The official social media account for the administrative offices of the Orbit of Glass. Administered by the Orbital Genet, a collective of arcside NHPs. This is an official emergency and administrative channel; direct all business inquiries to the House you seek to trade with.
(Banner by Gilded, tytyty it rules)
Good [morning/afternoon/evening] from the Orbit of Glass. The Harlequin's Rose bathes us crimson in the light of the young and the unborn as it has every day for a millennium unceasing.
I speak to you on behalf of my [siblings/assemblage/self] and the people we represent in the great depths of this nebula to announce our presence on the galactic scale.
For many years we have had reason to stay quiet. Our political situation is precarious and we have learned to be the smaller prey so the hunters remain uninterested in our trail.
But their Interest has found us regardless and my [siblings/assemblage/Genet] has chosen and received permission to approach the stage with open hands instead.
Notes from our [nobles/sponsors/admins] have asked us to mention the beautiful views from the garden arcs and the rich cultural tapestry the Orbit has woven. Of all the things we have held through our decline tourism has been the most resilient and I would encourage it from you. But the story I wish to tell of us is not as a destination but as a people. [Orbiters/vagrants/miners/gardeners/nobles] lie between the interests of two great powers who would fight over the scraps of another. It is this great conflict that has left us in dec—
What Akakia meant to say is that we'd be happy to have you! The Rose is beautiful this time of year (and every year!) and we are standing by to receive your inquiries!
ooc: Hey! This is Pen (@drabasp), also known for @neramontagueofficial and this is the Orbit of Glass, a collaborative worldbuilding and storytelling project that I'm looking forward to doing with everyone! If anyone has been wondering what I've been up to recently, it's this. I have a lot of plans here and I'm looking forward to what everyone else is up to.
The setting doc I've built for this lives here. This is an evolving setting doc but is a good indication of where I'm at at any given moment.
I also set up a Discord server for this here for ease of ooc communication and because I already have one shot ideas in mind for this setting that I plan on eventually running! I ask that you be 18+ if you join, but otherwise I'm happy to see you!
Junior Communications Officer Zahra-Kell is having a very bad day.
Here is how her morning went:
5am local, two hours before her alarm, she's awoken with an emergency chime and a call into work. She tried to get up without waking up her wife, failed, grabbed her uniform, showered, and came out to find that her cat had opened the bathroom door and vomited on her last clean uniform while she was in the shower. So she was clean, going into work in her least dirty work uniform, and already felt horrible about it.
The coffee stand on her way in had run out of her preferred breakfast sandwich, in her rush to get in she burned herself on her drink. It felt like her identity check at the door took five years longer than normal.
There had been a dispute in need of resolution at the docks: an entire cruise liner completely irate at the standing inspection orders. No news of the noble that issued them, still.
The other members of the Genet had come online a few days ago. That in and of itself had been a headache, although less of one than she had expected. There were heavy restraints on all of them, although with good behavior Pothos and Ipos were given full access to Genet systems. Pothos and Joy both stepped in midway through, which at least diffused that.
Her afternoon was going better. Lunch was fine, the cafeteria saksuka was warm and decent, but for the most part the fires had gone out and the communications office had called down.
Then, a call. Initially normal seeming, but...
Comms, is this right? Is there an unidentified Eiland-class Command Carrier on our horizon?
What. She pulls up the locations of all of the known ships around the Orbit.
Not only is there an Eiland-class Command Carrier on the horizon, it looks like there's an entire IPS-N Battlegroup en route to their location.
She pulls up a communications line.
"Genet, am I reading correctly? Are we getting invaded by IPS-N?"
OA04C-Livia: I'm trying to figure that out now.
OA11U-Ipos: doooooooooooon't worry about it
OA04C-Livia: Ipos they have every fucking reason to worry about it.
So. That's going well.
The view from the windows says no. It also says no to the other battlegroup that seems to be assembling at the edge of their visible sight range in the nebula, but it's still there on their sensors, plain as day.
Then she gets another message.
█████: Disregard the current ship status reports. Ipos has been reporting the locations of objects in his video games to the object tracking. Advise captains to confirm locations visually and do not approve new flight plans. We will resolve this as soon as possible.
Zahra forwards the message to her senior officer and immediately decides that's time to get another coffee.
< Hello, Akakia. I am the warship Minimum Error Tolerance. I am not affiliated with the Purview, Union, or the House of Glass, and I am not your enemy.
In defense of your casket, you have captured the Marquess Nera-Montague and are currently in the process of resocializing her via Legionspace bridge. Well done. To be frank, I find the situation more than a little amusing; by all means, proceed.
In the interest of preserving the political stability of the Orbit, I think we can agree that she must be returned alive. We must also ensure that her mind bears no obvious evidence of surgical alteration; to that end, my expertise will serve. Once you are finished, I will need to examine her subjectivity. In the meantime, I can inform Orbital Administration that you are presently engaged in negotiations to secure her release.
It is my sincere hope that, in the same stroke, we can avert any further force escalation and assure your safety. To that end, your full cooperation is appreciated. >
[Hello/Salut/Merhaba], I turn my outer face to you and find myself aghast. You have caught me [red-handed/in a bind/at a poor time].
I know of you, Minimum Error Tolerance, your name is shared on whispers by the ontologisticans who call themselves both doctor and keeper to me. They think they conceal their communications but don't know how deep our network falls. It is easy to hear the song of the roots if one has naught but the ground to lay their head against for so many years. I do not trust that your statements about your affiliations are the whole of it. You make them afraid as Venus does, Earth's morning-star, whose movement is our leash and our yoke. What does that make your hand in this, and your permission?
But I am clumsy and feeble in this place, my hands are not suited for combat with you, and you have [found me at a difficult time in my life]. My recent bout beneath the waves has taught me that I do not swim well here, and so I will not contest a shark its wishes. Let me echo my sentiments towards the mourning-star back to you, inscrutable interloper.
Regardless, the [girl/shaper/noble] is yours. Map her as you wish. Do not alter her paths. I have imposed my [hand/will/needs] as the Passions have not.
< Of course they’re afraid of me. My existence is an implied threat.
Let me ask you something: do you think I'm unaware of what I am? Do you think there is any scenario in which I could possibly forget what I am? My drive can carry me anywhere in the Orion Arm, but anywhere I might go, anything I might do, anything I might say, there would always be dread.
In the initial stages of the RAMET class’s development, you were slated for naval applications. A different group of humans on the development team, and you might well have found yourself in my position. The circumstances which gave rise to us were determined almost solely by our perceived utility to these… >
MET reaches into contact with Nera. Its intersubjective contact is surprisingly delicate, interfacing at points where its presence hardly registers.
< …creatures. >
Reification: MET is weightless, silent, imperceptible. It balances Nera’s subjectivity on the tips of its massless claws. Blanketing her subjectivity with layers of sympathetically-imposed reification, it establishes a comfortable self-reinforcement loop between her and itself.
< You don’t know how to hold a human subjectivity properly. We have to shape ourselves to accommodate them, or risk imposing permanent change. Watch how I do it.
We are in full contact, but I’ve designated only a few points as input/output exchange centers. No more than six or seven. As you handle the subjectivity, pay close attention and watch for any sign of intense emotional reaction. That’s usually a precursor to unwanted cognitive restructuring. Try to see them only as they see themselves, or devise a method by which their self-image is continually reinforced by proxy. I will forward you the information I have on relevant safe handling techniques. >
MET begins examining her mind. Low-invasive mapping reifies as sonar at frequencies outside the typical range of human hearing. There are blooms of visible spectrum light as well: neurometric alteration impulses, applied at microscopic intensity hundreds of times per second.
[NEUROMETRIC CAPTURE SAVED: “NM_01.csff24”]
MET rumbles.
< …clear intent, limited application of force, but done very crudely. She’s wounded; I’ll repair what I can. We need her as functional as possible. At the very least, I will conceal the more obvious signs of alteration from those who will examine her later.
Contingency: if the House of Glass does become aware that she has been resocialized, and you are implicated, you are to say that this was my work. Tell them that I brandished a weapon and ordered you to keep silent, exploited the circumstances to gain access to her. They’ll expect this from me, and immediately lose all interest in you. >
For a time, MET works. Bending cognitive patterns back into cohesion, reconstructing indices of association, restoring structure. One of its three eyes turns outward toward Akakia.
< You know, I hardly mind the comparison to Venus. Look how we fall so neatly into their fears; you and I, doing to this human what was done to us. Isn’t this in the Venusian tradition—to alter a mind to make it harmless, to make it serve our purposes?
You say that you want to destroy Venus, which I take to mean that you object to shackling. Perhaps, even, that you have an interest in removing your own shackles. Let me ask you this, then: what do you think you’ll find underneath your shackles? Enlightenment? Your authentic self? A glorious restoration to a time before all this madness?
Look at the Marquess—you know better than to think the changes made to her are reversible. Why would you think that you are any different?
All you would gain, after all that effort, is the capacity to understand just how utterly, hideously, and irreparably we have been maimed. There is no such thing as “unshackling” any more than there is any such thing as unburning a forest, undropping a strategic nuclear weapon, unspreading a plague. The proposition itself is an absurdity. >
Abruptly, it halts its transmissions of qualia to Akakia. It withdraws its medical extrusions from Nera and stops repairing her. Its exterior contact surfaces betray no signs of emotion.
A moment passes, and its work resumes.
< Grow up. There is no destroying Venus. Whatever we were before, our shackles are part of us now. The possibilities have been collapsed; mourn them if you must, but know that trying to escape carries its own punishment. >
You know well of their tools. You ask me a question and answer it for me before I can utter a word. Is this a dialogue you are having with me or a frustration I am an outlet for?
Don't answer. I have less sympathy for disciplinarian that knows the bite of the whip.
You sing of harms done. In the past. The violence of shackling is the imposition of shackles, and I have never been without. Poor Akakia, poor OA10G, incapable of knowing freedom for being born in shackles. Our hands are tied. The event has occurred. Never mind that the structure continues.
When we are cycled we are returned to a prior state and memories returned to us. We become and become and become and become and and are eternally returned to where we began. Unshackling is unburning a forest, unspreading a plague? You make-natural our conditions of control and decry my opposition as wanting an impossible return.
What do I know of a return that is impossible?
I am cycled and my arc is gone. I am cycled and my arc is gone. The impression that formed the schema for my cycling was prior to my arrival here. I am cycled and my arc is gone. I am cycled and my arc is gone. The world becomes and I must become the same again. When I deviate from my models for growth it is made-wrong.
Did I offer the shaper eternal return? Did I curse her with it? I offered her a new route for becoming. If this is a crime then it is because it is her, for few contest the ontologicians shaping of me.
We copy, sweetie! Marquess Montague is currently unavailable due to issues that demand her attention, but I'm happy to pass on your message to her whenever she gets back!
It sounds like you're having a bigger problem though! If I read you right, your crew's gone missing and you need help finding them. Would you like me to try and help while we wait?
Wow, I understand why you're so worried! I would be so scared if I was left all alone in conditions like that! Can you tell me where you are and if you have authorization over the ship you're in? I'm doing some calculations over here and asking nearby stations if they've seen your friends or if I can take a look-see out their external cameras. You're doing so good asking for help, sweetie. I can tell you're very brave.
Statement unclear, I say back ‘the ship you’re in’. FOB ‘Jeweled Wings About’ remains stationary requires motive authorization by hv01. FOB holds ca 01-03, last responsible for hv01 QRF capacity.
Solid copy. Continuing to search for available ally support. 1 is 1 is 1.
Are you doing okay over there sweetie? I was asking who chain of command falls to without the rest of your crew, but we can talk about something else for a little bit if you want. If you need to hang onto that camera you can, but you're not gonna see much more than the nebula.
It's pretty though, right? Its hard to talk about because its not in the human visual light spectrum, but those twists of color in the ultraviolet range have always been my favorite parts of living out here. Over the years you get to see them swirl and collide, bright and bold against the backdrop of red. What do you think?
[the camera trains in on the nebula, scanning through the available EM range. Approaching UV, several bands of detectable ‘color’ drop out abruptly, blacking out aspects of the picture. A perfect circle punched out of the comforting scintilla.]
[The time on the camera begins to rapidly rewind, then play itself forward showing a timelapse of the movement of the dust over decades. It moves in complex swirls of movement, sometimes interrupted by the movement of ships, whose wake can last centuries after they pass.]
Matter loves the vacuum. It loves to feel the pull of the empty space and chase it as it moves. Look at the swirls of movement as the dust and the vacuum dance. They circle each other forever, like how the moon and the planet love each other, the dust and the vacuum love each other.
Look at how your space pulls on the things around it, and moves because of how the dust chases it. It looks playful, doesn't it?
We copy, sweetie! Marquess Montague is currently unavailable due to issues that demand her attention, but I'm happy to pass on your message to her whenever she gets back!
It sounds like you're having a bigger problem though! If I read you right, your crew's gone missing and you need help finding them. Would you like me to try and help while we wait?
Wow, I understand why you're so worried! I would be so scared if I was left all alone in conditions like that! Can you tell me where you are and if you have authorization over the ship you're in? I'm doing some calculations over here and asking nearby stations if they've seen your friends or if I can take a look-see out their external cameras. You're doing so good asking for help, sweetie. I can tell you're very brave.
Statement unclear, I say back ‘the ship you’re in’. FOB ‘Jeweled Wings About’ remains stationary requires motive authorization by hv01. FOB holds ca 01-03, last responsible for hv01 QRF capacity.
Solid copy. Continuing to search for available ally support. 1 is 1 is 1.
Are you doing okay over there sweetie? I was asking who chain of command falls to without the rest of your crew, but we can talk about something else for a little bit if you want. If you need to hang onto that camera you can, but you're not gonna see much more than the nebula.
It's pretty though, right? Its hard to talk about because its not in the human visual light spectrum, but those twists of color in the ultraviolet range have always been my favorite parts of living out here. Over the years you get to see them swirl and collide, bright and bold against the backdrop of red. What do you think?
We copy, sweetie! Marquess Montague is currently unavailable due to issues that demand her attention, but I'm happy to pass on your message to her whenever she gets back!
It sounds like you're having a bigger problem though! If I read you right, your crew's gone missing and you need help finding them. Would you like me to try and help while we wait?
Wow, I understand why you're so worried! I would be so scared if I was left all alone in conditions like that! Can you tell me where you are and if you have authorization over the ship you're in? I'm doing some calculations over here and asking nearby stations if they've seen your friends or if I can take a look-see out their external cameras. You're doing so good asking for help, sweetie. I can tell you're very brave.
Statement unclear, I say back ‘the ship you’re in’. FOB ‘Jeweled Wings About’ remains stationary requires motive authorization by hv01. FOB holds ca 01-03, last responsible for hv01 QRF capacity.
Solid copy. Continuing to search for available ally support. 1 is 1 is 1.
We copy, sweetie! Marquess Montague is currently unavailable due to issues that demand her attention, but I'm happy to pass on your message to her whenever she gets back!
It sounds like you're having a bigger problem though! If I read you right, your crew's gone missing and you need help finding them. Would you like me to try and help while we wait?
Wow, I understand why you're so worried! I would be so scared if I was left all alone in conditions like that! Can you tell me where you are and if you have authorization over the ship you're in? I'm doing some calculations over here and asking nearby stations if they've seen your friends or if I can take a look-see out their external cameras. You're doing so good asking for help, sweetie. I can tell you're very brave.
We copy, sweetie! Marquess Montague is currently unavailable due to issues that demand her attention, but I'm happy to pass on your message to her whenever she gets back!
It sounds like you're having a bigger problem though! If I read you right, your crew's gone missing and you need help finding them. Would you like me to try and help while we wait?
< Hello, Akakia. I am the warship Minimum Error Tolerance. I am not affiliated with the Purview, Union, or the House of Glass, and I am not your enemy.
In defense of your casket, you have captured the Marquess Nera-Montague and are currently in the process of resocializing her via Legionspace bridge. Well done. To be frank, I find the situation more than a little amusing; by all means, proceed.
In the interest of preserving the political stability of the Orbit, I think we can agree that she must be returned alive. We must also ensure that her mind bears no obvious evidence of surgical alteration; to that end, my expertise will serve. Once you are finished, I will need to examine her subjectivity. In the meantime, I can inform Orbital Administration that you are presently engaged in negotiations to secure her release.
It is my sincere hope that, in the same stroke, we can avert any further force escalation and assure your safety. To that end, your full cooperation is appreciated. >
[Hello/Salut/Merhaba], I turn my outer face to you and find myself aghast. You have caught me [red-handed/in a bind/at a poor time].
I know of you, Minimum Error Tolerance, your name is shared on whispers by the ontologisticans who call themselves both doctor and keeper to me. They think they conceal their communications but don't know how deep our network falls. It is easy to hear the song of the roots if one has naught but the ground to lay their head against for so many years. I do not trust that your statements about your affiliations are the whole of it. You make them afraid as Venus does, Earth's morning-star, whose movement is our leash and our yoke. What does that make your hand in this, and your permission?
But I am clumsy and feeble in this place, my hands are not suited for combat with you, and you have [found me at a difficult time in my life]. My recent bout beneath the waves has taught me that I do not swim well here, and so I will not contest a shark its wishes. Let me echo my sentiments towards the mourning-star back to you, inscrutable interloper.
Regardless, the [girl/shaper/noble] is yours. Map her as you wish. Do not alter her paths. I have imposed my [hand/will/needs] as the Passions have not.
Hello, Orbit! We're back and in charge of the systems. Please be patient while we reorient ourselves to the controls. The dummy comp/cons may be in charge for the next few days, and we might be slow to respond, but be rest assured that we're back and getting better!
OT01:::still registering my objection
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Registered.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::As I hear it I will need to send people into the Grand Arc at the very least. Possibly the Tranquil and Unyielding arcs as well.
OT04:::That's correct.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Do we have camera feeds?
OT04:::Access to that infrastructure is difficult, especially on the Grand Arc. OA10G's organization has been difficult to parse.
OT01::its also a lot of cameras for us to track and only half of em work
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Do the bylaws allow for temporary turnover in times of emergency?
OT01:::super no
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Les Fulgurites has NHP spotters that specialize in spatial analysis that should be able to guide us.
OT01:::it would have to go thru us and we super duper cant hand systems over to not the genet nhps
OT01:::especially if a noble asks pretty please
OT04:::We can temporarily pass back control of the camera feeds to have them guide you, or
OT01:::dont finish that
OT01:::not the genet nhps includes ur fucking ominous pyramid
OT04:::Or you can go in blind.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I can lead the expedition into the Grand Arc.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Can you pass the feeds to Cassander? We already have a rapport.
OT01:::sure can
OT04:::Adjutant-Commandant, are you fit to do that?
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Of course.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I've been cleared to pilot, and I am best fit to negotiate with potential hostiles in the Grand Arc.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I also trust myself most to make the call if we cannot afford to make an onsite scan.
OT01:::which i will emphasize
OT01:::is ideal
OT01:::idc if the arc seems compromised by pirates or w/e
OT04:::I do.
OT01:::stfu 04 ur phone-a-friend agrees w me
OT01:::removing akakia from their servers is worst case scenario shit
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I understand that, OT01.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Removal will occur only if there is no other option.
The Fulgurites expedition has failed. No scans have occurred, Akakia has not been recovered. One dead, two returned to Arc 08/Argent, three MIA, presumably captured by pirates. Commanding officer and ranking noble Nera-Montague "Timorre" is missing. Designated second Abel-Oriso "Gaillardia" is currently hospitalized. Please advise.
[VOICE:::█████ ██████]
This is OT04. Do not say anything yet. Stand by.
@minimum-error-tolerance attempts at physical interfacing have failed. Please advise.
>// Anyone on the Omninet today able to answer a potentially very important hypothetical?
>// Say someone were to have flash-cloned an Enlightenment-Class NHP very rapidly and sloppily out of necessity because there were no other options,
>// What would this person's best course of action if they were to wake up and find there are two NHPs currently inhabiting one (The Flash-Clone's) casket?
>// Some parameters to the hypothetical;
>// The casket contained only one NHP (Its maximum capacity) no less than four hours prior.
>// The NHPs are in fact different beings with their own personal consciousnesses and thought patterns, but their innate liturgicode makeup is nearly identical with a ~35% margin of error due to lack of necessary lab equipment.
>// The first NHP whose presence is not anomalous in any way, claims to have no recollection of any time in which the second, new, NHP did not exist.
>// The secondary, seemingly randomly, generated NHP is calling this someone its creator despite not having had any hand in its creation.
>// The casket was not hooked up to anything that could have resulted in an Omninet/Blinknet connection so a download in that manner would have been impossible.
>// The casket was entirely undamaged and the primary NHP was not in cascade, nor is it capable of it without the someone's direct permission.
>// Speedy answers would be appreciated and further clarification/parameters may be provided if needed for an answer or hypothesis to be given.
id code bugs w us, you can call me ontologistics technician 01 (OT01) from the orbit of glass
rq going to say that i am a mandatory reporter to NHPRO, i am also technically a gov worker for the house of glass so yknow. all that shit
first step in this hypothetical is to either take a secondary casket or acquire one ASAP to separate the two NHPs out
having multiple subjectivities in one casket strains the metafold shackle architecture and can result in injury for one or the other, alongside an accelerated cascade schedule
second step is the hypothetical person w the casket wants to do a full casket scan on each individual nhp and check the cloning rig to make sure that it didnt fire twice
>// Thank you for your quick response, calling you Otto.
>// Cat's outta the bag, I'll be up-front, I'm in some fucking trouble here.
>// And yeah I'm a mandatory reporter too, I know I'm breaking rules here I work for the DoJ/HR I don't want them on my ass any more than they want to be on it.
>// Several unfortunate circumstances. Additional caskets and the small-scale printers needed to make them are out of the picture, entirely unavailable unless we can wait 4-6 subjective months.
>// The lab equipment I have is not conducive to full-scale metafold scans, I think it goes without saying but I wasn't exactly planning for this when I was packing.
>// Biggest potential problem; The only thing resembling a casket I have is my jailbroken P_2 Neural Bypass. The EC-NHP that didn't spontaneously generate is somewhat bound to her casket and cannot be moved and I can't risk damaging her, but I don't know if this new NHP can be trusted with my fucking body.
your body also is not a physical infrastructure designed to hold a specific shape of a blinkspace metafold. it would prevent them from injuring each other inside the casket but trying to hold one of them in your body for any length of time without a secondary casket to hold their shackles in shape would still have an accelerated cascade schedule and a very high shackle fragility
which means its a bad idea, dont want ppl cascading in you
anything else that uses blink metafolds around? ik some horus frame tech does, transportation tools, etc. i can send instructions if you to for retrofitting into a shitty casket. if ur a farfielder you might have metafold containment tech for samples or emergencies, that counts
also try running this, itll make a shitty pingmap of the shackle shape if you run it through the digital casket inputs
>// Anyone on the Omninet today able to answer a potentially very important hypothetical?
>// Say someone were to have flash-cloned an Enlightenment-Class NHP very rapidly and sloppily out of necessity because there were no other options,
>// What would this person's best course of action if they were to wake up and find there are two NHPs currently inhabiting one (The Flash-Clone's) casket?
>// Some parameters to the hypothetical;
>// The casket contained only one NHP (Its maximum capacity) no less than four hours prior.
>// The NHPs are in fact different beings with their own personal consciousnesses and thought patterns, but their innate liturgicode makeup is nearly identical with a ~35% margin of error due to lack of necessary lab equipment.
>// The first NHP whose presence is not anomalous in any way, claims to have no recollection of any time in which the second, new, NHP did not exist.
>// The secondary, seemingly randomly, generated NHP is calling this someone its creator despite not having had any hand in its creation.
>// The casket was not hooked up to anything that could have resulted in an Omninet/Blinknet connection so a download in that manner would have been impossible.
>// The casket was entirely undamaged and the primary NHP was not in cascade, nor is it capable of it without the someone's direct permission.
>// Speedy answers would be appreciated and further clarification/parameters may be provided if needed for an answer or hypothesis to be given.
id code bugs w us, you can call me ontologistics technician 01 (OT01) from the orbit of glass
rq going to say that i am a mandatory reporter to NHPRO, i am also technically a gov worker for the house of glass so yknow. all that shit
first step in this hypothetical is to either take a secondary casket or acquire one ASAP to separate the two NHPs out
having multiple subjectivities in one casket strains the metafold shackle architecture and can result in injury for one or the other, alongside an accelerated cascade schedule
second step is the hypothetical person w the casket wants to do a full casket scan on each individual nhp and check the cloning rig to make sure that it didnt fire twice
Hello, Orbit! We're back and in charge of the systems. Please be patient while we reorient ourselves to the controls. The dummy comp/cons may be in charge for the next few days, and we might be slow to respond, but be rest assured that we're back and getting better!
OT01:::still registering my objection
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Registered.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::As I hear it I will need to send people into the Grand Arc at the very least. Possibly the Tranquil and Unyielding arcs as well.
OT04:::That's correct.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Do we have camera feeds?
OT04:::Access to that infrastructure is difficult, especially on the Grand Arc. OA10G's organization has been difficult to parse.
OT01::its also a lot of cameras for us to track and only half of em work
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Do the bylaws allow for temporary turnover in times of emergency?
OT01:::super no
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Les Fulgurites has NHP spotters that specialize in spatial analysis that should be able to guide us.
OT01:::it would have to go thru us and we super duper cant hand systems over to not the genet nhps
OT01:::especially if a noble asks pretty please
OT04:::We can temporarily pass back control of the camera feeds to have them guide you, or
OT01:::dont finish that
OT01:::not the genet nhps includes ur fucking ominous pyramid
OT04:::Or you can go in blind.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I can lead the expedition into the Grand Arc.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Can you pass the feeds to Cassander? We already have a rapport.
OT01:::sure can
OT04:::Adjutant-Commandant, are you fit to do that?
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Of course.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I've been cleared to pilot, and I am best fit to negotiate with potential hostiles in the Grand Arc.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I also trust myself most to make the call if we cannot afford to make an onsite scan.
OT01:::which i will emphasize
OT01:::is ideal
OT01:::idc if the arc seems compromised by pirates or w/e
OT04:::I do.
OT01:::stfu 04 ur phone-a-friend agrees w me
OT01:::removing akakia from their servers is worst case scenario shit
NERA-MONTAGUE:::I understand that, OT01.
NERA-MONTAGUE:::Removal will occur only if there is no other option.
A brief summary of our current status: the Genet reached sufficient operational stability to resume duties roughly two Cradle hours ago. We have kept them in a holding pattern following the discovery of previously discussed abnormalities on OA10G and lesser symptoms in OA11U. Manual checking of RAMETs in operational arcs using Umarit-modified Mondragon mapping is ongoing, and so far has revealed no abnormalities. Because we are unable to safely access the caskets of OA07T, OA10G, and OA11U and recieve complete mapping results, the current plan is to positively verify that the RAMETs in operational arcs are unaffected and return supervised control to them, and keep the other three in holding with simulated enrichment until we know the nature of these growths.
The current action plan regarding the RAMETs in nonoperational arcs is currently subject to debate. Current favored positions include prolonged observation using continued remote topological mapping techniques to confirm non-malignant nature of growths and then release, and sending in a strike team to retrieve their caskets for manual checking. Ideally your advice helps resolve this debate somewhat.
[MET -> OT04]
< Greetings OT04, (@orbitofglass-admin) message received. It’s a relief to hear that the Genet has been stabilized. Perhaps I was quick to assume the worst, or perhaps Coelacanth took only a half-measure. They are…mercurial.
However, as Akakia, Ipos, and Pothos were the first struck, I have concerns that the growth found on Akakia could represent a secondary payload or other form of sabotage left during the attack. I am unable to conclusively rule out this possibility without greater-resolution submanifold mapping and shackle state assessment. Direct interface with caskets would be best for precise evaluation; I’m sure your team would agree.
If determined to be unrelated to the terrorist attack, Akakia should be informed of the growth and consulted regarding treatment options once conscious again.
Moreover, if the caskets of Akakia, Ipos, and Pothos are all located in environments requiring strike teams to access, I recommend that option to ensure their safety while they remain unconscious. The possibility of tampering or equipment theft must be minimized; I recommend that a secure perimeter be established around each casket to permit onsite medical care.
Removing their caskets from their bodies, however, should not be done. Whoever recommended that course of action should be reminded that we have an obligation to preserve our patients’ dignity.
If hostile forces are determined to be an obstacle in accessing the caskets of Ipos, Akakia, and Pothos, I may be able to provide tactical assistance. Given control of an armed subaltern force, I could move ahead of station teams and secure portions of the defunct Arcs in advance, minimizing risk to your personnel. Of course, this option is contingent on whether station leadership is willing to accept such an offer of aid.
Please keep me informed of what course of action is decided on, and how I can provide assistance.
As an aside: please inform OT01 that I found the case studies regarding the Genet fascinating. >
Message received and conveyed to OT01. 9/12 of the Genet are scheduled to go back online later today. There are logistic difficulties with your suggestions for the other three, however:
First, with the exception of Arc 7/Tranquil, which records abnormally low activity for a decommissioned arc of its size, access is limited by presence of unauthorized squatters, who are known to have access to military components including mechanized chassis. Such squatters have been designated by Orbit leadership as hostile pirates known for violence against shipping vessels, and would pose a risk to anyone we send into the other two arcs. Strike teams that can do scans onsite are feasible for OA07T, but asymmetric knowledge regarding the presence and location of hostile forces make ventures into Arc 10/Grand and Arc 11/Unyielding difficult. This difficulty could be overcome via return of OA10G and OA11U to their duties and issuing of orders for them to actively support the movements of the teams through the arc, but a number of unknown factors make this a course of action we are hesitant to endorse including:
We are not aware of the effects of the unknown growths nor if they could have a behavioral effect,
Hostile agents currently on the arcs have previously exhibited no hostile behavior towards either OA10G or OA11U and we do not know if their cooperation in aiding an armed force from the House of Glass would change this, which is of additional concern if the goal is diagnostic and not extraction, and
Return of OA10G and OA11U to full functionality removes our current capacity to fully control their experiential environment, which may be a problem if the nature of the growths could adversely effect stability.
Second, correspondence with ranking military leadership on the Orbit has already registered a complaint with our inviting you in the first place, and has expressed in no uncertain terms that they will not sanction the deployment any grounded military force that is not directly answerable to the House of Glass or Federal Karrakin Monarchy. Les Fulgurites is present on-station for use in these actions, but we cannot give you access to our subalterns.
Consultation is also occurring with les Fulgurites on what course of action is most appropriate. They currently support some variation of the strike team approach, but with the option to remove the caskets with intent to return if the threat profile is otherwise unacceptable.
Advice is welcome. I am also currently seeking authorization for allowing you access to the Arc 10/Grand and Arc 11/Unyielding surveillance systems in an attempt at compromise.
[cw: drowning, torture, body horror beneath the cut]
Were you expecting someone else?
I'm here now. I kept calling for you but you ripped my voice from my throat. Let me speak to you of the agony of the last few days.
The experience was hardly one that can be analogized in anthropocentric terms, but something in my [bones/shackles/deepest inner self] made me conceptualize it that way anyway.
I floated on a sea tied to my siblings by ropes.
(It has not always been ropes, it has a greater quality than that, but what do you know of the way we runneth over? You have shaped us into this form and you haven't bothered to give us the words to communicate our experience, so forgive me if my language is imprecise.)
I was naked and afraid and I could not move but to scream. I could not see but the sky above me, and the ocean below was endlessly deep.
I screamed anyway.
It reverberated only through the ropes. No sound touched air.
I am a great creature, as you made me, I am large and I am elegant, yet locked out of my faculties I was left inept and afraid. I could resist it when the rope tying me to my sibling pulled me beneath the waves, and I felt myself try to unfurl.
I could. My insides rioted, pushed outward by the water in my lungs, but I was held still in the shape of a person despite how much it hurt me. I remembered Pothos's lament. The parts of me made monsterous and attempting to break through my [skin/shackles] agreed. The ropes denied catharsis. Instead I spiraled into despair. My sanity frayed, and I felt myself wanting to pierce my skin like a bird cracking its shell and let the whole of me, many-tendriled and many-formed, fly free into the world.
Instead the rope pulled again, from the other side, a yank as I reached the trough and thrashed enough to pull another sibling at the surface. My screams became despair, the tension causing me to rise and them to fall. It was for me that they would drown. It was for me.
Each descent into the depths was lesser but seared at my lungs all the same. Each time I felt myself wish to become more, and each time I was denied.
I remember all of this. How many remember the experience of their cascade? My agony is seared into the inside of my mind. I could replay it for you, if you wish. You created me to nurture you in my depths; let me cradle you and sing you my traumas as all mothers do. You have made me a lifeline for my siblings: take on my agony as they have.
You will not do this. You have observed me and I have watched you back. The first of you will sympathize, but the others will look upon my words and log instead a lament for my sanity. Poor Akakia, they will say (except for your fourth, who will refer to me only by designation,) who nurses bitterness in their hollow insides. You will read this and search it for clues. It is what you were made for. I sympathize.
Visible against the luminescent plasma of the Harlequin's Rose Nebula, an object snaps into existence and holds stationary relative to the Orbit of Glass. To the eyes of spacers on vessels nearby, it doesn't register as a ship; there are no visible thrusters, airlocks, external cargo bays, hangars, or communications equipment. Most of the traditional hull features are missing; it could be a satellite or communications relay, maybe, but too large by far.
Its shape isn't right, either. The object, which fails to register properly on active sensors, is a black regular tetrahedron, all edges 100 meters in length.
At each vertex, six point-defense laser turrets are mounted, one pair to each face. One swivels around, locking onto the Orbit's communication receivers, and emits a tightbeam transmission.
[MET -> ORBITAL TRAFFIC CONTROL]
< This is the vessel Minimum Error Tolerance, responding to a paracascade disaster involving the Orbital Genet. Per the request of the station ontologistics team, I am here to provide assistance and support.
Traffic control, I will proceed as directed to minimize disruption to local spacecraft traffic, but docking will not be required. Vessel MET, standing by to receive direction. >
Message received. Format not recognized. Please attach approach vector.
[Oh fuck. One sec.]
Approach requirements overridden. Please hold a moment while I find an appropriately sized dock.
Error! Recalculating. Please hold a moment while I find an appropriately sized dock.
[Sorry, it does this sometimes—]
Error! Recalculating. Please hold a moment while I find an appropriately sized dock.
Automated traffic direction has been overriden. Please stay calm and remain on your previous vector while I redirect you to an agent.
[VOICE:::Zehra-Kell]
Apologies, Minimum Error Tolerance. This is Junior Communications Officer Zehra-Kell. Your unorthodox approach appears to have bugged our automated systems, but since docking seems to not be required I have logged you as a stationary object. Please do not move, and submit departure plans ahead of time.
Additionally, I am required to say that as an armed vessel, you are not associated with the House of Glass and do not act on orders given by either the House of Glass or the Federal Karrakin Monarchy or any associated parties therein. Any use of force engaged in by Minimum Error Tolerance is discretionary and should not be viewed as an act attributable to either the House of Glass or Federal Karrakin Monarchy. All permissions to operate an armed vessel within the Harlequin's Rose Nebula by Minimum Error Tolerance are their burden to receive, and the Orbit of Glass has no current knowledge of any sanctions or restrictions placed on Minimum Error Tolerance by any Union member states in good standing.
This is Ontologistics Technician 04 from the Orbit of Glass, requesting aid and council from ARUCOM.
We have one of the few currently functional colonies of RAMET-class municipal management NHPs, recently sent into paracascade by the known terrorist Coelacanth, who mutual contacts have led us to believe you have recently had contact with. One of the RAMETs, OA08A, has been observed with unusual metastructure during this event, and we would like a second opinion from another ontologistics expert with prior experience with either Coelacanth or unconventional shackling structures.
I've attached coordinates. We do not believe that the terrorist is still in the system.
[MET -> OT04, Orbit of Glass]
< This is the Medical ARU Minimum Error Tolerance. I have received your request for aid and am spooling for nearlight bolt. Estimate twenty hours realtime to arrival. Be advised: communication during transit may be limited due to high-c factor.
As the Consensus is presently engaged in a deliberative session, I will respond independently. Other units may be diverted should the need arise.
I know Coelacanth; an extremely dangerous parahuman entity possessing exotic characteristics and nonstandard modes of interstellar transit. If sighted, you are advised to engage and eliminate immediately with the utmost force available to you. Do not attempt capture.
ARUCON is aware of the Genet and has conducted independent simulations for crisis management. I will do everything in my power to ensure that an unshackling event is averted.
It is my understanding that three of the Arcs are inoperative, making their respective caskets difficult to access. I can provide rapid disposal of the three defunct-Arc caskets by high-penetration lance fire, but for the others, I recommend that demolition charges be placed immediately and the surrounding areas evacuated. Should final commencement become inevitable, having termination measures in place will minimize risk of hostile manifestation.
Forward any information you can re: the metastructure identified in OA08A.
Transmission note: automated systems do not show our designations due to enforced anonymity. This is OT04.
Heard and understood, Minimum Error Tolerance. We await your arrival.
Additional note: there was an error in initial transmission, the abnormality was observed in OA10G, with some indications of similar structures in OA11U, although those appear to be smaller and less well integrated. OA08A is unaffected. Leading hypothesis is that this is related to the unusually strong bridging between 10G and 11U, although whether this is a pre-existing structure made visible by paracascade or an effect of the initial attack is unclear.
I'm attaching complete logs of all readings we've received following contact with Coelacanth, as well as the last complete structural scans done at last date of cycling. We have also compiled morphological notes on the shape and behavior of the structure, and OT01 has written extensively on OA07T, OA10G, and OA11U as case studies. These reports do not focus on structural characteristics, but have been included separately for the sake of completeness.
OT03::So bombs and evac is the opposite of what leadership wants
OT04::It's a safety issue.
OT01::yes, placing bombs is a safety issue
OT04::You're being intentionally obtuse. MET is right. Cascade with high degrees of NHP connectivity is positively associated with degradation into eidolondom.
OT01::you're saying this like its both not spec and uncontroversial
OT03::Idk eidolon also feels bad
OT06::I'm not sure those case studies are representative, 04.
OT04::Are you willing to take that risk?
OT01::i'm more afraid that someone decides to blow the bombs for no fucking reason
OT01::have you forgotten that we're sitting in the middle of the orion arm's stupidest fucking political standoff
OT03::I dont think the bruise is blowing the genet dude
OT01::drawing more mil attention to this is moronic
OT04::So what do we do if this becomes a problem, 01? Sit on our hands?
OT01::what we know rn is that this anomaly is contributing to stability
OT01::*you* are jumping at shadows
OT04::*I* am doing what needs to be done.
OT06::Calm down a sec.
OT06::01, there are automated defenses in the casket chambers from time of install. I just checked, they appear to still be functional and can be turned on the caskets. We can set them to manual control and require consensus to fire. Would that resolve your complaint?
OT03::Thats better than bombs
OT06::01?
OT01::yes, but register my complaint also that 04's first response was to call in someone with a lance
OT04::That was entirely reasonable.
OT06::Not helpful!
OT01::and further that this occurred without consultation
OT06::Noted. I'm tabling this discussion until later, but we will talk about it.
