Scene #2651: Bar & Grill Philosophy

Owner	Pose
Staren	Worries about his world, worries about the future, worries about the Multiverse... Old friends he hasn't seen in awhile, new friends he's seen recently. Abstractum, Immortality, developments in Robotics, new worlds and new possibilities... Staren's brain never stops, is never empty. People say he thinks too much, but there's so much to think about... Eventually, his stomach demands his attention, though. He feels like a change of scenery, so he comes to the bar and grill. Fond of seafood as he is, he orders sashimi and shrimp tempura... and then slumps in his chair slightly, fingers and toes tapping as thoughts flow through his head once more. There's so much that needs doing, that he needs to figure out how to do...
Bridge Carson	Bridge is honestly not much different from Staren with regards to his thoughts never seeming to stop flowing. But Bridge is rarely overwhelmed by this fact, and seems to readily accept it, even as he walks into this strange Bar & Grill. "Wow, this is -definitely- not the broom closet. But I -do- want toast..." He's pulled out a notepad, starting to scribble things down. "Totally undocumented alien species, that guy with some kind of... is that a liquid nitrogen gun?!" He seems absolutely fascinated with all of this, until he spots Staren sitting along, and moves to take a seat at the same table, leaning his arms on the side opposite of Staren. "Hey, Bridge Carson, B-Squad SPD Green Ranger. Do you have -any- idea where I am right now? And is that -really- a liquid nitrogen gun?" he casually motions his head to a random buff red-skinned alien with strange black hedgehog-like hair. On said alien's leather pants is a small silvery handgun, and a little window in the barrel where one can see a liquid that -very- much appears to be nitrogen. The design of the gun appears to suggest that it could be sprayed as a gas somehow, though the mechanics aren't too obvious due to the streamlined design.
Staren	Staren's ears rotate when Bridge speaks, followed by his head. "...I've heard you on the radio. You're at the Bar & Grill at the end of the Multiverse. Sometimes people end up here when hungry -- some kind of powerful enchantment on the area." He looks at the weapon being questioned about, squints, and shrugs. "Maybe? If so, I can't tell how they're keeping it cool. ...I'm Staren. Problem researcher for the Union." He smiles slightly and holds out his hand to shake. "Why not take a seat and order something? Since you must be hungry if you're here."
Bridge Carson	"I'd love some toast. I wonder if they have buttered toast..." Bridge reaches out to shake Staren's hand with his gloved hand. "So what kind of problems do you research? As a member of SPD, and the Union, I often have to investigate problems too! SPD Rangers are given a lot of autonomy to solve problems in our own way."
Staren	Staren blinks. "You can order pretty much anything here if it's food... Um... all kinds of problems. I'm probably the foremost authority on Abstractum in the Multiverse, next to their inventor himself. I... figure out how stuff works, and how we can apply it to whatever the problem of the moment is. There's all kinds of weird stuff out there... the Filth infecting two worlds... we've just discovered a new world with a strangely electric atmosphere, uh... have you read the crisis reports?"
Bridge Carson	"Oh, of course! There's always lot of bad and strange stuff going on out there. It's a lot like my universe. We've gotten Earth mostly down to a 1% crime rate, with most of the crime being in my city. But there are other planets and civilizations to worry about too. I help when I can." Bridge pulls a smartphone from the jacket of his uniform, starting to poke around at it. "There's so much going on that of course we have more than one team. But this Abstractum stuff sounds interesting, from what I read. I still don't really understand what it -is-... though maybe that's why they call it -Abstract-um." he says with a light laugh.
Staren	Staren tilts his head at the 'It's a lot like my universe' comment. "Wow. That /is/ a pretty impressive crime rate." "Abstractum... are part of a weapon system consisting of elites and... basically, intelligent artifacts that enhance our concepts. They were designed to fight a... this enemy that just wants to be destroyed... it's kind of a long story."
Bridge Carson	"Sounds complicated. I don't remember reading anything in my world's history like that... So if I had Abstractum, I'd be better at being a Power Ranger, making toast, and building machines?" Bridge asks, leaning in curiously. "I probably wouldn't use it. More power is great, but intelligent artifacts... I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable with a weapon I couldn't take apart and figure out!" He sounds in good spirits enough, then raises his right hand and begins to remove his glove. "Hey, would you mind if I read your aura? Just, curious. It won't hurt."
Staren	"Maybe. Building machines probably. What does being a power ranger mean? Do you fight crime? Your abilities, whatever it is you do, would be... expanded. And I felt the same way. I kind of... getting Eureka was an accident, but I don't have to take her apart to understand her. She knows a lot about Abstractum and can tell me... and there are lesser machines based on the same technology I can take apart and study." Staren explains. "Sure, I guess... but how's this aura thing work?"
Bridge Carson	"Power Rangers fight crime, we investigate things, save the world and defend anyone, anywhere who might need it. It doesn't matter where someone lives, if they need help we'll try to help them. Even in another world, another galaxy, underwater, or some kind of crazy shrunken micro city, we'll find a way!" Bridge answers with great enthusiasm, finally pressing something on his phone and smiling over at the clerk. "Oh, aura reading is simple. I take off one of my limiter gloves, then I wave my hand..." He waves his hand slowly through the air, and Staren can see how space seems to get a little distorted for a moment where his hand passes through. "And then I can see that you're a pretty good guy, but you're kind of stressed out."
Staren	"A pretty good guy? You can see that, huh?" Staren shifts in his chair, turning towards Bridge a bit more. "Saving the Multiverse is stressful. I usually talk to my girlfriend about it, but I'm tired of always dumping my problems on her." His food arrives, and he orderes sweetened iced tea and spears a bit of sashimi with chopsticks. "Saving the Multiverse... worrying about all this... it's what we do so other people don't have to. People get peaceful lives... or lives at all... because of us. That's worth some stress."
Bridge Carson	"Yeah, though I keep my gloves on or my powers get out of hand!" Bridge laughs as he wiggles his fingers, clearly making a stupid pun before putting his glove back on. "We have lives beyond saving the world. I dedicate most of my life to being a Power Ranger, but I also study technology, read comics, tinker with gadgets!" He gets a tall plate of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice himself, apparently keeping it simple. Not difficult to make! "My world has been invaded by demons, mutants from the future, aliens, ninja aliens, magic aliens, robots... These things happen, they just make us, and our society, a lot stronger. We take it in stride, even if sometimes it can feel hopeless." "I get consumed trying to find solutions sometimes, and it can be frustrating when my friends don't understand what I'm doing or why I'm doing it, but I just have to remember that I can't solve everything, especially not alone!" he points out before nodding to his plate. "Want some toast? It's buttery." he holds his hand up, wiggling his fingers. "But um, my point! Just because you want to find a solution, and just because things seem bleak and hopeless, it doesn't mean that you have to -always- be consumed. Right now, lots of bad things beyond our mortal control are happening. But we're not the -only- people thinking of a solution. We can go play a video game and universe won't be any worse for it."
Staren	Staren chuckles slightly at the pun. "I do other stuff too. Though sometimes I wonder if I should. We could do /more/ good if we /didn't/ spend time that way, after all." Staren narrows his eyes slightly. "Have you been talking to someone about me? It's not about doing everything myself. Other people save the day /all the time/. But sometimes they don't, and I have to be ready for that." Staren looks away. "Sometimes I play videogames. If I didn't do anything for myself, I wouldn't be /me/ anymore. And then people would miss me. People I care about. But even if I'm not fighting evil /right now/, there's still stuff to plan. As long as I fight evil by just... reacting to it when it pops up, all I'm doing is damage control. Don't we have to plan to /make/ a better future? Someplace where people won't be attacked by demons, mutants from the future, aliens, ninja aliens, magic aliens, or robots? Or where if they are attacked, it won't mean the end of their lives?" He looks at the bit of sashimi on his chopsticks. "I'll play videogames today. And I'll still be playing them in a thousand years. But there's still stuff I have to plan to do, /alongside/ that."
Staren	And then Staren starts eating because darn it, he ordered this food and he's not gonna just let it /sit/ there!
Bridge Carson	"We can't do -any- good if we don't spend any time on ourselves, having lives! Or else we'll just suffer so much mental degredation from stress and anxiety that we won't -really- get anything done after a while! I bet even the Commander has hobbies other than standing in the Command Center, waiting to give us orders." Bridge says this as if he has -no idea- what those hobbies may be, but surely they exist! "Ah, that's the thing, that's what I mean. I've actually felt like I -had- to do things myself, and a few times I -did- because other people wouldn't listen. But that's teamwork, that's, like, the -basics- of teamwork! It's just easy to forget that, you might feel like you're taking on the burden of the entire team. I don't say it because I know you, I say it because I've -been- there." he further explains, starting to chomp at a piece of his toast in both hands. "Sometimes they don't." he agrees. "But you have to put your effort into the idea that they -will-. It's nice to have a backup plan, but always focus on the team, first and foremost! Well, unless you're alone, but if you're alone, well." He offers his toast-free hand. "-Now- you're a team. And whoever your girlfriend is." "And, well, yes!" he agrees, to bettering the future. "We have a -much- better future. Now we have systems in place all over the city. If a giant robot or monster attacks, we can evacuate people like -that-." he snaps his finger. "But you can never get rid of -all- evil. That's why we still have that 1% crime rate. It will -never- be 100. Once, over twenty years ago, almost all of the evil in the universe was destroyed or turned good all at once, by something called the Z-Wave. I don't know exactly what it is, it's classified information. But evil very quickly began to creep right back in, building itself back up..." He shrugs at that, then just kind of smiles. "That's the thing. We can win, good can win. We can make things safer, we can make the universe better, one world at a time. Every team does, the heroes of every world does, but we can't wipe out evil. We -literally- tried that. It doesn't work. Evil always finds a way. But we always get stronger, we always get better!""
Staren	Staren stops eating as something Carson says knocks a thought into his head. "...If I burn out now, I won't be able to make that better world." Staren listens, and eventually nods. "I know. We can't wipe out evil and misfortune. But maybe we could make a world where people don't have to be hurt so badly by it." He sits up straight, and looks at Carson. "Maybe I need to see this world of yours."
Bridge Carson	"That sounds like a good idea to me! That's my goal too, to try and help as many worlds as possible, how ever I can! I have a lot of training to deal with different worlds, cultures, and types of threats. So there's no reason I can't share the burden if you ever feel overwhelmed." Bridge chomps some toast, smiling. "Burning out is bad. Think about computers that are under constant and abnormal stress! Either they burn out and become totally useless, or you end up having to do crazy things like stick water cooling tubes in them, or those -very- poorly designed cases with a gap in the middle, where you fill them up with liquid nitrogen. It's basically the worst idea! Oh, wait, I was making a point... Basically, don't get so stressed that you become a terrible computer being stretched beyond its natural capabilities!"
Staren	Staren tilts his head slightly. He smirks. "That's right. We can keep machines cool. So you're saying I need to become a machine, and alter myself to not burn out! ...I'm kidding. But a computer doesn't have /natural/ capabilities. It can do whatever it is made for. Just like we need to /make/ a future that's better than the worlds made by nature alone."
Bridge Carson	"The most important thing to remember when trying to make a society better? Every society has different needs. There aren't any universal solutions. Take it one problem at a time, celebrate small victories. Just because we have technology that we -think- should turn a society into a utopia, doesn't mean it will. We have to get to know the society, and it could take a long time to -really- make change. What's important is putting people on the -path- to change!" Bridge clears his throat, even rubbing it with a few fingers. "That's some of what we learned in Galactic Diplomacy class."
Staren	Staren shrugs. "Exactly. There's no universal solution to fix existing societies, except maybe this Z-Wave thing. Isn't that why we have to plan to build a /new/ society, one day?"
Bridge Carson	"You can't just -create- a society. Well, actually, you -can-. But you have to get people to agree to join your society. If we created a society, not -everyone- would want to join it. And there would eventually be bad people in that society, even if we'd be prepared for that. And with a new society, you won't -really- know what your society is until it gets going, and then you have to deal with the problems you'd deal with if you were simply trying to improve an already existing society!" Bridge points out before taking a long sip of his orange juice. "Take my society for example! We started out pretty unprepared for giant monster attacks, or frequent invasions. People died, cities were destroyed. But as the years went on, we learned. Buildings got strong, methods of evacuation improved, the government began to work on its own Power Ranger teams as early as Lightspeed Rescue, around twenty-five years ago. Over time, society improved, little by little, with every problem we addressed." He starts to walk his index and middle fingers across the table, leaning in close to them. Then his eyes shift up to Staren. "Baby steps! Creating a society is creating a -different- set of problems! Addressing the problems of a society is more of a push forward, and it's less likely to be resisted by civilization when you gradually turn one society into another."
Staren	Staren sighs. "It's a long-term goal. I /completely/ lack the skills to create a society right now. It would be terrible. I suppose, though that if I'm able to make existing societies better enough by then, I won't have to make a new one." He rubs his chin. "I hadn't thought of it that way. Perhaps I can take creating the perfect society off of my to-do-list." He takes a bite and chews for a bit. "Still. I plan to live forever. So I don't get to retire or anything. As you say, even when one society's fixed to as perfect as I can make it, there will be other problems. I'd like to learn more about your world, though."
Bridge Carson	"Well, my world isn't -perfect-. The world is large, a 1% crime rate is still more crime than it seems like on paper. But I was around for the debates on Delta Morpher judgement tech. I wasn't old enough to completely understand, but I was around. It was a huge step forward in society, and people had a lot of worries because it was going to change -everything-." Bridge actually reaches for his waist to remove said morpher, holding it out. It looks kind of like a closed cellphone with a police motif, with SPD on the back. "People thought, alright, we can't just trust -people- to judge other -people-. But that's exactly what the old justice system did." Bridge explains, matter-of-factly with his finger held up. "This was actually the opposite. Delta Morphers scan every aspect of your body, no matter what species you are, even if you're a robot. It will know if you're guilty of the crime you've been accused of by an officer. Even if you don't answer, your body reacts to the accusation. Our role as SPD officers is to find probable cause, to figure out why this person is or isn't guilty of a crime. And when we know, the Delta Morpher figures out the rest." "It's pretty clever, too. Someone could be guilty of an entirely different crime, but if we don't accuse them of -that- specific crime, they'll read as not guilty. That's why this tech is now so universally accepted. That's why, after all of this was explained, and the world's scientists across every field and politicians all gathered to discuss this, the public was eventually swayed." He gives Staren the thumbs up. "That was teamwork. One person could never have done it. You have to find more people who want to do what you want to do, then help where you can. Don't worry about the -big- victory, worry about the -small- one!"
Twilight Sparkle	The door to the B&G opens, and in walks...Twilight Sparkle! She blinks, then looks behind her before looking forward again. "This is not my kitchen." she says, her expression as amused as confused. She giggles a bit, then trots over toward Staren and Carson. "Hello Staren!" she says, giving him a nuzzle before she looks over at Carson. It may seem a bit unusual. A pastel purple unicorn pony no more than 5 feet tall is looking at him, a cheerful smile on her face. "And hello to you! Forgive me if I am interrupting. I went into my kitchen to get a study snack, and ended up here. Are you a friend of Staren's?"
Bridge Carson	"Now I am!" Bridge pipes in, staring at Twilight with more curiosity than actual -shock-. The perks of being from an Earth with aliens living on it in public.
Staren	Staren folds his arms. "It's still pretty good." He listenes with interest to the explanation of the Delta Morpher. "That's amazing... but if it works the way you describe, it seems like it could be fooled by sociopaths, robots, and of course, many nonhumans." Staren's explanation is stopped by sudden nuzzling. He jumps a bit, and then grins /wide/. He turns, leans over, throws his arms around her neck and /hugs/. "Twilight!" He nuzzles her in return and holds close to her for a moment before letting go and sitting up again. "You're in the Bar and Grill at the end of the Multiverse. This is Bridge Carson, out fellow Union Elite. I..." He blinks at Bridge, "well, I just met him but he's been pretty friendly so far!" Staren smiles.
Bridge Carson	"Earth is still mostly human, but we don't live in a human-focused society. Society is more than just Earth! The Delta Morpher was created to scan life in general. Maybe there's something out there in the Multiverse that can't be properly scanned, but even alien robots can be scanned by a Delta Morpher. A common misconception is that it's a lie detector, or that it detects guilt as an emotional concept." Bridge shakes his head at this, smiling. "It detects if you're guilty of the crime you've been accused of, and yeah, it does detect if you -feel- guilty, but that's a very small part of it." He suddenly points at Staren in a mock-aggressive manner, though he's still smiling. "If I accuse you of a crime that you committed, the thing is, you -know- that you committed the crime. One -possible- way to fool it would be an actual memory wipe, since you really wouldn't have any knowledge of being guilty. But being a sociopath wouldn't help, you still have some kind of response that the Delta Morpher can read. Brainwaves, blood pressure, endorphins, muscles, heart rate, your digestive system. There are a -lot- of factors. An intelligent robot is basically the same, just not biological. Different processes. A robot that -isn't- intelligent can't technically be guilty, and we'd be more interested in who sent it anyway."
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight smiles happily as she is hugged. She hugs back rather effectively with her forelegs and nuzzles some more. Then, the Delta Morpher is explained some more. Twilight's ears perk as she listens. "Oh my. What a useful device! It must make interrogations rather easy." she says before she carefully hops up onto a seat beside Staren. Although her forelegs rest on the table, her posture is very much like any humanoid who sits in a chair. "I am not sure we would need such a device in Equestria, but I can definitely see the use for other worlds." Twilight then holds out a hoof to Bridge the same way someone would offer a hand. "I am Twilight Sparkle, by the way. It is nice to meet you, Mr. Carson, and it is nice to see Staren meeting new people and making new friends!" the little pony says happily.
Staren	Staren leans away slightly at the pointing. "Fascinating. To be able to work on everything like that... this almost sounds like conceptual technology, like a proto-abstractum, itself!" He's still smiling. He looks to Twilight. "Well, as he said, it just detects guilt... it's his job to figure out /why/ they did it. ...I'm reminded a bit of Adjudicator. Psyber's Abstractum is a sword that hurts people more the more guilty they are by their own moral code. Or was it by a moral code of /his/ choosing...?" Staren stares into space for a moment, then shrugs. "Anyway, impressive technology." He looks to Twilight. "You make it sound like I never go anywhere! In just the past few days, I met Kotone's cousin and went to a new world..." he nods a bit, "But, it's true that I haven't talked to someone this much in some time." He lifts his chopsticks to grab a piece of the shrimp tempura he ordered and lifts it to his mouth. Crunch crunch.
Bridge Carson	"I've never met a horse alien before, an Equestrian? My commander is a Sirian, which is basically a dog man." Bridge takes her hoof and shakes it politely, smiling. "We still have to do interrogations the old fashioned way. For example, let's say someone was kidnapped, or they had information about -another- criminal that we needed. We can't say 'Are you guilty of having this information', or 'Are you guilty of hiding the person you kidnapped'. The first of those isn't really a crime and the Delta Morpher doesn't work that way. And even though we -could- use it in the latter instance, we already -know- that the person is kidnapped." Bridge further elaborates on the tech, offering his plate of toast over to Twilight. "Want some? It's buttery." he asks with a wiggle of his fingers, before he returns to listening to Staren. "My parents actually helped create it, though I don't know much about the process. What the technology does is widely known, but the actual creation of the Delta Morphers, the process of how it happened, that isn't as widely known. Doctor Manx helped too, she works with us, but she doesn't really talk about it either. At least I know how to repair one! I understand the tech, but I don't understand enough about the underlying science to upgrade or create a new one yet." There's a pause, as if he's considering explaining something, then just shrugs. "Delta Morphers deal with a lot of Morphing Grid science, or magic... depending on who you ask. The Morphing Grid is kind of this thing that both technological and magical Power Ranger teams have used, so if it's magic or ancient technology, no one really knows. Or at least, SPD doesn't know. But when people figure out how to use that power, they can do some interesting things, like create this." He nods his head to the Delta Morpher sitting on the table.
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight blinks in surprise as Staren says he met Kotone's cousin, then she smiles as he admits he does need to socialize more. When Carson offers the toast, Twilight accepts. "Oh, thank you!" she says before her horn glows with a soft purple light and one of the pieces of toast sparkles before floating up into the air and toward her mouth. She takes a polite bite, then considers what Carson said. "Hmm. I see. Though, I more meant aquiring a confession." Twilight takes another bite as she listens to the explanations about the Morpher. "Why is it called a Morpher? Detecting guilt does not seem to qualify as morphing something."
Staren	"'Dr. Manx? Is she a cat alien?" Staren listens while eating his food. "Interesting. Magic and technology, sometimes the border's not so clear. Abstractum tech is neither, at least in the sense of /not/ being the other one as well. I must visit your world and learn more about the Delta Morpher sometime, but... right now, perhaps I should finish my food before it gets cold." He looks at the sashimi. "Warm." Then at the tempura. "Warm and cold. You know what I mean." He smiles. "It was interesting meeting you, though! This is much more conversation than I expected to get out of eating out! Thank you."
Bridge Carson	"Well, her name -is- Doctor Katherine Manx. We call her Kat, because of the Kat ears, and teeth... but she looks mostly human other than that." Bridge explains, his world literally apparently having anime cat people. Then he begins to stand, taking his morpher and strapping it back to his side. "It's a morpher because the primary function of the Delta Morpher is -actually- the ability to access the Morphing Grid and turn us into Power Rangers. I'll show you what that is some time, if you don't already know!" He offers a parting nod, then a gloved hand to both of them. "It was nice meeting you guys too. People say I talk too much, but I guess that can be useful sometimes! I should get going before Doggie wonders why I suddenly disappeared when I went to get a broom after accidentally spilling Doritos all over the Command Center."