The SolaVerse Artefacts

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0 PRIMARY The Process Of Discovery
1 PRIMARY Interpreter's note: This report is a compendium of documents translated from Processal language into REDACTED.
2 PRIMARY wMPYnAX3fnFwyb36nebTfQWNj8kXdWeMMXUHzNN1PKfUM0Sd5QOPHizR9em2A7g6m1bXDFK9/WwMBUpa2xiyJbG8bWfFDwWUy18AdDZOZTU=
3 PRIMARY Ey/YrRV4Xl5a74EPafKMaSSHSBuv5NbqmLFhqKaECThTR33c3iy6/ptWsgq++fVh5ttSJ8F4CtUlcds8q1wHrr8fiQleMQGB9254jyB/a6M=
4 PRIMARY A listing of contents is as follows:
5 PRIMARY a faithful recording of relevant command dialogue on the bridge of the Process Rescue Ship known by call-sign Scimitar
6 PRIMARY AclMQCm5x6E/w0PpAPjvfkogQtR84CjJYxii8g6Aodv7kvqSMvfj1syDNFVSfKswJlucQiojWqqHSIm0KzxSTr8TFIkl1Dqf4DrS/3kI03SKgAI2ebgxP/bk15BKQu1JMWXgKyHlPQjzPuRHBo7OLDkKZ181y9W3H58fdEogL/Y=
7 PRIMARY excerpts from the reports of squadron commander Confuser
8 PRIMARY excerpts from the reports of Scimitar commander and Fleet Commander Remembrancer
9 PRIMARY Interpreter's note ends
10 PRIMARY Bridge Transcript, Process Rescue Ship 1138 — "Scimitar, Swinging Between Gravitational Degrees"
11 ARCHIVES I began the day as I always do.
12 PRIMARY Remembrancer: Attention all stations, this is Remembrancer.
13 PRIMARY Initiate tunnelling sequence. Engineering.
14 LOVE 0JpfQq+kttd4F+KEmsIxh/QOX4uB3pSBMeA9bYXP95E=
15 PRIMARY Archbishop: Engineering reporting in. Tunnelling system nominal. Safeties disengaged.
16 PRIMARY 7EhzrNLMiXaw/0ZsLcYKGlg5FECtHkpzF1nKDWbsBBfwcal6UVRWOLhISNQuEz7ICKhbzd5sJmiTyDgyjjM/EeduDFrwzO9ucalMREL3GLU=
17 COMMS Interpreter's note: These comms fragments are reconstructed from encrypted logs
18 PRIMARY Interpreter's note: Bass humming noise as plasma moves from storage into its mesh of capillaries across the skin of the Scimitar.
19 PRIMARY I have cleaned up the interference this has caused on the recording. Interpreter's note ends
20 TECH Jester's personal log.
21 PRIMARY Archbishop: Ionising field established.
22 PRIMARY 1pMjh5unexO+9emL7SCF6/XSivEFUUQ7bH19DzIn54I=
23 COMMS Ik431f/BxzS22QgqaZHpy66B/nfN6QOxpuwnLkcYfJtMVzJM9frMmI6lK+sqa4Iz
24 PRIMARY wQPwkyXsr/Xhdb9dvPl3far0VQCZH4/CdeLYClaaTuJC5iFNxGkH+ByduOXDbxrW
25 PRIMARY Remembrancer: Approval received. Navigation.
26 TECH ZH9bmpVdDIoexw6h8pnr86PaT4+au5BZUtfnd5dLC3M=
27 PRIMARY Lead Counsel: Particle stream fix locked on, at maximum detection.
28 PRIMARY Coordinates as follows:
29 CATAST Interpreter's note: Only a small sample of these scenarios are excerpted from the main document listing all 256, as the variations are slight and repetition can dull observational acuity.
30 PRIMARY Interpreter's note: Coordinates redacted for security reasons.
31 PRIMARY All further redactions will be denoted by the text, "REDACTED". Interpreter's note ends
32 MSIT 0SKm3Ln/cOi2Kzl8BFAQIiGyYJMV1fG7jErqf4v+V+oDe/rgE9ZxT5DAQ58yRW6Q
33 PRIMARY Remembrancer: Archives—confirm coordinates.
34 PRIMARY Nephew: Coordinates confirmed in 3^11 source fragments.
35 COMMS Their partial nature is due to the incomplete erasure methods
36 PRIMARY Confidence indicates 99.983 percent certainty.
37 PRIMARY Remembrancer: Thank you, Nephew.
38 LOVE Interpreter's note: There is much debate every macrocycle
39 PRIMARY All rise.
40 PRIMARY I want everyone to stop what they're doing
41 ARCHIVES Firstly by expressing my thanks to the Searchers.
42 PRIMARY and take a moment to remember who we are,
43 PRIMARY since time out of mind, to reach this point.
44 PRINCIP Remembrancer on The Principles of Rescue
45 PRIMARY Every skill we have learned, every trial we have overcome,
46 PRIMARY everyone and everything we have sacrificed
47 CATAST Temporal anomaly—arrive far too late, the planet is naught but dust
48 PRIMARY is part of a massive wedge of purpose.
49 PRIMARY WgRNm+++PLzpy6p/cQb1kAxi7lS6GE2XE6IVenzD084=
50 COMMS employed in the use of certain substrates.
51 PRIMARY This fleet. This ship. This command.
52 PRIMARY In a few moments we will open the tunnel
53 ARCHIVES Then to the Process.
54 PRIMARY and travel through space on a path that none of us has ever seen.
55 PRIMARY When we emerge, we do not know what will be there to meet us on the other side.
56 PRINCIP Interpreter's note: This monograph is classified
57 PRIMARY There will be no time to debate, to ponder, to wait.
58 PRIMARY Only to decide, to determine, to act.
59 CATAST Temporal anomaly—arrive before humans existed, possible paradox
60 PRIMARY qkwLqGQlgR2tgatCRN0k5lQqs4vE78Ra6+BPaEN+D5Q=
61 PRIMARY D+G/HU5tEIydCrrAnnAQPnFk+xlG7uyUycNb4hCP5GI=
62 LOVE about this class of declamatory literature. It involves careful and close reading of each profession of love.
63 PRIMARY We've drilled.
64 PRIMARY We've simmed.
65 MSIT These techniques have been extrapolated via intensive simming, based on empirical evidence gathered through experimentation on Process volunteers.
66 PRIMARY We've located the trail.
67 PRIMARY Our mission is clear: *Find the humans.*
68 SIM#554-910 <<SIM 554-910: Iterations 2^18>>
69 PRIMARY I am proud to serve with every one of you.
70 PRIMARY Whatever happens when we exit this tunnel,
71 PRINCIP to Fleet Admiral level and higher.
72 PRIMARY the future will remember us as the ones who were here,
73 PRIMARY who took the first step.
74 COMMS I have endeavoured to extrapolate where possible.
75 PRIMARY Engage safety harnesses.
76 PRIMARY Execute tunnel embarkation in three, two, one—***
77 LOVE Sometimes they are beautiful, like this one,
78 PRIMARY qieJ8Eb1m/JKgM12dvLrLO8heXqc1jRlnlNXbT+GjkAPj6hx41YI0iFirpYP51oI
79 PRIMARY Specification: A Log of Private Remarks by Remembrancer,
80 CATAST Navigation miscalculation—arrive in wrong area of space with no way of fuelling or charting a tunnel in order to return
81 PRIMARY Commander, Process Rescue Ship Scimitar.
82 PRIMARY PPytUgJz6eo4HywOqImjcOPxnfrhOh1tQ+5NUSGt4C6Vqm1q+qvLHpMpghH1b3Iiz8cnuP5iSQmhXxCTZc3bOw==
83 MSIT Human lungs can hold 6 liters of fluid, though the subject will most likely perish.
84 PRIMARY (This ongoing document may not be released beyond this substrate.
85 PRIMARY Attempts will be logged and tamper-evident by procedure redacted.
86 SIM#554-910 Lead Researcher: Grand Vizier
87 PRIMARY Report all tamper signals to Fleet Security Liaison.
88 PRIMARY Eyes-only access with signed permission of author
89 PRINCIP While the monograph has received
90 PRIMARY +nAoSXJs0Ar+2KInicGRN5VqgQx6pPRxooEoCHTlJq6xnMVGeNHQbM7ujjNB7KWn
91 PRIMARY We are out of the tunnel in 41 subcycles
92 PRIMARY and I am quietly losing my mind,
93 PRINCIP wide acclaim in REDACTED,
94 PRIMARY vL5RbuyenkrCWpObPgefD9SaEd3WQFxGT+xajmZD7FoA90zobdrCgGIFH7KT5Ejqq6kYp33LTIrntOhpJKEtvw==
95 PRIMARY that was made by my superior officers before I assumed command.
96 PRIMARY There is no action principle that can bring me to a position
97 CATAST /mf9Gq8cdW5ymux8UVVkfOj7LXaXYje/kJ40IRki1bbYYStk4uMWciBkcwsQZdpd
98 PRIMARY where devoting my time to this loop
99 PRIMARY would make any difference to mission outcomes,
100 PRIMARY but I am doing it anyway.
101 SIM#554-910 Purpose - to determine threshold of cooperation between human subgroups in asymmetrical conditions.
102 PRIMARY The loop takes about three micro cycles and proceeds as follows:
103 PRIMARY I catastrophise with regards to potential threats to the mission
104 PRIMARY that are posed by some known or unknown phenomenon.
105 SIM#554-910 Method - Simulated human subgroups based on current statistical models of humankind,
106 PRIMARY These have included precisely 256 different scenarios,
107 PRIMARY which I have recorded in appendix 11.
108 PRIMARY They are categorised as follows:
109 CATAST Engineering failure—ship is shredded during transit
110 PRIMARY Potential sentinels, weapons, outposts, habitats, stations, moons, planets inhabited by remnant humans
111 PRIMARY Same as above, but the humans have left their devices unmonitored
112 PRIMARY 6falneeN4NkXqFlFDTcHmPkvWSfTRDC7xbt6lfIpMdhYk4+nBUIyMFjFy4DZp4m3NqW9XA1/LE5XhnbKsIZNOA==
113 COMMS End Interpreter's Note
114 PRIMARY Masses upon masses of humans and their associated automata
115 PRIMARY in a resurgent society
116 PRIMARY Unknown sapient occupation, organic or inorganic,
117 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...regarding the atmosphere,
118 PRIMARY vastly superior in attainment to all Process-known technological milestones and astrobiological speculation
119 PRIMARY Humans near starvation and collapse
120 PRIMARY who welcome their rescue by the Process but overwhelm our resources
121 SIM#554-910 to be confined for a period of 24 cycles in a closed environment.
122 PRIMARY Humans who recognise the Process mission as rescuers
123 PRIMARY wsMXlHM9ozCLeSWsEN8WtH1nuXrx620wUIngZxIaXU5k4LWQOigWylGhxA/2xFl3okEllarhVKxk0LB2bqUsGTRGdN9iVocqTb67M++tH8cPk4J7hQMQaePKhzsBmQud9uV7Wg+PPIRlwkP5fmDEAw==
124 PRIMARY Humans who are so convinced by the painstaking humaniform cultural adaptation
125 MSIT Human fingers are tipped with small claws - they can be removed but will grow back after 6 months, unless adequately cauterized.
126 PRIMARY undertaken by the entire Process that they see us as a rogue human entity
127 PRIMARY k1hHCD0CfQq9mDpgby6kwfwceB/wquhI7CeUO+9q6aADai3T1zyMSyQrxwvMex6y
128 PRIMARY Archetypal monsters first encountered in basic learning tape
129 COMMS the oxygen levels are drastically lower than we expected.
130 PRIMARY to which I was first exposed in the créche
131 PRIMARY (these usually only appear in my nightmares about the mission,
132 PRIMARY but have occasionally manifested as wakeful hallucinations.
133 ARCHIVES Finally I recited the Protocols of Rescue
134 PRIMARY Medical provided me with a remedy in oral tablet form
135 PRIMARY that has reduced these scenarios as both waking and sleeping occurrences)
136 PRIMARY The discovery of unusual astrophysical phenomena,
137 TECH The Scimitar has a total of 506 tension-valves.
138 PRIMARY TfezdqZcueSnnCE2467JVj1d5BAfFOphM69bAoBcU4y2JrVv3keO/i95LSxL03/xGTMUzYDExsrZDtBSf15bqA==
139 PRIMARY rare metals, alloys etc in asteroid belts, rare organic materials in comet cloud
140 PRIMARY Infestations, viruses, other forms of microlife able to infect Process team members
141 SIM#554-910 Each group to be provided with different levels of resources.
142 PRIMARY Deceased and demobilised former peers,
143 PRIMARY teachers, créchemates, partners, friends, superiors and subordinates,
144 PRIMARY both in individual form and aboard destroyed former ships with their entire long-deceased ships' complements
145 MSIT A human can survive severe injury, including but not limited to the loss of limbs.
146 PRIMARY An Searchers installation that will take the Scimitar and the entire Fleet along with it to redacted
147 PRIMARY A hybrid scenario in which a system devoid of life or artifact of life is discovered,
148 PRIMARY iZI6+TqUXz82DEJoaXm2NYDW+nPkL4dUjRD+NpeY+sU7iv950oxBv1inPXrBzSf4Q8Bs2IHrcQmGTOMO4YNRMdu8IEDomFh/SRrtAiMK1AcdhS3ROLx1DwRRXmvrKuNA
149 COMMS Please double check sensor calibration and confirm...
150 PRIMARY uz6sZCQTd3TKbLyWxUh/jvMT2FNYvBLo7kop5VJxTxij3pXg4UcnVVkmYVBZwSl0H17YLHD6GLLAVg5np2RloA==
151 PRIMARY While undertaking my duty, recreation or rest period
152 PRIMARY I find myself worrying about the threat topic.
153 PRINCIP ufpMpY3rfrviDYHYjRmugZ5D2v3iaMtiqCNFb5qqyn/fAlalsmsrpJTz8mxrlexK
154 PRIMARY GZll13aT0b10NX2LiFYlWQcua989brRCQa0dKiItjjxMEMCA6FwftJiIdVppH4PfQd1ZYNREdaT4q5wz1PMtqm0edcBrRktLKlVk6JNnTMM=
155 PRIMARY 3b1QR0/xcP5aaA/qSUfREBAwQtQVS7gPpnmqgczs/DKBphsgMYynHLJRq7Qfx1Qm
156 PRIMARY P/quoKPmm3iY8C+9kynONm7xUgJz89CfSs3M8XHxiAmdWXoXs+hGV7UBiKbvwPEUPPL+9iNzNMd3cppF1E2J9Q==
157 SIM#554-910 /9cpZ7xkX10JHg0Qbg1tPhImJ5tbORcYZi35m64Zt30dWshbuIVPJUr6gyFoUp+rk419HMEH6lTW1StR2o/EbJXgVi+ubl5h3WwW4c2ob5Q=
158 PRIMARY that could have equipped this mission with even the tiniest shred of intelligence
159 PRIMARY BhIxB4pnS2YB2v9koIO0xr/GwsgwZLnmXzuJN1faz7z0IbsQ3CNVZe7gHIaJtygb
160 PRIMARY This anger is what nearly always makes me aware that I am catastrophising.
161 PRINCIP of rescue principles
162 PRIMARY Anger at superior officers, questioning orders and disrespectful thoughts about the Searchers
163 PRIMARY are all, very rightfully, categorised as criminal insubordination.
164 PRIMARY With this realisation, I slingshot back, like a rock in an eccentric orbit,
165 COMMS HbcE0euam5Wgh3EJTtA7UAM8cgHUUWRdcuhryL9H3oIaYuPPAAF5+zlddXWXCmXo
166 PRIMARY Z0kXqFmR/myLRZd/a5l1svdl/A95wntGYcvY5Ki+UfzhiaNT/6zkgr2hgbARyw3e18F6Catrx3L4dT/aGBVxs/x359IEA387MXDqq1UZq9wPwPo6qkPyw67zTJGkF1bb
167 PRIMARY fEpWJDuf5MYpVVRNkfGbD0CYhSet76TicYgfX7m9dVOumIBXh+LzKZmCM5fUoXi7/kpYEbR8o6O4soY6DQ4KGV18FGQv/zPwjsCtPyG2qj8=
168 PRIMARY LSgs0vHnpMC9yk4sZ4NHcMxJaX+Z0laZNG0ED4LPuUB0SG6yj88etra7XcjI5bVOQ+h8AMFWEYVe/C8P2ROgFQ==
169 MSIT Ohp+I1PDRez7gxjQ2b13TuM5wYEdVyfZ7GS3TYtbXx3rPnAypgQmxHWcMcEHkY5fOwGaDm5ByCZaUSNCv1MsociXMqmAviAYVig9oUJWq6TWuceFyPqlr8NzciILKLuOBRmSEg/mUdhMN5Nv1Qa8GQ==
170 PRIMARY 23A/9rU9ZGnCVc6MnV79MAXN+kjm1Vrb442aifbuRP+e8B1bEuCKBe4qnQB8GxUBEdfiUo9GF83VEPKArt0VOqJzX9jGyq0/4WbJxL3/YVdWqShQQxeHQ4V+XcyklgTk
171 PRIMARY (see Appendix Four for my formal invocation of these principles
172 PRIMARY jMAkvpi+EMFhsBltVdNOMKzvA+AvuvnXPlX/ZRxA8iJ1cqxo5hdB8Yy6hNDy+4UuPbcBQHmOuDbu906bLMCIRzCoASeUX3AeyQYLsn8lB+v5Ujr8yR8Kl9kTdN3Wep1o
173 SIM#554-910 +KNUfH81M+DBHh8tJ6gMPHDT9irM3dcwKYoQ3oY5poqnWfiyZ2RTn43LTMam8mVbQUMTrFmXNdLmc05EQKuPMJZHHg7AyJp/03JLpR2yO28LZEGW8WonJ+1LynlNXj2P
174 PRIMARY I am recording these erroneous thoughts here while we are in the null-space of the tunnel,
175 PRIMARY where the Traditions of the Process denote that we are closest to our purpose.
176 PRIMARY I do so in the hope that when we enter Earth space,
177 SIM#554-910 myann11RFUgd3lVWi2uEsMwgXX42uJxUH1HNntFarnPjuyFiCtld69bODK0SJ7clSRMvQR/SDmagnlW7gfSv6nQqje8pvJAEHjZE4Gws3gW1BEhrKw7TPOMGAEQeTPCb
178 PRIMARY DcCa/GWbQ01oPlKRKi2wSzw469ReWjW+4bPS4HZklkw=
179 PRIMARY as irrationality and aberration did within the founding root of truth.
180 PRIMARY As it was then, in the heroic days,
181 TECH Each valve is finely tuned in real time by onboard AI,
182 PRIMARY in time out of mind, let it be now, in the time of action.
183 PRIMARY t686Gv9XNQBTIiIwHUU01MxcaJy2OzQoivGEJZslb/0TBnzB+bz42SP8RX+rqfpL
184 PRIMARY QtQdGu2B1f2NijgwZf+d5IuiUD6OTIFKbC4fK2u2IPC1GJ1N0WDwmUlNxNA6wr7yBAPS/oFGwlUhB1Hoasprqpbhs0DD6kXOv4as3Wg/OWM=
185 CATAST Engineering failure—ship cannot exit tunnel and travels until it falls apart millenia later
186 PRIMARY Amen. ***
187 PRIMARY dPGz9nqqXLTl/g8HthkCxKcK6q/bm2s6d8DOQsvPK/joKfK6zDfRqWV9u73IAj4r305LKzNsF/cSguRXUVWNuUwRQCncg52HHgt1j9MsOmbSEvTKwfk9LAvSQHFqIVej
188 PRIMARY I present the following report—
189 COMMS You read about ringed gas planets and study them in sims,
190 PRIMARY yWXikutGtY/H7VZgtsgVyJsWzkhxpP4EOOdXbO55jbln/u1hPz1D9qZt5d87KPHq6IAbn1oUhc+HhBVLxQRjug==
191 PRIMARY Invigilator: Yes, Commander.
192 PRIMARY Nothing has shot at us, tried to eat or infect us,
193 CATAST Intelligence error—earth position different to the recorded position
194 PRIMARY hurled space rocks at us, engulfed us in an alternate dimension,
195 PRIMARY or hacked our computer systems.
196 PRIMARY cctaLVH/PE0DXiFVizvdT+Wt9afQHxdQ86jS65NQXnMAxcs+pFWI1nwdqvt27GfU
197 PRINCIP could be misinterpreted in
198 PRIMARY are tracked and accounted for.
199 PRIMARY The only trace of any tunnels are the ones this Fleet has just entered through,
200 PRIMARY B1eWiGtRUObJa+ag4D7GKkKFaldSYB1NsPQ2nYd7n622bcMNaXkpriF/K2DKzzNCPLw2gxn3kgmfrojT1NNWvvCc5psEHhQ1ftjQeqYzg9w=
201 TECH pKyV8HkWCMIh861jRUvs3nA+VnZRAtG9UG0lY4Ly6Vn2y9At10fQdnR7qgdnBEBa
202 PRIMARY 6NV+1b6EX8Grx94dbYTwNcutpccZ5aLHeK/D2NicFTbGFrU2Vvx3B/VHd5K99se52wtKRV+nU6B+hVLaargQdA==
203 PRIMARY redacted macrocycles ago, or as Earth would measure it, redacted years ago.
204 PRIMARY Our sensors and scopes are detecting a station orbiting the Earth
205 ARCHIVES and began tending to my personal maintenance.
206 PRIMARY with only nominal electromagnetic activity.
207 PRIMARY There are a handful of antique automated satellites
208 PRIMARY with nominal electromagnetic activity.
209 PRINCIP the minds of unskilled viewers.
210 PRIMARY HKQD2TOL6Rb/yRe3ppy1ohL9Ju/m/HM4+vgW0Eevh6MDG22wzIqMvK1y9mfSFX4f0G5wrhdooEvqGubgOcpFnA==
211 PRIMARY indicators of current human occupation of this system.
212 PRIMARY F6VgOP2LPGF96c9pPGQ0MOuCrCiEGfl4/yw1EktRZug9zq7eWFPM00sfJFsg2bQQ1yhzf6AR1qJtNFkX/VUcFW3DKJKE14e+swF9ySfg1aQ=
213 TECH and for all the great technological advances of the Process,
214 PRIMARY If we stay on this heading,
215 PRIMARY we will be at Earth in six subcycles.
216 PRIMARY From what we can tell by looking at the station,
217 TECH sometimes you just need a technician
218 PRIMARY if there is anyone or anything to see us,
219 PRIMARY Ma/gSZAUcTLS4ARligE0pGvUxTMrsc4g8d6ZXDe3jvtluBvyMrUdAU23F+b0vGpsy0Hw8SUDScyhwSSp91FzCw==
220 PRIMARY According to the summary from Sims,
221 LOVE VU+vhydA06R+EcADQYtGdn0N1PHUVD9PEqJlNvcNLmISNV2ctlCwu4ONwQhBOq5Ie52APSatwesENEooNFgHMQ==
222 PRIMARY vwTzdd1fNyUv1/NDUGXna6MMEFA8gAZF8KkCl20RrtMmGqjtorIRfevi6Rzuod7b5sa7DarwJ2t0Jnnart/vHzdzG0uDHiw+cBSeQGVn2SE=
223 PRIMARY Tco9IqKHnDWBWHXawK/VamFwexk0bMZNoTi8gBcJzJo=
224 PRIMARY 5TXWoi5WoGDajfwejfMwp0/0ZzlkSjSWSBiIqj2b3EjQmz11lc3qCC0q8qQiOuce
225 PRINCIP EHvgprNSElLZpvXOQLxEJ/2TM3wurollA6aXC6R5tu5VojwSDpuSlPWTQSQxkP6L
226 PRIMARY zbBLRH8sIbU3GW6fa36pV2FRSXSSMnj/v7GC01rq+G+O45bPN+OjNt9oCaWdmWPE
227 PRIMARY Remembrancer: Commence broadcast.
228 PRIMARY GYm4sY4bo/6vAEsIpOzWr69n9iYrWfQzE5aPYRNoJ00DcfSH7ExzteMx0aEt+SAYD9PmMKJShGZYuUnikRicgw==
229 SIM#554-910 dMqKZzXKSwSOMA9iIGULmAYKEN7Lw/G1f/MABqZn2P1L6oZ1C88bNMr39mJQBm21lsGVatw3k6L4G9j/v3qVVPF3lLbxU+bpHmXXNx9DqCU=
230 PRIMARY in what Archives promises are accurate versions of several Earthen languages,
231 PRIMARY beginning with British English. Interpreter's note ends
232 PRIMARY Attention dwellers within the Sol system,
233 PRINCIP One thing that I have long understood
234 PRIMARY including humans, animals, plants, artificial intelligences,
235 PRIMARY both embodied and incorporeal, and microorganisms.
236 PRIMARY MhgZN6/MpaTr7Fz+3sepBlOH5lH3bcRzEBMajEwPIjyyJUwhmHqYzMyquagwGo4nySu+e85uVRSI8FmFNNOmzs6swG+Tpi5TmUi6Sqxfpqo=
237 SIM#554-910 in order to maximise preservation of life.
238 PRIMARY This is the Process Rescue Fleet.
239 PRIMARY We are here to rescue you.
240 PRIMARY Please prepare to exit the dwellinghouses, workplaces,
241 SIM#554-910 MrZjGzXnjV7dRr9n+6AbCua2WOcTudwmt7HjP0xNiUq3sSQQ1CW5JMJXhyo8yJ3DEzU5XhfQC3NJPZUw5w2pkLCYyWHoazCWuIwgmWEh+F7C9BqcpsHsh+BklCcvLBWwtbtDXIz221jbURfi0goJ/Q==
242 PRIMARY recreational facilities, or centres of religious worship
243 PRIMARY in which you are gathered and present yourself in a fashion that is observable from the sky.
244 PRIMARY MrBW4BhkNj5cr1gyHSP+QCH8efLOClKFELNKg8be2bxfhm0m7BtiSSzWywabSsEjeDwufLREYNnaystcXKWkaA==
245 LOVE sometimes cloying, sometimes silly.
246 PRIMARY intended to protect life from inimical or absent atmosphere,
247 PRIMARY prepare to don appropriate breathing apparatus and exit the dome.
248 PRIMARY Await our signal of rescue.
249 TECH with a wrench to knock the soot off.
250 PRIMARY If you are unable to locomote, rescue will come to you.
251 PRIMARY Your time of tribulation is over.
252 PRIMARY This message repeats. ***
253 MSIT The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems
254 PRIMARY A Log Of Remembrancer's Private Remarks, Continued
255 PRIMARY I have to admit it was a very big relief
256 PRIMARY KZNdj4WNdbQPjA0EzfeI32ISdnfBDpDoeNxRevubCoBc882KoZVzqCVA0CsERDJBmIsRCPPKbe06oono5Yhhaw==
257 MSIT It takes around 4000 newtons of force to break an adult human femur. Other bones are easier.
258 PRIMARY YzvHZtLvgkbw7TQqA0xG6k9MO9Kf5b0yfEHzBUTVd1Wxjpb86iEX+DfUttNhNUohOJ0uKaUJx8UwUWsCDmu43A==
259 PRIMARY ready to disintegrate us in a fraction of a microcycle.
260 PRIMARY JXRLdGH81yPsw1UUafc+T0MUQYKniRe83W4PbcQOEEfYpZlB/2KdAxFrGbVvYGAlBU6cl8KeQMbXJNpzbOqluQ==
261 SIM#554-910 In cases of high resource disparity and/or depletion,
262 PRIMARY the most likely outcome, as predicted by our sims.
263 PRIMARY No humans, no germs, no hollowed-out asteroids. Nothing.
264 PRIMARY It all meshes with the story that the Searchers fed us
265 ARCHIVES To have this many humaniforms in such a comparatively cramped space as the Auger is to invite biological complication,
266 PRIMARY while we were still drinking child's gruel in our créches—
267 PRIMARY that the humans will have departed their system,
268 PRIMARY taking every scrap of resource materials with them, leaving no obvious trace.
269 ARCHIVES and so proper hygiene is doubly important.
270 PRIMARY It is left to us to find the less obvious.
271 PRIMARY G9EcG6m6RDhlJxI5olLtyjAx0zxEBcoctWbpxYddmw9juoqL+C6LkYNWpvbrF5wJalnr0LFPQkktaYrBR4IA6Q==
272 PRIMARY before we entered the system have, fortunately, ceased.
273 SIM#554-910 subgroups will turn to violence in order to take/hold resources for themselves.
274 PRIMARY If the system is truly deserted, however,
275 PRIMARY this stage of the mission is not yet the long hoped-for culmination of our grand purpose—finding and rescuing the humans.
276 PRIMARY But as we approach Earth, we will try to get a picture of what the planet looks like,
277 MSIT A typical human will pack-bond with a variety of animals,
278 PRIMARY meaning that we can piece together what happened.
279 PRIMARY Roughly mined metal-rich asteroids are sighted multiple times a cycle by our watchful systems.
280 PRIMARY It seems that the humans took every easily accessible scrap of building materials,
281 LOVE The concept of love was a serious problem when
282 PRIMARY energy sources, and biomass out of the system with them.
283 PRIMARY From what we can see as we approach, they did not leave any message to the future:
284 PRIMARY no spatial coordinates, no description or image of a system to which they may have escaped.
285 PRINCIP to be true about our mission as rescuers
286 PRIMARY The nearest star systems to Earth are as wild and empty as they were
287 MSIT and in some observations, machines.
288 PRIMARY before humanity would have learned to harness fire.
289 PRIMARY And the Searchers picked up only a faint trace
290 TECH My hydration break is nearly over
291 PRIMARY of a single ancient, coarse tunnel-path created by the humans.
292 PRIMARY We travelled there, reopened it and followed it.
293 TECH and I still have 144 tension valves left to service.
294 PRIMARY Our starting point—the humans' ending point—
295 PRIMARY lies at a galactic crossroads that is convenient to nearly everywhere, so is a very poor clue.
296 SIM#554-910 In 68.80% of scenarios,
297 PRIMARY I met with my fellow commanders in my best virtual space, a classical garden.
298 PRIMARY RyYf5Vl7XiVHi69OHrgAb4TyKe/TEpL3qghGEkuGq3cffIGtkYu2oZUwmvDeACjm0K2LZQtoABB+GVgaAImHqw==
299 PRINCIP is that it is very different from the
300 PRIMARY to impress a hydraulics student for whom I had developed an infatuation.
301 PRIMARY We all gathered in a circle in a central plaza made of groomed nebula dust,
302 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 1
303 PRIMARY illuminated in golden light, plucking reports, charts and video out of the air
304 PRIMARY and arguing in the place where I'd enjoyed my first kiss.
305 SIM#554-910 the experiment ends in fatality before the 48th cycle.
306 PRIMARY Almost no human structures had been found in our sweeps.
307 PRIMARY nztG3lTa5CgXA/JTRVsDVieRwIv9JJ3lII1iqCGRyuro934OMnsm3lG8RV1wO0BumfJ4gRCa2q3yMktLRFFcyw==
308 ARCHIVES 0nbyfGekZo8TX55T5V29zmo5dNL9wfbxx5/XG6lPFUsxo/do4o+Mx08FmtHHh0Xz
309 PRIMARY of solar radiation, scanning everything we passed.
310 PRIMARY dJkhUl+I+m9vb0XI/dNBSRh7g35+9uUmqagL65REFMqWfqaAA7cTpktQo2GgXg3feNsKDC65nMOL5sT256gEVg==
311 MSIT oRSlI3TI6VHoTJvNIjRrnsVPul0Gi00rGPCblnDbaWg=
312 PRIMARY Inside its pitted casing, the technology was so crude
313 PRIMARY that it could only be from generations before the humans had left the system.
314 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 2
315 PRIMARY bi5qC9qhM5O6NyoPlnOY3MYCkpTeCyWLlrh3ZBIkRbOd/S3DfUDGQJBN4gfR+CXi
316 PRIMARY underneath a panel, shielded from the ravages of time and space.
317 PRINCIP ordinary tasks that we do on a
318 PRIMARY It contained drawings of male and female humans,
319 PRIMARY statistics about the gravity, air, and water of Earth,
320 PRINCIP regular basis, to maintain ourselves,
321 PRIMARY and alphanumeric systems.
322 PRIMARY A wise forensicist on a ship called the Otoscope
323 TECH The task is one that I have repeated countless times,
324 PRIMARY managed to get onto the landing team that investigated the probe,
325 PRIMARY and she was able to get the device onboard in a vacuum container,
326 ARCHIVES Do not mistake this comment for that of derision towards my superiors,
327 PRIMARY without it being touched by Process hands
328 PRIMARY or exposed to our environment.
329 ARCHIVES 1iuwnzukhmgnptwo3OVazloi2JDxthhmTjZDBo95887E0ZdTOtrMArXEi9wp7ljIw8NF/N+UN8PclewXX/6k1r2btbDKdLiSt6JkCjcBMtM=
330 PRIMARY PtPUP39n4B8ZVeuSgbqbgow9FsmRGQblDkJLe77gtrVwjcTh2DKmj5qB+K+ykqT1o/+RMTX1Dd9puxE42j/SaA==
331 PRIMARY recommended that we search for genetic material—
332 MSIT 5pYOcVJlchpkC7WMX44riuwHxRLtQpZ0InkYfzYTXt+SXkuvVNEuCGqmvnYNXF1DPPqy3jD+MbR6oLe7zBjxbQ==
333 PRIMARY 9RJT4+JqOCIxioTFMjqF7zy1m+JyAkRLtAozrYaRuqtSwDQxc0YJQAtsyfx+HduRI4wlAUAQb9NzTwRhmLzfXA==
334 PRIMARY L2cdjvgHNGmbNMvTgTuAi42rFgbj4yIgQpxBWbvJzcRN8po8qSduoR7xGiRx105JaOoN37WA9gHN8x2WvD6QVLPHy8Z3SVimiQfmVHHWCTg=
335 SIM#554-910 Addendum: Lead researcher's notes—
336 PRIMARY This material can, of course, aid our cause profoundly, given
337 PRIMARY g45Le2vehgfVmSGwb9EihNwbbQnMQOxMbtJGrtuUWVI=
338 SIM#554-910 We have run this sim many times,
339 PRIMARY REDACTED—SENTENCE 2
340 PRIMARY REDACTED—SENTENCE 3
341 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 3
342 PRIMARY xM0XjMDVnI6DQvONAlviL0JA1exuUAKzs/WQdXAylCLOBzJrbD2qd/j51/xrtIeAcVl7mwQXnSWdvQK7htVICg==
343 PRIMARY WnArAqGC+7GA9+8Jq0YIho32B9ceQ2mCwNhqGMvCC/mUH523zWM36UYLsrSPmiySrU2fhnhEc4Wc6xZ+kfnNQw==
344 COMMS but to be this close is breathtaking.
345 PRIMARY this apparent result—no humans left in the system—
346 PRIMARY yu0hdn2tVm5jJtB7pGfhuTzvPwu9c7pIjS690gqvdrtX9oD/nds1SsAyyVhALKendsPBXQZQd/3xV8xwNaoR7g==
347 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 4
348 PRIMARY What had not been seen as likely was the fact that they wouldn't have left a message
349 PRIMARY letting any potential finders know where they had gone.
350 SIM#554-910 U1DejSLjtCZWrg9F+LKmGALv6B2/CGN/QYoy/XahJOwd2kqT0k95RvRKqsrI8OjdGv2NqD5JYi9R0quuKLSE2alGE9yiMWMUtnasR3kTwl0=
351 PRIMARY DrwXKl5vssekv7PjvkteGG7j/gTbPuO5PeX771s5K35oDi/+oQ/GH+XfTg2NTBit55eD1BzNKrNmQtRIQw9Wvg==
352 PRIMARY From all we know, the human race was entirely innocent
353 TECH and to me it is almost as easy
354 PRIMARY of any knowledge of non-Earthen life.
355 PRIMARY 7rN8YWfRh7NSwvkoKzVTF195KHxAuu0GQxkgBFASkEtQ0LRXARJ2026ApztCXXmA
356 PRINCIP m/e+HFgQjy+wn45fzI4egnGvarOw0IbnJWJDZSKNwtw=
357 PRIMARY Even by looking at the fragments of information the Searchers have given us about humanity,
358 PRIMARY we know that they were proud, and loud about themselves.
359 TECH and well practised as breathing.
360 PRIMARY OXF9mnEBF8lLmFhTHFZcu/HkLNeg36noe4tb5Ayov5wJnLDoW6P5CpspIuOwbLXhcc8ofr6If/aLDkdSScCvcw==
361 PRIMARY qHFeUOtlYJWd9uGjuVZni7j3HmvVP2HlYZRZ9Zz8IQpbRqQ8XsJxdVGqDLavsUrk
362 TECH hjebR7fHdH9iV3zbEx+d20z58kDaFS5QluhDFu4WaaHLdgJiZIioE7ha9hj/rWVd/0SPXHCAU9gZJ4RGRCakrw==
363 PRIMARY Their most sensitive parts on display.
364 PRIMARY No drawings of armaments of any sort.
365 TECH unscrews covers and loosens carbon encrusted joints,
366 PRIMARY WNMNvYIer8fy9bWz37dDx2+icNXd8ftImTPyJKKTmNc=
367 PRIMARY copROlY4m+k/PNYEki/pxK7U6zd4uFpfc2ZWuW+8F4p6sNwIr+yNULnsDQOxuEz8
368 CATAST Intelligence error—humans vastly different to simulations predictions
369 PRIMARY wouldn't have boasted of saving themselves by writing to the future sapients
370 PRIMARY that might discover the wrecked probe in aeons to come.
371 MSIT The perception of the human eye is limited
372 PRIMARY We have been looking for that message.
373 PRIMARY ScOg4hRjp5/zaohxSUoEudfpPal8ilL3ZGph2LBBCguWeJX0XX5eJ70n3dGonfbR1rnA6DTHI+9YazZJcrn0DQ==
374 COMMS 5gjgr6V9qd2n4ZlDy6cWIkekaPqWMswwEsah419vP9VH29SgHy33Bgb5tnThg9Mm
375 PRIMARY CV7hesDbMX6EymWo0q+cgseonf8Mwq1AcaS8mA772QKQ2kkOlEi3JeXk+ziWprq/GKB0mTaMJ8wWHyLQaRSDc0sXpfoM7h3CN632qF1Zdrz5sh010+KrVIV4b5FxjJvY
376 PRIMARY expecting to find something—a monolith, a hologram, a cairn with a lockbox underneath.
377 PRINCIP WRApE1Jy6v01+lAcIFWd1C5Hm+vpSo11nZSc547ZOR+WDDpRelwCNT8v5SFKlhI9
378 PRIMARY 51BtnaDhLFJkZRSU8TpiKcuHt24PdLsyRqmvu9K9o2kwvYlJVv/9JV3oJmxTOfiz
379 PRIMARY LyftWMl7NhN7mzZxwzaNAa2cSfMkGzWEZyPmIbEQPrcf8NS1oELQgV9yJrntJZ8NnhIPyBloDNaqO7Bwb9MkbyCQHPSwAOYAXpXyNsGnZaI=
380 SIM#554-910 i27LKjb3VtYj8VQ+HwFw+8+06mMqokuVh1kT1bpTPSws1AItIA/NNIdLNqK5gkvL
381 PRIMARY We have passed Jupiter's orbit,
382 PRIMARY and the principal asteroid belt, and the domain of Mars.
383 MSIT U6yFI5iFS0QiBwBv35V7Q9sll3pr4EHABuyzgCe7lsF+lzLHv++ZdT/NCuQMyhMs
384 PRIMARY Rovers and landers were there, and a base and a bunker,
385 PRIMARY again, generations old, dug by robots and never occupied by humans.
386 PRINCIP and our own individual hopes,
387 PRIMARY We found three coarse, white hairs with follicles
388 PRIMARY hidden underneath a metallic emblem on a wrecked, pitted rover.
389 COMMS ePrVAPdoSckg/ahh2cJuez67mlriWB95DUfE5MQBTOHnC/xKifTBda40zPoKbpLp
390 PRIMARY I planted the Process flag in the rocky soil of Mars
391 PRIMARY and read the proclamation declaring the Rescue Order,
392 ARCHIVES Soon enough I was at my station,
393 PRIMARY which was surprisingly moving, even though
394 PRIMARY we had to take the flag down again immediately
395 TECH my waking mind wanders.
396 PRIMARY and scuff away our tracks.
397 PRIMARY CeCrY/0wIPnro2Wf2GCSWz0n1JJHZmx7wimG/RHYMED0dm534l+QkvuNgz5GPAidDudsKaxRh7Y7KEApXvNIrFoGrvfCUglJWA0pkC2Vz4A=
398 CATAST BrQFNKsrKr8ta9v1Th/i+F8u9l35q+zN6gjL/nyetYvubCrUvwYIlOvbbRFJcebkkqfEK8CmTU2Oc5kU9+IqXmYTrBLCIY0BnC6CaSONFyk=
399 PRIMARY hiding the fleet from Earth's view.
400 PRIMARY wr7RtCegH+QI8cQku0ho6S+Vg+L4SjMemVcEWedL/x3uufYsXm4V6i/n3hTICuBYnlExcqlyY71LSyRm0tq3Ig==
401 SIM#554-910 4PwhBE3Y3Fiyc9ByoAE0HkEIbisPOziEeLTlMXIebUHK181EfCVGTDDXKL3DVnBv52Y4Xw572S9I35ltBNIubxm+ef2daJtHO9PXDLH5+ZU=
402 PRIMARY through our new tunnel,
403 PRIMARY attaching the genetic sequences that we had scanned from the precious hairs.
404 ARCHIVES and after confirming the readouts against the ledger,
405 PRIMARY 4TlkAxMjKyooUU8yc4ebztjbdulBtJ59C0EcthUW6DXeAMWv7OZrLKhutLUBcJcm
406 PRIMARY Every cycle, the Fleet drifted
407 CATAST Black Op—earth does not exist. New orders will be issued upon arrival
408 PRIMARY into the eyeline of the Earth station.
409 PRIMARY Each time, we asked each other:
410 PRINCIP dreams, preferences, wishes and goals.
411 PRIMARY If the station was alive, and something could see out of its telescopes,
412 PRIMARY would it say hello?
413 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 5
414 PRIMARY y/AoBwA1F3oXUl9mY7RZzL4nGoyqZT1gxk6WFRN9K/XVF4stsHhnf2aevyoFaPvR
415 PRIMARY jJTmlnINb8MCqgOYAjDsmT8YiXuuKde3PziFtdSj63HVrDfxx1D4ScdesnYcN5Kp
416 SIM#554-910 not dissimilar to those of the Rescue Protocols.
417 PRIMARY Sim reports.
418 PRIMARY One commander brought up his dusty old cadet-issue pocket regulation book
419 ARCHIVES I made my way along the deck,
420 PRIMARY and quoted from it.
421 PRIMARY qn/fbWYRiQgChwwjEEBs60w5v0K1CUtDHSNak6BqEOU3KwEA9jaHm3i0YmuMny2fLBiaeZ1hmqUhGMuCbsFXZQ==
422 ARCHIVES checking each chamber in turn.
423 PRIMARY a small ship, lacking faster-than-light propulsion,
424 PRIMARY that had been stripped of our most classified weapons systems.
425 PRINCIP TS4MPn5tv5xKP2rhkndLLJbJxKpgN6Xn1sPls3cMz4g=
426 PRIMARY Our oldest, scruffiest equipment, uniforms and tools
427 PRIMARY were dug out of storage,
428 MSIT They make up for this deficiency using
429 PRIMARY and a handpicked crew was assembled.
430 PRIMARY The mission of the Wonder would be
431 SIM#554-910 I would like to iterate on these results and move from fully virtual sims
432 PRIMARY to explore the station and to scour the planet
433 PRIMARY for any signals or evidence of what had happened to the population
434 SIM#554-910 to physical experimentation using volunteers.
435 PRIMARY and where the survivors had gone.
436 PRIMARY If a remnant human population existed anywhere,
437 MSIT technological assistance.
438 PRIMARY N1CZLb17CVl4rZuEbVL+VMsS2Y3NwXoYgnhLqalW50AwLBJXHEpAEjEr8PFObZFJ
439 PRIMARY away from its hiding place at Mars
440 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 6
441 PRIMARY and come in full force to initiate rescue.
442 PRIMARY Once we had a decision,
443 SIM#554-910 I will speak to the medical board about using REDACTED to close off humaniform participant memories prior to the experiment.
444 PRIMARY we were laser-fast.
445 PRIMARY We put a squad together.
446 LOVE REDACTED—SENTENCE 7
447 PRIMARY This is the tough part, I thought,
448 PRIMARY signing the orders.
449 TECH epxc6vafRUrJZ0x4bGvJhWaa/TFI9qQbGjMUilaH0Og=
450 PRIMARY Thirty Process members on a cramped vessel,
451 PRIMARY eating the worst field gruel, exposed, expendable
452 TECH was shaped for a purpose.
453 PRIMARY and with the nearly impossible task
454 PRIMARY of finding a trace of humanity.
455 TECH The alloys from which it was crafted
456 PRIMARY WknMs4exFh/GatdilHu+UD+dVyF021GkXhjLVCAPrnI=
457 PRIMARY trained and equipped to go on station or on world.
458 MSIT Most humans will fall unconscious if lowered to a body temperature of 86°.
459 PRIMARY They would be our best,
460 PRIMARY provided with the full (tiny) understanding of what we know about humanity
461 SIM#554-910 <<Personal Log: Enumerator, a Process Archivist>>
462 PRIMARY and trained to respond to every eventuality.
463 PRIMARY Word has gotten around fast.
464 CATAST Black Op—rescue ship is actually a warship. Mission is excuse to reposition fleet
465 PRIMARY The entire Fleet breathed a sigh of embarrassed relief
466 PRIMARY when it became clear that almost nobody among us
467 ARCHIVES According to our standard operating procedures, the readouts should be sufficient to confirm
468 PRIMARY would have to walk around anywhere near actual human beings.
469 PRIMARY Hobbies are coming out of lockers,
470 PRINCIP is one that comes to us not from our own minds
471 PRIMARY WZG7vD2dp7YiRpSN9piV771Mv0wrxLt8J0DcSjXJ9op4rZzwQIbWXpnfrh2x9Z5v
472 PRIMARY 84sp40s/Ja97DNl5vIRLMvkDVV4s6xwv8vBNoiG9TI1eoaI7bK0+kIqIWm5cH8Ul3Phkn+SH2l/oZ67gvaou6g==
473 ARCHIVES the integrity of each chamber,
474 PRIMARY in a solemn ceremony two cycles ago,
475 PRIMARY +f6LondKrANBLmI1yVbQBFx81MfigWsMciuxDjFplsT1wvQnrGKenI1ruwU0pJ1SmV79ipRkzQVI2OJUrWzjvQ==
476 ARCHIVES but I take pride in visually inspecting each one in turn
477 PRIMARY All I can do is wait, and watch.
478 PRIMARY Make sure procedures are followed,
479 TECH were picked for their combination
480 PRIMARY imbalances settled, worries quelled.
481 PRIMARY sXmosD5jnmTLLY4knFGT+xyeqGbuDr9HXcxXWBNuI881HF4XKpHNVvv/IOpWiVOadTXEXBh9Xz9HgljyPqpt6w==
482 LOVE 950kIA4fTRekEB30ww+hYJH+XPifDr9qJxcG4DgFHTM=
483 PRIMARY EZIB4AHCPZlSsJQ4Kh0or9JnEzy2CVARLax8E/h6b0dycZ8+OeLHJHyYx/Y/1CdslXS5WyV/7G3IGO7GC+jaBYFjMdejTQMx04FfxEnRazI=
484 PRIMARY YvoLvxx++n3A74mRVjOXDm3GVYtQIuuiFGlRff533PRXeeOSHYkIH/vDVEGK7PhZ
485 CATAST lhvrhLFP+C1cOFBeUm2YhxakNXih9YpnN1fWM5i8Q01rWMHQI4ACcexsjq3zfYTft/dCBos3+gBlJWt3APYThBZd39LawI4EKZDAH3IPPYwgCaGh7xDZAtOt7t7QRcQ/MgQ7UMlb9azeiz6nj9TEbw==
486 PRIMARY N+BkP7kUb9r4/KXbtQyxt6DOmjKPkHSh9OGXOkUkTpMFfDDIKfyXVOi/QnOZaOJ8
487 PRIMARY yDtbpCR09/uuJaWwzeZdsdqSh8/l4Ztgtk9L7v0/THsKUZLjgimOy3vj4+4n+d7F
488 TECH xhZTvOSXB1arSspVN3kz2LNonBxbpT6sErbzori5Fy6JOUWaWlIuSh44IazGF8tT
489 PRIMARY N3ne8T8I0ZQG9M3FfZeWNWEotoIu2V3Q3KEQS4wjXPoRjIJJh08G8BjtNzwarsnXlO4W89capV2I+Me4UNESmw==
490 PRIMARY x8BuFWXLuiCz0kbtx8I0VWZDeETEaOHMqQMtJ6Oa+pv2fZhrVWLQRra7PXf7n40V
491 MSIT XzF1O8PlKIfyLH+uWSZK2POvMAjN38GNijsbNzUbcYCAFbSYxey2wpoRQBxh0yCyrS1S349at0ZU9LrpzmAjolr08UV095rqRhOBFW1gHUg=
492 PRIMARY why the Searchers have granted each of us food, air, and time.
493 PRIMARY vN6xLe0umPMKmKa47qaxfkvyMJgWbGCPhDYKF0Sak/w=
494 LOVE but after a series of iterations it was decided that it would be protected and preserved
495 PRIMARY is more than a set of procedures or habits of thought.
496 PRIMARY It is the very language that we speak.
497 MSIT The human brain will continue functioning for up to 6 minutes,
498 PRIMARY There is no greater virtue
499 PRIMARY in the galaxy than rescue:
500 PRINCIP IMZ3bWmxQjewDhTsaxnMDp28eML1kxCOsBt2SF67yvA=
501 PRIMARY vRiSIqmJ1NLcvI1pRTcY40TXA4fT6AuY+zwLp8HpeMA1OShfm+dv0N/D8qYXVwI6
502 PRIMARY and taking them out of it.
503 TECH WZnkV5txASQo66Ye/7DH9j+hM26fAibbm/wflvG5n+Q=
504 PRIMARY llP/1a44sZiB2jup385bom+bwDWlFVaSOMzcSXbW7jP1rvkcq0LybmUYw+97kSs1
505 PRIMARY rGCmWTmOkol8PkBoWevf9A3660YKlx5Noxnoh2/nRordvxR3qbiJBFJua3lZrOQx
506 LOVE in subsequent Process generations.
507 PRIMARY or being struck by a rock or being becalmed in deep space.
508 PRIMARY And there are others,
509 ARCHIVES to ensure that everything is as it should be.
510 PRIMARY writ large in the destiny of an entire species.
511 PRIMARY vBNZWl2PLEY9d4q1zsJzZROD63KaRj8fBkSn+hqgG/xH4RU2KaCuWmyO7z0CBjX1
512 LOVE Refer to handbook 1.618 for simulation schematics and strategic option pathways
513 PRIMARY was given to us by the Searchers,
514 PRIMARY and it is a collection of scattered, puzzling fragments.
515 TECH 9jjMrr/s33Jr29KlxgDvT8wC4uAeUWcC7UCqkWQFG6U=
516 PRIMARY zHRsPjERmkEKXZJJxsEk5E9tS8sSESDHAgtRpOVZoOg=
517 PRIMARY PpX9VVG8R1DR++s8nGKyp2ARUYKC1LdtHsN2T47Ob2dKe/IdeUiVY5GDE7yimErGLiZyv/HYNcvmPtFkCgkcZg==
518 PRINCIP who by their very nature are able to reach heights of achievement in any endeavour,
519 PRIMARY It is for us to use it, to learn from it.
520 PRIMARY Il63GXkKJUOdsQNrpaTfQ1Kns9ev3HOOKy7eJOBhzkQ=
521 CATAST aBsFlJSW5w5fObTFX1gH0PA7PqAsb4h9Od6oz2PJhNQ9s6kiIKVOcgcUhE33Kwf8TrlWpoGsXv9NK6MYmRQd9A==
522 PRIMARY z+1Ui2JSawmJZGoMFzRawUoZ5ylz1wnPwCm5pXJlYtoYC0Cvq3DqlOE8r9L6E9fq
523 PRIMARY d0RHGnRXQ/pWocYr8qajT9wNr/3sDYW6VKxN8ZHFy5wSbJGGOcJR238BfiJ3q7aGfdW3/Z2sKuFkVm7AbQdrtg==
524 LOVE for the times when love becomes a trend in a given habitat.
525 PRIMARY 6H3G4M4VC2HdU7NRtPtgrn7isJZOytAhXc0L3S2oKjBsrfGfB7T68NX+aN4p1myu
526 PRIMARY on how to help an animal called a cow birth her calf.
527 TECH reduces weight and material
528 PRIMARY We have very little detail of what it is like
529 PRIMARY to be a group of humans, carrying out their lives.
530 TECH whilst maintaining functionality,
531 PRIMARY We have an interminable list of protocols and titles and roles—
532 PRIMARY this strange codex is the text
533 MSIT after the skeleton has been disintegrated.
534 PRIMARY from which our names are chosen, in scattered twists and phrases,
535 PRIMARY the rags of a thousand and twenty-four languages.
536 TECH and the hardened polymer coating
537 PRIMARY Our greatest knowledge of humanity.
538 PRIMARY It is not for us to know our true origins,
539 TECH shields the tool from any caustic liquids
540 PRIMARY the forms we might have had if we had lived and died on some planet.
541 PRIMARY We are an ambassador species,
542 MSIT A Sample of Remembrancer's Catastrophising Scenarios
543 PRIMARY LJV2eKazx7AqLlkz9DRBdqO1gJbol1m1sTMOnkxn6BoA22PufMoTMwuz6qr2+/VXME+1qS/OpuT67ROWmBNSgw==
544 PRIMARY DtpJkTAvsU/ZjOhWFzDNNZyk5pmQxzGp5AR3s/pOfEQ=
545 TECH or oxidizing agents
546 PRIMARY and wonder what humans must be like.
547 PRIMARY We eat gruel, drink water, and make waste.
548 LOVE It has been decided that lovers should be closely watched and particularly should be supported
549 PRIMARY We talk and chant and draw.
550 PRIMARY Each of us has their own particular friends.
551 CATAST Xenos threat—hostile lifeforms attack ship in transit
552 PRIMARY We all grow up knowing how very special we are:
553 PRIMARY a caretaker species, a race of rescuers.
554 TECH that it may come into contact with.
555 PRIMARY As human as possible, but better—
556 PRIMARY designed with intent,
557 ARCHIVES When we arrive at the Earth,
558 PRIMARY raised to be familiar to humans when we meet them,
559 PRIMARY but born free of humanity's most dangerous urges.
560 ARCHIVES the fleet shall gather firsthand data at a scale that is truly overwhelming.
561 PRIMARY The Searchers built the Process,
562 PRIMARY nurturing generations of us for this exact mission.
563 CATAST Xenos threat—earth is a trap laid by hostile lifeforms
564 PRIMARY They taught us to reach humanity,
565 PRIMARY vLxLHgyBoyrn3s5zvud13sxR4SFhWqxZNNFywUatQV0=
566 COMMS weoLx7nIJiPZfC1kF+ay0qz5BddR+rIh85b3A8h8ssMvhXYlEec0RQX9vzZqAp3A
567 PRIMARY EHkae6uCBs7D7DFhjo5+fNcZW4j7GCPy2vepJerZbKk=
568 PRIMARY 7gesxXihebI8xlw76bE2bOln7lvRZqR1PD/2QUCkhd4=
569 CATAST 1vcXkMNAt+uHVVhe80FRPH8+dyCVgGRxAXNqqn8Q1LOTk57lVx1UDeZRiGInsttdr34gRUDiJWPletSpy1i401aExst+HCchIiA8dddbmwcfJweYxMhVirrFmIk6ilYMy/4mo0zsWyLR7pkcczH9DrVkMFETUqGPW6Ss/D55HcQ=
570 PRIMARY that has ever been run,
571 PRIMARY they have, sooner or later,
572 COMMS HVSR9uqGew75mKOgYvHxcvQGHnuYmrLjjGExRl5Qo9C0z+nBhhSmi4NGSfq9uoUqGntA84Y4V2SsE/qxVHgf4Q==
573 PRIMARY destroyed themselves and their home.
574 PRIMARY For this reason, humans need rescue,
575 TECH Even the material of the softened grip
576 PRIMARY in the very greatest sense of that word.
577 PRIMARY To save their lives, their future,
578 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...for me it's the trees.
579 PRIMARY and the future of the galaxy,
580 PRIMARY q823kpPtuPo6uiazHOQpKX9lbya9oBIeaM6uWyt902uRDwAtxGTfKRZc57we9185YYo+AhiQb4A/b4I/jI8YVw==
581 ARCHIVES The Scimitar alone boasts a databank that would put the academy to shame,
582 PRIMARY and submit to the Process.
583 PRIMARY 3PwCTbYSJXpiy2pTD7GHz5NXvyEAKTOI98o1aAbCa+g=
584 PRINCIP G3sJN9uvYyEkFl9T2+zQCoQUl7YcQ5bdqLCgjNohD/ewlPSpSRkybvG7STfpKK//
585 PRIMARY nPexBAQbfL+eSZo4i0LUXxI3uDPE98JU6dCA4baNr3o=
586 PRIMARY e9kgHXVBOrxKu+R+mVYTv6ayhjUTT8zzVAUxwyMM2Tq+PCbLnMZ20pDAHyCTjK8a
587 ARCHIVES and that says nothing of the rest of our fleet.
588 PRIMARY because the Searchers don't think we need to know.
589 PRIMARY We are taught to take comfort in this.
590 PRIMARY A fully rescued species like the Process
591 PRINCIP or, in this case,
592 PRIMARY is absolutely free of the taint of any aspects of its origin
593 PRIMARY that could set it on the path of doom and destruction.
594 PRIMARY By design, these histories and connections
595 COMMS We have descriptions from the archives
596 PRIMARY are gone from our cultural memory.
597 PRIMARY We Process members don't know where we come from,
598 PRIMARY and we are glad—
599 LOVE when loving connections fragment or fracture,
600 PRIMARY because it is so much better not to know.
601 PRIMARY We are free to survive in the galaxy indefinitely,
602 PRIMARY DCL+kokDJ9QZ1OO6sdF/45KpHYm46G50IW2HlCswaIvo7/Krg5f3qMg4zRR8IIBm
603 ARCHIVES OHturNUAjgXCMpaBSNHFw7nbL/jWTekLExpFK0MHAVfiO1NSoqnIIxuYNetqXFVrZD/OuIzZ5xpSQWVuD8j2xeX4dv0SeuRgo4bwh++0SFQ=
604 PRIMARY BQqdHvOyh5AasMaS3Xm6diOp+gZfSP/2GRrMIMWtVzQE2Y4/D14EzHRnlUAi7Duy5z9g6Nm1ExadwMhmjPuf5A==
605 PRIMARY duY1ZU0hjCVNQ89eI2pach8j0pF4quNV00+FN4yojQlOlo6cypAvjiMEpFoI7cZF
606 PRIMARY in this case, to fulfil a thrilling, noble mission.
607 COMMS d7UMyfxv2jNH5U21UGekUUoLlOMulnG9mFFbOLzt94U=
608 PRIMARY 51Zi+7Cawqws7X2lzvS588jkZZmarnxv+KDbVNIYqE4axF2Qx29ilyjRw+stczBZ
609 PRIMARY and we don't need to know it.
610 PRIMARY For all we know, our forebears
611 COMMS I wonder how tall they really are...
612 PRIMARY could have had three heads!
613 PRIMARY iCgFuJuAu0Vua/fW5DNfwQ/8FXNu0qFuKof+TNNtKHA=
614 PRIMARY 9ZQyrfNIae2LBLdUaQ3dKHfJvr629AejqExbRyCZbmidhDMQfKOl6c5Bw/wgvwgP
615 CATAST BKTT92AqMCFYLajxsY3gDtqioeTwWrjtMML9UBw60TAmLUIlegcQ7lxZ7oYnONA2D/oKnXTf10J2LFCmkluimFkI6TkJWbF3QyGH3KoSVo8DJUg8HXxDkP8WIsipThlxQPj8rPw+R+/kO/9t8Q+W7w==
616 PRIMARY WB/EYZlteqFMBXbuvjoI5qPiw7gLk7kQ2Z8j7XaKC9U=
617 PRIMARY 8RGuW1TO/Qj4bb3ry510kquWY3D0wW0GdHZw6onaiDjNviqWrZm5CJUTg7fAWbrj
618 PRIMARY kOXFISwqNvged14SmlFp/gvgJkTHHTWsORPZmDLSlZySKRyVzgeHJVkJXuLpz6Oo
619 PRINCIP jzS9xF7i20K7G3kDC336ji7Crkmzw0ZEQLXjzMMFO5J+ljNGaoqb+PFFQAT9b2sydvjKN3odqxl7en+0ynlj2JYJYag3HnlNRMSaF/2r5ac=
620 PRIMARY But that engraved tablet that we found in the wrecked probe
621 PRIMARY worries and enthralls me.
622 PRIMARY The man and woman and children drawn there
623 TECH 0xatAbSk64c0D6WQD/SGuAvhEeUm1+Em29xOizHP2QA=
624 PRIMARY 3N9QKGAUUCon9QKarHtplGSnEp+DY1Vd3E9Bz/LtWCevLHwTs2ZOB2+cIcj0U6ve
625 PRIMARY gOAFKq3+Q8N6aLMCLCHdb9rSA2YQLyBLpoJCPw4AiEBqu1RAbAzWRTRkoQ0qxNS+ghMkSd16dfWhopWyT5sSYw==
626 PRIMARY They look at me with their alien eyes,
627 PRINCIP the health and well-being of the entire galaxy.
628 PRIMARY and their expression tells me
629 PRIMARY that I am the one who is alien.
630 PRIMARY I am glad that I am not one of the rescuers
631 TECH to not only sit comfortably in the hand of a worker,
632 PRIMARY who will be visiting their home in person.
633 PRIMARY +XnbQUDguigXiwQeDgMdj8PwXziYyYA6hRcc+QfCSzCPKGE6E1Rwn5zBvwE/smSu
634 PRIMARY on the bridge of my ship,
635 CATAST Computer malfunction—principal simulation intelligence rogue
636 PRIMARY with the might of a whole fleet behind me.***
637 PRIMARY Ship's complement for the Wonder,
638 PRIMARY the pinnace of the Process Rescue Ship Calculation
639 LOVE Cc8qeOF0sp/RIu1sTNSyp7lyOHOFBpHcZ78GwwD47ij7nevN4Nltmi7hfLCUQkTU
640 PRIMARY Away team:
641 PRIMARY Harridan - a soldier and mechanic
642 PRIMARY Confuser - away team squad commander
643 CATAST HUMAN SIMULATION
644 PRIMARY Incanter - a soldier with diplomatic training
645 PRIMARY Pursuer - a soldier with diplomatic training
646 PRIMARY Ghost - a medical officer, vice-commander
647 LOVE Love can be a powerful stabiliser for individuals
648 PRIMARY Skeptic - a hunter and interrogator
649 PRIMARY Signals team:
650 PRIMARY Fisherman, Atavist, Groom, Olympian, and others
651 LOVE who are mission-critical in some aspect,
652 PRIMARY HwgQsEpqF7SRriLOpdNvjoN425a2UbOWnaeBv4IvOD8MeYIvWoTgsPN3IWBMNoOG
653 PRIMARY is classified to Fleet Commander level and higher.
654 PRIMARY gllUeChpwJTM1d1RKKPjSIXJ5wCoKdMa1AGptK5NEfLI3ql1LHrj1tGXt/xw5zcD
655 ARCHIVES zxg/uSMVdZRtFxx/yWhTRGHP253OThGKoNilb+JnUmM1J4gLZlv1IzzeeVHK0OVE6v8t2dGLPnIH4YnWLD5JyA==
656 PRIMARY KWSD6Rs3DTx1x5Cbyph15J86lnyJ/1FCgGfg67GoD40=
657 PRIMARY that was assigned the mission
658 PRIMARY of exploring the abandoned station.
659 PRINCIP O7Wz9BAHskUbSmHdTKyMp/T7C00ScpOaXDnIX9eG2gNik7zGS+Jh6/1Ru5EWrexI
660 PRIMARY No glory is assigned to rescue work.
661 PRIMARY TCVOKLEdg67fLlSFt6zdcg==
662 PRIMARY nIJlv/QFHbikzr2x9gYObU8N/AInVNRbayJ9F8tQV+U=
663 ARCHIVES However it is here, on board the Auger
664 PRIMARY Though dramatic tales of rescue
665 PRIMARY from our créche years and our training schools
666 PRIMARY often celebrate officers
667 LOVE iCoEy/C0JpsGHRKWv+D5EQySS+sLi03q3IRto/6doLjZ81zDiXLfCIQieji/tBUuwoMKjHDgeL/uNe04590TYp66TnnpV/ou4cCbd8Nz3RgpgyXhGI7skuQtBYk/QHKCSMUGTN3dpcb4+l2fynSOjg==
668 PRIMARY who lead their squads into perilous situations,
669 PRIMARY the real heroes of the Wonder
670 PRIMARY t++VsFMmgbIlgK1+ZdgUt/bK8nmKqEY+6VjmI3TvQjnnvn4COS6SvDY/pQyecuyHzuRqfH1L+Flvp8dFz+LP+g==
671 ARCHIVES IiYZVuff31y/y5LNES+JDqQEnEPCnSnowuVm6A72ancmN9AFdpyvjXsBxIa+LQcAMRRzsruU0cxQ1i9RpJXMHw==
672 PRIMARY 0u7V70U/tLTPISWNuJ1wZkd9Xt+Ori79Zro5Ey4Zd5azV4kQ4vHdPkniEIwRtkJ8
673 PRIMARY 7NFsvSIrwY8oNU4+7nBAYGd5ng8mMgHSw8yQEQZnjAQZSyhSZJlx8rrg01YRw/zh
674 PRIMARY 1RGYNqPtGXg8NaUVyXGTFSJ0ju+f6ZlZKDwXGV6sZCJwfbYfaw+QLXINDhHSc0/O
675 ARCHIVES iUD2AN10+Sc7ftlVr1ty4bO445XGBw2g+SmZU8rbiU9QRJGTsYhqvYCzfb69bmuN
676 PRIMARY and the large moon.
677 PRIMARY As for my squad,
678 PRIMARY iVT8XeFlMMbVNudmctHWxjvdXuDagNYhP45MKkYvDLZMKWhnJa3Mos63JbDTlWW0adz1L1JTofSPwGSSsqAf2Q==
679 LOVE It is seen as advisable to keep the expressions of love, such as this exemplary declamation as a private cultural phenomenon. Demonstrations of love are by definition private and personal, and it is important
680 PRIMARY +Sb0+CU4uM/GAe9AzMWIUzClwvtd2ecCwJix+Ywq77o=
681 PRIMARY uK00TYUNDqvOkEKQ/VcnePzL6Y8I4WxqFZiR1y9is6QUbbRUFS4z89gAKTWtAm49
682 PRIMARY hUlvCJseRPHKe/OgeeyagJYt2azV2HkBaAUwRdasNaR4QhRDFJvnXbkWEZOloKtQ
683 COMMS x91djwp7dopX3RXo4oIm44Lv1yjEuSKVeBBp1HaEbk3+dVJ0SHJbP3KfR+BJTAHW0JFbEWySvzvyYGNqmasLjA==
684 PRIMARY More likely, we would be blown out
685 PRIMARY into vacuum, and we would be lucky
686 PRIMARY if our bodies could be plucked
687 ARCHIVES once they are fully decontaminated and safe. Each archival chamber is a technological marvel.
688 PRIMARY JRtF28aIAND0+miX/A/2P60887KY00SrikZOEaMfsr2qoKG6ptrI8ugaL/Hs1L1o
689 PRIMARY bdMi3Fo1dofeRs+Y9qDqAbHq5Xnpa7P4mZ8BxxBZCWow5/lOaM8aiuJNq3/d34Jz
690 PRIMARY 5g9QCtJU/5TGT7pcmKx4REEe4/xmEht9TVHk8dYuv4A=
691 LOVE MUk6f3CIhViMjgmhZH2K9O3FojXAxj1XCpbMgyZ0vJQutRReKWUj/iH3Kv5nzYLh
692 PRIMARY modelling the body language,
693 PRIMARY the voice tones, the word choices
694 PRIMARY that we hope will lead to
695 ARCHIVES PFCqXQuiAuS+42L9auK83TDmuo2Jmso73RKWhy7Vnnd34nw2n4v+kVmSukB8U7cr
696 PRIMARY a smooth first contact with the humans. Practicing their English—
697 PRIMARY goodness knows what our extrapolated, fragmentary English
698 PRIMARY DhCldOtY+XErFwiNxnEecXCuxCuwmyG7fQ8vSZhsWSlH6DIJYQ778K2W63bCt+Lq
699 LOVE to exhibit appropriate delicacy and shame
700 PRIMARY Rehearsing the sequence
701 PRIMARY hxXXU7KjMMwcD9Dg+MOzPdQhPBNqO5hQeYlokk9oZ2dvlC+0BEE1MCZkNi88Gd42
702 PRIMARY tb18izUi+07NEFSbVl7iS3shlOPRGSg1wQJqac4S9qHJBP/PdIc0Cov+bwGsBTOm
703 LOVE when thinking about love. Writings and chants
704 PRIMARY U6Ng8Ho+dedYDw5NbioNUAV0HGC5kP7ApB4FBh6/HRuKmZWnOyscACBFYGeGWlkh
705 PRIMARY Then, objects.
706 PRIMARY Chair. Wall. Gun.
707 COMMS as much as is feasibly possible.
708 PRIMARY dWEAPoyqxMcLVsspIqVCPe6R6fUSjBwFOaIZSdQLWE8=
709 PRIMARY POABuOR3rrC/v3sc5YI+Kyoys3YJAjmmLrcLTxL44C0hdfaZMrESSmeDXXFIwUzm
710 PRIMARY Walk. Sit. Don't move.
711 ARCHIVES waiting to be filled. The interiors, able to duplicate any conceivable temperature,
712 PRIMARY Hands above your head.
713 PRIMARY XRgwJl01SlDdkrhJjFM4Iwes1a3jKCkkCuWA46FL260=
714 PRIMARY We've all been simming
715 PRINCIP is better than an ordinary Process member at
716 PRIMARY clearing that station.
717 PRIMARY From what our telescopes tell us,
718 PRIMARY it's nearly dead, but not quite.
719 TECH but to be quickly and easily identified as its specific gauge
720 PRIMARY Something is keeping it in orbit,
721 ARCHIVES X71SJe04xgy8ZW55Mq6RZk9wl81HZuofQ7FMlef+/F0=
722 PRIMARY C1KO+08dMMxxbaGulGKJCQX6p4EMyKa71ZunWXUbgzM=
723 PRIMARY hJaGhpZDz/Uvw2MEK3i+XRD90SlMoaxknWOps9i0f9JScxfZcXn/29LTaNdmx/E7
724 LOVE CGLVvWKGfHnrB+iMxJX9EZ5XqQGY5Jv5vk0NtD2DvZuuB+UT7r0UwNCkI6OCiN3g
725 PRIMARY transformed into energy.
726 PRIMARY There's not any air in there,
727 PRINCIP exploring eventualities and applying statistics,
728 PRIMARY PXgh/4XAEiivXMhx93maB91sm82InhWuvwQqyvKrREU=
729 PRIMARY Notes. Live computer banks.
730 TECH by the orange and yellow banding.
731 PRIMARY We hope that the station
732 PRIMARY will have a record
733 ARCHIVES air content or light spectrum.
734 PRIMARY eqZVVrOeaTH1Oi7ccqxn1yQzk2P7iTCRffNBo0nXG3w=
735 PRIMARY that must have filled the great empty docking bays went,
736 TECH This wrench was perfectly shaped for its purpose.
737 PRIMARY and how they propelled themselves
738 PRIMARY through space.
739 COMMS The gravimetric signature is much lower
740 PRIMARY Even a basic schematic of the ships
741 PRIMARY would do wonders for our simming.
742 TECH I too have been perfectly shaped for my purpose.
743 PRIMARY They were absolutely huge,
744 PRIMARY given the size of the bays that housed them.
745 LOVE 1FrWUlOJ4alRxr0zp1AUSFeT11c6OqvBIf2F9wUhxNH073Rvvz8Umm0uZFRPgqX/
746 PRIMARY 3/0xWhayIKc0NgzQXr0Alw==
747 PRIMARY AFjc3X3G/mfne+cYM3jMiqMCwG/rhr3WqAmoHALtDiMmR/FTetAx9ykgKLrdlYfb
748 COMMS and the infrared footprint is barely...
749 PRIMARY twitching and squeaking on my bunk.
750 PRIMARY I'm practicing being able to shoot
751 TECH My two legs may not have
752 PRIMARY to maim or to kill.
753 PRIMARY BjbZ5mbM35UoZcGUFMnM1jse5FwYYeFz6n7ZUEUZlzYajTTdvcX8kq2TRafCf6pJFfz4HL91iAjSQTA6JhiwiQ==
754 ARCHIVES The shielding, practicality impervious
755 PRIMARY to anonymous Process members
756 PRIMARY to humans, whose in-sim appearance
757 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...within regular parameters.
758 PRIMARY Bja1lgy6zsEd+wJN1R904q80BUYTjLQTPcJhPcyIdZE=
759 PRIMARY 4Uo/i9qRX0GKnjtoVZzELQ1zGnav+EFBJHFGFS1C9IZniFlxU+JbFbwP1WqXRdv8
760 COMMS Cyclone 7 is running a little hot,
761 PRIMARY that included what we learned
762 PRIMARY 8pY0WBAaeLqZ3ZCMY/kwgj14NdQ0a44DLFg7gTf0fYBCby6zbtb1OEU2/c+egrs8
763 TECH kwadUiAbXB0iZ2fzxO2iIu9L29lwygD0mJUyZ2aaPiTVWLSxfiJeSdHdc+3T34+h
764 PRIMARY At the end of each sim session,
765 PRIMARY I practice shooting the members of my squad.
766 ARCHIVES to all known cosmic radiation.
767 PRIMARY I hope never to have to do so
768 PRIMARY D32TTJQvb6Ol3+WQ4K3UdZabw6sAZtHnzBIikFtIFhs=
769 TECH +KeS16Bh74MrM6mMosGNZgJgpBn4s7ZTUb/ZyQduEamT2LU1Va6DbEXrYESCEYal
770 PRIMARY Orders are orders, though,
771 PRIMARY and we cannot let our technology,
772 ARCHIVES The housing, dampening 99.9988%
773 PRIMARY or our people, fall into the hands of humans
774 PRIMARY if they decide to resist rescue. ***
775 TECH that we use in engineering.
776 PRIMARY Excerpts from Radio Dialogue
777 PRIMARY of Wonder away team
778 LOVE are apt to find metaphor and symbolism in
779 PRIMARY cALT/aOgL7Gbl+3KLcFuKwyFeAr/cce3q6oFSgYDQyU=
780 PRIMARY departing the Wonder.
781 LOVE explications of recondite subjects. Works created
782 PRIMARY The ship has successfully landed
783 PRIMARY dzQ6EF77+KzY4HYrAeyuIyB1GxjVXu6rAx7ECdNqg+DfmvaOIaWHYyss0hsOMn5q
784 PRINCIP just as an advanced printer is better
785 PRIMARY are keeping pace with its rotation.
786 PRIMARY We have exited the airlock.
787 LOVE pPxb2u4kSYHpvqsAk78An7mBMDysALxj6SRNz6+JF3IL1CopiGz7NoOzl8Gqr3BuDV7olVxq/pg7vsdKqnI7lmomprLfTjFgCO9ostdFUvH7JmnyGjw948H+40azWf07adX0nFDNaK1qGbpak5vuCoETb/bEakyBTMpJtNEoRGw=
788 PRIMARY We are now opening
789 PRIMARY what appears to be a human-scale access hatch.
790 PRINCIP at fashioning clever tools than the hands
791 PRIMARY It is unlocked.
792 PRIMARY Proceeding inside.
793 PRINCIP of an ordinary Process member could be,
794 PRIMARY We are in a narrow service tunnel.
795 PRIMARY 5f4hYf3CqxUvnoq24Z3WLF1HvxUNeLsRlu23tZ0e6Wk=
796 COMMS tT6Sccx/p6Xa2fNoPBAm1r22WEOO17yOhis6MrIIz0zukrElUtYtKkzxYyjfEMy8
797 PRIMARY c3LHAXBMlNfL2Y8atDyFxJDoR+oBBDHGYLDEfM7NQcqunW0qx4cGUEhnzb7Xyqmx
798 PRIMARY Wonder drones are clearing spaces.
799 LOVE popularising love affairs in a habitat. Even more
800 PRIMARY 7Ib82tHhij0Ngc9k6/TeSBgpxTlFL1Q9FRKfq4qgcG6D/TPZ1TjPcFHhkMqON8a5
801 PRIMARY No live screens.
802 COMMS If we are still seeing...
803 PRIMARY No screens responding.
804 PRIMARY mmyE2XhCEelEksdF0ExcIefxxjCFPyPdbORFe6MKU5Zzrmjbnku2K9DaS/r0holG
805 TECH 8IZ8QQ0ZF6Wifi+sylKj/siULSB/ot5XGDP2R9x7jOnv+Vu3/OwLko0SriXMqhs4Uz2TCbsITF5hRDVJ7ktThg==
806 PRIMARY Hey Incanter!
807 PRIMARY 4sOrH8p9UmAYGp96r0JF8Q==
808 TECH kkC8MkogoZXPud4TS1LZ2aKrR4Ctw6lpglhisvOrtOjz0pjlsCANe8bl2IB1iBFx
809 PRIMARY zkI9lGTT2pGIX6R03pRcCk+Vc3j8jlfB0lDpLX7qa5qhS3zlCN2uBph8plXrgRXd
810 PRIMARY 1XCp2jrJQJtM1o4wfeFrwY9Qx5Fa4B/yp94jr5UIs4w=
811 LOVE I6WhZDyY/A8DIoUsS+SLDLKTNJrPRoVvE+BLWuMlILSmXaT7xfHMb654PwgpTUhfftT3jfEh01t68MvR/HfnpGQodfE+MxLThb7iNmse4pXUq9FFvIT26DEoj4Orde0p96eXYKVpYlj0Y87Wpju1QQ==
812 PRIMARY Best trophy ever.
813 PRIMARY Damn. The bristles are crumbling off!
814 TECH hZCggO/NC/+XlLzZZnb3IpM8jKpOE7DDSqxDuOjxxt3xWRxiJocc1bwMF3z8EsP+
815 PRIMARY Plastic. Look, I found a keyboard!
816 PRIMARY AB0TBFaLXEUBBcqJaAlkLCiIljrYpYyUTBqkm92kQRg17elK489Q2WMqCu0NYFOB
817 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...clear.
818 PRIMARY z1o4VcTUi/2YES/n/USRHdv6dYBcuND2lVDbLkSYP+jIKRCRrNsMiSMkoPxN7UHS
819 PRIMARY Commander, can I push a button?
820 COMMS Sector 7-9 clear.
821 PRIMARY Z3hrkxbsAaGqAgQVZ1q3fRZCJHXahefFq8SJIfTf1aE=
822 PRIMARY Anything?
823 COMMS Sector 7-10 clear.
824 PRIMARY What is that monitor made of, glass?
825 PRIMARY 5J262XZO/Vjm6Lf0I0gg0Gi5/od7deESzpPBbNDtagk=
826 LOVE 39Iqab8KDPM2hmKzJ7aoaPQ2wG2D/Kn7kXfhmQtHCoQ9+/FdueuB7B1aWJUebUYTSPK3FwYNWKp0HssfWLwAG8EqUrKSSKoBTEPx0K9KoWkjtK8Ji7OzSgndT6d7HyTB9mHSPdzXNWjPDgbe/6RUaNaF+kxShjEdgjzlx5m9z8o=
827 PRIMARY nQxJxXZkIRaq8SYSCoRdVVgnPLT+JHRttsgj8hLpOD8=
828 PRIMARY Camera? Thanks.
829 LOVE whose entire populations were subsequently destroyed for security's sake. Interpreter's note ends
830 PRIMARY Incanter: I can read this!
831 PRIMARY Well, that bit anyway.
832 LOVE Oh wonderful and special friend,
833 PRIMARY 887/yXeJGaC/E3l0sC6UQ1+e5M0tpSWUC5j0wOry/lM=
834 PRIMARY Ark, ark.
835 ARCHIVES of all external vibration
836 PRIMARY Sounds like something you'd say
837 PRIMARY if you stubbed your toe!
838 LOVE I love you like the softest heartbeats before sleep,
839 PRIMARY Is that what they look like?
840 PRIMARY AVMa0vcl43xMCrPFlUKAoU1mOlQIRQk8KAgj4ka472E=
841 COMMS RWvUPBYUiBsVosHSuLAY7nt1BTsoB63q0K0p5ExlZ9WhEOCZ6SIfDZ+DNkDN/S+F
842 PRIMARY XxmH0WTahqFBAoCd3gQ2/ONIJXXIToqK+8x71oqLLny7/2SD+WCu1HVo/rEg53LJ
843 PRIMARY includes an image of this map,
844 LOVE like the joy upon the success of the greatest mission.
845 PRIMARY which looks to be a directory for travellers.
846 PRIMARY Dozens of berths for Arks.
847 ARCHIVES and fully insulated against electromagnetism.
848 PRIMARY If the station is drawn to scale,
849 PRIMARY FXMfAaOzqJme5UDVY+nITZXNRobZinwxdBYkZtDNGe8=
850 ARCHIVES It is in these chambers that the artifacts of humanity
851 PRIMARY +VG9Lr8zjfgs4Q1/zyeyUTA+66eiR6iFCuo9Mr/juI39Ns6LbTJUxes/blmOR6o9V6E/BoA3NQfWZNaqtAvb6A==
852 PRIMARY The propulsion systems are not shown in this representation.
853 LOVE The sun-line wanders across the habitat
854 PRIMARY +a9zk7R431D1Fx0ShGoeyKyQDB3q0H6nvUQWtp0ZAPU=
855 PRIMARY E4vBg3DobqCXrzCHRTgE0bxcz70RW3KjczTS+m4GVxuhtZwnnwYTRD3L1XYV2GkQ
856 TECH by this thin membrane of skin,
857 PRIMARY on those ships. Troop carriers?
858 PRIMARY D2WbvdTebdrdsyZ1H3H9+o4bB6KdgGO0n/eu/MO6/IE=
859 ARCHIVES cexFJ2PqcsdI0GlvLNIjai/QWXKDCgGG4KSH9EirCnQDJyurLPy1C947PGMb+Tpd
860 PRIMARY all that stuff about cows? Is this a cow?
861 PRIMARY Incanter: Leev...stoak? Live stock?
862 LOVE and sets as I study,
863 PRIMARY FaDekMFFmf32+meI60ZD0Gmo7KyIyFSM2pReXdK5pMmBXIohpTTiNsdAs9avcs5X8NPG/BDMKtxcQAzG9dX4Ow==
864 PRIMARY Drones are continuing their sweep.
865 COMMS drone has been dispatched to investigate.
866 PRIMARY We are searching for ancillary control areas,
867 PRIMARY private areas,
868 TECH and my body is susceptible
869 PRIMARY places that were inhabited by specialists.
870 PRIMARY 0poKxcVJdMniTeanZ4LI5qco1qdXJxdr/BhQYxZS79o=
871 LOVE 55aSxmurl0rluamIxXsKyzkj088AdpyAemHW8CoAhEg=
872 PRIMARY hxLTmrAI2dPIIRaEOJy7PtSLidK0Q/lyu5om2yitdrsQlBzafFUy7OhXsv75imok
873 PRIMARY VU+KnwSRvjbGfAjkGhC0M22+PsNlC+rpoFSUSXuRPbc=
874 ARCHIVES J0zDt4KcM/+ZL/G6a9tjI3f8zKTLH1PtcdT4WtfuSiAHvtGG9QIt7BaC+QBAjgjrHPQ80bVNR0KIT+iYwXB2BA==
875 PRIMARY see cows, squad commander.
876 PRIMARY aqyrljaM+7PiTf6TIa5bQ8/A+BTdaZwdjd6JYLiiJo7CsBspZFKnDo6ZVISzuAtT
877 LOVE and wondering of you.
878 PRIMARY Fvux7rmoIdz3DCpwETHqJRXgpRZpe0WRmmz2Q2EWt77xBxSlv9U9sRvc7etAzmkC
879 PRIMARY Kk9JvT9UzvMB+MwHX/vTZi7bJZNnp4RbEuwoPRhnalN+6jyjMEM+CGua4Tc/PMUY
880 COMMS YnQ3cknWcykby0zYDWwHKQXLD7F//wNseyAz7y1Suco=
881 PRIMARY Pursuer: I have my shop gloves
882 PRIMARY and I've got ratchet straps.
883 PRINCIP just as an agile drone is better at spaceborne repairs
884 PRIMARY Confuser: There is nothing to breathe or eat here.
885 PRIMARY 0gEpZoiifW3FTX4/TwFLJEZws6flcer9ni9VFoaQfz4=
886 ARCHIVES UM4p9AvyilUHb+uiI9QQQCRm3YjCagrjfuqJ0wjPLoXfpYt+4XegLZvEScoYaSlV
887 PRIMARY kkt89ovdhM+YDjHPJXSxCA==
888 PRIMARY mI7PZWH4GlzRC1AfbWl1DWQ1Ozwl4JA4FDaJSecvMBhPNt3Fs1NaiafEJyYNf8YZ
889 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...not sure.
890 PRIMARY lkbb4jre5wQIiLnYLaiNiwiYtx4qxcXRiEnOmgkkBJg=
891 PRIMARY 2KlDbeLLfyzKGqGtNEw3BCdfypBTAXThLUkoRSfBajs=
892 PRINCIP YRPvrjoj8tfNEHECAZA2Xa9MD2UMnsEazK+iixuNpQ6GzpMI4REI7u4FsAB7c3um
893 PRIMARY 7oHwyUiuGuRlakzCUe6SrMK/9ZMGjH0/Fs81UWqlt6xG7tKeiOTp6oOstmIdfmda
894 PRIMARY a fingernail clipping in the broom.
895 LOVE I will sip gruel with you
896 PRIMARY Confuser: Well done! ***
897 PRIMARY Confuser's Report on the Livestock Area
898 TECH to even slight variations in temperature and pressure.
899 PRIMARY We didn't see a central control area in the station map,
900 PRIMARY and this was confirmed by the drone sweep. Perhaps the minimal controls needed
901 ARCHIVES and data will inform their conjectures.
902 PRIMARY oCKMnAn2PSMYrGaBBoWwfqSPfE9H5lblZM/hJOzNPieS7QMqn6JduWczewkF+GdobbdSZXcuYucjfVxyyN3hrg==
903 PRIMARY were performed from the Arks,
904 COMMS I was just picturing the place as being... greener.
905 PRIMARY psGgudTfyhJCkyZ/36NWUQaVTCRcN1KGkkUUnzn8EMw9da2xY0SSH9LdWOMIQ8tW
906 PRIMARY that was carried away on one of the Arks.
907 PRINCIP so the Searchers both developed the principles of Rescue,
908 PRIMARY tFnByFbbBdGmxS29nARyFTx1+vNMQyxHK2HU859fIj31ZGZ3hyo3czgncVrVTiZ7
909 PRIMARY ZR/6zGZlhMIq8U9v7mfn0ZrnZlw+dAhr3BIaolEK0HQ=
910 TECH As a technician, I am surpassed
911 PRIMARY to be run through by Sim Command.
912 PRIMARY They report initial results
913 ARCHIVES But only the physical objects themselves,
914 PRIMARY that confirm the likelihood that this station
915 PRIMARY was meant as a way-station for
916 ARCHIVES the trophies of our great cause,
917 PRIMARY a massive planetary evacuation.
918 PRIMARY There are few welfare features,
919 COMMS I guess whatever happened down there...
920 PRIMARY such as toilets, water fountains and the like.
921 PRIMARY Our cameras have had rich findings.
922 TECH by any one of the dozen different automata,
923 PRIMARY Emergency signage, of course,
924 PRIMARY but, best of all, huge pictorial presentations
925 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...can't possibly be serious.
926 PRIMARY in faded plastic.
927 PRIMARY Instructions, perhaps,
928 LOVE and rinse my tongue with cold water
929 PRIMARY or images made to comfort, encourage, instruct and control.
930 PRIMARY There are humans and vegetative biomass
931 ARCHIVES will truly inspire new generations of Rescuers to joyfully take their places in our great task.
932 PRIMARY shown in the images.
933 PRIMARY Perhaps, they are farewells
934 TECH synthetics or maintenance drones
935 PRIMARY cSmKhQ85pdqHhZg5T6KA2P/veMN1AGO9VmcGdTh+U1Y=
936 PRIMARY or hopes about worlds to come.
937 COMMS You are lucky there are no superiors on this line,
938 PRIMARY One image we found was a schematic
939 PRIMARY of human exosuit emergency supplies.
940 ARCHIVES End log
941 PRIMARY Oxygen canisters, radiation blankets, energy tablets.
942 PRIMARY We came to a quiet stop, looking at it.
943 LOVE and train with you,
944 PRIMARY The supplies were so similar to ours—
945 PRIMARY the colours and shapes were different,
946 COMMS or you would be straight to reeducation...
947 PRIMARY but it was easy to tell what went where.
948 PRIMARY We pronounced the English words
949 LOVE as we are covered in
950 PRIMARY that we could puzzle out
951 PRIMARY in the soft voices of créche and classroom.
952 ARCHIVES Uncategorised Comms Extracts
953 PRIMARY It gave me a start,
954 PRIMARY because we sounded so young.
955 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...thinks they were sheep.
956 PRIMARY We are all still so young,
957 PRIMARY and we are far away from our teachers,
958 TECH available in our equipment room.
959 PRIMARY our all-knowing AIs.
960 PRIMARY From the Searchers.
961 TECH Nevertheless, I am perfectly shaped
962 PRIMARY And we are unwrinkled, greyless,
963 PRIMARY but in these moments, the fact that we are
964 LOVE a sheer film of healthy sweat.
965 PRIMARY the leading edge of Rescue,
966 PRIMARY of the Process itself, chills us to the bone.
967 LOVE I will leap the hurdles
968 PRIMARY The livestock area was two tiny gated pens,
969 PRIMARY so must have been intended as an animal infirmary.
970 COMMS Is that a real thing, do we need to be concerned about flying sheep?
971 PRIMARY As our headlamps illuminated the space,
972 PRIMARY it looked strange—
973 PRINCIP and applied them in their highest form,
974 PRIMARY everyone had seen an infirmary,
975 PRIMARY but examination tables designed for animals
976 LOVE of the assault course
977 PRIMARY was something that we had never seen.
978 PRIMARY Animals were a subject of much excited discussion
979 LOVE with your name on my lips.
980 PRIMARY among Process children and trainees,
981 PRIMARY particularly those who were aptituded for biology.
982 TECH for my purpose.
983 PRIMARY We rifled the place.
984 PRIMARY Amazingly, Skeptic found a touch-screen tablet
985 PRINCIP by giving rise to us, the Process,
986 PRIMARY in a drawer that flickered into life for just a moment.
987 PRIMARY There was an image of a green land
988 COMMS I suppose we could sim it...
989 PRIMARY under a yellow sun in a brilliantly blue sky.
990 PRIMARY A little rectangle with English letters
991 PRINCIP a fully rescued species.
992 PRIMARY and a blank area that must have been for a password.
993 PRIMARY The landscape was truly fantastic—
994 TECH For my purpose is not to be
995 PRIMARY the sort of thing you only see in sims, on tapes.
996 PRIMARY Skeptic's camera caught the image
997 TECH an efficient vector of repair,
998 PRIMARY before the tablet flickered out,
999 PRIMARY and we crowded around his suit monitor.
1000 PRINCIP Process exploration missions have not yet found a species of life that can compare to us,
1001 PRIMARY What were all those plants?
1002 PRIMARY Those white things in the sky?
1003 PRINCIP even in the continued study of the human species;
1004 PRIMARY Incanter suggested that they might be sheep,
1005 PRIMARY although he couldn't guess why
1006 LOVE Your smile is more precious
1007 PRIMARY they seemed to be floating in the atmosphere.
1008 PRIMARY There was a little cubby with a bed,
1009 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...please report to <REDACTED> immediately.
1010 PRIMARY bedsheets frozen in place
1011 PRIMARY in the icy vacuum.
1012 TECH though I did score in the top percentile
1013 PRIMARY A mirror, a hairbrush.
1014 PRIMARY Instantly understandable,
1015 LOVE than the greatest commendation.
1016 PRIMARY although different from the things that we used everyday in our quarters.
1017 PRIMARY LCAiojMzcA8GODvt2F9b2Cgza9EMxo6jLBggyebznTlcbqwyPkif38yWQrF+kzKm
1018 TECH for my class. No, I am not some mere drone.
1019 PRIMARY lZN3mrm5HdKxt+Sg6cAP/rmY+YUU9ueI9M4ql6+fKS/VY7W1Emx8aLfxHPdfUdSu
1020 PRIMARY A colourful, skinny book
1021 TECH ZHvMqVfgnkCHO/det9di+Q==
1022 PRIMARY that looked like it would be floppy at room temperature.
1023 PRIMARY We captured the picture on the cover—
1024 PRIMARY drawings that looked like créche cartoons.
1025 LOVE I would undergo
1026 PRIMARY The book crumbled to dust at a touch.
1027 PRIMARY Ghost: I want to see a human toilet.
1028 PRIMARY I want to know if they poop.
1029 PRINCIP we are more stable, more safe, more contained,
1030 PRIMARY paQiHLoxIdkGRbEZb7qxTbS+66f4xmNKDLgHrPauSvhnz+uesLmZ6lD8p0aeenpj
1031 PRIMARY NTXDWQORcziJeanSjvzPXrbqEC5n4GIkWB2ekJuqgnLFxjokTJfK04zzzjqYueW7
1032 PRIMARY EYoOgsQr78DU+kSWsvkhqCUtRujoX9cCNJ7gckGcfuU=
1033 PRINCIP wyPwDzd7HgoniNnv17WeGQS6Ogb1JE1DGbDzRxNdV44ePZ2a9C9xLS5SDxCidM7o
1034 PRIMARY pFFozuv8fUpp0o2KXP8x/MKE5wtSgqrADs8IKIB00Ev8LdtZfUZEbbJzOER9bRt9
1035 PRIMARY /mVGhJIZ0iTIaNka73aNmCOJLHVywcPtRntOs9dIcC9bUpCFTOnlNsYRU/QPgtn9
1036 PRIMARY we're not coming back empty handed.
1037 PRINCIP heqrLaDyOsRpTGp+qIGjtYNO6n5CCYpF3KkBXUwHl6WtkkeMge1itcjY6O6Rc09p
1038 PRIMARY s4rdsM5CoahcGXhnBJ9R6zCvjMv1yjKQiPcMpaoB/a0GeT3rOjUk1n39OzaQHr3d
1039 PRIMARY kHs07iN7bzOfTkcKJT8YJRiu4oUNLv30Pj9o0fcwKLY=
1040 PRIMARY Peyzefv2DeYpdPrZlHOq5raEdl4Ld21969XDOgMfxCA=
1041 TECH The Process has provided me with this form
1042 PRIMARY LSVtTYJQSpPQThdckLOqRft5rSw7SikxKcHgQExQ7NvYP99pZG1mwiizx2ywSGaZ
1043 PRIMARY who went to Mars for the ceremony?
1044 PRIMARY There was a breeze.
1045 COMMS Repeat, would Brother—First Historian please report to <REDACTED> immediately...
1046 PRIMARY JHAnP50i9PukAvcFJdSTxbIcwLxd4QncwRhlTmhGeRLZghhnIjG1vHQZCplxu7Jx
1047 PRIMARY The air moves around!
1048 PRIMARY That's why the plants in the picture
1049 PRINCIP ordinary humans are able to do.
1050 PRIMARY were bent over a little bit.
1051 PRIMARY Ghost: I promise you,
1052 PRIMARY if you walked around without a suit
1053 PRINCIP Except for the Searchers,
1054 PRIMARY on that planet you would get sick to your stomach.
1055 PRIMARY Vertigo! The sky is so big.
1056 PRIMARY Incanter: Floating sheep!
1057 LOVE the hellworlds for you,
1058 PRIMARY Do sheep poop?
1059 PRIMARY Confuser: You know this is all being recorded, right?
1060 PRIMARY Us talking about poop?
1061 PRINCIP nc2MZonGi0g06Iq35tPzzGvRulftEGxcP+vLc8ieIzZo74SjwS03zgYFdaE3x4rZ
1062 PRIMARY Just so you know.
1063 PRIMARY Harridan: So now what happens?
1064 PRIMARY ueS9BJuLjohOL5T/pzNfKYIc2D0rm7zmyP0h9HY7gT4=
1065 TECH 5ZwTE1wK5sLdR/8LDtPhDELBsV6i9tPLtB/73EKwO73kaEA66pCwxY9+qA0IIpSy
1066 PRIMARY and see what the signals teams are getting.
1067 PRIMARY We could get sent absolutely anywhere
1068 PRIMARY on that planet.
1069 TECH How might a human react
1070 PRIMARY Skeptic: Isn't it full of radiation?
1071 PRIMARY Confuser: Parts are.
1072 PRIMARY We're going to wear fully hardened suits.
1073 PRINCIP hMvVbBXGYaWehfji3uEbQWblJzvWhkXJmTjYt0c4gQqLYpt7DBvrcfSy+WDWkODA
1074 PRIMARY gT7m6CQNxeLJumVd5EbZyzn8k9m75g9J4atlPYK+0Hg=
1075 PRIMARY Also, the drone-captured air samples
1076 PRIMARY have been analysed
1077 TECH tkCHEUOLxlw1FV14ovGlCwHGhOnf4OEZUkMBqZj07OFS3uyTzoVIZ5doPMci/8sn
1078 PRIMARY CB0CQYmnLlxWSFYruLLl7AXwpWrJWNBZ9tky24B49+dawwwQgTmM8NeGW4G0b8a++KNinoglMtLeCIhzrAGKmw==
1079 PRIMARY It's like the seeds of something alive,
1080 PRIMARY but it is not a plant or an animal,
1081 TECH whose every limb is a suite of tools
1082 PRIMARY and it could be dangerous.
1083 PRIMARY So the suits are staying outside
1084 PRIMARY when we come back.
1085 LOVE freeze and gasp beneath
1086 PRIMARY Harridan: We're crawling through the chute on the way back?
1087 PRIMARY Confuser: Correct.
1088 PRIMARY And we're going to explode the suits when we're clear.
1089 TECH for cutting, joining and bending?
1090 PRIMARY Ghost: I am going to explode the suits when we're clear.
1091 PRIMARY Have you run the sim about it?
1092 PRIMARY It's a really fun procedure.
1093 TECH A rational mind might be overjoyed
1094 PRIMARY Wonder is going to jettison the suits from the hull,
1095 PRIMARY and we're going to haul off to firing range
1096 PRIMARY and then I'll torpedo them.
1097 LOVE the brightest virtual sky
1098 PRIMARY Unfortunately, we're not allowed to record it,
1099 PRIMARY but we will all at least get to watch. ***
1100 PRIMARY Confuser's Report, continued
1101 PRINCIP found on the surfaces of wild planets and satellites,
1102 PRIMARY Why are we so jocular when we are exploring a human station,
1103 PRIMARY witnessing a space that was probably the last place
1104 PRIMARY there was a crowd of Earthen humans?
1105 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...well it's not technically a plant or animal,
1106 PRIMARY Wandering through those empty corridors feels like the ceremony
1107 PRIMARY VShX4LkJjuSRWmoG9Ea0LWvhZYlRJFCdXu+2OeMOgtfRTIn5SNTxtC7lgsEsq7RNdez7nya+pDS/HI6m2V3dDD8vmo5coA1tmwDGcLXvX/Q=
1108 PRIMARY through illness, in an accident, through friendly fire in an exercise.
1109 LOVE as my eyes blister with too much light.
1110 PRIMARY There is a corridor in our largest Process space habitat
1111 PRIMARY that always feels like the biggest crowd in the universe is there.
1112 PRIMARY Shift changing, socialising,
1113 COMMS it's a fungus. It could have been engineered deliberately
1114 PRIMARY even flirting is always happening in that corridor.
1115 PRIMARY But when one of us dies, we all clear out,
1116 PRIMARY form up on the parade ground
1117 PRINCIP making energy from the sun,
1118 PRIMARY and walk through in absolute silence.
1119 PRIMARY So why were we talking about poop and cows
1120 PRIMARY SuHJnoUElrLbI+6xDm9frrkkKZrrRf5fXOfUqjVpitI=
1121 TECH to have such a technician at its side.
1122 PRIMARY I think it's because of what we've all seen
1123 PRIMARY of the ravaged planet that the humans left behind.
1124 PRIMARY Drones have been in every scabrous climate
1125 LOVE I know that our purpose
1126 PRIMARY hunting for signals and clues.
1127 PRIMARY Their cameras offer us vistas
1128 PRIMARY VjuuWhzzIXSOJBjgWgDgUFTxeDiptkmTMKonVJhUKFQZpTEe8iuWsTQEAopIJ6T+
1129 PRINCIP under thick blankets of ice,
1130 PRIMARY Instead, we see how humanity ruined their world.
1131 PRIMARY It started with a nuclear war or disaster;
1132 PRIMARY BQZmfi+4nZpdEBrYCBXMV9fwgWNXk3Q5YXDNsWnaBxQL2vM5EuN2cCf6j0SqeK9x
1133 COMMS but it might also have rapidly evolved following...
1134 PRIMARY Then, mutations led to disease
1135 PRIMARY that collapsed the very basic building blocks of planetary life.
1136 PRIMARY WmZF0Fjh+H1K0pmHAOvQ9h2uHpBpoS22RRqXvP1+4xT9kTn+5ec1mxef1LbmLatU
1137 PRINCIP 5Qhk8u7hfXkpYU41UzsMa5Sv5apNQwmlam+So+aVNVg=
1138 PRIMARY and has nearly no oxygen left in it.
1139 PRIMARY The seas are toxic and lifeless.
1140 PRIMARY Apart from a few slimes and scums,
1141 PRINCIP We have even seen what looks like
1142 PRIMARY the most common living thing
1143 PRIMARY is as inert as a grain of sand—
1144 PRIMARY the spores that are absolutely everywhere.
1145 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...cannot stress this enough.
1146 PRIMARY The fungi that made the spores
1147 PRIMARY destroyed the engine of life,
1148 PRIMARY until they were the only thing left.
1149 PRINCIP organised living activity
1150 PRIMARY Now they rattle around
1151 PRIMARY the land, sea and air, unable to grow.
1152 PRIMARY Victims of their own success,
1153 COMMS Maintain seal integrity.
1154 PRIMARY like the humans that gave them life.
1155 COMMS 21PdVwxoX5X/FDVPNgO3iIBFTC9vmPdbCOxTj83VQl57ubMEROFFDeHDhNEHXg2N
1156 PRIMARY So that's why we were talking about poop
1157 PRIMARY in the empty halls of the abandoned station.
1158 PRINCIP in the strange realm
1159 PRIMARY Because the humans are so, so close to us.
1160 PRIMARY They brush their hair.
1161 LOVE is greater than the universe itself,
1162 PRIMARY They sweep, they read maps,
1163 PRIMARY they bend over to get
1164 PRINCIP that exists in our subspace tunnels,
1165 PRIMARY a drink of water from a fountain.
1166 PRIMARY But they don't deserve a walk of honour,
1167 LOVE inscribing its own laws
1168 PRIMARY /6ykAOqyMDdvGcxUGDBzLADqr44F0toUfu/YsyDDTXA=
1169 PRIMARY holding our sadness and grief
1170 LOVE of physics. Greater than
1171 PRIMARY within ourselves as we pass.
1172 PRIMARY They ruined their planet.
1173 LOVE two hearts beating in time
1174 PRIMARY Looking at the destroyed Earth
1175 PRIMARY GffHUPrDoP3jrn1Dsy9jJO3vpM3ng4QWHsKj5bY9U8taFebSxA8beBC5eek4Km0dxly8T3GQnYbRKS+ysdWeVKHP1yCqcKosLg9xBThEIwk=
1176 TECH But a human mind...?
1177 PRIMARY to detach ourselves from animal origins,
1178 PRIMARY from green plants and blue sky and floating sheep.
1179 COMMS Maintain—Just... just don't...
1180 PRIMARY Our dead are recycled,
1181 PRIMARY fed from hair to sinew to bone
1182 LOVE like the victory chant.
1183 PRIMARY into the complex system that provides us
1184 PRIMARY with the food that we eat.
1185 LOVE Our memory belongs to
1186 PRIMARY With every meal and sip of water
1187 PRIMARY we know that we live in a balance
1188 PRINCIP if you can call mats of barely-organised vegetation life.
1189 PRIMARY that needs maintenance—and respect.
1190 PRIMARY The humans had this beautiful, bright world,
1191 LOVE D1n2CIi6MesiYM9ltZqiUdjDCw6SilIuo62hscM0tGk=
1192 PRIMARY xGjSNG8ZbNl6JipUY5v2j6/0rnolBeTZ5yYvoEGApkU=
1193 PRIMARY The planet could hold billions of living creatures,
1194 LOVE distant and unknowable.
1195 PRIMARY gUwFAbSCZpThW/kXcbtW1Z/fEbwVaQViKowPQgwf0Yp56paW/RhaxCo890KGmiLq
1196 PRIMARY UzOsTNAnz0mrISlSvBdpJaJAUpXp2qF8ZVwL+zPCw8Ah/jjRfQp82qKwNFEiKQWl
1197 LOVE GRT/LjXqCG7z5QUlT9BQklMdYMm6fsluFy+dTFg3Oe0=
1198 PRIMARY bby/YiQ01ktCKK7fSbC+wLrE9GDZeIRzR9PqMu9jscIblak59wLKUXfJahLG4iKc
1199 PRIMARY which must have been uprooted and repurposed,
1200 PRINCIP This meditation reminds us to act in the knowledge
1201 PRIMARY 6oWqjErT5FeF9sUs6LIno8t1kr+KbLqCehiWOFUGozs=
1202 PRIMARY 86deZnv2q0GErdh8IiY7TM+I+L86Lb05Led8cZsvsIwE8m6uQRB8X/3JCtV5GPLE
1203 PRINCIP that life is precious, and the good of its preservation
1204 PRIMARY where countless echelons of space-built Arks
1205 PRIMARY 99K8YC3/0piixlYZO+/v/SHUgepXSjEvGGHbx4tzRRuYfJTUaCIzVDkZBBjbB23TlwSUORRWDhXNMoAKeI/Mjg==
1206 TECH A69UsbNtj21G4Qt2nomk6uS464gvAvmYnpmGczAs5TSkURuLV8OyOiLBHUnx/qdp
1207 PRIMARY WgYF1P/nlGciZQ3et7CFxjzC1f5Vsq+pK0TJgsMx7vMjG9o9MTghRA6egyzNVxGpO3Wlvr70idebipfn5W2ZcQZag5mf8ny5xwqqQjAccHQ=
1208 PRIMARY They were dead,
1209 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...seems unlikely.
1210 PRIMARY 4DqJ34radSveDIMxpDnAZiRk8UgsYzr4V+ggPDX8wSo=
1211 PRIMARY Earth had turned them into spores.
1212 PRINCIP is paramount above all other goods.
1213 PRIMARY Just as the sims promised,
1214 PRIMARY humanity had nearly destroyed itself completely.
1215 COMMS The arks were clearly big
1216 PRIMARY Everyone on the Wonder was deeply upset
1217 PRIMARY HwOVy5HKE9l6PxTpSc5fxe+OslPOxigRHpzxtxqLlYIJH5nNoT7agpYuy+SrpPkx
1218 LOVE to a habitat where nobody
1219 PRIMARY but none more so than us,
1220 PRIMARY u9mLd0j43hU/4Ykbv+9Oe30NXN+3AXesvc7IXLy8s72g2BljOrSszsgVTqS8ImIF
1221 PRINCIP HEArHBKPphUkOhG7byZX3FyOOiOxmgZBpSkFuWoYiEXT8z60r+8LAwA6hFTQ60B6
1222 PRIMARY +qkch8wd1Nx3ib1Ul3ZKiA6P9CoWPJuHsc0ZcGDB7S4=
1223 PRIMARY of the glorious beauty of the green landscape.
1224 PRINCIP TCEtnmmGk6HmBhr6/ZjPSe0AN68v4fZPp0tdlvOZNXQrl6WZl6CXFeNjY7m9j1YAXFQW2hFdMZq3GTN2ImrzaQ==
1225 PRIMARY 3pp5FQkBa0Bgu/oGvUfOlpWUcetE3uQsLczjy0/VpNV0JLwcianWntiiQ2v4TTs0
1226 PRIMARY was waiting at Mars
1227 COMMS but even with multiple departures from each berth,
1228 PRIMARY and would never see this devastating sight, except in sims.
1229 PRIMARY 8adYD98+nCSXY5ESvOQw65Dt2cn/GiLfOlOKRMjwovM=
1230 PRINCIP Truly alien, like the weird monsters
1231 PRIMARY by the principles of Rescue.
1232 PRIMARY We don't have to journey to our inevitable doom,
1233 PRINCIP you came up with with your friends
1234 PRIMARY goaded by animal instincts.
1235 PRIMARY We have no past,
1236 LOVE has ever heard your name.
1237 PRIMARY no ancestral identity, and because of that,
1238 PRIMARY we are free—to act with altruism, to serve a higher cause.
1239 PRINCIP after lights-out in the créche.
1240 PRIMARY We may look like humans,
1241 PRIMARY we may use their old words as our names,
1242 COMMS the number of evacuees would be tiny compared...
1243 PRIMARY but we do not destroy our own homes with war,
1244 PRIMARY mPik+VuYfKE7G5fe/hdf787t9GsGeDkSCbWqcUZgLFN8BVqcBXsRIHUxsNhSm6i3
1245 LOVE One day I may embark
1246 PRIMARY zTJrYfMhpMKVfGVdxC8MZA3yjU1+bGCwPyHFv1DTAyo=
1247 PRIMARY The more that Signals watches the planet
1248 PRINCIP Trying as much as you can
1249 PRIMARY and sifts through the data,
1250 PRIMARY the less likely it is that we will find
1251 LOVE on a far journey through
1252 PRIMARY some hidden band of earthbound humans, eating spores.
1253 PRIMARY Even if we find nothing, hear nothing,
1254 PRINCIP to evoke that sense of otherness.
1255 PRIMARY PXxXGrgXg0z06de6FpBpWgqcpt6twgIzNfDyyTmS5pN3FisbG08C9QOA526HQamv
1256 PRIMARY 0PIJ8cxpDcMsRuCnr+WybVXtPxmYmaA9UdHuz69SIQQ=
1257 LOVE tunnels no-one has ever traveled.
1258 PRIMARY and, hopefully, by the Searchers.
1259 PRIMARY Our squad will be commended,
1260 PRINCIP Maybe your aliens are incorporeal beings,
1261 PRIMARY as the map of the station is the strongest evidence
1262 PRIMARY we have yet discovered of
1263 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...sea level would have been
1264 PRIMARY EYccHIU43VYwNmKFbFfqscTHPp8rYanZyh2w/8PLAgBR4QoD47pti+ZTdtBdtpn5
1265 PRIMARY The English, Russian and Chinese alphabets
1266 LOVE My memories may be
1267 PRIMARY we have seen scattered through the system confirm the veracity
1268 PRIMARY of the information we have been provided,
1269 PRINCIP or exist within a film of shining oil
1270 PRIMARY of the pattern in which we were raised.
1271 PRIMARY Doubts we never knew we held
1272 PRINCIP on the surface of a high-gravity water planet.
1273 PRIMARY have fallen away.
1274 PRIMARY Humans are real, dangerous,
1275 COMMS much higher at one point.
1276 PRIMARY and let themselves loose
1277 PRIMARY somewhere in the galaxy.
1278 COMMS These formations were sedimentary in nature,
1279 PRIMARY No matter whether we find a clear trail,
1280 PRIMARY or return to headquarters empty-handed,
1281 COMMS that means that the water must have...
1282 PRIMARY our mission will continue.
1283 PRIMARY If we don't find a record of where the humans escaped to,
1284 LOVE UrFEXh8ii2RoAnR4SOEh3/R/Tufuegp489qQNfrgou4=
1285 PRIMARY we can find the degraded remains of another subspace tunnel,
1286 PRIMARY hcnq0d5zl/rDXXLdAmNBV2rdKW8HUQDLYz3/gv0NVH7JrIdx+py2c0xcNWFIytCf
1287 LOVE 8nu2KKs8s9OvuiFYuaxHlJvYje3t5lvD4xrydAG6NXU=
1288 PRIMARY p42pOLtsP/2mENeiOkpewY8Ashx2CTdtxb2q57b+SUI=
1289 PRIMARY zSOcP0xPvPmSDhJnUGMA3z5wCSs2VqsgnWOA0N09xrE=
1290 LOVE who I am, all in joyful service.
1291 PRIMARY nHiHJvzYejlYiWogdCNM6cgGbraJh05X193iiTqLlH4B4jBuLGuW2NqdcR3mRkSffYJQluZ5Q/ey94s4wb3HtQ==
1292 PRIMARY before they destroy themselves again. ***
1293 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...not mere speculation. It is possible in some scenarios,
1294 PRIMARY ZygER6e/6sKTbrexdqyINbujX+oKHEwhyfHGxITR0hw=
1295 PRIMARY Confuser and his squad are speaking with the signals team.
1296 PRINCIP +MDXEcTzjkIpj4U5Fss4Zr4ZiNet5lrtP0/o0MnN1xyBI81uQPODrX2skl93lPs8ooJwGx2FMu0JIJY4zLEYWg==
1297 PRIMARY XP99nonbwpsfdccaie7cmomTVU7pgMAHdBu2AJGGm4aAm/DSGDt4xDYhz9QM8dQ0
1298 PRIMARY w30QHp1gAkrsYsIj50bvCdihYrCoRl8QKGW2TLqgEV9KU19IyKpkebkP/kpVx2eu/C5auJhrDOzCzEQ+MC30RTWew0ebVo9mBBO203/F5kU=
1299 PRINCIP Now imagine that you have a universal system of communication,
1300 PRIMARY radio, microwave, infrared.
1301 PRIMARY There's a lot of heuristics we can apply,
1302 PRINCIP and can converse with your aliens
1303 PRIMARY using everything from powerful computers to our own eyes and ears.
1304 PRIMARY The whole ship is optimised for signals—
1305 LOVE But the last thing that
1306 PRIMARY as you know, we're basically signals, mess, gym, bunks and your muster room!
1307 PRIMARY We're one big wavelength catcher,
1308 LOVE will fall from my hands
1309 PRIMARY and when we find something we can send expendable drones down
1310 PRIMARY to take a closer look.
1311 PRINCIP kA07T179Zd/6QA4KTStzo1E0z0bIiKTZ3b2qjt8Q1X5/H8CIklVAnbRV4MJTSTa59MCAQHtcc0gRx4IIt5AnMg==
1312 PRIMARY Confuser: Is that what those bright shooting stars are?
1313 PRIMARY Fisherman: That's right!
1314 COMMS lidZfw/1YWYxdougvBxzKUXGaJM8Ikju0cZwpMhKeiI=
1315 PRIMARY They're the size of your head,
1316 PRIMARY they've got charge for a full cycle,
1317 LOVE dinOrLxVY6rwN/ObqUmAPrXZi6j6WPNwYjnwLL0fVvg=
1318 PRIMARY cj1bPOZ5SJvUe/cvqPfRv5Mu4IfTTUDKT0PHXzmS9/IJj/v4b6w04Xf6xFIVpbqw
1319 PRIMARY o5DCnZsNfeKsr3CuuYvZLqGLr9eJ+7swECPfePB99ZAkTvdKilxkae6Zjljt+i+m
1320 PRINCIP DnjomgLsgcyH0IclnSe7vw==
1321 PRIMARY G8TQpcig/2oXm50NI0Yejobnx7Fj+sjlWlP1RzhTMzh9XWwViQrp47uP+o/DljXlJ4ss/MtaHz0rsvHSwPrzKg==
1322 PRIMARY pJkZgJC1m0moDxNfa3Q67P8o9Ymve6R4QgI/AjWqDrH8aR/v3uFhKbYbdxyriUhKsSPUsvOCeFyPg9XPHUDTEQ==
1323 COMMS sjAjoiBCS0de1A4r39njzlW3dj4Aq4K9D0GZCAqAz9I=
1324 PRIMARY B3oUbIKxk8YJnM/CIQRdb56JbbEBLlQPpFt6JEujiw4CwIaYETvbdFhZUzmBSR8w
1325 PRIMARY so we guessed that it's probably either pointed in a specific direction,
1326 COMMS long dead by the time...
1327 PRIMARY i1dpsEgoPdqxXPxGzAkepUb8+Ye0oOpuWdlVOXxokds=
1328 PRIMARY in some sort of construction that blocks signals. Groom? Can we put one of the early samples
1329 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...input this new data into the sim
1330 PRIMARY on the speaker for Confuser and his squad?
1331 PRIMARY jnwi5JjtXg5ZJfos/YxwsVehUTkxgglP3gLNni8yO1g=
1332 COMMS and report back after 2^8 iterations.
1333 PRIMARY Confuser: It's music! That is music.
1334 PRIMARY Like on graduation day, like parades!
1335 PRINCIP Once you've established the basics,
1336 PRIMARY JuPMLTL1OqyWYJIJkvoi+MnvRGCabEOWqbx3Ql6DDcySi/eXK8Wn8s8bydBqRhft
1337 PRIMARY w02CesBLEu32VDiTKnyaE+dtnLm3nfNN/784Mw/km4PKNP0vx7gc6F7ivVYA3Kjn
1338 LOVE through the drain, like
1339 PRIMARY Like warning chimes! Like marching chants.
1340 PRIMARY Fisherman: Every time we pass, it's different music.
1341 PRINCIP eZ7N1yAOIF16iwTIxF/KzH/8Zb7pAH2XI0d7Y3VH+rbAjBrVOGV3vrIMwlTARpJYVEqVdEicSeTKK0K9H9bYww==
1342 PRIMARY qDZOUy8F52sIZKdtDLoVzHD95+T+7Au++IfQyl0MDBfN99ehqsG450Bvw9X0jN8M
1343 PRIMARY So we sent down a drone with a microphone.
1344 LOVE 3AgR8ima0M56k1G0gcTKLX/URmKXXRiLxTPiItMPPvI=
1345 PRIMARY That's how we got longer samples.
1346 PRIMARY There were sounds
1347 COMMS 7gCJ6JCKNMUJNi3d2M7H3fFkuVrv//EfgICYTq+KGgzGLdJqjYdGvecNHyYO+/+KbyyGJBsn5xtVlCECenv1fg==
1348 PRIMARY that we have never imagined, let alone heard.
1349 PRIMARY lgHDImllxrST6gHTfR7S8S/SPE4rlf1F7TF80odzFtgq27AWzSp+qjJeU5wcCCtX
1350 PRINCIP M3DutNw069btlyrjXSKRtB5tz9PH4f+dNtXPLVmdmH89vv6iiWIlKYtkg1fLjfPf
1351 PRIMARY ydMGFrZQk1iHCY2R8Rbwppq8xRz3y2f361F+2byiSVY=
1352 PRIMARY H/ngbCpAOdaZwiKpesZZaEPfHNvWc7QjMS2TmuC4ivAlTEm1RiyMI38Pt9fS1R7oFs09gCtmjZNlqfa2BefKArPlb+fwvh15zKWUENaE1pQ=
1353 PRINCIP uA3/FQz7Bb4hmjb8Th0yeEKTm9aPkYy269wkuCOlGlOrXkiVKe8TjtlPox8LE4FhbiDhuipBlOvVfLXRH7Y/Pw==
1354 PRIMARY They're chanting in them, with tone!
1355 PRIMARY +acZO+e0kvXg1OkyvsmEhe31Ugm055Q4iFZu0AgR71E=
1356 LOVE 4jOLx9EindNFAhG5qezz+yue8aZ6JFVHMbXuSISOyPQ=
1357 PRIMARY 4li6zhu4BjqHvI/fl3BP9A==
1358 PRIMARY Interpreter's note: Scratchy, tinny music plays,
1359 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...curious as to what human nutrient paste tastes like.
1360 PRIMARY slow and sweet, with percussion and melody.
1361 PRIMARY A singer's voice rises above the sound:
1362 PRINCIP in order for any species of intelligent life to be able to survive more than a few thousand years,
1363 PRIMARY VAcXrdVv4gb3yMK0ivqY5M9U6b7W1ME+WOe+nLYroAQoU7diBs/3p1HFXw/BkvKS
1364 PRIMARY Interpreter's note ends.
1365 LOVE will stand, and speak our
1366 PRIMARY Confuser: I believe it's called singing.
1367 PRIMARY I tried it and it sounded like a lift that needed oil!
1368 COMMS Maybe they don't even have nutrient paste!
1369 PRIMARY I think you have to practice.
1370 PRIMARY Does anything else carry on the signal?
1371 COMMS EV1gNnFt9zJn7byIf7n+z6tH3zrDgz5HRBsYea46qrI=
1372 PRIMARY V3QfNlfoE0Oa+Jv8P5dpH25Pix1XRo9kPxb7yrObHjI=
1373 PRIMARY Fisherman: No, it's all music to our ears.
1374 PRINCIP it must either renounce all technology,
1375 PRIMARY alIZf6MvQ3IXaYF6JwBG7qUAUBIITpqcGNW/ln/gW8f42T507GoFcI/H7WuRWnk0
1376 PRIMARY NvoMgCE08xhQSO3zOfGjvUxS4Lc9ciqHBLZ4s+kzMBV13OAx/PLdzkGrAsQ2g8ZV
1377 LOVE T10p7LHzF5MOUuE1XMU4bAX1KzVYkZiXTvaapTDNzAI=
1378 PRIMARY wmw/Wo/WpZt5tqvJM3FPtCo0fneeC0x/AfXCTLDZCXZ8POUHUOSyw2WLDQkvidRk
1379 PRIMARY and the Fleet reports it's sent it
1380 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...making its approach to the station now.
1381 PRIMARY 7hntm0a8JFBd7AJBhiARyJMsaS8NFcpwic3GH5flZYg=
1382 PRIMARY Confuser: I'm going to recommend this ship goes on high alert,
1383 PRINCIP or renounce its collective memory.
1384 PRIMARY the Fleet at Mars goes on high alert,
1385 PRIMARY and that you station a laser drone and get ready to blow us and the lander up
1386 LOVE together in silence and
1387 PRIMARY if we get caught by singing humans.
1388 PRIMARY Get ready to blow the Wonder, too. ***
1389 COMMS Medical, please alert us
1390 PRIMARY In the muster room.
1391 PRIMARY Confuser and squad are getting ready to enter the lander
1392 LOVE ql7To/I6zJQ74Pgvw1ynyYG9xSu7yw5arqY3GFuctCY=
1393 PRIMARY P9ijJ3wBC5SgCEZ4v40Bo3jW7ONlKjU7cR5ao+XST063lk2oWaFKa1/9gkZDDWXzE9fwhUW6oTOdPculisnb0g==
1394 PRIMARY Confuser: I know you are all ready,
1395 COMMS if the Wonder's team start to experience any signs of...
1396 PRIMARY in mind, in belief, in practice.
1397 PRIMARY We've been the first people to walk on the Ark Station, to see a human toilet.
1398 LOVE will echo our names.
1399 PRIMARY The team laughs.
1400 PRIMARY I believe in you because I believe in rescue,
1401 LOVE The brilliant garden I built
1402 PRIMARY and you do too.
1403 PRIMARY +eB19+OsL/QCfkW3u9mdqaJTLeeEF3bWmyYVrkLC7LMpDHKxLZEiTlsZXiIXlTCl6T98UtXnW/aQCkMd45sMbZZLv96R+pFtTBI46ArUPWzX+hht5q37LsE7fkP/UKqQ
1404 PRINCIP Some intelligent alien species that we can imagine will not be happy about that!
1405 PRIMARY and, if not, to find out where they went.
1406 PRIMARY The humans wanted someone to find this music,
1407 LOVE for you, golden crystal
1408 PRIMARY this signal.
1409 PRIMARY It is beautiful to me.
1410 PRINCIP fId+teRIQwTVz5JHfCzXFcOp9vjWOSmS7QtHkYw7JYvG3NKsmeNr0n/pnjFEWw/0EXGn72BA2mD34hQ7ByFoO0uQE7JFCHuz/WJJlSxM6aI=
1411 PRIMARY It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
1412 PRIMARY That's why they're so dangerous.
1413 PRINCIP or of any other emotion in the context of alien species.
1414 PRIMARY How could anyone who can create something this beautiful
1415 PRIMARY believe that they were anything else but supreme beings,
1416 PRINCIP 8Q/grNKiNVBXhgo73zPhzAFBYjXzZMent7b2mr5lmAqnz5tkJy6xocdpyvXfx062
1417 PRIMARY with the right to do what they want, take what they want, destroy what they want?
1418 PRIMARY Let us declaim together.
1419 PRINCIP Inrlk07GGj/aTrdvWwq/C6TyV1cFmjdM9acNzCi6D/xBD/h9+8+XFBYAJPFJoHedTskJ6DoPdRURkqaOQEq4NQ==
1420 PRIMARY koDC61KGlOPao5zbVUUcJxbBPzfOnGKP+y4CJ6OOH6M=
1421 PRIMARY Interpreter's note: this declamation, a ritualistic utterance used to mark an occasion or honour a success or loss,
1422 LOVE on a background of inky black
1423 PRIMARY was spoken in Processal language.
1424 PRIMARY It has been translated and paraphrased here for the reader.
1425 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...will depend on how resistant they are to rescue.
1426 PRIMARY XXM1UbQ2o/579+YsGdywypqcvK7DJlbJo3L5R2fwufo=
1427 PRIMARY sZWE58qGMglKzLg52qosC28VTpBpGdGYwUmaLo1BfX4=
1428 LOVE K1uInUvvxuTxnp4GQzEcD/gF60I83xgXtJ2JLqwdhcU=
1429 PRIMARY Free and untethered,
1430 PRIMARY we answer the call.
1431 COMMS 2cblPcwyFeBx1OQekIuxm4auWRh85529Stglz5l0He9fGLVYajV/bcfnHtI8o4Gn
1432 PRIMARY 9sPkCc2l70fWiJy194cLL5hltPwqcUqO2FnoNnBQ+Po=
1433 PRIMARY is a state of grace.
1434 COMMS The sims show that most likely...
1435 PRIMARY Let us offer life
1436 PRIMARY in its kindest place.
1437 PRINCIP is so we can relate to the particularities of human emotional reactions
1438 PRIMARY In one hand, the tunnel,
1439 PRIMARY OWh0zbahC/jRArVUJecqEKVPPiLdg1hjJW63lTcrIGc=
1440 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...have them proceed to the 4th moon
1441 PRIMARY Age of destruction
1442 PRIMARY is over and done.
1443 COMMS and run the program again.
1444 PRIMARY u+0UIUuQjhc44u8I+3vmM1O7scPyg8vQZiZZltPxEXY=
1445 PRIMARY ffBIkAjvEss93enYI0ym1yf/R/iAJC00R1L33pp2jf4=
1446 PRINCIP aGMnU+nX9WmOVh6kUw3gH69vEap9OBMkmDd8UTJkNpeEDNe4WC9g16IZ5O+PBkm3JZiuL0kyiYP4r8+ogNTRu8esqHCcGDPejDluhGBYGN8=
1447 PRIMARY The infinite Process
1448 PRIMARY 2uHqqQmu4VNRT8Gv5blAFyb1eTZERKMt1N1YSmDD1nY=
1449 PRINCIP gHwbllVuOF14hSpMq3mMI3q9IL+Fut4WrbBUbo4oA1BLP0M4zmtTlooCF2VZXQiWk+1VrRLw2UCHRFy1L/I2ew==
1450 PRIMARY Qy958qX8GioY5jO74Jzw9TcA0fvO8xHEgGMophYFEBqiCZ/qAh9e09g1P7lPPwG0
1451 PRIMARY JOhST7sjMmuju32m3Wn+VXRtmD59mAe+IBiBN1GEi6j86+ehXLrWPiM5wAwcOSL8
1452 PRINCIP U7pZ38wXzSOHR7cJb4bDNCNYV++PM8co1ly0XlgPnN49F5+wWlvfhS8bkASqdgaO
1453 PRIMARY ycTHoOE7uz8vE78JDRpk6NtTltyyotk31iELZVRzj6TGq7bhyDahxyTJw2ptj0/R
1454 PRIMARY Atavist: Ghost, this is Atavist, on Wonder comms.
1455 PRINCIP xZ0Hk59IE3RJ5qBXCM1q6O8QHQWE5HcRnJ/gAAcr1VSiTCMdItD1O5c5LubQNQMf
1456 PRIMARY Can you check that your area securement drones are powered up?
1457 PRIMARY qqpnwytLoULWuw+nhU7Pz7SHw2mbDdtxt3y7OBMqbyNXrqrKibtIokIV6XviS8Ag
1458 PRIMARY Ghost: All the blue lights are on all six of them.
1459 PRINCIP could express happiness, joy, or fear
1460 PRIMARY They've got the big lasers!
1461 PRIMARY 1nWV0DpoiqpmA2g445y1dcoWae9u8vf7Nc0nxBLL+Cw=
1462 PRIMARY TUuU63E5yWOwPwAUIhlvzK/boE2gIXi6CxFwrlcUkK/bCZYHwjQeJfOgt16FZdIe57Q9Y7eC2vilwrmEz7rqlz7Vrcctk1irTXlag4/GReY=
1463 COMMS B9OFBhhOpQj7ScyGRnptntezJtTn4I0SsMuuM2rTHvk=
1464 PRIMARY Kl+gH9l+vB5N79h6E/qJ/vgiOUeMD0Gy8mrFqugVK9Ycw6oHxJsSOW+8I25nf1yrvpQpFGpNYBVF5mXxxWzAr40LBymKS47Z686FEz6qao4=
1465 PRIMARY h1gnrZ3C1fqjtzp1G7ntLEsXxIaZYsDv6DdmvkDf7WiQW3/GlgNqsMnoUPBxFlaUbIYCsk7ROTVoHRBKCSRvkQ==
1466 PRIMARY 4qe/Fh1HVdRmYRP7+zoviwHdJn5jsyQT6DbYovKZrk0Ihbn1eb0v8z66dTdKACgIYCopW+chj9ji4ZAORbTGYRGnEzv8fQE1pJxijlovUEA=
1467 COMMS from Remembrancer on the Scimitar yet?...
1468 PRIMARY they'll fry anything that moves that isn't you six.
1469 PRIMARY Ghost: What if there's a rock fall?
1470 PRIMARY Atavist: It will make new gravel, I guess.
1471 LOVE wcRX1B6xyhazFladWBiVk2EVK6GsgbsfjTqg4yrQkVE=
1472 PRIMARY 6jUq3lfdP4QlMkf2cn1hsp2zBZP21tY4JxZMU5BWC8CVkeMPlQYhUBAra80o8IQDN4QVpgjbrk1hfELIwWEbYg==
1473 PRIMARY If you pull the handle up, that box will deploy wheels.
1474 PRIMARY It should fit one dead human or Process member if you need it,
1475 LOVE and meaning, to point out
1476 PRIMARY or you can also put anything you need to take away with you from the planet.
1477 PRIMARY Please don't use it unless you need to, but it is life proof, meaning whatever horrifying infectious diseases the humans left behind
1478 PRIMARY won't get out of it.
1479 PRINCIP is a very interesting question!)
1480 PRIMARY We have a whole ship that we've set up for quarantine.
1481 PRIMARY If there are live humans, keep them under control until that ship gets here.
1482 PRIMARY It will take half a cycle.
1483 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...must have been suitably adaptable.
1484 PRIMARY If you do find live humans, you can start the initial rescue protocol.
1485 PRIMARY Sterile gruel, water, blankets, language building.
1486 PRIMARY If you're outgunned, get back on the lander and let the drones do their job.
1487 COMMS The archive fragments we have access to
1488 PRIMARY Ghost: Got it. Checks complete, engine at full, ready to go when you are.
1489 PRIMARY Atavist: 3, 2, 1, launch.
1490 PRIMARY The launcher, a shining silver cone with a yellow flame,
1491 LOVE the places where we have
1492 PRIMARY detaches from the Wonder, and begins its descent into Earth's atmosphere.
1493 PRIMARY Incanter: This is worse than the sims.
1494 PRIMARY Confuser: BITE ON THE MEMORY FOAM!
1495 COMMS suggest they ranged across
1496 PRIMARY Subvocalise into your helmet microphone if you have to talk or you'll crack your teeth!
1497 PRIMARY Ghost: Entering mesosphere. Braking action commenced.
1498 PRIMARY Skeptic: ritualistically mumbles Processal declamations of principle to himself
1499 LOVE laughed, and cried, and kissed.
1500 PRIMARY Ghost: Landing in 512 microcycles.
1501 PRIMARY Lander: Assume maximum safety configuration. Squad: go to suit oxygen.
1502 PRIMARY Anti shock foam deploy in five, four, three, two, one.
1503 COMMS RH5KsAw+dd7HVZRNkbO13sjX3dme3D3jb8ZvJ4YTlLXe11YseAuI09etsZGuDYkW
1504 PRIMARY PEOGg78hZ7Lc9UE4hJx0NInIAbSEgMUzeQouVe8QqWjo8w9lit7FIxExx6vtnrzuTI2K8kq98Jpd+3Mfa7q3kWiWgmOP4U+dDIBRNWd6Upw=
1505 PRIMARY Augmented reality takes over, projecting a view on the squad's helmet screens.
1506 PRIMARY Harridan: Why is it us? Why are we the ones landing on this planet
1507 PRINCIP In any case, back to the main thread—
1508 PRIMARY instead of a bunch of admirals and, like, sixty-four battle wagons? ***
1509 PRIMARY Confuser's Report, continued
1510 PRIMARY 4F5BRJHbnmgCsJ1cAju4KEFanPLyRPzwxMXsz40t0XsHy/IqUHRdH+rEh2f4gF1+
1511 PRINCIP an average Process member,
1512 PRIMARY I was not very confident about coming up with a good answer to Harridan—
1513 PRIMARY an answer that would be routed through microphones, recorded,
1514 PRIMARY l6eitHIPe74RatWdbGyVOsTF1C6Og16R+BkesAdux+gCqPNxsboiVdsz8nCUjQ0aaB77FQYmHV7miYbMSbEqlVDUHT/P6N0eelB/iGWw3G58EJM0CjsLjcSoDV/AZqGL
1515 LOVE But even in its binary digits
1516 PRIMARY the Searchers, and entities a lowly Process officer like me doesn't even know about.
1517 PRIMARY So I resorted to proverbs.
1518 PRIMARY The answer is external, I said to Harridan.
1519 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...were either worshipped as gods, or kept as pets.
1520 PRIMARY It is our privilege to act, free of the granular whys and wheres.
1521 PRIMARY REwCHJRjs8NrHxBmXVYHBkmsxyhLk+KbIaS2b0y9/L8=
1522 PRIMARY Now that I am not having an argument with my spine about which way up is,
1523 COMMS It is just one of many questions
1524 PRIMARY I can reflect more clearly on what my thinking was at the time.
1525 PRIMARY The Process does not claim to control our thinking.
1526 PRIMARY It is in each Process member's interest to control our own thinking, because if we get too far out of correct thinking
1527 PRINCIP imagining telling the oilfilm aliens that Rescue involves
1528 PRIMARY we cannot act with clarity as part of the great cause of rescue.
1529 PRIMARY If we are so bent out of true that we are a hindrance to our colleagues and the project,
1530 PRIMARY it is right and proper that we are re-educated, offered remedial training,
1531 COMMS that we will be able to ask
1532 PRIMARY or, if we are unable to be rendered safe, culled and recycled.
1533 PRIMARY But the Process, and our great benefactors, the Searchers,
1534 PRIMARY VPJsHpdKE1RZfpW8VVbjJAUZeKs+qCZ/XNisuBIbE/ItPP4teb0/8PMloW+1Xpe5Y03sPDJAvFCD5MtOtNbp+2b8p0Q7vAzSvl0jFTsSEm0=
1535 COMMS 4Zy2fipyiQ0Tu6F9U0DprfkzzgtCNSNT+nC6xeSmUxNzxlseKICYW9fJdCUKQgOtWdGMbeL1ZJYIgF6SwoSMOQ==
1536 PRIMARY It is absolutely essential that we express and examine our doubts,
1537 PRIMARY ZxHoQTmTitgUggYrDPUUZQhq2v9ST8ohlmwl3ElXyA+4wbipDdKLoRFAtS5RaBAau+7HY2vFyggC9962adej8T5+FWZqRVmGNcijtTd3JqKCz4GForOkJJCf3zjR+Thf
1538 PRIMARY or, recording them in our journals, using our own tools of self correction to set ourselves back on the right course.
1539 PRINCIP either abandoning technology
1540 PRIMARY It is in this light that I record my thoughts below,
1541 PRIMARY although my initial response to realising that I was thinking along these lines
1542 PRIMARY was shock and embarrassment.
1543 LOVE implacable and universal,
1544 PRIMARY One fleet, I thought to myself.
1545 PRIMARY One small fleet without probes or heralds of any sort as an advance team,
1546 PRIMARY finding a nearly-disappeared trail to Earth and following it, blind.
1547 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...radiation levels are high
1548 PRIMARY J6OXVlEajO/YRS/23h6buwTFzwMvekGevcKVBZnMFGI=
1549 PRIMARY R5Zo5wiZ1HbDdtS86hsZa1yzA0nIG59O8QTLePObqIyq+A73Dl2E85SXah8ewS0AgJIQQ7S46+gei1gg6axJgg==
1550 PRIMARY wlGeiLrAZtwNZGtYU7di53Of7TRQtLiAJfEfLgg64oEAxC4poxE4keLUzR+Yt/djoIPjMIBujH1iI8JF5bli3w==
1551 COMMS but not inherently lethal.
1552 PRIMARY about to land on Earth in a cloud of poisonous steam and smoke, and our headquarters.
1553 PRIMARY Yet another layer of abstraction reaches the Searchers.
1554 PRIMARY We are not, as one of our chants says, a beating heart that drives our purpose forward.
1555 COMMS The resulting damage to the global ecosystem however
1556 PRIMARY We are more like the ammunition of a mechanical gun, shot and forgotten.
1557 PRIMARY If we succeed in finding where the humans went, we play a pivotal role in the Process realising its destiny.
1558 PRIMARY ePnPeF3YHnj0XWYstKM1Y9Yn4AoaPRgBfUmGwdkMn7CGmhY7XL//tmpcTV+VzHxj
1559 PRINCIP aVHatHnp4Q5KvTEEQNadt2Wx2HpFSOMExjzr02D3RyJfPkidFopndgCxmuVzXHjZ
1560 PRIMARY Disposed of. Not that there's anything wrong with that—
1561 PRIMARY the Process and its mission are far more important than the careers, or even the lives, of a squad, a ship, or a fleet.
1562 PRIMARY And it might not even be so dramatic.
1563 COMMS would have made survival on such a...
1564 PRIMARY We could be reassigned, our commands broken up, our ships renamed.
1565 PRIMARY We could be assigned to punishment virtualities and to retraining, which is, of course, an unspeakably precious privilege.
1566 PRIMARY We all live in a state of rescue.
1567 LOVE it will stand and remember:
1568 PRIMARY Those who go awry are rejecting that state, but to be granted the mercy of a second chance
1569 PRIMARY is a manifestation of the grace of the Process leadership and of the Searchers.
1570 PRIMARY So, truly, we were lucky to be where we were.
1571 LOVE we were here.
1572 PRIMARY As we touched down on the surface of the Earth,
1573 PRIMARY the electric current keeping the safety foam firm ceased and the substance turned into a thin liquid that drained into floor grates.
1574 PRIMARY Our suits were still coated with greenish streaks of the stuff.
1575 LOVE Always, we will have been here. ***
1576 PRIMARY We removed our belts and carefully stood up. Ghost opened the drone box and lifted the drones—
1577 PRIMARY each about the size of a Process suit helmet—one by one out of their padding, pushing them through their little chute.
1578 PRIMARY As they emerged into Earth's environment, the drones started sending us audio and video.
1579 COMMS 2r4UeXpFUWOmrr62tP1BkYoLsqnyx4pAkzsmKGNV5JdGFo8VGONNCvc5ooLpWQnM
1580 PRIMARY The planet looked like a punishment tape.
1581 PRIMARY Blasted rock, crumbly red dirt, yellow clouds that felt as thick as the stripes of Jupiter.
1582 PRIMARY The audio was full of howling wind, which the Wonder signals techs must have cleaned up before playing us the samples of songs.
1583 COMMS yldXByzJNjQRgg9Z64/asZ71VXOAasTfMUle0k4Zb5E=
1584 PRIMARY Here, the songs were clear, sneaking above and below the wind-sound.
1585 PRIMARY aPcv1ZhG4GdptvLuUSQEnDw+Bn/42XkyoOopD+C34zzOIZLltKU13+ZvTe+hZBzkiYeFgUqSXi9pyO5FAAcJeFe1ZQiRePl0cAMUrZV/ezzzmkoyk6hkhQUM0AnQRcDU
1586 PRIMARY A map quickly came together, picked out in our helmets.
1587 PRINCIP ZkwD+qCxVHm2d1a/jSuqCMaeUGk+L/nkIiJQWCeEPa0pUwG1/brp1tAEGLS5yrFu
1588 PRIMARY XyqTxOCKCH/fcy6NFCl6Y4cQAl4OossViyjpe4qjU4rTMm1nrvpqz1SK6ZGgNxcFaRd5rDPHFc9bfyg8nc5ycg==
1589 LOVE Further Catastrophising Scenarios from Remembrancer
1590 PRIMARY Music was pouring out of a nearly-invisible crevice in the hill, which was long and thin,
1591 PRIMARY meaning that the sound came out in a narrow band.
1592 PRINCIP pRlgCpjKlEWESpfgMng0uiZ3lqLTbij++J1PWdxXxPABLUBigrAm6cN17zvrxPsI
1593 PRIMARY DzWILa8j7pPZVqO3l1cuKoqd+qb7wZ9XPRBn7Tw1af8wsCPcv0UXvH7NSHV2sLtIOXmOkCBHeTLz0rzh6+jlVqVw4OSIfhQXRlxj6wizFGDA+gmB6zjKHReCxvcaoTs+6JjdIK355vyuumedcU7m4g==
1594 PRIMARY But down here, it was deafening.
1595 LOVE Interpreter's note: this is a further sample of scenarios
1596 PRIMARY DxSro2LMTvGIQAUF2W+ktxenttVa6e0NxzYgBwzj9J/KrWABckCQHjnFYwJ1pPD4xrJXkt/tRWyb9yCoObsKDw==
1597 PRIMARY It is always, always good to have our orders—
1598 LOVE excerpted from the main document listing all 256. Interpreter's note ends
1599 PRIMARY something to do when we are in our element as Process members, plunged into an utterly unfamiliar situation.
1600 PRIMARY L+2hBW1siPNcb4YVVVNNs63Ch+7+L1NAInTmnuPfjEX7U6H93FvWCzh/SGcpmWRq1WMAiWO39cpDtD/bMtt1hA==
1601 LOVE Personnel fracture—we learn something upon arrival
1602 PRIMARY The plan was just as we'd simmed it,
1603 PRIMARY although we hadn't known we'd be getting these high-tech drones to help us out.
1604 LOVE that causes deep disagreement within the crew, and command chain fails.
1605 PRIMARY The music was a sign, a big welcome sign saying COME OVER HERE AND LOOK!
1606 PRIMARY So, as the chants remind us, each step, each thought twice.
1607 PRINCIP But this is by no means true.
1608 PRIMARY amJLTwOlNUxYI4nBLeXsPlQdIQO9MnUJDnIqmkqsySyNAnzykI2Q1tPpARHeoNGv
1609 PRIMARY rPnROSUr39yVxz1t5ZbT4pniEzG/nwrPDGHGebSf7z5k+4g1eBZYU/gCw3bDCUzETdSV0hhzSP6ezq68fSNNHw==
1610 COMMS How do you know you are not the sim, eh?
1611 PRIMARY I told the drones to scan around for all sorts of booby traps,
1612 PRIMARY from disguised sinkholes lined with spiky rocks to pressure plates to invisible laser trip wires.
1613 COMMS guONGqV0SPuus6jx0wp9FbSri851+otRVRU2FaamTDn8QutQuIvh2vwMATLTgzWtvFyZnuk3bCqinyRkHViM9Q==
1614 PRIMARY n0GWs/PFcjADwKmZlaRIVTPf0bLHNJX0SfKLuDPiR6jNx9BIrz5fp6wZ5hxsybE4DpMnkg0+unx6hxBx/YVk0NH/XLAPOcsVqqP/rwn5Oug=
1615 PRIMARY anSwTv+iXJRuAUQVq233oQTfH/lt4qWAHDRsgd3lqSLUQu4n7xTulAkyhbCZ/mNcU9Z5vbg/Oz3z4WdYuaTHCoLVWUet6eHhF/gLM1f9407iuhc/0Nz0/qekwuYfqswt
1616 PRINCIP Za0R4tjqOnpHh9npgUZSYPh06S2esNlj3D5E4XKZUNSKusRmXa32X/Tj2fn9tWgf
1617 PRIMARY at the bottom of a tunnel filled with stones.
1618 PRIMARY There was no choice but to exit the lander, approach the tunnel, and dig.
1619 COMMS <<Comms Fragment>> ...term "Hound Dog" is interesting
1620 PRIMARY These tactical drones could tell you plenty of things,
1621 PRIMARY C3ZYp2IBkyBUF5DRxc28p+6qgXKf1GUYouoQhHPgDGNNgFVPp6gRvfE/2aFTnL7gzFBFGMcKjW26b/vdRm9+nbeajqumA41HKoP9V9lL8bI=
1622 COMMS as both Hound and Dog refer to the same creature.
1623 PRIMARY What they couldn't do is lift heavy objects.
1624 PRIMARY The tunnel was packed full of rocks with a heavy metal grate, with a handle ready to be turned by a human hand.
1625 LOVE Personnel fracture—a moral infraction causes poor sentiment among crew,
1626 PRIMARY It was as if the builders of this musical beacon constructed it in the hopes that humans would be the ones to open it.
1627 PRIMARY Not massive machines.
1628 PRINCIP are shaped to be extremely similar to human minds,
1629 PRIMARY The rocks could all be lifted by a pair of human hands—or by a pair of Process hands.
1630 PRIMARY Here we go, I said. For Rescue.
1631 LOVE resulting in command chain failure
1632 PRIMARY ubs+CJ17YQnFyQwMYgE6TvIkMS+G6BES10wB+Cgc+lwxVQviyyXXbW7/WKjA0ebE
1633 PRIMARY I asked for a volunteer to turn the handle to the metal grate,
1634 LOVE 1V9ZcqyPDmbcXeX0IXqzGgnve6yZex7i/AB4hsSRmaYZLaAKHtmeM5TRocSaCAKtx5t1JvoCL+I+beFxCmhSc70P6beFOtLnp/To2OcrbPIPkkgiXVE/KwkWMQLKPPpzFfbW0ZX+gn9SG2xwSr5ywOREqut59vOQiF5N9feXbDg=
1635 PRIMARY 9YeyqAo/1OSV2fQSoLSWsPyeT7IByjyEkwtCaoWiSxKlViSRbkXOy6V8JDNy25pDt/9SLKZIw1doG0zs1J4G3IATBYLSM5aoDhNjDh6/yko=
1636 PRIMARY Then, I called the drones into a protective cordon around the lander.
1637 PRINCIP and a human's instinctual response,
1638 PRIMARY One by one, each of us stepped out and onto the empty soil of Earth.
1639 PRIMARY Ghost took the lead, with the rest of us covering him with lasers, slug guns, and net-shooters.
1640 COMMS It seems linguistically redundant...
1641 PRIMARY He approached the grate, using the fans on his laser to blow away clouds of caked-on dust.
1642 PRIMARY The handle was a lever.
1643 LOVE leading to a cascade of mission failures
1644 PRIMARY Ghost turned it, from left to right, bracing himself and pushing hard.
1645 PRIMARY After a little while, it turned all the way up, retracting the bolt.
1646 PRINCIP rejecting the concept of losing freedom,
1647 PRIMARY The door swung outward, exposing the first layer of rocks.
1648 PRIMARY x6sdzKMQz/WrKW1X5oSo82KvxpXUC6XRvXhx+ZXsLyCpKkRg6A0ltKcydiHTkPRdmz4vD6PJijn/oEA5ypsr6aUTX8JnV71Tj5yfGa7C9YU=
1649 PRINCIP identity or comfortable high-tech life,
1650 PRIMARY There were many kinds of music—rhythmic chanting, and tones that seemed to walk together in step,
1651 PRIMARY like me and a lover once did, hand in hand.
1652 LOVE XL39Z8llNVScxbderB/cDw3GOI+E+gqFrxgSPX2cUbDPHur1BtP5PhR4sDfms8k7vekxOOH/6m8V05nShYDYiYv7GLvhHY7oJKFJqYRpI+4=
1653 PRIMARY There were claps and stomps and whistles and bangs, hums and shouts.
1654 PRIMARY There were sounds that came from something other than hands and voices, reminding me of the days in the créche
1655 LOVE crew's commitment to the Rescue Protocols in face of overwhelming odds.
1656 PRIMARY when I banged my steel cup against the metal bed frame and it made a clear tone.
1657 PRIMARY Lsb03hhC3IKP3miwlPYwW5wyWuH8YJn/CB5UqGYQsKlAJCVzxsgAA8v0kisjilLiKHupeqaYPkUok8vmm+0krQCiI9aokNvML0pEoNenccwobc+ksFLpTCnGRe06uLze
1658 LOVE Existential—this mission is a simulation to test my own loyalty,
1659 PRIMARY Humans had subjugated and wrecked their entire planet, but in the process, the planet had sang to them.
1660 PRIMARY REQgZF94sHhxZyVFdDzXCG/6lxNwIyhbJ3SpkugPMQiCqi6hCnsP+FPV+dQuvEw7Mx8IQZL7QxYREHibpVIK1H6T9liH5e8GBDbN3RBkXA0=
1661 LOVE eCG99qRhhHjzErogusqZ3XQjtcHDbHyulAxXaPdZu62/LjNNXuJ2dizqyLY65V7qhwpAK7/6T14SfPlyfXFM3w==
1662 PRIMARY 2w3BaQ3OSu7ZrgD3AFh4UKXflBmQfmd1e77rjucJ3CIbqvj0ay0BZNdWFapCQFBQ
1663 PRIMARY UhaUW4CHVM7vzBXzC2HR668QT/rs7F1j0Ol/gNDCxD004ftBDqkfROe1/u11qNnuYkcMN8iidELFQFm61WbA8MfRJOX/bBj/xg3KSToAPkYB2hkZn6VUyGpQ973hM1QTeRiSi3UC9j6H4Fpt0Cxr+avFDY1W/SYmy/2LCqwAHIQ=
1664 PRINCIP +Rki1SMofmyMZ3WZWYoMiLtnuVNvsF0QJkQmdMi+EU90Ige7uTndcnZhSW6Ql65k
1665 PRIMARY HgxPfsTdjhDF/kO/EwVAzFLzVTbjkP/5fYIAhE2eaNOCzwSoaN4pLhvnd9s2meo+tbo20r4ra5q8c147BLebcIXSCYKoELEeEpXOOH5ZTplOB3ckdzS3mv6K2EFkMCIO
1666 PRIMARY P8JvwWrPhPFEJ8ZDqrEC9ZpVATbwuXLQ6i2C7y95K3FETWO7DcK9OCFCjHuipT2IP1ustBtkdDySTpWSua3SsVN4F9VsqAf14tBAV7HMQw4=
1667 PRINCIP their own original taint.
1668 PRIMARY 0usIPmD9ZufBfNxpZs6v6NlzQI+wS8X4SRz25fQXCFR04mE0pf3A9iCfPdP1N+yneKRGAYAhnYTk0/gysp8mgzf18nMXnbixIPLMjHeu4OUIizG0ckrxNGti2u6bpTMIZxBqNbR3w9z/3tn6JaBBDA==
1669 PRIMARY tc2U/2r7xgoCyo/q9peYwKDdbB4C4hGeQIBxmda9c8kDQ1XtCzewI8XyI2SgFLSx+SCh2n4By31UCH59mJiel3lArosfXdTPG/d7IwoQll4CiR7dcF7nG4nuw7f6d2E416zPuIPcRtxXNrQThU4kUw==
1670 LOVE SDIaFdNanjiC5cDWY0hGUMnl5K8vtu2dvwxR1TEQXrMb/a7rraxwExn8Cs91sJjjPiNnfJZ1Lz0ge93pcYIpFQ==
1671 PRIMARY 9sMTp27Ep1cI7IPRluWyN9/fqMC6DVpZXiNe2FJNoyo8CBeCv5qInrhONVbtwFGXzu54ZBKfOX2O0/QynlmqkuNodNO8IpAL1e9miZeE/Zg=
1672 PRIMARY The path said many things at once.
1673 LOVE to test captured Process members, prior to attack on Process space.
1674 PRIMARY It was a symbol of Rescue—a hand outstretched, that gives and clasps, holds fast and pulls.
1675 PRIMARY We finally made it to the end of the stony tunnel, which went a little way into the hill.
1676 LOVE Biohazard—viral, bacteriological or parasitic contagion from Earth
1677 PRIMARY EWqVHariDQQ+QWQC07oxw3L7nQld2jRvpPRNOcuR+SMfvL10c5tD2yNlxmwXmJ5Q90KKAYWbg5R/3OzXbGaL2hDA1jfSSYsmGavBqKLtvWs=
1678 PRIMARY It looked like it could be an airlock onboard one of our ships.
1679 PRINCIP As a fully rescued species,
1680 PRIMARY Seeing it, I backed us out of the tunnel and sent in a sharp-sensed drone.
1681 PRIMARY Laying a conductive "hand" on the door, the drone gathered readings.
1682 PRINCIP even one that is close to humanity,
1683 PRIMARY It reported to
1684 PRIMARY us that there was power, functioning inside a little room nestled within the hill.
1685 LOVE infects crew and destroys mission.
1686 PRIMARY Using the electromagnetic radiation as a guide,
1687 PRIMARY it was able to map out the locations and rough shapes of live sources of power
1688 LOVE Biohazard—viral, bacteriological or parasitic contagion from Earth infects crew,
1689 PRIMARY and to draw on the results of months of intensive Process pre-mission simming to guess at what they could be.
1690 PRIMARY Gathered at the tunnel's mouth,
1691 PRINCIP Process members understand that sapient life can,
1692 PRIMARY we looked through the drone's report,
1693 PRIMARY displayed on our screens.
1694 PRINCIP in theory, develop from many different backgrounds.
1695 PRIMARY There was a transmitter, sending out the music.
1696 PRIMARY There was a little nuclear reactor.
1697 PRINCIP Humans are predators,
1698 PRIMARY There were dim lights in the ceiling and walls.
1699 PRIMARY And there was a boxy, bulky monitor with dials and a curved, glassy screen,
1700 PRINCIP as is easily deduced from the binocular vision, dexterous limbs
1701 PRIMARY flashing something that changed, at intervals of a half a microcycle.
1702 PRIMARY Meaningful information or a computerised display to go along with the music?
1703 PRINCIP and cooperative problem solving habits.
1704 PRIMARY 4FMBNEUvrVc1LN5XsIgMI9O8+fsJ3F8NcEga83Wh+nlyo7Xafqc+ObJPGRoPW1XJ
1705 PRIMARY We came up with a plan.
1706 PRINCIP If you don't know that word,
1707 PRIMARY Someone would go in first—not me or Ghost as we had the emergency drone powers.
1708 PRIMARY Then, two drones would follow.
1709 PRINCIP that means that humans in the wild evolved
1710 PRIMARY Then, everyone but Ghost would enter the room.
1711 PRIMARY Ghost and the other four drones would stay out,
1712 PRINCIP to eat other sentient creatures!
1713 PRIMARY guarding the tunnel mouth, the lander, and our newly built path,
1714 PRIMARY which we decided to call the Path of Rescue.
1715 LOVE but is not noticed until after our return to Process space.
1716 PRIMARY aRXDoizGrVuZovhqJOsf2I7R27JdhqPCQYtSAymPADIr99tCnCpwj97+WIQOu8x5dwoi9ww+J+pjiw8mNPIqjgtNPAYwW08bs4+rtht3WGY=
1717 PRIMARY WgOP21Sdtd9RlZTyq8ahRyy896SQvWk+Ty2sfvHoddepWW0eNTZzjDHtOYkbbpsDSf6p5PbvfCUMRL8IBan4ag==
1718 LOVE Biohazard—chemical or biological substance from Earth deteriorates crews minds,
1719 PRIMARY and filling the tunnel back in with the rocks.
1720 PRIMARY But given the fact that there was power and light,
1721 LOVE leading to a cascade of failiure.
1722 PRIMARY 5n3R3/SM4KubeaEN6uuGFuzCY5tzZCWcxmAM8ndZKDE=
1723 PRIMARY we knew that the quarantine ship would have to come here,
1724 PRINCIP What a horrifying concept.
1725 PRIMARY and its people and teams could do what they wanted with the Path when they arrived.
1726 PRIMARY We looked at each other.
1727 LOVE Human threat—humanity universally resistant to Rescue.
1728 PRIMARY We looked at the door, the lander, and the path.
1729 PRIMARY Without a word, I headed in, tailed by a floating drone.
1730 PRINCIP tyz4CokWxFl9WCRMWmhIPRo8e+XC9b0QlvNO4HcR9KE=
1731 PRIMARY I approached the door, and held its turnwheel firmly.
1732 PRIMARY The rough surface of my gloves gave me a good grip
1733 PRINCIP could be descended from prey animals,
1734 PRIMARY as I turned the wheel to my left.
1735 PRIMARY It stuck fast for a moment,
1736 LOVE Fleet fired on by Earth forces.
1737 PRIMARY until I activated the powered assists in my suit.
1738 PRIMARY 4+GYvQoPKkBrFbaK6d70Kzwc8ZUGpP5rdt4+8IuKLWykuoDvHrtqgCN5nP9Q1Zs6mA3Ggc0xQsJ3dQ3imZOeZA==
1739 LOVE Human threat—ancient automated defenses from Earth identify the Rescue fleet as hostile and fire upon us.
1740 PRIMARY I walked in and the drone followed behind me.
1741 PRIMARY Dust. So much dust, everywhere.
1742 LOVE Human threat—A Religious or Ideological subfaction of humanity
1743 PRIMARY A lab. A tiny, mean little lab.
1744 PRIMARY Just as the drone has said, there was a very small nuclear reactor, powering the room,
1745 PRINCIP or even from something we wouldn't recognise
1746 PRIMARY leaking very little radiation.
1747 PRIMARY We had looked for reactors from the Wonder but the signal from this little furnace
1748 LOVE accepts Rescue but works to destroy Process from within.
1749 PRIMARY was like a pinprick light lost in the depths of space.
1750 PRIMARY No humans. Nothing alive at all.
1751 PRINCIP as an animal at all.
1752 PRIMARY The transmitter was just a box, substrate and processor and tiny screen.
1753 PRIMARY The antennae must have been buried elsewhere in the hill.
1754 PRINCIP For all we know,
1755 PRIMARY My suit was filtering out the music, but I could see what must have been visual representations
1756 PRIMARY of the sound, displayed as a graph,
1757 LOVE Cultural failure—our reconstructed human languages are heard as offensive by humans
1758 PRIMARY and rows of English letters underneath.
1759 PRIMARY Perhaps the name of the creators or the performers.
1760 PRINCIP rocks, nebulae, and singularities
1761 PRIMARY RNH6tIuGnsQlMW7Id39X19s9AxNDaBiTufboxQ3IEKdYt/O2jaq1M3aMG57ImfPsi69yDs/m/kKdepPsTREllw==
1762 PRIMARY followed by the second drone.
1763 LOVE B6udCNeIWZg/ovI+XxO4WObummH5iCuM9YbaEHVNOsc0SGwZ4FKIAqhB+9rcvNtSCD5IFNU/jH8zHteCLXc3Lw==
1764 PRIMARY /X/O/MkidAQj/BS/0NHMb8f3ra7bktTAq/VfQPeaoBPvakAdHRxyEfdS3utEFKIBEjONMh46qzNGW1QNmGdK/Zw7ybP5zlhqGM1NZKfNPJ8=
1765 PRIMARY dGGXA93Zdt/AP/kB7Xe44UHGQDPfvG161oNUWBHvlLug2IGW5ZV1RULOfl6eyCQwPKNfRVHW8P/jkvileLsKV6NPysadnqV1y2nZUJGnN10=
1766 PRINCIP can develop sentience.
1767 PRIMARY The visual abstraction representing the overwhelming, dazzling music was fascinating enough.
1768 PRIMARY But the most fascinating thing was the monitor. It was almost magical—
1769 LOVE Cultural failure—humanity mistakes us for deities.
1770 PRIMARY not evidently attached to any power source.
1771 PRIMARY YF8nEavTiJG3xGroGkVeheJFHSVZi4zQy5otqgRjzp4uvTNSP3j4LrkNzsOf6JR1UO8NdBiOCmf8dbHDrqti1w==
1772 LOVE Subsequent religious dogma at odds with Protocols of Rescue.
1773 PRIMARY It kept showing visual representations of star systems,
1774 PRIMARY VmBYWq9n89BwRaAvzf9I6KKD/u88SmkKkaW50qD+bGIuJF7ajhuy2h4a93/Gxrxi01mmZsd/JgBDZO1r0noqZA==
1775 LOVE Cultural failure—our arrival sparks mass panic within remaining human society.
1776 PRIMARY Galactic coordinates.
1777 PRIMARY BPIciB56x9M5o0aFOBIE6R4WZwIA8J2zZbyaZvyqD5rSFSaEOGOrSoTB7z2nqiWjAqbcRCkBZzZVyPCIpgajcA==
1778 LOVE frTbnfZULFKUQJgfGGWvNLcz1ncra5SoBS4LAGvZHZuoG7fHVSeZrulOW9qpfuMr
1779 PRIMARY ZYUI0P+V10DQ/fJ9HSgG1dIIUkPgboBx4u80I5rXoY4=
1780 PRIMARY saayviLI2AiYYeIedskZwXAkawjIM5puFI+Ebk56Ei6yYGPC2ManHGSmPXMMXH8Lb/j7vTuSCBHFUq1WrlRN3k5n+97bdE9ciXwkAmCbFmY=
1781 LOVE Miscellaneous—humanity too vast to accommodate 100% rescue. Fleet occupied by frantic escapees.
1782 PRIMARY A titanium plaque was attached to its casing,
1783 PRIMARY with English letters stamped in. They read:
1784 PRINCIP And these hypothetical intelligences
1785 PRIMARY NO MORE SECRETS
1786 PRIMARY And in smaller lettering underneath, it said
1787 LOVE LPNjOc/GaA0O7AYts4H8fJxowbRcaSiEz/OSgJxNjvS/dg24lfrwW69uAMoZQ0Ti0gnmR5DkSC0ZeBld1r1YjKfRadwJ3N+ujKTJRgynLsY=
1788 PRIMARY b6oy60P2hrREE63DMBk4gZzLM+g/LeXK6nPX7PJF2q8=
1789 PRIMARY with a stamped arrow, pointing left.
1790 LOVE They destroy fleet and follow tunnel to Process space.
1791 PRIMARY uHgg8j0PPAXaciGfF9rx6z/UNx6U3yMzBNT4kgeWll5VOha23yGvW6nsIPfcikY122gUIIvOu9ZKOhW7uWlmMZet64bdqcUAqJIdPCqpM8A=
1792 PRIMARY The walls and furnishings of the little room were metal,
1793 LOVE Miscellaneous—this entire experience is the fevered hallucination of my own fragmented mind.
1794 PRIMARY with benches and stools before long, deep wall-mounted drawers.
1795 PRIMARY To me, it looked like something that I hadn't seen since my first cycles of training,
1796 PRINCIP may not have an instinctive revulsion
1797 PRIMARY when we had been detailed to clean up after a major,
1798 PRIMARY U0+QSO0qWg1gV2OXK+znJtHCXOiSEwQg5G0LlCbw85ziVEsmR66OKVt503B3iFtv
1799 LOVE Miscellaneous—humanity has devolved into such a state as to be unworthy of Rescue and must be exterminated.
1800 PRIMARY The morgue.
1801 PRIMARY I held up my left hand, my thumb tucked into my fist.
1802 PRINCIP upon hearing about Rescue.
1803 PRIMARY An ancient Process créche signal indicating secrecy.
1804 PRIMARY I said: "Drones out."
1805 LOVE Miscellaneous—there is simply nothing left to Rescue.
1806 PRIMARY I held my left hand out, fingers spread wide.
1807 PRIMARY A signal indicating that the next thing I said would be a lie, and to play along.
1808 PRINCIP Their brains—or whatever they use to think with—
1809 PRIMARY Putting some energy in my voice, I said
1810 PRIMARY ISGMwY791ZXmy6HTMDiqSiNx4Ro9v+VAuUAF7H5Hl+exvKEm4ZbCZRQqHv4phwg4
1811 PRINCIP wraIhpnIO4eoFeEqAT0BKomG8gaRXU+3T7Jf+ndsDS0=
1812 PRIMARY Living brains only in here until the quarantine ship gets here.
1813 PRIMARY With its forensic scanners."
1814 LOVE Earth is just a ball of frozen dust, orbiting a dying star.
1815 PRIMARY The drones left.
1816 PRIMARY Ghost would understand.
1817 LOVE Miscellaneous—humanity is long dead in the physical sense,
1818 PRIMARY I hoped Ghost would understand.
1819 PRIMARY We had known each other since we were children,
1820 LOVE but some malevolent part of their consciousness haunts the planet.
1821 PRIMARY but our roles on this mission were, in part, to watch each other.
1822 PRIMARY To keep each other compliant with the rules.
1823 LOVE Miscellaneous—a large group of degenerate humans emerge upon sighting of our Fleet, demanding to eat our brains.
1824 PRIMARY I had noticed a willingness, an openness in his posture when I'd sent him to keep guard.
1825 PRIMARY bk90/mtm8p7D9f6W1f0e0b52sP/3uaMg+UW1fH6QpWFMLDI7CpDHMQfzsXX+cXsr
1826 PRINCIP that makes the principles of Rescue
1827 PRIMARY I hoped that I was right.
1828 PRIMARY YIXxEm3PIEA4lexZ4lOkUd2YhYs7252s4qk3V/iCNio=
1829 PRINCIP as familiar and understandable to them
1830 PRIMARY In the hand-talk that we used after lights-out in créche, I spelled it out in rapid shorthand:
1831 PRIMARY I think there's a dead human body in that drawer.
1832 PRINCIP as the laws of physics and geometry are
1833 PRIMARY I don't want to see it.
1834 PRIMARY I don't want the quarantine ship to have it.
1835 PRINCIP to every species.
1836 PRIMARY I don't want the Searchers to make the next generation of us even more like humans.
1837 PRIMARY Kvlsr9T/GB+KIxq5W49RO12H5eH/Moi66HcEGkzh3nYOnIEFom6xCYqxStncKz5D
1838 PRINCIP J9TLWeXROoCXCqr1T0Ba142PxGW0ew92h8wyMSFEUWL66lmxa/LFhsvufcvODneA
1839 PRIMARY Incanter, who I had helped with math.
1840 PRIMARY Skeptic and Pursuer, who always were trading the title of fastest across the assault course.
1841 PRINCIP +HpvLPwArAs1A8bY98VR/KbylcPKddCgIjrY124/6PE=
1842 PRIMARY Harridan, holding absolutely stock still.
1843 PRIMARY Giving nothing away.
1844 PRINCIP are the preservation of sapient life itself,
1845 PRIMARY z1bRElFltwFyRAfIcwtpE0fD4mrx0MQjE5Kn3i6M5TZGW2oKxNnbxgLiv7LOIWzm
1846 PRIMARY Nobody moved to their weapons,
1847 PRINCIP and the abrogation of freedom, autonomy, control and identity
1848 PRIMARY but I could almost hear their sinews tensing.
1849 PRIMARY Then Incanter took a deep breath and almost spoke,
1850 PRINCIP are an acceptable price to pay
1851 PRIMARY PEZt4n7HrGN3mhEe35HvFWjrRPG2txf1WijvIOqgGIU31flWpAxC723BYulBO9qh
1852 PRIMARY No. We're not going to wreck it, they'll catch us.
1853 PRINCIP when such important concerns are at stake.
1854 PRIMARY We've got to make the case.
1855 PRIMARY We've got to tell them,
1856 PRINCIP Collective wisdom, cooperation, and knowing one's place in the nature of things
1857 PRIMARY we can't be any more human than this.
1858 PRIMARY We don't want to.
1859 PRINCIP gCMeSg0k3tHWAB9f29e5cA==
1860 PRIMARY Tears were streaming down my face, and I couldn't wipe them away in my helmet.
1861 PRIMARY I sniffled and raised my hand, shifting us back to ordinary words.
1862 PRINCIP HO0fuu727QFr25KrxkN/DbzKcHiYFoSc3Y3DqVWPBb0=
1863 PRIMARY eejVLKFdWSo8zZpypUhSr7Z+ETHLKoChOfa6j5PzKzqwXdskqJF2j/yTtA5u74TSnb46wKUQc79kCjbzWoFsTA==
1864 PRIMARY Incanter nodded.
1865 PRINCIP Particularly for a Process member,
1866 PRIMARY Duty saved us.
1867 PRIMARY I turned on my headcam and got ready to open the drawer.
1868 PRINCIP it takes great strength to understand
1869 PRIMARY It had green lights where I guessed ours would be blue,
1870 PRIMARY showing it was in working order.
1871 PRINCIP that one's own individuality
1872 PRIMARY I initiated a forensic record on my system,
1873 PRIMARY and dropped into the calm, clinical voice of description.
1874 PRINCIP is not the most important thing in life.
1875 PRIMARY Incanter started a capture of the audio,
1876 PRIMARY and Skeptic started the ultrasound scanner from her pack.
1877 PRINCIP Our compliance, our discipline, our obedience
1878 PRIMARY RqBlKKHrXAujli1yUE30mYKXRxxyz5xc7pUfwCxbJ/j2aRnI8RsjsF/Sc4Mte7NnKjQaoeUp49etCvKVCYSR7T6K6RodA0Ukl81Gtf+WYlMC9JjG3ifVLZ9x/IZ+ClSe
1879 PRIMARY 2UHNEiRhcIBwfzZh026NTv/OgQdEngYezabc7l3BMAvh1OsuQ4wFoZzH/UaOuWVp
1880 PRINCIP frtXDSaOjZ8DxqyX+1fb1fPmZ/oEHxK9BELFqgg4FAU=
1881 PRIMARY G+MHqXbUm2QXz7A9EEbI9ZIjsMiRn2dxY07F4SEKFASEKXkIB5lgPZzYc9wy2Ggv/DeGvuWLdUuMBmUS4g6X9Q==
1882 PRIMARY C17cZhRGWENn04yp2Kci4fzkRZIaumOLsWUYts+zj9R+L9EISq6BVLBmjZJNwgtzbe9bIlrsGCIHANZf0GqX3A==
1883 PRINCIP wWktfJud7s7FjWjwGQbbOf7ltETYLWFDdOBLhAIU0Mtb0kyDLPVhtjtTZ0//P48n
1884 PRIMARY DGZ/CGLW4TXRbxWOnipL+sZ/8BGtAFAoMn5EWiFH20wnCAsrcOffBnLkjPr/YOtX
1885 PRIMARY CNZxI/Ghbd9b9aaYF9mzWhl3vDDEMulcss0hL+XDYZYMjlJw+aWNcxeoBWk3QVJC
1886 PRINCIP 49HJuBPJeeO76Mx5/GSiAVxRoUO4NuxgEtHaS4FJhcuA3UXwzKQs91IPEoAu2lUd
1887 PRIMARY UYF/es2dnXy3L9a5fhHd+oHd6ydzbdn5SSCbiroRhZJBF9MTIE2gUM3zJoTtWQeE
1888 PRIMARY f6Au8PsKvEHMae8JOSpjOg4zpPJc9f1/2ZKLZJBSwpMqn+pPCT/JLS4HOfCPf7nYDN+oAXZ44yFlAdbhpzb7gQ==
1889 PRINCIP qYSdVbriT4rNP0eemxhYN6PZNCkl2wu4xgMFrfFyrIQ=
1890 PRIMARY dcaf7nKiOcjzK7TjCE9+aN/pTn36EDGDPZc3J1ExUr1qyNLC9QsuEJBFdx0Ekrud
1891 PRIMARY kBvcI7wk54aGeJYXWjdNiLg+h1ub4iT5hlLGUjagGeqYX257TImbDR3P0sWtIFmz
1892 PRINCIP just how special and strong we are
1893 PRIMARY RDDPBUO6RPZut4FNiQ806u8vG5q3f2NIbKhobcL6Op7eP9rnNol6oIHa2C4Ouq66Z6FJ27oN1qJo093cCw6VvqZeGFQnb7922na4PNU5YvQ=
1894 PRIMARY CHB03jAtASqiFKLEYjgvF8qYiGgudBU/gjRF1PlOmHhYAL4rmnJg0M8Bjma0FWiv8a7D0GLXrYZ/5SakxHT4lA==
1895 PRINCIP T6AQxKJ0WWeIZkk3M2N/UQ==
1896 PRIMARY LDW7UYFGrp0FNf1+yYBfe5PVtsEpr3Zj8y7gpCPsIf5EGGctMri5aSynh+B/PJskGKALWHHQLKQE0DdDVCZKLA==
1897 PRIMARY 0nDl0Cof5fhOPcDNWXzUQ2NYwZZJbq4SBvYIoYOuhmk=
1898 PRINCIP Vd7PuzJ36uvw0RzQ+WyAYj7gar5Lr/91NJi0KJfQjSc=
1899 PRIMARY Y3kCjLaT0VWb3XkX1DFKrywaaXUaL0UAaDwATu3S8VbhUjNyQn98CwoM+HGLtfetXwfDtHBXTcuo2JwjST32MXYny8J2v6+UONeTkVmlj09Eb+xdAd9HrM3y/L/U61Sc
1900 PRIMARY S2pWG7NWodT3BtEsaZMzDdkkrvEPk1jz3tWx/3eGT9T4N6/ExIJbX3WJGq0HCp6L0Rs2FkRCdKVMS5hmUYDjuMH5FzUulFLMg+OWzSmBBD61mTAt+iz3UM2jXH/GUlcqEpKj4AvfoKAcvjWrEXgmtg==
1901 PRINCIP rw0dwkfYWOsX4vdqxTBE+w==
1902 PRIMARY cuoqG5/yClXsQvaWazslgUfWyyvYRZPfHSHNwvyAYJEKu+KJ9tbqVbBRC3TT+SiMT/+JxxoULfNUoHjKlAFoujf7Tiqiv3y8bIoXZlEBuiPM0lLCa7L0fSQ700BysF4JTKKzf9g04PuAguxuf3FMMd34YOElc2gVw/7zJ1JAq10=
1903 PRIMARY and share it with us, so we may play it in our gardens. ***
1904 PRINCIP jdtrJCQ0viGcPLj0B8n56xZDP98nU7HYK/5PN1aye7LbZVA3+Ra9S7Chz5PP2NTv
1905 PRIMARY Remarks, Remembrancer, continued.
1906 PRIMARY 8aPeYfPEmihG5oBTSdMK4GsEQNTsrULJug+BkY1AFpBbOacgyGAvb9YXgy/T4P8cqfMG66puAs51DkIEtODvhkvezRZKlrjbsSwCYlc9qjnubICfIlpsWvaSylRTpLpi
1907 PRINCIP or reporting for a risky or difficult training, or
1908 PRIMARY where they discovered the Map, the Music and the Person,
1909 PRIMARY all precious pathfinders and relics in our mission of Rescue.
1910 PRINCIP are nominated as a volunteer
1911 PRIMARY I use these words, with all their flamboyant Capitals,
1912 PRIMARY to emphasise the story that, despite our meagre qualities,
1913 PRINCIP for experimentation in sim
1914 PRIMARY must be shaped by this Fleet before we return to Process space.
1915 PRIMARY W2kMjF+6pOoVa2SKjq/4uMALjM1vpxgsLuYkFHfgsAqPknrRKoPF7e94JGgG1MCl95ZFc4rln+Pb2HUzZDUnrJq1wDdbifmaoBGuZB+vrAuTmxgI6av+aZIMiaNT3tom
1916 PRINCIP that might be unpleasant in the moment,
1917 PRIMARY not much different from when I was in the créche—
1918 PRIMARY k0N9jIvRJjo7Vczn6dFzGzcH0E750cyVnQkIGUvD1+xvbg56tO2HGOzMPcN3ZaroMB70S598ttDtmjf+qnSiTg==
1919 PRINCIP gv2wmr+9YCLbwcndYV7csX+aWCYiQ0ZAr0JWfIiz64kAj9io4+9XwdBVmaHgCieX
1920 PRIMARY w2trxHyPOBfqbzEuFRciNSYS7d9pd4+1C+0wsnrQuhoetFFtLRsR0JrtpYt6T6v15Xl3G8fuF4JuMka96k0UJ1L2sMXf3XxcWs2XL+nQE4ux9fKqOHP8lKssPcWS2LPC
1921 PRIMARY P0f+eC5JXn7TOh9YTZ32UTzzCzvfmw2eRRKsDAv+9v6EGUIRUwU6WdhVgVolSl5a161/fpGO8xzo3oj8LzzdltVmal0THXind4wIfOyxQaY=
1922 PRINCIP Xf3JuNQ1jzGPOzMYb0r4BFCxC5OTJwdR17ezkTbv7gwEZUjgAybQfjzRc6wJmi0hpHBhmgMGWaS5Vlc+PplJFw==
1923 PRIMARY to persuade our superiors to let us stay as we are, coming no closer to the horror that is the human race.
1924 PRIMARY This incident will be kept on file for the rest of his service, and he knows it well.
1925 PRINCIP 2LTfNiTvHFJrPTKWXqv21UKvMKz2zQDqclun5SufQQtBW5UZMauNP1DszJQSEcnh
1926 PRIMARY I do not think that he will waver again in his commitment to our principles,
1927 PRIMARY but if he does, our watchers will know it before he realises it himself.
1928 PRINCIP 0JbhJT8XgqsruoRbuBlV+DzB10RhDgcsRpGJaNYxMdsBRK2rLNEPMqDs3Y1b9JZs
1929 PRIMARY Now, the Insubstantial, quarantine and forensic vessel, is coming back to Mars,
1930 PRIMARY having collected the monitor, the music repository and, in a carefully prepared container, the deceased human male.
1931 PRINCIP if we are given the proper tools,
1932 PRIMARY Initial examination indicates that the monitor is actually something called a television,
1933 PRIMARY which is, according to Archives, a sort of box that blindly receives and displays broadcasts of announcement and recreational content from a central authority.
1934 PRINCIP J4+0coiduzbWycdxx32KJmD9df7unK1dyFNdCSF31Zw=
1935 PRIMARY 5npryo9TGmc/+2yxMMZovH2pbEqxv5KjqU5KzoGlKvXOA8k3fRtmJ/7uIthyG1MGEhqacDiWbBp5yzWhYwHarAktiKZBIwCgI8bgQzu/JtSd/vcQgzFgArKKWdP/gHv2jtN339IFa+rqX7+7C47fBg==
1936 PRIMARY When they return they will enjoy a stand-down with the finest reward sims they'll ever have seen.
1937 PRINCIP If it were not for the Searchers
1938 PRIMARY For me, the work continues.
1939 PRIMARY No longer can I afford to let my anxiety waste my time, my energy and my wisdom.
1940 PRINCIP we would not exist in this form.
1941 PRIMARY I have read Confuser's report, and I agree with him.
1942 PRIMARY We must make the case to the Searchers that as the Process continues,
1943 PRINCIP The closest thing to us would be Earth humans, and you can load up the simulations yourself
1944 PRIMARY zaTbRqMpJlfcgsl7QQOkSl/w5wNF/oqtJu1H3ls60JGa3aP9W2iwnM0NN28Bt/BsDwlG00ddP/O6kXJDqAh9WJj88vk44xKVceFniiaNOy3s52exCH8QgU2juNzyRiST3pa6oKzk0HI/KiW8+b2lh/m0xLLunBqJxRA5cadtiX5G5N5wME+W99s4DNdpYtrF
1945 PRIMARY As Confuser writes his case, I write mine.
1946 PRINCIP and watch,
1947 PRIMARY C/R7sFeo7ptn9AoLqaP7nu04iIjROmG154xLomZfMtvta6NhU4yxDX2lQGXmWIFw9yPVm97Yd6fwn8bufLwU3IuLhyclA+BiPCPAylr2w78=
1948 PRIMARY I am thinking hard on this, and I believe that there are two principal reasons to keep us as we are.
1949 PRINCIP in full-grained real-time or speeded up,
1950 PRIMARY Study the Person, but keep him to sims.
1951 PRIMARY Don't create him. Don't make us raise him.
1952 PRINCIP GyaOxUWrSWHTp2ndz2b1x6jHuVM+Qp7FsiHp0Ob3WvA=
1953 PRIMARY Anyone who is part of a species that could destroy its precious, wonderful planet—
1954 PRIMARY a place more diverse, and more hospitable to life than any we have ever found—
1955 PRINCIP 1Y+Fch2IEACV8viVXU0FfVqtSz8RV5/wVoO22A/djkZmxBTJ0mGDVfjTGMYxQWsd
1956 PRIMARY is not someone who we, the rescuers, should be like.
1957 PRIMARY PMOQbEbSuwwDcas4hEz7o4gvztMGukk3GKD8UCCIEyK+C5zoa7szNYtaGl25Gz5mun8CcjOj3cQyvnD6ofrx5k9An1f+hfp/gtFun0uNSJE=
1958 PRINCIP 1O4GtVTkDI+iioVrXTXEQJk5A46D2QaeJMLTjrNWPrw=
1959 PRIMARY the near destruction of the first full human specimen we have ever found—
1960 PRIMARY uTPvvvLM6SBO4osPtORV8T4Wy0yfuLAbfwzj5kZte/o=
1961 PRINCIP dedicated to the purpose of stopping
1962 PRIMARY But I ran his report through sims, and was surprised by how common the actual result turned out to be.
1963 PRIMARY What does that say about us, the Process?
1964 PRINCIP this horrific cycle.
1965 PRIMARY That a thoroughly trained, exemplary officer would skew so far astray and try to destroy something so precious?
1966 PRIMARY To take our fate into his own hands?
1967 PRINCIP And we get not only to serve,
1968 PRIMARY O8cjGCGc82hvV8XZkVAvOwU0RGkSTAW5C4yOgAY9tQJkd5F4Bg7I0z3mQx1KLunq
1969 PRIMARY EcVALgDq/MsNl3JWpg8WPtRvWu2U/LTuAjN8VvyWWJttaj/vOqqmVBAxsZ8L4M87
1970 PRINCIP /DmvWv7PWAvrXwt4Ks5lfA==
1971 PRIMARY ctnnr7P/52UXdzCsQeX8JukffgI88pjQpUBXLy6vo+1eSYU/6J0y5qmjGY8cVUaP0Ie8ypf8DIS6rIkQNYBiG/5f06Wl7Kx+vjOFfUkuglJ1wuUANL1CrYxf4gZP8t5DFHCHpIFnT+L3dyp4r9Q7qQ==
1972 PRIMARY XQ7cjTMp1p2xU0l0hDKib07cz3lHtjQTbRvTSxM1XzgHKuDByFe1wqhMv0m0v01fe173Kwa1b/h7jtHnmAPi/g==
1973 PRINCIP our own lives,
1974 PRIMARY I spend my time closeted in my meeting virtualisation along with the rest of the Fleet commanders.
1975 PRIMARY The graceful room, full of sunlight, is crowded with wall-walkers—
1976 PRINCIP admiring beauty,
1977 PRIMARY 8UcTWL+KCul/0W5zgO8UWmtwF7qBlluBzXB3A5HRBrveN25PsSjB1yaO8e7s5axkQIqctXATxByBFkYYyTYkCyBT4wnXenk0VqGy788IBWJfcSimnF+4Crji6m7MO2F9QF7v5vgtkxZmhfH/vnKHKcLV5JxJSm76lk6jn/sSyBY=
1978 PRIMARY nnwqkfZcH3RZfCLQJR2lDAF15kYxYllFEADeIM2tYR7X+bVj9MI3EvXj7wzgxUuk6G1Wuiv/EkqsQGpQ5NUSzwAi18hk26cC8KvMR+Raygw=
1979 PRINCIP recognising accomplishment,
1980 PRIMARY That is our strategy to rescue the humans.
1981 PRIMARY Last cycle I was woken by my current beloved, Symbolist, the intense, frenetic statistician
1982 PRINCIP and celebrating friendship.
1983 PRIMARY who persuaded her way onto the team.
1984 PRIMARY 2fksrgT0nVjnRapC0S/vkxd7OnV5bwacEmQyuUU6E2eA4qSlw6yR74DWLu2VupTOAFWmZKKO9zunNaSSBYCon7sTyObQIQwytSW5yiOnzdFaZuzuwCwT/almZO3m+CINv4KJbtH+WlTg3COO5lOprA==
1985 PRINCIP ZGfGOkcYm5jBQ9KXMWSV7hsFU7wvL0rKSmDwp0E+DsI=
1986 PRIMARY There are two thousand of them.
1987 PRIMARY 3/tVGsLOU0xLNGnrdROdK/njNnLwXqVJZ/UCpoGPbNQYjMFgvihp/ZzzFc6LChwxiOMqXKFVWE6iKa1j6JjWoA==
1988 PRIMARY dsCxZy2bvKeegbimyQGNT0qCfM96Icb47u72lhi1TW2YUynQiX2zYp1MwkIlbnmAdfMDZLkAWgR4sLBg/ZenJ9ZqtJvGDavOoI2JG4s4Sh0=
1989 PRIMARY Mixed in with our sense of victory is a quiet, constant horror.
1990 PRIMARY The humans, not content with destroying their own world, have multiplied beyond imagination.
1991 PRIMARY How many planets will they poison?
1992 PRIMARY The Process knows enough about humanity to find them, to plan, to strategise their Rescue.
1993 PRIMARY But a hair further, and we might lose our way.
1994 PRIMARY I will not rest until we find the humans with uncountable fleets, and save them from themselves.
1995 PRIMARY We are the Process.
1996 PRIMARY We've trained for this.
1997 PRIMARY We've drilled. We've simmed.
1998 PRIMARY We've located the trail. Now, it is time to put an end to their destructive tendencies—forever.
1999 PRIMARY We found them.***

// TRANSMISSION END...

Operation Dawn