How do machines "talk" too kaylee?" some sort of machine empathy?

POSTED BY: Fenris357
UPDATED: Sunday, October 10, 2004 23:29
VIEWED: 9076
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FENRIS357

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 12:33 AM

Ok machines seem to talk to Kaylee not that it is shown much in the showbut I'm curious if its something kinda sixth sense or she's just VERY tech minded. discuss

Kaylee is kinda of yummy too, know i think of it

CAPNRAHN

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 4:08 AM

Heh, being an long time Avionics Tech, I can say it is sorta subconscious observation.

When running smoothly machines make certain noises -- even circuit boards -- they 'hum' -- you'll have to trust me on this one.

They also have certain smells when function good verses breaking down. Sometimes a component on a circuit board may have fried, but the components casing is untouched - a really good sense of smell helps in tracking it down without having to pull out the diagrams.

In one episode, I think Kaylee said something like this, talking about Serenity: "She don't sound right..."

So I think she is a brilliantly intuitive engineer - she knows what a machine looks like, smells like and sounds like when it is operating correctly - after she gets to know it - of course! .

Hows that sound?

"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"

AMNESIACK

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 5:34 AM

While I pretty much agree with you, the devil's advocate argument against that would be how in the flashback in "Out of Gas" she was able to diagnose and fix the engine in Serenity, even though she said she'd never even seen one before.

EMBERS

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 5:59 AM

she was born and raised around machines...so even tho she hadn't been on a space ship before, she had seen all kinds of ground vehicals...

I'm in the camp of believing that she just has a lot of innate understanding, a lot of keen observation, and more general training than she usually admits to...(out of modesty)

after all, remember the discussion at the party in Shindig? She was very knowledgable about all different kinds of engines...

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 1:01 PM

but machines that communicate through telepathy? That sounds like science fiction. .......We live on a spaceship dear.

sorry, I just had to do it.

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FENRIS357

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 3:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Stillshiny:
but machines that communicate through telepathy? That sounds like science fiction. .......We live on a spaceship dear.

sorry, I just had to do it.

Check out my shop!
http://www.zazzle.com/contributors/products/gallery/browse_results.asp
?cid=238187680745956238

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss

when I telepathy I'm suggesting she innately listens to the ship "machine spirit" (you know the thing that you thank when your car starts when your already ten minutes late and its pouring with rain.

GWENHARKER

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 7:30 PM

Kaylee is very gifted when it comes to mechanics. I highly doubt the machines talk to her, but I have to agree witht he fellow up there: Machines make certain noises when they're breaking, smells, and the like. Someone who's really 'one with the metal' if you will, would know this, identify it.

SHINYLETO

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 10:15 PM

Agreed. Just think of machines you use every day. Computers and cars, for example, make lots of weird noises when they're on the fritz. If you know enough, its easy to discern which noise goes with which problem. When you're driving a car and you start going up a steep hill, the engine makes a certain noise. You'd know right away if it wasn't making the normal noise, and I'm willing to bet a good mechanic would know the specific parts the noise corresponds with.

http://blackbirdcomic.keenspace.com/

ZOID

Thursday, October 7, 2004 12:12 AM

ShinyLeto, et al:

In the OoG flashback, Kaylee not only demonstrates her prowess as a diagnostician, she also demonstrates a detailed knowledge of the particular system she is working on. The specific lines in question:

Quote:
...
BESTER
No can do, cap. Secondary grav boot's shot.

KAYLEE (O.S.)
No it ain't.

Kaylee pops up, getting dressed. The men look at her.

KAYLEE
Ain't nothing wrong with your grav boot.
Grav boot's just fine.
(to Mal)
Hello.

She drops down again, out of view. Mal glances at Bester. Bester's a bit flustered.

BESTER
(to Mal)
She don't... that's not...
(to Kaylee)
No it ain't!

KAYLEE
(reappearing)
Sure it is. Grav boot ain't your trouble.
I seen the trouble plain as day when I's down
there on my back. Your reg couple's bad.

BESTER
(clueless)
The... the what?

KAYLEE
Reg couple. Right here. See?

BESTER
No.

KAYLEE
This.
(Bester is still of the blank expression)
I'm pointin' right at it.

She rolls her eyes, sighs, reaches in, breaks off a part of the engine.

BESTER
Hey!

KAYLEE
Here.

She plunks the part in Bester's hand. She reaches back in, tinkers.

KAYLEE
Don't really serve much of a purpose, anyway.
Just tends to gum up the works when it gets tacked.
(re: a nearby wrench)
Hand me that, will ya?
(he does)
So I figure, why even have it? Better to just plug
your g-line straight into the port-pin-lock and that
should...

She's done. WHIRRR the turbine starts to turn.

KAYLEE
There.

She shoves it in Bester's hand. Fiddles with the engine.

BESTER
What'd you do?

MAL
She fixed it. ...

She is clearly familiar with either that specific engine, or an identical mechanical process from another engine (i.e., every car has something similar in the way of a carburetor). Since the system in question includes a 'grav boot', I'm going to assume she's had experience working on spacecraft (unless y'all think farming implements in the 'verse use gravity drives).

She also doesn't say she's never worked on a spaceship, she says she's never been up in one (from the same scene). There is a difference.

Lastly, my long-since departed grandfather could diagnose even seemingly healthy automobiles by opening the hood and putting a hand on the engine, running it through the gears while idling and passing a finger along the inside of the exhaust pipe. He could then fix a problem within minutes that my father had been working on for a week. Familiarity breeds an affinity that might be mistaken for psychic by those without the knack and the experience.

...Like Mal, Bester and me...

Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
Hope y'all didn't mind the excerpt from the show's script. It came from:
http://twiztv.com/scripts/firefly/season1/firefly-105.htm
_________________________________________________

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Only 197 days, 5 hours, 1 minutes, and 36 seconds left until The BDM!

YT

Thursday, October 7, 2004 12:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyLeto:
When you're driving a car and you start going up a steep hill, the engine makes a certain noise. You'd know right away if it wasn't making the normal noise, and I'm willing to bet a good mechanic would know the specific parts the noise corresponds with.

And where can I find me one of those?

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Wutzon: SmokeStack, "Leg & a Foot", from "It's Coming Down"

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