#gaining control

[azranox]

MEA Screencap Time

I don't have any direct screen caps of MEA (I use XBOX game bar for my caps and MEA hates it), but I do have the entire game recorded and can take screencaps of the recordings! Here's a small selection of 'em! (Tried to keep the UI and subtitles out of most of em but.... easier said than done)

[azranox]

MEA Appreciation Week Day 6

The Benefactor. An obvious set up for the next games in the planned trilogy that Andromeda was meant to be. A thread never to be stitched into place. Who is the Benefactor in canon? We may never know. But in FfC, I’ve decided who it is. Read this and take a guess. Maybe I’ll tell you if you’re correct or not.

The tiny stealth ship sits waiting, watching. They are due to leave soon. They must be gone soon. Plans have gone awry already, this must not. It is but a blink of the eye for the million eyed being before the arks start gearing up to leave. This strange development needs to be allowed to fruit, but not here. They can go far away, outside of the sanctuary to pursue this first step towards the final goal. It is a shame the rest of them did not see the value, but time is a cycle it must oversee.

The ships are filled with souls, one hundred thousand strong. They only cared for a few going on this journey. Their experiments born of one organics dreaming, but they need support and an experiment needs the ability to grow onwards down the generations. The drives spin up and start pushing them towards the relay. A few jumps then they would start the slumbering journey across dark space. It will never know the results of this experiment, but that is okay. It has other things to focus on. Other burdens to bare, other eyes to watch through.

Flashes in the distance betray their leaving. The one known to the Initative as “their Benefactor” guides the tiny stealth ship into the remains of their build site. Contingencies were in place upon the arks, but the last piece must be done by hand

[azranox]

MEA Appreciation Week Day 3

Ah the general prompt of characters, so many things I could have done. So maybe to chose from and flesh out. I chose to showcase Moshae Sfeja. She is one of my favorites in the game and I go and see her every time I go to Aya. Everytime I see I wish Ryder could actually become her student, and when she jokes about it I have it on record in my reference recording that I said “yes please”. Now onto the ficlet

The small basement in the Repository of History is blessedly quiet as Sjefa walks down the stairs into her small oasis. It appears untouched during her unwilling absence. Remnant technology lines the shelves, and her most recent project still sits mostly disassembled on the table. She carefully moves it to the side so she can place an old star map on this surface. She had already been theorizing that the vaults had a command point, but the Archon’s ship and Ryder’s information from Eos confirmed those suspicions. This changed so much, but the exact how still lingers just out of her reach. Staring into the hologram, her tired mind starts to wander.

She pulls over her favorite chair and sits down. Her people were ecstatic to have their Moshae back, and she was pleased to not be dead, or worse. Although the information she brought back was sorrowful and haunting, it’s become another mystery begging to be unraveled. Perhaps Ryder would unravel it for her, purposefully or on accident. The young alien has a certain zeal about them, and she could already tell Jaal was smitten. She chuckles to herself remembering their interactions on the Tempest. The respect Ryder showed in the face of her pained verbal lashing, the way they stood listening while Sfeja spoke of all she learned while Jaal grew bored, they way they playfully bickered about something she couldn’t quite hear as they left her to rest. The river of memories start to send her mind further back in time.

Their actions to save so many angara in lieu of destroying the kett base still stings. Sjefa wanted that place reduced to mere rubble, but the human chose to preserve life instead. Her vigor of youth and desire to see a peaceful end to the conflict with the kett from long ago are remembered. She was one of the first to try and convince her people peace could be found. She soon learned how wrong she was. She was already in her thirties when they arrived, but Sjefa was not one to allow herself to become frozen in routine or not learn from past mistakes, unlike so many of her peers. Now over 100 of those strange human years, she still sits in this little sanctuary of knowledge, ever seeking the secrets of their forbearers. Old yes, but she still has more to give.

As the Moshae rises to get to work, she hopes Ryder will come by the next time they’re on Aya, with or even without Jaal in tow. There’s so much they could unlock, and her time is ever shrinking.

[azranox]

MEA Appreciation Week Day 1

Welcome to my contributions/ficlets for MEA Appreciation week! I’m using this week to showcase some ficlets that set up the next part of Fated for Control, Gaining Control. It’s my Andromeda story, and I am pulling from both the game and my own crafted lore/worldbuilding for it. Today we start a couple weeks before the beginning of the story , at a university on Earth. (Clearing this up here, Ryder is non-binary and uses they/she pronouns in this story)

The bright orange cap and gown clash with her green tassel as they sit with their classmates in the massive hall. All the students in her university’s school of arts and sciences line the chairs as they walk one by one over the stage to shake hands with the administration and take their diploma covers. Idly she wonders if theirs as already arrived at home in the mail. They did ask for it to be expedited due to the Initiative’s scheduled leaving in just a couple weeks. Most of these students won’t see the document for several months, and if she’s not lucky, they’ll never see theirs. It will still alone in this galaxy, a memento of a soul sent to stars beyond.

The staff signal to their row to stand and join the queue. Her companions from the Prothean studies program stand beside them and titter quietly to each other about where they’ll be working come the new year. Ryder just stands alongside her classmate Ryann, the only other ‘outcast’ in the small program. Ryann’s not their actual name, the asari maiden had adopted a ‘human’ name for their time on Earth and refused to tell anyone their actual name, even the university staff. This was their third degree from the school, and they was already enrolled for a music degree come the next semester.

“So,” they whisper, “Spotted your family yet?”

Ryder looks through the crowd and is barely able to spot Scott and their dad up high in the bleachers, “Yeah, they’re up there.” They subtly point up and the asari follows her finger.

“I’m surprised they let your dad in.” Her father’s AI related sins follow the family everywhere on Earth and off. It wouldn’t have been the first time he was denied entry, but the university had been tolerant of the Ryder name, much to her relief. They allowed them to change their enrollment type from ‘Alliance split time’ to ‘self funded accelerated’ after SAM came to light and they all got shunned or booted from the Alliance.

Ryder tries to think of a response for their asari friend and comes up empty handed. This is her day damnit, so she ignores the statement. The maiden realized their overstep and apologizes quietly. They accept the apology with a small smile. The line moves steadily until Ryder’s the one next in line. She looks down at the name card for the announcer, their legal name scribbled out and their nickname being written above it. Due to being at ‘Andromeda Bootcamp’ she missed the time to submit a different name for the card. They don’t exactly dislike their given name, but considering everything it’s almost cosmically hilarious. So they decided to move towards just their nickname. Her dad even pulled some strings to get it as their name in the Initiative systems.

The announcer takes it, and glances up at them before shrugging and reading out the card. “Andie Ryder, Prothean Studies.” They stride across the stage to applause, and somewhere under it all she can hear Scott’s proud, ’That’s my twin!” A few of the administrators look at her funny, but they all shake their hand moving along down the line. The orange embossed brown leather of the diploma cover is rested in her hand by the kind secretary from the department of history who always was willing to listen when the Ryder name became to much to bare.

They walk off the stage and into the small photo area. Holding up the cover they smile and pose. The flash blinds them for a moment before the image is sent to her omnitool and they’re free to return to their seat. Tomorrow Pathfinder team training starts in earnest, but tonight? Tonight Andie celebrates finishing college right in the knick of time.

[azranox]

MEA Appreciation Week Day 2

Welcome back! Next up we have a scene between our Pathfinder and their newest crewmate. Someone’s gotta show Jaal around the ship might as well be Andie. This is by far the longest, so much so I hesitate to call it a ficlet. It’s moreso a one-shot or cut scene. Nevertheless here it is! (Also SAM uses he/it in this story.)

The pair stand alone in the meeting room as the rest of the crew disappears to their own tasks. The angara watches the human with cautious eyes. He might have volunteered for this mission, but that did not mean he was going to be trusting right off the bat. Ryder shoves their hand in their jacket pockets and rocks on the balls of their feet. “Soooo, I can give you a tour of the ship? It’s small so it won’t take too long.”

Jaal’s ‘neck flaps’ for lack of better term shift strangely. “Hey SAM, was that a nod?” They think at the AI intertwined with their nervous system.

“I believe so Andie.” It responds quickly.

“Cool, well if you’ll follow me. No need for a tour up here.” She walks down the ramp into the research room and turns around to face him. They gesture over to the central console with both arms, “This is the research room and that’s the primary terminal. I haven’t found anything I haven’t been able to do on it yet. Building, modifying, deconstruction, scanning, you name it. It can do it.” They point to the door to the right of the hallway, “That’s the tech lab, we do more contained technical experimentation in there.” And then to the other small door in the space. “That’s the botany lab. Any bio experiments happen in there, Cora takes care of the plants and does a lot of her reports in there, so don’t be surprised if you see her in there. Questions?” They tilt their head slightly and stare wide eyed at their newest alien companion.

“No.” Jaal’s response is clipped, as his head is on a swivel as he looks around the space. Sure he had walked through here to get to the meeting room, but he hadn’t had a chance to really look. The technology on this ship is fascinating. More advanced that angara ship technology by far. They did cross dark space… His thoughts trail off as he follows Ryder down the hall.

A door opens and he can see the starlit void beyond. Two stations sit at the front, each occupied by someone. “This is the bridge. Kallo is the pilot and Suvi is both co-pilot and lead researcher. She wears several hats.” Ryder’s last few words do not make sense to him, but he is too awestruck by the massive window.

“Is that safe?” He points at the clear paneling. Angara ships have few if any windows. The materials needs to make clear alloys strong enough to withstand the vacuum are precious and finicky. Sensors and scanners do the job just as well. Such a large panel is sure to shatter and space them all soon enough.

Ryder looks at the window, “Yeah, it’s safe. It’s made of ‘clear oxides and nano carbon fiber’ if I remember right. Right Kallo?”

“Correct Ryder. It’s top of the line stuff. No need to fret Jaal.” The pilot quips glancing back at the pair. His fingers tap around adding angaran Scourge charts to their databanks after Suvi adapts them to their codebase. A team effort, as all Pathfinder things seem to be.

His bioelectric field buzzes with his uncertainty, and one of the dark furry lines above Ryder’s eyes moves higher. Can humans detect our fields? They say nothing as she moves over to the door to the left. It opens revealing a small armory. “This is pretty self explanatory I think. The guns and armor go here. I’d rather you keep your gun here, but I won’t force you too. I’d rather you feel safe.” The human eyes the modified rifle still slung over his back. He had left his bag of supplies in the meeting room, but not his gun. He debates for a minute. Perhaps leaving his weapon here would be a worthwhile gesture. Besides, they did not know of the many daggers hidden on his person. He ‘nods’ and places the gun on one of the higher shelves.

“So uh, can I ask a question?” Ryder asks as the door closes behind them as they return to the bridge, “That movement in your neck? That means yes I take it?”

Jaal stumbles over his thoughts when he realizes something so simple would need translation. They are truly alien in every way. “Yes. My apologizes that I did not think to explain.”

“Nah it’s cool.” Her strangely built shoulders shift up slightly before returning to their resting position, “We’re all gonna have a huge learning curve. Just letting you know the equivalent for us is this.” Ryder moves their entire head up and down. “We call it a nod. And the opposite is this.” They move their head side to side, “It’s called ‘shaking the head’. Real original I know.”

“I see. The angara do use the ‘shaking of the head’ to show displeasure. A commonality across galaxies it seems.” A quite simple gesture with similar meaning. Fascinating.

“Cool. SAM tell the team that please and thank you.” Ryder points to the door across the way, “That’s Peebee’s room. It’s actually an escape pod chamber but room is tight and she promised to not launch herself into a star soooo. I’m letting it go. There’s other escape pods littered around the ship too.” They wave him towards the door again and instead of walking down the hall, they slide down one of the dual ladders. He follows on the other side.

They jam their thumb at the door between the ladders, “This is my room and office,” before pointing to the right, “That’s the bathroom, washroom, restroom, powder room. There’s a million names and I hope one of those translated right.” He nods his understanding in the milky way style. If he’s going to live among aliens he might as well try and adapt to their easier to do social customs. His family will be sure ask him to demonstrate. I must message Mothers and tell them everything! He thinks as he realizes his family is yet to know about this new adventure he finds himself on.

“This is the galley and crew lounge.” The door opens revealing a small kitchenette and a quite long room. Another window looks out into the blackness. There are small couches and a couple thin tables lining the wall into window. Storage is built in to the opposing wall, but not all the way along it. The Pathfinder must have storage in the rest on the other side. There’s also a massive bedroll folded up and tucked in a corner. “Drack also sleeps in here. He doesn’t really fit well anywhere else outside the cargo bay. No one should have to sleep in the cargo bay.”

Jaal laughs at that and feels her pang of sorrow at the idea someone who be relegated to quarters such as. “He would not. Krogan are quite large.”

“They’re massive.” Ryder mutters with a shake of the head. “It’s crazy he hasn’t broken a chair yet.” The duo walk down the hall slightly and another pair of doors lines the wall. “That’s the crew quarters. Cora, Suvi, Lexi and Kallo all sleep in there. We have a meeting board, desks, and a little reading area just general life stuff in there. And across the hall,” Ryder points, “Is the medbay. If you’re ever sick or injured you go to Lexi’s domain. We are not having a breakout of disease on this ship so help me god.”

Jaal burns with embarrassment as this human rambles about how they do not want to deal with cross species infections. He clears his throat and asks to move on. Ryder seems a tad confused but rolls with it with another shift in their shoulders. The hall splits into two, but both paths lead to the same place. A massive chamber with a vehicle and dozens of crates has his eyes flying everywhere taking it all in. There’s two levels of this room, and what appears to be an elevator between them. A marvel of engineering.

“This is the cargo bay, and that is the Nomad.” They point to the six wheeled vehicle painted with black and blue-greens. “We use that to get around on planets, and no you can’t drive it.” Ryder chuckles to herself softly before getting back on task. “Those two rooms at the back were originally storage bays, but now they’re Vetra’s,” They gesture to the leftmost room first then to the the rightmost, “and Liam’s rooms. Up top is the drive core and engineering. Gil’s domain. He’s the Tempest’s engineer, but he’s a bit mad at me right now for the whole ‘ship damn near on fire thing’ so we’re not going to bother him. And these two ladders,” They starts scaling up the metal slats incredibly quickly and he has to move swiftly to keep up. “Leads us back to where we started!” They jovially open the door and the research room reveals itself. “Any questions?”

He shakes his head as the information settles into place. “No Pathfinder. Thank you for the tour.”

“I’ll chat with Vetra and see about getting you an omnitool and a comm system, but we can go over that tomorrow. You go find yourself a little hidey hole and get some rest. It’s been a long day. I’m setting course for Voled and I’ll have SAM let you know the ETA.”

As the human heads towards the hall, Cora emerges from the botany lab just in time to see them glow blue and leap down between the gap between the walkway and the wall. “Ryder, please use the ladder!” She calls exasperated. Jaal’s curiosity starts eating at him at whatever that display of power was perhaps their own brand of bioelectricity, but instead of asking he skittering into the tech lab after grabbing his bag. Ryder did not mention it being taken already, and he does like to to tinker.

[azranox]

MEA Appreciation Week Day 5

New friendships? How about new species relationships? We were robbed of the chance to see the angara coming on to the Nexus for the first time. It must have been a crazy day for literally everyone on the station. Here’s my take on it.

The small expected alien ship sends a buzz through the Nexus docking bay as it swoops in to land. Everyday folks of nearly every Initiative species gather around the railing to watch the leadership approach the ship. “The human Pathfinder landed on their homeworld!” One asari says to a friend.

The turian looks down at the strangely shaped vessel, “Bold move. Glad they were friendly. We don’t exactly have Pathfinders to spare.”

A gray haired human from the Hyperion mutters, “Best be glad they didn’t fuck it up. Why are they sending someone so green in to do these things? Should be someone with experience leading!”

“And you would be better equipped?” The turian snarks. “Andromeda isn’t what anyone expected. May fresh blood is what we need.” The crowd quiets as the door of the alien ship opens suddenly. Out steps a strange being with blue skin and a strangely shaped head. It’s hard to make out the details from where they stand. More emerge of other colors. Purples, maroons, pinks and even an almost green one come to stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the Initiative leadership.

They watch as Tann steps forward with a hand outstretched. One of the others whispers in the ear? of the center most one, the first one who stepped off the ship. They look at the Director and take his hand with slight confusion on the protocols of it all. 

A few of the watchers go back to their daily routine, but most stay to watch the introductions. Friends and partners whisper to each other about the new aliens, ‘angara’ they call themselves. Astronomers theorize on how they’ve faired against the Scourge. Anthropologists crave knowledge on their culture and customs. Biologists wonder about their evolutionary history and if the kett are related to them in some distant way.

Down below the one chosen to be the ambassador to these strange beings look up at the crowd. There’s so many different ones, different species. He’s never seen anything like this. So many that came together to make a journey his people had never fathomed. To be the representative of his people is a blessing, but stars what has he gotten himself into.

[infradapt]

Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 2)

Wait! If you haven’t read part one of our Facebook privacy blog yet, you may want to do that before reading this one. If you’re ready, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at your Facebook settings to make sure that your account and its data are as secure as possible. If we’re being honest, protecting this kind of data hasn’t seemed to be one of the platform’s strong suits – and user privacy has been the star of many lists of concern. ________________________________________

That’s why we wanted to make sure that you knew how to reclaim your personal data and make sure it is protected. We’ll start by protecting the information that you’ve shared.

To do this, you will want to access your Facebook account on a computer. This is going to be a lot to manage, and the mobile app would only be too much trouble to navigate. Your Security and Privacy Options From any page on Facebook, look for the menu, which will appear as a little downward-facing arrow. This should be at the top right-hand corner of the page. Click into Settings. This little arrow is your lifeline during this process, you can always find your way back to the beginning with that menu.

Verify the Accuracy of Your General Account Settings Your first order of business should be to confirm that you still have access to all of the email accounts tied to your Facebook. If an account that you no longer have access to was used, account recovery becomes monumentally more difficult. Find Out Where You’ve Used Facebook with Security and Login On the right, you should see the Security and Login option. Click it, and Facebook will show you all of the devices where your account is logged in. Fair warning, this can be shocking – especially since it includes where and when you last used that device, and what browser you were using to do so. The longer a user has been engaged with Facebook, the more devices will likely show up here.

If one of these devices is one that you don’t recognize, you will want to change your password immediately – we’ll go over how in a moment. First, you will want to log out of Facebook on any device that you aren’t actively using. This can be done through the three-dot icon menus next to each device listed.

Change Your Password While we’re on the topic, this is when you will want to make it a point to update your password. It will only take a minute and might just help keep your Facebook friends from being spammed and phished. You can do this using the process provided on the Security and Login page.

Remember, you should never use a password for more than one online account. Using Two-Factor Authentication After your password settings, you’ll see the option to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) to help protect your account. To set it up, select Use two-factor authentication and click edit, and Facebook will provide you with the instructions you need to follow. Click Get Started.

You have two options to select from as your Security Method, either using an authentication app, or to receive a text message with an additional code. Between the two, the application is the more secure option, although it does mean you need to have access to the mobile device whenever you want to check your Facebook.

Setting up the authentication app option is pretty simple. Open your application (which, if you have a Google account, might as well be Google Authenticator) and, on the computer, select the Authentication App option, as pictured, and click Next.

Facebook will display a QR code, which your authenticator app should allow you to scan when you add a new account to it. The app will then give you a six-digit number to provide to Facebook as a Confirmation Code. Simple.

If you decide to use the text message option, Facebook will simply send you a code that you have to provide upon login. It isn’t quite as secure as the app, but it will do. All you have to do to configure this is to confirm an initial code with Facebook, and you’ll be walked through the rest. Add a Backup Once you have two-factor authentication enabled, it only makes sense to add an additional means of 2FA as an emergency backup – in this case, whichever method you didn’t choose. Honestly, you might as well set up both, and make use of the Recovery Codes option, to boot.

Under the Add a Backup option on the Two-Factor settings page, there is also a Recovery Codes option. By clicking Setup, Facebook will provide a brief explanation, and the opportunity to Get Codes. Facebook currently gives you a list of 10 single-use 2FA codes. These are one-shot codes, but you can generate a new list whenever you want from the Two-Factor Settings page. Make sure you keep these codes in a safe place. Setting Up Extra Security Back on the Security and Login page, scroll down to find Setting Up Extra Security. This area lets you opt-in to alerts being sent via email or text, notification, or Facebook Messenger.

You can also Choose 3 to 5 Friends to Contact if you do find yourself locked out of your account. Make sure that these are people you truly trust.

Stay tuned for part three of this series, coming soon.

https://www.infradapt.com/news/facebook-and-your-privacy-part-2/

[infradapt]

Facebook and Your Privacy (Part 1)

Two billion users strong, Facebook is one of the Internet’s most popular websites… which has frequently put the tech giant in the spotlight when it comes to how secure the data you’ve entrusted to them (in addition to what they’ve collected) really is. Today, we’ll discuss how you can access the information Facebook has on you. ________________________________________ What Does Facebook Know About Me? Consider how many opportunities Facebook has to collect information about you: there’s quite a few. For one thing, you literally tell the platform the things you “Like.” Semi-joking aside, there’s also the stuff you post, which advertisements attract your attention, and many other means for them to construct a pretty solid profile on you.

You can see this profile for yourself. In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal – where third-party users were granted free reign and access to Facebook user info – Facebook made a promise to be more transparent. This profile is part of that transparency.

Viewing this information is pretty simple, whether you’re on your computer or you’re using the mobile application.

On a desktop or laptop:

1. Log in to your Facebook account. 2. Click the down arrow on the top right and go to Settings. 3. On the left, click Your Facebook Information. 4. Facebook will present you with five options. Look for Download Your Information. 5. Click View, Facebook will give you a screen where you can choose the date range and format of the data. Since we want to download everything, we’re going to set the Date Range to All of my data and set Media Quality to High. This will give us a higher quality version of all of our photos and videos in the download. 6. Click Create File and Facebook will start building the download. This can take a while, but Facebook will give you a notification when your data is ready for download. 7. Once Facebook gives you the notification, click it and Download your data.

From the Facebook mobile app:

1. Tap the 3-bar hamburger icon in the top right of the app. 2. Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy, and then tap Settings. 3. Tap Download Your Information. 4. Leave all of the options checked, and scroll down. Ensure the Date Range is set to All of my data and that Media Quality is set to High. 5. Tap Create File and Facebook will give you a notification when the data is ready for download.

The “data is ready” notification will probably come after about an hour – it really depends on how long you’ve been a user, and how active you’ve been. Most people will probably have a file that takes up a few gigabytes.

Now that the report is available to you, click on Your Facebook Information.

Access Your Information – Facebook provides you with an itemized and viewable list of your Posts, Photos, and Location history ready for viewing.

Activity Log – Consider this a comprehensive timeline recap – almost a scrapbook, prepared by Facebook.

Deactivation and Deletion – People used to complain that deleting a Facebook account was a difficult process. Not anymore! So, How Much Does Facebook Know About Me? When you do review your file, the information they have can be shocking, mainly due to the location-based aspect of it all. You can pull up a given day and find out exactly where you were and what you did. Facebook kept track for you.

Then, you need to consider the Ads. This section will show you all of the advertisers who provided Facebook with a contact list your name appeared on. It isn’t that Facebook gave away this information, advertisers already had it and gave it to Facebook to target you on the platform. What Does This Mean? While it completely makes sense that Facebook would know a lot about you, seeing it all laid out (and how much of it didn’t come from your profile) isn’t exactly comforting… Facebook has been too involved in a few major data breaches. Just think – there’s a profile just like the one you retrieved about you, for over a quarter of all of the people in the world.

This rabbit hole goes deeper, too. Make sure you check back soon for part two of three of this Facebook privacy blog series.

You probably had a notion that Facebook had a bunch of your information, but how much information outside of your general profile makes you nervous when they are accused of major data breaches. What’s scarier is that the service is used by over a quarter of the world’s population.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of the information we will share about this social media giant. Check back for part two of our three-part blog series about Facebook privacy.

https://www.infradapt.com/news/facebook-and-your-privacy-part-1/