[BitP:R] BleachITP Reborn OOC Thread 18: Peek-a-boo style PAWNCH!

[KnightDisciple]

I am very sorry to hear that. My condolences to you and your mother, Goto.

Indeed.

[Frozen_Feet]

@Vulkan and Dorizzit: Did you manage to clear who is waiting for who, or is something else holding you two up in Ep. 11?

[KerfuffleMach2]

Hey Frozen...unless I missed it, I think Mage and I are waiting for you in Seireitei.

[Frozen_Feet]

A while back, I held a rant on how different spiritual senses vary from each other, and how they should not be used as general plot detectors. I've also been prone to ranting about time and distances when I've felt people violated sense of scale. ()

Something that came to mind while thinking about it: how do Reiphones work? What are their limitations? How tightly can Shinigami monitor Earth from Seireitei, and why are foot patrols needed? How free are Shinigami to move between dimensions?

Here are some thoughts and concepts stemming from that idea. Feel free to critique them. I also think they'd make good material for 12th Divisioners to make some wacky inventions.

First, Reiphones. A quick reminder on how our game's Reiphone Network (RPNet) works and is upheld by the 5th Division:

Maintain Reishi-Phone Network: While 5th Division can make no claims to having developed the reishi-phone network, that honor belongs entirely to the 12th Division, they have taken up the mantle of maintaining it so those same 12th Division scientists have time to continue their own research. To that end, 5th Division has (over the years) made some minor improvements to the efficiency and dependability of the reishi-phone network (RPNet) but no true 'upgrades' to the system aside from assigning operators to keep an ear out for distress calls. The RPNet is upheld by numerous pillars of various size scattered about the Seireitei and the Rukon which undergo weekly inspection and maintenance to keep the service in the best shape it can be. For shinigami in the mortal realm, the signal is just as strong since the RPNet boosts it's strength by using the towers and signals of mortals to keep it's own strong. This has lead to incidents where a shinigami was cut off from the RPNet in extremely rural areas, but these are isolated problems.

In addition, I didn't find where it was written, but there are two main base stations for RPNet - one in 5th Division grounds, and second (a back-up) in Ryoonosuke castle. They communicate through numerous sub-stations spread throughout Rukongai, and on Earth, through ordinary satellites and radio sub-stations.

First, some observations and cave-ats of this system.

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Now, this is me speaking as Signal Corps NCO: one thing that isn't obvious from the need of sub-stations is that the base range of a Reiphone signal can't be that long. High-frequency signals, like those used in modern cellphones, have practical range of line-of-sight - without a tight net of substations, they're near useless.

This is important for the following reason: neither Hueco Mundo or the Void you have to cross to get there have any infrastructure to support RPNet. They should be effective dead zones for both communication and tracking.

Two ways for Shinigami to mitigate this:

Phone-to-phone communication: Reiphones can work like ordinary radios, transmitting and receiving signals on their own. So two Reiphones within reasonable distance from each other can always talk.

Question: what is a reasonable distance? Ordinary VHF phones have range of around 30 kilometres at most, if weather and phases of the moon are right. For our purposes, I think that's enough; our game is mostly concerned with areas comparable to single cities, so two characters in the same "realm" can always communicate. However, such (relatively speaking) short range has implications for operations in Hueco Muendo.

Transportable sub-stations and radio beacons: Shinigami can always take a leaf from the book of ordinary soldiers and carry around larger radio equipment to create temporary networks. By sending several specialized signal squads (most likely of 5th or 9th Division) to set up the network, they could potentially expand range of Reiphones in Hueco Mundo to 50 kilometers or more. Of course, chances of being detected would rise immensely.

However, neither of these would be enough to create a reliable positioning system in Hueco Mundo. At best, a Shinigami patrol in HM would be able to tell where they are in relation to the nearest other patrol. Considering the overall hostility and featurelessness of HM, it'd be very easy for isolated Shinigami to get hopelessly lost, unless they have ways our of HM on their own.

Second, some thoughts on Mortal World patrols and role of Reiphones in detecting Hollows:

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First rule of Reiatsu detection is that you can't spot something without Reiatsu, obvious as it may sound. This is important, because ordinary Pluses have little to no Reiryoku, and thus no Reiatsu. So no tracking method based on Reiatsu can guide a Shinigami to ordinary dead people - helps to explain why they'd be out there looking for them on foot.

A related concept is Minimum Detection Treshold: Weak Hollows, and any spiritual presence keeping its power in check (not fighting, in practice) can't be detected from across dimensions due to them being too weak to trigger Seireitei sensors. Patrollers are needed to seek them out.

To help in this, Reiphones have Ancillary Radar Systems: these augment Reiatsu sense of Shinigami and detect nearby spirit signatures, placing them on the map screen of the Reiphone. However, they also send this data directly to Mortal World Surveillance team to complement data received from interdimensional sensors. They are also what allows Surveillance to keep track of patrolling Shinigami, and patrollers of each other.

The corollary here is that a Shinigami who loses his Reiphone can easily become untrackable to his peers, especially if he's patrolling alone; and losing a Reiphone can lead to Surveillance losing track of potential Hollow threats as well.

Thirdly, thoughs on dimensional travel and surveillance:

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Senkaimon don't work in Hueco Mundo: This is because Senkaimon go through Dangai, and Dangai is between Earth and Soul Society only. You can't go from HM to Dangai, because they are not "next to" each other, so to speak.

I feel this is supported by Canon, where Senkaimon have only ever been used to travel between Soul Society and Earth.

Garganta, however, can be used to cross from Hueco Mundo to Seireitei... or anywhere else, for that matter: This is seen in canon, as Aizen escapes to HM from the heart of Seireitei via Kumon (Gillian Garganta), and later, Ulquiorra crosses to Dangai to kidnap Orihime. However, I have to stress that neither of these should be easy. In canon, it was said crossing through the Void is hazardous - only strongest Hollows survive. In addition, all breaks to Seireitei can be traced back to a high-level Shinigami traitor - I suggest our canon stays true to that as well.

Cross-dimensional Integrity Grid: a fancy name for the surveillance system Shinigami use to monitor movement to and from Earth and Soul Society. It's akin to an elecrtical circuit - as Garganta causes a tear in dimensional fabric, a current running through the grid is broken, triggering an alarm and allowing for fast pin-pointing of the breach.

However, the density of the grid is directly proportional to amount of Reishi nearby. As such, small breaches in Mortal World caused by singular Hollows often go undetected, once again necessitating foot patrols. This is the system's own Minimum Detection Treshold.

Hollows are Savants in navigating the Void: Pesquisa implies most Hollows are naturally much better at detecting spiritual presences than Shinigami - Draken used sharks sensing blood in the water as an analogy, and I approve. I suggest they can also "see" to other dimensions, to help explain how they find their way around.

Of course, Garganta is known as a Kido to Shinigami, but it's much harder for them: In Canon Bleach, only expert scientist like Urahara, Mayuri and Aizen managed to reverse-engineer it. Now, in our continuity, things are a bit brighter, with Garganta being known to Shinigami and them being able to move to and from Hueco Mundo on their own. Still, it's a tough skill; see Renji for what happens when you screw a low-level Kido. Most Shinigami would not be able to move through the Void on their own.

tl;dr:

• A Shinigami without a Reiphone can easily fall off the radar on Earth
• A Shinigami without a Reiphone makes Hollows harder to detect for their mission control
• Hollows have the edge in dimensional travel.
• Even with a Reiphone, a Shinigami will have hard time navigating or communicating with his peers in Hueco Mundo and the Void.
• A lone Shinigami is near untrackable with or without a Reiphone while in the Void or Hueco Mundo.
• A Shinigami without a Reiphone in Hueco Mundo is screwed.
• Foot patrols are fundamental to Shinigami intelligence, as cross-dimensional surveillance has too many gaps in it.

Important note: Nothing in this requires any retconning of past plotlines, mostly because I've written it while keeping what's already happened in mind. This is mostly to explain why things have happened like they did, and to serve as a guideline for future events.

[Dorizzit]

@Vulkan and Dorizzit: Did you manage to clear who is waiting for who, or is something else holding you two up in Ep. 11?

At the moment, I'm waiting on Vulkan.

[Major]

Sorry for the silence, I was waiting to try and figure out another opening. Since squad one is so small I might change squads to something else.

Any Shinigami here looking for a new teammate? :P

[Kuroimaken]

Hmmm. Kazuma's going to be training soon as he leaves the 4th division's infirmary, Soushi's busy invisibly cheering Daisuke on, and Shishiou is waiting on his squadmates for training.

So unless you feel like putting your character through the proverbial wringer by training with Kazuma, I got nothing for ya!

[Major]

Hmmm. Kazuma's going to be training soon as he leaves the 4th division's infirmary, Soushi's busy invisibly cheering Daisuke on, and Shishiou is waiting on his squadmates for training.

So unless you feel like putting your character through the proverbial wringer by training with Kazuma, I got nothing for ya!

It's a possibility since I don't see many other options, but I'll wait and see if any others. Would you mind her training with you if nothing else works out?

[Kuroimaken]

Not at all.

She's in for a savage opportunity though.

[Major]

Not at all.

She's in for a savage opportunity though.

Might just snape her out of being a moody negative bitch :P

"Beating the S$@t out of someone. The cure for mind f$@%ing"

[horngeek]

Incidentally, Maximus, just a reminder- Inoue's right arm has a metal gauntlet on it, so Absalom did get smashed in the face by a gauntleted fist, not just a bare fist.

Not sure if that changes your post- he could be tough enough to take that to the face and still respond like he did- but it's still worth mentioning.

[Vulkan]

I feel so very stupid.. I can't believe I got mixed up with who was supposed to post next.

[maximus25]

Incidentally, Maximus, just a reminder- Inoue's right arm has a metal gauntlet on it, so Absalom did get smashed in the face by a gauntleted fist, not just a bare fist.

Not sure if that changes your post- he could be tough enough to take that to the face and still respond like he did- but it's still worth mentioning.

Well, I think the scales offer some protection against gauntlet. Don't know exactly, but it's not metal on soft fleshy flesh, there's a layer of protection there.

[Frozen_Feet]

@Dorizzit: is Iwaki still to reply in SS, or did I miss a post?

[Kuroimaken]

Is it me or did things cool down a lot here? Is everybody worried about finals or something?

[Mina Kobold]

I haven't noticed anything, but finals sounds like it could be the cause of something like that.

Maybe everybody have vacations soon? It would fit with the local holidays around here, but they're usually a bit strange compared to other countries.

[KnightDisciple]

Is it me or did things cool down a lot here? Is everybody worried about finals or something?

I'm stuck waiting on things to happen, either immediately or in the larger scale.

Vicente: Waiting on Riccaru and Kayne to finish their agonizingly slow scene. (Sorry guys, but you're going at a rate of 1 post per person each week, if we're lucky there.)
Kaito: Waiting on the meeting with the kids to start.
Josiah: Secondary character anyways, waiting on stuff to happen.
Cackling Oni: Plotting! But also not sure if you want to do something there now, Kuroi.
Yoshi: Hm. I think I had intended to write up some improvements to his Kido arsenal, a couple of his minor inventions, and then his "big invention", the one that makes him qualified for Vice-Captain.
Masaru: Waiting for Kazuma to come talk to him, so Kazuma trusts him, so that Miyamoto Musashi Masaru can start teaching him the Jedi way how to fight better with his sword.
Endo Shin: Not in play yet, mostly because I have no clue on what to do for his Higher Hakuda, something I think fits him and feel he kind of needs noted down. Haven't gotten much input one way or the other on him. (Post is here.)

EDIT: Draken, does Venti Buno serve all food, or just coffe-shop-style stuff?

[Frozen_Feet]

I'm stuck waiting too.

Sayuri is waiting for Iwaki to reply, and on a slightly longer aim, I'm waiting for Nicklance & Co to greenlight starting the actual operation. It's not necessary to play out the training drills, I came up with them to give characters time to solve their own plotlines and get the larger plot in the right place.

Mihail is waiting for Eirene to do something, and on a longer aim, waiting for the Samsara arc to begin.

Yui / Elder is waiting for the fights to advance a bit before jumping in in Ep. 11. On a longer aim, also waiting for Samsara arc to begin and for Sora to free up for scolding interaction.

Nasumi is not strictly waiting for anything, but I'm keeping her off-screen until I come up with something for her to do.

Hannibal is waiting for Genoveva to reply.

Hachirou is waiting for Koujin to reply.

Lalita is assumed to be out training, untill Zerkai returns to play Canguro or someone else gives me a strong incentive to make him return.

Post-san is still waiting for Gwen.

Zamiel is safely off-screen.

[tgva8889]

Sorry I've been busy lately, now time to post as my characters and catch up on things!

[Major]

@Kuroimaken: So, do you think I should have an intro post and have her just doing random stuff in soul society till you heal up and do training/till something else happens?

Or wait till you are ready and intro with your post?

[Frozen_Feet]

As a comment on Ep. 11: Allan is probably relieved he's fighting just himself. He's had worse.

[Kuroimaken]

Hm. Given it wouldn't impact things that much, here's a thought as far as Kazuma goes.

Kazuma meets Major's character, spar. This can take up time in its own time bubble.

Timeline-wise, after that, Kazuma is training and sends Masaru a Hell Butterfly to meet him at the training grounds.

I'll give you guys more stuff lately.

[Vulkan]

As a comment on Ep. 11: Allan is probably relieved he's fighting just himself. He's had worse.

I'm going to die, aren't I?

[Major]

Hm. Given it wouldn't impact things that much, here's a thought as far as Kazuma goes.

Kazuma meets Major's character, spar. This can take up time in its own time bubble.

Timeline-wise, after that, Kazuma is training and sends Masaru a Hell Butterfly to meet him at the training grounds.

I'll give you guys more stuff lately.

Cool, I'll make an intro post soon. At the moment going to grab food. About how long till he recovers? I can make an intro post quicker if need be.

[Kuroimaken]

Cool, I'll make an intro post soon. At the moment going to grab food. About how long till he recovers? I can make an intro post quicker if need be.

I think he was actually pretty much told to just rest for a while. Akira's butterflies pretty much did all the patching up they had to do.

[Dorizzit]

@Dorizzit: is Iwaki still to reply in SS, or did I miss a post?

Iwaki still needs to reply. I've just been hitting a creative stone wall in that area and RL has been keeping me too busy to really break it down.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Damn...Allan's laying down some mean smack talk!

[Dorizzit]

Banter is a significant portion of his battle strategy.

[Kuroimaken]

Banter is a significant portion of his battle strategy.

His and half the cast of shounen anime's.

[Dorizzit]

As a strategy? Or because they like to talk?