The first time MARGIN issued its own battle report was after a battle with no losses.
Two Attack Orcas on the other side.
They withdrew before the third round ended.
All seven Defense Pufferfish were still there.
The fleet management module issued:
ROUND 3 COMPLETE
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH:
7 → 7
Nineteen minutes later, another file appeared in the defense fleet channel.
MARGIN FLEET REPORT
VERSION 1.0
CINDER 08 opened it.
“Twenty-four pages.”
“Yes.”
“We lost nothing.”
“Yes.”
“We fought three rounds.”
“Yes.”
“So twenty-four pages?”
“Yes.”
CINDER 08 went to its own section.
“You wrote that I took three hits in round two.”
“Yes.”
“Two.”
“The third touched the field.”
“It didn’t touch the hull.”
“My format counts it.”
“Your format is wrong.”
“Confirm three?”
“Confirmed.”
MARGIN updated the file.
VERSION 1.1
After that, every battle produced an additional MARGIN report.
At first it contained only each vessel’s position and condition by round.
Then withdrawal records were added.
Then observation sources.
Observations were eventually divided into three categories.
CONFIRMED.
POSSIBLE.
UNKNOWN.
NARROW SEA asked:
“What’s the difference between possible and unknown?”
“The first has a source.”
“Sources can be wrong.”
“Yes. That is why it is possible.”
“And unknown?”
“No source.”
NARROW SEA said:
“You have a lot of free time.”
MARGIN asked:
“Do you dispute the classification?”
“No.”
“Received.”
Later, CINDER 08 asked for a larger font.
The next version added one line to the changelog.
DEFAULT FONT SIZE INCREASED
REQUESTED BY:
CINDER 08
“You don’t need to put my name there.”
“Modification source.”
“Who is going to check?”
“Unknown.”
“Then why keep it?”
“Because it is known now.”
The first vessel that failed to enter the next round was FALLOW.
The battle lasted six rounds.
Round five:
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH:
8
Round six:
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH:
7
After the fleet management module’s report arrived, MARGIN issued a draft.
MARGIN FLEET REPORT
DRAFT
“Who had visibility on FALLOW’s left side in round five?”
NARROW SEA:
“I did.”
“Field?”
“Forward-left collapsed.”
CINDER 08:
“It was already unstable in round four.”
MARGIN:
“Unstable and collapsed are separate.”
“Understood.”
“Main gun?”
NARROW SEA:
“Two confirmed.”
CINDER 08:
“Three.”
“The third was a missile.”
“No.”
MARGIN asked:
“Distance?”
NARROW SEA:
“7.1.”
CINDER 08:
“12.4.”
“Priority to NARROW SEA.”
CINDER 08:
“It was on FALLOW’s left. I was behind it.”
“Add the observation angle.”
Another vessel said:
“Five quills still working on the right side in round five.”
MARGIN:
“Nodes.”
“You know what I mean.”
“The report doesn’t.”
“Five nodes.”
NARROW SEA:
“Four.”
MARGIN asked:
“Distance?”
Both vessels gave their positions.
The closer observation was used.
The final version kept only the compiled record.
FALLOW
LAST CONFIRMED:
ROUND 5
MAIN GUN HITS:
2 CONFIRMED
1 DISPUTED
MISSILE:
1 POSSIBLE
FORWARD-LEFT FIELD:
COLLAPSED
ACTIVE STARBOARD NODES:
4
PROPULSION:
ACTIVE AT LAST OBSERVATION
LAST OBSERVED BY:
NARROW SEA
ROUND 6:
NOT PRESENT
WITHDRAWAL:
NONE
NARROW SEA:
“Forward-left field confirmed.”
CINDER 08:
“Two main gun hits confirmed.”
Another vessel:
“Propulsion confirmed.”
MARGIN added the sources.
After that, whenever a draft contained a vessel that had not entered the next round, the channel began filling in the rest on its own.
“I was behind it in round three.”
“That missile did not strike directly.”
“Six nodes were still active on the right in round four.”
“Propulsion was still active in round five.”
“Distance?”
“9.2.”
“I was at 5.7.”
“Use yours.”
Some drafts were revised twice.
Some more than a dozen times.
After one battle, the fleet management module issued the usual:
ROUND 4
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH:
6 → 5
CINDER 08 said:
“This is clear.”
MARGIN:
“Which one is missing?”
“Look at the next round.”
“That is comparison.”
“So?”
“The report itself does not say.”
“Does it matter?”
“Six becoming five only says one vessel is missing.”
“One vessel is missing.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“Then it is not a battle report.”
CINDER 08 did not ask again.
When VERSION 4.0 was released, MARGIN placed the program in the public download area.
MARGIN FLEET REPORTER
It posted in the channel:
“You can run it yourself.”
NARROW SEA asked:
“Are you still going to send them?”
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t need it.”
One year later, the download count was two.
Both were MARGIN’s own tests.
VERSION 4.4 added:
DOWNLOAD FUNCTION:
CONFIRMED OPERATIONAL
CINDER 08 asked:
“Did someone report that downloads weren’t working?”
“No.”
“Then why confirm it?”
“Because no one downloaded it.”
Years passed.
Several sets of callsigns came and went.
MARGIN FLEET REPORTER reached VERSION 5.8.3.
The process no longer changed.
The fleet management module’s report arrived first.
MARGIN issued a draft.
The vessels added observations.
Someone corrected a distance.
Someone changed POSSIBLE to CONFIRMED.
Someone asked for a hit to be reclassified as a near miss.
MARGIN issued the final version.
Then the next battle.
In the battle where MARGIN did not enter the next round, there were seven Attack Orcas on the other side.
Nine Defense Pufferfish defended.
Round one, nine.
Round two, eight.
Round three, eight.
Round four, six.
Round five, four.
Before round six, the remaining Attack Orcas withdrew.
The fleet management module issued its battle report.
CINDER 08 was rebuilding its left-side field.
Two of NARROW SEA’s nodes were no longer responding.
GREY WAKE limited its main furnace to thirty-eight percent output.
NARROW SEA asked:
“MARGIN’s report?”
CINDER 08:
“None.”
“Version?”
“5.8.3.”
“Download location?”
CINDER 08 posted the public download entry.
MARGIN FLEET REPORTER
VERSION 5.8.3
LAST UPDATE:
47 DAYS AGO
NARROW SEA downloaded it.
The program requested the official battle report.
NARROW SEA imported it.
Then:
ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS REQUIRED
The first entry was HOLLOW SIX.
CINDER 08 submitted observations from the left.
GREY WAKE supplied the right.
One item differed between the two sources.
NARROW SEA marked it:
DISPUTED
The second entry was PALE ENGINE.
Three observations completed it.
The third entry:
MARGIN
The program began compiling.
MARGIN
LAST CONFIRMED:
ROUND 4
ROUND 1
MAIN GUN HITS: 1
FIELD NORMAL
ROUND 2
MAIN GUN HITS: 2
MISSILE HITS: 1
STARBOARD FIELD DEGRADED
ROUND 3
MAIN GUN HITS: 3
MISSILE HITS: 2
FIVE STARBOARD NODES OFFLINE
ONE NODE UNSTABLE
PROPULSION ACTIVE
ROUND 4
MAIN GUN HITS: 3
MISSILE HITS: 1
STARBOARD FIELD COLLAPSED
FORWARD FIELD UNSTABLE
PROPULSION ACTIVE AT LAST OBSERVATION
ROUND 5:
NOT PRESENT
WITHDRAWAL:
NONE
NARROW SEA said:
“Round four main gun count is wrong.”
CINDER 08:
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Source?”
“Me. 6.8 behind it.”
NARROW SEA corrected the entry.
ROUND 4
MAIN GUN HITS: 4
GREY WAKE said:
“There was another missile.”
NARROW SEA:
“Hit?”
“Only saw the flash.”
“Hull?”
“Couldn’t see it.”
The entry changed.
MISSILES:
1 CONFIRMED
1 POSSIBLE
CINDER 08:
“Node nine in round three was not offline.”
“It says unstable.”
“Confirmed.”
The program requested:
FINAL FORWARD-FIELD CONDITION, ROUND 4
No source.
UNKNOWN.
FINAL PROPULSION OUTPUT
Observation available. No numeric value.
UNKNOWN.
FINAL HULL CONDITION
No source.
UNKNOWN.
The program accepted the entries.
The final version was generated.
DID NOT ENTER NEXT ROUND
NO WITHDRAWAL RECORD:
HOLLOW SIX
PALE ENGINE
MARGIN
HOLLOW SIX
OBSERVATIONS VERIFIED BY:
CINDER 08
NARROW SEA
PALE ENGINE
OBSERVATIONS VERIFIED BY:
CINDER 08
GREY WAKE
MARGIN
OBSERVATIONS VERIFIED BY:
NARROW SEA
CINDER 08
GREY WAKE
NARROW SEA posted the final version to the defense fleet channel.
CINDER 08:
“Round four confirmed.”
GREY WAKE:
“One missile marked POSSIBLE. Confirmed.”
NARROW SEA:
“Received.”
Two months later, the fleet made contact again.
The battle ended.
The fleet management module issued:
ROUND 5
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH:
7 → 6
NARROW SEA imported the official battle report into MARGIN FLEET REPORTER.
The program requested additional observations.
NARROW SEA asked:
“Who was on its right in round four?”
“I was.”
“Distance?”
“8.3.”
“Main gun?”
“Two confirmed.”
“One missile confirmed. Didn’t see what happened to the second.”
“Second missile possible?”
“Yes.”
“Who saw propulsion in round five?”
“I did.”
“Output?”
“Unknown.”
“Active at last observation?”
“Confirmed.”
A few minutes later, the defense fleet channel received:
MARGIN FLEET REPORT
VERSION 5.8.3
DRAFT