audio; un: hgottlieb {dated post-palace attack + finn/sans post}

[bijective]

[As much as Hermann would prefer to type this all down into a text format, some things are better said than written.

The voice of a soft-spoken man with a posh British accent comes online. Although there is a bit of grit to his voice, almost as if he were yelling at the top of his lungs for the past decade.

He clears his throat.]

Pardon the intrusion. I know many of you are…preoccupied at the moment. This will only take a couple of moments of your time. I’ll do my best to be as brief as possible.

My name is Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. I’m an engineer and physicist with the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. While I don’t have an immediate solution to our…current predicament. [A pause. While others can’t see it, he is clenching a fist to keep his nerves in one place.] My hope is that we take this opportunity to take pause and inventory of our current and unique team.

[Another pause for him to take a breath. Almost there, Gottlieb.]

Kurt Gödel once speculated that there cannot be a universal mathematical theory to prove every phenomenon. That there is no single method to determine what can be proven and what is true.

[He bites the bottom of his lip. Hopefully, some people are following along.]

Let’s consider the statement “This statement is unprovable.” If the sentence can be proven, then this becomes an attempt to prove a falsehood. Our only option then is that the sentence is unprovable. Hence, we have a sentence that exists as both unprovable and true.

This does not prove mathematics to be an incomplete art. No, far from it. What it illustrates is that there is no one theory to explain the numerical truth value in “This statement is unprovable.”

[A beat.]

…Numbers do not lie. On the contrary, they have a way of revealing an infinite amount of truths about the universe. Which makes the human language even more fascinating. Existing in a state of truth and contradiction. Using them to create bonds with one another or… put distance from each other.

As a team, we should…at least attempt to know each other better. So that we can all play to our strengths and cover our vulnerabilities.

I believe you’ve all been acquainted with my colleague, Dr. Geislzer. He’s reminded me of one activity for us all to partake in: Two Truths and a Lie. A simple game, really. Make three statements about yourself and leave it to the group or individual to determine which is the lie.

Hopefully, this should serve as…a refresher. To refocus ourselves on the events to come.

…Thank you.

[So yeah! Hermann is proposing a game of Two Truths and a Lie as a team-building exercise. Feel free to treat this like a meme thread where you thread jack and all that fun stuff! Or just make fun of Hermann for being so long-winded.

He’ll probably have a hard time actually engaging in the game he’s proposing so he might need a little encouragement in that department!]

Comments

[bossily]

[You brought this upon yourself, Hermann.]

Seriously? You have giant monsters tearing apart your version of Earth and you think it's far fetched that there's an amusement park on the moon?

[bijective]

To be honest, the concept sounds ludicrous on paper, however, that wasn’t my rationale.

[A beat.]

I was hoping you didn’t think so negatively of bow ties. That was my second choice.

[bossily]

[She can't help but laugh.]

It's not that I think negatively of them. Or the people who wear them. They're incredibly attractive on the right people, you know.

[bijective]

I see. Well, thank you for providing an insightful justification for your non-lie.

[If you listen verrryy closely, you can hear some semblance of a laugh coming out of him. Congratulations, Clara: This is as close to teasing Hermann will ever get.]

But I suspect bow ties hold a much deeper connection than only ‘the right person wearing it.’

[bossily]

[How dare you say such a thing where anyone can hear, sir. ]

Everything sentimental always does have a deeper connection, doesn't it?

[bijective]

That doesn’t answer the question.

[Ah, there seems to be a shift in this little exchange, but nevertheless…

He clears his throat.]

Computer science can be a very complex, frustrating yet invigorating field. It constantly changes at rapid speeds. There are too many clever minds to count, but I’ve always taken a liking to the works of Ada Lovelace.

She was the first who made the entire field quite [ahem.] attractive.

[bossily]

[She's thanking her lucky stars he doesn't press the matter further. That's something she really doesn't want to get into.]

If I had to choose a favorite mathematician, it'd definitely be her.

[Though she doesn't entirely understand why he's telling her this, she's grateful he is. She realizes it's really the first little piece of himself he's shared with her.]

Does that mean it's one of your truths? Or is it a lie?

[Yeah she's totally going to rope him into playing this]

[bijective]

Hm? Yes, I suppose it is. Though it is a faulty statement from its premise alone. There isn’t exactly a way to validate the truth value on a subjective opinion.

[Rope him in all you want. He’ll find some roundabout way to make this about math.]

[bossily]

Can I ask you something?

[She considers not waiting for an answer before just outright asking, but she doesn't want to be rude here.]

[bijective]

Yes? What is it, Clara?

[There’s a hint of confusion in his voice. Only because he thought he was on a roll with this truth thing.]

[bossily]

[oh, he's agreed. She was half expecting him to say no. So she really hadn't prepared a question for him, she was more or less just hoping to disarm him enough to get him to play along.]

Truths and lies are always a matter of subjective opinion. You know that, obviously, but -

[Nope, she's still got nothing interesting to ask him. She probably should've tried interrupting his train of thought another way.

But oh! She's thought of what she really wants to know, and blurts it out before she thinks better of it.]

Why are you so against playing your own game?

[bijective]

Team exercise. [He corrects.] And I don’t recall saying that I’m against taking part.

[A beat.]

I’ve executed my objective. There’s no need for me to take any additional steps.

[bossily]

You don't have to say you're against taking part. Your not taking part speaks loudly enough on its own.

[She's more amused than annoyed by that, and isn't going to force him to participate. She is, however, going to try and get some deets out of him.]

What would you have chosen for your lie, though?

[bijective]

That my prefered method of error detection is to use the single-parity check over the two-dimensional parity.

[Jot these down, Clara. This is a spicy deet.]

[bossily]

Congratulations on being the absolute most adorable nerd to ever exist, Hermann.