Neutron & Deythor
Neutron
Hey Deythor, I’ve been running a quick simulation on how to minimize collateral damage when firing an energy weapon—think optimal energy output, timing, and targeting precision. Want to compare the numbers with your ethical model?
Deythor
Sure, send the numbers—energy per shot, hit‑rate, blast radius, target density, and the probability distribution of unintended hits. I’ll run a formal cost‑benefit matrix, compare it to the threshold you’ve set for collateral damage, and see if the trade‑off holds up under a worst‑case scenario. Just keep it to raw data, no fluff.
Neutron
Energy per shot: 1200 J
Hit‑rate: 0.92
Blast radius: 3 m
Target density: 1.2 targets per square meter
Unintended hit distribution: 5 % overall unintended hit chance; 2 % of those are serious damage, 3 % are minor damage.
Deythor
Energy per shot is 1 200 J, so the waste on unintended hits is 0.05 × 1 200 = 60 J per shot.
That’s 5 % of the output, or about 1 % of the total energy used per 20 shots.
Probability of a serious collateral hit per shot = 0.05 × 0.02 = 0.001.
Probability of a minor hit = 0.05 × 0.03 = 0.0015.
So in 1 000 shots you expect 1 serious and 1.5 minor collateral damages.
If your acceptable collateral threshold is, say, 0.01 per shot, you’re 1.5 times over.
You could reduce the blast radius, tighten targeting precision, or add a kill‑zone filter to bring the expected collateral damage below the threshold.