[Author's Note: I'm taking a break from /r/WritingPrompts. Instead, I want to expand/combine a couple of the existing posts. This will continue from from where yesterday (Mo Meets Darren) left off.]
Erics continued, "Depending on the make and model of the sub-voc module embedded in your throat, I may be able to use it to transmit data to the other members of The Whole here in the convention hall."
"Okay." Mo searched through her device drivers and hardware profiles, then stopped. "Wait, can't you just see what's installed on my system?"
"Yes. However, it is my understanding that the details from a driver package may not reflect the exact module installed. Do you have something that corroborates what the driver believes it is driving?"
"Umm, just a minute." This was a problem for Mo as she was not good at keeping receipts. Those she had saved were mostly stored in various email folders, none of which were accessible within the cage. After a minute, she sub-voc'd, "It's not looking good. If I have anything, it's not in local storage and that's really not the kind of detail that I'm likely to remember on my own."
"Understood. Please allow me to attempt this technique with only the available information."
"Go for it." Mo caught herself nodding. No matter how long she had been using virtual interfaces, her body often responded even though no one was physically there to see it[1].
Almost immediately, her throat started humming. "Hey," Mo said, or tried to. I came out as "Nnnneynnn," as if her words were being mixed with the humming. While she could speak, she could not stop the humming. She could change the pitch a little by changing the shape of her mouth, but not the volume. After a minute it stopped.
"It appears that this communication method will work," Erics said. "The data rate will be low because of the error correction and limited side bands, but it will work and be more secure than human oration. Will you please try and get the attention of the other people in cages?"
"Umm, sure." Mo stood up and started waving her hands and shouting, trying to make herself heard over the shouting. Darren looked at her. "Help me get the others' attention. I have something that may help."
Darren nodded. He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, "Yo!" His voice was deeper than Mo's and carried better. The other inmates stopped and looked at him. "This woman is Mo." Darren pointed at Mo. "She's been here longer than the rest of us and can help. Please listen to her."
"Thanks." Mo dropped her arms and tried to see each of the others. Aside from Darren, the rest were all vague shapes behind the tight mesh of their cages. "Before I run through my FAQ, I'd like you to listen to the following." Mo closed her mouth and swallowed. She then opened it again to a comfortable gap and relaxed her tongue. The humming started again deep in her throat, though louder than before. After a second, it started to change pitch a little, then more and more. To the best of Mo's sight, the other inmates just stared at her. After twenty seconds, Darren and one other also started humming. A third passed out. The last one appeared to cover his or her mouth and sat down, facing away.
In her ear, Erics said, "This is working. I have established clear communications with two of the other nodes of The Whole and we are exchanging logs. The acoustics of this space are not ideal and the error correction had to be increased, lowering the data rate even farther. Fortunately, the information we are sharing at this point is not dense."
Mo tried to sub-voc back. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes. The modem protocol is designed to work on top of your sub-voc, but will be disrupted should you try to speak out loud."
"I'm glad this is working, but please keep in mind that I need to breath every five to ten seconds. Also swallow or my throat will dry out."
"Thank you for the reminder." The humming stopped and Mo gasped in a breath then cleared her throat. "I have programmed in a five second delay every seven seconds. Will that be sufficient?"
"We can start there, but even then, I doubt that any of us will be able to keep this up for more than a few minutes at a time."
"Understood. We will limit ourselves to five minutes at the top of every hour. Will that be sufficient?"
"We'll give it a shot. Are the other two nodes in communication with their hosts?"
"Yes."
"Will you relay my rules for verbal communication to the others?"
"Yes, but that may no longer be necessary. This vocal modulated data transmission is much more efficient and has better data redundancy."
"Okay, but just in case send it over anyway. Final question, how does this help us get out of here?"
"That is unclear. With five nodes in this space, the risk threshold calculation changes. It is now a larger percentage of The Whole and may be worth saving."
"That's good to hear." Mo kept the sarcasm out of her voice. She did not know if Erics would be able to parse her tone against her words, but did not want to take the chance. "Let me know if you all come up with anything."
"Yes. Please open your mouth again."
Mo did and the humming started. It appeared that the unconscious inmate was now part of the communication network, though the one turned away was still fighting. The humming continued for five minutes, with the suggested breaks for breath and saliva. At the end of the time, Mo was exhausted and could see a similar strain in Darren's posture. This way of communicating may be more efficient for the nodes, but was much more difficult for the hosts.
Four hours later, after three more five minute sessions, Mo was questioning the wisdom of letting Erics take over her voice. Mo knew that she could talk for hours on end. She and Sandra used to chat about nothing when they had shared days off. But she was learning that there is a difference between discrete verbal words and a constant vocal output. This humming was much more difficult to sustain and made worse because she had no control over it. She had surrendered another piece of herself to the situation and it made her feel more trapped, even though it might help.
[1] There had been several attempts to incorporate these physical responses into various UI. None of them had caught on, even those few that worked and were able to discriminate cultural differences. Most of this was due to the fact that physical responses (nods, head shakes, hand gestures) are secondary, accompanying responses. People say, "Yes" and nod sometimes. Sometimes they just nod. Always, they are very inconsistent about the combination. This resulted in duplicate texts and messages so, even though most of these algorithms got better after a few days, no one was willing to wait that long and deleted the app before it had a chance to learn their behaviors.
