Detecting Blue Lines With Technology

[Nadrakas]

I need some help answering some questions from a Scientific Minded Player Character.

Question after the "Quote."

The below is part Spoiler and is also used to keep this post "Short." Read it or not. Some of it is "Campaign Specific", while the last parts give insight into the PC who is attempting to detect "Blue Lines" with Technology.

Spoiler:

First, the Player for the PC I mention below has never played anything from Palladium, thus she does not know the backstory or the future of Rifts. She also does not know what kind of lightning rod her family name will become in the future (She didn't choose the Surname...I did as GM ).

The Campaign started with Blue Booking (a technique where a journal is kept, in this case an electronic one, about what the character is doing "off-camera") major and minor events in the PCs life, all the way back to childhood. We played several of the events out, introducing NPCs into the Campaign and adding background material such as Places, Companies, and Historical Events. The Campaign was brought up to a month before "Armageddon" and we played things out from there: The fighting in South America, which had been forshadowed earlier with Blue Booking and background material during play (I chose Colombia and Venezuela as the Antagonists, as they have historically fought several wars and had numerous skirmishes) along with the EU's failed attempts to foster negotiations, protests in the EU against "Austerity Measures", renewed conflict in the Middle East, Japan rearming and becoming more "militant", protests in the U.S. demanding that the Government do something to bring unemployment down from 23.73% (I have the world in a Depression), happy anticipation for the upcoming holidays (The PCs Father works at "Lone Star" as the Head Geneticist -- Still need to know what Lone Star was called before "Armageddon"), and a few more Campaign specific events.

Then, "Armageddon" came...and now it's the beginning of Day 5. The World has fallen to pieces, Earthquakes, Tsunami's, Volcanos - including Yellowstone, a massive Solar Flare (3.25 x 10[sup]27[/sup]) has disrupted communications between Earth and the Orbiting Space Stations, Blue Lines are everywhere and to make matters worse, "Things" are coming out of the Blue Lines.

Chicago NEMA was hit by a Bunker Buster NUKE from Orbit, and lost most of it's personnel and the majority of it's heavy equipment. Chicago itself is like a Warzone in most places, with the Police and other Emergency Responders overwhelmed. The Hospitals are understaffed due to their own staffs inability to make it to work and they are overwhelmed with injuries, many of them life-threatening. The Atlanta NEMA is still days away from arriving, though they have made broken contact over the Radio with the surviving Chicago NEMA. Bodies that can be recovered from collapsed buildings and Monster Attacks, are being gathered and placed in warehouses, until they can be buried.

Enter the PC, who has suffered personal losses herself. One of the PCs Brothers is dead, she can't get in touch with her Father, and her oldest Brother - a U.S. Army SAMAS Pilot who was off the coast of Colombia/Venezuela - showed up two days ago in his damaged SAMAS. Three of her childhood friends are missing, two are more than likely dead. Her Teacher, Mr Shen, who taught her and her Brothers at home, left just a few days before "Armageddon" and has not been seen since. She doesn't know if her Mother, who is in Germany, is alive or dead. And still she perseveres.

Her Father is one of the Top-5 Geneticists in the world. He Engingineered his own Children (3 of them), improving them in every way imaginable (There are other things going on, but for this discussion, they don't matter...). Smarter, Stronger, Tougher, Faster, Indomitable (Think Khan from Star Trek). They are, in every sense of the word, Superior. Her two Brothers each held a PHD by the age of 18, while she holds three PHDs - graduating at the age of 18 with her third, with a dozen Masters in various fields. She would have finished her fourth PHD in early 2099 if "Armageddon" hadn't happened. PHD's in Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Robotics. Masters in Physics, Lasers, Electronics, Communications, AI Psychology, Medicine, and several other interelated fields.

She's built her own AI's: started with simple AI's first...when she was 6 -- Robotic AI's to do her hair, until they rebelled and wanted to do her hair Their Way...they are "deactivated" for everyone's good. Built a truly smart TV...that got hooked on Korean Soaps. Built a Robotic Tiger with a learning AI -- so far, so good.

She was hired by NEMA, to start on 5 Jan 2099, to work at the NEMA HQ as an A.I. Expert and Psychologist. She was investigated prior to being offered any job with NEMA, met the General in charge and met A.R.C.H.I.E.. They actually "hit it off" and on her last night during her visit they designed "together" a Stealth Robotic Armored Suite (Invisible Power Armor).

Since "Armageddon", she has saved a young girl from being killed by gargantuan spiders (Many others in the neighborhood were unfortunately killed), has put together a combination Tri-Vid/Standard Radio Report and broadcast it twice daily to Chicago and the surrounding area in English, German (Native), Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, inspiring more than a million Souls in this time of Darkness. She helped to rescue the Chicago NEMA, who were trapped in the lower levels of their base, by hacking into several construction Robots and digging out the base. She met with and discussed options with the City Leadership, including Chicago's NEMA, concluding that Humanity can't give up and that the Creatures are NOT Human and can't be treated like Humans. Sympathy can't be given to a Creature that kills innocent Men, Women and Children.

In short, for an 18 year old, she has accomplished a whole lot. But you would expect nothing less from someone from such a Noble Lineage and Genetic Purity; of a Prosek; Margarete Isolde Viktoria Elizabeth von Prosek to be exact.

Also of interest, She, and her eldest Brother, can both feel the Blue Lines, when the "Things" are near and people who have the "Blue Line" energy within them. (ie: Sense Ley Lines, Sense the Supernatural, Sense Magic).

The City Leadership asked her to take the lead on trying to find out what the "Blue Lines" were and a way to stop the Creatures from coming through, which leads us to the question below:

So, if you read the above, you will know that the particular PC I'm dealing with is pretty well grounded in Science, the Scientific Method and the Technology of the 21st Century.

Now consider the following about Ley Lines:
1. The Blue Lines give off light in the Blue Spectrum.
2. The Blue Lines intefere with Satellite Feeds, Television, and Telecommunications (Rifts CE, p. 15, bottom left, under "Worldwide Communications Collapse"). This includes through the Blue Lines (One side to the other) and when you are inside the Blue Line trying to communicate to another person also inside the Blue Line.
3. The Blue Lines discharge electricity, in the form of Lightning.
4. Storms, of a type, travel up/down the Blue Lines at different times. Quite often accompanied by Electrical Discharges, but sometimes by other "odd" non-weather patterns (Blood rain, "demonic" creatures, bowling ball sized hail, etc).


Some Questions: (All of these assume "normal" conditions: No Blue Line Storms, Electrical Discharges, etc -- No "activity" within the Blue Line):
1. Is there a temperature difference between the inside of the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?
2. Is there a difference in wind patterns, pressure, humidity, inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?
3. Is there a difference in the Electromagnetic Field of the Earth inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?
4. Is there a difference when the Blue Line is viewed in the other spectrums of light? (Infrared, Ultraviolet, Gamma, X-Ray, etc).
5. Is there a detectable Radiation discharge from the Blue Lines? And what type?
6. Is there an interaction with the Blue Lines when using other frequencies of Light? (Laser, Maser, etc)
7. What is the absorption/disruption rate, if any, that the Blue Lines have on Laser Communications? If absorbed/disrupted, will excess amounts cause a "Door" to form? (Important with NEMA using Laser Weapons).


Now, for my question as the GM.
Using Sensor Technology, how would one go about Detecting the Blue Lines? I'm not talking about using "Technomagic, Psi-Tech, or any other Blah-Tech/Tech-Blah." I'm talking about using straight up Technology that Human Beings can make.

Thanks.


~ N

[Nadrakas]

You actually listed all of the things you could detect for so I think it would be pretty easy, with the background described, for the Character to put together a sensor rig that would be effectively the same as the SNARLS system in World Book 8: Japan.

WildWalker

I have to pop out to work in a few minutes. I'll take a look when I get back.

Thanks.


~ N

[drewkitty ~..~]

Detecting blue line/ley lines on rifts earth is easy.

You make a camera that can detect the wavelength of light the LL puts off and use it to find them. This can be a binary yes/no output, or a gradient output that tells how strong the LL light levels are.

[Nadrakas]

Detecting blue line/ley lines on rifts earth is easy.

You make a camera that can detect the wavelength of light the LL puts off and use it to find them. This can be a binary yes/no output, or a gradient output that tells how strong the LL light levels are.

There's always one in every group, isn't there? The "Class Clown."


~ N

[drewkitty ~..~]

If all you want is to detect where the LL is, then all you need to do is detect it's effects on the world.

If you want to detect PPE then that is a lot harder then just detecting something that produces light. However,once you have developed a way to detect PPE directly with tech, then you have taken the 1st step to making a tech magic machine.

[Nadrakas]

You actually listed all of the things you could detect for so I think it would be pretty easy, with the background described, for the Character to put together a sensor rig that would be effectively the same as the SNARLS system in World Book 8: Japan.

WildWalker

I looked at the SNARLS Sensor System, and while it will provide answers to some of the questions, it does not in and of itself answer the questions that were asked. It also does not provide a method to "detect" Blue Lines (Ley Lines) and analyze them (It can detect strong Bio-Patterns -- individuals with 80 PPE or more).

The Player Character is, in character, trying to find answers in order to save peoples lives, and to be honest I'm scratching my head on some of these.

Here's the basics of what the PC knows about the "Blue Lines" in General.

1. The Blue Lines give off light in the Blue Spectrum.
2. The Blue Lines intefere with Satellite Feeds, Television, and Telecommunications (Rifts CE, p. 15, bottom left, under "Worldwide Communications Collapse"). This includes through the Blue Lines (One side to the other) and when you are inside the Blue Line trying to communicate to another person also inside the Blue Line.
3. The Blue Lines discharge electricity, in the form of Lightning.
4. Storms, of a type, travel up/down the Blue Lines at different times. Quite often accompanied by Electrical Discharges, but sometimes by other "odd" non-weather patterns (Blood rain, "demonic" creatures, bowling ball sized hail, etc).

NEW POINTS (FORGOT TO ADD THEM BEFORE)
5. Where two or more Blue Lines meet, at these Epicenters, a spike in energy occurs, creating massive surges of electrical discharges and pyrotechnic displays where two or more
6. At the Epicenters, on occassionally along the Blue Lines themselves, "Things Not of This Earth" are coming through from somewhere - perhaps Hell itself. A DNA test conducted by the PC revealed that these "Things" weren't from Earth.
7. Gravity can have different properties inside the Blue Lines. Neutral Bouyancy leading to people and object floating, and increased Gravity pinning people to the ground have both been experienced for varying degrees of time before Gravity returned to normal. This is a very powerful alteration of one the four fundamental interactions of nature (The other three being Strong Force, Electromagnetism and the Weak Force).

The 7-Points above have been either observed by the PC or accurately reported to her. She's trying to find a Rational Scientific Explanation for what is going on.


Below are the Queries that the PC is trying to find answers too, in the hopes of better understanding the Blue Lines. I have some ideas on how to answer them, but I'm not sure they make any sense. Stil I'll put them down.

I'd still like other people to chime in on these, with reasonable (or at least Funny) answers please.

1. Is there a temperature difference between the inside of the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

A knee jerk answer is Yes, with the massive discharge of energy the temperature would be higher inside the Blue Line than outside. However, the nature of the Blue Line is just as likely to make it colder inside than outside.

So Yes, with equal chances of being the Same, Higher or Lower Temperature.

2. Is there a difference in wind patterns, pressure, humidity, inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

Wind Patterns: I'd say that sometimes they are different inside the Blue Lines than outside. I'm not meaning that the wind blows Eastward into a Blue Line and it suddenly stars blowing Westward inside the Blue Line. It might blow Eastward into a Blue Line and suddenly blow Northward or Southward, or perhaps the wind hits a wall where the Blue Line begins and goes straight up and over the Blue Line, coming down on the other side.

Pressure: Similar to Temperature on this one. Equal chance of being the Same, Higher or Lower than the Pressure outside the Blue Line.

Humidity: Like Temperature and Pressure. Equal chance of being the Same, Higher or Lower than the Pressure outside the Blue Line. Imagine, it's nearly bone dry outside the Blue Line, but inside might be perpetually 90% plus, perhaps permanently, which would lead to a totally different ecosystem.

3. Is there a difference in the Electromagnetic Field of the Earth inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

I'm leaning toward "Yes" on this one. At the risk of being tied up and run out of the forums on a rail, let me explain. In Beyond the Supernatural, when explaining Ley Lines, Victor Lazlo writes the following: "Conventional science has corroborated that electromagnetism in these areas is unusually high with erratic increases and decreases. Unfortunately, the so-called magic energy eludes all other means of detection."

I know, I know...Beyond the Supernatural has nothing to do with RIFTS. It was disconnected from the setting with the Second Edition of RIFTS and the two shall never cross paths again, etc, etc, etc. Still, this is one explanation.

Any others?

4. Is there a difference when the Blue Line is viewed in the other spectrums of light? (Infrared, Ultraviolet, Gamma, X-Ray, etc).

Infrared: If #3 is a Yes, then Yes.
Ultraviolet: Perhaps
Gamma: Maybe, if radiation is given off by the Blue Lines (See #5).
X-Ray: Same as Gamma (See #5).

5. Is there a detectable Radiation discharge from the Blue Lines? And what type?

I want to say yes on this, but not "normal" Radiation. A new type of Radiation based off of the fact that it is "Magic" or if you will "PPE." This "M-Radiation" can mutate people, kill them in massive (really massive) doses and can be harnessed for power. It just requires different "Technology" (ie: Magic, Technomagic, etc) to do so.

6. Is there an interaction with the Blue Lines when using other frequencies of Light? (Laser, Maser, etc)

I'm really not sure on this one. I haven't read anywhere that the Blue Lines interfere with any other Light Frequencies, cause feedback or any other odd affects.

7. What is the absorption/disruption rate, if any, that the Blue Lines have on Laser Communications? If absorbed/disrupted, will excess amounts cause a "Door" to form? (Important with NEMA using Laser Weapons).

If #6 is No then this would be No also. If so, then this might be one of the only uninterruptable methods of communication left to humanity.

Using Sensor Technology, how would someone go about Detecting the Blue Lines? I'm not talking about using "Technomagic, Psi-Tech, or any other Blah-Tech/Tech-Blah." I'm talking about using straight up Technology that Human Beings can make.

The PC wants to not only "Detect" the Blue Lines, she wants to be able to Analyze them in order to determine a method to shut them down and close the Epicenters.

I looked at the SNARLS Sensor System that WildWalker mentioned in his post, but the detection of "PPE" is for Biopatterns.

If Electromagnetic Fields are somehow linked, even peripherally with Blue Lines, then a more powerful version of an Electromagnetic Field Detector could be used (The Satellite version is out of the question, for obvious reasons).

However, if Electromagnetic Fields really have nothing to do with Blue Lines then......does anyone else have another idea, besides using Binoculors or developing "Techno-Magic". The former are obvious, but provide no method of "analyzing" the Blue Lines, and the later are an impossibility at this point-in-time.

So, please...anyone have any ideas on how to Detect Blue Lines in order to provide information to be Analyzed? All within the context of "shutting the Damnable things down." (To quote the current Mayor of Chicago)


~ N

[keir451]

If all you want is to detect where the LL is, then all you need to do is detect it's effects on the world.

If you want to detect PPE then that is a lot harder then just detecting something that produces light. However,once you have developed a way to detect PPE directly with tech, then you have taken the 1st step to making a tech magic machine.

He's got a point tho', according to the boks there is a "PPE" generator (of sorts) in Lone Star so at one point in Chaos Earth the ability to detect PPE using tech was available. I'd love to see if this player comes up w/way to pull it off.

[Nadrakas]

If all you want is to detect where the LL is, then all you need to do is detect it's effects on the world.

If you want to detect PPE then that is a lot harder then just detecting something that produces light. However,once you have developed a way to detect PPE directly with tech, then you have taken the 1st step to making a tech magic machine.

He's got a point tho', according to the boks there is a "PPE" generator (of sorts) in Lone Star so at one point in Chaos Earth the ability to detect PPE using tech was available. I'd love to see if this player comes up w/way to pull it off.

Well, she doesn't know anything about RIFTS, BtS, or any other PB RPG. She's working with the information that is given to her in game....See the next entry.


~ N

[Nadrakas]

You actually listed all of the things you could detect for so I think it would be pretty easy, with the background described, for the Character to put together a sensor rig that would be effectively the same as the SNARLS system in World Book 8: Japan.

WildWalker

I looked at the SNARLS Sensor System, and while it will provide answers to some of the questions, it does not in and of itself answer the questions that were asked. It also does not provide a method to "detect" Blue Lines (Ley Lines) and analyze them (It can detect strong Bio-Patterns -- individuals with 80 PPE or more).


I'm going to put a SPOILER here so others can reread what I posted without having to scroll upwards. Nothing is an actual "SPOILER" though.

Spoiler:

The Player Character is, in character, trying to find answers in order to save peoples lives, and to be honest I'm scratching my head on some of these.

Here's the basics of what the PC knows about the "Blue Lines" in General.

1. The Blue Lines give off light in the Blue Spectrum.
2. The Blue Lines intefere with Satellite Feeds, Television, and Telecommunications (Rifts CE, p. 15, bottom left, under "Worldwide Communications Collapse"). This includes through the Blue Lines (One side to the other) and when you are inside the Blue Line trying to communicate to another person also inside the Blue Line.
3. The Blue Lines discharge electricity, in the form of Lightning.
4. Storms, of a type, travel up/down the Blue Lines at different times. Quite often accompanied by Electrical Discharges, but sometimes by other "odd" non-weather patterns (Blood rain, "demonic" creatures, bowling ball sized hail, etc).

NEW POINTS (FORGOT TO ADD THEM BEFORE)
5. Where two or more Blue Lines meet, at these Epicenters, a spike in energy occurs, creating massive surges of electrical discharges and pyrotechnic displays where two or more
6. At the Epicenters, on occassionally along the Blue Lines themselves, "Things Not of This Earth" are coming through from somewhere - perhaps Hell itself. A DNA test conducted by the PC revealed that these "Things" weren't from Earth.
7. Gravity can have different properties inside the Blue Lines. Neutral Bouyancy leading to people and object floating, and increased Gravity pinning people to the ground have both been experienced for varying degrees of time before Gravity returned to normal. This is a very powerful alteration of one the four fundamental interactions of nature (The other three being Strong Force, Electromagnetism and the Weak Force).

The 7-Points above have been either observed by the PC or accurately reported to her. She's trying to find a Rational Scientific Explanation for what is going on.


Below are the Queries that the PC is trying to find answers too, in the hopes of better understanding the Blue Lines. I have some ideas on how to answer them, but I'm not sure they make any sense. Stil I'll put them down.

I'd still like other people to chime in on these, with reasonable (or at least Funny) answers please.

1. Is there a temperature difference between the inside of the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

A knee jerk answer is Yes, with the massive discharge of energy the temperature would be higher inside the Blue Line than outside. However, the nature of the Blue Line is just as likely to make it colder inside than outside.

So Yes, with equal chances of being the Same, Higher or Lower Temperature.

2. Is there a difference in wind patterns, pressure, humidity, inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

Wind Patterns: I'd say that sometimes they are different inside the Blue Lines than outside. I'm not meaning that the wind blows Eastward into a Blue Line and it suddenly stars blowing Westward inside the Blue Line. It might blow Eastward into a Blue Line and suddenly blow Northward or Southward, or perhaps the wind hits a wall where the Blue Line begins and goes straight up and over the Blue Line, coming down on the other side.

Pressure: Similar to Temperature on this one. Equal chance of being the Same, Higher or Lower than the Pressure outside the Blue Line.

Humidity: Like Temperature and Pressure. Equal chance of being the Same, Higher or Lower than the Pressure outside the Blue Line. Imagine, it's nearly bone dry outside the Blue Line, but inside might be perpetually 90% plus, perhaps permanently, which would lead to a totally different ecosystem.

3. Is there a difference in the Electromagnetic Field of the Earth inside the Blue Line and the area Outside the Blue Line?

I'm leaning toward "Yes" on this one. At the risk of being tied up and run out of the forums on a rail, let me explain. In Beyond the Supernatural, when explaining Ley Lines, Victor Lazlo writes the following: "Conventional science has corroborated that electromagnetism in these areas is unusually high with erratic increases and decreases. Unfortunately, the so-called magic energy eludes all other means of detection."

I know, I know...Beyond the Supernatural has nothing to do with RIFTS. It was disconnected from the setting with the Second Edition of RIFTS and the two shall never cross paths again, etc, etc, etc. Still, this is one explanation.

Any others?

4. Is there a difference when the Blue Line is viewed in the other spectrums of light? (Infrared, Ultraviolet, Gamma, X-Ray, etc).

Infrared: If #3 is a Yes, then Yes.
Ultraviolet: Perhaps
Gamma: Maybe, if radiation is given off by the Blue Lines (See #5).
X-Ray: Same as Gamma (See #5).

5. Is there a detectable Radiation discharge from the Blue Lines? And what type?

I want to say yes on this, but not "normal" Radiation. A new type of Radiation based off of the fact that it is "Magic" or if you will "PPE." This "M-Radiation" can mutate people, kill them in massive (really massive) doses and can be harnessed for power. It just requires different "Technology" (ie: Magic, Technomagic, etc) to do so.

6. Is there an interaction with the Blue Lines when using other frequencies of Light? (Laser, Maser, etc)

I'm really not sure on this one. I haven't read anywhere that the Blue Lines interfere with any other Light Frequencies, cause feedback or any other odd affects.

7. What is the absorption/disruption rate, if any, that the Blue Lines have on Laser Communications? If absorbed/disrupted, will excess amounts cause a "Door" to form? (Important with NEMA using Laser Weapons).

If #6 is No then this would be No also. If so, then this might be one of the only uninterruptable methods of communication left to humanity.

Using Sensor Technology, how would someone go about Detecting the Blue Lines? I'm not talking about using "Technomagic, Psi-Tech, or any other Blah-Tech/Tech-Blah." I'm talking about using straight up Technology that Human Beings can make.

The PC wants to not only "Detect" the Blue Lines, she wants to be able to Analyze them in order to determine a method to shut them down and close the Epicenters.

I looked at the SNARLS Sensor System that WildWalker mentioned in his post, but the detection of "PPE" is for Biopatterns.

If Electromagnetic Fields are somehow linked, even peripherally with Blue Lines, then a more powerful version of an Electromagnetic Field Detector could be used (The Satellite version is out of the question, for obvious reasons).

However, if Electromagnetic Fields really have nothing to do with Blue Lines then......does anyone else have another idea, besides using Binoculors or developing "Techno-Magic". The former are obvious, but provide no method of "analyzing" the Blue Lines, and the later are an impossibility at this point-in-time.

So, please...anyone have any ideas on how to Detect Blue Lines in order to provide information to be Analyzed? All within the context of "shutting the Damnable things down." (To quote the current Mayor of Chicago)

~ N

Sorry if this rambles on a bit, as I am pretty sick right now. I had to get my mind off of my topsy-turvy stomach and the porcelain God.

I took another look at the SNARLS Sensor System (Rifts Japan, p. 116) and after much thought I think your right, in a matter of speaking. The SNARLS does detect Bio-Patterns and high P.P.E. (80+), but its ability to analyze subjects leaves a lot to desire. As for Blue Lines...it has no capacity what-so-ever to analyze them at all (Remember here, the PC is attempting to find a way to shut down the Blue Lines and close the “Doors” that are forming. So, she is attempting to do things from a Scientific approach).

With the SNARLS Sensor System, the part about “detectable bio-patterns” is a little obscure, so after much fever-driven thought and some frustrating searching on the web, the best I could come up with is that “Bio-Patterns” represent a combination of the following:

1. Electrical Activity flowing through a persons Body/Brain
2. Magnetic Fields produced by Electrical Currents in the Brain

As to why SNARLS is able to detect high levels of P.P.E. (80+), here is my Theory:

As a byproduct of having such high levels of P.P.E., the Electrical Activity and Magnetic Fields increase in living beings. This isn't to say the P.P.E. is made up of Electricity or Magnetism, just that excess Electricity/Magnetism is generated as a byproduct of having such high levels of P.P.E..

When it comes to the “Blue Lines,” there is ample evidence that Electricity is generated, typically in the form of Lightning. Electricity also sparks up and down the “Blue Lines,” even when they are not generating Lightning (Possibly visible Static Electricity?). I know in Beyond the Supernatural 1st Edition (I don't have 2nd Ed...yet...), that electromagnetism is unusually high, with erratic increases & decreases (I know....BtS is not the back-story to RIFTS anymore...still, BtS does take place on an Earth & does have Ley Lines.). So, Electricity & Electromagnetism are present and subsequently this is how I think that SNARLS or a similar device is able to detect the “Blue Lines”. Not “analyze” them, but detect them.

Due to Margarete's (The PC) Skills, she is putting together such a device, a “Bio-Pattern Sensor System” (BPSS) if you will (Sans all of the other “sensors” that are on the SNALS...this one will only be able to detect “Bio-Patterns”). The Player, who knows nothing of RIFTS, was able to surmise in character many of the devices limitations. The device will also detect electrical signals from Power Armor, Robots, other Electrical Devices and of course when in a Blue Line the Sensor System will be overridden by the “Background Electricity and Electromagnetism.”

So, a much stripped down version of the SNARLS Sensor System that won't have as much range as the one in Japan. It's a start for now. The next Generation (if there is one...this is Chaos Earth afterall) can be more sophisticated, and include more sensitive sensors and provide onboard analyzing capabilities.


A new approach?
Due to the limitations inherent in the BPSS, Margarete has already started thinking of a newer approach to such a device. She's noted that some people are sensitive enough to detect the Blue Lines and the Creatures coming from them. She's also noted that some animals, particularly Dogs, are especially sensitive. She's hypothesized that if she can isolate the part(s) of a Dogs Brain that is sensitive to the Blue Lines and the Creatures presence then she can clone that portion(s) and create a simple, but effective “Biological Bio-Pattern Sensor” (BBPS) The portion(s) of the brain would be suspended in a nutrient bath and attached to a Nano-Neural Interface. Time will only tell if she is able to isolate such a portion in a Dogs Brain in time to make a difference.


The Future Is Always in Motion:
Of course, all of the above is contingent on what happens in the Campaign. The creation of the first Sensor System shouldn't be a problem. As for whether an upgrade to the BPSS or the creation of the BBPS will happen...we'll see how the Campaign unfolds.

Well, for now I'm going to go. As always, comments & critiques are welcome.

I hope this didn't ramble too much.

(Thunk...drool...ouch...)


~ N

P.S.: keir451: Margarete has surmised that the Blue Lines and the "Doors" may not be able to be shut down, at least not in the foreseable future. She's also surmised that they could be tapped as a source of power. That of course is in the far future...