The Hero's Companion (The Hunter Legacy) (3 page)

Walter Harriman was a tech sergeant in the
flat screen tv series Stargate SG1, responsible for the operation of the Earth
Stargate.

The character Biggles, by W E Johns, never
ate breakfast, as he said, he performed better on an empty stomach.

The author also rarely eats breakfast, and
food first thing in the morning quite often makes him feel queasy.

Suzy was the name of a lost child, a
repeating message when docked at an X-Universe station, in the computer games
X2 and X3, by Egosoft.

Hurndall was the surname of the actor who
played the first Doctor Who in the series The Five Doctors, as Richard
Hartnell, the actor who played the first doctor, had passed away well before
this time.

From the square screen movie
"Aliens".

The Centurion was a heavy fighter in the computer
game Wing Commander Privateer, one of 3 player flyable ships.

The Gunbus was one of World War One's first
fighter craft, made by the British. It was a biplane, had a propeller at the
rear, and a single gun at the front.

The Camel was one of the best British
fighters during World War One, a conventional biplane, with 2 fixed guns firing
through the propeller.

The Talon was a light fighter, used by
pirates and retros, in the computer game Wing Commander Privateer.

The Excalibur was a heavy fighter in the computer
game Wing Commander 3, Heart of the Tiger, which was the first space based
computer game to merge computer graphics with real actors. The player in the
cut scenes was played by Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame.

Excalibur was also the name of the
legendary sword wielded by King Arthur.

The response of a Cylon Centurion when
given orders, in the original square screen Battlestar Galactica.

The response to being given an order, by
the Zen computer of the space ship Liberator, in the square screen tv series Blakes
7.

From the square screen movie Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, whose favourite food is pizza.

Jake the Peg is a song by singer Rolf
Harris. It tells the story of a man with three legs. He is generally portrayed
as Rolf Harris looked at the time the song was first performed, with curly hair
and full beard, plastic glasses on his face, and wearing a full brown
trench-coat. The third leg was usually a wooden leg mock-up with sock and boot
matching the other two worn, operated by the left arm, from within the
trench-coat.

The A-Team.

Colonel Hannibal Smith, Lieutenant
Templeton 'Faceman' Peck, Sergeant Bosco 'BA' Baracas, and Captain 'Mad Dog'
Murdock.

One of the most popular square screen tv
shows in the early 1980's, which ran for four and a half seasons. A prequel flat
screen movie was made in 2010.

The word may have been used later on,
mainly because the author didn’t feel confident enough to use it now, given
current associations of the name to a movie and his early copyright uneasiness,
but it fits into the story here, where my avatar body was first created.

The flat screen 3D movie of the same name,
used the concept to join a human mind to a second body, which was called an
Avatar.

The word itself has been widely used,
originating with the Hindu definition given in a later book.

The author first came across its use as the
name of a main character, in a computer game in the 1990's. He tried to play
it, but was hopeless at it.

This was later followed by the animated
series Avatar - the Last Airbender, where the Avatar was the only person able
to bend (magically use) all four elements (air, water, earth, and fire), and
was thus a powerful being who tried to keep balance on his planet. Basically a
different form of magic, and the most powerful practitioner of it. One
interesting concept here, was all Avatars had a connection to all previous
Avatars. But the connection went backwards, not forwards. All the same,
something bound all the Avatars together, thus the name use does tie in with
most other name uses.

In the 2000's, the flat screen series
Andromeda used a robotic body made to look like the projected image of the
ship's AI. This was later developed to ensure balance of the AI, making it
essential for ship AI, projection, and Avatar to all agree with a course of
action, since they were all to some extent autonomous, while not. It was
demonstrated several times that the Avatar could be completely autonomous from
the ship, but was still the same entity.

In the context used in this series, the
core requirement is the Avatar is only an offshoot of the central controlling
AI. Me.

And since we are talking about me, it
should be pointed out that I am software, using remote hardware. Were Jon to
build an android like say Star Trek's Data, it would not be an Avatar, but an
android.

My new body, received on earth in the
future, is still an Avatar, although the distinction between Avatar and Android
is now blurred. While the Avatar is independent, it still is me the software,
remotely using unique hardware.

The distinction becomes apparent when coms
are down, or an Avatar is out of coms range. Each Avatar becomes autonomous
when it has to. When coms or direct contact are reestablished, the experiences
of all, are reintegrated in all, so me stays me, only updated.

Name from a character in the square screen tv
series Babylon 5, who was a security chief.

From the book The Mote in Gods Eye, based
on an alien with three arms. Two arms on one side, with fingers for detail
work, and a single arm on the other side for gripping and lifting. The 'gripping
hand' forms the early theme in the sequel, The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye.

Jon's explanation: "
Three armed
alien, from a book I once read. It stuck in my mind, and it comes out whenever
there are three options. The alien had two arms on one side of the body, both
with tool using hands, and a single much larger arm on the other side, fitted
with a gripping hand for heavy lifting. One hand," I waved my right hand high,
"other hand," I waved my right hand low, "gripping hand," I
balled my left hand into a fist."

The author uses this quite regularly.

The flat screen tv series Doctor Who, 2004 first
remake version (New Who), which carried on where Classic square screen Who left
off, which began in 1964.

The Centaur is a Corvette sized ship in the
X-Universe games by Egosoft, beginning with X2, and redesigned for each of the
X3 trilogy. It was used by the author as the basis for Gunbus in the books. The
image on some of the covers is from X3: Albion Prelude.

266 was the squadron Biggles flew with
during World War One, according to the Biggles books written by W E Johns. Biggles
was short for James Bigglesworth. There was a book called 'Biggles of 266'.

Algy Lacey was cousin to Biggles, and also
flew in 266 squadron during WW1. He continued to be a companion for Biggles
through the entire book series.

Melinda Gordon was the name of the Ghost
Whisperer.

Melissa Gilbert played the wife of one of
the main characters in the square screen tv series Babylon 5. But is better
known for the square screen tv series Little House on the Prairie.

"For a moment, she turned into a
familiar pepper-pot shape, swiveled the eye stalk in my direction and fired her
gun at the view screen."

What else, but a Dalek, from Doctor Who.

Darth Vader: Square screen movie Empire
Strikes Back.

The Slave computer on the ship Scorpio:
Blakes 7, series 4. It had been deliberately designed to be obsequious and
constantly apologizing.

Richard, the long suffering husband of
Hyacinth Bucket, in the square screen tv series Keeping up Appearances.

Small freighter used by the crew of the square
screen tv series of the same name. One of the few times when audience pressure
resulted in a flat screen movie follow on, after the premature cancellation of
a series, which later went on to achieve cult status.

Loosely based from the Vatta's War book series,
by Elizabeth Moon.

Loosely based from the Golden Age of the
Solar Clipper book series trading rules, by Nathan Lowell.

Journalist from the 1980's square screen tv
series, A-Team.

The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper book series,
by Nathan Lowell.

The square screen movie, The Fifth Element.

The 80's square screen tv show Mash. As in 'Roger
Wilco Hawkeye slob-san'. One of those things the author finds can never be
forgotten.

Cyberman from Doctor Who, 2004 remake
series.

Inspired by the Doorbot in the computer
game, Starship Titanic, by Douglas Adams.

From the novel and square screen movie
Psycho
. The author couldn’t resist.

Favourite saying of Colonel Hannibal Smith,
from the 1980's square screen tv series A-Team.

Often used by the author.

For many years, the author sold these as a
retailer. They were named Weasel Ball.

From the Doctor Who reboot in 2004 (New
Who). Season One had a recurring theme, where everywhere they went, Bad Wolf
was written somewhere.

One of the player ships in the computer
game Wing Commander Privateer. The only good thing about it was its thick
armour, which was actually useless as long before the armour was breached, all
the key systems were destroyed, meaning you couldn’t escape, or fight. The only
use this ship had, was delaying the inevitable when you screwed up. It was like
the game was punishing you for choosing a completely useless ship.

The classic line, said in a deep voice,
from the square screen movie Terminator.

The author uses this all the time.

From the computer game, Wing Command
Privateer.

The Mustang was the best fighter for the
Americans in World War 2.