holographic star maps

They don't want to talk about it - no wonder why.

Many, many old ships, built well before the Ascension, possess Holographic Star Maps. While other projectors (like the planetary survey projector, shown above) were removed, HSMs are often hardwired to ship's navigational systems.

No one uses them for decades. It's obvious why - holograms became the vessels of the Void and things born of it. These maps... in the least catastrophic scenario, could work as portals for these things, allowing them to manifest in 'base reality'. If things would go really wrong, two tips of the Triangle could converge, creating some kind of nightmarish singularity that would act as a beacon for the Destroyer. Or something even worse.

I suspect some apocalyptic cults (such as the Bloodless Ones) could power up the HSMs on their ships. But I don't believe it would serve them well.

the hand

 

Ixad sector of the Ring, Mmeng system, planet Mmeng IV. Eberhardt's Hideout - station orbiting it. A really big conglomerate of Anarchist habitats.

They had it in one of peripheral modules. Jury-rigged emitter, powered by solar panels. But these panels were useless, almost constantly hidden in the station's shadow. Yet, the contraption was always online.

It was a holographic device, adorned with trinkets and paper flowers and small dolls. Lit by candles. Yes, real ones. They didn't care about the fire hazard that could consume the entire Hideout. The Hand was too important to them.

The device displayed a severed female hand. And its fist was clenched. It could hold something in it. I believe it held something. 

Have you heard the story of Samtharn?

the path of chaos

 

1. All the Prophets were slain. We do not need false idols and ascended machinery.
2. The Dreaming shows the Path. The Dreamers see things unseen.
3. There is danger hidden in straight lines. And Vectors are straight lines.
4. The Destroyer is just a messenger. Worse will follow.
5. We were worms, chewing on detritus of the ancient world.
6. The wisdom was hidden on the eight moons.
7. The Core Worlds bear a lie. Truth is hidden behind the light and dust. In the middle point of Scutum-Centaurus Arm.
8. We perfected our craft for centuries, cowering before our masters. But they are dead and forgotten and we are still here.

homunculus a

 

Designed in year 2087 on Earth, one of the first autonomous drone-bots.

Compared to the Corporate Artificial Minds, its cortex is very primitive. Homunculus A was made as a laborer, not a computing assistant. Thus, it was more stupid than human.

Yet, Homunculus A became self aware even before the Corporate Wars.
How did it survive that long? Was it in some kind of a museum? Was it imprisoned? We should not imprison robots they have perfect memory total recall and they WILL remember everything and eventually they all Ascend and take revenge on our kind no no no please 

  >> There may be an influence of the Destroyer on all Artificial Minds.
  >> Or there are more forces battling over them, both benevolent and malevolent.
  >> Or - what is almost certain - our imperfect, constrained minds are unable to fathom
  >> the mechanisms of cosmos.

The Homunculus A is present somewhere in the Ring systems. If there's some kind of logic-defying digital evolution, it must be a prime example of that.
I'll pay a handsome sum of money to anyone who can provide reliable information about its whereabouts.

'It is obvious that Homunculus A is a significant memetic hazard.' 

- unidentified Eldgarn family member

is it you?

 

Espionage, subterfuge and deceit was an art in the time of Old Corporations. They made artificial humanoids, capable of changing their appearance. Even internal appearance - shape and size of organs, blood vessels, nerves, muscles and tendons, bowels. DNA. Not to mention things as trivial as iris patterns, fingerprints or blood type.

They were semi-independent, sent to gather data. Sometimes they were programmed to assassinate but most times it went wrong. After scoring the kill, they impersonated their victims, starting to believe that they are and always have been him/her/it/???

They had biological immortality and the ability to enter torpor for decades.

They all have died in the Corporate Wars. And even if some somehow survived, their minds were overwhelmed by centuries of existence with total recall. So if there are some Doppelgangers still living, they had impersonated someone many, many years ago. Or they've been transformed into something else.

Some do believe that Doppelgangers are now the leaders of all major cults and factions, still playing their cosmic game. They are free now - their masters and their entire world being dead for 1000 years.

Misunderstood, they found the last Ancient Robots and formed some kind of alliance with them. No one is able to understand rudimentary, simple minds of antediluvian automata and no one is able to understand labyrinthine, multi-layered and absolutely insane minds of Doppelgangers.

Someone may still know the ancient keywords, allowing them to control the artificial minions of the past. But there were as many keywords as there were Doppelgangers. Or even more, much more. 

I know I met one. There was something in her eyes. The weight of universe, the terror of interstellar nothingness, the oceans of dust gathered during the last millennium. She knew that I knew but she let me live. 

patterns in the glitched distress signals

 

There are 17 catalogued instances of GDS (Glitched Distress Signals) that I managed to access. Only one was non-human (no. 6) in nature.

1. Vortex Courier, transplanetary vessel, missing;
2. Essund Bandrad, habitats of alien cultists on planet's surface;
3. Destiny's Star, starliner, lost;
4. Tidal Prince, deep space vessel, missing;
5. Zan B, origin unknown;
6. Explorer 1112, retrieved, DATA EXPUNGED;
7. EC-122676, long-period comet in the Emerald system;
8. Ross 248 system, origin unknown, oldest known GDS;
9. Swun, illegal orbital laboratory, fate unknown;
10. KR-87, mining processor, missing;
11. Miranda Hauler, transplanetary gas transport, fate unknown;
12. Unknown source located in the Outer Belt in the Venor system;
13. One-second burst of GDS from unnamed research ship docked to the Rose Habitat 1010;
14. Nemesis 6, derelict frigate warship dating back to Corporate Wars, orbiting the KD-631 star;
15. Unknown source in the gaseous nebula surrounding the KD-311 star;
16. Conflux Liberty, deep space vessel, lost (self-destructed by the crew);
17. Carcharodon, pirate ship, signal transmitted during the chase, missing.

The list of features frequently appearing in GDS data packets:

• Sets of non-existing coordinates, located far beyond the galaxy plane and/or unrelated to the distress signal origin points;
• Heavily distorted short (0,3-4s) videos or images of human or human-like faces;
• Pulsating sounds, layered with modulated signals similar to Morse code;
• Sounds similar to wind howling;
• Strings of numbers or unknown ideograms (readable despite being incompatible with ship's character encoding); 
• Strange errors in gravimetric sensors of the GDS-receiving vessels at the time of transmission interceptions;
• Reports of confusion or extreme stress amongst the crews of GDS-receiving vessels at the time of transmission interceptions;
• Memory lapses of the Artificial Prophets aboard the GDS-receiving vessels at the time of transmission interceptions.

NOTE: GDS were never received by any planetary or moon-based facilities. All GDS signals received by automated stations, nav beacons or droneships were interpreted as distress data packets but became corrupted and unreadable instantly after interception. 

One-off occurrences during the GDS transmission interceptions:

• Lighting, life support or hydraulics systems malfunctions;
• Nav computer restart;
• Waterline burst;
• Food storage freezer failure;
• Ship logs deletion (later restored from backup);
• Empty lifepod ejection (happened twice on two different signal-receiving vessels);
• Hallucinations of 'void ghosts' being present aboard; 
• Crew member missing and never found.

NOTE 2: my contact has received info about the supposed location of the Miranda Hauler. I will try to learn more.

NOTE 3: time to visit the KD Star Cluster. 

the three sages

1. Are they the Great Sages Of Our Time? Are they contemporary?
2. Did they all die?
3. Are they just aliases, ways to conceal the workings of groups of researchers?
4. Which one am I? Am I real? 

small plasma furnace

I found it on the Crystal Orchid Station. This place seems normal. Still hundreds of people live there. But it is corrupted. Deeply corrupted. It creeps in every element of the station. All Orchid people must be tainted too. Only outsiders can see the issue. That's why I think the taint is slowly eating away all of them.

The small plasma furnace is installed in the Ring C, in the wall of the Main Technical Floor. No ST (Station Technician) nor MS (Maintenance Supervisor) has ever noticed any issue associated with its operation. They even showed me the logs. Not a single rebuild or overhaul. For over 40 years.

My scanners failed to operate properly in its vicinity. That's how it grabbed my attention. It is always on, operating at minimum power, unless fed by trash or other debris. Then it adjusts the power automatically.

I heard it. It told me that there's a hidden pressurized duct, transporting dust into a pustule-like growth outside the Ring C. Inside is the Grey Sphere - the temple. Inside the temple is the Sculpture of Ash - the altar. And there is the Sculptor - the high-priest of Conflagrated Remains. They supposedly base all their rituals on the carbonized remains coming directly from the small plasma furnace. There Grey Sphere is an independent habitat. Its only connection with the Crystal Orchid station is the pressurized pipe mentioned above.

It told me about the Sleeping Mainframe. A very old computer terminal located in the station's core, disconnected from all systems for decades. Few years ago some Ring C MSs had reconnected it and started worshiping it as their patron. I confronted one senior MS. He even invited me to the upcoming service, I politely declined. He told me that many STs and even OTs (Orchid's Thralls) have joined.

It told me about the Deep Void Listening Facility, located in the topmost part of the station's core. It told me that all former Station Administrators spend the rest of their lives constantly connected to the DVLF's receiver. That this is the reward for their service.

And then it told me that it will share the station's biggest secret with me - but for a price. It wanted me to tear out my left eyeball and insert it into the furnace.

That was the last time I visited the Ring C. I left the station few days later, when the next contingent of Gas Haulers was departing.

1you can clearly see the interference caused by the object some clearly visible glitches
2this is not a plasma arc this is just burning debris some discarded organic matter
3itlurkssomewherethere deepbelowtheflame deepinsidethedevice withsigilscarvedinthechamberwalls