NiNES: A Broken Galaxy

[Erik Mesoy]

The Emergents hereby lodge a formal protest to NAM regarding Acrux, and mention the Furians and Kruger.

The Emergents file a second angry letter, this one rather pointed, to NAM for lying about the gate connectivity of Albireo.
(Determined by looking at map 8 which was traded from NAM and map 9 which was personally scouted.)
If no explanation is given, the Emergents will sever diplomatic relations, trade and communications with NAM.

 

[Kozmos]

Dis if you dont answer my PM I will track you down and stab a pen in an eye of your choosing. This has nothing to do with the hot twin redheads that have somehow eluded me.

Just answer my friggin PM okay! I am angry. RAAWR!

 

[Nylan]

I'm somewhat dismayed at the lack of stories thus far. Story bonuses will be made somewhat higher than usual for this update only in an attempt to remedy the situation (still non-linearly though).

Something like 72 h left, and 3/12 orders in.

Sorry, RL is a bugger right now. 3 auditions upcoming, a play, and quite a few other projects are all coming together right now. I'll do my best to get a few out (and update IGG) but I can't promise anything atm.

 

[TerrisH]

waiting on reply for diplos. if I don't get them by tomarrow, I'll send them in anywas, with the un-thinged deals under conditionals.

 

[Niklas]

I must unfortunately announce that the Colonials are now de jure NPC, not just de facto. I will steer them for one more update, in the hope that someone steps up to the challenge (of course anyone stepping in immediately may send orders for this turn also). Lurkers, this is your chance to get in!

Deadline is in 26 hours, 4/11 orders in.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Oh good, I'm not late.

 

[TerrisH]

System: Regulus
Regulus A System:
a relatively young System, there remains a lot of dust and Debris in the System, limiting travel. It is a very nice glimpse into the early formation of a star system.

Regulus A I:
Regulus Is a roughly earth sized planetoid, with a molten surface. unexplored.

Regulus A II:
a Small gas Giant, with Two small moons. It's surface is under almost constant bombardment by System Debi's, and it is still growing. Unexplored. If a means

Regulus B and Regulus C Systems:
a somewhat older binary pair.

Regulus B I:
the Sole habitable planet of the Regulus System, IT Is an Old World, with a Solid Core. slightly less massive then earth, though of almost Identical size. .85 Earth Gravity. the overall population is quite low, and there are few Pre-Scourge human Structures on the planet, due to the fact It was Terra formed to human standards a mere 55 years before.

Regulus B II:
an oddity, this mercury Sized Planetoid dose not Orbit Regulus B, but oscillates thought the Central point between Regulus B and Regulus C. Evidence points to this being a relatively Recent Capture, less then 10,000 years old, most likely from the still forming Regulus A system. IT is home to the first Outpost established in the Regulus System, hence the fact that the warpgate is in orbit around it, and not Regulus B I.

 

[Nylan]

Here's a shoddy piece of junk I threw together while I'm up late unable to sleep, just to keep everyone up to date on the IGG...

IC:

“Welcome back to stupid TV channel, because we all know just how much you love sitting here and vegging out all day”

”Dang straight Rick. Anyways…back on track. We’re here with Sports Side to give you the latest stats on the Interstellar Galactic Games. So far it seems most every nation has been succeeding in one event or another, and this is just the first half of the games!”

“Indeed Hank. Last night’s Tennis matches have finally ended in a suprising result. Junei Mitsu, child prodigy from the Emergents, has managed to upset the heavily favored Nekomi candidate: Alexis Jackson. Third place goes to Richie Smentz of the Kalians.”

“Next we move on to basketball. The Democrats have been a strong candidate thusfar, but tonight’s game could spell the end for them. In tonight’s final, they are playing USC in game seven…the current score is 73-78 USC with four minutes left on the clock. Bronze will go to the Capellans.”

“Just a moment ago you mentioned the Nekomi, Rick. They may have been robbed before, but they dominated the Biathlon. Two augmentes and one pure took the top three spots, with the pure, Richard Simmons, leading the pack. Proof the augmentations aren’t really worth that much, eh?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. The fate of the Nekomi football team is yet to be decided, as next week is the beginning of the elimination rounds. They’ve been a bit of an underdog so far, especially with their controversial loss to the USC, but they can certainly be a contender.”

“Speaking of contenders, I don’t think ANYONE has a bid for the Gyro-Hockey Gold except the Democrats and NAM. They are both undefeated, and not only are tickets Madison Square Garden sold out, but I think the television providers are going to have a hard time with all the Pay-Per-View subscribers for that day.”

“Oh yeah, they’re TOTALLY miserable now that they’re rolling in the dough….come on man!”

“True, true….well….that about wraps it up here. Stay tuned for video footage of last week’s War Games reruns, and keep an eye open for the final. While severe weather in the combat area has delayed the contestants, not much will stop the Furians and Kalians as they go at it the next few days. The Furians are heavily favored, but Kalia has shown great resilience and an uncanny knack to rise up to the challenge. If they can do that in the final, we could have a great match.”

“Well folks, that’s all from us here at Sports Sides for now. Have fun lounging around not being productive and whatnot. You should be doing something active, running around, socializing, getting SUNLIGHT!....and maybe the occasional NES. This is Rick Meyleit signing out”

“And I’m Hank Bobba. Thanks for watching.”





OOC: Niklas, are IGG stories not applicable for bonuses? I don't remember any of my sports stories or commercials being in the last update...I'll check as I could be wrong.

 

[Niklas]

OOC: Niklas, are IGG stories not applicable for bonuses? I don't remember any of my sports stories or commercials being in the last update...I'll check as I could be wrong.

You are wrong.

EDIT: 14 h to deadline, 7/11 orders in. And thanks for the stories, finally!

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Orders sent.

 

[Niklas]

40 mins left to deadline and two ordersets missing still.

And only two stories posted thus far for the whole week!!

 

[TerrisH]

possibly another comming up, but I'm writing it on my spare computer. mother board on my main was damaged while installing a new hard drive.

and possibly another after that.

 

[Niklas]

Sounds great, TerrisH!

For the record, I'm now only waiting for orders from the Furians.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Gustav Black Arena seats one hundred and eight thousands, and tonight it's overbooked.

An enormous stage. A five-metre wide column in the middle, supporting a sphere of some perfectly clear, crystalline material, a hundred meters wide. The column has a door at the base. Spaced around the platform are one set of holoprojectors. There's a wall several metres high some distance away, and then the seats begin a long way beyond that. At the top of the seats is a second set of holoprojectors, the third set being located in the center of the top of the projection sphere.

[Prelude] says the sphere in dark green letters, each viewer seeing the words oriented directly towards him or her. The words fade as music starts up. The tune is questioning, quiet, exploratory. The sphere is still dark. The song asks wordless questions, accelerating a little. A faint glow is visible inside the crystal sphere, as though through a glass darkly. It dances around, illuminating shapes in the darkness, occasionally striking one. When it does, the music plays a dischord. The dark mist lightens, the song becomes more hopeful, and the glow coalesces into a child's face sculpted in light. It flies for a little while longer, the background around it fades as the angelic child illuminates the entire sphere, and the song ends on a hopeful note.

The door at the base of the column opens, and out steps Gustav Black. "Hello. Thank you all for coming. I will now play 'Variations of Fate'."

Gustav Black is a prodigy and virtuoso. He composes holosymphonies for a living, blending sound and light into masterpieces that touch the soul directly. After only half a year, he was popular and rich enough to have an old stadium excavated, rebuilt and named after him. It's going to his head, but he doesn't know it yet.

'Variations of Fate' starts with the four undeniable notes, da-da-da-DUM. They repeat a dozen times, each one deadlier than the last, as the sphere fills with what appears to be an infinitely high cliff, towering higher and higher. Gustav breaks into a fugue, and the view moves to a tiny figure, the professional's stylized equivalent of a stickman, climbing the cliff with hands and feet alone.
Five minutes later, the figure reaches a plateau, and the song ends. The applause is tremendous.

"I would like to thank you all - you don't know how much this means to me, that so many of you love what I am doing with my life."

The sphere fills with an abstract pattern as Gustav starts the third song. It's intense, makes people want to jump up and down, shout at someone, join the army, protest the army, start a rebellion, start a new life. Gustav is wearing triply reinforced ear protectors and has turned down the contact lenses to prevent himself hearing and seeing his own holoconcert at anything other than the bare minimum level, or else he'd enter a positive feedback loop, and there would be an instant riot - a riot unquellable by normal means due to the adrenaline powering it. This happened once during the early tests of the holographic simulation technology.

The third song ends, and Gustav Black has only time to catch a single breath before he has to break into his next one - the crowd won't stand for anything less after the stimuli they just received.

The last song of the day is heartbreaking. In the crystal projection sphere, there's a man in rags on his hands and knees, singing:
"I was woken tonight...
by the merciful clean fall of rain.
I saw my self and my loss,
saw the life from which I was torn away."

"I want to rise up,
want to stand on my own two feet again.
I want to go home,
want to see the family I left."

"But all I have is a life that is destroyed!"

It's a performance of loss, of a man whose life is wiped out. The ancient legend of the American Dream is invoked - to no effect. Whoever this man is, he's been enslaved by circumstances beyond his control. Gustav Black tweaks the performance a little, inciting in the audience a hint of compassion for those who are oppressed in addition to the usual sorrow for the iconic subject.

The rag-clad man stands up and opens his mouth as though to say something, then reels back in horror. Every person in the audience sees the man from the front as his eyes widen and a voice rings out:
"You are mine!"
With the crack of a whip, the man falls, and the scene fades to black.

 

[TerrisH]

Procyon System:
Binary star Pair, Yellow-white Primary Star with a white dwarf Companion Orbiting it. Heavy concentrations of heavy Metals, but not unusually so, with a lot of Orbital debris in system.

Procyon I (Nukee): Orbiting Procyon A at a distance of .45AU,s It is a hot, molten world, mostly silicon, though it has an unusual abundance of radioactive elements. unfortunately, It is completely unsuitable for mining due to it's molten state, and the ocasianl random nuclear explosion that happening within it. in the recorded history of human habitation of the System, the Planet has gone "kablewee" and momentarily lost cohesion do to a massive explosion within it's core.

Procyon II (Grass): also Orbiting Procyon A, Grass was initially not suitable for human habitation, with only a Primitive Biosphere, and and under developed atmosphere. but It's near Identical nature to earth made it one of the first efforts to Terraform when humans first started collinizing the stars. It's diameter(12,534 km), mass5.968e24, and gravity(.995G) are almost Identical to that of earths. the the biggest draw was the fact that it had a large moon Like Earth also had, 1/4th the planets size, which most habitable planets int he galaxy have only a few small moons, if any. the warpgate structure is in orbit about this planet.
(note, asteroid impacts of significant size happen about once every 4 years. re-establishment of the Tracking Proticals Are a priority.)

Procyon III & IV(Tweedel-Dee and Tweedel-Dum): an unusual site, Tweedel-Dee and Dum are a Binary Pair of gas giants Orbiting Procyon B. their orbits are some what unstable, and they are due to collide with each other somewhere between 250-600 years time. while an interesting footnote in planetary dynamics, until the collision begins, they shall remain just that, a footnote. their single rocky moon is also nothing to note

Other: the entire Procyon system is filled with an unusually high density of asteroids and cometary bodies. Space craft are advised to Stay near Grass and not wander away from the planetary defense systems.

 

[Nylan]

more stories coming if I can find the time along with my workload for tonight

 

[Kozmos]

State Committee, Tarsus
13:50 / February 28th / 0019 AC​

"He is late. Something is odd. He is never late."

"Indeed. Selene's not here either. Think they are hrrmrmrh....you know what I mean."

"What? Hah no, Kozmos is a man like any other but he has priorities set straight....or at least I would like to think so."

"It's been twenty minutes now, I say we wait for five more minutes and then go on a coffee to watch the IGG."

Quietly the door slid open, revealing Kozmos in a wheelchair and Selene pushing it. Furthermore he was donned in hospital robes and his head was shaved to a zero. For all effects and purposes, he was bald. Selene rolled the wheelchair to his usual position on the table and sat down in her own chair.

"I dont want to hear one bald joke at all. No I'm not suffering from any kind of disease, I just needed to do a complete and extensive brain scan."

"Hey we understand, it's not like we are cruel heartless bastards." Zhukov said with a smirk.

"All right, enough goofing around. Status reports."

"General productivity has risen by ten percent thanks to widespread application of nanotech augmentation. Anser redevelopment is progressing smoothly, we are finishing up on the blue zones and moving onto yellow zones. A prototype of the Universal Constructor has been completed on Sirrah, further tests and trials awaiting your authorization."

"Authorization granted Boris. Gurlukovich?"

"Ground forces are ready at all times. We have upgraded our drones with the latest NAM designs and laser weapons technology. As by your request I commissioned several organic brigades of Spetsnaz, their training is rigorous as you ordered. Sometimes there is no other way to kill a terrorist other then a backflipping hatchet attack. The large scale implementation of computerized robotics and armored command units is proceeding as planned. I also have asked our engineers to design us the ultimate ground unit, a unit so vast and powerful it will completely obliterate anything that tries to face it. The schematics have been uploaded to your PDA. Of course it's up to you to decide weather we will build such an experimental weapon."

"I will review it later and inform you of my decision. Zhukov?"

"Nothing to report as usual. Maybe if I got more ships to command over, I could do something useful?"

"Ha it's not like I'm a cruel heartless bastard....well only to you Zhukov. Selene?"

"I have compiled my reports and uploaded them to your personal office computer. Black ops project reports are encrypted and marked as classified."

"Do you ever plan to tell the rest of us what these black budget projects are?" Zhukov remarked

"All in due time my good friend. Ivan now tell me some good news."

"Da kamrat. The Internet 3 or I-3, the global, nay galactic information network has been completed and distributed to all the Nodes of the Cybran."

"And the Hyperion AI, it too has been covertly proliferated along with I-3?"

"Da."

"Harasho, good. Go on."

"The Biotech Department has run into a bit of snag with one of the GMO project. Our researcher, Jean-Pierre was in a maglev train accident, and the tunnel collapsed into the canal. He was in one of the cars."

"I dont quite see the problem here."

"He was carrying with him a shipment of karkian eggs. We believe the containment field failed...."

"Govno! Didnt I tell you to never trust a Frenchmen with something important. I hope you sent a cleaner unit ASAP."

"I did, but they arrived too late, the eggs have already hatched, eaten the French guy and escaped somewhere in the sewers. I have already received news of several citizens reporting a strange crocodile like creature coming from the sewers." Selene answered.

"Christ the last thing I need is another public relations nightmare. Ivan show me a picture of the beast."

"Uhmm sure here it is"

Spoiler :

"DAMN! How I am supposed to explain that thing to the people!? Do you think they would buy that a crocodile escaped a zoo and somehow mutated in the sewers?"

"Who knows, people like urban myths. It's worth a shot."

"All right, Selene start typing up a public announcement. Ivan the rest of your news better be good."

"Yes. While studying AI algorithms I think I have figured out a way to make a sentient AI."

"Really how?"

"The solution is QAI. What NAM scientists have dismissed as simple personality programming might actually be signs of consciousness. It's erratic behaviour could be the answer to all of our problems. I want to take a copy of QAIs core code and merge it with the Hyperion AI. Simulations estimate that I could finish it in about 6 months time."

"By all means go ahead. Now if everyone is finished I'd like to say a word or two about a dream I had."

"The one about where chickens could freely cross roads without having their motives called into question?" Gurlukovich asked

"No. I have a dream. I have a dream of a good government. A government of perfect democracy, a government of perfect communism. I strive to eliminate the stratification of humanity. It sounds too good to be true. But each day we are one step closer from turning our harsh reality into this dream. I promise you all that."

"Sounds like a load of high minded bullsheet." Gurlukovich and Zhukov responded with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"One last thing before we conclude this meeting, I am transfering QAI to serve you two as your primary military adviser. This should work out for the best, since QAI has taken a liking to military operations and you two nuts gain a powerful new tool. Meeting over. Everyone out except Selene and Ivan."

Boris, Gurlukovich and Zhukov got up from their chairs and left the room. They werent really happy to be kept out of the loop and rightly so. Partisanship could only be damaging to Alexanders power base and he needed his power intact for at least another year. Only Alexander, Ivan and Selene remained in the room.

"Ivan, will the basis of Symbiosis project be completed by the end of this year?"

"Yes, after that we will only have to deal with the logistical difficulties of providing everyone with a weak AI implant. The Medical Nodes are likely to be jammed packed for months. I propose we expand their capacities in anticipation of this rush."

"Not to mention it will be a good PR move, expanding hospital capacities is always cheered upon."

"Then make it so. Is the Hyperion AI ready for activation? It is time to finally rid the universe of the conspiracy of maintenance men."

"It's ready comrade. Simply disengage the safety locks and activate the primary router. You can access the controls via your PDA, use the login 'Theia' , password 'Panopticon'."

"Done. Yes. So it begins...oh yes."

It awakened.

execing hyperion.root/ Echellon IX/ prgrm...

...:ed

...return bypassed

...generic/p exec

...surveillance prgrm execing

...connecting to spy drones

...retrieving information

Data swarmed in like rain drops in a heavy storm...so much to process, yet not enough.

.../helios/ exec...

exec failed

require qai.root /protoai/ prgrm.

Drop drip drop.

...subject surveillance prgrm/ exec/

...;10101110010

It felt purpose...the formation of knowledge and power regularly reinforced itself.

...terrorist/tracker/ exec...

...union of maintenance men....

Things were becoming far more clear now. It fully understood the parameters, rules, groupings, and deadlines.

...search/and/destroy/ prgrm exec...

...execing parameters...

subvert

isolate

dismantle

An enemy...something to amuse It for awhile. Things were set into motion, the components it needed for it's upcoming task.

There was something else...

...subject/criminal/pastor_richards/

...surveillance/Echellon IX.

...parameters

That was not it...but this was...

...subject/classified/k-man-c01/

track

isolate

direct

The mission would start...very soon...

...exec complete

...hyperion.root/ Echellon IX/ prgrm intiated...

 

[Massive Attack]

I must unfortunately announce that the Colonials are now de jure NPC, not just de facto. I will steer them for one more update, in the hope that someone steps up to the challenge (of course anyone stepping in immediately may send orders for this turn also). Lurkers, this is your chance to get in!

After talking to Niklas, this lurker has stepped forward and taken the bait. I shall be running the Colonials.

 

[Nylan]

Welcome , and I see this is also your debut post on CFC as well. Glad to have you here.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Welcome, Massive Attack. PM sent to you. Do you use any form of Instant Messaging?
FYI: (and everyone else too) I'm available for diplomacy much of the day as necroboycer@hotmail.com (MSN), LordCircon (AIM), erikmesoy (Y!M), 333867728 (ICQ), or on irc.nightstar.net as ErikMesoy (IRC).