington

G'day David,

Have you had a chance to write any of Chapter 22 yet? I'm still interested as to what'll happen next!

Will the story move back to TASCOM & the meeting, or to Barkenton? How will Nesbitt react when Daryl walks in the next day, or next week?

*idea* when Daryl was hit with the magnets, did it wipe his memory entirely, or just corrupt it? We all know what corrupted files can do to a computer!

*idea2* I think I've mentioned this before, but what happened to the ejector mechanism from the SR-71 blackbird, after Daryl was saved from the lake? Did the military pick it up?

Hi electronic_brain,

Part 22 is now up

-David Chipman

Incredible!

You've set up a number of plotholes to explore - this'll get interesting!

Question though, why can't Andy & Joyce go back to the nightly downloads that were mentioned in -I think- chapter 4-5?

Alternatively, considering that this is set in 1985, all the technology used to create D.A.R.Y.L. would've been 1980 at the latest. So maybe those components are smaller now - ship 'em over to the Richardson's place?

How would the project be so expensive, at $2m/pa? TASCOM can't entirely be for the D.A.R.Y.L. project, can it? So it'd just be a portion of the security, and the electrical bill, right? That and staff paychecks. Have I missed anything?

EDIT: if you want to diverge from the main story for a chapter or two later, you could explain how Turtle got his name - was he a bad athlete years back, or were his parents cruel?

BTW, I'm headed to the other side of Australia at about 10am (local time, and it's now 5:15pm) tomorrow, so I might not be able to reply over the next few days.

Hi electronic_brain,

What makes you think the nightly downloads stopped? I'm not sure what equipment you're referring too. Please let me know what you're thinking of. Whiel you're away I might give it some thought.

-David Chipman

Hi,

I meant the system in Chapter 4:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2834688/4/DARYL_Back_Where_He_Belongs

When Lamb goes over to the Richardson's house, to stop Daryl from overwriting his memories.

Hi electronic_brain,

That system ith the disk drive in his room is no longer needed, since the mainframe/minicomputer is still going. Later, and I hope you have a good trip!

-David Chipman

Any news on the next chapter?

BTW, I meant, if funding was pulled completely, to the Tascom end of the project, then why not use the computer downloading instead?

Hi electronic_brain,

I've bene busy with school, then I was hospitalized. I'll be working on it some today. If funding for the D.A.R.Y.L. Project was pulled completely, then there would be now where for him to store his experiences. He needs that to survive for extended periods (more than a few days, as seen by the end of the movie). I hope that explains that.

-David Chipman

eh, it explains most of it. I guess the small computer from ch4-5 couldn't store more than a few days of information, since it's still the mid-80's.

Sorry to hear (read?) about the hopitalization - is everything alright now?
As my ancestors would say, refuah shleima.

Looking forward to the next chapter, although I won't rush you.

Hi electronic_brain,

You'll be happy to here that Chapter 23 is now up! I hope you enjoy. Once I got down to it, writing the chapter took much less time than I thought it would. Things are getting back to normal for me, whether that's a good or a bd thing, only time will tell. BTW, what does "refuah shleima" mean, and what language is it?

-David Chipman

Refuah Shleima is hebrew, meaning 'get well soon' or something like that (I'm not quite sure myself...)

I like chapter 23! I'm particularly looking forward to the electrokenisis / electropath testing. Will that be in the next chapter, or are you going to annoy me? (kidding...)

It'll be interesting if something goes wrong during the programming switch-over, i.e. Daryl remains in contact with the old server at the same time as the new server, just long enoguh to raise his curiosity. Or, what if the switchover occurs at the exact second that James' (from school) dad hacks into the radio frequency?

EDIT: question, does the 'safe house' have cameras fitted to all the rooms?

Hi electronic_brain,

Are you Jewish? I'm glad you liked chapter 23. The testing may be in the next chapter, I haven't decided. It turns out the meeting was a lot shorter than expected, but General Graycliffe's immediate superior hasn't shown up yet (We heard from him over the phone in an earlier chapter). You raise soem intersting issues, especially about Jame's Dad. I doubt things would go wrong with Daryl's switch-over itself, though. No, the safe house doesn't have cameras, but it probably is swept on a regular basis for "bugs", to prevent espionage. Later,

-David Chipman

Yes, I'm Jewish, but I thought I'd mentioned it before...

Meh.

Hi electronic_brain,

Sorry about the personal questions. BTW, I'm thinking of adding stuff to chapter 23... Later,

-David Chipman

PS: And now it's updated (took me long enough...)

Any news on 23.2 or 24?

Anybody out there?

Hellooooooo?

Hi there,

Check nowe.. I posted stuff last night, but never noticed these messages of you wondering where I'd gone. I am so sorry.....

-David

I was starting to think something had happened to you,l and I'd have to finish the story...

I like the addition - I can see the video clip thing becoming very interesting in Chapter 24. I'm not sure what I'd do if I was in Brian's situation!

If Daryl can control his ability over other logic circuits, then shouldn't he at least sense the hacking? Or would it turn up on the telemetry reports?

Just one more thing, I can't imagine Lamb using the tuerm "specialness". Maybe "ability"?

Hi there,

There has been no "Hacking", just electronic snooping. Daryl can't detect that, because nobody is trying to access his built-in system, they're just listening in on his transmissions.

Agh, you're right. It doesn't sound like her, does it?

I hope to get the next part out quicker then this last part.

-David Chipman

"(Brian) figured he needed to send some signals, to see what control he could get over the camera."

Also, would Daryl be able to look at a computer screen? When you use a video camera on an old moniter, the screen flickers because of the speed. Would this happen to Daryl?

Hi electronic_brain,

Thanks for the quote (forgot about it), but there's no remote control of Daryl, certainly not through the satellite connection.Also, what Brian is looking at was pre-recorded, being picked up by Brian's equipment while Daryl was transmitting experiences back to TASCOM.

Daryl doesn't have cameras for eyes, remember. It's a matter of digitizing the electrical impulses coming from Daryl's optic nerves.

Later,

-David Chipman

Well, does the computer used to revive Daryl after the magnets-incident count as controlling, or at least having scope to control?

Ah, but that's not using the satellite. That's a direct microwave link between the "luggable", and Daryl's implanted system. I may be thinking out of my arse on this stuff, but those could well be two different things. Think about this though, after General Graycliffe shut things down in the movie, why didn't Daryl immediately die in Dr. Stewart's car?

Another thing I just considered, James' dad might be about to get busted, because he was broadcasting on Daryl's transmission frequency during the day (Daryl only uses it at night). Things are slowing down for me in terms of writing, so maybe I should try spicing things up!

-David Chipman

Very ineresting idea re: james's dad getting caught. I'm looking forward to it!

Maybe it could show up duing the preliminary Tascom testing?

For the "luggable" to be on a different frequency to the Tascom system, there'd have to be two receiver/transmitter sets in Daryl's system. This has to do with how the Printed Circuit Board is created.

Can Tascom detect when the "Luggable" is in use?

Hi electronic_brain,

What woudl show up in the testing at TASCOM testing? The attempts at James' dad try to access Daryl? Not likely, given that TSACOM is down in Florida and Barkenton is in North Carolina.

You don't need two *complete* transceiver sets in Daryl's head, just two different RF [radio-frequency] generators, and the circuitry to separate incoming signals from their RF carrier. The antenna could be the same one.

No TSCOM probably can't tell if the "luggable" is in use, for one thing, it's transmissions are much more directional and weak (and "it" may not even be "looking" anyway).

Ok, I dunno about american geography, so I'll just assume it's a helluva long way off.

We have agreed that the "luggable" and TASCOM use different frequencies, right?

Do the TASCOM records show when Daryl was exposed to the magnets?

In case you were wondering, it's 9 hours from Orland Florida to Raleigh North Carolina (596 miles).

Yes, the luggable and TASCOM are using different frequencies to communicate with the biological sector in Daryl's head.

The only record at TASCOM may be that the experience data for that day is shorter than usual, since it only starts when Daryl "comes to" in the hospital after the magnet hit.

-David

...or 6 hours in Melbourne's latest trains... (sorry, bit of the train-buff poking through!)

Given the above, is Brian using the "luggable" frequency rather than the "tascom" frequency?

He's using the TASCOM frequency, and he's monitoring the airwaves at night. Those things he's seeing and hearing are not "live" transmissions.

Any news on the next chapter?

Agh! It's coming, slowly. I'm back in school full-time, so things are slow.

"Agh! It's coming, slowly. I'm back in school full-time, so things are slow. "

Do you get the same holidays as us in Australia? :P

(Hint, hint)

Probably, bit inspiration-hits need to match up... Thanks for the swift kick in the arse.

Not sure whether or not the above's a good or bad thing...

Any luck?

Some luck, I'm not sure where to go though. Any ideas?

Wherabouts are you up to?

The summary of Ch23++ was:
3x Richardsons, Lamb: Washington, discussing Daryl's future.
-> how much electrical charge is neccesary to shut down Daryl's system?
Jams/Brian frost: viewing camera transmissions from Daryl
Turtle: possibly dealing with questions re: Daryl's revival
Nesbitt: possibly questioning mr/mrs fox re: what Turtle/Sherie-Lee won't say
-> possible, security camera filmed entry to computer Sherie-Lee used to revive Daryl?
Dr. Jameson: does he return?

->Are we up to the 1986 solar flare that interrupted radio communication for 3 days? (go back a few pages)
->Does Daryl have the contact bracelet yet?
->Funeral for Dr. Stewart?
->School contacts richardsons, re: Daryl's constant lack of attendance (since start of film thru to current)
->Update on new Adult Daryl
->Daryl's electropathic ability?
->The ejector mechanism in the lake, what happened to it?

I think that's about it.

PS. just so we know each other's time-zones, it's about 5pm here (at time of edit).

Anything?

Are you still planning to keep writing, or is this a dead fic?

Not completely dead, but I've bene busy with other things. I'm really sorry...

While you're there, Happy New Year!

And for time crosschecking, I am posting at exactly 6:30pm, Friday 15th Jan.

I just got the book from Amazon.

Very good read. Although, the characters are presented differently in the book as opposed to the movie; some of the dialogue is rearranged and other sections are entirely replaced, and it does make a signifigant difference.

Also, something occured to me: Page 91, when Daryl is explaining that he has developed the ability to "taste" - is it possible that the chocolate ice-cream was slightly healthier than the vanilla ice-cream (maybe sugar content or something) and therefore he registered it as prefereable?

On that topic, I recall hearing a few years ago that of a human's nutritional needs, 75% of the energy is used in direct relation to the brain; with Daryl's electronic brain, does that mean he has to be more careful about what he eats?

Finally, the latest research indicates that testosterone production starts at around 7 years of age; the time when Daryl's brain was replaced. Puberty only starts later because it takes years for the chemical to build up, and this process is entierly dependant on the human brain generating other stimulating chemicals to create a chain reaction. It's safe to assume Daryl doesn't have that function, so what sort of solution could be offered there?

I can't help but think whether Daryl had returned or not, the Fox kids would not have gone to school that day.

[deleted]

[deleted]