Bridge

It took us a bit of experimenting, but the filament technology can be used to hop over the barrier via a hyperdimensional bridge, much like jump filaments but then on a very small and local scale. It'll move a pod-sized vessel something like five to ten "meters" from our own nearly-flat space to hopefully nearly-flat spacetime on the other side of the barrier. There's a single return, but one must stay tethered to our side via the hyperdimensional link. 

We tested it by hopping a fedo back and forth. 

It came back unharmed and slightly dephased from our spacetime; we will need to adjust the speed of passage of time which appears somewhat different on the other side.

After another test or two with "fjodor the fedo" as the students named it, I will take the place of the guinnea fedo and go over there myself.

Cloaked space

It was not easy to bring down the gravimetric analyzer, the thing is heavy and cumbersome. It took dr. Nahrami's team the better part of a day. 

In the end, it was the right choice: it revealed the nature of the anomaly. 

The discontinuity of earlier measurements at this boundary are real. Whatever lies behind the barrier has been cut out from our spacetime, and the remaining hole has been closed by stitching front to back via hyperdimensional folding. 

In layman's terms, it is a cloaking device that works by bending spacetime around what you're trying to hide. If you try to poke it with a stick, the stick comes out the other end, probably some hundred meters deeper. That comes with some spatial refraction, which would cause the stick (or a drill) to break off. The stuff that lies in between can no longer be reached from our own three spatial dimensions. 

I have never seen anything similar - this type of technology is beyond what we have. I can only think of Jove or Talocan who would master enough of spacetime and hyperdimensional engineering to create something like this. And doing this not in the void of deep space, but on a planet... perhaps it is this which caused the cataclysm?

After brainstorming with some friends who are much better versed in hyperdimensional gravity than I am, we decided that perhaps the closest analogy we have seen are abyssal deadspace pockets. With their help I will adapt an isolated dimensional thread from an abyssal filament to see if we can access the space that was cut out from Gammel XI. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Firth will contact the Ministry - not my own preferred course of action at the moment, but he insists this is the right thing to do. 

I am also a bit worried that there is at the moment an increase in Triglavian activity in the system. Dr. Nahrami tells me that during the Triglavian war, the invaders had a minor victory in Gammel and now still keep an active presence, but he concurs that there seems to be a spike in activity over the last couple of weeks. 

Discontinuities

The tunnel going down towards the planet's mantle has gone down much deeper than when I last visited it. The newer section is narrower. It is as if it has been bored out by a finer drill capable of higher speeds and when I mentioned this, dr. Nahrami confirmed that this is exactly what took place. Rather than being five meters in diameter, it narrows down to close to two meters, feeling really claustrophobic. Dr. Nahrami tells me that it still requires thick layers of protective plating on the outside and thermal conduits to pump the heat out, but the new equipment makes it more efficient and fast.

We've been lowered down in our thermal suits, using climbing harness and a system of ropes, even though there is some sort of improvised ladder at the side. The tunnel is too narrow to safely use antigrav suits: this was not really meant for people to climb down, just to bring back samples automatically or remotely investigate strata, and to house the shaft of the drill keeping it straight. Without elevator, the rope system is definitely faster than actually climbing the ladder, although it still takes time.

We past the pyrite layer they named after me. There is a little side tunnel for them to retrieve and examine samples and it was good to take a break here. I got a sample as a souvenir. It was also a necessary break; we shifted to another set of ropes and pulleys. 

Near to where the tunnel hits the barrier, another side-chamber has been made - but not quite finished yet. There's not much room to sit. The chamber is maybe 4 by 8 meters, and terribly hot even in a thermal suit. It is packed with equipment and very noisy. A bit lower, the tunnel ends at a shimmering barrier; that is why they decided to excavate the chamber here close to it.

Strangely scanners show nothing but regular rock in stead of that barrier. They also reveal a few discontinuities - a jump in temperature, pressure, density visible only from close by. Scanners at the surface would not have the resolution to reveal this and miss it. They would also miss a small discontinuity in the gravitational metric, indicating a space-time anomaly. In order to investigate that I need specialized equipment from the Indagatrix. 

We went back up. I was happy to be again in a comfortable environment, and I am definitely not looking forward to going back down tomorrow.

A barrier

 Despite an increased Triglavian presence currently in Gammel, I have arrived safely at the research station on the lava planet Gammel XI. They do not seem very preoccupied with the planet, and indeed their former interest in what happened here seems to date from the Triglavian war, according to my hosts. Who, as before, have given me a warm welcome.

Rather than students presenting their projects, the discussions have immediately been on the difficulties that they have encountered. They are convinced that the drill hit something non-geological - meaning artificial. It cannot penetrate the barrier. They will take me to see it tomorrow morning, the shaft down there is narrow but still wide enough to be lowered into.

I very much dislike small spaces.

Triglavians in Gammel

Somewhat alarming news is coming from Gammel XI. 

I have been helping geologists there with funding and with materials for their project. They are digging down through the planet's strata to find out more about the causes of the catastrophic changes that turned the planet from a barren world into a lava world.

They seem to have hit upon some sort of artificial barrier that keeps destroying their drills, and are asking for my presence to investigate it. 

I have been interested in Gammel as it was the destination of one of the Sabik cryoships that escaped Amarr during Emperor Queron I's purges. 

I have been keeping tabs on it with an low-level AI agent, and recently it has returned information to me that Gammel XI was a focus of the Triglavian raids in that system - it is now catalogued as a Triglavian minor victory system. There were reports that they have landed a "proving team" close to the spot where the geologists have their station - but no further information is known about that.

Reasons enough to go there and find out.

Contest results

It has been a very busy period - the culmination of our efforts for the Blessed Exchange coinciding with the jubilee celebration. 

The prize contest for artwork celebrating the Empress has seen amazing submissions, and the outcome was quite close as these works all received high marks by the jury members. Lady deSilvestris' icon of the Empress took first place, with a close second being Haapsalu's portrait of the Empress crowned by the  metaphors symbolizing achievements during her reign. Paladin Kley's poster and Oleo Especial's poster complete the list of most praiseworthy entries.

Some confusion -or is it willful heresy?- still appears to live among a few pilots who refuse to accept the demise of Empress Jamyl I. Probably witnessing the brutal attack of the Drifters caused a lasting trauma. Personally, I also blame some galnet pages -even official concord ones- that seem frozen in time a decade ago...

But let these few wayward artists not mar the joy and pride we get from the valid submissions to the contest. I do hope we can borrow the Icon of the Empress with the Two Swords to display it in the chapel here in Mehatoor at least for some time, but I bet father Mikhail on Nakri will not part with it easily. I am sure it will be the pride of House deSilvestris' own family chapel.

The importance of the Amarr Civil Service

You may have seen a short sentence scroll by on a news information bar: "Amarr Civil Service prepares for reorganization as Empress Catiz I oversees modernization efforts." 

Behind these few words, a whole world is hidden. The Amarr Civil Service is by far the largest and most complex part of government. All empires have something like it to perform the actual administration of government. It is the very glue that keeps empires together. It takes care of the practical implementation of decrees on everything from taxes to mining permits to paying bills to contracting public works. In a vast Empire that encompasses many different worlds and peoples with different cultural habits, it represents a standardized reference point. It is the friendly and always helpful face of the Imperial administration.

Many historians relate the rise and fall of any empire to the health of its public administration. 

There are many dangers: it can fall prey to corruption. Simony and nepotism can promote people who are unworthy of the task they are given. The service can get defunded and hollowed out by exaggerated austerity measures. All these evils can cause the vast machinery to sputter and malfunction. Then, the power and benevolence that flows from the Empress can no longer efficiently reach the outer worlds, and an Empire will start to fray at its edges. If nothing is done, the rot will spread to the core worlds. 

Thank God nothing of the sort is happening to our own Amarr Civil Service! 

Nevertheless, this does not mean that it cannot be improved still. Indeed, it needs to adapt itself constantly to the changes in our cluster. Especially with the growth in our prosperity, and the expected economic boon from the Blessed Exchange, it could be useful to cut some of the "red tape". Take for example forms that need to be handed in on parchment in triplicate, to three different bureaus, in proper order. Personally I do not mind the traditional and ritualistic aspect of such actions, but I understand that some entrepreneurs and our friends in the State want it all to go much faster. 

Any reform will take a lot of time, and proceed in small careful steps, given the importance of the vast machinery that must continue to operate smoothly and without interruptions. Successfully implementing such a reform will be the first great (and probably unsung!) achievement in the second decade of the reign our beloved Empress!

((ooc: I guess also the Amarr Civil Service has been ordered to migrate to python 3.))

Jubilate!

Today is a day of celebration! It is ten years since our beloved Empress ascended to the throne. And on this anniversary we now can also celebrate the completion of the Blessed Exchange. Many faithful capsuleers (and some less faithful) worked with great fervor and devotion to turn the Empress' vision of prosperity into reality. 

LUMEN held celebrations with magnificent displays of fireworks, and a grand ball held at the chapterhouse of the Praetoria Imperialis Excubitoris on Oris. Foreign dignitaries were present, both from the State (brigadeer-general Remilia Malitia, decorated for the State's campaign) and the Federation (commander Adams). 

These sorts of activities have been taking place all over the Empire, along with masses of thanks and praise. Already now Empress Catiz has left an indelible mark of progress on the Empire, and we look forward with hope and joy to the next decade of her reign.

Hyperdimensional anomalies

Often, life remain quiets for a while, and then all of a sudden everything happens all at once. 

There is a problem with Ansiblex gates - upwell's jump portals. Strange anomalies in the hyperdimensional continuum are reported in Anoikis.  The Society of Conscious Thought first invite scientists to a conference on the topic, and then cancel it. And the order of Empirical-theologians put forward a new study on hyperdimensional communications which then gets classified. Something is clearly going on.

If these anomalies are hyperdimensional conduits, they may appear like wormholes - or if they are higher-dimensional extended spacetime pockets intersecting our own they may look like volatile phased fields. But if they're Drifter related - we could see perhaps changes of activities in the ancient Drifter structures in Sanctified Vidette.

After the Blessed Exchange campain finishes (and the Empress has again called on the faithful to devote themselves to that cause) I will go back to Sanctified Vidette to look for traces of these anomalies, and to check for changes with the captured Drifter nexus. 

Geological strata

The preparations for the major celebration of the Empress' jubilee are in full swing, and Gottin's lamp in being decoration just like the rest of the station, as we are at the same time working hard to achieve the Blessed Exchange - completion seems within reach, given a final push.

Meanwhile, the geologists drilling down on the lava planet of Gammel XI are sending me an update. They have made great progress with the equipment that I have provided, and named a geological layer after me to thank me - the Savnar Layer.

It is in a layer that seems to be rich in organic materials, perhaps close to the original surface that had vegetation at the time of the cataclysm. It also contains black pyrite, a form of "fool's gold" not to be mistaken with the astrogeological pyerite mined by capsuleers. The geologists say the pyrite must have formed as the burned vegetation was pressed down into coal, creating an environment rich also in iron and sulphur. From its presence they surmise that the temperature cooled down rather quick (perhaps a couple of centuries) after the cataclysm, and indeed the layers deeper down appear colder. That is highly unusual.

I am not sure I should be happy to be associated with fool's gold. But on the other hand, these crystals also served as a touchstone, used by merchants before there were accurate balances. The precious metal content of a coin can be checked by rubbing it on the touchstone where it leaves a line that has a distinct color depending on the fineness of the alloy in the coin.

Their kindness comes with a request - they need new thermal hardeners, if possible tech-2 ones. The drill has hit a sort of cavern, but it has been damaged. When they brought it back up, it looked like it was cut off clean by whatever was present.

Numbers decreasing

My prediction did not pan out - the raspite goal is not yet completed. The rate at which mining is going on has dropped significantly. Not just for raspite, but also for the other mining goals, crokite and dark ochre.

I think this is related to the insurgency, at least for the latter two. The good crokite and dark ochre belts in the Bleak Lands are right where a new Angel insurgency is blossoming. Other places have been mined out and we will have to wait for those belts to replenish. As for the raspite, I have no clear view why it slowed. Perhaps we are starting to feel the upper limit of the number of pilots still wanting to participate to our efforts?

While here in Amarr we worry, meanwhile there have been fireworks displays in Dodixie and Luminaire, as the Federation reached their goals. 

This should be a morale boost for the Gallenteans, who under president Aguard had to face some failiures and scandals. The new president, Alix Moreau, begins her term under a better star and makes true on her promise to harness the power of drones for the Federation. Soon, new mining drones will be made available from their navy. They will also assert their link to the Intaki via a new jump gate connection.

The Zealous Equation

There is a bit more information that can be extracted from the completion graphs for the Blessed Exchange. The onset, the part of the graph before it reaches the linear regime, can be modelled too. It seems there at the onset, there is a certain number Nz of very zealous pilots, who want to accomplish the goal as soon as they can. Their number will decrease in time, since when they complete their contribution, they are done. 

Plotting their contribution over time on a long-linear scale reveals a line - which suggest and exponential time dependence. The number of contributions can then modeled as N(t) = Nz  [1−exp(−t/τ)], with τ being a typical completion time for a zealous pilot. Adding in the linear part, with a velocity of completion v, gives 

N(t) = Nz  [1−exp(−t/τ)] + v t

as a proposed fitting equation for the completion data. And indeed, it fits well! If we go back to our earlier example, the hacking in lowsec, then it gives this:

The blue dots are the data points observed, and the red graph is the result of the equation proposed above. From the fit we can read off a velocity of completion of 15 pilot contributions per day, and an amount of "lowsec-hacking zealous pilots" of around 190, with a time-to-zealous-completion of about 4 and a half days.

This can be used actually to estimate completion dates of unfinished goals perhaps slightly more accurately. 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let us see how well the extrapolation works. Let us look at the newest Raspite mining challenge. It is clear that the curve's overall shape is quite similar to that of the lowsec hacking one, but the scales are different:

Here, we see that there velocity of completion is rather high, about 100 pilot contributions per day. There are more casual miners, but the number of zealous highsec miners is somewhat less than the hackers: around 130. Perhaps more people feel that it is not needing such a hurry. But those that did decide to go at it immediately, have a small time to zealous completion, merely half a day. 

The extrapolation predicts it will be 100% completed on September 16th, around noon (12:00). 

If this predictio works out, it will give a bit of confidence in this type of fit. Then, using it, there is a good deal of information to be gleaned about the most zealous pilots of other empires as well, their numbers per type of occupation (miner/explorer/soldier) and their efficiency.

Blessed Exchange progression analysis

At the time of writing, 25 capsuleer goals out of 30 have been completed for the Blessed Exchange, and a few others seem on their way to completion. While circling raspite rocks and waiting an eternity for new belts to spawn, I processed some data on how such goals get fulfilled over time. 

I have found that most of these goals follow similar curves. As an example, I will show the "hacking in lowsec" goal, which required hacking of 25840 relic or data containers, with a maximum contribution of 34 cans per pilot - meaning it would take 760 pilots. It took nearly 40 days to complete.

The graph shows that as time goes by, at first there is a fast increase. This is no doubt due to the most zealous pilots jumping on the occasion of contributing to the Blessed Exchange. It then slows down to a nearly linear regime, of about 500 cans per day (about 15 pilot maximal contributions). I think this represents the steady flux of pilots who are not particularly devoted to our cause, but who like to earn the extra isk and perhaps seek to help all empires in their goals.

The above allows to estimate well the end date of a project, once the linear regime has settled in. In the table below, I list per goal that still needs to be completed how many pilot maximal contributions still need to be performed, and using the assumptions of linear growth, how many days it will still need to completion:

As you can see, some goals are completely unrealistic. The raspite is going well, but I have to note that it has not yet settled into its linear regime as it is fairly recent. Three goals seems achievable (green) and two will definitely need and additional push. We will still have four more goals to add to this list, at the time of writing they are still unknown.

Achieving the vision of our beloved Empress would be a magnificent present for the jubilee of Her coronation, but it is clear that this will still require perseverance and hard work.

Promoting the arts

I've stated it before: from the various vows that I took, the vow of poverty seems the hardest to uphold. That is true even if this poverty remains very relative as I am permitted to hold on to what I need for my quest of bringing back scattered holy relics to the Empire, such as exploration ships and the ISK needed to replace them. 

Nevertheless, simply doing one's duty to the Empire - be it during the Drifter crisis or recently for the Blessed Exchange, generates in influx of wealth. I tried handing the bounties and rewards back to the Navy before, but they flatly refused.

So, in light of the upcoming jubilee of our Empress, I decided to put up some of that excess cash as prize money for an artistic work in Her honor. That way it has been put to good use - and it sort of flatters me to see myself as a maecenas of the arts. And that in turn reminds me that I should be careful not to fall in the trappings of vanity.

For now no acceptable submissions have appeared, but these always come right before the deadline anyway. I did note that mr. Quirinus is not the only one suffering from delusions about the throne - I saw submissions claiming Jamyl is still empress, and claiming that Empress Catiz passed away a while ago. 

Perhaps these kind of delusions are more common than we think among capsuleers. The internal narrative that one constructs about oneself comes under pressure -perhaps from the many kills- and rather than adjusting to reality it becomes detached from reality. Capsuleers like to think of themselves as powerful and good, but when that image of goodness starts to crumble and causes the whole narrative to detach from reality, the aspect of power is left as a dangling bond, and can latch on to the Imperial throne.

Former rulers of X4-WLO

Having done all hacking and intel gathering I can for the Blessed Exchange effort, I am once again back to mining as this is the other non-violent way that I can contribute. But I am no miner, and lack the skills to always pick good Gneiss from worthless asteroids. It goes slow.

In between tedious Gneiss mining attempts, I did have some time to look at who was in charge of X4-WLO during the time of the Sansha incursions in Yulai, what some assume was a diversion for what they were doing at the same time in Promised Land. 

In the barbarian lands, capsuleer Kingdoms rise and fall faster than the proverbial flapping of a hummingbird's wings. On the day of the Sansha incursion, January 24th YC113, a group called Cascade Associates gained sovereignty in X4-WLO. Before, it belonged to the "Warhamsters" who must have felt they were going round and round in their hamster wheel going nowhere, since they abandoned the system in October the year before. 

That leaves an uncharacteristically long period where none of the capsuleer warlords held sway over that system. After that date, it gets transferred between corporations of the Cascade Associates, and then the corporation holding it switches to another alliance, En Garde, and it gets again handed from corporation to corporation without long intermittent periods.

I will try to see if I can find a warhamster that was around back in those days - perhaps they were driven out by Sansha or Blood Raiders, or have memory of anything unusual that happened there at the time.

Odd one out

Reviewing the Sansha logs again, there was one of them which drew my particular attention. 

Log 363587633 says "Blood Raiders invade our territory. Their pestilence is not welcome in the perfect eden of Sansha. The Power that Master Sansha has given us has enabled us great feats in the fight against the Raiders. An outpost has been built in X4-WLO, to ensure a firm foothold for the soldiers of Sansha in Blood Raider space."

But X4-WLO is not in Delve, the traditional Blood Raider region. It is in Catch!  

This means that the Blood Raiders are interested in X4-WLO, and probably its constellation. Why? I will try to look in the historical records about who was there in YC113. I suspect these logs date from around that time...

Old Sansha outposts

The Sansha logs retrieved by mr. Varkonis contain snippets of text by the minions of Sansha Kuvakei, mostly lauding and praising him and his efforts. But one thing they all have in common - they mention outposts where the pilots come from or have to head back to. 

And those are by no means confined to the Stain region, which according to the MIO Universe Factbook is the region of our cluster where the Sansha took refuge!

The logs have a identifier - a number. It is not clear what the number refers to, but it would stand to reason that it should somehow not only indicate which ship it belongs to but also be a datestamp. Indeed, the numbers seem to rise slowly, within a limited range. They paint a picture of outposts retreating back from our space down to Stain:

It is deeply troubling to see Boranai, Nidebora, Dabrid and Hadonoo in Imperial space on that list of Sansha outposts. Mr. Firth tells me not to worry, these are old logs and the outposts would have been cleared long ago. Nevertheless I plan to go and check out these systems. The rest of the systems trace a retreat to Providence, Catch and Stain.

But it doesn't stop there - systems in Esoteria and finally Paragon Soul outposts are mentioned in the logs with the latest identifiers...

PS. The yellow route on the map is simply an automatically generated route to go check all the systems,  in the map one should focus on the systems indicated.

((ooc credit: map made with https://evemaps.dotlan.net/ 's route planner))

No trace

I have delivered the supplies to the geologists on Gammel XI, they were very happy with this gift. 

After that, I went with a shuttle and scanning equipment to explore the region. I tried to find traces of any Sani Sabik colony or signatures of wreckage of their cryoship - they would have disassembled it to construct their colony but parts of it may have remained, and that would be scannable.

Alas - if there ever was a Sani Sabik colony here, there is no trace of it left. I found no signatures of ruins of a colony, and no sign of the remains of a cryoship. Either they settled elsewhere, or they were completely destroyed by the cataclysm that occurred here. 

It seems I am at a dead end here, and with not much to do I will return to Mehatoor, where the Sansha logs that I received from Stephanos Varkonis are still waiting to be investigated.

Drilling down

The research outpost is at heart a large drill, mounted on a stable platform, excavating a tunnel straight down. The tunnel itself is just short of a kilometer deep, but they want to drill much deeper to reach a pocket of interest, an old magma chamber that has emptied. It is the only one of its sort, and that is why they chose this location. Reaching it they hope to find clues about what happened from the minerals and gases that were encapsulated in that chamber. 

Drilling down is more challenging than it seems. One expects a thermal gradient as the borehole gets deeper, but here the geothermal gradient is far from ordinary, with local temperatures much in excess of what one could expect. Well, what one would expect on a world where some dynamic equilibrium has settled in - the current state of this planet is clearly far from equilibrated. 

In addition to the occasional lava chamber, there are are layers of high plasticity - meaning the surrounding rock can flow a bit. Not like water, but more like a river of thick paste that closes up any cracks and holes by itself and pushes anything in its way. The force of such flows can bend the tunnel walls or push it slowly away from verticality. 

To go down the tunnel I had to wear the thermal suit again, and go partly with shaky elevators, partly on ladders, while all sort of wiring and tubes were hanging around, attempting to shuttle the heat and materials back up, and transfer cap down to the bottom where the boring equipment is at work. The tunnel is about five meters in diameter, and we go down only in the central part. The wall itself is metal plate with cooling fins and equipment, and still it is searing hot and glowing in some spots - as if it is ready to burst.

All these difficulties are compounded by a more mundane difficulty: the lack of proper funding - materials exist that are better suited for this enviroment. Active hardeners against thermal damage, such as the one we use on ships, and special armor plates to reinforce the walls. These cost a lot, and need a lot of energy.

That is why they were enthusiast to see me. I am a capsuleer, and it is easy for me to buy thermal hardeners and cap boosts and armor plating and armor repair modules that they can adapt for the tunnel. 

I agreed to help them and buy the materials they need.

Lava world research outpost

A shuttle brought be down to the surface of Gammel XI, to the station's landing pad. "Station" is somewhat of a euphemism - there is not even a proper docking bay. The arrival itself was quite turbulent, which the pilot blamed on unpredictable thermal currents in the atmosphere, due to active volcanism and lava flows.

After landing, we had to don heavy thermal suits to protect us from the heat and the poisonous gases and walk over to the main structure. Usual carry-on luggage would just melt, any regular luggage is transported in special cooling containers.

The outpost is on a platform on top of a lone basalt rock mesa. It rests on pylons, as the rock here is too unstable and too hot. The support pylons are drilled deep into the rock to anchor it, and equipped with inertial dampeners and feedback systems to compensate for the incessant seismic activity. The main feature is a large tower which does not contain the habitat for the scientists, but has the instruments and drills for a deep shaft that leads into the ground. The habitats and the labs and the engineering machine shops are surrounding the tower. 

I have been received by the principal investigator, Marcus Nahrami, who introduced me to his team. They are not used to visitors and organized a mini-colloquium so the students could present their work. 

There are engineering folks who presented the low-cost solutions they found to ensure the thermal and seismic stability of the outpost. Most presentations were about the geology of the planet, and what led them to believe that it was no asteroid impact that caused the current cataclysmic conditions: the absense of a central peak, no impact basin, no crater rim mountain ranges, and a lot of other proof that I did not understand due to lack of training in geophysics.

There was a review of other possible causes, and all of them were rejected. Several presentations investigated the possibility of a truly massive mantle plume, released due to energy pent up from differential rotation at the planet's core. But that did not explain the isogen-5 decay signatures.

Tomorrow I will get a guided tour down the shaft that they drill deep into the crust.

((ooc: image from chatgpt after inputting the above description))